• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Dust: An Elysian Tail |OT| Become the Storm

Put that on the box. "IGN Calls Deadlight...'OK'" Mehhhhhhh

There's been no Lara Croft. No Limbo. No Bastion. No Shadow Complex. Nothing that remotely comes close to those. Maybe this will be that game. I hope so.

Awesomenauts is better than all three, but doesn't seem to be getting much recognition, unfortunately.
 

Noogy

Member
Some have asked for a hi-def version of the trailer. Admittely I don't have a great place to host one, would anyone mind doing so? It might eat a lot of bandwidth. Divx and Quicktime versions (720p 60fps).
 

Ventron

Member
Some have asked for a hi-def version of the trailer. Admittely I don't have a great place to host one, would anyone mind doing so? It might eat a lot of bandwidth. Divx and Quicktime versions (720p 60fps).

If nobody has an answer soon, you could always put it in a torrent.
Also, I still need to know if you and this game will be at PAX Prime this month! I hope you aren't too tired after all this...
 
It's very definitely been a slow year on XBLA, for me, personally. Winter of Arcade, especially, has been of very little interested, particularly since Deadlight started to receive lukewarm reviews and erode my enthusiasm.

Dust, however, has only gained interest as time has gone on. Whether it was because it seemed a labour of love for one person, or whether it was a case of one person generating a game so full of life and character when so many games in the last two years seem to be becoming more sterile and devoid of charm.

Plus, it has beautiful 2D art. And I'm a sucker for beautiful 2D art.

All the best Noogy, and I hope the return from customers equals or exceeds the investment that you put into this product.
 

Noogy

Member
If nobody has an answer soon, you could always put it in a torrent.
Also, I still need to know if you and this game will be at PAX Prime this month! I hope you aren't too tired after all this...

Sadly no PAX. I need some serious recoup time (mentally and physically drained).

All the best Noogy, and I hope the return from customers equals or exceeds the investment that you put into this product.

Thank you for the kind words. I hope players enjoy it on the 15th.
 
Saw this for the first time a couple of weeks ago and it looked amazing. Enough to convince me to pick it up at release, which is something I rarely do with XBLA games. Really looking forward to playing it.

Edit: oh, a GAF member made it? Congrats!
 

joe2187

Banned
I been following this game for a while, cant wait to finally play it.

Congrats noogy man, you made your dream a reality.
 

Noogy

Member
Nooo.... :( But I completely understand. Game looks great, I'm jealous at how well you've used shaders, I just can't figure those things out. :)

It's actually pretty simple, you just have to think out of order...

Initialize a render target for the shader source.

1. Clear screen..
2. Draw the shader source..
3. Clear screen..
4. Begin shader..
5. Draw what you want affected by shader...
6. End shader..
7. Draw UI...
8. Profit.

The trick is if you have to switch Blendstates during step 5, since you can't do that in the shader. You'll need to initialize another render target and:

3a. Begin drawing game to new render target...
3b. Clear screen...

Then

5. Draw the new render target.
 

mollipen

Member
I'm only about 13% through the game so far, but I can tell anybody thinking about picking Dust up to just do so without worry. I mean, I already had faith in it after playing it at PAX East (and talking to Noogy), but my time spent so far with the game just re-enforces that.

Dust simply should not be able to exist given the scope of its development. At times it's baffling.
 
Yep, we are both huge fans of Zimmer, among other composers. It was fun referencing much of my favorite music from games and film and then having Chris create something even cooler.

The trailer music is very VERY good. It's a pale shadow compared to what's in the game. I should have changed the tagline to "Listen to the Awesome 8.15.12"

I can tell.

Parts of the trailer reminds me of a Nolan movie trailer with Zimmer music. It's awesome.
 
Some have asked for a hi-def version of the trailer. Admittely I don't have a great place to host one, would anyone mind doing so? It might eat a lot of bandwidth. Divx and Quicktime versions (720p 60fps).
PM blimblim he can do it for you on his website because he is awesome with 60 fps trailers!

Also from the other thread wanted to say this here :)
@Noogy this will probably be my last post in this thread before gamescom.
Because of all the gamescom stuff I have to do this week I just wanted to say this:

GOOD LUCK next week and just enjoy it, haters gonna hate.
Well wishes and keep us informed how the game is doing if at all possible.

AS SOON as I get back from gamescom I'll buy it and play it and post in the OT, but that will not be before the 23rd I think :(

Enjoy and godspeed!
 

Noogy

Member
Dust simply should not be able to exist given the scope of its development.

Thank you, Shidoshi. I'm glad you are finally getting your hands on the finished game. And if Dust:AET were on a physical box I'd love nothing more than to use that quote.

PM blimblim he can do it for you on his website because he is awesome with 60 fps trailers!

Also from the other thread wanted to say this here :)

Awesome, I'll try that, and thanks :) Enjoy Gamescom, the dust will still be here when you return! Also, do email me if you need a hookup (deets in my Twitter profile at @NoogyTweet).
 

nasos_333

Member
Thank you, Shidoshi. I'm glad you are finally getting your hands on the finished game. And if Dust:AET were on a physical box I'd love nothing more than to use that quote.

Awesome, I'll try that, and thanks :) Enjoy Gamescom, the dust will still be here when you return! Also, do email me if you need a hookup (deets in my Twitter profile at @NoogyTweet).

Is there a chance we see an artbook for the game in some form ?
 

alphaNoid

Banned
Some have asked for a hi-def version of the trailer. Admittely I don't have a great place to host one, would anyone mind doing so? It might eat a lot of bandwidth. Divx and Quicktime versions (720p 60fps).

You should get ahold of BlimBlim, he can host that I think.
 

mollipen

Member
Thank you, Shidoshi. I'm glad you are finally getting your hands on the finished game. And if Dust:AET were on a physical box I'd love nothing more than to use that quote.

Clarify something if you would: The weather is dynamic, correct? As in, there aren't physical locations that trigger its stopping and starting.

Also, did you ever see that Dust won an award from EGM for E3? I know it's a little late now, but if you weren't aware and want the graphic for the award, just let me know.
 

Noogy

Member
Clarify something if you would: The weather is dynamic, correct? As in, there aren't physical locations that trigger its stopping and starting.

Also, did you ever see that Dust won an award from EGM for E3? I know it's a little late now, but if you weren't aware and want the graphic for the award, just let me know.

Weather is dynamic, but I do trigger it for emotional impact a few times during events. And there are occasional maps where I lock it for the same reason.

And yes, I did see that award! It was QUITE an honor, thanks :)
 

zulux21

Member
im so glad to see this finally coming out. This was my 360 game of E3 back in 2011 (and it was shown off in the previews before the conference... so sad it wasn't part of the main conference) The game looked great back then but the new trailer... just wow. This game is likely going to put a number of $60 games to shame and it's a fraction of the cost to buy day 1. I can't wait to get my hands on this game and give it a try, if it's even half as good as the trailers have made it look then it will be in the running for my favorite game this year.
 

Jac_Solar

Member
Weather is dynamic, but I do trigger it for emotional impact a few times during events. And there are occasional maps where I lock it for the same reason.

And yes, I did see that award! It was QUITE an honor, thanks :)

EDIT: Ah, I re-read the original post and it mentioned your work.

Did you learn to program for something else, or did you learn it to create a game? I'm guessing you have a strong background in arts/design as well? The reason I ask is because I'm just curious how the game came to be -- it doesn't have anything "indie" about it, and looks/feels more like a heavily funded project by a large development team. (A compliment; I'm not insinuating anything here. :p)

The game looks incredible -- the art design is the best I've seen in a sidescroller, maybe even in games in general. The feel of the game from the trailers is just spectacular.

I hadn't heard of this game until I read this thread, and at first glance I thought it was a point and click type of "adventure style" game with static art/locations, because the art style looked so good that I didn't expect it to also animate.

In any case, I wish you luck with the release!
 

Hazaro

relies on auto-aim
I'm only about 13% through the game so far, but I can tell anybody thinking about picking Dust up to just do so without worry. I mean, I already had faith in it after playing it at PAX East (and talking to Noogy), but my time spent so far with the game just re-enforces that.

Dust simply should not be able to exist given the scope of its development. At times it's baffling.
Really sad I can't play it for another 3 weeks until I get back home.

Just want to say all gameplay worries people have no basis. It plays and controls absolutely beautifully.
 

Zabka

Member
Bought points for it already. I can't remember the last time I was this excited for an XBLA release. Maybe Guardian Heroes in the past year, that's about it.
 

Zia

Member
Why isn't their a post about the new trailer on tigsource or indiegames.com?

They stopped blogging about anything interesting because people piss and moan in the comments every time Indie Games covers anything with a publisher, or high-profile. They didn't cover Sound Shapes, either, despite the fact it had a handful of really talented indies working on it. It's pretty lame, considering the writing there is bad.

TIGSource just has very little room for coverage.
 
Bought some points today, and I am very ready to play this for the first time. I've been dying to play more Metroidvanias so I am very excited for Dust. Loved the trailer too! Wednesday can't come soon enough.
 

Raging Spaniard

If they are Dutch, upright and breathing they are more racist than your favorite player
Pretty furrytastic (not my ... thing) and kind of confusing in motion but yeah, Im in. Looks great.
 

Ranger X

Member
This is looking freaking awesome (looks like the platformer aspect is weak though). I feel like buying this even just for the beautifulism.
 

charsace

Member
Pretty furrytastic (not my ... thing) and kind of confusing in motion but yeah, Im in. Looks great.

Did you not read the thread?

Noogy did you create your own tools for the bone animation? Do you use IK? For the collisions did you roll your own collision detection or did you use xna's rectangle class?
 
Weather is dynamic, but I do trigger it for emotional impact a few times during events. And there are occasional maps where I lock it for the same reason.

And yes, I did see that award! It was QUITE an honor, thanks :)

I've got to ask can you play the game with an arcade stick? or would it be more difficult.
OR63800000250723.jpg

I have that or would you need the other thumbstick for the controller?
 

Raging Spaniard

If they are Dutch, upright and breathing they are more racist than your favorite player
Did you not read the thread?

Noogy did you create your own tools for the bone animation? Do you use IK? For the collisions did you roll your own collision detection or did you use xna's rectangle class?

Did I read 10 pages? No. What did I miss?
 

Noogy

Member
Noogy did you create your own tools for the bone animation? Do you use IK? For the collisions did you roll your own collision detection or did you use xna's rectangle class?

Yeah, I created the tools. For the segmented characters it's a very rudimentary bone animation system, with no IK. I had considered learning how but it's pretty math intensive and I wanted to focus more on keeping a steady 60fps. Also, I find IK to be too restrictive, you lose a lot of squash and stretch.

For collision I do use the rect class quite a bit, but it's much more elegant that just 'two rectangles colliding'. A combination of rects and pixel perfect accuracy.

I've got to ask can you play the game with an arcade stick? or would it be more difficult.
OR63800000250723.jpg

I have that or would you need the other thumbstick for the controller?

I haven't tried this myself, but the game is playable with either thumbstick or dpad, and the triggers mirror the right thumbstick (for dashing). I should think it'll work, but again, haven't tested this.
 

charsace

Member
Yeah, I created the tools. For the segmented characters it's a very rudimentary bone animation system, with no IK. I had considered learning how but it's pretty math intensive and I wanted to focus more on keeping a steady 60fps. Also, I find IK to be too restrictive, you lose a lot of squash and stretch.

For collision I do use the rect class quite a bit, but it's much more elegant that just 'two rectangles colliding'. A combination of rects and pixel perfect accuracy.



I haven't tried this myself, but the game is playable with either thumbstick or dpad, and the triggers mirror the right thumbstick (for dashing). I should think it'll work, but again, haven't tested this.
So you used the rects and snes style collision. I've been looking into doing 2d bone animation and IK because it would make animation easier.
 
They stopped blogging about anything interesting because people piss and moan in the comments every time Indie Games covers anything with a publisher, or high-profile. They didn't cover Sound Shapes, either, despite the fact it had a handful of really talented indies working on it. It's pretty lame, considering the writing there is bad.

TIGSource just has very little room for coverage.

The comments on Indie Games are typically unbearable to read.
 

bumpkin

Member
It's actually pretty simple, you just have to think out of order...

Initialize a render target for the shader source.

1. Clear screen..
2. Draw the shader source..
3. Clear screen..
4. Begin shader..
5. Draw what you want affected by shader...
6. End shader..
7. Draw UI...
8. Profit.

The trick is if you have to switch Blendstates during step 5, since you can't do that in the shader. You'll need to initialize another render target and:

3a. Begin drawing game to new render target...
3b. Clear screen...

Then

5. Draw the new render target.
Man... I just have to ask, what did you use to actually develop Dust? Something pre-fab like XNA or Unity, or did you literally write every last part of it from scatch?

And the other question, what is it like to "see" the Matrix? I've been programming for years, only recently using C++ to try and build a game, and I'm floored that you went from not knowing how to code to making Dust in ~3 years. Epic fail, am I. :(
 

Noogy

Member
Man... I just have to ask, what did you use to actually develop Dust? Something pre-fab like XNA or Unity, or did you literally write every last part of it from scatch?

And the other question, what is it like to "see" the Matrix? I've been programming for years, only recently using C++ to try and build a game, and I'm floored that you went from not knowing how to code to making Dust in ~3 years. Epic fail, am I. :(

I used C# and XNA. Admittedly XNA helps with basic stuff like drawing sprites and such, but yeah, you still need to get down and dirty with code. It's definitely not like using Gamemaker or some game creation tool.

The hard part that no one ever sees is that I had to create a number of programs... level editor, character editor, dialogue editor, etc. And being visually minded I sort of wanted to make all those look nice too. So yeah, now that I've created tools development should go much faster for future projects.

I guess I'm just good at reusing my code. Creating a particle was very difficult. Tweaking that particle for a hundred different uses was much easier and very fun.
 

Tomat

Wanna hear a good joke? Waste your time helping me! LOL!
I used C# and XNA. Admittedly XNA helps with basic stuff like drawing sprites and such, but yeah, you still need to get down and dirty with code. It's definitely not like using Gamemaker or some game creation tool.

The hard part that no one ever sees is that I had to create a number of programs... level editor, character editor, dialogue editor, etc. And being visually minded I sort of wanted to make all those look nice too. So yeah, now that I've created tools development should go much faster for future projects.

I guess I'm just good at reusing my code. Creating a particle was very difficult. Tweaking that particle for a hundred different uses was much easier and very fun.

Did you teach yourself how to code?
 

Tomat

Wanna hear a good joke? Waste your time helping me! LOL!
Yeah, early 2009. This game was me teaching myself how to code. I didn't really expect it to get this big.

As a CompSci student (just getting into the classes), this blows my mind. To teach yourself to code and come up with something like this.

You must be extremely passionate and dedicated.
 

NZNova

Member
I used C# and XNA. Admittedly XNA helps with basic stuff like drawing sprites and such, but yeah, you still need to get down and dirty with code. It's definitely not like using Gamemaker or some game creation tool.

Any learning resources you'd recommend?
 
Awesome, I'll try that, and thanks :) Enjoy Gamescom, the dust will still be here when you return! Also, do email me if you need a hookup (deets in my Twitter profile at @NoogyTweet).
that is extremely nice of you but I'm perfectly happy with paying the $15 for what looks to be an amazing game, from someone here in this awesome community.

I gladly take hookups from big publishers but not from small indie guys you need the money and I love giving directly back ! :D
 

Noogy

Member
hey noogy: its monday here in germany, so fell free to hand out them codes ;)

All review codes should have been handed out. If you haven't got yours and are on my list please email me asap (contact in my twitter profile at @NoogyTweet). Valid press credentials, of course ;)

that is extremely nice of you but I'm perfectly happy with paying the $15 for what looks to be an amazing game, from someone here in this awesome community.

I gladly take hookups from big publishers but not from slam indie guys you need the money and I love giving directly back ! :D

It's fine, I reserve a batch specifically for press. Please contact me.
 

NateDrake

Member
About 25% complete right now and loving it. Max combo so far is 320. I had a higher one in the 400 range, but I got hit and lost it.
 
Top Bottom