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Indie Game Development Discussion Thread | Of Being Professionally Poor
- Thread starter chubigans
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Feedback incoming!
- Let me sprint. Seriously. Please. I kept futilely pressing the shift key hoping for it to do something. I even tried walking around as each different form and pressing shift, just in case a certain one of them could run.
- It seems I skipped the intro accidentally. I meant to advance the text, but it did so on its own. Most of the text does, it seems - not all of it, which is kind of confusing, but most. Personally, I don't like auto-scrolling text, but it does have advantages (like being able to go make a sandwich while ignoring an unskippable cutscene).
- Some messages from when you check things in the environment lack ending punctuation.
- Battles are very easy to avoid, and you have little incentive to seek them out. I only had only 2 non-essential encounters: one to test the battle system, and one to see if levelling up would heal you.
- ...I just got an instant game over because I walked into a hole. Not cool, man. I just fell down a hole in a cutscene and didn't even take any damage. That's majorly unfair. The last save point that I passed feels like years ago. It was really only maybe fifteen minutes, but half of it was waiting for slow text to scroll slowly, another part was spamming attack and HP/MP regen spells in a boss fight, and the rest was walking around slowly because you disabled the sprint button for some reason. I'm not doing it over again, at least not right now.
+ On the plus side, the dungeon design was pretty good.
So yeah. I don't know exactly how critical you wanted me to be, but that's more or less a play-by-play of how my experience went.
If you want more impressions, you could maybe try posting the demo in /vg/'s RPGM thread. They're somewhat unkind, but they'll try just about anything.
I'll be there tonight, albeit with a date.
Anything I should try to make a highlight?I'll be there tonight, albeit with a date.
I wanted to see the Super Giant Games panel, but apparently that's for people who are going to pay more money than I will.
since it's saturday here in NZ might as well kick off screenshot saturday
Still progressing at a good pace on my DMC inspired ActionRPG - Nax of the Universe
Implemented the third weapon, Tesla. Insprired by the God of War baldes of chaos.
Electric elemental, It has high range, and good speed, but low damage. In addition to that, I now have weapon swapping working! so you can swap between subweapons instantly at the press of the L2 button.
It feels like the game is really starting to come together. Might reach alpha stage sooner than I expected. Just need to
Ugh, this thread always depresses me so much.
Everyone making such cool stuff, sharing the thrill of design and production. My days are now spent filling out paperwork and signing documents
Raonak the link in your profile website doesn't work. Look nice.
Noogy are the papers for your new game?
Green Wiggly
Member
If you want 8-bit sounding stuff, I'd recommend sfxr. It's a neat little program created for Ludum Dare that offers a few base sound effects with adjustable parameters and a randomization function. Not sure if it applies to what you're looking for though. Would post a link but I'm on my phone, should be the first google search result.
Raonak
Banned
made one for you!
Thanks for the gif, that was excellent!
how did you make it? do you use a special program or anything?
I tried some youtube-gif makers but they had horrible image quality.
the first preview article about my game
http://indiegameenthusiast.blogspot.co.nz/2013/10/the-watchlist-nax-of-universe.html
feels surreal seeing "developer: Raonak Games"
fixed. Thanks for the heads up
just made it redirect to my twitter right now. probably should make a website sooner or later.
BurritoBushido
Member
I am also using Construct 2 if you have any questions.
Killer! Iso DMC, I dig it!
Im guessing GifCam. Since this question is asked pretty much every week, any chance we can get the mod or first post to add a link to it?
Dang Why is it so expensive in Cali? In florida it costs like 100 bucks...
Also, while we're on the subject, are there any good resources for best practices or doc examples, like say for contracting? Particularly hiring artists/musicians. I'm pretty clueless about the stuff. Contracts in general are something I would like to know more about if I'm going to cooperate with anyone.
Also, I realize its probably going to vary depending on a lot of factors, but any anyone ballpark estimates on what I can expect to pay for contracting a musician?
I'm starting a video game right now and my goal is to have it done by tomorrow night. I'll be working on it all through tonight and tomorrow as a fun weekend project.
EDIT:
Gonna use this thread as a blog/idea scratch pad.
Game is gonna be short and episodic.
Main character is a bounty hunter or something. Well flesh it out prn.
Three weapons:
Sword: Deadly, but you need to be up close. It can also function as a shield, and can counter-attack physical attacks.
Rifle: Deadly as well, and long range. Ammo is limited.
Grenades: Can throw them around and they can bounce into tricky areas. Can detonate them mid-air too.
That's all for now.
EDIT:
Gonna use this thread as a blog/idea scratch pad.
Game is gonna be short and episodic.
Main character is a bounty hunter or something. Well flesh it out prn.
Three weapons:
Sword: Deadly, but you need to be up close. It can also function as a shield, and can counter-attack physical attacks.
Rifle: Deadly as well, and long range. Ammo is limited.
Grenades: Can throw them around and they can bounce into tricky areas. Can detonate them mid-air too.
That's all for now.
Are you Unity users using coroutines often? The concept of them is new to me and I want to use them when appropriate, but I don't really know when that is, or what precautions to take.
I'm trying to do something like this:
I suppose this is some sort of simple state machine. Is this a good use of it? Without coroutines, I'd probably do something similar with a switch statement for simple things, or maybe state objects.
When I try this the sequence seems to work, but when you die along the way, and I call StopCoroutine("GetHelp"), GetHelp won't actually stop. I'm probably missing something on how coroutines are implemented (and perhaps why it doesn't work like I expect with nested coroutines, or one that's yielding on another coroutine.)
I'm trying to do something like this:
Code:
IEnumerator GetHelp()
{
yield return StartCoroutine(RunToNearestCharacter());
yield return StartCoroutine(FreakOut());
yield return StartCoroutine(RunBackHome());
}
// Somewhere...
...
if (IsHouseOnFire())
StartCoroutine("GetHelp");
...I suppose this is some sort of simple state machine. Is this a good use of it? Without coroutines, I'd probably do something similar with a switch statement for simple things, or maybe state objects.
When I try this the sequence seems to work, but when you die along the way, and I call StopCoroutine("GetHelp"), GetHelp won't actually stop. I'm probably missing something on how coroutines are implemented (and perhaps why it doesn't work like I expect with nested coroutines, or one that's yielding on another coroutine.)
Noogy are the papers for your new game?
Some old stuff, some new stuff. Honestly nothing terribly exciting. More just business backend. Having a full time biz guy to handle all of that would be nice, so I could get back to making games.
Raonak
Banned
Yep I made it with GifCam.
Just like this beauty: (Screenshot Saturday!)
That looks really good! What platform(s) are you targetting?
PC, Android, iOS. Wii U, if Nintendo calls me back
BurritoBushido
Member
How are you finding Construct 2 performing on mobile. I've heard a lot of mixed things.
Raonak
Banned
Cool. ill definetly get it on android when it comes out
----
So, in addition to working on Nax of the Universe, I'm working on another game. It's been a project I've been working on since 2010, but had taken a break from 2011 to 2013.
It's a Pokemon fangame made using RPGmaker2003.
Super Pokemon Eevee Edition. (SPEE)
It was basically me wanting to recapture the nostalgia I had for old pokemon games.
The game is like pokemon, but with a crazy storyline, including godlike enties called hypervisors. The battle system is very much like final fantasy- so 4 pokemon out in battle, pooled PP, unlimited movelists.
And the main character's starter is an Eevee which has the ability to switch between evolutions. It's a very unique take on what pokemon can be, especially storywise and just a general throwback to the good ol days.
Screenshots
It's about halfway finished right now. check if out at http://www.pokemoneevee.com
Actually, Construct 2 through CocoonJS runs really sweet on most modern smartphones (especially with the newest updates!). Testing on the fly through the CocoonJS launcher is pretty amazing, as I don't have to build the game every single time I want to test, and when I push new builds, it auto updates.
Cool. ill definetly get it on android when it comes out
Ooh awesome. It'll be free to play on Android with some microtransactions. On PC, it'll be a priced game, but no microtransactions. Your choice really!
Personally, I handle state in the update method. I find it easier to keep simple, and ensure frame accuracy on transitions, etc.. Nothing worse than a few one-frame glitches to drop your quality level down a notch.
I've worked on a professional project that others made use of coroutines wherever possible. I wasn't a fan. But as with anything, there's no right way.
It's not Saturday anymore but still wanted to post a screenshot. Few weeks ago I started working on a small game that has some rpg elements. There is a small town that the player can visit and within that town there is of course a shop. Yesterday I started working on the graphics a bit and here is the result so far
bumpkin
Member
That's rad! Tell us more (or point me to your earlier post)!It's not Saturday anymore but still wanted to post a screenshot. Few weeks ago I started working on a small game that has some rpg elements. There is a small town that the player can visit and within that town there is of course a shop. Yesterday I started working on the graphics a bit and here is the result so far
Awesome to hear you think it's rad Haven't posted earlier about this project. The game itself is simple but I will tell more about that soon along with a proper video. To be clear it's not a rpg.
The town is just a place to relax and well where you can buy more items, restore health and get more skills. You as the player will help that town grow in a few ways. How much you help will determine your high-score.
Here is a small screenshot from photoshop, started working on the town graphics earlier this week. The ground and background are placeholders. Building the houses is taking me the most time at the moment, want to build them in a way that they are easily adjustable to make more variations.
I'm building it in Construct2
Haven't posted earlier about this project. The game itself is simple but I will tell more about that soon along with a proper video. To be clear it's not a rpg.The town is just a place to relax and well where you can buy more items, restore health and get more skills. You as the player will help that town grow in a few ways. How much you help will determine your high-score.
Here is a small screenshot from photoshop, started working on the town graphics earlier this week. The ground and background are placeholders. Building the houses is taking me the most time at the moment, want to build them in a way that they are easily adjustable to make more variations.
I'm building it in Construct2
Diablohead
Member
I'm going to have to extend my release target date, late nov looks a little impossible right now, sucks but I work on this stuff in spare time and falling behind.
I've said a few things about using kickstarter in the past but I might go for it now, I had a kickstarter project approved a year ago but have never launched it, it might give me a huge motivation boost to get buckle down on my game knowing people are waiting for a product.
I've said a few things about using kickstarter in the past but I might go for it now, I had a kickstarter project approved a year ago but have never launched it, it might give me a huge motivation boost to get buckle down on my game knowing people are waiting for a product.
how are you and BurritoBushido liking it so far? Have you came across anything that you wanted to implement but wasn't supported?
Heh, reminded me of the OOT shop right away.It's not Saturday anymore but still wanted to post a screenshot. Few weeks ago I started working on a small game that has some rpg elements. There is a small town that the player can visit and within that town there is of course a shop. Yesterday I started working on the graphics a bit and here is the result so far
Mikado
Member
Projectmanagementshot Sunday!
Speaking of motivation, I switched us over to a real
bug/issue tracking system and away from our ad-hoc googledocs/excel files monstrosity, so we can actually see what's going on.
Because even 2-person indie studios need to be able to keep track of what they're trying to do.
Feels good man.
Speaking of motivation, I switched us over to a real
(for some definition of "real")
Because even 2-person indie studios need to be able to keep track of what they're trying to do.
Feels good man.
Not currently, no. Everything I've wanted to implement so far has been figuring out how to make it work within the logic of Construct 2.
Obviously 3d is an issue with the engine, but there's a lot you can do here.
Raonak
Banned
Projectmanagementshot Sunday!
Speaking of motivation, I switched us over to a realbug/issue tracking system and away from our ad-hoc googledocs/excel files monstrosity, so we can actually see what's going on.(for some definition of "real")
Because even 2-person indie studios need to be able to keep track of what they're trying to do.
Feels good man.
wow, that looks cool, and indeed so much better than using a document. what program are you using?
shaowebb
Member
Question for my fellow Construct 2 users. Im doing a runner game and i've got the camera set to follow my character using an "Every Tick" command setup. Very basic very easy general tutorial stuff etc.
Here's the thing...with that on I cannot get a dash to work for my character. At most he will sort of "oomph" forward slightly and then nothing. He just doesn't seem to move forward no matter how I code it. Im guessing the issue has to lay in the camera catching up to him and creating an illusion that he didn't do any kind of dash but then the stage should still have zipped around noticeably shouldn't it?
Im at a bit of a loss here as a decent running game that tries to do some of the Robot Unicorn stuff shouldn't have this much trouble setting up a dash. Im open to suggestions...Im an artist trying to think like a coder here.
Here's the thing...with that on I cannot get a dash to work for my character. At most he will sort of "oomph" forward slightly and then nothing. He just doesn't seem to move forward no matter how I code it. Im guessing the issue has to lay in the camera catching up to him and creating an illusion that he didn't do any kind of dash but then the stage should still have zipped around noticeably shouldn't it?
Im at a bit of a loss here as a decent running game that tries to do some of the Robot Unicorn stuff shouldn't have this much trouble setting up a dash. Im open to suggestions...Im an artist trying to think like a coder here.
Mikado
Member
I'm trying JIRA. Not exactly plug and play, but for twenty bucks the price seemed right.
Plus we can host it on our own server behind our firewall - I hate using remotely hosted web stuff.
I guess it gets expensive if you're a big company but luckily that's not a problem we have. I think they're trying to do what Perforce does with their 20-user license: get studios hooked on the tool while they're young so they have no choice but to shell out the big bucks when they hit the big-time.
We'll see how that goes.
That's brilliant! Didn't even think about Zelda 2 while building the town
Now I want to build a Zelda2 clone Hope that is a good thing, OOT shop was the biggest inspiration for it, maybe it looks a bit to much like it but the other shops will certainly have their own look.
OccamsBlender
Member
Don't you have some dependencies that are hurting you(new version of MultiMedia Fusion, etc. )
AusRoachman
Member
Working on the overall colour scheme / look for my turn base game. I really love the look of godus, with that flat shading scheme
Ive recently added water, which looks amazing in motion, i still need to tweak it to have that more godus style look. Any tips on unity shaders e.t.c to try and achieve the look ? Im using a basic diffuse shader on my shapes which gives it that rounded edge look.
Ive recently added water, which looks amazing in motion, i still need to tweak it to have that more godus style look. Any tips on unity shaders e.t.c to try and achieve the look ? Im using a basic diffuse shader on my shapes which gives it that rounded edge look.
Heh, I know what that's like. Aimed for October, hit March!! I'd just say don't rush it. Better to put out something good than hit an imaginary date. Good luck!
The diffuse shader isn't making it rounded, it's the model. You need to separate the normals along the top edges to get a sharp edge. If you're using Max then use smoothing groups, otherwise search for smoothing groups, but for your modeling program, (they'll be called something else, but someone will have already asked about them in those terms).
Godus looks to be faking global illumination by either colouring the verts to fake shadows at the seam of a elevation change, or maybe a alpha blended 'skirt', or.. something to make it dark on the floor and bottom of vertical band of an elevation change.
Tee hee, apparently evoking sequence nostalgia.Who do you think you are, pal
lordfroakie
Member
What is a good, free and simple application for making video game music?
Teknopathetic
Member
"What is a good, free and simple application for making video game music?"
Do you mean like music in general or specifically "chiptune" stuff?
Do you mean like music in general or specifically "chiptune" stuff?
As some of you know, my game, Ghost Song, began its life as a flash game I was making.
Anyway, the flash game is shelved now, but I took an old build of the game out to use to make a stress test to try and help test something on the stencyl forums.
Thought some of you guys might like to look at it.
The sounds in this build were all placeholders!!! don't cry about the annoying sounds please.
Link: http://www.stencyl.com/game/play/21771
Press Z to jump, X to shoot (hold to charge), C to dash, spacebar to switch to special fire mode, and F to cycle special weapons.
as part of the stress test you can hit G to spawn zombies.
(also note the dev shortcut that opens any door (the O key) will open that door, but I still won't let you leave.)
You can see here how layered of a look I made, I used overlays to make lighting effects, notice the light radius around the character illuminate and give detail to anything nearby.
Note that the control scheme in the new unity game is different, and it's only focused on gamepad now (which was not possible in flash). Now, instead of switching to alt fire, you'll freely fire regular shots (X on a 360 pad) and special guns (Y on a 360 pad), sort of imitating the X light attack Y heavy attack you see in some melee games. Bumpers cycle the active special. It's very fluid, so fluid that I"m trying to dream up new ways for regular shots to synergize with special shots.
Anyway, the flash game is shelved now, but I took an old build of the game out to use to make a stress test to try and help test something on the stencyl forums.
Thought some of you guys might like to look at it.
The sounds in this build were all placeholders!!! don't cry about the annoying sounds please.
Link: http://www.stencyl.com/game/play/21771
Press Z to jump, X to shoot (hold to charge), C to dash, spacebar to switch to special fire mode, and F to cycle special weapons.
as part of the stress test you can hit G to spawn zombies.
(also note the dev shortcut that opens any door (the O key) will open that door, but I still won't let you leave.)
You can see here how layered of a look I made, I used overlays to make lighting effects, notice the light radius around the character illuminate and give detail to anything nearby.
Note that the control scheme in the new unity game is different, and it's only focused on gamepad now (which was not possible in flash). Now, instead of switching to alt fire, you'll freely fire regular shots (X on a 360 pad) and special guns (Y on a 360 pad), sort of imitating the X light attack Y heavy attack you see in some melee games. Bumpers cycle the active special. It's very fluid, so fluid that I"m trying to dream up new ways for regular shots to synergize with special shots.
Going to test your game later with Xpadder Jobbs!As some of you know, my game, Ghost Song, began its life as a flash game I was making.
Anyway, the flash game is shelved now, but I took the game out to make a stress test when I was trying to help test some stencyl stuff on their forums.
Thought some of you guys might like to look at it.
The sounds in this build were all placeholders!!! don't cry about the annoying sounds please.
Link: http://www.stencyl.com/game/play/21771
Press Z to jump, X to shoot (hold to charge), C to dash, spacebar to switch to special fire mode, and F to cycle special weapons.
as part of the stress test you can hit G to spawn zombies.
(also note the dev shortcut that opens any door (the O key) will open that door, but I still won't let you leave.)
You can see here how layered of a look I made, I used overlays to make lighting effects, notice the light radius around the character illuminate and give detail to anything nearby.
Note that the control scheme in the new unity game is different, and it's only focused on gamepad now (which was not possible in flash). Now, instead of switching to alt fire, you'll freely fire regular shots (X on a 360 pad) and special guns (Y on a 360 pad), sort of imitating the X light attack Y heavy attack you see in some melee games. Bumpers cycle the active special. It's very fluid, so fluid that I"m trying to dream up new ways for regular shots to synergize with special shots.
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