Vapourware Codexian Game Development Thread

[Destroid]

You didn't even get a TIGsource blogpost, so cold.

 

[Davaris]

It's long, but there's some really cool stuff in there, in particular about user interfaces for developing both media and code that are a more natural process.

That video should be creating a storm in the programming community.

 

[Mastermind]

I keep looking at games that Youtube commentators pick to try, and came to a very clear course of action. I stand behind the gameplay of Dead Colony. It's fun. However, not a single indie review site touched it with a ten-foot pole, because of the graphics.

It hasn't been reviewed ONCE.

So, my goal is a relaunch of the game with upgraded graphics. They will be upgraded to the point where it can no longer be ignored.

Ironically, an earlier port of this game already had enhanced multi-tile walls and realistic blood spatter graphics, but it was an alternate branch of the code - unsalvageable. I need to reintegrate that technology into the current renderer.

I will start with some textures I already have, but may actually end up buying them. Anyone know an affordable website to buy sprites?

(expected reply: "what's a sprite, grandpa?")

How are sales doing? Are you getting more than one a day?

 

[Zed]

if you want your game to get coverage, it will need style, not "better graphics". take that 4 color exploration game for instance. looks gorgeous but that's because of its use of color. I think even I could draw better *sprites*, but to manage a style like that is much harder.

 

[shihonage]

Indeed, I am clueless regarding visual style. For instance, I can't tell if this rendition of "sand level" looks better than it did before, or whether it looks like a misplaced mishmash (ignoring the player char who needs to be radically redrawn):

...and it's hard to discuss with an artist you can't talk person-to-person. I don't know any real artists IRL. The Shelter artist just happens to understand "Fallout" visual style, so we were mostly on the same page from the beginning, but even then it took weeks and weeks to REALLY get on the same page over the Internet.

Perhaps I should shift Dead Colony to pixel art style and have the guy below draw everything for me? I just want to have it look "together" and presentable so it gets taken seriously by a single reviewer...

http://fiverr.com/alex_pang/draw-a-retro-sprite-for-you

 

[tuluse]

Watching your gameplay video, I think a bigger problem than a consistent style is that it looks really confusing. Most of the time I can't tell what's going on. I don't know if this is helpful at all.

 

[shihonage]

Watching your gameplay video, I think a bigger problem than a consistent style is that it looks really confusing. Most of the time I can't tell what's going on. I don't know if this is helpful at all.

It is useful, and this is part of the visual upgrade I am doing now. Too many things were abstracted, now everything will look "what it means" - blood will look like splatter on the ground, water will be a scrolling water texture, corresponding areas will have proper textures and large sprite props lying around (such as old TV screens in the prison).

Guess I'm just gonna proceed and see WTF happens as the end result.

 

[Zed]

some practice art

bikini-troll 2 hot 4 school. portraits:

ladies' body sprites:

 

[Jaesun]

I LOVE you mad SKILLZ Zed <3

 

[Zed]

THAX man.
next up I'm gonna attempt to make a basic tileset of some sort.
my goal is to have a complete mock-up of a game screen.

 

[Zed]

grass is shit to make. luckily, you can get lucky.

this, for instance, tiles very well. it's inspired by legend of mana (I think -- I don't know jrpg game titles), 32x tiles. the colors come from this painting, but I'm considering something a little greener.

also, plain color with some shitty circles makes for a nice "dirt" texture. I think I'll use this effect but to a greater extent to make some sort of non-grass background (for variation):

 

[shihonage]

Preliminary new look for prison and spaceship levels. Still needs new player sprites, new doors and better "cutting off" of walls.

Also may still be changed for retro pixely look if the current artist makes something amazing.

 

[Jaesun]

That is starting to look really sweet.

 

[shihonage]

Thanks, guys I think my ulcer heals a little after every bit of progress in the right direction

 

[Cosmo]

I think the new graphics call for a top-down character à la Alien Breed now...

 

[barker_s]

It's not really a game, but I thought I'd share with you guys some screenshots of my procedural level generation apps that I've created for my master's thesis few months ago.

 

[Goliath]

I really like those dungeon-style level maps.

 

[tiagocc0]

Or maybe license it? It would really speed up the process of making games like this.

 

[barker_s]

Thanks guys, glad you like it.

Or maybe license it? It would really speed up the process of making games like this.

I've actually been thinking about selling that dungeon-generator-thingy. Unity's got a great feature called the Asset Store, where you can sell your scripts, models, sounds... basically everything that helps other game developers and you get 70% cut out of the deal. I'd have to basically rewrite it first though, since I had a pretty tight schedule while working with it and my code ended up being pretty messy . I'd also have to improve it a bit and integrate it with Unity UI to justify the price, but hell, I think it's worth the shot.

 

[Destroid]

That dungeon generator is nice, would be great for roguelikes, which is especially relevant since more people are trying to make them with Unity and finding that there are few resources to assist them. There were a few Unity entries into this years 7drl challenge just a few weeks past, but not of them really amounted to much notable.

 

[shihonage]

That dungeon generator looks pretty f. cool.

 

[Zed]

work work
I have no idea what this is, don't ask

looks like this when running it. I don't know what it is. but I like my 3 color 32x tileset. well the walls are 3 colors. floor is 3 and shares 1 color with the walls. I like how the floor tiles.

 

[tiagocc0]

man, I love these graphics!

 

[Severian Silk]

Pics are dead...

 

[Jaesun]

Which ones? Everything on the last page loads fine for me.