Vapourware Codexian Game Development Thread

[Zed]

Hey Zed, check this out: http://www.pixelfor.me/crc/

Cool. I try to blend colors as much as possible though (e.g. use a tiny of blue for shadows).

 

[tiagocc0]

Cool. I try to blend colors as much as possible though (e.g. use a tiny of blue for shadows).

Nice, I kind of like using as few colors as possible, since I'm a newbie and less colors are easier to manage, hehe, I liked this combination, will try to use in the game: http://purpleorangegames.com/team/UI/colorRamp.png

 

[DakaSha]

Yeah, it's working already:

It's the way I wanted for the starmap. Later I will try to port Amit's code to make the planet map.

Looks awesome. Voronoi is also the tits for this shit.

 

[tiagocc0]

Thanks, yeah and there's so much stuff we can do with it.
For some damn reason the background isn't displaying correctly on the mac.

 

[Zed]

Nice, I kind of like using as few colors as possible, since I'm a newbie and less colors are easier to manage, hehe, I liked this combination, will try to use in the game: http://purpleorangegames.com/team/UI/coorRamp.png

I get a 404 on that file.

And, man, who the hell cares about Mac

 

[tiagocc0]

Oh yeah, sorry: http://purpleorangegames.com/team/UI/colorRamp.png
It's all part of my world domination plan, I start with windows, move to mac and linux, so my pc only game will invade the consoles and portables and will inevitably raise the quality bar, soon the masses will cry for a quality game on those unholy machines, finally chaos will reign over!

 

[Vault Dweller]

Yeah, it's working already:

It's the way I wanted for the starmap. Later I will try to port Amit's code to make the planet map.

Looks great, love the style!

 

[Zep Zepo]

Why all the odd shapes instead of a hex grid or some other symmetric type of grid? Is there a reason for that?

Zep--

 

[tiagocc0]

Thanks VD!

In this case the shapes are to define neighbor territories, as to how one will affect another. It won't be used for movement, ships move in straight lines.
Maybe I will put something as if the straight line goes over an enemy territory it will make more lines as to avoid those territories you can't enter.

 

[Zep Zepo]

I need some direction from a half assed idea guy and inspiration from a half assed artist and/or modeler.

Pinging crojipjip.

But seriously, have you considered contributing to an open source project? There are tons of them out there, you can likely find one that strikes your fancy.

After a few trips (hell, almost like an LSD trip) to Prosper's Funhouse....um...NO

I even removed the ping in case I may be invited to the madness!

Zep--

 

[eric__s]

Being away from Non Human for a few months has given me time to reevaluate the soundtrack I've made. For having worked on it nearly 3 years, I don't think it's good enough. There are songs that clearly feel like I made them 3 years ago when I was not nearly as good a musician or experienced with the sound chip I was using. If someone could go through the music I've made and tell me what you dislike, what needs revision, what is out of place, what needs to be replaced entirely and what should be remade, I would really appreciate it. I am looking for harsh criticism and I'm willing to start again from scratch if that's what it takes. I would like this soundtrack to be exceptional and my initial goal was to make one song at least as good as a Turrican or Ys song. I don't feel like this is the case yet.

It uses the YM2151 sound chip, a 16-bit frequency modulation chip from old arcade machines and the x68k computer. It's very similar to the Sega Genesis chip. I used it because Frankie, the dude making the game, wanted chiptunes and I was tired of making NES and Game Boy chiptunes. When we started, FM was very novel and not many western musicians were using it. That's changed now unfortunately!!

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/2957395/Non Human.rar

The first few minutes of this video shows footage of the game from 3 years ago. It's changed quite a bit since then but it could give you an idea of the game this music accompanies.

tear me a new one. thank you!!!!

oh yes this is something i'm doing in my spare time, i'm obviously spending most of my time working on barkley.

 

[tiagocc0]

I'm not a specialist, gosh, I don't know much a about music but here are some thoughts:
I don't like the 'chimp heaven' very much, the beginning is a bit strange then it gets better. I think I'm not a fan of how it sounds, the rhythm is great though.

'Chill' is a bit strange, I don't like how it starts either but it gets a lot better at 0:48.
I loved 'hrt4','gwup','turrican_dsun'.

I liked 'crap_2'.
The end of 'xxddff2' is awesome! At about 1:16.

Will listen to more tracks later.

 

[agentorange]

I was only able to listen to a track or two (because of time). But in the Boss 1 track - I'm not sure how to phrase it exactly without much music lingo knowledge - the underlying drumbeat (the dudududududu part) is a bit monotonous.

 

[DakaSha]

so i pretty much finished my mapengine. Not going to upload to asset store though because a) i would need to add about twice the features which i dont feel liek doing, and dont have time for because of school. b) Id have to make sure my companies taxes and shit are all set and fuck that.. also id have to maintain it for the 5 people that buy it which wouldnt be worth the effort.

Nice to have finished it though.

Started dicking around with libtcod again for now

 

[Destroid]

DakaSha so are you going to open source it then?

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

cboyardee
crap_2 intro reminds a bit of Crusader: No Remorse, which is a good sign.

 

[Mastermind]

Can someone who's paid for art for their games give me an idea regarding how much it costs to pay an artist to do some simple 2d characters/tiles for me?

This is a fairly accurate representation of the level I need (though I'm going for more realistically proportioned characters rather than big headed ones).

 

[tiagocc0]

Try asking this question on www.pixeljoint.com or www.deviantart.com
Also it helps if you can also communicate how big/long is your game going to be or how much art you think you might need even if it's a long shot.

 

[20 Eyes]

Can someone who's paid for art for their games give me an idea regarding how much it costs to pay an artist to do some simple 2d characters/tiles for me?

This is a fairly accurate representation of the level I need (though I'm going for more realistically proportioned characters rather than big headed ones).

What tiagocc0 said. The other big thing is animation. Not everyone that is good with 2D art is good with animation. And it's time-consuming (so expensive). One small decision like giving your character visible equipment upgrades or whatever can multiply the entire art workload. Make sure you have every visual decision (perspective, 4 directions or 6 or 8, ect) of your game worked out before you pay anyone to make you art.

 

[Zed]

you can't make realistic proportions at that resolution, sorry brah.

 

[Mastermind]

Screenshot was for art quality, not resolution. Humanoid characters in my game are 64x64.

 

[Mastermind]

Can someone who's paid for art for their games give me an idea regarding how much it costs to pay an artist to do some simple 2d characters/tiles for me?

This is a fairly accurate representation of the level I need (though I'm going for more realistically proportioned characters rather than big headed ones).

What tiagocc0 said. The other big thing is animation. Not everyone that is good with 2D art is good with animation. And it's time-consuming (so expensive). One small decision like giving your character visible equipment upgrades or whatever can multiply the entire art workload. Make sure you have every visual decision (perspective, 4 directions or 6 or 8, ect) of your game worked out before you pay anyone to make you art.

I'm using a couple of cheesy design gimmicks to seriously reduce the art load for the main character. I mostly need an artist for:
* Some environmental art. I'm pleased with a toxic sewer tileset I made but I'm not at all confident I can make the 7-8 tilesets I need on my own.
* Enemy animations. The MC, which was fairly simple to do gave me quite some trouble and I'm still not entirely pleased. Making something like a sphinx myself is out of the question, I'd need at least a week just to ensure it doesn't come out looking downright Prosperian.

Hmm, Prosperian, that sounds like a good name for a grotesque extradimensional monster.

 

[Niektory]

cboyardee
I don't know crap about music so it might not be of much help.

'chimp heaven' - I don't like the melody at 0:00-0:28 and 0:43-1:12. The rest is good.
'chill' - What tiagocc0 said.
'gwup' - Great. Maybe add some small 'drum fill' at 0:58 and 1:25. Just feels to me something should be there.
'hrt4' - Great.
'pbox' - I like the 0:00-0:24 and 1:15-1:34 parts. The instrument that enters at 0:41 has an annoying sound, might want to tweak it.
'turrican dsun' - Great, especially the beginning. Maybe slightly shorten the middle part (0:35-1:04).
'chandragupta2' - Great beginning and middle parts, the end feels a little repetitive.
'crap 2' - The bass line slightly too repetitive. I like the melody at the end.
'testing2' - Nice wild melody, but the monotonous bass line doesn't fit it.
'xxddff2' - Good. Except the bass line at 0:10-0:36 and 1:37-1:50, feels a bit too 'heavy'.
'gumpy' - Starts good with a nice beat, but the melody after 0:51 is weak.
'rock and bugs 2' - I don't really like it.
'cf' - Good.
'freindly2' - The intro (0:00-0:27) feels a bit weird. Maybe shorten it slightly or tweak the melody. Also, I don't like the 'pitch sliding' used at 1:12-1:32.
'aphid' - Great. Catchy melody and nice flow.
'hgdhbn' - The bass line is somewhat monotonous, could use more variety.
'ultimate sludge2' - I like the second half. First half not so much.

 

[tiagocc0]

Mastermind, this may be a bit too much but they are good advices: http://www.linkedin.com/groups/How-outsource-art-works-129625.S.241713603

How to outsource art works
Many clients and friends often ask me, “we have never outsourced art work before, how should we start?” “What things should I prepare for you(the outsource team)? ”
Here I can share some ideas, hope that would be useful.

I think for a game developer to outsource art works, he can follow the steps:

1.Sort out and make a full list of assets which should be done by the outsource team,. For example, you may decide to outsource all or part of the background images, the animations, UI; And the background images are roughly done in two steps, line art and coloring, you may decide to let the in-house team do the line art, and outsource team do the coloring.
2.Find reference pictures as style/quality guide. Look for pictures of in-game quality, to show the outsource team the art style and quality you need for your game. The reference pictures could be already done pictures in your game, and could be screenshots of other games.
3.Assign technical specifications. For example, if you outsource background images, or UI, you should tell the outsource team the image resolution you need them to delivery. Because the image size affects the labor amount and price.
4.Write down descriptions for each piece of asserts. For example, for a background image, or a UI button. Write what you want, and your ideas.
5.Get a quote. After giving the above #1~4 to the outsource team, you can ask them for a quote. Then you can make a bargain with them. This step is important. Please don’t assign a test, before you get the quote. Chances are the team can deliver nice pictures, but you can’t afford them.
6.Assign a test. After you get a satisfactory quote from the team, you can assign a piece of art of work as a test. It’s best to be a part of your incoming game, it’s the most relevant content for test. During the test, you can watch the team, to see their way of processing things, working speed and above all, the art quality.
7.Proceed to the formal commission. Then if you feel the team is competent for your project, you can sign contract with them and enter formal commission stage.

And during the production phase, there are two concerns I want to add:
1.Whether to give some info of the storyline and game play: No doubt these info would help the art contractors to do things better. Sometimes due to commercial secret concern or other reasons, you would not like to give. Nonetheless, make sure the description and reference for each art piece are clear, that the contractor be able to deliver precisely what you want.
2.When the game is released, share the news with the art contractors. This would give them sense of engagement, and achievement. Next time they will be willing to work with you.

 

[eric__s]

tiagocc0, agentorange, zwanzig_zwoelf, niektory (not sure how to highlight!): thanks very much for the feedback, especially considering how little context I gave. I'm pretty much convinced I need to completely remake the soundtrack now, which is fine and something I'm looking forward to, and I'm going to take your feedback pretty seriously. I guess I'll post periodic updates, but I don't know frequent they'll be, since this is something I work on in my spare time (but think about constantly). Anyway, thanks all.

Also, sorry for the late response. I had to leave town unexpectedly and don't have constant access to computers.