Vapourware Codexian Game Development Thread

[The Avatar]

I made a goblin.

 

[Nathaniel3W]

I made a goblin.

Looks pretty good. I think you could turn up the specularity on his eyes and teeth, and maybe turn it down a bit on his skin. Are his ears translucent with subsurface scattering? If so, that's pretty awesome. If not, then how did you get the dark shadows everywhere but his ear? What did you make him in?

 

[The Avatar]

I made a goblin.

Looks pretty good. I think you could turn up the specularity on his eyes and teeth, and maybe turn it down a bit on his skin. Are his ears translucent with subsurface scattering? If so, that's pretty awesome. If not, then how did you get the dark shadows everywhere but his ear? What did you make him in?

Yup, its using subsurface profile shading in Unreal 4. Made in zbrush and substance painter. Still playing with the material. I just realize that the one eye is messed up because the uvs need to be flipped.

Now I just need to rig and make explodey.

 

[Agesilaus]

Has anyone here used Arcisy? http://store.steampowered.com/app/388600/articydraft_3__Flex_License/

I am not going to use it for my current project, but it caught my eye. It looks like they're trying to merge it with Unity, but I use Game Maker Studio right now.

For those of you who do use GMS, any advice or tools for creating dialogue? I finished my turn-based combat system, and now I need to create the overworld exploration system. Basically, I will have a number of overworld maps where you can move your character piece around. When an event occurs, a very large dialogue box should open up (or, I will just make a dialogue screen). Then, the dialogue box system can change variables and send the player back to the combat or overworld system.

I have a main menu and I know how to make end of chapter slides, so that should be it in terms of fundamental design.

I saw this: https://forum.yoyogames.com/index.php?threads/easy-branching-dialogue-system.707/ but haven't watched it yet; don't want to get too side-tracked right now.

 

[Davaris]

Has anyone here used Arcisy? http://store.steampowered.com/app/388600/articydraft_3__Flex_License/

I am not going to use it for my current project, but it caught my eye. It looks like they're trying to merge it with Unity, but I use Game Maker Studio right now.

Oh yeah... The Articy editor is really nice. Feels like riding in a big black limousine to the Oscars.

The downside is you have to buy the libraries to integrate it into your game engine. I think they sell them for Unity cheaply, not sure. I tried using them in C++ but couldn't get anything done. C# was a lot easier to work with. Unfortunately the editors are Windows only, unless that has changed. I really like the concept though. Make your games in Articy and put them in any engine of your choosing. If the editor was cross platform, I would still be using it.

 

[Russia is over. The end.]

I sell a certain dialogue plugin somewhere and I get a lot of whine from people who wrote all their game dialogues in articy and now can't port it into the game, and so they run around various threads asking plugin creators to make their plugins articy-compatible. That's my experience with this software. Make sure it works with your engine before deciding to work with it.

 

[Davaris]

I sell a certain dialogue plugin somewhere and I get a lot of whine from people who wrote all their game dialogues in articy and now can't port it into the game, and so they run around various threads asking plugin creators to make their plugins articy compatible. That's my experience with this software. Make sure it works with your engine before deciding to work with it.

Yes, Articy support for their library is awful. You ask a question and wait weeks for a reply. I don't understand what is going on over there. Perhaps they can't afford to pay people to do it? If they got their asses in gear and integrated it into the main game engines, they would take over the market. Its the only thing preventing them from becoming a smashing success IMO. Well that and the editor is Windows only.

 

[Rhuantavan]

I say stay away from 3rd party software with bad support. Hell, even stay away from 3rd party software with great support (such as assets from the asset store for Unity).

 

[Davaris]

I would have disagreed with you a couple of years ago. Not any more. Learned the hard way.

 

[Nathaniel3W]

Has anyone here used Arcisy? http://store.steampowered.com/app/388600/articydraft_3__Flex_License/

I've seen Articy Draft and I've recommended it to people who ended up using it and loving it. I've never tried it myself. It would be awesome if I could design a whole game with it and then import it into my engine of choice. But I think importing it for my current project would take more work than just writing out all of the interactions by hand. Still, it might be fun to try out just to help me plan out the story.

As for the Unity Asset Store, I don't even use Unity, but I still love the Asset Store. If you need a sound effect or an icon or something like that, you can go to the Asset Store and buy it. Or you can spend 10x as much in opportunity cost to make that stuff yourself.

 

[Agesilaus]

Looking for some advice on my current project.

Here's what I have so far:

- Over-world map where the player moves round in real time. If you click an event tile (or walk over it), it will make something happen (such as teleporting you to a combat grid).

- Turn-based combat system on a grid. Features melee and ranged attacks, and a basic magic system (aoe attack, poison, buffs/debuffs). Terrain includes rubble that slows movement, and walls/river that block movement.

Next steps:

- Dialogue system that allows branching conversations. It will change variables and teleport you when necessary.

- Inventory screen.


When that is done, my complete game would look like this:

Start a new game, appear in the Troezen overworld map.

Visit locations (such as the home location shown). Dialogue window will pop up, something will happen (conversation, combat, trade, whatever), and the clock will be put forward an hour.

After enough hours have passed, you get sent to boss location and then move to the next town. It is not possible to do everything in one play-through.

---------------------------------------------------------

At that point, I will have the framework of a complete game, right? The remaining work would largely be (a) writing, (b) artwork, and (c) music.

Is that the point where I start loosening the purse strings and try to find myself a decent pixel artist and impoverished musician? Does anyone here have experience buying these assets, and what sort of budget should I have for such a project? The art you see in the game right now was made by yours truly, and it sucks horribly.

Also, any advice on the best tile resolution? The character image on my overworld map is 64 x 64, and my combat screen tiles are 32 x 32. I zoomed the combat screen in a lot and made the view track the cursor because 32x32 is way too tiny on modern resolutions.

 

[Nathaniel3W]

Congratulations on being mostly done with the engine. But just be aware that when you think you're mostly done, you're probably not actually mostly done. Good luck to you.

Also, in any game, but especially an RPG, content is a HUGE part of making the game.

For pixel art, I can recommend Endymion Games, which did a lot of the sprites for Himeko Sutori. Endymion Games is mostly one guy who does mostly pixel art, but he also can send contract work to a lot of other artists and can get you art in a wide range of styles.

The composer for Himeko Sutori, Kevin Won, is absolutely amazing. If I were to guess I would say that he would probably decline any new work at the moment because he's pretty swamped, but you're welcome to ask him.

The price of pixel art and original music varies widely. For a simple 32x32 icon, you might only need pay $5 or so. For detailed spritesheets, you might have to pay a few hundred bucks. Music might range from about $50 for 60 seconds of simple background music to $150 for 60 seconds of a more complicated multi-instrument composition. You can double those prices for more in-demand composers. Double the prices again if you want to own the copyright entirely (i.e., you can sell the soundtrack separately). Different composers will have different rules for how much music you can commission at a time. If you want an orchestral recording with studio mixing, that will cost a minimum of about $40,000 in the US (in addition to the cost of composing). It could be as low as around $15,000 in parts of Europe, depending on exchange rates, but you would probably want to fly your composer out there to oversee the recording.

Not that anyone on this forum would have this kind of budget, but I just dream about one day getting Shimomura Yoko and Florence and the Machine to work on my soundtrack. And I assume that would cost a few million at least.

 

[Agesilaus]

Thanks! $40k is definitely out of my budget, but several hundred is fine. I want some sound effects that are better than banging cutlery together, and some unobtrusive background tracks (maybe 5 of them).

Content is what I want to start making. This project was initially going to be me writing all the content, and then trying to find someone else to program and do art. I was advised that I had to bring more to the table than just writing; I needed to either program the engine or make the art.

I can't draw for shit, and I have no musical talent, so here I am cobbling together GML code.

 

[Davaris]

Thanks! $40k is definitely out of my budget, but several hundred is fine. I want some sound effects that are better than banging cutlery together, and some unobtrusive background tracks (maybe 5 of them).

Content is what I want to start making. This project was initially going to be me writing all the content, and then trying to find someone else to program and do art. I was advised that I had to bring more to the table than just writing; I needed to either program the engine or make the art.

I can't draw for shit, and I have no musical talent, so here I am cobbling together GML code.

If several hundred is all you have to spend, then you had better learn to make your own art. Top down tiles shouldn't be that difficult, and there's plenty of youtube channels that can show you how. Sound effect libraries are affordable on your budget. I saw a youtube channel recently where the guy said there's a program that can help the non-musical make their own music. I can't remember where that was though.

Here's some channels that teach art techniques:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdxJQFXsxXQ
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxboW7x0jZqFdvMdCFKTMsQ/videos

 

[Agesilaus]

Thanks! $40k is definitely out of my budget, but several hundred is fine. I want some sound effects that are better than banging cutlery together, and some unobtrusive background tracks (maybe 5 of them).

Content is what I want to start making. This project was initially going to be me writing all the content, and then trying to find someone else to program and do art. I was advised that I had to bring more to the table than just writing; I needed to either program the engine or make the art.

I can't draw for shit, and I have no musical talent, so here I am cobbling together GML code.

If several hundred is all you have to spend, then you had better learn to make your own art. Top down tiles shouldn't be that difficult, and there's plenty of youtube channels that can show you how. Sound effect libraries are affordable on your budget. I saw a youtube channel recently where the guy said there's a program that can help the non-musical make their own music. I can't remember where that was though.

Here's some channels that teach art techniques:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdxJQFXsxXQ
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxboW7x0jZqFdvMdCFKTMsQ/videos

I initially thought the pixel art would cost under a $1,000, but apparently that's not realistic. I really hate the idea of doing artwork myself, as it's difficult to overstate how badly I suck at making graphics.

What I might do is have someone produce a minimal amount of pixel art, and then edit those sprites to create variants. It's easy enough in my mind to change a sword into a dagger, etc, on a 32x32 or 64x64 piece of pixel art. If I need ten different character sprites, I only really need 3 or so, because I will just edit them slightly to generate more.

It's the general art style and quality that needs to be made by a competent hand. That alone would be a huge step in my mind.

Does anyone here have a strong opinion on what size top-down pixel art ought to be? It doesn't matter to me right now, and I'd discuss it with any artist to see what they do best, but I'd hate to be further down the road and then suddenly realise that the size different will screw me over.

 

[Davaris]

I really hate the idea of doing artwork myself, as it's difficult to overstate how badly I suck at making graphics.

Its all in your head. Just tell yourself you are good at art and practice.

What I might do is have someone produce a minimal amount of pixel art, and then edit those sprites to create variants. It's easy enough in my mind to change a sword into a dagger, etc, on a 32x32 or 64x64 piece of pixel art. If I need ten different character sprites, I only really need 3 or so, because I will just edit them slightly to generate more.

It's the general art style and quality that needs to be made by a competent hand. That alone would be a huge step in my mind.

If you want a source of art to work with, there's free stuff over here:
https://opengameart.org/

 

[Agesilaus]

I really hate the idea of doing artwork myself, as it's difficult to overstate how badly I suck at making graphics.

Its all in your head. Just tell yourself you are good at art and practice.

What I might do is have someone produce a minimal amount of pixel art, and then edit those sprites to create variants. It's easy enough in my mind to change a sword into a dagger, etc, on a 32x32 or 64x64 piece of pixel art. If I need ten different character sprites, I only really need 3 or so, because I will just edit them slightly to generate more.

It's the general art style and quality that needs to be made by a competent hand. That alone would be a huge step in my mind.

If you want a source of art to work with, there's free stuff over here:
https://opengameart.org/

Some great stuff there; during my original version of the turn-based grid I used some tiles from that site.

Right now the plan is to finish the dialogue system and inventory, finish writing some more content for the first town, and then crib some art to make an alpha demo.

I expect the millions will start rolling in shortly after my next youtube video

 

[decaf]

How to make guns good.

 

[Talby]

Some basic mockup sprites for a project I might do, trying to get the style down.

 

[Nathaniel3W]

Some basic mockup sprites for a project I might do, trying to get the style down.

You definitely have a style going. Keep the style consistent, and have the gameplay match the style, and you'll be fine.

I know this is just a first draft, but some things to keep in mind:

• Keep the lighting direction consistent. The guy with the barbute helmet looks like he's lit from below, like he's holding a candle, whereas everyone else looks top-lit. (Also the shading makes the T look lik like it's something in front of his face and casting a shadow.)
• Keep the perspective consistent. All of the characters and the background items are drawn directly from the side. But the chandelier appears to be drawn from a more isometric perspective.

 

[Lexx]

Added my first caravan run (job) to the game. It was actually easier than I've anticipated...

 

[Mastermind]

Some basic mockup sprites for a project I might do, trying to get the style down.

You definitely have a style going. Keep the style consistent, and have the gameplay match the style, and you'll be fine.

I know this is just a first draft, but some things to keep in mind:

• Keep the lighting direction consistent. The guy with the barbute helmet looks like he's lit from below, like he's holding a candle, whereas everyone else looks top-lit. (Also the shading makes the T look lik like it's something in front of his face and casting a shadow.)
• Keep the perspective consistent. All of the characters and the background items are drawn directly from the side. But the chandelier appears to be drawn from a more isometric perspective.

I disagree with these assessments (except the guy who looks like he's lit from below). Both the T and the chandelier look fine and consistent to me.

 

[Talby]

Some basic mockup sprites for a project I might do, trying to get the style down.

You definitely have a style going. Keep the style consistent, and have the gameplay match the style, and you'll be fine.

I know this is just a first draft, but some things to keep in mind:

• Keep the lighting direction consistent. The guy with the barbute helmet looks like he's lit from below, like he's holding a candle, whereas everyone else looks top-lit. (Also the shading makes the T look lik like it's something in front of his face and casting a shadow.)
• Keep the perspective consistent. All of the characters and the background items are drawn directly from the side. But the chandelier appears to be drawn from a more isometric perspective.

Thanks for the advice, I made the changes you suggested and I think it looks better now.

I also added some doodads to make it look more lively plus a surface area.

Basic premise for the game, you play as a skeleton protecting their crypt from do-gooders.

 

[Rhuantavan]

Basic premise for the game, you play as a skeleton protecting their crypt from do-gooders.

Great stuff, I always wanted to play as a skeleton. <rattle rattle>

 

[xxxCatholicKillahxxx]

That skeleton requires a flamboyant hat though.