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Kensei
01-05-2008, 11:30 PM
After a random discussion with disleksia yesterday night, I have decided to throw this game idea in the mix and let you guys stew about it until I am settled in London and can actually attempt it myself.

Here is the concept, in very rough draft.

I have not decided whether this will be more a platform/Action game (such as any side scrolling platform with a dash of Double Dragon) or a beat'em up (which would require more work on combos)

All I know is who the bosses are in the game... and as you may have guessed, it is our own admins on the forum :D

Depending on time there are three bosses I have thought about, with the chance of more 'secret' ones :D

So here are the character designs:

Brazed: 'cause we all love our hawt dragon, I am thinking a flame war... literally :D
I am thinking a traditional battle where you need to neutralize his awesome flames (and repel his amassed groupies) using ice or water or something.

Azimuth: The almighty guitar heroine. This boss battle will be either a battle of words (i.e. finding the definition of a word before her) or a case of 'is-it a real word or not' or, since we love it so much - a rudimentary guitar hero face off

Miktar: Our kind and benevolent dragontaur :D The boss attack will be his constant hurling of insults, mainly of the derogatory word 'Junior' There may be a chance that he transforms into the dangerous Bowser (slightly altered as not to incur copyright issues)


Thoughts? Ideas? Am I being stupid?
basic tech demo (http://www.gamedev.za.net/filecloset/download.php?id=521)
Bottle battle, mark 1 (http://www.gamedev.za.net/filecloset/download.php?id=524)

Cyberninja
02-05-2008, 01:30 AM
Hehe. I planned something similar. A two player fighting game starring the Nagsters. :D Haven't had much time to work on it though. =[

I'm really keen to see where you take this. :)

dislekcia
02-05-2008, 03:50 AM
The final boss is gay!

-D

Higushi
02-05-2008, 12:10 PM
Sounds like a good idea to me. Now I wonder what their minions would be? Die-hard, post-counting, admin worshipping forum goers? :)

I really enjoy a good platformer, so that would be my way of doing this, but a fighter type would do great for it as well. I like the unconventional method of defeating some of the bosses (Word definitions, guitar hero face off), it gives them more character, and I think more of these should be added (as appropriate for each admin).

Oeaks
04-05-2008, 03:46 PM
That sounds so awesome. I would love to play a game like that.

R4mzy
05-05-2008, 07:13 PM
Damn, that sounds awesome.

Gogo!

Thaumaturge
06-05-2008, 12:32 PM
A good idea, I believe, Kensei. ^_^

Hmm... I'm not sure of what minions you might use for the admins that you mention, a few exceptions aside; at least some of what ideas do come to mind seem to me a little forced. :/

On the other hand, a one-on-one fighter probably calls for more work, in the creation and implementation of various powers (and perhaps styles).

That said, I, personally, think that a one-on-one fighter sounds more interesting - it seems to me to allow for more unique characters, and thus more representation of the people and characters on the forum.

I don't think that a one-on-one fighter would as easily allow for the boss battles that you describe, however, which do sound interesting...

Bonezmann
08-05-2008, 10:54 AM
If someone could design and make the sprites, I can make a prototype if you want.

Cloud_Ratha
08-05-2008, 10:58 AM
I could probably mod a cool brazed dragon sprite... But knowing what you want the dragon to be able to do is what i need to know first... What other characters have you thought of?

Bonezmann
08-05-2008, 11:11 AM
See kensei's first post for the bosses. As for the rest, we should choose members which can be easily assosiated like for example: Fire cat, wisp etc. or members with easily associated avatars like for Example: Disleckia could be a ninja, Thaumaturge could be a mage etc.

But we'll need minions as well, I'll leave that to you :)

Cloud_Ratha
08-05-2008, 11:16 AM
I meant like what the characters will do! Like is brazed a giant dragon that doesn move that shoots fire. Or is it a mid ranged jumping flying fire breathing demon dragon? Making miktar wouldn be too hard... Just need some supa strikers sprites and some cute dinosaurs... ;)

Bonezmann
08-05-2008, 11:42 AM
Uhm... you choose and let me know :)

Cloud_Ratha
08-05-2008, 11:49 AM
Ha ha i dont think its up to me. Its not my game... But ill make what i think would be cool...

Bonezmann
08-05-2008, 11:55 AM
You're right, the game is all of our's, not just you or me :)


Anyone can contribute ;)

Kensei
08-05-2008, 12:21 PM
See kensei's first post for the bosses. As for the rest, we should choose members which can be easily assosiated like for example: Fire cat, wisp etc. or members with easily associated avatars like for Example: Disleckia could be a ninja, Thaumaturge could be a mage etc.

But we'll need minions as well, I'll leave that to you :)

Wait. What? :/

Firecat? dislekcia? wisp?

Not to destroy your immense egos but I am not having every single NAG forumite in this game :D

In case you didn't see, I was specifically including the moderators as bosses because that is what they are on the forums - BOSSES.

Diehard forumites might be a plan, perhaps hoards of them like Alien Shooter...

Lessee what sprites you can create guys ;)

Edit:

You're right, the game is all of our's, not just you or me :)

Anyone can contribute ;)

*cough* To be 100% accurate, this game still remains the intellectual property of me, myself and I - between us three, we agreed to put this idea on the forums to see what ideas you all have but, at the risk of sounding mean, this game is still mine :D

You can be an 'Assistant Producer' [I wonder how many people can name where that joke comes from]

Cloud_Ratha
08-05-2008, 12:24 PM
After work ill spam for some inspiration... What this space 0_0

Bonezmann
08-05-2008, 12:28 PM
cough* To be 100% accurate, this game still remains the intellectual property of me, myself and I

Oh, sorry. I didn't realise that :)

Well, it wouldn't be much of a NAG forum game if we only have admins there now would it? I suggest we use some of the members here as playable characters maybe. I mean who's going to want to wage battle against Brazed as a knight? Seriously ;)

Chippit
08-05-2008, 12:38 PM
I wonder if we can still find those old sprites that a forumite made (Ajust?) for something like this long ago. We had quite a collection.

Kensei
08-05-2008, 03:05 PM
Oh, sorry. I didn't realise that :)

Well, it wouldn't be much of a NAG forum game if we only have admins there now would it? I suggest we use some of the members here as playable characters maybe. I mean who's going to want to wage battle against Brazed as a knight? Seriously ;)

I appreciate the ideas, Bonezman, by all means keep them coming.
I wanted to add, but forgot, that I am trying to avoid dreaded scope creep. It will be awesome to have more than the original ones I mentioned - but I want to get a working model of the basic game first before adding more creatures


I need sprites for Brazed (dragon of sorts), Miktar (perhaps a bowser looklike or a pixalized version of one of his drawings), Azimuth (easy, a purple tentacle -possibly with a guitar)

As for secret ones, I will have to think about that ;)

Bonezmann
08-05-2008, 03:21 PM
I appreciate the ideas, Bonezman, by all means keep them coming.
I wanted to add, but forgot, that I am trying to avoid dreaded scope creep. It will be awesome to have more than the original ones I mentioned - but I want to get a working model of the basic game first before adding more creatures


I need sprites for Brazed (dragon of sorts), Miktar (perhaps a bowser looklike or a pixalized version of one of his drawings), Azimuth (easy, a purple tentacle -possibly with a guitar)

As for secret ones, I will have to think about that ;)

I you can bet they'll be comin :D I'm good with ideas and such, but don't ask me to draw sprites ;)

Thaumaturge
08-05-2008, 04:05 PM
Perhaps, instead of either having an unrelated player character or a selection of forumites from which to choose, the player character could be a "new forumite", who has recently joined.

Perhaps, if you're willing to take on the extra work that it would doubtless involve, you could provide a little bit of "build your own forumite" functionality, offering a handful of options (two or three each of arm types, body types, head types and leg types, perhaps) in the vein of Designasaurus 2. (Ah, the memories... ^_^)

Naturally, I suggest that the latter suggestion should probably go along with the player providing a name for this "Lego-forumite".


... I am not having every single NAG forumite in this game

Aaww... but it's only a ton of work... ;P


Azimuth ...possibly with a guitar

What do you mean "possibly"? ;P

Kensei
08-05-2008, 04:15 PM
Perhaps, instead of either having an unrelated player character or a selection of forumites from which to choose, the player character could be a "new forumite", who has recently joined.

Perhaps, if you're willing to take on the extra work that it would doubtless involve, you could provide a little bit of "build your own forumite" functionality, offering a handful of options (two or three each of arm types, body types, head types and leg types, perhaps) in the vein of Designasaurus 2. (Ah, the memories... ^_^)

Naturally, I suggest that the latter suggestion should probably go along with the player providing a name for this "Lego-forumite".

:: puts on her tinfoil hat::
Stop reading my mind you evil Earthborn!! Stoppit... didn't your mom teach you NOT to read minds!!!

:D

Yes, I was about to post the same type of thing before I read your post. A design your own forumite would be cool - for the moment I am thinking just a name.
I can incorporate a character design page later.


What do you mean "possibly"? ;P

Well, depends if I find someone who can draw a purple tentacle with a guitar.

To the Avatars thread!!!

Thaumaturge
08-05-2008, 04:56 PM
Yes, I was about to post the same type of thing before I read your post. A design your own forumite would be cool - for the moment I am thinking just a name.
I can incorporate a character design page later.

Fair enough.

Hmm... Perhaps you could find or create a leet-name generation algorithm and provide the option to generate a name automatically.


:: puts on her tinfoil hat::
Stop reading my mind you evil Earthborn!! Stoppit... didn't your mom teach you NOT to read minds!!!

:D

No. :P

And I'm afraid that, since my powers are magical in nature, rather than truly psychic, your tinfoil hat is of little use... *steeples his fingers* Heheheh hahaha MWAHAHAHAHAHA!! ;P

Cyberninja
08-05-2008, 05:42 PM
It's true.

Thaumaturge's mind reading powers are very real. 0.0

Cloud_Ratha
08-05-2008, 06:01 PM
Iv started a brazed sprite, so far its looking good....
he can fly (duh), jump, get hurt, die, bite, tail whip, and breathe fire all over your face! (literally all over your face)

Hey Thaumaturge! what am i thinking?
Pswuuuuuu uuuu uuu uuu

I reckon i could do a purple tentacle with a guitar :D

EDIT: Kensei is that what your looking for in the sprite?

EyeBall
08-05-2008, 06:16 PM
You know I get ideas often, I would not just throw up a service in creating a whole game for NAG, as it takes me years, you might get a screensaver out of me, like a Bionic NAG making machine, like a print press, that shows the process of making the mag, I think If you have a free service you need simpler Ideas.

However, I have just finnished work on a torus pyramid engine, that could make a nice base for more infinate games, and not just random ones, but mapped ones.

Also, I would not go with platform, I would go with 3D, or pure particle 3D, some GLSL shaders, etc, I recon big boys need som big g'uns...

...
:.:Nicholas Nel...

To miktar and all the ops here, Im sure having a game about yourself is a wet dream...

let alone someone willing to do it for free

Thaumaturge
08-05-2008, 06:34 PM
I'm curious - what do you mean by "pure particle 3D"? An engine that has no "solid" geometry, only particles, presumably interacting? That might be interesting, depending on what was done with it...

That said, I suspect that while 3D might look nice, the 2D approach might well be more appropriate here, and would probably call for less work.


Hey Thaumaturge! what am i thinking?
Pswuuuuuu uuuu uuu uuu

*peeks into Cloud Ratha's mind* Eeuugh - I am not going in there. *hides behind one of Kensei's memories* :P

Cloud_Ratha
08-05-2008, 06:40 PM
To miktar and all the ops here, Im sure having a game about yourself is a wet dream...

let alone someone willing to do it for free

Dude your quite annoying... unlike you and your games that take you years to get nowhere, we enjoy making games (and all the jazz) for fun and experience!

O and you forgot Yours professionally


*peeks into Cloud Ratha's mind* Eeuugh - I am not going in there. *hides behind one of Kensei's memories* :P

Haha you know you love it :D

Kensei
08-05-2008, 06:53 PM
EDIT: Kensei is that what your looking for in the sprite?

Yup, that's what I am asking for :D

For Azimuth's one is the obvious strumming of a guitar, possibly laughing at your inept guitar skills and obviously dying :D

Thanks Cloud Ratha, I appreciate it - as my skills with graphics are severely hampered (no Photoshop... only MS Paint)


To miktar and all the ops here, Im sure having a game about yourself is a wet dream...

let alone someone willing to do it for free

I don't mean to sound rude, Eyeball, but this is not a platform for venting your dislike for NAG. If you want to contribute ideas, go ahead, just don't post crap that lends nothing to the topic except show you don't like NAG. (I will forgive CyberNinja because he usually posts good stuff)

I am not creating this as a favour to NAG or to get to meet all the moderators like a stupid fangirl (in fact, apart from Azimuth, I have met the mods of this forum)
I am creating it because it was a cool idea... the boss characters could easily be replaced with a non-related NAG character

Cloud_Ratha
08-05-2008, 07:20 PM
My photoshop died ages ago. Im using ms paint. Its a mess but having a big screen helps a lot... It'll take me a while with brazed...

Cloud_Ratha
09-05-2008, 11:16 AM
Seeing as no one can verify the legality of using modified ripped sprites, im just going to have to do them from scratch... If anyone knows legal info on sprites let me know! Kthnxs

EDIT: Have you decided if this is a sidescrolling platform?

Kensei
09-05-2008, 12:01 PM
Yes, it is mainly a side scrolling platformer - the boss battles will be different though ^_^

Cloud_Ratha
09-05-2008, 12:07 PM
Are the mods playable characters or bosses... if they are bosses how does this affect the game? like what happens in a boss fight?

Kensei
09-05-2008, 01:30 PM
They are bosses.

Read the first post again.

Brazed - traditional sidescrolling boss fight with lots of jumping and avoiding flame attacks

Miktar - same sort of thing.

Azimuth - will be stationary, maybe animated sprite, as you do a guitar hero battle against her

Bonezmann
09-05-2008, 02:05 PM
I have an idea on the Azimuth battle. Instead of playing the Frets, how about needing to jump on some of them to build up a bar or something and when the bar is full, damage is dealt. The look could be like the boss level of the old NES contra level2. If you know what I mean.

dislekcia
09-05-2008, 02:12 PM
Kensei, I think you need to do a more detailed design doc on this idea for the people that want to collaborate on it.

-D

Cloud_Ratha
09-05-2008, 04:26 PM
I think Dislekcia is right.... but in the meanwhile i started on brazed from the beginning... this is what iv done so far

http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg120/Cloud_Ratha/Brazed_head.jpg

Comments plz :D

EDIT: The rest of the Dragon is coming :D

Bonezmann
09-05-2008, 04:43 PM
Wow, it looks great cloud! Can't wait to see the rest.

Cyberninja
09-05-2008, 04:44 PM
I think Dislekcia is right.... but in the meanwhile i started on brazed from the beginning... this is what iv done so far

http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg120/Cloud_Ratha/Brazed_head.jpg

Comments plz :D

EDIT: The rest of the Dragon is coming :D

That. Looks. Awesome.

Nicely done. =]

Cloud_Ratha
09-05-2008, 04:46 PM
Took me forever... i ruined it the first time round... made it to big... i wish i had photoshop working! im gonna draw the body now! monday exams mean nothing to me :D

I <3 Ms Paint

Thaumaturge
09-05-2008, 05:06 PM
It looks nice, Cloud_Ratha - good work! ^_^

I'm not sure what Brazed's dragon is supposed to look like, so I have little to offer there, I'm afraid, but I do like the cartoon-like style that you're using. It works well, I think. ^_^

PS: If you don't have Photoshop, and want to use something other than Paint, have you considered using the GIMP (http://www.gimp.org/)? I've gathered that some don't like it - and I do think that it has its flaws - but it has worked well for me thus far. ^_^

Cloud_Ratha
09-05-2008, 05:16 PM
yeah i asked brazed if he had a better pic of his profile to use for the pic, that or i sucked thumb! so i sucked rather hard! Iv heard of GIMP but paint is good enough for me... (its already on my pc :D)

Progress: Just finished drawing the body... ill post something rough... its very plain so i need like some ideas...

Bonezmann
09-05-2008, 05:21 PM
I'd be happy if you post the body before 6pm. I don't wanna wait till monday, but don't mind me post it when you're ready :D

btw, where can I get a tutorial to make a sidescroller? I've checked yoyo.com and they only have that 1942 scroller tutorial and the resources thread doesn't have links to game maker tutorials. Thanx

Cloud_Ratha
09-05-2008, 06:01 PM
Well this is the basic body line out... need help with the wings, tail, talons, and pretty much anything else :D Thanks

http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg120/Cloud_Ratha/brazed_body.jpg

O and btw this is my first sprite ever....

EDIT: when i have this frame finished then i should be able to do the rest on my own :D

Kensei
09-05-2008, 06:51 PM
Kensei, I think you need to do a more detailed design doc on this idea for the people that want to collaborate on it.

-D
Will do... as soon as I get over this caffeine high :D


I'd be happy if you post the body before 6pm. I don't wanna wait till monday, but don't mind me post it when you're ready :D

btw, where can I get a tutorial to make a sidescroller? I've checked yoyo.com and they only have that 1942 scroller tutorial and the resources thread doesn't have links to game maker tutorials. Thanx

eh? Tutorial Platform Games (http://www.yoyogames.com/make/tutorials)

Cloud_Ratha
09-05-2008, 07:37 PM
Kensei? Um did u notice any of my posts? ;)

Kensei
09-05-2008, 08:10 PM
Kensei? Um did u notice any of my posts? ;)

Yes, I did :D

Sorry, I knew I forgot something - damn caffeine highs :P
The image looks amazing :D Hell of a lot better than whatever I tried.

The rest of the body is not as important, if you want you can focus more on the animations, ie firing fireballs :P

Cloud_Ratha
09-05-2008, 08:19 PM
HEHE im doing fire now :) ill finish the body tomorrow... started getting stuff for other characters

do u know what kind of guitar hero guitar azi has?

Bonezmann
10-05-2008, 01:43 AM
Thanx kensei, i figured it out and that dragon looks amazing cloud

Cloud_Ratha
10-05-2008, 09:57 AM
But for me thats ur average dragon... I need some help how to make it more brazed? Iv started azi as well... A huge tentacal with a guitar hero guitar :D

Tr00jg
10-05-2008, 12:15 PM
I wonder if we can still find those old sprites that a forumite made (Ajust?) for something like this long ago. We had quite a collection.

Still have it. Yes, it was Ajust. His idea was to make like a virtual NAG world with mini-games and to just chat in it. Something like that.

http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/4416/vnagtr00jghm2.png (http://imageshack.us)
http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/4416/vnagtr00jghm2.c3a69e0823.jpg (http://g.imageshack.us/g.php?h=206&i=vnagtr00jghm2.png)

P.S. My old ava.

Bonezmann
10-05-2008, 02:24 PM
Still have it. Yes, it was Ajust. His idea was to make like a virtual NAG world with mini-games and to just chat in it. Something like that.

http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/4416/vnagtr00jghm2.png (http://imageshack.us)
http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/4416/vnagtr00jghm2.c3a69e0823.jpg (http://g.imageshack.us/g.php?h=206&i=vnagtr00jghm2.png)

P.S. My old ava.

thats not a bad idea, what became of it? i cant wait to see what azis going to look like.

Tr00jg
10-05-2008, 05:47 PM
thats not a bad idea, what became of it? i cant wait to see what azis going to look like.

Everyone just mulled about ideas and stuff until it just died down. Nobody wanted to do it. How would you do it in the first place? Game Maker could work...

Kensei
10-05-2008, 08:31 PM
Right, I have been fiddling with the platform tutorial and have created a moving enemy

Not much but its a start :D Tech Demo 1 (http://gamedev.openhazel.co.za/filecloset/data/files/472/nag_arcade10062008.exe)

Thaumaturge
10-05-2008, 09:14 PM
Well, they are indeed walking!

It's a good start, I believe - I noticed no serious problems. ^_^

For some reason, the characters' movement does look a little jerky, but it's not serious, and might just be part of their animation.

Who or what are the little robot-men (for that's what I presume that they are), if I may ask?

Kensei
10-05-2008, 09:48 PM
Who or what are the little robot-men (for that's what I presume that they are), if I may ask?

Those, my dear mindreader, are mindless forumites - driven to destroy our protagonist

Thaumaturge
10-05-2008, 10:04 PM
Aah, of course.

Clearly you managed to hide your thoughts this time. ;)

... Please tell me that you're going to have trolls - in both the monster and the forumite senses of the word. I imagine that they wouldn't show blind obedience towards the bosses - in fact, it might be interesting if they were to attack both the player and the player's opponents, making them both dangerous and potentially useful.

They should, I think, die in flames - perhaps even bearing the possibility of damaging nearby creatures (the player included, of course).


... mindless forumites

My mind-reading spells would be of no use against such! You're not using one as a shield, are you? ;P

Cloud_Ratha
11-05-2008, 07:35 PM
What do you guys think?

http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg120/Cloud_Ratha/Finished_body.png

Before i start animating it, just wanna know if i should change anything?

Thnxs :D

dislekcia
11-05-2008, 08:17 PM
What do you guys think?

http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg120/Cloud_Ratha/Finished_body.png

Before i start animating it, just wanna know if i should change anything?

Thnxs :D

When you animate it, be sure to keep the sprite in pieces. That way you can animate the legs without having to redraw everything, or animate the tail, head, etc. Then those animations can be put together in GM in many more combinations than if you'd drawn everything for each frame. Knowing which pieces to split the sprite into and how to animate them is a skill that takes a bit of practice ;)

Looks good!

-D

Cloud_Ratha
11-05-2008, 08:24 PM
When you animate it, be sure to keep the sprite in pieces. That way you can animate the legs without having to redraw everything, or animate the tail, head, etc. Then those animations can be put together in GM in many more combinations than if you'd drawn everything for each frame. Knowing which pieces to split the sprite into and how to animate them is a skill that takes a bit of practice ;)

Looks good!

-D

Yup! i had to do that with the background limbs! I think that this image will be the hardest... iv got the head, wings, legs, tail seperate... ill have to fiddle with the animations myself to get it 100%

Been sprite researching for the last week! Just finished the flames! wow 0_0

thanks for the heads up and comments :D

Cyberninja
11-05-2008, 08:58 PM
What do you guys think?

http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg120/Cloud_Ratha/Finished_body.png

Before i start animating it, just wanna know if i should change anything?

Thnxs :D

Fantastic! Well done. =]

Cloud_Ratha
11-05-2008, 09:04 PM
Fantastic! Well done. =]

Thanks... :D cant wait to finish it fully...

Swheet

Bonezmann
11-05-2008, 09:37 PM
This was done in paint? BRAVO, its awesome.

Cloud_Ratha
11-05-2008, 09:40 PM
Pencil -> Paper -> Scanner -> Paint = Hours and hours of work....

think this pic took me close on 4 hours but that was finally gettin the right dragon, then brushing up on my paint skillz...

Thaumaturge
11-05-2008, 10:14 PM
It looks very good indeed, Cloud_Ratha - well done! ^_^

Kensei, if you do want to use forum trolls, I have a little elaboration, taking the metaphor further:


Trolls constantly release a short stream of (literal) flames, which damage both the player, any allies that the player might have, and the player's enemies.
Troll attacks cause at least some enemies (mindless forumites especially, I think) to focus on them, rather than the player.
Trolls are healed by all attacks.
Trolls that are not attacked starve slowly, eventually dying.
Despite my previous suggestion, I'm not sure that this should be a fiery death - if fiery deaths are included, then I think that they should happen in only some (randomly-selected) cases. Perhaps it would be better for fiery deaths to be given instead to some manifestation of forumites that take everything personally (including things that are not intended to be so at all).

Kensei
12-05-2008, 12:15 AM
When you animate it, be sure to keep the sprite in pieces. That way you can animate the legs without having to redraw everything, or animate the tail, head, etc. Then those animations can be put together in GM in many more combinations than if you'd drawn everything for each frame. Knowing which pieces to split the sprite into and how to animate them is a skill that takes a bit of practice ;)

Looks good!

-D

Ulp! :/ That is gonna be fun for me to incorporate :| (All help is welcome :D )
Looks really good, Cloud_Ratha :D

@Thaumaturge: Sounds good. Let me just get a basic platformer working before I start implementing rules for a troll. Some of those rules will be harder to do than others :D

Thaumaturge
12-05-2008, 01:49 AM
Fair enough. ^_^

Heh, I know that you said that you don't want to attend to the implementation of a troll creature just yet, but I want to get these thoughts down now, while they're relatively fresh. ^^;

By the way, if being healed by all attacks is one of those more difficult rules, then the solution that I suspect is probably one of the more elegant - especially since it allows for a little extra flexibility in the damage model for all enemies, I would imagine - might be to give all enemies a set of "susceptibilities", one for each damage type (even if you have only one), which act as multipliers for damage taken. For example, a creature with a 0.5 fire susceptibility might take half damage from fire attacks, a creature with 1.5 fire susceptibility would take half again as much damage as was actually given, and - relevantly to our troll - a creature with -1.0 fire susceptibility might gain as much health as the attack carried as damage. ;)

[edit] The following is likely to be a little vague, my knowledge of GameMaker being largely second-hand, but targeting might be handled by giving each creature a "target" object reference (does GameMaker include pointers, or something similar? I seem to think that I've gathered that it does). Depending on the creature type (either involving different versions of the same function or if-statements within a single, larger function, depending on your preference and GameMaker's features), an attack (or perhaps a series of attacks close to each other) could have the creature change its target object to refer to the attacker. If the attacker dies or otherwise disappears, or logic dictates a change of target, the creature defaults back to targeting the player. The creature should, in at least some cases, I would imagine, be created with the player as its target.

Bonezmann
12-05-2008, 12:35 PM
Kensei: Do you want the game to scroll automatically? Or to scroll once the player reaches a certain position on the screen? Also, will there be a story? Or will it just be an arcade game?

Cloud_Ratha
13-05-2008, 01:15 AM
Well here's another update on my sprite: its getting there slowly...

http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg120/Cloud_Ratha/Sheetcomplete.png

im not too sure of the quality due to photobucket... but im sure it should look ok!

if anyone is keen to animate it let me know how it goes!

Thanks

Bonezmann
13-05-2008, 08:59 AM
LOL, "put Hawt dragon here :)"

Cloud_Ratha
13-05-2008, 10:11 AM
Ha ha yeah... Thought it should have some NAG humour in it :D! I know im not finished with brazed but instead of learning iv been doodling all over my notes. There are rocking tentacles everywhere :D! Ill do them up nicely and colour them before i show you guys!

Bonezmann
13-05-2008, 10:20 AM
Hell yeah, can't wait :D

dislekcia
13-05-2008, 12:55 PM
That looks really good! Grats :)

-D

Cloud_Ratha
13-05-2008, 12:57 PM
Yay thanks dislekcia... Im quite proud of it... Not too shabby for my first spite attempt... The tentacles are everywhere now :D

brazed
13-05-2008, 02:28 PM
Hey dude, that looks really great. Well done.

Cloud_Ratha
13-05-2008, 02:31 PM
So its approved then? Yay! Wicked... I tried to base it on your ava, but it was very limiting... Glad you like it... You can download the .PwNaGe file from my sig :D... Not too sure how photobucket works... With file name and size

Kensei
13-05-2008, 05:40 PM
Hey dude, that looks really great. Well done.

Oh noes! Brazed has found the thread!! Its only a matter of time before the others start... start... ::shudder:: paying attention to the Game.Dev area....

Looks brilliant, Cloud_Ratha, I will see if I can do something with it tonight

Cloud_Ratha
13-05-2008, 05:45 PM
Ha ha... K cool kensei... If you run into any problems. I compiled the walking motion myself, each limb individually, and it seemed alright. Let me know how it goes with them all together... Ill start working on the flying next... I have an exam tomorrow :(

Bonezmann
13-05-2008, 05:58 PM
I don't want to sound like your parents, but rather go to sleep early tonight, or make sure you have like twenty alarm clocks to wake you up in time ;)

Kensei
13-05-2008, 06:22 PM
Ha ha... K cool kensei... If you run into any problems. I compiled the walking motion myself, each limb individually, and it seemed alright. Let me know how it goes with them all together... Ill start working on the flying next... I have an exam tomorrow :(

I saw the walking sequence, its a matter of where to start in the sequence :D

You see if I do it from left to right, the dragon will...er.... float :P or jump

Cloud_Ratha
13-05-2008, 06:41 PM
Ah i see that... well kinda starts in the middle... If you had to number the walking sequence from 1 to 5, from left to right, for each limb try :

Front Front Limb/Front Back Limb

3/3
4/2
5/1
1/5
2/4

If that doesn make sense or doesn work just ask ill try make it easier with pictures :)

Kensei
13-05-2008, 07:12 PM
Tada:

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z210/KenseiZA/TestLegs.gif

It has poorer quality because the image is in GIF format - my program can only animate with that :(

I will put the rest of the body now :D

Cloud_Ratha
13-05-2008, 07:17 PM
That looks good... Just need to get the alignment right... But i think it looks good :D

brazed
13-06-2008, 12:59 PM
Any word on progress?

Bonezmann
13-06-2008, 03:50 PM
I'm wondering the same thing here. :)

Kensei
13-06-2008, 04:15 PM
Crap >_<

Sorry guys... I have been so involved with getting my real life sorted out that this project has been on the back burner for a while :(

My creative resources have been used to keep the ship I post on up and running while the lazy guy in charge takes his time picking a new Ship Manager. Hopefully this will be sorted soon...

I'll upload my latest prototype when I get home - its not much, but its something :D

Thaumaturge
16-06-2008, 06:59 PM
I'm sorry to hear that your creative energy is being so sapped - I do hope that the guy in charge of selecting that Ship Manager does so soon, or already has. :/

As to the game, take your time - better taken slow than forced when low on energy. ^_^

Cloud_Ratha
19-06-2008, 03:45 PM
iv actually been tweaking the dragon a bit... got his wings flying :D
but you'll have to redo the entire dragon model :(

brazed
23-06-2008, 03:41 PM
I CAN FLY!

Cloud_Ratha
23-06-2008, 04:19 PM
I CAN FLY!

AND BLOW FIREBALLS!!! :D

Kensei
23-06-2008, 05:03 PM
I'm sorry to hear that your creative energy is being so sapped - I do hope that the guy in charge of selecting that Ship Manager does so soon, or already has. :/

As to the game, take your time - better taken slow than forced when low on energy. ^_^

He finally announced the guy to take over the reins today :P

I apologise for the delays guys, I will be working on the basic platform design hopefully soon - so you will at least have a level to play :D Might need to reteach myself the gaming mechanics behind making a platform game again :(

So Cloud_Ratha, when do we see the new 'flying' version of Brazed? :D

Cloud_Ratha
23-06-2008, 06:53 PM
i just need to tidy the everything up, and make a jumping sprite so it looks normal when he wants to fly :D
so ill keep you guys posted :D

Thaumaturge
27-06-2008, 12:24 AM
He finally announced the guy to take over the reins today :P

... Wow. 0_0

Well, I'm glad that he has, at last, at least. ^^;


I apologise for the delays guys, I will be working on the basic platform design hopefully soon - so you will at least have a level to play

Aah, I'm glad to hear it! I look forward to seeing what turns up. ^_^


Might need to reteach myself the gaming mechanics behind making a platform game again


Are there any that are giving you trouble, if I may ask, or are you getting back into it (or have you gotten back into it) without pitfall?

Kensei
27-06-2008, 12:43 AM
Are there any that are giving you trouble, if I may ask, or are you getting back into it (or have you gotten back into it) without pitfall?

Not really no ;) Its just I tend to get too impatient with the GM tutorials and go off on my own mission creating something and then get stuck because I didn't actually find out how to use views or something silly like that :)

That being said, here is the basic tech demo (http://www.gamedev.za.net/filecloset/download.php?id=521).
It is incredibly buggy and very minimal at the moment - so far you can only fire Right :D

Controls:
Spacebar - fires your weapon
Left = Move left
Right = Move Right
Up = Jump

You are invulnerable at the moment to the 'forumite's attacks.

I will not even begin to list the stuff I need to do on this.
Basically my first goal is to get one level up and working.

Please comment and give input :D

Thaumaturge
27-06-2008, 02:26 AM
*runs unscathed through the forumite ranks* *strikes a Boris-from-Goldeneye pose* I am INVINCIBLE! ;P

It's a good start, I believe, Kensei. ^_^

As you say, there's doubtless plenty of work to be done, but I'm really looking forward to seeing how it progresses. ^_^

The only thing that I think worth mentioning at this stage is that, when jumping in a given direction, if the player lets go of the direction key the character's movement in that direction ceases entirely, which feels a little jarring to me. It might perhaps look and feel better to have the horizontal velocity continue unabated, but allow air-control via further application of the direction keys. Perhaps better yet, however, might be a meeting of the two: have horizontal momentum depend on the relevant key being held, as it is now, but have it decrease while the key is unheld, instead of suddenly ceasing. I think that that system might feel as though the player avatar in consciously producing their momentum, even in the air - which I like, given the setting - without the jarring "physics-less" feeling that this has for me. ^_^



I just found one more thing: if you press fire while moving upwards, you seem to continue moving up - essentially flying. When combined with having the jump key held down, you can apparently jump on either air or your own "posts". ;P




Not really no ;) Its just I tend to get too impatient with the GM tutorials and go off on my own mission creating something and then get stuck because I didn't actually find out how to use views or something silly like that :)


*chuckles* Ahh, I see - I do something similar myself. Going through the proper tutorials can get a little boring, I find, so I sometimes end up striking out myself, taking pieces here and there where they seem appropriate. ;P

Kensei
28-06-2008, 01:48 AM
:D

Ahem, I am proud to present the first version of the 'guitar hero'/press-key-at-right-time boss battle
Controls are simple:
Arrow keys = move your character

As with all my versions, you cannot die, the game restarts at the end of the song.
At the moment the keys are on a single Alarm, but the idea would be that I would have several alarms that go off at different times, giving you a random chance of having to nail combos of 2 buttons... or more :D

Please enjoy and let me know what you think
Boss Battle (http://www.gamedev.za.net/filecloset/download.php?id=524)

Cloud_Ratha
28-06-2008, 05:39 PM
I should have the flying sprite of brazed up here by tonight... its taken me a bit longer than i thought!

i just downloaded the prototypes, besides all the things Thaumaturge mention, i found you could only shoot right... fix it or ill post you :/ ;)

the guitar hero battler reminds me of dance dance revolution! very cool :D

Kensei
30-06-2008, 11:27 AM
no comments from anyone but Cloud_Ratha? :(

Egh, I will work on it some more.

I might scrap the whole levels thing and just have boss battles (I will still need the Brazed dragon though :D )

Bonezmann
30-06-2008, 12:14 PM
imo you should keep the levels, the DDR prototype(I presume) works well enough. For me it's a bit early to give comment worth your while on that. It is a good start though :)

Thaumaturge
02-07-2008, 04:23 AM
no comments from anyone but Cloud_Ratha?

Heh, sorry on my part - I didn't log in for a couple of days. ^^;

As to the Azimuth boss battle demo, it looks like a decent start. ^_^

However, at the moment I don't know how well I'm doing, and have little impression of how the system is reacting to me, beyond the arrows disappearing, so it's a little difficult to give much comment on the system. In particular, I don't know whether I'm at all penalised for button mashing. At the moment it appears that the trick that I used in Fahrenheit works here to some extent: I simply place three fingers and my thumb on the arrow keys and hit them rapidly. It generally doesn't seem to take long for the correct key to be registered, and the arrow disappears. Of course, if hitting the wrong key is penalised, then this should become a rather less viable strategy...

That's all for now, given the development stage, I believe. ^_^

As to having only boss battles, that could work, as long as the boss battles are interesting enough. I think that it would probably help if they were also long (preferably multi-staged). Having standard levels is perhaps safer, however, in that I suspect that it can get away with less attention to the design.

Cloud_Ratha
03-07-2008, 06:40 PM
Little update

http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg120/Cloud_Ratha/Brazedupdate-1.png

Kensei
03-07-2008, 07:04 PM
Dood!!! :D

Looks good, Cloud_Ratha!

Cloud_Ratha
03-07-2008, 07:10 PM
thankzoidz i just need to animate the limbs... but i thought it was a pretty good attempt at the wings :D
glad you like it!

GeometriX
03-07-2008, 07:12 PM
His front legs bend the wrong way. It's freaking me out man. I'd also suggest one more state for his wings coming up, like a bit higher than in the last frame.

Otherwise, it looks cool

Cloud_Ratha
03-07-2008, 07:15 PM
His front legs bend the wrong way. It's freaking me out man. I'd also suggest one more state for his wings coming up, like a bit higher than in the last frame.

Otherwise, it looks cool

Aw **** i left two frames out... ill put them in now...

what do you mean the bend wrong they look average too me

GeometriX
03-07-2008, 07:29 PM
Dude, legs:
http://www.animalsanctuaryuk.com/images/dog-running.jpg

And here, in this very similar picture:
http://www.maceyshouseofhorror.com/dragon_flying.gif

Cloud_Ratha
03-07-2008, 07:34 PM
And here, in this very similar picture:
http://www.maceyshouseofhorror.com/dragon_flying.gif

my bad... i c what you mean...

and what exactly do you mean by "very"?

GeometriX
03-07-2008, 10:01 PM
I mean the resemblance is uncanny, nobody can deny that. I'm not saying you've copied it, just that, you know, it's almost the fricken same.

Take it how you will. If anything, look at at picture and learn from it.

Thaumaturge
05-07-2008, 04:38 AM
It looks good, Cloud_Ratha, the foreleg issue that GeometriX mentioned aside. ^_^

I do also agree that another frame or two at the end of the flying animation might well help.

As to the other dragon, well, they're both dragons of a type that tend to look fairly similar, I think. :P

I believe that I prefer your flapping animation, however, although admittedly I haven't yet seen it in motion.

Afflict
05-07-2008, 08:44 AM
I actually don't see the resemblance other than its a dragon and its flying :P Your animation has much more detail, is much larger and the shading is not even the same. I reckon you did a kick ass job with the animation.

Some crits from my side, the wings seem to be larger in the middle of the animation.

You have simple shading on the inside of the wings yet none on the dragon which should be there from the wings casting shadow on the body.

In the second frame the back wing is completely in shadow... which will not be the case. A tip here I appreciated allot was to always shade the characters as if the light was coming from directly above them. All you arcade fighters did this too, it was a slap forehead moment for me as a pixel artist. :|

In the second last frame i reckon you would see more of the back wing.

In the last frame the curve of the back wing seems odd.

Keep it up, would love to se when you animate the limbs & Body.

Cloud_Ratha
05-07-2008, 12:34 PM
well this was just to get the animation for the wings done...
iv still got to get the body in motion, so the detail on the rest of the body is still to come...
as for the crits ill look into it, thanks for the help!

Bonezmann
12-07-2008, 08:48 AM
*insert Wade from The Strangerhood voice*
Love the cool dragon dewd

Cloud_Ratha
21-07-2008, 09:47 PM
o btw i was thinking that the front legs were right in the sense in which they bend. They are not arms but legs.

like this:
http://www.horse-wallpaper.com/backgrounds/horse-running-beach.jpg

FuzzYspo0N
21-07-2008, 10:12 PM
AHH MY EYES. huge post is huge :P i agree, legs

Cloud_Ratha
22-07-2008, 03:48 AM
Lol i didn even look at the size. Sorry

Thaumaturge
22-07-2008, 04:18 AM
Yes, but note that there are three visible joints there: one just above the hoof, one oriented like a "knee", and one close to the body.

In fact, I believe that the horse's front legs are directly comparable to our arms (and with good reason, I daresay ;)):

Near the body is the "elbow", about halfway down is the "wrist", further down is a joint that roughly corresponds to our "knuckles".

If I'm not much mistaken, the horse effectively walks on its finger- and toe- tips.

Looking at your dragon again, it seems to be missing the "elbow" joint, and has its fingers bending backwards, at least by comparison to a human. o_o