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Project: Twisted Tower - Chapter 1
Project Started: 19th December, 2010 Last Update: 5th March, 2017
Project Owner: HitmanN Project Members:
Project Type: Dungeon Crawler Platformer Project Progress:

Quick weekend update
Posted 29th Jan 11, by HitmanN  
Just stopping by to drop a new screenshot here.


I've been mostly working on tweaking a lot of small things here and there since last update, but I do have one new enemy to show ya, Cyclopede. Also some other stuff.

Cyclopede
It's big (compared to the previous ones anyways) and fills the role of guarding spots that easily spawn loot. The enemy in question spits toxic goo projectiles in player's general direction, making ranged attacks harder than against most enemies. In close combat they also move about somewhat, so you have to be careful not to get too close. Tricky in tight spaces or when together with other enemies.

Funny thing about that screenshot, those bone piles on each side of the Cyclopede were randomly spawned, and a fairly unlikely placement and combination, but they fit so well with the enemy, kind of like being its lair with bones of hunted prey scattered about. Randomly generated levels are so curious sometimes.

HUD decorations
The HUD looked a bit bare, so I added some decorative plants and leaves on each edge. I like how it turned out, though I'm thinking about adding a bit more variance in the colours. Everything's a bit similar green right now.

Animation enhancements
I doubled the number of frames for the main character's running animation, and added a few extra to falling animation. Hoping to do the same to some others later on as well. Smoother animations are always nice.

Stamina experiments
I've put some basic functions in use for the Stamina bar. What Stamina ultimately does, is affect damage modifier if it drops below 50%. Every percent below 50% is one percent away from the maximum damage modifier for the current equipment. Every time you attack with a physical weapon, or jump, stamina goes down a bit. If you whack enemies too furiously, you'll eventually reach the 50% mark. It takes a bit of work to get there though, so it's really just meant to act as a tiny limitation to long-stretched hack'n slashing, not an obstacle you reach after every fight. When doing nothing (standing, running, crouching), Stamina is restored at a decent speed, so you need not necessarily stop still to take a breather. Just avoid using physical attacks and jumping excessively and you'll be back in full Stamina in a few seconds. Casting spells doesn't consume Stamina currently, so you can do some spellcasting while you wait for Stamina to replenish. Different weapons consume different amounts of Stamina, and in future there will likely be a weight factor for weapons, so you might find a delicious Featherweight Hammer and smack around everyone with it without having to worry about Stamina at all.

That about sums the more interesting stuff added in the past week or so. I'll see if I can post a new trailer again sometime. Probably not doing so very often though, as it's all just time away from the project itself.
Preview


Posted by Shiru 29th January, 2011

Nice monster design. The Cyclopede looks great . The HUD is better like that. You're an artist !


I like how the Stamina is turning. You should show us that with a video

Anyway my friend, good work !
 
Posted by Strife 29th January, 2011



This > The Bubble

Your graphics are so gorgeous. I can't wait to play one of your games.
 
Posted by Rox Flame 29th January, 2011

Those plants look very lush... *wants*
 
Posted by alastair john jack 30th January, 2011

You make a lot of progress quickly, makes me feel bad.
 
Posted by Jason Orme 30th January, 2011

This looks awesome!
 
Posted by HitmanN 30th January, 2011

Thanks again for all the comments.

Strife:
This is actually much closer to what I wanted The Bubble to be like originally. The only difference is that The Bubble was meant to be more story-driven and levels not randomly generated (except for item locations). There's also the fact that when I was still working on The Bubble, I had no idea what I was doing with just about everything. No custom movement, no plans for how to store level data... looking back at it now, it was a nice idea, with terrible initial execution. ; Now I have custom movements, know about fastloops, have a level segment editor, plans about data storage... I actually have an idea about where I'm going, and how I should be able to get there.

alastair john jack:
It just means I have too much free time. Or at least more than on average.
 
Posted by Strife 31st January, 2011

That's great to hear, Hitman. Does this mean that you'll discontinue The Bubble, or will you just put it on the backburner for now while you work on Twisted Tower?

Also, with regards to too much free time: I must admit that I have some negative experiences with starting a lot of big projects at once. ^^; I think I fell into that trap when I started working on Paper Kart, Super Ecksdee Panic and Christmas Time Heroes at the same time. I find that long as you focus exclusively on one project at a time, you should be able to pump out games at a decent pace while still keeping your interest fresh, because you can use your excitement about continuing your other projects to motivate yourself to finish the current one (if that makes sense).
 
Posted by HitmanN 31st January, 2011

The Bubble is indeed currently discontinued. I haven't worked on it for like... almost a year or something. However, some day I might consider restarting The Bubble project and doing it on the engine I made for Twisted Tower.

I find working on multiple projects at a time to be a distraction too. ^^; The longer I work on something different, the more likely it is that I lose motivation to work on the older projects again. That's why I've pretty much dropped all other projects, and am working on Twisted Tower exclusively. Once I have the basic functions done (all attack types, movement, stats, etc), it's easier to take breaks from the development. Most of the work that is left at that point is adding graphics and small events and behaviours. I don't need to remind myself how the whole thing was built to be able to continue working on it. That's what I'm aiming for currently. Finishing the basic functions as soon as possible, so that I can focus more on the visual content.
 
Posted by Mark McCauley 31st January, 2011

exhalt to god, how great thou art
 


 



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