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Pete Devlin



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4th May, 2012 at 04/05/2012 22:50:35 -

Hi

Please help, which of these visual styles is better??

One: Traditional / Cartoony
Image
Two: Artsy / cutout
Image

Thanks gang

 
Game making blog: http://devlininc.wordpress.com
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noPE

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5th May, 2012 at 05/05/2012 03:02:24 -

you aren't really pulling the second one off in that screen. So i would say the first.

 
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Carnivorous id



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5th May, 2012 at 05/05/2012 10:02:51 -

I think the cartoony one looks better.

 


Image
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tetsuya_shino



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5th May, 2012 at 05/05/2012 11:54:29 -

I also think the first one is better also. It fits the theme of your game much better. Or rather, the second doesn't fit at all.

The second one appears to be a real photo, and is very distracting. Using that background would make it very hard to immerse the player in the game.





 
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Lobot



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6th May, 2012 at 06/05/2012 16:19:11 -

I like the first one- maybe with a checker board style in the background. Looks nice

 
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Pete Devlin



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6th May, 2012 at 06/05/2012 22:01:43 -

Wicked, thanks for your feedback! I'll stick with the first and clean it up a bit. I'll try that checker board idea to. Can I ask what you think of my into animation (not finished yet)



 
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tetsuya_shino



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7th May, 2012 at 07/05/2012 08:41:29 -

Well, all mouse controlled aimming games suffer from the 360 degree arm movement, so I won't comment on that.

The running animation kinda bothers me, made worse by different color pant legs/boots. If they are both meant to be grey normally, but you made one darker as if it was in the background.. totally black is much too dark. Er.. now that I look at it again the grey leg is in the background and the black leg is in the foreground...

Can you do me a favor and make an animated gif of his running animation?

 
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Pete Devlin



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7th May, 2012 at 07/05/2012 09:28:48 -


Originally Posted by tetsuya_shino
Well, all mouse controlled aimming games suffer from the 360 degree arm movement, so I won't comment on that.

The running animation kinda bothers me, made worse by different color pant legs/boots. If they are both meant to be grey normally, but you made one darker as if it was in the background.. totally black is much too dark. Er.. now that I look at it again the grey leg is in the background and the black leg is in the foreground...

Can you do me a favor and make an animated gif of his running animation?



Hi, I've never made a gif before but here are the frames (black outline added last night)

Image


 
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tetsuya_shino



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7th May, 2012 at 07/05/2012 15:56:52 -

The coloring of the legs looks much better now. The black outline is a matter of personal taste. But on your guy, it seems to work.

As for the animation frames, I can see the issue now; you could really stand to have a new frame between the 1st and 2nd frames, as well as between the 4th and 5th. In other orders turn this into a 8 frame animation by added two new frames in those places. The idea is to show a kind of transition between those frames too smooth out the animation. If you can do that, it should be better, if not perfect.

The movement of his head during the running was kinda odd to me. I don't think a person's head should be moving at all while running, honestly. A lot of people try to make their character's head move up and down a pixel or two to try give the impressing the character is walking or running. Everyone knows your height appears to change while walking or running... but it has nothing to do with your head.

Think of a cheerleader doing the spilts. Suddenly the location of her head is much lower then it was before. It's all due to her legs. The basic idea is the the wider you spread your legs, the lower your center of gravity.

So rather then bouncing a head up a few pixels, subtract a few pixels from the legs.

But looking at this again you made the head move back and forth... hmm. Well if you were going for the mega man x style 'turning his head while running' thing.. you actually have to animate his head turning. Just moving his head + and - one pixel doesn't give the same effect. But again, I pesonally feel a character's head shouldn't be moving at all unless you are going for something super cartoonish. Just my two cents.

Good luck!


 
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Chris Burrows



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7th May, 2012 at 07/05/2012 17:46:56 -

I don't mind the running animation.

But I do have a problem with the background. It makes no sense. From the original screenshot you posted, I was certain the game was NON-scrolling. The tiled and looping perspective looks very unprofessional, compared to the overall appearance of the rest of your game.

 
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Pete Devlin



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7th May, 2012 at 07/05/2012 20:40:48 -


Originally Posted by Chris Burrows
I don't mind the running animation.

But I do have a problem with the background. It makes no sense. From the original screenshot you posted, I was certain the game was NON-scrolling. The tiled and looping perspective looks very unprofessional, compared to the overall appearance of the rest of your game.



Hi

No, sorry your right, the actual game is single frame and doesn't scroll, just the intro sequence is scrolling but id absolutely need to fix the prior to it going out anyway.

For anyone else who wants to help, how would you suggest a represent the portal holes? I just can't seem to find a look that I really like?

Cheets



 
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Chris Burrows



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8th May, 2012 at 08/05/2012 01:53:53 -

Why is the intro scrolling when the game is not?

 
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Pete Devlin



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8th May, 2012 at 08/05/2012 19:01:43 -


Originally Posted by Chris Burrows
Why is the intro scrolling when the game is not?



It adds a sense of place, drama, reasoning. This is a little flash game so ideally I want to convey the there will be running and jumping. I also want to get the very simple story idea in before the player even presses start so it's setup. For that I need the extra space. Plus it embeds the game within it's own world.

 
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Chris Burrows



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8th May, 2012 at 08/05/2012 21:03:36 -

Cool. So why not make the game scrolling for all those same reasons?

 
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Pete Devlin



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8th May, 2012 at 08/05/2012 22:06:00 -

An well I did try when I started out, by allowing the levels to be bigger but I couldn't get it right because:

1) Although I knew where the character was going to come out, the screen jerks too much. So I tried a panning camera which was much better...
2) but...when casual players tried it they had difficulty keeping track of where the player would come out, and it would take them time to track he movement. It sounds really dramatic but honestly it just turned people off.

If t were a full game type thing then I would stick to the panning camera and bigger levels because the types of people who would play would be ok with that.

If I get chance I'll show you what it looks like in a video.

Thanks for replying btw, it's nice to interact with someone on here. 

Can I trouble you to think about my concept?

So, ahem....in the intro video you get the portal gun. And then you bump into the titles and two options: 

I've never played before, help!
Dude, I totally know what I'm doing!

So if you select the first then there's a little sequence with glados explaining how to shoot and portal jump.

After this, or if you say you know what your doing, glados explains that she wants you dead and before you reach the exit she will randomise the rooms you will play before exiting. She chooses five levels and works out how long it should take to finish. She tells you if you don't make it out then she will blow up the room your in or something to that effect. The the timer starts!

So, why this way? Well it's a flash game so meant it to be quick and have a real pace. It will also tell he player how long is left to try and get them to sit through. Plus, for those wanting to play again or for returning players it's a different challenge each time because quite literally the rooms are randomly chosen from a big list.

No frills, just a good ten minute quick and punchy game, bit of portal jumping and accessible for the majority of people. Stick in some nice cartoony graphics, a simple story and make sure the player can get from loading to playing within a minute without lots of menus.

What do you think?

Edited by Pete Devlin

 
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Chris Burrows



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9th May, 2012 at 09/05/2012 05:15:29 -


For warping across a large scrolling level, you will definitely need a smooth and speedy panning technique.

Something like this: http://www.whenthereisnoroominhellthedeadwalktheearth.com/MMF/portal.mfa 3.3mb

The file is large because of the giant background image, necessary to show how easy one can track the movement and the "unjerkyness" of the transition. I even used your character and box sprites.



 
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Pete Devlin



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10th May, 2012 at 10/05/2012 18:26:26 -

Oh very nice!

I've just tried implementing it, do you think it's clear enough?



Perhaps I'll do a flash version and a TDC version.

Edited by Pete Devlin

 
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Chris Burrows



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10th May, 2012 at 10/05/2012 22:29:41 -

Looks perfect!

 
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Cazra

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11th May, 2012 at 11/05/2012 04:41:03 -

I think it'd be really cool if you did some sort of mode 7 effect with that perspective background there. Like, make the background strafe slowly to either the left or right in mode 7.

 
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Pete Devlin



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24th May, 2012 at 24/05/2012 23:11:28 -

OK, i've decided to get this on finished so i'm commiting to designing one to two rooms each day for the next 30 days so here is room one (graphics still to be finalised).

Image

 
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NostalgicAlgorithms



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25th May, 2012 at 25/05/2012 03:14:12 -

Your game doesn't look bad but I think the background clashes a bit with your main character and objects. Perhaps its just that white tower that's straining my eyes?

 
Image
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Pete Devlin



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25th May, 2012 at 25/05/2012 06:08:13 -


Originally Posted by NostalgicAlgorithms
Your game doesn't look bad but I think the background clashes a bit with your main character and objects. Perhaps its just that white tower that's straining my eyes?



Hi

Yeah point taken, but the portal graphics and some level objects still aren't in the final state but I was worried that while trying to figure out what the should look like I wasn't getting on with finishing it. If anyOne wants to suggest a look for any items please do. I don't even have any music yet but I'm sure I can sort something.

What about this one:
Image

Finally, is anyone interested in playing a build?

Thanks

Edited by Pete Devlin

 
Game making blog: http://devlininc.wordpress.com
Email: devlin.pete@googlemail.com
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Pete Devlin



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27th May, 2012 at 27/05/2012 08:04:18 -

Cheating slightly but here's an update on my main project:
Grenade launcher:

Wall crawlers:

First ever sketch!
Image

 
Game making blog: http://devlininc.wordpress.com
Email: devlin.pete@googlemail.com
Twitter: @PeteDevlin

Pete Devlin



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27th May, 2012 at 27/05/2012 09:28:34 -

Portal graphics updates!

FROM this:
Image
TO this
Image

Edited by Pete Devlin

 
Game making blog: http://devlininc.wordpress.com
Email: devlin.pete@googlemail.com
Twitter: @PeteDevlin
   

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