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November 15 (http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=15795.msg456144#msg456144)

DETAILS (Probably outdated, check progress updates above)
A fun little side-project I'm doing just for the hell of it. I talked about this a tiny bit on the irc so some of you might recognize this. In fact I still have your hat ideas saved so don't worry about it ;)

(http://i51.tinypic.com/26404xw.png)

SO here's how it's gonna work, you have this little guy who runs around an empty screen. Every once in a while though ... he will randomly acquire a hat! What do these hats do?

Well, that's where things get interesting. The hats can do literally anything, from looking fashionable to making a weird little minigame pop out of nowhere.

Now, here's where you guys come in. I want you to suggest hats. Go crazy.

No, I'm serious. You can suggest anything and I'll at least attempt it. Here's an example of hats that I want to add:
-A red cap that makes blocks appear. Suddenly you can jump. Hit the blocks to get coins ... or maybe even a mushroom! The catch? Mushrooms make little purple elephants appear that can take away all your coins. If you get a certain amount of coins you win the golden hat!
-A tower of hats that go offscreen. You have to balance them, if they fall the hats die.

Also, hats will stack, so if you get one hat you can get another one too. Right now I'm only doing this for cosmetic ones (Like the stack of hats that can disappear forever) but in the future I might add crafting ...

Yeah, I'm crazy :biglaff: anyway suggest hats plz

ALL HAT IDEAS POSTED ITT
KEY:
Hat ideas I plan to add in the first update
(Others will eventually appear, so don't worry)
This hat is finished

Including names so I can add you to the credits.

(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_G8sGDABUphg/TGE2I8v_XTI/AAAAAAAAACk/ZZargg51_is/s1600/Caps4Sale.jpg)

Have you read this book?

No, but it looks freakin fantastic

It's an old book I remember reading in kindergarten; the story was that this caps salesmen rode around town with all his hats on his head, trying to sell them. Instead they got stolen by monkeys.

Sounds interesting John :)

Anyway, I know this is kinda trivial and I'd probably go with my gut on this kinda thing, but what the hell since I'm making this a community thing I might aswell ask you guys for your input on this.

So, which do you think looks better?
(http://i51.tinypic.com/2rp9x8m.png)

Leaning on the right because it looks a lot better in windowed mode (Which isn't stretched), but the soft palette of the first screen looks better in fullscreen (Game Maker blurs pixels in fullscreen).

Idk, probably gonna go with the right.

Look up ChevyRay's surfaces tutorial. It shows you how to get past the blurry pixels and keep everything crisp.

Yeah, I tried that with my ludum dare entry, and I ran into a lot of weird glitches (Alpha values looked weird, some people getting weird glitches when they shouldn't, etc.) so I've been rather wary about it.

I think at some point I should definitely learn how surfaces work, because that would probably make it 10000x easier to implement :P

To be sure, surfaces aren't supported on a LOT of computers. You have to do a systems check in the Game Start event to see if the computer can/can't use them.

Aesthetically speaking, I like the desaturated one better. Easier on the eyes.

I like left.

Here's some hats!:

Octopus hat - Screen fills with water. You have to get the air bubbles to live!

Fedora - You get a cig at the same time, and have to catch the running crook before he gets off the screen.

Russian furry cap - It's cold! Stay around the brief areas of heat to stay alive.

Pike helm - A line of soldiers appear around you, and you have to stay in line (don't touch them)!

Holy cow, that's awesome Inanimate! I think I'll really quickly add a list of hat ideas to the OP. Also thanks for the feedback John, I really appreciate it.

Tomorrow I want to get a few hats done and probably get the title screen finished.

Fezzes

Team Fortress 2 hat - nothing changes.

I hope you appreciate the time I put into finding this image, just for your thread. (I was thinking about it when you were talking about your game idea in IRC, but couldn't find it at the time.) In fact, I put so much time into finding this image that, rather than risk it being overlooked, I'm going to embed it directly.

Gentlemen, man your scrollbars.

(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4070358/Homestuck/alphasigm4.png)

Fungus ... I am inspired :epileptic:

Car hat
A small car pops up in front of you and you get to run around in it really fast till you find another hat.

Khaydarin Hat (if you don't mind doing a Starcraft ripoff)
A giant blue crystal hat. You gain glowing blades that you can slice endless streams of Zerglings into bits with :)

Metahat
 A hat with a scene of someone wandering around looking for this hat on it. *Cue explosion of universe*

Winged Hat
You can fly now! Good thing, because you're getting shot at from the sides of the screen.

Pyramid Hat
A hat that summons a giant sandstorm that blasts you into atoms slowly, unless you have the Turban Hat

Turban Hat
Protects against a variety of sandstorms. :)

Hat of Cubbins - Self-replicates.
Alternate fedora - Makes you enormously fat and gives you a trenchcoat. Speed significantly lowered.
Great flower hat - Fills the screen with a slowly growing and unfolding garden. Also makes ambient music play - think Knytt and Knytt Stories-type beautiful nature sort of thing.
Viking helmet - You're on a severely rocking ship! The screen sways from left to right, lightning splits the sky, and a man bundled in the heaviest furs and carrying the heaviest hammer roams the bloody seas!
Inverted Cross hat - For all your black metal needs! Huge, imposing, pitch-black and dripping with crosses, pentagrams, bones, and blood!
Pope hat - Sit on a chair and don't move. People come to carry you around and, if you press Z, they bring you randomized treats like cookies, cakes, etc.
Terrifying skullcap - For some reason, this thing just looks nasty. Any NPCs left around from previous hats will scuttle/scamper/jog/mosey away in complete fear, utterly intimidated by the horrid thing. Why even wear something like that, you dweeb?
Candy bar hat - A ridiculously large deluge of candy bars falls from the sky. Soon you're literally swimming in them. You'll never be able to eat all these - better put on another hat.
Snorlax ears - Like bunny ears - just little ears on a flexible, curved stick. You grow hugely fat and gulp down everything you encounter! Sadly, you don't have a lot of control over where you move, being unconscious.
Army hat - With an adorably useless peashooter, you too can serve your country, soldier! Contains mandatory thousand-yard stares, senseless gibbering, and hiding in the trenches that appear on the screen. If you're a real man, you'll go up and shoot! If you're a coward, you take that stupid hat off.
"2000!!!" - Some obnoxious hat from a turn-of-the-century party. It's tacky and ugly and made out of some flimsy paper. Gives you an over-the-top party costume. By pressing Z, you blow a streamer! Confetti rains from the ceiling, music plays, and silhouettes dance around.
Fake liberty spikes - Time to fuck shit up! You get a spray-paint can that lets you tag stuff all over the screen (the background's replaced with an urban wall). Maybe now you can really stick it to the man.
"Other" Pyramid hat - You can't even see with this thing on. Lug around a Giant Knife and stalk people relentlessly, or at least until you can't possibly carry these heavy objects anymore.

And here I was expecting a parody of America's #1 war-themed hat simulator (http://www.teamfortress.com/macupdate/earbuds/), but I guess this is fine too.

Olive branch - sit in a throne and watch two gladiators duke it out. Decide whether the victor lives or dies by going  :handthumbsupL: or  :handthumbsdownL:.

Edit: Some more ideas

Frankenstein hat - Do the monster mash in a DDR minigame.

Top hat + monocle  :gentleman: - Adds a silent film effect and ragtime music for a few seconds.

Beret + cigarette - The screen goes dark, save for a spotlight on the character, and you have to recite some beat poetry.

Hockey mask - Chase some teenagers with a machete.

I really like Peter's idea. In part, this is because it does more than nothing but isn't actually a minigame!

Maybe some kind of straw hat that lets you plant a seed that will slowly grow into a tree over the course of the game.
It will be a hat tree

Graaagh! I had a staggeringly similar idea! Somewhat like Megaman meets the hat.
The concept, however, oughta be a show to see.

Yay, it's TF2 without the main game! :biglaff:
Anyways, here's my ideas.
A bottle of milk - Just a bottle of milk that sits on your head. If you move around too fast, it will fall off and you'll lose it. But, if it hits somebody when it falls, they get milked.
Bunny ears - give you a little more spring in your step.
Cat ears - Less fall damage (if that is included in the game) So not furry.
Vampire - you can sap life from others using this hat. 25 health can be sapped from one player max.
Diaperhead - A diaper on your head, that adds 15+ max health.
So not a ripoff - A hat that looks like it was stolen from TF2, and if you sell a hat to another player while wearing this hat, they will get a totally different hat.

Hatstand Hat: You can stack up to three hats on it. You get the effects of all of them!

We also should think of the hat's rarity, and not just it's feautures. Also, here's moar hats.
The Egg-Laying Hat of Big Boom - 2 in 100 - This hat lays eggs that can explode randomly, leading to the attacked players to drop their hats, where anybody else (or the victim themself) can pick them up.
Big Balogna - 27 in 100 - A hunk of ham as a hat. It makes you twice as heavy as normal, and you can hit people with your fat porky head.
Jack the Circular Lantern - 10 in 100 (HALOWEEN) - A jack-o-lantern head. It can help light your path in the dark, and you can hit somebody with it (but once you use it, it's gone forever!)
The Gift That Sits on Thy Head - 30 in 50 (X-MAS)- A gift that sits on your head. When you hit somebody with it or drop it, it unwraps into a random hat.
The Naughty Gift - 75 in 80 (X-MAS) - A gift that drops coal when you run around too fast.
Also, here's a nice idea.
CRAFTING!
There's backpack sections for two kinds of things, which are craft items and hats. The crafting is more Minecraft-y than TF2, but works mainly the same. As part of a use for the Naughty Gift, coal can be used to make hats with firey or explosive attributes.

Don't forget to have hats that only appear on holidays. And not just special holidays, either, I mean every Saint's feast and archaic Celtic festivals (Samhain mask!) and all. Like a little party hat for New Year's Day (a pointy one, not a crown-like one like my "2000!!!" idea).

Awesome awesome awesome. You guys rock.

Adding to the list; Unfortunately I won't be able to work on the game over the weekend because I'm gonna be away, which really sucks, but I'll try to get things kickstarted next Monday.

I have sympathy for you. I can't wait for the game either. Waaahhh! Wooaahhh! CRY SUM MOOAARRRR! :'(
Adittionally, here's a burst of new hats to add to the game when you're back on the project.
The Trampoline Hat of Teamwork - 90 in 100 - A trampoline that can be worn as a hat. Teamwork sucks sometimes, doesn't it?
The Steampunk Hat of Broccoli - 12 in 500 - Drops steamed broccoli whenever a user presses a special command button. The broccoli replenishes 15+ health.
The Gib Factory - 2 in 100 - Anybody near the wearer will explode, but the recharge takes two minutes, making it less awesome.
There's A Globe on Your Head! - 5 in 30 (EARTH DAY) - A globe that floats above your head, and drops plants every five minutes that can heal up to 10 extra health points for everybody near it.
The Silly Hat - 900 in 1000 - It causes anybody near it to stand still, point, and laugh at the bearer of this hat. Use this hat to your advantage, as you can make anybody an easy target with it.
The Weird Wig - 3 in 10 - A big wig strapped to your head rig. It hasn't much use.
A Crafty Hat - CRAFTING ITEM AND HAT - The first of the few hats you may obtain in Hatsim. It's use is a base for crafting hats of different uses.
CRAFTING ITEMS:
Rubber - rubber material for the bounciest of stuff.
Gunpowder - Used for hats tied to use of explosives. It can also be used in-game as a standard explosive with any hat that uses fire.
Coal - Used for hats tied to burning stuff. Comes from THe Naughty Gift or random drop.
I'm sure you can think of more items and crafting materials.
Also, somebody else had my Bottle of Milk and Rip-off hats when I had came up with them. Fix that plawcks.

(http://www.skullcandy.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/devo_markmothersbaugh.jpg)

Devo hat - you must whip it. I'll let you decide what "it" is.

Edit: Upon recalling how that music video actually went, the clothes off of a woman would be an acceptable "it" but I will not be disappointed if you choose otherwise.

holditthar
ROBLOX *coughcoughsobadcough* got sued for making Devo hat! Maybe they'll be more lenient on the true indies, but let's see how things pull out.
But if Hatsim ends up shoveling out crappy hats from pure crap like "Crocheted Cthulu" to trademarked stuff with slight changes, I'd slap you silly.
Anyways, is Hatsim getting networking features? Trading and selling hats and crafting more would be SO fun wih others! Have you thought of a good name? Hat Simulator sounds rather off-putting. Hatsim sounds good, but what you'd like is what I'd like.

The Sneaker - A cardboard box. Makes you walk slower.
Umbrella Hat - Makes the screen rain, but it doesn't matter because you are adequately protected by the spinning umbrella atop your bonce.
Gimp Mask - Makes your vision smaller. Puts a ball and chain around your ankle.
Potters Spectacles - Allows you to fire off magic beams from your forehead.

Added to the list Nugsy. Great ideas ;)

Currently working on making a sprite font (It's my first time), I want to finish it tonight so I can start programming stuff tomorrow.


I'm thinking of revising my plan, partly because running around in an empty room waiting for hats to fall sounds kinda boring. Originally it was my plan to simply make this a complete rip on TF2, but I think because of the awesome ideas I'm getting it deserves to be something more than that.

So here's my idea:

You start out in a town -- thing is, town is empty (Which I guess completely defeats the purpose of it being a town, but what the hey!). Now, hats will still randomly appear, but you can also find hats by exploring the town. I think this is a good idea because it makes things more entertaining.

Now, if you press, for example, <space> you will be warped to an area called "hatspace" ... or something different (Probably something different) which is basically an empty white area where you can choose your hats and wear them. You can also read about the hat, and do other various things in which I'm kinda skeptical right now, but you get the idea.

So, there you go. That's the new plan. Thoughts?

Actually scratch that, I'm still trying to think of a way I could make things more interesting without complicating things too much, and that sounds way to complicated.

Maybe this would be better off as a minigame or something.

TF2 ripoff.

I'm too tired to think of a response so have a smiley
 :gentleman:

Troll hat

but now funny pictures are flying at you D:

Top Hat #2 - You must tip your hat to passing ladies with perfect timing.

Ouch. The sprite font I spent forever working on is too big. OH WELL, I guess I could use it for the title and maybe future projects.

Here's the strip for those of you who want to use it: http://i52.tinypic.com/ajt0yc.jpg (NO CREDIT NEEDED)

Edit: Also, reworked the background. Looks a lot nicer now IMO.

(http://i56.tinypic.com/2el4fpc.jpg)

The character is still a WIP. I think I'm gonna soften his colors then probably add some shading.

Edit Edit: (As if I can't say this enough) AWESOME IDEAS. Really, I'm not kidding. Eventually I will get to programming them I promise! Gotta work on the boring shit first, though.

JPEG + Pixelart = Ugly messed up colors.  Try a PNG next time! ;)

It's just dark grey and white. There doesn't seem to be any distortion to me...?

OP, if you ever need beta-testing, I would like to do some. :)

Minecraft Hat - Place blocks everywhere, and hope they help you later on.

By the way, this is an awesome idea.

Crown of Thorns - You're on the Cross, fighting against the pain to save humanity's souls. It hurts an awful lot. Press Z as fast as you can to not pass out! If you do, all of mankind is damned!
Antler cap - The spirit of the wilderness is contained within this mystical oaken crown. Carry around a wooden staff and watch as trees spring out of nowhere, filling the screen with dark greenery. Deer and other small animals come to prance around you. If you feel like it, press Z to mount one and ride around.
Devil horns - Maybe being damned isn't so bad after all! Carry around a whip and hit any NPCs left from other hats. You can sprout bat wings a la Meta Knight to fly. Your mother sucks cocks in hell! And with this hat, so can you!
The Independent Games Hat - TIGS logo planted atop a small, unobtrusive brim. This hat allows you to spin a wheel and summon any hat inspired by indie games, which then replace the TIGhat.
Quote hat - You can take on any doctor in the world! Polar Star in hand, Mimigas trailing after, you're the unstoppable Quote! Or at least a guy with his hat.
Nurse hat - Speaking of medical personnel, have a little nurse hat, complete with a red cross! This doesn't actually do much, besides allow you access to hospital medical stores. And hey, speaking of access to medical substances...
Marijuana hat - It's actually just a big cardboard pot leaf connected to a headband. Its creation was just as lazy and relaxed as you'll be when you put it on! This one comes with hippie hair, glasses, small beard, complimentary joint, and ironic competence at very complicated fields. Effects include slowed speed, decreased stress, and reefer madness.
Beefeater helmet - Pressing any direction key when it's not the Changing of the Guard will result in your expulsion from the guard and the loss of your hat. If any NPCs are next to you, however, you are allowed to punch them. Schedule and Changing of the Guard happen in realtime and are not sped up.
Trucker hat - (has this been done already? apologies, if so) Awwww yeah. Drivin' a truck around anywhere alllll over America. Not a care in the world. Boy howdy!... Oh God, it's lonely and boring! Take the hat off and get the hell out of the truck!

No artifacts on my end, strange.

I may do beta testing once the game gets further in development, depends on how complex it gets! I'll definitely give you a heads up if I need help though :)

Anyway, my progress for the day (Why did I bold that? I have no idea)

(http://i56.tinypic.com/dd13dx.jpg)

SO, I fixed up the player sprite. Made it more washed looking, added some shading, nothing big. Spent a good chunk of my time making text appear when you get a hat, along with making the hat fall from the sky and land on your player (Sprites are temporary). Overall it was a pretty unproductive day TBH. Spent most of my time browsing this new forum my friends set up (I should stop there or this will sound like an advertisement OH NO).

Also I fixed the sprite font so it fits on the screen. If you want to use it here's the link http://i55.tinypic.com/29veyb9.jpg but it's kinda tiny so be warned (Same as before, no credit is needed).

Edit: Dayum so many great ideas. I think I'll need to add a cap at some point because there will be too many haha

It's funner if there are a thousand hats that most players will never find or see! Also, if you do end up implementing crafting, I would love to help combine stuff. Combining effects in games (e.g. Kirby, Megaman) has always been a dream to me. Glad an indie game is doing it. :) Oh, also:

Doctor band/light thingy? you know what I mean 1 - oh no, the patient is dying! Play a short Trauma Center-esque game where you extract some terrible parasite from the patient's intestines using the mouse to control.
Doctor light 2 - this one is larger and brighter. The minigame is a combination between Doctor Mario and Tetris, where you must fit in as many pills with varying sizes and lengths as possible to combat viruses.

Crafting is something I'm on the edge about. On one hand, it would be kinda cool to combine the hats to get a completely different hat, but on the other hand I think it would be really time-consuming to implement if I plan to get all these hats in.

I think I'll probably still add it in, because if anything I could only have a few crafting recipes at first; See, the way I'm gonna implement saving probably means I could update the game over time, which would be kinda fun.

In fact, I've already programmed it so hats won't stack, so I was thinking that you could just choose 2 hats, and fuse them together to create a new hat but you'll still keep the two hats you found. Doesn't make any sense but it makes things less complicated.

Do it Kirby style. You can have some combos, and every other combo randomizes the hat.

Whoa, that's an amazing idea :crazy:

Yeah, so I guess crafting is in! I think I'll work on prototyping that tomorrow.

Paint By Numbers, if you got any ideas drop me a PM! I'd make suggestions for it public but I think I'd rather keep the crafting combos a secret.

I have a quick rough draft for an invetory screen, that could be accessed on Esc or something.
(http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/7320/invudea.png) (http://img26.imageshack.us/i/invudea.png/)

Looks nice, even though I forgot to make space for the craft button and set that long bar there without any text.
And those hats set on the inventory are listed here.
Metal Tophat - Weighs you down more, and but you could jump off a ledge and make a mini-earthquake :O
Pyromaniac's Favoured Cap - Just burns and burns and burns. Also slowly gives mini-crits.

Hey valyou, I like the idea for the inventory! I've been thinking of streamlining it into one screen, hopefully it won't be as hard as I thought. Definitely using that for inspiration.

Also, (I think somebody earlier in the topic asked this, too lazy to check but I'm assuming it was you) I hate to be mean but networking is out of the question. I mean, it would be cool, but I lack the knowledge and the means to do it effectively. Maybe once I migrate away from Game Maker.


Anyway, progress update? Idk, today was fairly unproductive, was kinda depressed. I'm thinking I might stay up late so I can (finally) prototype crafting, but I also want to get a simple platform engine done, which might take a while.

Yeah and also I think I'm going with the idea I posted earlier. You run around exploring areas, and you can find hats both randomly (Just by walking around) and also by interacting with the environment. I'm thinking that I could have stuff similar to pokemon, like "Press Z when you see something suspicious" and so on.

And one last thing (Yes, I know this post is dragging on but bear with me) I think I might split the game into updates instead of spending forever working on this big huge project. This means:
A.) I don't have to spend forever working on the game without any hands-on input,
B.) I can work on other projects at the same time,
C.) If the game ends up being a huge failure I won't feel like I've wasted too much of my time, and
D.) It's funner that way, because then I could do Halloween updates n shit.

So yeah, I'm thinking first version of the game could have like 40-60 hats you find randomly, 20 you can collect, and I think 2 areas to explore, so it will still be pretty extensive. I feel like once I program the main engine it's simply a means of program your guys ideas into the game, which is where shit will get fun.

Anyway if I make any progress later tonight I'll probably post it tomorrow. I appreciate all the support I've gotten, means a lot to me.

Sounds good. I like the idea to make it really modular so that you can add hats easily.

I'll get combining hats soon.

Yeah, I've been really busy so I haven't been able to work on the game that much. Sorry! I'll post some pics tomorrow and write up a progress update if I can get my sorry ass back in schedule (Hopefully :beg:)

this IS AWESOME!It's like a whole bunch of minigames rolled into one.
idea for a hat:
combine-a-hat -combines two of each hats and only two
to make a super hat.
DBZ HAT:special dbz attacks z for kamehameha x for galaic gun c for big bang kamehameha hat looks like DBZ in orange and red.

Is this thing still going? If so, sorry for not sending a list of combination ideas, I'll get them done soon. :)

i remember this book. i loved it.

Of course unless Razz isn't continuing any more i hope he is  :beg:
maybe he's waiting for your update so he can top it with his! ;D

Best concept ever.

Some ideas...

Cat and the hat's hat:  make a mess everywhere

Do-rag: break dancing minigame

Soldier helmet: combat minigame

Ninja headband: stealth minigame

Raccoon hat: hunting minigame

Nah man, don't worry about it! ;) I kinda took a break for a while because I wasn't that motivated, but once Christmas is over I'll get my ass back in gear.

Adding your ideas JR Hill! It's cool too see that people are still motivated about this.

Wat about my ideas razz?
also:
Black hat: turns off the sun and gives you sunglasses

kario, I'm kinda in a rush, so I'll add yours later once I'm free. Sorry about that ;)

There's been a change of plans ... well, not really, but it's still a "change" so I think I'll make a post about it; I'm sorry for the lack of updates btw, I will admit that I've been kinda lazy.

Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, the change -- I think I've uhh ... bitten off more than I can chew, so to speak. So basically, here's the plan:

I'm going to divide the "to-do" list in half, the first half will be the first update, and the second will be the uh ... second update. After that, I'll start throwing in the other ideas that you guys listed. The reason being, is that I want to work on my other games and still look like I'm making progress with this one. Foolish, I know, but hey I like to think that I'm being productive :durr:

Oh and btw, I tried hard to make sure that at least ONE of your suggestions will make it into the first 2 updates, but I think a few slipped under the radar. If they did, just tell me, and I'll add you to the list and/or make sure to make your suggestion red. Actually, I should probably go through the list real quick and check ...

EDIT: Yeah, I didn't leave anybody out. Woo.
Also -- Added your ideas, Kario. They're pretty good! :)

I'm also considering re-working the graphics and implementing Matt Thorson's Grandma Engine. Anyway, that's about it.