Looks really good, you have a nice style going on and a good quirky humour.

The colours of the balloon are the only thing that stands out to me as odd, the don't contrast enough with the sky and look very flat because of it.

Let it be known that the now not-so-secret project Ultravoilent Quantam Power is nearing it's completion, and will be released by the end of next week.

Edward? If so, awesome flash multiplatform.

If not, lame — have to boot into windows to play.

Yama is being unmotivated again.
 

Cute. As others have said, the graphics start to get a little bit boring because of the small amount of variation.
Also! Parallax! Add it. Everything lacks that extra depth that parallax brings.

I'm fairly certain you will know that you are underwater based on how movement feels and the fact that you actually have to dive into the water to get there in the first place.

[YEEEEEAAAAAH!!!]

It's my presence. You have been graced with it. Feels good, doesn't it?

 

I guess that means [puts on glasses]...all your Bass are belong to us.

YEEEEEAAAAAH!!!

FTFY

Dr. Otto Archibald Smith

A major character.

I'm not going to spend too much time on composing a piece, but the feedback is good to take into consideration for the procedural aspect of it.

General consensus is basically: Fits the mood nicely but it feels cluttered.


Also, Cornelius sprites:
Old

New

And now, a "playtest" of sorts. Although not at all really.

I just composed this music out of 8 loops, with procedural generation in mind, although I can't really mimic it, this gives you a basic idea of what to expect.
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/264249/cafe/cliff.mp3

So, what I need you to do is to listen to that mp3 while looking at this picture:
http://img.skitch.com/20090816-bxeu2gyd25725x5q9bke941x6k.png

And tell me what you think of the experience overall.

Started actually sitting down and writing Cafe's story and how the game will play out.

Here's a little mockup also:



2x: http://img.skitch.com/20090815-bxeu2gyd25725x5q9bke941x6k.png

I agree with Triplefox. TIme and time again I have had great ambitions and spent more time thinking about them and trying to build up a community than actually getting them done. I usually just give up in the end.

But hey, by all means, prove me wrong. I'll be thrilled.

Those are of course nothing like what would be in the game, just my own random minimalist compositions.
I would definitely aim towards a darker more moody feeling for the game.


As of now there is nothing for you to compare with, no.

I've been thinking about the music in Cafe, and have thought up an interesting idea.

I've always been a huge fan of minimalist music, for those not familiar with how it works, I'll give you an outline:
A minimalist piece can be built of various repeated, short phrases layered on top of each other to create potentially infinitely varied melodic, harmonic and rhythmic structures.
It probably draws a lot of comparison in the way it sounds to Classical music, especially since minimalism usually uses orchestral instruments.

If you want more info, wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimalist_music

A lot of the music I write is minimalist in nature, and if you happen to come across the stuff I post in the "Show us your music" thread, you'll hear it.
Some examples:
http://fleh.sereneworx.com/music/Rake.mp3
http://fleh.sereneworx.com/music/TheSmallestMan.mp3
http://fleh.sereneworx.com/music/min.mp3

Now, since this music is built up of short phrases, all based around a single key and time signature (though poly-rhythms and cross-rhythms are used a lot) it is plausible that one could sort of procedurally generate it.

This is my grand idea. I would write a couple dozen different short musical phrases, all loopable and in a common key and bpm and we would place them dynamically in game, to loop with each other as you play.

Now, where this gets interesting is the idea that loops are not required to be the same length. This means that they will cycle at different points and a different melody or harmony will be created via the interplay of the two phasing loops until, of course, they meet again and restart. Imagine this, with a large variety of different loops to create really complex and multilayered pieces of music on the fly.


Now, off of music and onto the graphics.
I've been thinking about reanimating Cornelius, since I'm starting to feel as if his run is a bit over the top, what do you guys think?
Here's the cycle as it is now:

This is very, very cool.

We're working getting gameplay mechanics down at the moment.

When you finish that, I will play it so hard my fingers will bleed.

I don't know about the smaller model Cintiq, but I have the 21''UX and it is sublime.

I wouldn't be concerned about the cintiqs getting outdated, they are currently running the best technology available and Wacom has no reason to replace them with newer models as they have a very firm place in the professional industry as is.

My internet is super slow at the moment, so I can't listen to the whole thing, but the beginning is pretty intense, Mr. Yes.

fleh.sereneworx.com/music/TheSmallestMan.mp3

[massive]

Real men use blades that could slay a lion with one swipe.

Shaving is not simply an hygienic ritual, it is an assertion of one's manliness and should therefore be treated as such.
I look down on those of you who are slave to electronic shaving appliances, the only attraction that shaving holds for me is the fact that —with my massive blade— I might, at any moment, sever a major artery.
In fact, if not for this inexplicable draw that I have towards risking my life, my face would be comparable to an amazonian forest.

Real men use blades that could slay a lion with one swipe.