well lots of engine stuff and some new art but not much o post now.

I am still streamlinging the game. and attempting something in a narrative sense. right now the player is looking for some miners who have dissappeared upon unearthing a giant cavern with an odd statue carved in it.. I have been reading a lot of Robert E. Howard work. specifically conan and I am a little encouraged by the whole pulp writing feel. so basically what I have now is as the player goes through, the journal of the man driving the Ferropod is slowly written on the bottom of the screen. this helps in a few instances, A. it gives it a more lovercraft pulp feel to it. B, it allows me to direct the player much easier as they go through. I hope to have a demo up soon. as I am mainly focused on the level layout now.

heres a quick test, plus some character art.
http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=49bc906aced4cbc4d956df2962098fcbe04e75f6e8ebb871

wow thanks guys. looks Like I have some work to do.

inanimate: I thought about adding some lovecraft style baddies. I dont think Ill do fall damage though.

moonmagic: yeah I agree the hop charge defeinetly needs to be faster. I am working on that right now. it wont be a number by the end just different sized exhaust clouds that shoot from the side.

yeah sorry about that. I am having trouble with designing vertical level areas with the limited movement.

the main premise will be you are dropped into this large coal mine to rescue 10 (just an estimate) miners. so you will have to jump around searching for them, all the while keeping an eye on your coal level. if you run out of coal the vehicle shuts down and its game over. there will be coal supplies so the vehicle can constantly refill as you move around. there will of course be the usual platforming problems such as lava and spikes.

extra stuff: (if I have time)
1. miners are randomly placed.
2. possible old broken Ferropods from previous failed attempts.
3. random world (this is a HUGE if. I just don't have the coding skill) but I could break it up into smaller room sections.

well here is a 7 day prototype.

Its called Ferropod (thanks Inanimate)

you are in a very crappy domed vehicle from victorian era. its coal powered and its used to explore underground caverns to save trapped miners. its system of mobility is basically it hops forward using a giant piston. this is what I have so Far.




i am not sure if I will continue. I basically had the idea and needed to get it out there. if I continue I will add guys to rescue and possible a fuel source so you need to be quick about it.

left mouse button moves you hit the button when you are facing the correct direction. the number overhead tells you how strong the jump will be. everything is place holder so let me know what you think. and a lot will probably change, but i just needed to get a prototype going. I am mostly worried that with this movement scheme, that the game just wont be fun.

download:
http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=49bc906aced4cbc4d956df2962098fcbe04e75f6e8ebb871

heres a 7 day prototype I am working on. The tiles are really boring but I am not sure how to add to them.

I am doing. A seven Day design Challenge against myslef. to see if I can complete a game in that time frame.

- you are in a small Coal powered vehicle which moves by using a powerful piston to hop along. once you land, the vehicle slowly turns left and right and pressing the left mouse button will begin charging the jump the longer you hold it the farther and higher you jump.
the entire game is done using one button. it is your job to explore the mysterious new cave that was found in the english country side. can you reach its depths and then escape?

its basically a one button platformer where you will have to navigate through a lava filled cavern.  any suggestions on things to add would be appreciated. I was also going to give the player a timer. where they needed to continually get next to coal stock piles to refil their machine, but I am nto sure how to institute this with just my one button control scheme. any suggestions would be appreciated.

Hey guys. I have a GML question.

basically I have a character that that can only jump and how long you hold down decides how far and high you jump. I still want to keep a grid based level design cause it makes it easier for the player knowing that holding it down this long jumps one block ahead and holding this long jumps two blocks ahead. so here is my question. how can I make sure that when the character jumps he only goes ahead one or two blocks.

here this article might help a bit with the controls.

http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20050602/green_01.shtml

enjoy.

hey guys. need some inspiration. I am trying to make a quick 7 day game. you are in a very crappy domed vehicle from victorian era. its coal powered and its used to explore underground caverns. its system of mobility is basically it hops forward using a giant piston. I cant think of a name for it. I am hoping for something thats an acronym. any suggestions. im thinkkng something simple like "Jump", "cave" or something but cant think of anything. I can post some screenshots later if it would help.

its all looking good. i would be careful, as of now your using 3 letter keys and two directional ones. for this kind of design it seems like the conrtols might be getting complicated. it might be better to see if you can combine some stuff. perhaps the horse jump gives you a burst of speed so you can dodge the arrows that way or even the joust makes you run faster. or holding the horse jump button allows you to jump off the horse. I think that the controls should reflect the streamlined design you have.

also will all horses be white, or will you randomly choose those too?

P.s. why a magician? why didnt you do a witch on a broom?

how come the turban wearing, pointed shoe, firball wielding goblin is on a cloud. wouldnt a magic carpet fit more with his outfit.

have you ever read Scud the Disposable Assassain.

there is a character named Drywall that can only be understood by people and things without souls. so his speech is like lines and dashes. and then the other people react accordingly.

Example:

Drywall - ":::::-::::::----::::::"
Scud - "yeah I could totally go for a sandwhich too"

maybe you could do that and just have the other players treat him as if he is speaking.

or you can make an interprative dance minigame.

wow lots of stuff guys. Well I started this post in more reference to deciding the art style to be sued for each game. It would probably be more helpful if I explained the game I guess.

You are a young boy with a red balloon who is slowly floating up in the air. you will slowly drift back down, but if you hit these blue glowing orbs it will give you a boost and send you upward. the point is basically to climb as high into the sky as possible. as you climb the clouds will be made with different pictures in them (black and white and very gestural so it almost seems like it could just be a cloud) as you climb higher the clouds explain the story of the game and what the kid is after.



I am just not feeling what I have so far and think I need to go back to the drawing board. I want that childhood feeling to it. like it could have been read in a storybook.

so thats it in a nut shell. the only thing I am waiting on is the art.

p.s. there is nothing in the cloud.

so I have a question. how do you figure out your art style when approaching a game. I had a specific idea for a game and a certain art style. I then built a little tech demo, but am having a huge problem creating the art style for it. my original idea really isnt working because I cant recreate my idea.

my original idea was oil pastel like the first stuff for the finding nemo art book.



but I am having trouble recreating this in gimp. so I guess my question is how do you decide what art style your game will use.

also I was looking for something childlike and storybook-ish. thats why I was originally aiming for oil pastel.

I had this idea and wondered if you guys think it would work.

basically you are a little boy holding a red balloon who is floating up into the night sky. as you float up the background changes to different pictures that are drawings in the clouds. (possibly just cloud shapes, or actualy full color drawings). these would tell a story which would eventualy explain the main characters motivation and why he is holding on to this balloon.

its basically a silent storyboard that the character is traversing through. but is this a decent way to tell a story or is it just to straight forward. I do not want the player to be beaten over the head with the story.

I am mostly wondering if its possible, and not sure what I would want to do yet. I was lookign into if it is possible to do a game that is in the style of oil pastel. and IM looking at doing it with sprites, but also lookign at filters for after the fact.

this is my inspiration.

odd question. is it possible to do post processing and run your screens through filters and what not before its output to the screen? lots of 3d games are using psot processing for lots of stuff and for unique art styles.

maybe your the voice in his head?

does this sound viable?

I recently made a tech demo and it works, I just dont think I could expand it into a full game. I basically have a square room, that the player can rotate in 90 degree increments each time changing gravity for the little cube character. you have no control over the character he jsut marches back and forth, turning if he hits a wall or the end of a platform. the problem is I don't think I can make very challenging levels. any ideas?

the character also has a little bit of a mind of his own. if he falls from a high enough height, he'll be sitting dizzy for a few second and if you beat him up to much he just might sit and pout.

ishi:

you better make that panda a reality.