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I see. I think it would work better if you had that at a point before you actually have to use that technique. It kind of defeats the purpose, you know?

...You really like having your brown characters in your brown games, don't you. How many iterations of this thing have you posted?

You really need to focus on making your characters stand out from your backgrounds. Dare I suggest making them non-brown? Digging through past posts, yes, I can see that you want the characters to be 'chocolatey,' but can't you dress them up in bright colors or anything? Something to let the eyes know that there is anything there at all.

Alternatively, consider white outlines for your characters.

Haha, to be honest I didn't even realize there were characters until I read this post.

Yeah, and why are you in the videogame business if you are not interested in making videogames?

How do you get past the area with the brick and the black guy inside the wall?

[DAY 38]

DAY 38 - April 26, 2011

• Worked on a concept illustration.

Archer's version of skullkids, or something like that Really tried to work on my colours. In the past I've tended to be lazy with picking colours so I'm trying to spend more time on that now.

I feel myself coming into an illustration phase now so the next few weeks will be spent on concept/promo art for the game.

Thanks god!
Can I code it for ya? :D

Thanks for the offer I'm not sure though, I'm not even thinking about that game right now.

I know I'm super late here, but I just noticed that this is using Grandma Engine as a base. Glad it's helping you make something awesome!

Cool! Hey, by the way, I'm having a couple issues with the modifications I made to the engine, would you be able to help me with some programming stuff? It's pretty basic, like moving platforms and some jumpthru platform modifications so it wouldn't take too much of your time Monocle is looking killer btw.

Also I have a theory. Valve has now released Portal 2, Left 4 Dead 2, and Half-Life 2. Valve's next game will be an ultimate sequel to all 3 series.

Don't be ridiculous. Valve doesn't know how to release a game with the numeral "3" in it. Valve's next game is DotA.

I mean besides DotA. Think about it, if anyone has a master plan it would be Valve.

Just dive in. Forget about tutorials, just practice and learn from trial-and-error. Identify your weaknesses and develop them until they become strengths.

Haha, well actually those 300-style mockups were for an entirely different game, which was actually a fighter/brawler, kind of like Mount&Blade in 2D. I just included them because I used that prototype to learn a bit about Game Maker and it's capabilities, but in the end I decided that GM was better suited to the game I am currently making, which has more of a fairy tale aesthetic.

The game in the mockups will probably be my next project though. Sorry to mislead you guys.

I am also still learning how to pixel effectively - I thought that since I had some decent illustration skills I would just be able to conquer pixel art like a badass, but I'm learning it has much more to do with graphic design (where I'm weaker) than illustration. As the game develops I hope to move further and further away from the current cookie cutter graphics, as I improve my skills and iterate over the existing assets until they feel unique.

Everyone always loves the mockups more. FACT.

Truth.

[DAY 37]

DAY 37 - April 25, 2011

• Added some interior rooms to the houses.

I feel guilty for not recognizing the first SOTC easter egg, but I got this new one !

Haha, close but not quite:

Also I have a theory. Valve has now released Portal 2, Left 4 Dead 2, and Half-Life 2. Valve's next game will be an ultimate sequel to all 3 series.

team fortress 2, Half life 2 episode 2, Dota 2 (soon)

I think the 3 is a cursed number

Yeah, I was going to mention TF2 but with that and DotA2, they didn't make the original game so it doesn't really count. They are also set in completely separate universes, whereas the Half-Life and Portal universes are the same, the L4D one could also be part of it (I don't think it's been specified anywhere, but I could be wrong).

Awesome game overall.

The only things I didn't like about it were the beginning, which felt way too fast for me, and not in a good way. And also I found that in the parts of the game that were not in test chambers, the puzzles tended to just revolve around jumping and the basic portal gun functions. The test chambers actually introduced new mechanics and combined them.

Also I have a theory. Valve has now released Portal 2, Left 4 Dead 2, and Half-Life 2. Valve's next game will be an ultimate sequel to all 3 series.

Wow, this is a cool game!

However I think there are a few balance problems, namely, the archers range is so limited that I found myself frustrated. It's fine to have them unable to move and shoot in the same turn, but because their range is so small units can just run past them before they have a chance to shoot.

Also, I found cavalry units to move slower than I wanted. Cavalary should be able to move atleast twice as fast as regular units.

The third thing is that it would be nice to have a way of telling who gets to move next, so you can plan future moves.

Other than that, I really like what you have so far 

[DAY 36]

DAY 36 - April 24, 2011

• Added a little tent-house, with another easter egg.

Is the mask on the left from Shadow of the Colossus?

Ding! It's the Shaman Mask.

You still gonna remake the character :0?

Yup, but I'm saving that for later since he works just fine for testing and WIP purposes.

Please tell me this will be in playable form sometime in the near future.

Maybe not the near future, but it certainly will be finished at some point.

Thanks for the kind words everybody!

Actually, no not on the first try. I got to the area where you first switch to the dark world I believe, and then I got confused and stopped. I'll go through it again with your walkthrough though.

Fun game!

Wow...

The graphics and audio are really incredible. Is this the same game that you posted a video of a while back? With the kodama as the main character? If so the progress is looking awesome.

A couple of criticisms I have - the crouch feels a little bit over-animated to me. The music and graphics seem very calm and relaxing and the animation looks sort of explosive.

The other thing is the "You got an orb!!" pop-up message. Like I said, it seems to go against the established mood.

Other than that I love what you have so far. Can't wait to see the next build!

I'm in love with that wallpaper design  

And regarding the digitial vs traditional, they both require the same amount of skill, and are largely the same anyway. Although I prefer traditional for gifts because then they have that one-of-a-kind uniqueness.

[DAY 35]

DAY 35 - April 23, 2011

• Got the new house into the actual game.
• Added in a little tower island with some WIP background art (and a small easter egg). Starting to get the hang of this.

No work to do today, so that means IT'S TIME TO MAKE SOME FUCKING VIDEOGAMES

Phubans was in one of my dreams last night. I also saw Irreversible yesterday so I wonder if there was a correlation.

THAT MAJORA'S MASK

The one on the right looks like Mononoke Hime's to me.

Yup, and yup. The one on the left is slightly more obscure, not because the game it's in is obscure, but because it's an unlockable item (also the art is kinda bad).