Honestly, I've seen the same thing with chiptune, and I have a reason that applies to both: It's graphical Lunchables.

It's no secret that programmers love squares. Graph paper, bounding boxes, plaid shirts, programmers love it all. And that's because, socially, they are squares. But also because grids function as a uniform, aesthetically-pleasing template. Like, if you just give 'em a blank canvas, they have no idea where to go. They've never learned art. But give 'em a grid and tell them to make a picture by filling in the blanks? Heck yes! These guys have been filling in little bubbles on tests for years now! They know how to do this!

Also, at least for people who have been indoctrinated to game-making through the indie scene, I've seen like five resources for making pixel art for every one resource for making any other form of art. That may play a role too.

(other reasons: every community has its own signature style, you pretty much need an snesboner if you want to fit in here, c'mon man blazing star is as prerendered as you can get, etc...)

Its still pretty fun and I like the changes you've made. I'm not sure what you have planned but it would be good to have a icon so you know what weapon you are using.

Thanks for the feedback! Right now, the weapon you're using is indicated by the color of the bottom bar (hidden for the default weapon, blue for laser, etc). But since you brought this issue up that must mean that I'm not doing a very good job of conveying that information...

Also i'm took to just mashing the fire button on the boss battles. It seemed to be an attrition fight more than one of skill. You might make the boss battles harder or give the player less health.

Ah, I was afraid of that. On one hand, I almost want to keep it that way, considering it is the first boss and all, but at the same time I know that isn't exactly the most fun. Right now, my current plan is to drastically increase the damage the player takes, in an effort to prevent players from just brute-forcing their way through the difficult parts. It's a crude solution, I know, but it just might work.

[AGAIN?!]

AGAIN?! and i thought i had these problems sorted out too...

Okay, let's see...Here's a link to the missing DLL. Hopefully it'll fix the problem if you drop it in with all the other DLLs. If you're wary of an external site, and want to have the exact same DLL in a much bigger package, here's a link to the updated build (which has no changes but the addition of the DLL).

I'm really sorry, guys. I really should be putting more effort into getting the Windows builds as bug-free as possible, considering that's what most of you use...

So most of my opinions are gonna be based around the video footage. Sorry, I tried running it, but my underpowered Windows laptop (with integrated graphics!) could barely put out anything beyond 3FPS, even with fast voxels and no AA and whatnot.

Please, could you be more specific about your configuration? Particularly graphics and CPU (since some integrated graphics run vertex shaders on CPU).
I'd like to optimize it more, so more people can play it.

To be honest, I wouldn't even bother optimizing for my pathetic laptop. But since you're curious: It's running a Pentium dual-core CPU at 1.6GHz, 2GB of RAM, with a Mobile Intel 965 Express Chipset (and 358 MB of graphics RAM). So yeah, it's not a gaming rig at all. And did I mention it's from like 2006?

As for everything else, I understand that it's still in pre-alpha, and I should've been more conscious of that when I decided to lay down the criticism. Still, right now you're in the most critical part of the design phase, where you've got the core mechanics and set-pieces worked out, and now need to decide how to combine them in a meaningful way. Therefore, I wish you luck and success in choosing the right direction to take this game!

Ah man, the artwork here is beautiful...the sprites are beautiful...

...you don't know how desperately I'm hoping that the gameplay is just as beautiful...

So most of my opinions are gonna be based around the video footage. Sorry, I tried running it, but my underpowered Windows laptop (with integrated graphics!) could barely put out anything beyond 3FPS, even with fast voxels and no AA and whatnot.

But honestly, right now the game just looks really boring and slow. I mean, what challenge is there in digging through wall upon wall? Or even up a destructible shaft? Given the slow speed of the gun and the small blast radius, blasting through obstacles is a serious chore, which I doubt the leveling mechanic would fix. And since it sounds like your game is primarily about digging through obstacles, this is a big problem!

That being said, I do like the idea of digging your way through a boss to reach the core, and think this could be super-fun if done right. The palette of obstacles is nice (although the enemies aren't much of a threat at the moment), and the aesthetic is pretty neat. All in all, there's a lot you could do with this game if you speed it up, pick a game mechanic you want to explore, and then focus everything toward that idea like a laser beam. No leveling mechanics, no procgen, no filler. Just focus on putting out a tight, consistent experience.

(also, there's already an indie game called Level Up!, so you might want to do something about that...)

Okay, so this question's a bit off-topic, however I'm not sure this thread even has a topic at the moment...

Is there ever a reason why someone would choose to use pixel-perfect collisions, instead of just a bounding box or some other primitive? After all, most complex shapes can be approximated by a series of primitives. And also, from experience, deaths from mere sprite-touching feel (to the player) rather cheap. Like, if I die, I want to see some substantial grindin' happening all up ins. Not a death caused by stubbing your toe on a spike.

Just decided to post here to get to level 3. Sorry, but after two years of having the 'crib and whatnot being thrust at me with reckless abandon, watching my favorite posts get locked away and moved to a higher plane of existence that I may never access, I think it's morally acceptable to make a post like this. After all, what is the worth of a post anyway? In a matter of days, this too will be paged. In a matter of weeks, it'll be buried under the great paginator, and nobody will read it ever again. And I think that is a shame. Somebody probably edited out their post right in the middle of the "Fight Thread Pollution" thread and is now using it to log their attempts at curing the world's problems. Maybe even using it as a hiding place to conduct illicit activities. You think hidden forums are bad? You're witnessing great secrets being passed around right in front of you.

Warning: this topic has not been posted in for at least 120 days.
Unless you're sure you want to reply, please consider starting a new topic.

...so much for an active devlog...

Anyway, I decided to put up another alpha, because I figure that it's about that time, and also because I just want to get this game off my chest so I can enjoy the Christmas season...

The big change this time is that the game is now a two-level demo! I've tried to move in a slightly different direction for the second level; trying to focus it around platforming and the like. Truth be told, I chose this level to make because I honestly want your opinions on the jump physics, and I kinda don't want to continue futher unless I know that everything feels rock-solid on the player's end.

And also there are some other changes here and there.

But enough of my rambling. Here's the link to the Windows version, and also one for Mac. Both are 32 MB, which is pretty hefty, but unfortunately most of it is library flab which I don't know how to trim off. (the first post also links to the updated build)

Well, that's all I have to say. To everyone who has played the first demo, I thank you from the bottom of my heart, and hope that the update lives up to your expectations. To everyone else, you don't know how much I would appreciate if you took the time to try out my game and offer a few suggestions as to how to improve it.

To be honest, I have nothing against the tracker method of composing. I mean, I use Renoise, and love it to death. Wouldn't give it up for anything (and I've tried almost everything). But the module format itself? Ehh, I think it's time to give it a tune-up.

I'm just gonna throw this out there, but I think something like SunVox will be the wave of the future. Enough waveform support to implement most synthesis methods, plus sample manipulation and flexible DSP connections, an open engine...The only thing it needs to hit the big time is fan support; unfortunately, that's where it seriously falls short. And that's where most proposed solutions will fall short.

SiON's a worthy contender too, but I have a feeling that AS3-only thing is gonna throw a lot of people under the bus.

I noticed the new theme too...it literally drove me to tears...felt so lost and confused in this lonely-yet-claustrophobic design...

...I tried turning on Safety Mode, but it didn't work...it didn't make me feel safe at all...

Maybe it's just me, but I think one of the problems behind IF is its image. When I think about shmups (another "niche" genre), for instance, I think of games like DoDonPachi, Touhou, Gradius, and the like.

Conversely, when I think of IF, I think of...well, Zork.

But I don't know, it could be possible. I've seen a lot of people mention Digital, and it's a great game, but I've always mentally classified it as a visual novel. See, even there the lines are blurring. And maybe that's where we're going. Maybe we'll see IF mix around with other adventure game styles. I've seen a few games do that, and they've turned out pretty radical!

(also, one big thing holding back IF is how it's packaged; it's certainly not too sexy to download a game, then try to find an interpreter to run the file, then try to find another interpreter because the other one doesn't support glulx or whatever, etc etc...)

Honestly, from a developer's perspective I don't know. The thing is, really the only advantage that tracker files have now is file size. And even that advantage can be mitigated through some clever use of codecs (though I haven't seen any indie games attempt to take advantage of that).

I think that the decision to use tracker music comes from convenience, really. Like, either the developer is already used to working with the format, or knows someone who is well-versed in the format, and so it becomes a given that that is what they're using. However, nowadays I'm seeing an influx of more "traditional" composers, who are more familiar with modern production tools, and don't see as much of a need to learn a whole new method of composing music just to be able to support a format that is quickly sliding into obsolescence.

[MəθʔFʌKɪN SOLVALOU, BABY!]

MəθʔFʌKɪN SOLVALOU, BABY!

r a d i c a l n a m e • r a d i c a l s h i p

(also, i'm a big fan of cho ren sha's forkship, though i'll admit it is an acquired taste)

From what I know (and I'm not really a legal expert or anything), yes, you can do exactly that. But why would you want to? What do you possibly have to gain by trying to hide your dependence on a library? Especially one with a license that doesn't inhibit your ability to release your software in any way?

So yeah, you don't have to, but dude. Dude.

(fun fact: the original BSD license explicitly required you to give credit where due. but then rms had a hissy fit and declared it to not be a "real" open-source license)

So my name is Noah. Sometimes people come up to me and they're Christian and they ask me if I've ever built an ark. I've heard it a million times and I have yet to build anything seaworthy. One time I met another guy named Noah and asked him if he's also heard that comment a million times. His response included the word "testes" four times.

My parents just thought Noah was a nice name.

I...uh...actually really love the Golden Sun series. Now that I think about it, it shares the same core idea, although its spin on it is more of the "what you thought was right was actually wrong."

Which, I guess, is close enough. :-)

Hey! Let's pitch a topic that wouldn't even work in today's era of gaming! But I've been thinking about it for a while, and I wanted to know what you guys think.

So you know how, back in the day, games like Pokemon and Mega Man Battle Network would be released as two different versions of the same game? I think it would be cool to do this same thing, but with a slight twist. So you go through the game, confront the antagonist, you win, whatever.

Then, you pick up the second game just to see what really changed, and upon the first confrontation you realize that you are now playing as the antagonist! However, as you play into the game further, not much changes. You're still treated as the hero, just like you were in the other game.

And that's where the crux of the gimmick lies. You find yourself committing the questionable acts that you heard the villain was doing in the first game. You remember that you did similar things back when you were the hero yourself. And then you realize that, no matter which version of the game you picked up first, the protagonist in each game is considered the "hero" of that game. So what kind of story is this? Are these games about two heroes in conflict? Or are they about two villains in conflict?

I don't know...I just think the whole concept of "you're Team Rocket to somebody else" is worth exploring. Maybe even the "two games, two viewpoints" one too, but I'm not sure how well that'd work in practice.

my hand uncontrollably vibrates when i grip something too hard

I assume you know this by now, but you can harness this power to boost your button-mashing skills! I'm not sure if this has any seductive value whatsoever, but the whole "being a human turbo controller" thing has plenty of other perks. Like there's a guy in Japan who's now a cultural icon because of this. And also those sea-serpents in the Launch Octopus level don't take as long to kill.