To be fair, it's a lot easier to remake an old game with prettier graphics than it is to design a new one.

Thanks for all the replies. I'll definitely try to keep the advice in mind. 

I have this and I've been really happy with it. It runs games great, doesn't give off heat like a nuclear reactor, and considering, is pretty light. Don't pay any mind to the bad reviews on the site, though. I've had it for about 6 months now, and it has crashed once, which was my fault.

I tend to ignore user reviews of laptops. If a computer fails, the average computer user might assume that it's the manufacturer's fault even when the problem is unrelated to the hardware.

I'd strongly advice against Dell.

I have a Dell right now (though it was a prize, and I probably wouldn't have chosen it if I was buying it with my own money). I've used it heavily for 2.5 years and haven't had any real problems with it until now. While it still runs fine, I've been hearing signs that the hard drive might be on its way out. But considering it was a pretty cheap computer even when I first got it, it's easily surpassed my expectations.

[Cat Burglar (Nelly Cootalot: Spoonbeaks Ahoy!)]

Lots of suggestions to consider. There are some good ones in there.

Cat Burglar (Nelly Cootalot: Spoonbeaks Ahoy!)

I like the item-stealing idea, though it is probably more difficult to implement than it would be worth. However, I have to ask, are Cat Burglers actually a central part of Nelly Cootalot or just a minor character?

Gnome (Garden Gnome Carnage)

I don't know... As much as I like the game, I don't see the gnome working well as a support character. The mechanics just don't seem to lend themselves very well to Indie Brawl.

The Monsters (Death Village)

The effect is probably too obscure, and the monsters are probably too generic.

Cyberdogs (C-Dogs)

I'm having trouble finding this information online- was the orignal game indie? If so, this could be good material for a support character, but we would need to determine the attack.

Toribash Ragdoll (Toribash)

I have no idea how that suggestion would actually be workable.

Klakar Ship (Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space)

Random spaceships are being combined into the Shmup Storm, a single support character.

Caveman (Spelunky)

Spelunky already has a main character and two support characters. Plus, the caveman is one of the least iconic characters from the game.

Plumbers (Enough Plumbers)

They're just parodies of Mario, and not an original indie creation.

Ina (Action Fist!)

Already on the roster (along with Domingus).

Farter (Puzzle Farter)

The effect you suggest sounds too obscure. But this could work as just a normal attack.

Gamma Bros. (Gamma Bros.)

What you suggest is way too much work for a support character. Random spaceships are best included in the Shmup Storm anyways.

The defining feature of a good stage is that it represents a memorable location, has a unique gameplay mechanic or is represented with a unique art style. While I haven't played all of those games, none of them seem to fit the criteria. Correct me if I'm wrong.

[Nelly Cootalot (Nelly Cootalot: Spoonbeaks Ahoy!)]

Nelly Cootalot (Nelly Cootalot: Spoonbeaks Ahoy!)

I've never played the game myself, but I like the idea. The main concern is whether or not there is enough material to build a movelist from, since she is from an adventure game.

I suppose I really have no excuse not to have played it, now.

Warrior Dragon (Warrior Dragon)

I haven't played this either, but it just seemed like a generic Dragon Warrior clone to me. Unless I'm missing something, there are better indie RPGs out there. Like The Spirit Engine 2!

Domingus (Action Fist!)

I don't see the material for a movelist. His only attacks are fairly standard projectiles. He's much better support character material.

Maryo (Super Maryo Chronicles)

Indie Brawl is intended to celebrate indie game characters, no thinly-veiled parodies of mainstream characters.

I'm looking to buy a new laptop, and wanted to hear if my fellow Tiggers any suggestions.

This will be my only computer, since a desktop isn't viable for me. Money is an issue, but I use computers often enough that I'm treating this as an investment. I'm willing to spend $1500 if the computer is good enough.

I'd like a decently powerful computer, capable of running modern development applications and games. I'm not looking to play Crysis on max settings or anything, though.

Battery life isn't too important, since I'll mostly be using it near an outlet.

Oh, and I'm only interested in running Windows. Don't even try to convince me otherwise.

Look at that model, LOOK AT IT.

It looks better painted:


The Ravenloft board game is a lot of fun, and it's very well-designed. If it seems like it would appeal to you, I'd definitely give it a go.


On the topic of Dungeons and Dragons, I nominate Mind Flayers as one of the scariest monsters ever. They can paralyze you with their mind, and then eat your brain while you're still alive. And there are whole cities full of them!

If changing the colors of outlines is possible, so are full palette swaps.

If you want to continue this conversation, please move it to a more appropriate thread. This one is for guarding.

New Version

This release mostly updates Nikujin. I also took the chip damage away from guarding. This is an experiment, since it could make guarding too effective. I'd especially like to hear your thoughts on this.

Changes:
-Engine: Reduced rate at which knockback increases with damage.
-Engine: Characters no longer take chip damage while guarding, or suffer as much knockback. This is an experiment to see if unique unblockable attacks are enough to balance guarding.
-Engine: Certain attacks can now be cancelled into other attacks.
-Nikujin: Besides ^S, attacks no longer have fixed knockback.
-Nikujin: Adjusted graphics, timing, damage, and knockback.
-Nikujin: The first two hits of A have higher cool-down, but can be cancelled into later hits. The final hit has less knockback and cooldown, allowing for easier combos.
-Nikujin: vA can now be cancelled into any other attack.
-Nikujin: The first two shots of S have higher cool-down, but can be cancelled into later shots.
-Bugfix: Fixed a glitch where character doesn't bounce when knockback is high.
-Bugfix: Iji's no longer gets stuck using ^A repeatedly.

Doesn't matter to me.


On another note, I'd like to point out that, while a lot of support characters have sprites, not many have animations. This isn't a priority, but if you don't see many of the support characters added soon, that's why.

To summarize this thread, everyone should go play Planescape Torment right now.

It is a good thread.

Everyone is going to have very different opinions of what makes an ideal TBS/TBT game, and these ideas aren't all going to be compatible. Why don't you just try to make the game that you think would be the ideal game? It should be easier for you to find the motivation to make the game if it is your personal vision, and the result will be more cohesive.

I'm not saying you should completely ignore feedback. But you get better feedback by discussing a specific issue, rather than asking "What makes a game good?"

The key is making the game different every time. I can think of a couple ways to do this.

Random generation is the most obvious solution. This is used in roguelikes, Spelunky, and arguably Tetris. Unless the randomness is merely superficial, it will be like playing a different game each time.

Multiplayer games achieve replayability almost automatically, because every other player is unique. As long as there is a significant variety of strategies and playstyles, each match will be very different.

If the game gives the player different choices of how to play (such as different characters in a fighting game), or allows for multiple unique strategies (such as many strategy games), or provides multiple goals or rule variations, this can also substantially increase replayability. It doesn't allow for as much replayability as the previous two options (since the player will eventually try out all the different options), but it still is an effective way to extend the life of the game without a huge amount of extra effort.

One possibility that may be viable would be too remove chip damage entirely, and provide only a tiny amount of hitstun on a blocked hit. This could potentially allow for guard-spamming, but if each character has some way of dealing with guarding, it shouldn't be a problem. Giving each character a grab would be difficult, but their current moves may actually work just fine.

Iji, Lyle, Dwarf and Xoda all have grabs, which easilyt bypass guards. Trilby's Taser, Nikujin's Head Stab and Turner's recovery are a bit slower, but are still probably fast enough to act as a good counter for guarding.

The Golden Knight doesn't normally have any unblockable moves, but he still charges his Bonesaw even if his attack is blocked (and all of his Bonesaw moves are unblockable). I'm not sure whether this puts him at an advantage or disadvantage compared to other characters, but it's still an adequate counter for guarding.

I'm not so sure about Naija and Liero, though. Their only unblockable moves are slow item-summons. If an opponent is guarding, I guess you could retreat, summon the item, and then return to punish them, but I'm not sure if that would be a good enough counter or not.

Characters not yet implemented would also need to be designed with some way of countering guards in mind.

Any thoughts on this? Would it be viable?

Add facing as a strategic element, like hit from the back give 1,5 more damage. Guarding should only protect in the direction you are facing (prevent damage and knock back).

I like the idea, since IB is very position-based. It's been added to the backlog.

Top of the character is not covered by guard (but forward-top is) leaving a small spot to be abuse (nikujin) and create a choice between moving or guarding.

Hm. An interesting idea, but I don't know if it's really viable. Besides determining whether an attack hit from the left or right, it's hard to determine the direction it came from.

Unblockable should be a designated move that is chargeable, maybe with 3 step (normal, guard shattering + hi knockback but no damage, hi damage little knockback but huge cool down).

So if you charge it a little, it does a lot of knockback, but if you charge it a lot, it does little knockback? That doesn't seem too intuitive... especially considering that many unblockable attacks are grabs.

The use of character outline color as state feedback.

This is a fantastic idea! It could be used to show when a character is blocking or using an unblockable attack, and I'm sure there are other uses, too. I'm surprised no one thought of it before.

What if the player get a small invincible (but cannot attack either) time while he double tap down and go through the ground. It would make for a situational dodge and may lead to some sort of gameplay chokepoint.

I don't really like the idea of making the ability to dodge dependent on standing on a platform.

It has been fixed for the next release.

Are you losing control of Iji, so her attack just loops continuously?

Could you describe the bug? It looks like the attack's not connecting, but it's hard to tell from the video.

Is it just the reflector that doesn't connect, or is it all of Iji's attacks?

What were you doing prior to triggering the bugs? In particular, what attacks was Iji using, and which ones hit the other player?

It depends. The obvious problem is that it would be hard to stay true to the source without significantly powering them down. That's why a majority of Reimu's moves are inspired by her roles as protagonist and the fighting games.

Support characters don't have to be balanced with each other.

I suppose that would make it a bit more unique. I think the final hit should be a bit stronger in front, though.