So I recently started working on an classic-style side scroller. I've done a ton of work on the art, and just recently (within the last week) started to put everything together in a playable form. The name of this little effort is Absent Eden, as explained here:
Your character is an uplifted, human-level intelligence scout gorilla (who's been genetically altered to have several other animals survival traits, sense of smell, hearing, balance, reflexes, that sort of thing. Think 50% Cougar. RAWR.) As the game opens, you're returning to your home planet for debriefing. While in orbit, you signal your controllers of your arrival. As soon as your signal is sent, your ship is targeted, fired upon, and shot down. You wake up next to your wrecked scoutcraft somewhere outside the city. Your goal is to find out what happened to your controllers, and why all the dwellings and city outskirts seem to be deserted.
Thus the name - Absent Eden. There are no people here, just psychotic utility and police bots. All of them intent on eliminating you.
Not the most original storyline, but hey.
I started my efforts on the Pixelation boards - in the Low-spec art section. Those guys have been great, but it's not exactly a high-traffic area and comments and suggestions have been somewhat slow coming. I'd love to get the view of a wider audience! :D
For those interested in the precise beginnings of this project, the original Pixelation thread is here:
http://www.wayofthepixel.net/pixelation/index.php?topic=9591.0 No registration required. :D There's also a lot of information about enemy types there.
All the scripting/coding/whatever is being done in the following programs:
Multimedia Fusion 2 Dev
3dsMax 2009
Photoshop CS2
Anyhow, I spent last night fleshing out the animated background, taking one of the pixelation guys crits and trying to separate the foreground and background more - I went warmer in tone than what he did, but it did end up fairly close.
This is *NOT* the latest version! I have left it here for historical purposes.
http://www.hedfiles.net/AEupdate2.zip 13.25MB
Pertinent info:
Use WASD to move, the mouse to aim, and Esc to bring up the menu. Alt-F4 kills the program without needing to go to the menu, and there are 3 view modes available... Normal, 2X Zoom, and Fullscreen.
Known issues:
There's nothing to shoot at quite yet.
The GunApe doesn't animate properly when jumping, runnning backwards, or doing anything other than standing still or running forwards.
The butterflies act a little weird.
The Menu options "Credits" and "How to Play" do nothing.
Updated in this version:
Updated menus with Bugs
New weapon fire - with motion blur.
Fleshed out all the animated foliage.
Added bugs around the flowers
Updated the flags
Next up on the list:
Correct movement animations for the main character.
First enemy type: The RollyPollyBot.
Correct spawning behaviour
Visible In-game HUD with health, score, and heat monitors.
Intro, Main menu.
I'd love any feedback you guys have to give me!
Developer
