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[Snake]

Well, the meeting is over with. Looks like we won't be hearing from these people for at least a month or two, which leaves some space open to make something...

This is a difficult call. We're considering doing another project to pull some money together to stay alive and whatnot, but Cheetah Men is so damn tempting. Naturally, we can't sell this game if we make it. Given the history of the guys that made them, I'm not sure we should wing something like that. People that leave and set up shop in the Bahamas don't seem like ideal conversation partners. We might have to create something different instead, but I don't know yet. If things were a bit more stable I'd already be working in this. Hell we've even considered buying the copyright for the characters.

Does anyone know if the copyright has expired on the Cheetah Men licence? Is there any way to find out? This isn't my area of expertise, but should it be open, we could actually do something a bit bigger with it. If not, we have some serious thinking to do...

[deathtotheweird]

Are you thinking about getting it sponsored (flash) or actually selling it?

the original trademark is dead = http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4009:r1bsrf.3.3

but this one is alive = http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4009:r1bsrf.2.90

if you use original artwork and original every thing (hell you could change the name to Cheetah Man) I don't see any problems with it.

But making a game for a competition and selling it (aside from flash sponsorship, even then, we still want to play it before waiting on a flash site to pick it up and release it) isn't what Action 52 owns is about. You could do it all day long if you want, just not in connection with Action 52 owns.

[Snake]

But making a game for a competition and selling it (aside from flash sponsorship, even then, we still want to play it before waiting on a flash site to pick it up and release it) isn't what Action 52 owns is about. You could do it all day long if you want, just not in connection with Action 52 owns.

Exactly, which is why it's a difficult decision. This isn't a project that we can (or I guess should) make make money off, so it would have to be a free game. Question is if we can allow ourselves the time to to do a project for fun. Right now I was just musing the idea that we could do this commercially (that would be without a connection to the action 52 project), but in that case I think we're better off making something new.

If we could do this directly after our planned project, that would be nice, but I'm sure someone will claim it by that time. Hmm... Having money for food or making something awesome... Mergh!

[increpare]

How about you guys make something that's awesome and not cheetahmen.  That would be neat.  I would support it as a course of action.

[Ness Kain]

I would support that idea, too, but I would also support you making Cheetah Men something huge and amazing and releasing it for free as part of Action 52 Owns. If you really are up for buying the rights to the property, and you started a project on Kickstarter or something, I think it would be a big enough deal to be picked up by mainstream gaming news sources (especially if you put together some mockups or something so you can say, "Hey, look, this really is going to be incredible"), and you could fund the whole project through donations. If that worked, you would have money for food AND you'd be making something awesome!

[zez]

You also could probably make a buck off it with ad's or product placement without totally ruining the experience or making it stick out like to much of a sore thumb in the rest of the action52 cart (I mean, its going to stick out like a sore thumb if d-pad studios does it, there is no way in hell my project can compete with your level of polish, and Im pretty sure thats true of damned near everyone involved in this.)
Just food for thought, I know if you do it in flash, there are some pretty good options (you could even release a separate browser based version that isnt part of the full action 52 'cart' and just stick ads in that,) like kongregate and mochi, as far as ad revenues go, and given the amount of traffic and internet hubub you guys seem to generate it would probably make at least okay money, Im at 98,105 impressions totaling $34.62 for my last game through mochi, and Im pretty much unheard of.
If you arent doing flash, something else might be a better idea, but I bet if you dig enough you can find someone who wouldnt mind paying you to make the cheetamen drink coke or something, just sayin.

[zez]

double post, on account of this has absolutely nothing to do with my last post.

http://www.swfcabin.com/open/1281904645

Made the basic level tiles for level 1 and 2, fixed up enemy AI so they can interact with the environment a bit, basically just enough so they don't get stuck in corners, and can pay attention to what height level you are at. Also made some minor alterations to the fake 3d code. Nothing too noticeable, just a few bug fixes.
I also added in the hud, and tweaked a few graphics. I have all the weapon impact sounds recorded, but I have yet too process them or import them, so that will have to wait for a later build (in other words, I had some fun with a hunk of beef a plastic bag a chef's knife and a mic, but havent done any actual work.)

[Dualnames]

It's not bad for a first draft! Well done

[Neonlare]

Small update on Meong, just fixed a few dodgy graphics in some of the levels.

Here's the link to the updated version.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9780777/Meong031.zip

Any word on how the other projects are doing? I don't think I'm gonna be able to touch Meong from now unless there are serious things that need addressing. Radio silence on whether or not it'll be allowed back in or not.

[Jimbob]

I've planned out the overall arc of the game for Robbie and the Robots and started to get stuck into the gameplay. It will start similar to the original but gradually elements here and there will add themselves to the mix...and hopefully keep you guessing.

I know the original had no music, but I don't think that's a valid excuse not to have any.
I'll post some screens when I've got a bit more of a feel for the background graphics...

[zez]

Cool, well like I said, I can whip you somethin up, just give me a general idea for the feel you want, and a preferred file format.

[Alistair Aitcheson]

A new version of Dam Busters. The Z-Ordering still has some issues which I haven't been able to clean up yet, but I've added some basic 3D walls/platforms and some particles for when bullets hit stuff.

http://www.alistairaitcheson.com/games/inprogress/dambusters.html

Let me know what you think. The frame rate's supposed to be 60fps, but I particularly want to know if any of you get any slowdown.

Thanks!

[sergiocornaga]

I think the bullets should have the same distance between them regardless of your movement.

[Alistair Aitcheson]

I think the bullets should have the same distance between them regardless of your movement.

I've decided to make them much faster for the next version, which seems to have the desired effect. Thanks for the input

Anyway, I'm having trouble with the Z-Ordering at the moment. I thought it would be way simpler than this! There's a lot of swapping around elements in various arrays and I think my current approach is way to complicated. I wrote a post on the technical forums asking for help.

http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=14420.0

My current version has the Z-Ordering mostly working, but I'd love to find a less complicated (and thus less mistake-prone) approach. Anyone have any advice or resources on doing pseudo-3D games in Flash?

[BK-TN]

Thrusters is going quite well. I'm making another game for a competition till the 31th, will continue the work there.

[Neonlare]

Welp, I see Meong got taken by someone else. Oh well, I got the game done, despite all the drama. I hope you guys have enjoyed it .

Good luck with your version, dood! :D

[lowpoly]

Still cranking away at Crazy Shuffle, decided to ditch orthographic projection recently and finalized my 3D tile system over the weekend. Now I have to decide on a final design for the characters, whether I keep their current 'smooth' look or go with something more angular to match the environment. Here's how everything is looking right now:



Animation system is in place and I have some temp anims for walking and different weapon postures. Once I lock down the character art, I should be able to get through my animation task list relatively quick.

will hit v050 tonight, which is record for me

[zez]

http://www.swfcabin.com/open/1282801242
Newer build, made the nuns (hopefully) not horribly unfair, added in the player responding to damage in air and being launchable, made it more obvious when you have a hyper, and shrunk the hitboxes a tad, as I was previously using shootemup logic for hitbox sizes and it was kind of wonky.

http://www.swfcabin.com/open/1282674081

New build, some fancyness. Spawners are now included, so I can set points on the map that have enemy's, and tell it what enemy types exist and where they should come from (I can even set a range of places they should come from and have them randomly spawn from within that.)
I also added in Nunchuck weilding... nuns. Yup.
Anyhow, two enemys now, both require fairly different strategy's to kill (Opposite strategy's even. The trucker hat guys pretty much require you go full offense and break there guard, whera's the nuns require you to fight more defensively.)
have fun. Next up Is to add those friggin anoying as shit dogs, and birds. Theeen I start building levels.

[Jimbob]

Super early first level build for Robbie and the Robots!:
http://www.jrnetwork.co.uk/downloads/testlevel.zip

Controls: Arrows, X, C (need I say that?)

Comments:
- You can duck the floor robots shots at the expense of being a sitting duck for the others.
- Should I let you aim directly up?
- Is it too hard?
- The later levels will have actual platforming in. But I thought this captured the original game a bit better as a teaser, with a little bit of Robocop/Contra thrown in.

[handCraftedRadio]

I like it so far. I did think it was too hard, I wasn't able to make it very far at all. Allowing the player to aim directly up seems like it would be fair, especially because the only way to shoot the turrets at the moment is to walk in their shooting path.

Good job so far, I like the pixel art!