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[lasttea999]

Platform Battle 2 DevLog

This thread used to be in the Feedback section, but I decided that the game wasn't ready to be there yet. So, for now, I'd like to take a devlog approach!

Questions for you all:

1) Have you experienced any lag with the demo? Or, with my Java program? (see this post)

2) Is the color of the water hurting your eyes? (Or any part of any of these images, for that matter?) I think I may have encountered that problem on some screens.

The latest demo was released on 3/18/11. Please try it out:

YoYo Games link: Click here

Note: Locked components have not yet been implemented. They cannot be unlocked within the demo.

Thank you very much for your time and effort! Please tell us:

• What you like and don't like about the gameplay and graphics
• Suggestions for improvement to the gameplay and graphics (we are not taking suggestions for character and level ideas; sorry!)
• Anything else that comes to mind!

Screenshots (click image for 2x (in-game) resolution):

From the demo:





From the main game:

Special thanks to:
Mark Overmars
39ster and 39dll
ChevyRay and his Seamless Screen-Scaling tutorial
http://www.cokeandcode.com/index.html?page=tutorials
MicroStudios
Philo
samdamana, who suggested a change in the controls
Matt Thorson and his Grandma Engine
Derek Yu and his Game Maker For Beginners tutorials
yajo, who provided lots of feedback and in doing so suggested a new way to post screenshots
Captain Ventris, Revenge, and all others who have supported us!
My computer science teachers and other instructors and writers
illisid and BENJAMUS

• Category: Platformer
• GM Version: GM7, GM8
• Vista Compatible: yes
• YoYo Games link: Click here
• Game Maker Community link: Click here

Feel free to keep track of us at my deviantART and Pixeljoint profiles; you might find the occasional PB2 spoiler or two!

This demo (as well as the actual game) uses my tile-placement engine, found here (in the Game Maker Community Tutorials and Examples forum).

[flavio]

Good job! I like the idea and the fulfilment; it's fun! Some opinions:

• you can use two "energy bars" instead of numbers on the characters (graphically it's cleaner and it's more immediate to see the players' energy level);
• you can introduce the features step-by-step. In the first level the player could want to experiment only the core mechanics, in the second level you can introduce swimming, in the third one you can introduce springs... This is simpler for the player and this keep your game various during the player's experience.

[lasttea999]

Thank you for your comment, yajo! We will consider your suggestions!

[lasttea999]

Hello again, TIGSource! Just thought I'd let you know that you can keep track of us at my deviantART and Pixeljoint profiles; you might find the occasional PB2 spoiler or two!

One question for you guys: Have you experienced any lag with the demo? One user at YoYo Games has.

[flavio]

Have you experienced any lag with the demo?

No, I didn't.

[lasttea999]

Thanks again for your feedback, yajo!

Allow me to announce that

• I have added links to the subjects that I credit in the original post, and that
• this demo (as well as the actual game) uses my tile-placement engine, found here (in the Game Maker Community Tutorials and Examples forum).

My apologies for being so late with the links!

[lasttea999]

Well, this thread used to be in the Feedback section, but I decided that the game wasn't ready to be there yet. So, for now, I'd like to take a devlog approach!

Here's a new screenshot:



You may have noticed that the older screenshots don't exactly fit well. So, I have a new question for you all:

Would you prefer to see screenshots at 2x resolution, as you would in-game, or at 1x resolution, so that the screenshots fit well?

As for a demo with more content... The game's got a fair amount of content already, but the demo might have to wait until I work out a few bugs and implement a more complete (placeholder) interface.

Thank you for your help!

[flavio]

Would you prefer to see screenshots at 2x resolution, as you would in-game, or at 1x resolution, so that the screenshots fit well?

You might upload the image at 2x resolution, and link it in the forum at 1x resolution (using the width parameter of the img tag). This way we can see the image in the post comfortably, and clicking on it we can see it in the definitive appearance.

[kidchameleon]

Very good work. It has great potential. Looking forward to when its finished.

[ANtY]

It looks way better now, really.

[DanFornace]

This is the game that I wish I was making. 

-Dan

[lasttea999]

Thanks for your support, guys, and sorry for the late response!

You might upload the image at 2x resolution, and link it in the forum at 1x resolution (using the width parameter of the img tag). This way we can see the image in the post comfortably, and clicking on it we can see it in the definitive appearance.

Sounds like a nice way to post screenshots! Allow me to implement this method.

By omitting the level editor in the upcoming demo (where some of the most noticeable bugs are), I think I may be able to release it sooner than I had thought. The interface, however, will probably still be a provisional one, for the most part...  

[lasttea999]

Screenshot time!



My apologies, I still don't have a new demo... I think I'm actually pretty close to releasing it in terms of how much work there is to do, but with schoolwork to be done, it might take a little while longer...

Question for you all: is the color of the water hurting your eyes? (Or any part of any of these images, for that matter?) It's not an issue for me on this particular screen, but I think I may have encountered that problem on some other screens.

[flavio]

Hmm yes, that color doesn't convince me. Other colors of the image are more sober, that blue is more "aggressive".

[cosec]

This is a cool game. I only tried it out on my own but i think it has great potential. For the water, I think it would look better if you made it closer to the hue of the sky, or even a more interesting colour like brown or green.

[Blue]

I don't think the problem with the water is that it "hurts the eyes", but that it is rather boring. Water tends to look better if you put some hueshifting on it [as in, changing the color as it gets deeper, so in this case I think going from light blue to navy blue would be good.]

But yeah, the game looks interesting, and good job on the tiles, they look much better than in the first game.

[lasttea999]

Thank you again, guys, for your feedback! I apologize for not replying for so long! I think I might change up the water graphics a bit, but probably not for the next demo.

The demo has, in fact, progressed, and it's not too far from being released... but it still needs a little more work. In the meantime, for any users of Game Maker 8 who might be interested, here is a sample (in the form of a GMK file for GM8) of what some of the movement code looks like in PB2: download from MediaFire

Note that this is a cleaner version of the code actually used in PB2, but with less features.

My engine is partly based on Grandma Engine, by Matt Thorson.

[lasttea999]

Well, it's been a while since I've written anything, and I apologize for making you all wait, but... the new demo is now available!

MediaFire download: Click here

YoYo Games page: Click here

Note: Locked components have not yet been implemented. They cannot be unlocked within the demo.

Please leave feedback!

[Lizardheim]

Might want to do some more balancing and removing of useless features, like the propellor on Wolfgang II.
Infact, you could just have an animation of the propellor going up when you're flying.

[lasttea999]

Thanks for the feedback, Lizard!

Yeah, balancing wasn't exactly a top priority for releasing the demo... For example, Wolfgang II's homing missiles are kinda overpowered.

Also, I'm thinking of enabling the propeller form of Wolfgang to move faster than other characters. This will let Wolfgang use that form for, say, long-range movement.

Feel free to list any other issues that come to mind!