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[Relix]

Looking good, just one funny (or not funny) thing I noticed; modern cell phones don't look like phones at all, and the palette gives me sort of 80's feel, maybe a bit older looking phone would fit better?

I'd also like to know how did you make those clouds, circle tool..?

[antymattar]

Om nom nom nom!

[Ishi]

Looking good, just one funny (or not funny) thing I noticed; modern cell phones don't look like phones at all, and the palette gives me sort of 80's feel, maybe a bit older looking phone would fit better?

I'd also like to know how did you make those clouds, circle tool..?

The game's set in modern day, but a chunky satellite phone or something might suit it better, yeah. Suits the remote location / exploration theme. Ta

The clouds were just hand-drawn.

[Relix]

The clouds were just hand-drawn.

I was hoping that you had some neat cloud drawing trick to teach.

[Ishi]

I was hoping that you had some neat cloud drawing trick to teach.

Hmm well I think perfect circles would be too neat. I just draw some blobby shapes, and then add highlights where I imagine the light would hit them if they were 3D. I do it all pretty roughly first and then go over it all very close-up to smooth it all out.

[Ishi]

Update

Super-productive saturday!

Pretty much finished the cutscene thing I think - certainly I should probably avoid tweaking it any further.



Added brush size to the editor.

Added saving and loading to the editor.

Added the ability to switch from editor to game, and made the game collision work against the proper level data instead of the hard-coded tiles.



It's pretty awesome now I can easily test different scenery configurations and stuff. Now I can get back to player collision and movement, which needs a lot of work and anims.

[Ishi]

Update

I created a general system for defining where special collision points will be automatically placed. For example, the points on the edges of ledges that Trixie can hang from. (These were hardcoded before, but are now handled by this system)

Code:

<CollisionPoints>
<CollisionPoint Name="Hang"
Flag="1"
>
<Row Data="ooo"/>
<Row Data="ooX"/>
<Row Data="oo?"/>
<Row Data="oo?"/>
</CollisionPoint>

<CollisionPoint Name="HangAndClimb"
Flag="2"
>
<Row Data="ooo"/>
<Row Data="ooo"/>
<Row Data="ooX"/>
<Row Data="oo?"/>
<Row Data="oo?"/>
</CollisionPoint>

<CollisionPoint Name="LedgeFlip"
Flag="4"
>
<Row Data="?ooo?"/>
<Row Data="ooooo"/>
<Row Data="ooooo"/>
<Row Data="ooXxx"/>
<Row Data="oo???"/>
</CollisionPoint>
</CollisionPoints>

x is a solid tile, o is an empty tile, ? is any tile, and capital X is the tile that the collision point will be placed on. So, for example, Hang is the edge of any ledge that Trixie can hang from. HangAndClimb is more specific - it's a ledge that also has enough room to climb to a standing position. LedgeFlip defines the places where Trixie can do the somersault over the edge of the ledge - needs lots more space.

I also added some more actions today such as crawling off a ledge to hang from it.

[baconman]

Smells like level design mastermind in here.

[Ishi]

Update

Added some helper abilities, for example Trixie now crawls into a tunnel automatically if the player is pressing forwards.

Technical Fun
I'll add technical bits in my updates occasionally if I think it might be interesting.

Here's some of the XML that defines Trixie's animations.

Code:

<Strip name="Idle" filename="Idle.png"/>

<Strip name="Turn"
   filename="Turn.png"
   cels="3"
   length="0.06">
</Strip>

<Strip name="Walk"
   filename="Walk.png"
   cels="6"
   length="0.1"
   dx="2"
   initialCel="1">
<Cel index="1" dx="1"/>
<Cel index="4" dx="1"/>
</Strip>

Idle is a single frame so doesn't need any details.

Turn is a straightforward animation - 3 cels (frames), 0.06 seconds each.

The Walk animation also includes movement info (dx is change in X position). So Trixie moves forwards 2 pixels per animation cel, except on cels 1 and 4 where she moves only 1 pixel. This ensures movement of the sprite is exactly in sync with the animation, so her feet don't slide around on the floor.

In the same way that I've specified dx for specific cels, it's also possible to specify animation timings per cel, so if necessary I can tweak anims quite precisely (though I haven't needed it yet).

It looks a bit long-winded, but most animations don't use cel-specific details or have movement info, so it's quick enough to add new animations to the file.

[Ishi]

Update

Added a couple more animations to make things flow better.

I put a build of the game on my laptop ready to take to the Midlands Indies meetup tomorrow. I thought I'd get into the spirit of this open development and put together a video of a playthrough of that build! In the past I've been a bit reluctant to show too much of my games off, as personally I like to see as little as possible of any game I'd like to play.



It shows the majority of Trixie's abilities so far. The camera's just a quick placeholder one, so it's pretty shonky.

[MaloEspada]

this seems like such a pacifist game. maybe because you haven't drawn the enemies yet? though i like it the way it is now. reminds me a lot of knytt.

i take it these abilities are given to the player as default? it would be weird to get a "ledge grab" upgrade (hello, metroid zero mission!)

[Ishi]

I'd say enemies are very unlikely at this point. I'll probably take the environmental hazards (aka spikes) route.

I think the wall jump will be an upgrade as I can tie it into the grip boots or something. Ledge hang and stuff would be silly though like you say, it just doesn't make sense for a character who's meant to be good at exploring to start out basically helpless.

[baconman]

That is so adorably animated! Pacing and everything looks smooth, too; and that last little thing she does was completely unexpected, tbh. I'm sure there's a reason for it, though...

[ThePortalGuru]

The movement is beautifully fluid.  God damn, this is the sort of precision I want in platformers these days.  It just all animates so seamlessly.  Please, please tell me that you're planning to release a playable alpha in the near future.

[McMutton]

A ledge grab upgrade may make sense if it were, say, climbing gloves or something that would enhance one's grip.