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[senorbarborito]

So I've been working for a while on a number of small prototypes, the latest one aiming to be a top-down action game with random generated levels.

Doesn't sound like a particularly new concept but I've got some ideas which will hopefully introduce a couple of interesting twists (based around looting and maybe stealth).

Until two weeks ago I was working together with Michael Hussinger (who goes under the name "Miguelito" in these forums, and posts his work at http://hussinger.blogspot.com).  Anyhow, Michael decided that the scope of the project was unmanageable so we're no longer working together on this, although he was nice enough to let me use his work as temporary placeholders.

Here's the prototype that Michael and I worked on:


Youtube gameplay video
http://youtu.be/1NNeFV9oquo

Playable build
http://goo.gl/2c9W7
(requires unity3d web player)

What's next?
Right now I'm spending my time experimenting with different approaches for level generation.  This is crucial for the gameplay and even the graphics, so I want to focus on this aspect for now.  I'm quite pleased with the results so far so I´ll get round to writing about that here in the next couple of days.  Also, finding a useful name for the game

[Franklins Ghost]

Gameplay is really smooth and interested to see what you come up with in regards to looting and stealth.

Had one issue when trying the prototype that I found an enemy who was stuck in the wall. I was also able to almost overrun the camera which didn't allow me to see what was up ahead.

[senorbarborito]

Had one issue when trying the prototype that I found an enemy who was stuck in the wall. I was also able to almost overrun the camera which didn't allow me to see what was up ahead.

yeah there are a number of issues in there.  it's only a prototype so I won't get into any sort of detail until the basic progression is there.  thanks for taking the time to try it.

[Hima]

I love the look of this. The pig looks so cool and I love how he got a red face while swinging his bag. All these small details really make the character more charming. I can't wait to see how this will progress!

[KopanoGS]

Man, the little character looks soooo cool! Love the cartoon style.
The concept sound really fun. The deflecting hability the pig has with his bag full of something, interesting.

Looking forward to see more updates from this project.

[senorbarborito]

yeah the pig is super cute!!
like I said Michael is definitely a talented guy.

however, for the final game I think it´ll be better to go 8-bit, so as to reduce the workload.  oh well, still a lot of work left before getting into any graphics so just rambling.

by the way, controls are heavily based on pocky and rocky, which in my view is awesome.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=02qEz-qn8SE#t=142s

[Hima]

yeah the pig is super cute!!
like I said Michael is definitely a talented guy.

however, for the final game I think it´ll be better to go 8-bit, so as to reduce the workload.  oh well, still a lot of work left before getting into any graphics so just rambling.

by the way, controls are heavily based on pocky and rocky, which in my view is awesome.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=02qEz-qn8SE#t=142s

Ah! That explains why I feels the control is really familiar! I've just played Pocky and Rocky last month or so and was like 'Man, they don't make games like this anymore.' I even went on youtube and search for the new Pocky and Rocky game and was disappointed with the latest one. Glad to see someone work on this genre again! 

Too bad that the pig has to go though... But I understand that 8-bit would reduce a lot of workload than going full hd for the whole game. Anyway, looking forward to this!

[senorbarborito]

Ah! That explains why I feels the control is really familiar! I've just played Pocky and Rocky last month or so

yeah man pocky and rocky is a real gem, still as enjoyable as ever.

by the way I was reading puipui's devlog the other day, thought the characters were absolutely lovely, so best of luck with that!

[omgnoseat]

I love pock & rocky, so this is great! The similarities are a bit too much I think though, it's essentialy a clone. Throwing stuff, sliding (rolling in this case) and deflecting projectiles. That 100% pocky & rocky. But I'm aware that this is in a very early stage.

The pig is incredibly awesome, would be such a shame if you would remove it.

[Udderdude]

IMO you should switch Z and X, so Z is fire and X is melee.  Makes more sense to me that way.

[senorbarborito]

I love pock & rocky, so this is great! The similarities are a bit too much I think though, it's essentialy a clone. Throwing stuff, sliding (rolling in this case) and deflecting projectiles. That 100% pocky & rocky. But I'm aware that this is in a very early stage.

yeah I agree.
however I'm pretty sure the game will feel totally different with new mechanics in place.
these will possibly include looting and maybe stealth, so I don't think it's a cause for concern.

still, I think making a pocky and rocky clone is something worth pursuing these days in and of itself, particularly since I don't think natsume will be making this type of game anytime soon.

The pig is incredibly awesome, would be such a shame if you would remove it.

yeah I know, however this is Michael's creation so at some point the pig is going to have to go 

[Miguelito]

So, errr... Someone rang?

Hi Señor and I'm glad you're showing this around.
Yes, Señor Barborito is right in that it was me who kinda told the project off - the pig character is sort of in the limbo right now, but after creating all these animations the task of equipping a full, sprawling game with that kind of assets looked hugely daunting to me, expecially since I'm not exactly a wizard at doing backgrounds...

I'm glad people seem to like the guy though, many thanks for this.

So Señor, you've made a great build and I'm very happy to have this tiny bit of playable content.
But you mentioned going more lo-fi... That does sound interesting, if I may say so......

In any case, I wish you all the best! I'll be watching the project no matter what happens!

[senorbarborito]

Hi Miguelito,

glad to see you dropped by.
as you can see your character is already a great success

but yeah, I took good note of what you mentioned so chances are this will end up being pixel art of some sort.  but that's still far away because I'm not going to even think about that until gameplay is finished.

also, feel free to drop your criticism around here as the game evolves, it will be most welcome.

[senorbarborito]

random generation

So, as I've said before the game will have random generation levels.  I've been working on that stuff for a couple weeks and I think it's looking good.

first I tried using herringbone tiles:
http://nothings.org/gamedev/herringbone/

the results are kinda neat for caves but they lack in structure, ie. they are too random:



this is no good because I'd like the game to take place inside some sort of real-world building, not a cave.  I was thinking maybe a museum or a haunted mansion for example.  but in any case, something with rooms.

so I started writing something which would generate rooms of different sizes but which would still have some structure to it.  here are some results:



the thumbnails look kinda samey but if you open the images I think you'll see that the technique can generate a good variety of room sizes while still being beleivable, ie. it's not just a load of random interconnected rectangles.

the only problem is that at the moment it doesn't generate corridors.  I'm not sure if I can just do without corridors or if I´ll have to come up with a different approach.

next step, doors.

[Udderdude]

There's always SLIGE .. http://www.doomworld.com/slige/