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TIGSource ForumsCommunityDevLogsDruids of Gemini - RPG/Adventure Game
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Author Topic: Druids of Gemini - RPG/Adventure Game  (Read 22210 times)
JoshuaSmyth
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« on: August 29, 2013, 01:52:46 PM »

Druids of Gemini is an RPG/Adventure Game set in a fantasy world.

I wanted to create something that was inspired by a whole lot of games I liked as a kid, but at the same time found it's own identity. So wherever possible my thought process has been, well this feature is kinda like from game x, with a bit of y and then it would be cool if I could top it off with feature z.

The main view is similar to 16bit Squaresoft RPGs, but there is also a first person dungeon element, similar to the first Phantasy Star game.

For the last ~9 months it has just been me coding, creating an engine and editor and adding features before even really even settling on a story. A month or so ago Lianne Booton joined as Pixel Mistress: This is her WIP


It's great to have a pixel artist on board as a lot of her mockups and direction influence the engine features.

I'm going to post some older screens, and maybe talk about some stuff that I've already done:
« Last Edit: June 01, 2014, 03:21:58 PM by JoshuaSmyth » Logged

JoshuaSmyth
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« Reply #1 on: August 29, 2013, 02:01:35 PM »

So the editor:

I have a very "tools first" approach to making games. The first programming language/environment I used was called AGI Studio: http://www.agidev.com/download/
Where some people had reverse engineered Sierra's early Adventure Games. I think this approach has been very influential on me. I've probably made more tile editor's than I have games.

Late-Last year when I started the project I didn't even really know what kind of game I wanted to make. The first idea was to create a Roguelike, but I wanted really nice tile transitions, and to have more 'height' in the playing field. So I started working on how to piece togeather autotiles. Turns out this is quite a pain for the 16bit angle. But it's working nicely now:

Using my placeholder art:


The screen above is constructed entirely from these two images:



« Last Edit: August 29, 2013, 02:29:58 PM by JoshuaSmyth » Logged

JoshuaSmyth
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« Reply #2 on: August 29, 2013, 02:08:05 PM »

Weather-Environment and Particles:

Here's a screenshot using my placeholder artwork:
You'll notice lightbeams, with dustparticles (that move) clouds (that move) and fish (that move) and transparent water.

Early Screenshot:


Close up of the fish: (WIP)
« Last Edit: August 29, 2013, 02:32:17 PM by JoshuaSmyth » Logged

JoshuaSmyth
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« Reply #3 on: August 29, 2013, 02:19:14 PM »

First Person Dungeons:

A lot of games I like have had first person dungeons: A few years ago there were heaps released on the Nintendo DS:
SMT: Strange Journey
Orcs and Elves
Etrian Odyssey
The Dark Spire

And many older games:
Amberstar
PhantasyStar 1
Eye of the Beholder

One of my original ideas, was to do a 1st person only dungeon crawl game. Legend of Grimrock had just come out and was doing really well. But then somewhere along the line I decided on mixing topdown with 1st person.

The first person sections of the game have not had a lot of love so far, still working on the overhead maps, but here is a gif showing a (WIP) transition. Sorry about the jerkyness, but I'm trying to keep the filesize down.



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JoshuaSmyth
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« Reply #4 on: August 29, 2013, 02:22:27 PM »

Next:

My TODO list looks something like:

1. More particle emitters
2. Reflections in the water
3. Improving fish (Animations, different colors, parameters in mapeditor)
4. Improving rain (Ripples in the water)
5. Add Snow
6. Importing shadowmaps and lightmaps, so Lianne can work her painterly magic.
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« Reply #5 on: August 29, 2013, 03:15:29 PM »

The top down portion of the game looks very pretty. Seeing fish and sunrays really makes the world come to life. My question though is what are the mechanics in the game, is it just a turnbased RPG or is there something else?
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JoshuaSmyth
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« Reply #6 on: August 29, 2013, 03:51:26 PM »

Quote
My question though is what are the mechanics in the game, is it just a turnbased RPG or is there something else?

Yup, story-based RPG. Turn based combat. I really like exploration in games, so I'm trying to build just cool stuff to discover. I'm also thinking a little about puzzles in the first person section, your usual stuff - floor plate triggers, secret doors that kind of thing.
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diegzumillo
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« Reply #7 on: August 29, 2013, 04:08:03 PM »

Wow, that first screenshot is eye popping.
About that FPS part, is this something new? I don't remember ever seeing a game switching between the two views like that. It's quite interesting!
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JoshuaSmyth
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« Reply #8 on: August 30, 2013, 12:56:26 AM »

Wow, that first screenshot is eye popping.
About that FPS part, is this something new? I don't remember ever seeing a game switching between the two views like that. It's quite interesting!

That first screenshot is Lianne's handywork.

Several games used the top/first person split in the past, although there are no recent games in my memory.

Amberstar, PhantasyStar, Albion and Ultima 1 - All used a topdown/first person combination. I guess I'm influenced by PC Rpgs as much as Console Rpgs.
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karlozalb
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« Reply #9 on: August 30, 2013, 01:25:11 AM »

First Person Dungeons:

A lot of games I like have had first person dungeons: A few years ago there were heaps released on the Nintendo DS:
SMT: Strange Journey
Orcs and Elves
Etrian Odyssey
The Dark Spire

And many older games:
Amberstar
PhantasyStar 1
Eye of the Beholder

One of my original ideas, was to do a 1st person only dungeon crawl game. Legend of Grimrock had just come out and was doing really well. But then somewhere along the line I decided on mixing topdown with 1st person.

The first person sections of the game have not had a lot of love so far, still working on the overhead maps, but here is a gif showing a (WIP) transition. Sorry about the jerkyness, but I'm trying to keep the filesize down.





wow man, that 3D dungeon was a surprise, nice work! Smiley
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starsrift
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« Reply #10 on: August 30, 2013, 02:01:30 AM »

Several games used the top/first person split in the past, although there are no recent games in my memory.

Amberstar, PhantasyStar, Albion and Ultima 1 - All used a topdown/first person combination. I guess I'm influenced by PC Rpgs as much as Console Rpgs.

I really think it is a good design decision. Walking for hours in a 1st person perspective across an 'open world' is actually not that exciting.
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« Reply #11 on: September 01, 2013, 06:52:52 PM »

Lianne's doing some critters:

Here's a WIP


She's using Spriter2d. I'm going to look into whether to add spriter2d support to the engine or to continue using spritesheets.
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« Reply #12 on: September 01, 2013, 07:18:32 PM »

Hey, i like the idea of this game and i am trying to write music for the feel of the game to see if you might want me to score it.  Do you see it as more of a happy game or eerie or sad?
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« Reply #13 on: September 02, 2013, 03:43:33 AM »

I like dis, following
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Keops
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« Reply #14 on: September 02, 2013, 04:29:56 AM »

Nice, another project I'll follow!
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« Reply #15 on: September 02, 2013, 01:27:14 PM »

First screenshot is awesome. Really nice unique style. I've also never seen a game split those perspectives. Sounds like a cool idea! Looking forward to seeing more.
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JoshuaSmyth
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« Reply #16 on: September 04, 2013, 07:56:10 PM »

Thanks for the interest guys!

I'm working on reflections at the moment. Here is the first attempt.


There's still a lot to do to get it right as there can be lots of edge cases as it's not a simple vertical flip. I'm probably going to have to add 'reflection hints' to the editor to get it correct. I think I need to add a bit more noise as well, the sin wave looks a little too, well... Sine-wavy.

You can also see it's (incorrectly) reflecting on the shore as well as the water. But it's a WIP Smiley
« Last Edit: September 04, 2013, 08:04:39 PM by JoshuaSmyth » Logged

JoshuaSmyth
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« Reply #17 on: September 04, 2013, 08:03:23 PM »

Hey, i like the idea of this game and i am trying to write music for the feel of the game to see if you might want me to score it.  Do you see it as more of a happy game or eerie or sad?

Hey there, I have a composer in mind already. But if it inspires you go for it. I'm thinking more lonely/sad/melancholy with various nature/forest sounds.
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karlozalb
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« Reply #18 on: September 05, 2013, 01:45:54 AM »

Thanks for the interest guys!

I'm working on reflections at the moment. Here is the first attempt.


There's still a lot to do to get it right as there can be lots of edge cases as it's not a simple vertical flip. I'm probably going to have to add 'reflection hints' to the editor to get it correct. I think I need to add a bit more noise as well, the sin wave looks a little too, well... Sine-wavy.

You can also see it's (incorrectly) reflecting on the shore as well as the water. But it's a WIP Smiley

Wow man! What are you using to do that effect? shaders? :O
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« Reply #19 on: September 05, 2013, 01:51:49 AM »

(registering interest)
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