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TIGSource ForumsCommunityDevLogsHappy Hell - An occultoon 3D platformer \m/
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Author Topic: Happy Hell - An occultoon 3D platformer \m/  (Read 10379 times)
Polygonzo
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« on: December 11, 2014, 08:14:53 PM »

Hi all! I’m Polygonzo of Occultimate Games (which is just me really). I'm working on a 3D platformer called



Kickstarter was a success!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/590439323/spooky-poos-happy-hell/description

Happy Hell has been Greenlit!
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=394088145

(old) Trailer:




It’s still got a long ways to go before it reaches its true potential, but much of the foundation has been laid. I focused on getting the core gameplay mechanics implemented first, now most of the work is going to involve lots of polish and content creation (enemies, levels, NPCs, mission scripting, animations, effects, UI, ect.)

Even though the game is in alpha/pre-alpha, I’d like to start getting some impressions. You can find more media on the Steam page.

Prototype: currently unavailable but stay tuned!



About this Video Game

Happy Hell is a 3D Platformer in the spirit of games like Super Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie. This game strives for the ecstatic action and sharp level design of the former, while delivering weird worlds and kooky characters inspired by the latter…and then it throws in a bunch of fun stuff like shooting and dynamic physics. Other influences off the top of my head: Jan Svankmajer, Nintendo, bizarro cartoons, absurdist/surrealist humour, 60s psychedelic music, the occult…yeah.



Mario 64 is my favorite game, and I have a disturbing fondness for those Rareware platformers, but I'm not interested in emulating past classics. Occultimate games like to be experimental and a bit freaky. Between nightmare and dream logic I'll create tight little platforming stages, wide open zip-along-zones, funky sandbox sections and trippy rabbit holes. There will be shoot outs with freakazoid killers, tightrope walks with giant stalkers, physics wrangling for needy demons, chases and races and…some really beautiful moments too. It's not all hellfire and brimstone. There will be blues skies, sun sets, deserts, forests and so on. I want Happy Hell to be a fun place to hang out.



The Story

Happy Hell begins with Spooky Poo, a mischievous madcap who wants to make a wish. When The Devil is summoned, He appears more than willing to oblige on one condition: Spooky Poo must survive 9 descending levels of Happy Hell to make a wish.



This wicked wonderland has been designed by The Devil Himself to test His associates. It’s a tough place to survive. Luckily, The Prince of Darkness is always ready to make a deal. He’ll grant Spooky Poo black magik powers to make things a little more fun. All Spooky has to do is find Soul Suckers throughout Happy Hell. These scary looking one-eyed grabbies give Spooky a permanent new ability in exchange for a little piece of the cartoon creature’s soul.



Black Magik Powers

   •   The Boots of a Jumping Genie which make each successive jump more powerful.
   •   A Devil’s Tail which lets Spooky pivot and then spring into the air with great force.
   •   Proboscis Trismegistus which allows Spooky’s nose to grab, carry and throw objects.
   •   The 666 Degree Belt which puts Spooky into a lethal spin.
   •   Bogey Nose which allows Spooky’s nose to shoot a variety of projectiles (acquired throughout the environment).
   •   Broom Vrrooom which facilitates high speed surfing.
   •   The Cape of Mad Magus which allows Spooky to glide through the air.
   •   Tooty Voodoo for double jumping in mid-air.
   •   Eye of the Anti-Pope which grants the power to “Z-Target” and hypnotise certain enemies/objects.
   •   Tooty Voodoo Poot Two for spawning solid cloud platforms with each tooty double jump.
   •   A host of Guardian Demons which essentially act as units of health and allow for Spooky to take more damage.
   •   And many more to come!

The Devil hastens to add that it is possible to reach the bottom of Hell without selling any of Spooky’s soul. This is for a “special” kind of player though as it requires an obsessive kind of supernatural sleuthing. Also! I plan to make the number of Soul Suckers that Spooky uses throughout the game determine what is wished for at the end. Sell Spooky Poo's entire soul and it’ll be a wicked wish. Avoid Suckers and the wish will be a righteous one. Of course there’s some grey area in between.

Spoilers: I would like the number of Soul Suckers used to affect the final boss battle against The Devil. Selling a lot of Spooky’s soul will make you stronger, but you'll be more easily manipulated by Satan.



Level Progression

Happy Hell’s layout takes some inspiration from Dante’s Inferno. Level nine is at the bottom while levels eight through one are stacked on top. A long vertical tunnel runs through the centre of each level and leads directly to The Devil’s Throne. Guarding this tunnel is a serpentine monster called South Mouth.

South Mouth will retreat and open up the next level only if she is fed well. South Mouth eats Good Things. Good Things are…good things that somehow got lost and wound up in Hell. Good Things are basically like Power Stars in Super Mario 64 or Jiggies in Banjo-Kazooie. Each level of Hell has a number of goals that award Good Things which allow Spooky to move from level to level in a nonlinear fashion.

Development

I’ve been working on Happy Hell full-time out of pocket for 5 months because I believe in it that much. Now I’m focusing on getting a somewhat polished demo together that allows players to get a good feel for the game. I’m hoping to launch a Kickstarter in February…

Please stay tuned! There are so many brilliant and unheard of ideas I have in store for Spooky Poo and because much of the core gameplay systems have been established, I just need the time to build it all. My ears are open, so don’t hesitate to tell me what you think. Thanks for being patient as I mould this sloppy salad into a blistering jewel. Back to work!

Polygonzo Trismegistus
[email protected]
« Last Edit: September 18, 2018, 08:41:02 PM by Polygonzo » Logged
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« Reply #1 on: December 11, 2014, 10:02:26 PM »

Oh, geez. I was just discovering the other two good-looking 3D platformers here. Someone said indie 3D platformers like this seem rare, and I realised I agree, but here we are, apparently, seeing a great wave! I like this wave.

That pentagram-shaped Devil's head is genious. As is your pseudonym/nickname.

why is he called poo tho
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Polygonzo
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« Reply #2 on: December 11, 2014, 10:11:40 PM »

I've noticed this new wave of indie 3D platformers too and it's great! Probably because the dev tools to make them are becoming more accessible and I think a new wave of indies who grew up with those mid-late 90s games are coming up now. I've been designing a game like this in my head for over 10 years.

Thanks for the kind words. I like villains that are floating heads, like Andross Tongue As for Spooky's "Poo". I won't give away too much in case I feature it more in the story, but Spooky comes from a cartoon world where that's a kind of common last name. There's a Sweetie Poo, Chunky Poo, Wonky Poo…anyway, that's a whole different thing altogether Smiley
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« Reply #3 on: December 11, 2014, 10:17:03 PM »

Haha this looks absurd and awesome, I'm excited to see where this goes. Best of luck Gentleman
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Polygonzo
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« Reply #4 on: December 11, 2014, 10:31:31 PM »

Quote
Dream a little crazy!

Thanks!
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Polygonzo
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« Reply #5 on: December 14, 2014, 12:23:48 AM »

Currently working on level designs for the demo. About that demo. Spooky starts in a hub area with Soul Suckers (see explanation above) that give the basic/fundamental magik powers (jumps, pick up/throw, spin attack, health up). This hub is supposed to ease players into the controls with some not-too-difficult platforming and enemy encounters.

Within the hub area are 3-4 warps to other levels with Soul Suckers that give more advanced abilities (gliding, shooting, super dash). These levels will showcase how cool these advanced powers are. I'm aiming to have a fair balance of platforming, exploring, combat and puzzle solving with a variety of settings and enemies that give a taste of things to come. It won't be as fleshed out and detailed and awesome as the final game, but it should demonstrate the game's potential.

I plan on posting an updated build of the game to www.occultimategames.com at the end of this week. If you have any fixes or feedback you'd like considered just let me know! I'm working on everything from character controls to camera to UI and…here's a tiny chunk of half-finished level I made today.



Next time I'll do a .gif (the Skellies dance and the wormies worm!)
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Polygonzo
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« Reply #6 on: December 19, 2014, 04:36:11 PM »

Hullo.

Work continues on the demo I hope to have ready by the beginning of January. I think I'll post a new build on occultimategames.com this weekend or beginning of next.

Here's a video showing the enemy targeting and shooting abilities. I just finished some unresolved issues with their implementation. The aesthetics are still in-progress...as are many of the art assets and effects (still, feedback is welcome!)





Basically, when you get the Third Eye from a Soul Sucker, you can target lock onto certain objects/enemies with the Right Bumper (on an X-Box controller). In this state, you can orbit around the target. You can break the target lock with Left Bumper or, if there are other targets within range, switch to other targets by pressing RB again.

The Third Eye targeting ability is not just for enemies. I hope to demonstrate in the demo how you can hypnotise statues and characters by locking onto them. In states of hypnosis, they do things like follow Spooky, change position, give clues...

Shooting projectile is another power altogether. When you get the Bogey Nose from a Sucker, you have the ability to shoot things out of Spooky's nose. First, you have to get Things to shoot though. That's where Hellementals come in (art coming soon). By collecting these little spirits, Spooky can shoot different types of projectiles. In the demo, there will at least be a standard projectile bullet, and a bomb. There will be at least 6 types in the final game. To "exorcise" the current Hellemental and revert to the 666 Degree spin attack...I think hold 'Y' for like a second and a half. Still gotta figure that out.

More to come soon.

Cheerio.
« Last Edit: June 21, 2015, 09:37:47 PM by Polygonzo » Logged
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« Reply #7 on: December 24, 2014, 09:02:48 PM »

Still grinding away on the "demo"! I've posted a new build of the game to www.occultimategames.com and while it's more polished than the last one, there are enough broken things to make it somewhat frustrating (mostly the lack of proper text when you get a new ability from a Soul Sucker). Still, if people care to poke around and give me feedback I'd really appreciate it (remember it's meant to be played with a controller).

I've increased Spooky's speed and tweaked some physics after watching some people play it but I'm sure I'll be refining controls for some time. Camera is also something I'll be working on for a while.

Well, I hope to have a more playable build up after Hecksmas and before Poo Years.

Happy holidays all! I'll leave you with a half-finished character named Frigwitch.



Whose cauldron, once filled with the proper ingredients, transports Spooky Poo to a flying carpet ride through the clouds.

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Polygonzo
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« Reply #8 on: December 27, 2014, 10:35:56 PM »

Been working on a bunch of things including this ghostie. Ghosts will probably come in many shapes and behaviours, but as enemies they are primarily on rails moving in circles or ping-ponging between points. The fleshy enemies are the ones that will give chase (at least that's the idea for the demo, enemies throughout the full game won't be limited to Halloween-type foes). The ghost's teeth chatter, but looking at the gif maybe I should exaggerate this a bit. Also, I'm not completely satisfied with the particle trail it leaves, but I think it's good to have to illustrate the enemy's path to players.


Still lots to do! I'm aiming to have a solid demo around the 13th of January. Hopefully I can update the build on occultimategames.com mid next week with something decent.

Any feedback would be great (art? gameplay? general concept?)

Cheers!
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« Reply #9 on: December 28, 2014, 08:15:38 AM »

absolutely terrifying
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Polygonzo
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« Reply #10 on: December 29, 2014, 05:57:43 PM »

The skybox for Limbo is still pretty rough, but I'm getting excited about rendering those Rock-O-Lantern Mountains.

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« Reply #11 on: January 16, 2015, 03:36:21 PM »

Hi all! I haven't really struck a balance between development and sharing progress so it's been a while. In the link below you'll find a very rough video showing gameplay featured in the demo that I hope to have in a decent place by the end of the month.

I would really appreciate feedback! There's still a lot of rubbish that I may or may not be able to sort out in time for the Kickstarter(also aiming for later this month(I'd spend more time on it if I could but...I can't... $$))

There's also a demo on my site (that seems to ruin a lot of the textures so I may have to offer a .exe in the future). If you have the patience to deal with some bugs I'm very interested to hear what you think about how it plays (a controller is almost necessary but see the site for keyboard controls).

That's all for now. I hope to be more regular with the updates though. Cheers!
« Last Edit: June 21, 2015, 09:35:24 PM by Polygonzo » Logged
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« Reply #12 on: January 17, 2015, 06:23:43 PM »

Satan eagerly waits for Spooky Poo to take the plunge.
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Polygonzo
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« Reply #13 on: January 19, 2015, 04:42:45 PM »

Hey y'all, check it out. All the black magick powers that Spooky Poo gets in the demo:
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« Reply #14 on: January 19, 2015, 08:44:21 PM »

This looks really cool and I enjoyed what I could play of the demo. Unfortunately every time I got to a part where you had to press start/enter I was unable to continue- pressing enter did nothing, and I don't have a gamepad set up right now.
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« Reply #15 on: January 19, 2015, 09:04:53 PM »

This looks really cool and I enjoyed what I could play of the demo. Unfortunately every time I got to a part where you had to press start/enter I was unable to continue- pressing enter did nothing, and I don't have a gamepad set up right now.

Aggh! I'm very sorry about that. I'm in the middle of reworking the input code so that all controllers + keyboards can work. Right now, there's a quick fix if you press "0" at those text prompts it will work for you. Again, sorry that's not mentioned anywhere. I'll have it fixed in the next day. Thanks for playing!

Also, playing with keyboard is REALLY difficult (I can't do it that well), but any way you can play is very much appreciated.
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« Reply #16 on: January 19, 2015, 09:26:22 PM »

This looks really cool and I enjoyed what I could play of the demo. Unfortunately every time I got to a part where you had to press start/enter I was unable to continue- pressing enter did nothing, and I don't have a gamepad set up right now.

Aggh! I'm very sorry about that. I'm in the middle of reworking the input code so that all controllers + keyboards can work. Right now, there's a quick fix if you press "0" at those text prompts it will work for you. Again, sorry that's not mentioned anywhere. I'll have it fixed in the next day. Thanks for playing!

Also, playing with keyboard is REALLY difficult (I can't do it that well), but any way you can play is very much appreciated.

Ok thanks. That trick worked at first, but when I got the 666 Degree Belt I had the same problem again (pressing 0 did nothing).

Anyway I'll get my controller out and try this game again once some of these issues are ironed out. In the meantime I'd like to see some more of your concept art.
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« Reply #17 on: January 19, 2015, 09:54:59 PM »

Doh! Will fix soon.

I'm juggling concept art with technical stuff right now, but hopefully I'll have something in a couple of days.
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« Reply #18 on: January 20, 2015, 06:56:09 PM »

Here's the controller setup:
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« Reply #19 on: January 22, 2015, 06:44:54 PM »

occultimategames.com has been updated with PC, Mac and Linux builds of Happy Hell! Also, keyboard input should be fully functional alongside most of the popular PC controllers (which are recommended over keys). Control scheme explained in-game.

Please, if you can, play the standalone download versions and not the browser version for now. There's some terrible texture compression going on in the web build :/

I hope to hear more feedback, criticism, ect! Especially would like to hear from Linux people as I can't test that one myself.

More to come soon.

Cheers!
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