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[LucasMaxBros]

Vivid Radiance




DEVLOG:  http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=46892.0


This is Vivid Radiance, a Puzzle-Platformer where you will be manipulating color to interact with different objects. Your goal is to free the imprisoned color from various colored Blocks so you can return the color back to the level! Along your way you will also collect energy that will let you activate your True Potential and interact with all the colored Blocks and climb walls but both forms will be needed to get through each level!

Development Info:

Development started when I was trying to think of a new game to make (specifically a 2D platformer). I recalled Kirby Triple Deluxe and DKCR and how they used different planes of the terrain that you could "switch" between and do different things with. So I thought about a game where you could switch between red, yellow, and blue planes. But then I saw Mighty Switch Force where it would switch between two Blocks and thought about my idea a little more. I decided to throw away the change planes concept because I thought that merely switching between objects you could interact with instead of planes would be a more simple and an easier idea for players to work with.

But upon thinking about this, I had to give a reason WHY players would want to switch between colors all the time, since switching between two Blocks is all you really need to make platforming work. Doing it with 3 Blocks could lead to either very confusing design or design that players might try to only switch between 2 Blocks so they don't have to bother with a 3rd one when possible. But Eureka! I thought about what if they NEEDED or really WANTED to platform on these Blocks? So therefore, the platforms in this game ARE the collectables (for the most part)!

And from there I thought about why they were collecting it, unique ways to collect the color, etc, which is how the plot and character came to be. Vivid Radiance (The protagonist) was originally going to be a plain girl but I gave her wolf like properties for the fact that when you get enough energy, she transforms into a wolf that can climb up walls, run really fast, and has a larger attack that could reach untouchable colored blocks! Also, I had to think about the designs for the Blocks, because I had to make sure people who were colored blind could also tell which was which. I ended up using different shapes that were either full, hollow, or transparent to distinguish them.

Of course, I have now since removed the Wolf Form due to technical issues and the fact it takes a long time to animate.


Anyways I have a short Demo that will take 3-5 minutes to play. 12 mbs to download, and it took FOREVER to give you people the ability to change your controls to WHATEVER you want, as well as different defaults (WASD and Arrow Keys). Though this game is best used with a Gamepad. Please tell me if there are any problems, this is still an early build. Thank You!

(Has been updated to the most recent version, 1.4! )

DOWNLOAD: http://www.mediafire.com/download/ys4araate4b3n7e/Vivid_Radiance-Default-1.4.0.0.exe

YOU CAN RUN BY HOLDING DOWN ATTACK WHILE MOVING!

Here are the controls:
A & D to Move, J to Attack, K to Jump, L to Grab, SHIFT to Transform, W & S to Switch Colors.
Press ENTER to Pause and switch controls or Exit the game. If your prefer Arrow Keys, I suggest Default 2!
Also, Gamepad controls:
Dpad to Move, A to Jump, X to Attack, Y to Transform, B to Grab, L & R Bumpers to Switch Colors.



Made with GM:S for Windows (Currently)
LucasMaxBros

[harkme]

Played with keyboard and these were the following controls I used:

up,down,left,right: arrow keys
attack: z
jump: x
grab: c
transform: shift
change color 1: a
change color 2: s

I don't know if it was the controls I had, but I felt like the gameplay just paused too much. I had to keep switching colors to get past otherwise basic obstacles. I had no idea what the grab button did. I transformed and it made me able to run faster and run on walls, but I was at the part with the springs and I couldn't tell how to get past the red blocks in my transformed form. I went back a bit and wall ran up, but yellow blocks stopped me there. I then transformed back and after bouncing on the springs a bit, switching colors a couple times, I stopped playing.

[LucasMaxBros]

Played with keyboard and these were the following controls I used:

up,down,left,right: arrow keys
attack: z
jump: x
grab: c
transform: shift
change color 1: a
change color 2: s

I don't know if it was the controls I had, but I felt like the gameplay just paused too much. I had to keep switching colors to get past otherwise basic obstacles. I had no idea what the grab button did. I transformed and it made me able to run faster and run on walls, but I was at the part with the springs and I couldn't tell how to get past the red blocks in my transformed form. I went back a bit and wall ran up, but yellow blocks stopped me there. I then transformed back and after bouncing on the springs a bit, switching colors a couple times, I stopped playing.

This game is made primarily for a gamepad since you can use the L & R bumpers to change colors with no effort. Gets a bit more complicated with keyboards but not by much. Grab is for...grabbing things (It will prompt UP + ATTACK). You can't go through blocks as a wolf, so you had to use the springs and get up as a human! 

I will try to do something about the paused gameplay, but it also might be that you aren't use to the controls. If you have a Gamepad, you could try it again and see how it plays. Or you could change one of the Switch Colors to 'C' for faster access!

[harkme]

That's true that I wasn't used to the controls since I didn't spend lots of time with the game. I think the reason why most other games have only two states to switch between is because not only does it make the controls easier, it also fits better for faster action since you only have to think about two distinct states. In this case, I have to think about what color I want and also what color I'm currently on. Maybe if for the keyboard you give three different buttons to pick the color immediately? I would personally put A, S, D for each color. Heck, what if you could remove the attack button and make those three color switching buttons also attack in that color?

The grabbing mechanic wasn't clear to me, but maybe I'm just an idiot, so I didn't catch that the triangle was an arrow pointing to the block. I thought it was something about my attack going up or down or something.

[LucasMaxBros]

That's true that I wasn't used to the controls since I didn't spend lots of time with the game. I think the reason why most other games have only two states to switch between is because not only does it make the controls easier, it also fits better for faster action since you only have to think about two distinct states. In this case, I have to think about what color I want and also what color I'm currently on. Maybe if for the keyboard you give three different buttons to pick the color immediately? I would personally put A, S, D for each color. Heck, what if you could remove the attack button and make those three color switching buttons also attack in that color?

The grabbing mechanic wasn't clear to me, but maybe I'm just an idiot, so I didn't catch that the triangle was an arrow pointing to the block. I thought it was something about my attack going up or down or something.

That's true, though I could argue you that you have 3-5 states in Super Metroid (Changing your attack to missiles/bombs to effect certain doors or enemies), I get where you're coming from.

Also what you just mentioned about separate buttons for switching; completely forgot to do that! THANK YOU. Don't worry about the grab, it's just a minor mechanic and it's barely used in this alpha level.

EDIT: I think I'll try to see how using 'UP' and 'DOWN'/'W' and 'S' would work as a means to switch colors too, that way it's easier to hit immediately on a keyboard.

[harkme]

I wasn't sure if up and down were being used for anything, so I avoided reassigning up to jump.

[LucasMaxBros]

I haven't updated this yet, but I will shortly. I've been working very hard on new sprites. So if anybody has opinions please share them!

[LucasMaxBros]

New version is out for ya'll to try:
http://www.mediafire.com/download/ys4araate4b3n7e/Vivid_Radiance-Default-1.4.0.0.exe

[LucasMaxBros]

I'm bumping this up, and I'll update the game soon I hope. I want to add Music and Sound before I do. Here's a video for now:

[LucasMaxBros]

I'll bump this thread one more time. I've made many changes to the game again, but I'm still waiting on music and sounds before I attempt releasing a new demo. PLEASE, if you play this, leave some feedback. I had 28 people download this and only one person responded. I also plan on making a new thread since the game is getting a new title too, it's that different.

[Lavesson]

I just gave it a quick playthrough. Should be interesting to see how it turns out, especially with sound/music as well. I played the game with a gamepad. Not sure exactly what kind of feedback you're looking for, so I'll just write my thoughts as they occured while I was playing the level. Most of them relate to game mechanics.

Overall, I really like the color toggling. It allows for some pretty interesting opportunities in level design. I don't really have anything major to criticize on, but I have a few points that I thought about while playing:

• It's pretty obvious on most places when something is toggled on/off, but the spring platforms early on in the level is less obvious since they're opaque the entire time. It would help a lot of these were semi transparent as well, as everything else is.
• The "Grab"-mechanism doesn't seem to be utilized fully. I don't think I encountered any part where this was actually needed (except to clear a wall to get to the next section - might as well have been breakable blocks, which would actually have been less annoying than having to pick up and throw away blocks). I would suggest either incorporating it more into the gameplay, or simply scratching that feature altogether
• Running/walking - When you're walking, you're walking pretty slow, to the point where I actually never did it after noticing that I could just hold the attack button. In fact, I think I held the attack button down almost through the entire game. I don't know exactly if there's an obvious way to do this differently. One would of course be to run the entire time. Another would be to have the character move a bit faster in general (both while walking and running)

Anyway, that's my two cents. Other than that, good work on it so far. I enjoyed playing the game, and as I said: It's an interesting idea and I'm curious in what this can turn into. I'll keep a lookout for updates.

[LucasMaxBros]

Thanks for playing. This version I have has been out for a couple weeks and I've added more stuff, but I've been waiting to put music/sound before doing another demo.

-I completely agree. In fact this would be simple to do, why I haven't done it is beyond me. Probably because it's so simple I keep saying I'll do it later I guess.
-This Demo doesn't make much use of items that is true. Now I have many items not in this Demo: Power Orb, Wings, Keys, Multi-Bombs, Small Springs, etc. But I have been thinking about if I should remove this or not. I have been thinking of some new ideas and I've seen my friends play this game and they don't really know what to do with grabbing items so I'll probably toss it aside. Only real issue after that is what to do about Keys & Locks as well as having other offensive capabilities? I'll figure it out.
-I could probably just make the base speed faster and the run speed a little bit faster. There are lots of platformers that do this, but it's not necessary to do, it's just to make more precise jumping. Do a safe slow jump there? Or a fast but somewhat risky jump? Perhaps I should make the game have a little less friction in that case. I'll experiment.

Thanks for the feedback!