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[87]

Hi!

Wizard Tower Adventure (not a final title) is a Metroidvania that uses the height of the gameboy (144px), and a 4-color palette. So far the core mechanics have been implemented, so I thought it would be a good time to start a devlog.

In the game, you play a mysterious stranger who infiltrates a wizard's tower. The wizard has been causing trouble, and the stranger is tasked with putting an end to the threat. In the course of the game, the player finds 3 character upgrades:
1) Spear, allowing him to run into enemies to kill them. In addition, when falling, the spear points down, allowing him to bounce on enemies (also killing them).
2) Adhesive gloves, that allow him to slide down walls and to wall jump.
3) A cloak, that allows him to glide when he is falling down. While the player is gliding, he has to use both hands, so the spear will no longer be pointing down, rendering the player vulnerable from that position.

The game will be targeted for mobile + web. Of course I had to use virtual buttons for the mobile version, but I made it so the use of the spear is reliant only on movement, that way there are less buttons on the screen (namely, left, right, and jump).

Here are some gifs:





Here is my twitter in case you wanna follow development: @87meansSuhail

About my motivation/wanting to make this:

I started working on this thing a few days ago. I've previously enjoyed working with the design sensibilities and limited color palette of the Gameboy, during a Ludum Dare (entry called Abyssal Dream if anyone wants to check it out). Recently I decided to make a complete, albeit small Metroidvania in a similar palette.

UPDATE 12/6/2016:
Game is sort of over, a few tweaks and fixes remain to be done. Check out the gameplay video:



And play it here if you want:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.suhail.wizardtower&hl=en

//Cheers!

[chrilley]

Looks like you got some great mechanics down already!

Since it's taking place inside a wizard's tower maybe there could be some interesting environments later on? Like some different area themes? The current one does feel a bit like the standard brick castle so it makes for a good level 1 theme but would be neat to get that touch of character to it, if you know what I mean

[TonyManfredonia]

I agree with Chrilley!

The art style and overall aesthetic at the moment looks wonderful. But adding a touch of your personalized character/style would go a long way.

Love the pogo-stick mechanic

[Odorias]

Great start! Do you have anything specific planned for the hostiles? One of the funnest things about a metroidvania is to encounter a creature that you're not equipped (literally) to battle, and then returning with the proper equipment later.

[87]

Hey guys! Thanks a lot for the feedback

@chrilley
I had originally only planned to use only the "castle" tileset, but it is a good idea to make different "environments". I will likely make an interior garden type of area, and then maybe a darker "magic zone". The scope of the game is pretty limited though, I doubt there will be more than 20-25 rooms or so, sans the boss.

@amanfr01
Thanks :D Yeah, I will likely create two more "environment" types

@Odorias
One of the paths early on will be blocked by an enemy, so the player will have to find the spear before he can cross it. Aside from that, since the other upgrades aside from the spear are both movement-related, there will be navigational challenges to cross that the player will see early on, but not have a way to pass until they have the required upgrade. I thought to combine both elements, i.e put an enemy that you can kill with the spear, but only if you can land on his head (maybe he'll have a large shield or something), and then position him in a way that the player can technically kill him, but not really, since he won't be able to approach him from above unless they have the required movement upgrade.

[Kanavall]

This is great! I think your color choice was good, and especially the part where he pogos with the sword and then uses the cape to hover down slight. That is awesome!

[87]

Hi guys!

Finally got some time to work on this thing. I added a new enemy type and a new tileset (interior garden thing, still lacking background tiles though and some decorative tiles).

Here are some gifs:
1) The new enemy is Animated Armor. Ramming headfirst into its shield with the spear only serves to knock you back and damage you. The key is getting behind it, or just bouncing on its head with the spear. But what happens when you can't jump over it, and thus can do neither? At that point you have to use your other skills to position yourself in an advantageous position. In this case, wall-jump to a higher platform.


2) Here we see all of the player skills in play. Wall-jumping, spear bouncing, and finally cloak-gliding.


Next week I have a casual connect event so I doubt I will get a lot of time to work on this

[Kanavall]

I really like the jumping and gliding, I think that's a easy to learn hard to master type of skill especially combining them to get across obstacles. You did a good job with that. I agree, the background is definitely missing something. Maybe to go along with the theme you could add a background of mountain ranges with castles and subtle clouds? Other than that, the tile set for the walls look great!

[87]

Hey guys! I was at Casual Connect these past few days, so I wasn't able to work on this. Hope to get a lot done today.

@Kanavall:
Thanks for the kind words! Regarding the background (at least for the second tileset) I haven't drawn any background tiles yet so that's why it looks empty I want to finish creating the enemies, moving platforms and what have you, and then I will add cosmetic stuff (i.e. background tiles and some decorative objects) to all the tilesets. I still also need to make a third tileset

[87]

Two new enemy types!
1) The eyes of dragons, ripped out and enchanted to float about in circular motion in protection of the wizard's corridors.
2) A malevolent plant, shooting pellets in an arc.


Was hoping to get more done actually, but this is decent I guess :S

Next up is another enemy type, and 3-5 types of traps (spikes, sawblades, turrets... that sort of thing).

[87]

Posting today's progress.

First of all, I made the last enemy (sans the boss), a dragonling:

It can move horizontally, something the gif doesn't show.

Thankfully there is the next gif, which shows all of the enemy roster in the game, as well as 2 of the traps (I've started working on the traps/obstacles after the dragonling!):


Tomorrow will likely not be a day in which I get a lot of work done due to other obligations.

[Kanavall]

Hey guys! I was at Casual Connect these past few days, so I wasn't able to work on this. Hope to get a lot done today.

@Kanavall:
Thanks for the kind words! Regarding the background (at least for the second tileset) I haven't drawn any background tiles yet so that's why it looks empty I want to finish creating the enemies, moving platforms and what have you, and then I will add cosmetic stuff (i.e. background tiles and some decorative objects) to all the tilesets. I still also need to make a third tileset

Ah gotcha! So far you're doing a great job with the characters. I can't wait to see what you have in store for the background.

[Pixel Noise]

Looks cool! So is the downward bouncing thrust the only attack? Or can he use the spear conventionally too?

[87]

Hey guys!

@Pixel Noise: Nope, that's not the only attack. You can also just charge at an enemy to kill them (but you have to be on the floor).

I made more progress than I actually expected today. I wrote two more traps/obstacles (fire turrets and spikes/"lava") and added some more background tiles for the first tileset. I started playing around with making the first level:

It's pretty easy but feels a bit overwhelming/hard somehow. Too many things going on etc. Will probably make it simpler. 

[Grapple Bug]

Looks great. I like the background tiles - the flames on the chandeliers are great.

[TonyManfredonia]

Maybe space out the timing for the flame trap a little bit? That might make it a little less overwhelming, in my opinion.

It looks great, though!

[Grog]

Looks good!I'd consider spacing out the traps a bit more. Seems a bit of a gauntlet, especially for the first level, unless it's near the end or something.

[87]

Hi guys!

I feel like I can update this thread more constantly at the rate I'm going, but I am trying to limit it to once a day to not spam stuff.

@grapplebug
Thanks for the kind words

@amanfr01
Thanks! I will likely redesign the first room completely, there's too much stuff there. I'll make 2/3 "introductory" rooms.

@Grog
Thanks! Yeah, it's way too dense atm, will need to split it/space it out

I've implemented the Checkpoint and Health-related stuff today. Still need to make a respawn transition. I also implemented the pickups (level-up system was implemented a while ago, as well as sprite-changes upon level up, but I had to add pickups to trigger it inside the level as opposed to me just calling levelUp() 3 times in a row xD).

GIFS:
1) Player picks up all of the upgrades, sprite changes when he picks up the spear and the cloak.

2) Player takes damage, and restores it at a pedestal.

3) Player dies and immediately respawns at last checkpoint/pedestal.


Also I've just noticed I haven't added a link to my twitter in the original post, so will modify that now.

[Retroopla]

I like retro games anyway and your scenery is so lovely!

Just a little thing that bugs me: I saw this kind of healthbar about hundred of times. I would love it to see something different (little bit more creative). Maybe I can help you with some ideas?

Anyways --> I will follow your stuff from now on 

[87]

@Retroopla
Thanks :D
Would love to hear new ideas for a new style of healthbar actually... I went for this one since it's familiar and looks decent... but would love to hear other suggestions

For the past couple of days I made some progress with non-flashy stuff... I added transitions between different maps, fixed a few bugs, made some 1-way platforms, and redesigned the first two maps in the game. In addition, I started testing on Android finally and so I had to add the on-screen buttons. I keep them even when I test the web version, so that I am always aware how much of the challenges/levels they actually block, and to make adjustments now.

Oh, I added a third tileset, The Mad Realm or whatever. Very dark stuff.

Here is a gif summarizing most of the progress (also shows new tileset), sans transitions: