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[87]

HeyGuys  ,

I’ve been working on a game for the past couple of weeks at a relatively leisurely pace and it is finally taking form and getting its own character. This is normally the point where I get bored and ditch the game I am making to make something much smaller. So I’ve decided to make this devlog to prevent that from happening this time.

This is a frantic shmup/defense game mashup that has the player control up to 3   standing on a tower. Each wizard can learn up to 3 spells, and the player has to alternate between controlling each wizard and casting their spells. Meanwhile, foes stream down from the sky and try to kill the wizards.

The game will have 12 spells, 6 (7?) enemy types, 3 bosses, and 25 levels with certain elements of randomization, so that no two runs are identical. Also on the menu: Chiptune sounds (my weakest area currently), 4-color pixel art, Endless Mode (after the player has defeated the final boss) and a certain old school arcade sensibility.

There is no “break” between levels; a single run from level 1 to 25 can take up to 30 minutes or so. After the player defeats the first boss they can start from level 7, and after they defeat the second one they can start from level 16. After each run/death, the player has access to a shop where they can recruit more wizards, or buy and upgrade spells, and customize loadouts for each of the wizards.

ALPHA GAMEPLAY VID:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rrVsQDsV20&feature=youtu.be

My aim is to finish and release the game around mid-April (of this year ofc).

I am developing the game for windows using HaxeFlixel. It will probably be free and available on 87.itch.io.

You can also follow my (new) tumblr for occasional stuff: esayitch.tumblr.com, and of course Twitter @87MeansSuhail.

SCREEEEEEENSHOOOOOOOOOOTS





Cheers!  

[87]

Made some progress on the in game upgrade screen today.



Normally the part I leave until last.

In addition, I am trying to upload a gameplay video to youtube, but it is proving waaaaaaay too slow. Currently 37% done and will likely continue uploading it tomorrow :S

To round up the update, in times of extreme spell usage + lots of enemies, game slows down a bit, likely due to the garbage collector going to work. Will have to find a way to call it explicitly between levels.

Tomorrow I am going to meet a friend for half a day... we will likely start making a small game together, though we may each work on something different... in the latter case I will have another update soon...

I really hope to be able to finish this before Ludum Dare mid-April 

I still need to implement 3 more spells, create 3 bosses, add a semblance of plot, and make each of the wizards distinct a little bit... And improve the title screen.

Oh and music. That's the big one. I'd hate to have to use autotracker for this, but my music is horrendous so I may have to 

Anyways, cheers! 

[87]

So instead of uploading a 18GB .avi file to youtube, I had the GENIUS idea to convert it to mp4 and upload it. The result?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rrVsQDsV20&feature=youtu.be
(Also adding to first post).

[marcgfx]

I get: this video is private

[87]

Ow. My bad! Fixed hopefully

[oldblood]

I'd recommend for the gameplay video that you stick to a 2-3 minute (max) compilation of gameplay to help sell the concept of what you're doing. Show a diverse range of visuals or gameplay features. If the objective of your video is generating interest, you should not upload 23 minutes of gameplay. There is a reason why video game trailers are 60-90 seconds. Thats about the most time a person will spend watching a video before they make up their mind on if they're interested or not (realistically closer to 5-10 seconds but that's another discussion). A side benefit of short videos is you wont have to worry about uploading 18GB files.

You don't even have to get fancy with editing (I'm a terrible video editor myself), just slap a few clips together that show some diverse gameplay. You just need to avoid accidentally turning off potential players with videos that are too long.

[87]

Hey oldblood,

Yeah you're right about video length, when I'm done with implementing the shop/upgrade screen I'll probably make a much shorter vid... but neither of these are trailers yet. Come trailer time, I doubt it will go longer than 90 seconds