TIGSource Forums

ABANDONED
Sry, guys...

So this game's gonna be a mix of Super Crate Box, ninjas :ninja: and [some animal]s :eyebrows:
- fast-paced side-view platformer
- pick-up boxes (or maybe something more ninja) to get ninja and some not so ninja weapons (one at a time as in SCB)
- kill the other player - versus only probably (dunno if I will be able to make a network game) :shrug2:
- as the ninjas, there will be probably many animals, it depends on JR Hill :)
- open source - so people can hack it ;)

I'm making it in Python/Pygame. If I make it and it works and it's fun, then I might try to port it to C++/SDL. Momentarily only for Linux and Windows. If there's someone who can help with Mac, then it will be all three.

So what do you think? :gentleman: Also feel free to post any suggestions.


UPDATE: newest screenshot :)
(http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/5864/20110123222329.png)

Some weapons:
Shurikens - throw 3 shurikens in this way (http://image.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/157960/157960,1241694435,1/stock-photo--d-illustration-of-three-arrows-over-white-background-choice-concept-29818081.jpg) or this way (http://scott-c-dudley.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/three-arrows-for-CCP-page.jpg). Needs testing to decide which works better.

Throwing knife - simple weak straight-flying knife - probably spawn weapon.

Bow - will shoot curved shots.

Fireball - just fireball. Booms on impact. Probably slow-moving.

Ninja Bomb - kind of like grenade. Will get momentum from your movement.

I thought of something like Clone-jutsu :ninja:. Would spawn an AI copy of you. Both of you would then have probably only knife and you couldn't pick-up new weapons till the clone is dead, so it won't be too overpowered. And maybe the clone will be weaker (lower health). All of that will need testing to see what's fun.

Also, to encourage picking-up the crates/sacks/scrolls, the weapons will have limited "ammo". And you will have just one weapon at a time - no switching weapons, just picking them up.

perhaps ninja scrolls instead of crates. I approve of this idea fully.

The ninjas need to be adorable cats.

Also, this game sounds pretty fun! Since they are ninjas, I'd suggest some fun acrobatics, like wall-clinging/jumping, sprinting, rolling, etc. to give it a more frantic feel.

I would like to draw pixel-art animal ninjas...

Yeah, cats are possible (right now I have some placeholder cat ninjas in the game from Charas generator). I also thought that maybe there could be more animals and players would choose from them.

I thought that I would make it with only running and jumping like in SCB, but yeah, some walljumping/wallclimbing could be a nice addition especially if it's fast and easy to use.

That would be awesome. I'll contact you when I will have the basic gameplay (that will be like on saturday or sunday).

Still though, if anyone wants to make the art, it's possible.

Soper ninja Aardvarks please!

I could do lots of animals...  Lions, tigers, bears, alligators, cats, dogs, aardvarks, giraffes, toucans, pandas, monkeys, whatever.

Make it otters.

Can't go wrong with otters.

There are definitely not enough ninja alligators or toucans in this world.

I would definitely play a game with ninja platypuses.

Tanuki (they look kind of like a fat, brown raccoon) would be neat if you want a connection to Japan.

I could do shiba inu, and I was definitely thinking platypi.  They are my 2nd favorite animal to draw.  But in the end Rivon is boss cause it's his game, ALL HAIL THE OVERLORD.

PANDAS.

(Or giraffes, in honor of JR Hill).

Ideally I could just do all of them.  The compo is pretty long.

Your choice...

More info:
I'm currently deciding which resolution to use. Either 640x480 or maybe the same as SCB (240x160) so it can be nicely upscaled?
Definitely pixel-art though as the game needs to be small so it won't run slow.

Some weapons:
Shurikens - throw 3 shurikens in this way (http://image.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/157960/157960,1241694435,1/stock-photo--d-illustration-of-three-arrows-over-white-background-choice-concept-29818081.jpg) or this way (http://scott-c-dudley.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/three-arrows-for-CCP-page.jpg). Needs testing to decide which works better.

Throwing knife - simple weak straight-flying knife - probably spawn weapon.

Bow - will shoot curved shots.

Fireball - just fireball. Booms on impact. Probably slow-moving.

Ninja Bomb - kind of like grenade. Will get momentum from your movement.

I thought of something like Clone-jutsu :ninja:. Would spawn an AI copy of you. Both of you would then have probably only knife and you couldn't pick-up new weapons till the clone is dead, so it won't be too overpowered. And maybe the clone will be weaker (lower health). All of that will need testing to see what's fun.

Also, to encourage picking-up the crates/sacks/scrolls, the weapons will have limited "ammo". And you will have just one weapon at a time - no switching weapons, just picking them up.

If you have any other nice weapon or just any gameplay ideas, feel free to post them.

Pixel art or non-pixel art won't effect the speed of games on modern computers.

Yeah I know, but pixel-art looks good even when small and from my past experiences it will probably need to be small.

Fair enough, so are you thinking 16x16 tiles and sprites?

Yeah, probably something like that. Not bigger than 32x32 and not smaller than 16x16. But it also depends on the resolution of the game. You think 640x480 is ok?

Btw I will have a screenshot very soon.

Glad to hear, I've been avidly following this!

I say that, if JR Hill does decide to do more than just one animal, you keep the title. It's way stylin' this way!

Oh yeah :)... Finally solved the bloody collisions, but it's 2:45 morning here :tired:
Here are some screens, though the final game will look very different.
(http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/7348/20110122024059.th.png) (http://img819.imageshack.us/i/20110122024059.png/) (http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/3657/20110122024102.th.png) (http://img89.imageshack.us/i/20110122024102.png/)

You know, if those are your graphics they're not that bad.

They're not really mine. The character is from Charas generator and the tiles are ones I downloaded ages ago for a totally different game (they were the first thing I found here).

So, can you start to draw something? A 16x16 ninja cat/rabbit/panda/alligator/whatever just with 'run', 'jump/fly' (for the char in mid-air) and 'standing still' animations would be very nice ;)
And don't forget that they will hold some items later on, so there should be some space for them.

I'll work on the weapon/pickup mechanics now. And I'll get some better 16x16 tiles for it.

ninja alligators...


i love you

Btw, JR, please make the sprites alone (not all frames of animation in one image) and make the transparent parts this color: #ff00ff

Ok, I get off work in like 6 hours, I should have some rough anims by tonight

Thank you so much :)

Btw here's a screen of new tiles I downloaded somewhere:
(http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/8647/20110122184316.png)
The character is just the previous resized to match the size of tiles. The box is one possible source for the weapons.

Just curious- are you planning to go with the crate pickup to get points rather than the kills to get points?  I'd love to see what the crate pickup would be like as multiplayer. 

Either way, I'm looking forward to trying some prototypes with my friends.

The points will be given for kills, by picking up the crates (or it may be scrolls or something) players will get weapons. And cause the weapons will have very limited "ammo", the players will have to fight for the crates.

But yeah, I can make a gametype/mode in which the points will be given for picking up the crates (so multiplayer SCB with weapons and no monsters).


Progress: two players with functioning controls and environment collisions, fps steadily decreasing as I'm adding new things...

Now I have to program player vs player collisions and then I will make the first weapon - throwing knife.

I made a quick and dirty ninja elk cause i figured that would give you an opportunity to make any suggestions before I commit to a style.

(http://timeforcute.com/cute/2011/01/elk-idle.gif)
(http://timeforcute.com/cute/2011/01/elk-run.gif)
(http://timeforcute.com/cute/2011/01/elkjumpfall.gif)
.zip of images (http://timeforcute.com/cute/2011/01/elk.zip)

Also, when I make the background should it be tiled, or just a big large image with elements on it? (like drifting clouds, birds, etc)

It looks awesome, but I don't have time right now to test how it looks in the game. It's 3:11, I really have to sleep now. But overally I think it's ok style.

If by the background you mean tiles and stuff, then make the tiles 16px tall with solid structure, like here (http://www.lisisoft.com/imglisi/12/Action/55627frutti-01-640x480.jpg), not faded bottoms like in my last screenshot. About the background, do it however you like, though if you want animated backgrounds, don't overdo it... Moving clouds are ok, I think, but moving clouds + flying birds + rain + lightnings + tornadoes all at once are not. Just make it decent ;)

Ok, on Monday I'll work on more animals in similar style, and little shuriken/knives/swords/etc.

Yaaay, a new screenshot:
(http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/4062/20110123163748.png)

The sprites are awesome. I have just one remark - name them in this way:

elk (folder)
    idle_00.png
    idle_01.png
    idle_02.png
    run_00.png
    run_01.png
    ...

So only the directory is named after the animal. The images are "action_xx.png".

I didn't have much time to program today, but I at least made the weapon system.
(http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/5864/20110123222329.png)

Awesome, I'll use that naming from now on.  God-willing I'll do a few more animals on Tuesday because I only work morning on Tuesday.

Cute little elks, throwing ninja stars! Very nice sprites, they... they... is that...?

...

They almost look like they're dancing! This game must have dancing elk animations!  :-*

I could make victory dances/poses for them lol.

Yeah, no problem.

Progress: just cleaned up the code a bit. The bad thing is I just found out the wonderful world of console emulation on Android phones :lol:

This is looking niiice.

How's it going with the sprites?

I didn't get anything done yesterday lol, I'll do some today but I only have a few hours free.

(http://timeforcute.com/cute/2011/01/doodles1.gif)
Just figuring out character design, I will probably have to fix all the palette at once when I'm done.  I'll do some animation for these guys later this week, next week I'm pretty much gone until Friday, but I might be able to find a computer before then, I'm not sure...  I'll likely redo the elk too, but I figure if I name it correctly all you have to do is copy the folder over it.

(Using this site (http://vintageninja.net/) and google image search for reference)

Should I make generic enemies too?

I like the way the character design is going. Also, that site is awesome. In Feudal Japan shark jumps you (http://vintageninja.net/wp-content/uploads/kamuimovie8.jpg)?

Looks good. No generic enemies, the fight will be just 1v1 of players.

Also it would be good if you made just simple 2-3 frame animations of flying shuriken, throwing knife, fireball and arrow (which should have probably 3 frames as it's trajectory will be curved). The size should be fitting to the size of ninja so something like 4-6 pixels in height max.

And another thing, make the ninja sprites so that they are holding something (all the sprites/ninjas, in the same place) and make a 16x16 corresponding sprites of bow, fireball, shuriken, throwing knife which I will overlay on the ninja sprites to make it easier.

Ok, I'm spending today knitting kitten mittens for a friend, so I guess I'll get back to work in a week!  I guess you can do a palette swap for different players or get someone else to help with animation and/or take over my place like a pod person.

I think there's currently so many games in development that there won't be any spare artists. Though it isn't really a problem as I'm kind of bored by making this. Maybe I'll abandon it and make something with simple graphics which even I could draw.
The good thing is I made a functioning platformer/top-down zelda-like engine in Python + Pygame and even with quite a lot of animations going on, it's still quite fast. So if I get some great idea, I can program it quite fast.

Ok, so the game is abandoned, but I've started working on something new which looks very promising, though I'm not sure if it will be a versus game. :shrug2: