I'm going with a 912x384 screen resolution, which is apparently a 19:8 resolution. Do you think this is a bad choice since a width of 912 extends beyond the width of 800x600 which I feel some people still use as their max? This resolution gives a really unique screen size and it works great with the player speed and gravity but doesnt easily conform to any normal fullscreen resolution.

Moldering uses a resolution of 912x384. What kind of ratio would this be considered?

[DON'T BE AFRAID TO KILL YOUR BABIES.]

DON'T BE AFRAID TO KILL YOUR BABIES.

(There, I said it.)

I was at a talk at my school. The presenter was a lead designer for Bethesda and the one thing that stood out to me, during the entire talk, was that he mentioned we shouldn't be afraid to kill our babies. I think the obscene wording is what made it stick. Basically, just because we thought something up, designed it, developed it, programmed it, drew it up, or whatever, doesn't mean it should make the cut.

I've pondered on this and it stuck with me for a very long time. We grow emotional attachment to the things we create. This doesn't mean they're worth anything at all though. We need to learn to become objective and learn when something shouldn't make the cut (even if it's already been implemented) for whatever reason that might be (doesn't fit the style, takes away from the immersion, breaks the gameplay, etc).

So remember, killing babies is okay. As long as they're your metaphorical game design babies.

Learning to program efficiently is a skill that's going to take dedication and time and the only real benefit is that little extra flexibility it affords you over "game making programs". Programming a game from scratch (or with the use of bits found here and there online) can take a very long time with less immediate results than using a game maker of some kind. However you can customize every aspect of your engine how you see fit.

As MadWatch said, if you find you're skilled at design, stick to that and leave the programming to programmers. I'm a very competent programmer, but it took a long time to get there. However, I can't design games for the life of me. I've spent the last 4 years on and off designing a "perfect" engine from scratch and it's taken a very long time to see results. Results that mean very little without the help of my fellow team members who help with all aspects of the design stage.

Focus on your ability. That's where you'll likely stand out, regardless of how many years you spend programming. It's the best advice I can offer.

I want to test the prospective testers. To make sure they're competent enough... obviously.

Resolved our DNS issues and the devblog is up and running again. We'll have a snazzy new video up soon:

http://devblog.projectmoldering.com

I will happily and rigourously test The Archer. I hope you keep those pumpkins and such in there and have them show up if the game is run on Halloween (or during the week preceeding it)!

I wish this was Facebook so I could simply "like" this. There's really not much more to say. Amazing, per usual.

Yeah, your edit nailed it. Game Maker should be able to do it, just adding some little angles and stuff and less plain blocks is what I meant. Don't get me wrong, I think it looks great already. Keep up the awesome work!

I showed my friend your development videos #3 and #4 and while I think they look aesthetically stunning he brought up a seemingly valid point. The square tiling you use for the ground and walls takes away from the aesthetics a bit. Having more curved, natural, walls and grounds, rather than simple blocks, will help take away from the Mario-esque feel (as he describes it) and help to bring immersion to the player. I don't mean to be overly completely critical, but I think it's a valid point and something to consider. Floating square platforms reminds the player that they're in a video game and not in a far-away land where your only means of survival is the bow in your hands and the quiver on your back.

It's probably not a game-breaker, just something to ponder on.

Didn't have a whole lot of time today with school and work, but got the parallaxing looking super freakin' sweet and added some lightning and thunder to go along with the simple weather I was working on the last couple of days.

Hopefully video soon. Parallax=love.

If you're talking about the video of that world, the parallax wasn't implemented at that time. I've implemented the parallaxing into the engine, I just need to go in and set the values for each layer.

Been a while since I've posted here about Moldering. Been doing some really cool things. We have a new facebook page here:
https://www.facebook.com/projectmoldering

Gameplay video with new graphics:




Some new screenshots (also on the facebook page):





The Devblog is down for some reason, been working with our hosting company to get it up and running again. The link for that is here:
http://devblog.projectmoldering.com/

Progress on hobby games ebbs and flows. Right now things are a-flowin'.

I realize the video that used to be on the 8-bit funding page wasn't very impressive, and part of the reason I'm not receiving many donations. Here is a replacement. It is what the donations are going towards. Here is a run through of a few maps we put together that show off some of the art we've paid money for.

If you like what you see please consider donating to help with the development of this game.

Thanks,
James

http://www.youtube.com/embed/YDpap3vddwo

Here is some gameplay footage we put together:




If you like how it's coming out please visit:
http://www.8bitfunding.com/project_details.php?p_id=85

I really do like the interactive concept page/blog thing. I really like to see unique and interesting things like this as I think they give a lot of credibility to projects. It shows that both you're doing things the way you want (which is creatively) and that you have the know-howt to execute them.

I'm going to follow this.

It's not like I'm getting any positive exposure from this. I can't convince him my project is worth his, or anyone elses, money. I'd say putting my project out there so people can find it doesn't necessarily constitute begging. If one were to continually ask for money, I think that's where it crosses the line into begging in our colloquial vernacular.

It won't get any exposure if I were to push my project live on 8-bit Funding and tell no one. Then the question might be asked, why even put my project there at all. Some people might argue that my project isn't worth posting on a site like this. I'm a full-time student who's been programming this game for years. I am 100% committed to it's completion and I've now created a venue for people who have been following my game to help it's progress along. Some people like it, some people don't. However you can say so and leave it at that, just like we're not convincing you that it's worthwhile, you're going to have just as hard of a time convincing us that we shouldn't be creating this outlet and announcing it, or supporting it for that matter.

Can we all agree to disagree and leave this thread for people who want to discuss this game?

This is true, and it's why I'm raising funds to pay for art assets. I tried rallying together a bunch of volunteers to do the art for the game and I have one world that's a mesh-up of varying quality and styles. It just won't work. Not to mention all but one of the volunteers have abandoned the project. Mostly because on top of programming, designing, and promoting the game (e.g. keeping the blog updated) I can't find the time to dictate to all these people the work that needs to be done for them specifically.

With that said I spent some of my own money on an artist a little while back  when I had some to spare and he returned two complete worlds of great, consistent quality and style. With money I can pay him (or someone very similar) to redo the mix-and-match world, and to finish the other 6 that need to be done. Besides, from an outside perspective, if you really want to help, laying down 25 dollars to the project and getting some sweet rewards isn't that bad of a deal if you really think the project is meaningful.

That said, I also like the content I've seen so far. I really like the Touhou-like platforming gameplay.

Thanks!

I'd suggest some death animations, though ;p

This is why we need donations so we can buy the art assets we need.

Now accepting donations! 

Where are the source files for this? I downloaded the zip and checked the first page but I don't want to search 302 pages of comments to find it.