Oh well. I'm not an artist and you've got the programming bit sorted. Maybe when you're making levels I can contribute a bit

I wanna get a level editor made ASAP.  Probably milestone three (after design elements are decided).

What do you think about an elaborate intro animation for the first room of a given theme?  Then the rest just being him coming through the door?

How would you know he runs into that room of the given theme first? Right now there are maybe 1-4 screens per theme/area. Since it isn't linear, you can't tell which room the player will pick.

Heh, I realized the non-linearity issue with that idea after I posted, but I thought I could sneak it by you.    (Or maybe that you'd come up with some crazy way to make it work.)

How about elaborate entrances just whenever we feel like putting them in?  It could be a nice little surprise for the player.

Right on. 

My bad!

Aw, don't worry about it.  I'm not mad or anything, I just misunderstood. 

I did his movement and jumping last night, yo!  Nothin' more to figure out until y'all have got playable builds.

Psst... Bez...

I already did all the stuff you're suggesting. 

Haha, don't misunderstand!  I'm not dissing the RPG Maker folks. 

The comment actually came from him telling me just that.

Though, best and most idie of all? 

The more themed rooms there are, the more it's going to seem like you need a special "something extra" available to you in those rooms. 'Nuff said.

"Nuff said" nothin'!  1) We'll figure out the core design soon, but I imagine most of that stuff won't be theme-specific and B) we're going to start with the concept of course, but once the game starts coming together, we'll need to feel things out from there.  We can't just suspend discussion 'cause the concept said something.

Re: Instadeath

I think you're right about that.  It fits with the style of movement and fall damage and such.  Though maybe a certain few things would only wound you and/or you could acquire protection from them?  I like the idea of differing idle animations.

Ooh, also a neat idea would be traps, enemies, etc. that just put you in a bad position or start to kill you, but give you an opportunity to escape.  Someone (PoV?) mentioned earlier the idea of the claw picking up the character and trying to drop him on a hazard or hold him in front of an enemy or something,  but giving him a chance to wiggle free.  That sounds cool to me.  PLUS, you could use some things like that to your advantage (like maybe being carried over spikes).

More finished now. It's gonna drive people nuts!

SO awesome!  So it's a mix of Impossible Mission and Mission Impossible?  Craziness, I tell you!

Re: Intro Animations

What do you think about an elaborate intro animation for the first room of a given theme?  Then the rest just being him coming through the door?

@Everybody:

I did his movement and jumping last night, yo!  Nothin' more to figure out until y'all have got playable builds.

I gotta get to bed (it's about 4AM here), but I wanted to make one last response first.

I made a Metroid map...

I see!  That's awesome.    I love seeing these mockup maps, they really get my imagination going.  And it's oh so easy to get them working in game with my tile engine, tee hee. 

Maybe most of the blatant out of character homages should be secrets?

That's probably a good call.  Besides, I don't think there's going to be any lack of original theme ideas!

I'm trying to do stuff that (I guess) could be coded/scripted easily though, use generic code etc.

Don't worry about that -- just let your imagination go wild.  I'll take care of bizness.

All bonus items could be abstract pixelations called "mystery item", as a homage to that feeling. Collect 'em on all maps and you unlock stuff, or something to that effect.

Hey, uh... what do you think about there being hidden panties across the scope of the game?  I think it'd be fun and add little character to the main character.  (Now he's fat AND a pervert!)  Please say yes. 

Aright, time to sleep.  Arne, keep those concepts coming!  They're a big motivation (and inspiration)!

Right on, thanks! 

I'll plug 'er in as soon as I can.

I got my start with Klik & Play (Multimedia Fusion's great granddaddy) when I was in... second grade?  So yeah, quick to learn.  But a lifetime to master...

And by the time I switched over to C/C++, it was no problem.  Pushing the Click software so hard gave me an intimate understanding of the inner-workings of games, something that stays with you no matter how technology changes.

I'd say it's a great way to bridge the gap if you're intimidated by a programming language.  And it's also how Derek, Hamish, and a number of other great developers got their start.  (Though I don't know how many of them will admit it!)

Word.

Yeah, that's a good point re: the kicking.  It is pretty out of character.

I like the idea of the homage themed levels, but I think they should re-imagine the game they pay homage to and fit seamlessly with any of the other themes.

[CORE DESIGN QUESTION:]

@DrPetter:  Awright, thanks.  Though sounds aren't part of this milestone, so there's still time to figure things out.

@Madgarden:  I'm with Derek on the theme-specific actions.  There's going to be TONS of theme-specific stuff I'm sure, but I wouldn't want any of the player's core controls to change.

If we really wanted to do something like the kick, I think it should either be activated by something in the level, or be some kind of powerup so the player would know Hey, This Is Different.

EDIT:  Oh yeah, I remember why I was posting in the first place.

CORE DESIGN QUESTION:

Should the player be able to control the height of his jump ala Mario?  My initial thought is Yes, because I like the idea of putting as many responsive touches into this game as possible.  But I'm also thinking No, 'cause he can only jump one tile high anyway, so there isn't much point.  Still, it might feel better having a little control there, even if it doesn't have an effect.

Also: 100 POSTS?!

Anyway, you're right on this is fantastic for indie devs young and old to actually see the development of a game unfold before their very eyes. Def got me inspired! Would love to see at some point a postmortem of sorts, maybe per milestone? What's working, what isn't, and what's planned for the next build.

I like the idea of a postmortem per milestone a lot.  That would be really healthy for the project.  (As if having such a distinguished community analyzing it weren't enough!)  It would also help keep me focused, give me a nice breather, and probably become a good resource in itself.

I'm new to all this "game creation" stuff. That's prob'ly why I never finish (or start) anything.

Really?  Your animations are so good!

After each milestone we should discuss what the next milestone is going to be and then I'll start a new thread that summarizes what we've discussed and what we need.

Yeah, starting new threads for each phase of development is smart.  (The old threads would be preserved though, right?)

In the meantime, does anyone want to knock out the remaining basic animations?  I'm finding myself in a bit of a time crunch...

Hey, as long as they're done by Sunday night, I'm sure I can squeeze em in.  I'm making pretty good time, I think.

BUT NO PRESSURE AMIRITE 

EDIT:  Yeah, I agree!  I'm totally excited, albeit mixed with a bit of anxiety.

Alright, I gotcha... well, can those be in a separate spritesheet, then?  No need to make them all 32x32, right?

Right, yeah.  I just want the frame size for each specific animation to be consistent within that animation.

Btw, I just thought of a cool idea... it'd be neat if in one area there were some micro people (3 pixels tall?) that you could squash.  They could live in huts that are the size of the crates in Prom's mockup.  Not sure how it would relate to the gameplay, but it'd be fun.  Kind of like Gulliver's Travels.

I like that!  That's exactly the kind of stuff I want to do with this game -- I want it to have this old school core aesthetic, but still take advantage of being made in the present.  So, if you wanted to have a ton of little people running after you, we don't have to be like, "But what about the PRECIOUS RAM?" or "We can't have that many sprites in a row."  We can JUST DO IT.^TM

I think the net result would be about 3k of "bloat" per frame compared to 16x16 - which is nothing compared to the total size of the game including all media, if it only applies to 10-20 frames in all.

That's what I was thinking.  I'll probably still optimize it later, but I was just looking for a quick fix so I can get things up and running first.  (I promise, it's the only one!  Everything else is being coded with EXTREME attention to the long term ramifications in mind.)

EDIT:  OK, back to coding, then Burger King, then more coding.

KEEP THE GOODNESS FLOWING

Here's another. As you can see I'm using 3 tile high floors. This might be a problem, cuz he'd bump his head trying to jump over stuff.

According to your specs, he can jump over 8x8 stuff no problem.

As for that other stuff... no worries, mon. 

Heh, thanks guys.  All I can say is: Sweeeet!

That looks SO fun.  It makes me want to put those tiles in RIGHT NOW.

But I must stay focused!

@Derek:  It wouldn't be too painful... But kinda painful. 

I was just trying to get around setting the spot each frame.

I think it could be because he's a Global Moderator, because Alec is having trouble seeing them as well... I'll look into it.

Haha, you mean we actually have less abilities than everyone else?!

You sly dog...

Alright, here's where we're at:

Oh cool, thanks a bunch man!  That'll help.

Bezzy, I think 32 x 32 is bigger than we need...

Heh, actually, I asked him to do that. 

Are you not seeing that?  If not, try and see if there are settings in your profile.

  I don't see anything like that at all!  Aaah, someone FTP please!

But it's bedtime.

Night, Arne!  Very soon you'll see your concept in motion. 

I gotta say, seeing your wonderful pixel art every time I compile and run has made development so much more pleasant than I'm used to.

Awesome, Bez!  (Can I call you Bez?)  That's perfect. 

Someone get that guy who made the great crawling animation back on here! 

I'm in my underwear right now. 

@Arne:  I can't see any of your attachments!  Neither the one from last night nor the ones now!

@Derek:  I'd prefer separate sprite sheets, actually.  'Cuz with all these different folks making animations, they're aren't likely to line up anyway.

Hey, Bezzy -- it'd probably be easier to implement the ledge climbing animation if it were fixed on the corner of the platform, if you know what I mean.

But I can do that myself if it's too much of a bother.

Perhaps the approach I went with was a bit over complex. Just the first thing that came into my head. I'm afraid I've deviated too far from my current project to help out. However, could you clarify a bit? Maybe someone else doesn't mind doing the dirty work? Do you mean having a 32x32 animated tile, where the world isn't shifting? Cos that'd work, too.

It doesn't matter how big the animation frames are, but yeah, what I mean is if he's climbing up the ledge and actually moving his position from hanging on the side to the top, it'd be easier if the background in the animation was stationary.

In the case of his "normal" animations, they should loop easily with the focus on him.

I hope that made sense -- I'm kinda distracted right now.

EDIT:  I need to shower.