Devlog #2 - HUD and Graphics

I haven't had a lot of time to work on the game these past few days, but I finished with some of the player character's graphics, specifically the roll animations. I also added in a HUD system and the code required for limited rolls.


(smaller image to save on file size)

The scope sounds huge! How big is the game going to be? How much content are you aiming for?

I'm still figuring that out, but it's going to be big. There's going to be bosses (but no dungeons of the usual Zelda style). I'm planning to develop a moderate amount of content with enemies and locales, but most of the depth will come from how the enemies, the environment, and the player interact together. I'll go into more details on this in a later post.

Just read through the whole devlog. This game is sexy as can be! The art and mechanics especially. I don't know if it's been said here yet, but the way you have everything interact in the game reminds me of the point made ( by Shigeru Miyamoto I think?) that said each object/gameplay component should have more than one use. Like how enemies aren't just enemies, but can be used to affect other things.

Honesty, this game looks brilliant! 

Thanks for letting me know! The title is just a placeholder and nothing is finalized, so I'll change it when I can come up with something better.

On a related note, that game looks amazing! 

Devlog #1 - Just Started!

So to start, I knew that I wanted to do a traditional Zelda-inspired viewpoint with a bird's eye angle. But since I'm using mouse controls for the character, I needed more than 8 directions of movement, and more than four directions for the sprites. I decided to settle on six directions for each sprite, with each one covering about 60 degrees of the full 360 degrees of movement.



In the game, that looks like this:



With only six directions, I don't have to do too much animating, since some of the sprites are just mirrored versions that are simply copied and pasted. Saves a lot of time!

I'm only a few hours in, but feel like good progress has been made. More updates will follow soon.

Just Started!

Project Yonder is an open world RPG controlled with the mouse.

I was inspired by the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild that is coming out soon, and wanted to make something akin to that. The game will feature a full world that allows for complete freedom to go wherever you want. There will also be enemies, bosses, camp fires, and clean graphics.

Is that the finished look of the platform, or is it still placeholder? My only worry, and it's a small one, is that it doesn't fit the world building of the game. A bouncing platform that simply levitates stands out. If there are ropes attached or something else (possibly magical) to explain it would be better at blending in

Looks really interesting! I'll be following too

Solid inspirations, and the gameplay looks great from what there is so far. There's just something satisfying about seeing dozens of missiles flying out of the player simultaneously.

Cyberpunk with a fantasy story.

I'll update with more info soon.

Going for Makoto Shinkai vibe eventually. It's going to be an RPG with hand drawn vistas and then sprite characters and buildings. So tilesets except for certain points in the game.

Working on cloud generation for background on an RPG. I'm going to try going for an anime vibe with the backgrounds, but stick with sprites for the characters.

Working on the title graphics



(Going with Gameboy Advance resolution  )

What really are the parallels between your game and Dark Sols? Or is it just because of the name?
It's really hard to picture how would Dark Souls design influence a shmup. Considering the answer is not just "difficulty" because then it could be called "Battletods x Gradius" without changing the game, lol.

I've actually been wondering that myself, lol. This will be a lengthy ramble...

One thing I've realized upon thinking about it more is that they are, to a degree, both in the same genre from a design perspective. If we compare the two, what do they have in common? Both are difficult, but as you said that's a comparison that can be made with any number of games. But they're also very similar from a gameplay perspective in that both games are about memorizing enemy placement and patterns, ditto for bosses, farming some form of points to upgrade the player, and having a high penalty for death. The player gets better in both games by playing and learning, and I think it's actually what made Dark Souls so popular in the first place. They bring back that feel of games from the 80s, where the player learns how to manipulate the game to better their advances. (So far, Battletoads could still work as a comparison here.)

I own the first and second Dark Souls, and I'm terrible at them. I haven't gotten very far in either since they're such a time commitment, but I enjoy them for the challenge they present. When I recently went back to Gradius on the NES at my parents', I was surprised to feel something familiar to when I was playing Dark Souls. It was a lot easier, mind you, but it still got me thinking.

That was a bit of a tangent, but one I was going to post about later but then this came up lol. They both feel similarly in design, but what I want to do with Distant Sol is I want to add a bit more soul (sorry) into the game. I'm planning on doing this by adding things not found in Gradius, like an unconventional life system, branching paths, and a sparse but lore-filled story. That's all on top of the usual memorizing enemy patterns and approaches as well as unique boss fights.

I'm still figuring out a way to approach the life system, but the basics are that you start with one life bar at the bottom of the screen, and each enemy drops "souls" which you can collect to fill the life bar at the bottom. This is similar to Gradius where you could collect a power-up after killing a full pattern of enemies. After killing ten enemies and collecting their souls, you gain an extra bar (or life) at the bottom of the screen. Dying loses a bar, obviously, and losing all of them is a game over. But, if you complete a level with say, 5 bars, then you can spend them in a shop at the end of each level to give your ship a permanent upgrade. This does cut into lives, making it a bit of a risk/reward element. This part is kinda like the bonfire in Dark Souls, where you get a respite from the action to give you a better chance of survival.

Hopefully, that gives a bit more information why it isn't just "Any-Random-Game X Gradius".   I'm not trying to market this as a Dark Souls or anything, it just helps me keep my vision on what I'd like it to be.

Actual work has been nonexistently slow thanks to college crunch time over the past week and a current bout of some kind of sickness that I hopefully will be over soon. However, I'm planning to pick up work again soon, with a one-level vertical slice out in the next few weeks. I'm planning to release a base form of the game with five levels by the end of the summer, and then beyond that, it'll evolve into its 31 level final form.

Sorry this isn't much of a useful update, but I just wanted to say that the game is not dead!

So I've decided to start a second project alongside my side scrolling shooter because I like making things difficult.

Dungeon Decks is going to be a roguelike card game similar to single player Hearthstone that can be played for five minutes or five hours. More info soon!

(This first post will be saved for the default page that's keeps all the updated info.)

Looks gorgeous! I love the abstract angles!

Took a quick break from my life to participate in the #lowrezjam over at itch.io. It was quite fun and I'm happy with my results after only an hour or so working on the projectfrom start to finish!

https://lugalias.itch.io/farm64

I also got movement coded in and working. I'm still trying to figure out a graphic style that I want, though.

Just heard about it this evening, and since I'm short on time I made a quick city builder in an hour. It's more of a puzzle game about figuring out controls, but I'm still happy with the results.



PLAY HERE: https://lugalias.itch.io/farm64