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[Alec S.]

Work start on Episode 3 of Space Captain McCallery.

Space Captain McCallery is a series of episodic action-adventure games where you play as a space pirate exploring various planets looking for treasure.

I've updated the visual style of the game from the firs two episodes, which includes increased resolution.

The game is now completed.  You can find it here







old screenshots:
http://a.yfrog.com/img146/1600/captain32.png
http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/2966/captain35.png

Episode 1 is available for free >here<, and Episode 2 is currently on sale for $3 until January 1st, when it goes back up to it's standard price.  You can find Episode 2 >here<.

[deathtotheweird]

mmm I don't think I'm much of a fan of the new art style. the short pudgy cute captain mccallery I've grown to love is all....big and awkward and no longer cute.

let's do a little comparison:

(click thumbnail to enlarge)


I don't mean to be too rude, and this isn't in the feedback forums..but it's a big step back. Especially the colors..

I loved episode 1 and 2 (still loving 2 yet, got stuck and took a break but I plan on finishing it soon) so this is me speaking as a huge fan of those games and kinda shocked you would regress (imo) in style like this. But I'm sure it'll be a fine game though..

[Alec S.]

I always appreciate feedback.

Part of the change is that I wanted to move to a higher resolution.  In addition to the obvious visual change that entails, I can also make smoother movement.

This is just an early screenshot.  The captain will eventually be smaller on the screen (or at least take up less of the screen) later in development. 

As far as the colors, I'll experiment with them, but I'm trying to go with a more saturated look for this episode.  Part of the point of the series is to present the player with a strange alien world in each game.  I have to keep changing the worlds, and can't keep going with the orange-red ground and rocks with green plants from the first two games.


Anyway, I'm glad you enjoyed the first two episodes, and I hope you'll stick around to see how this develops, and I hope you'll enjoy episode 3 as well.   

[phubans]

[ultra-vivid colors in new screenshot]

Is this what the game looks like before or after he ingests hallucinogenic drugs?

[deathtotheweird]

  Part of the point of the series is to present the player with a strange alien world in each game.  I have to keep changing the worlds, and can't keep going with the orange-red ground and rocks with green plants from the first two games.

ahh right. I totally understand now, you have a good point. makes sense.

I hope you'll enjoy episode 3 as well.

dont see why I wouldnt. 

[Alec S.]

[ultra-vivid colors in new screenshot]

Is this what the game looks like before or after he ingests hallucinogenic drugs?

Haha, before.  I'm going to try to go even further with the hallucinogenic effects for this game.  For various reasons, more of the environmental objects are actual objects now rather than tiles with collision blocks (for reasons including moving parts, or interactive elements).  This means I'm going to have the ability to do things like have the rocks and trees seem to come to life and attack you when you start using hallucinogens, or have rocks and trees shift in size or color.

[Alec S.]

Playing around with the art assets I've been working on.  Placing a bunch of them to get a hold of how they work together.

Also, for anyone wondering whether my design process involves speculating into the nature of scientifically plausible alien worlds.  Well...sometimes...other times:

"Hey, turquoise is a cool looking rock.  Wouldn't it be cooler if it were gigantic"

[phubans]

Why is the captain so keen to doing drugs, anyways?

[Alec S.]

Why is the captain so keen to doing drugs, anyways?

Mostly because there needs to be some negative side effects to eating alien foods, and that seemed like a fun one to implement.  Plus I can put hidden things in that The Captain can only see when hallucinating.

Also, I've worked on the tile-set a bit further, primarily in terms of the color scheme.

[Jetrel]

Why is the captain so keen to doing drugs, anyways?

  I see what you did there.

[Alec S.]

Work continues.  I've been working on enemies for the game.  Enemies are going to have more complex behavior than they did in previous games.  The main enemies will move around and shoot at The Captain rather than just rushing at him.  They also don't automatically notice The Captain.  They will patrol an area until he enters their line of sight.  You can even sneak past these enemies by hiding behind rocks and trees.

[Fable]

Hey I'm Fable, I did most of the animations for Alec's Space Captain McCallery Episode 2 and am doing some animations for this installment as well. Alec asked me to post some of these animations up on his devlop for ya'll to see. Enjoy! Sorry for the smallness, they're all 32 by 32 pixels. More to come soon.

[Alec S.]

And on that subject, here's what the first enemy looks like in-game:




I've also updated the first post with more up-to-date screenshots

[Alec S.]

This is your Captain McCallery on drugs:



As you can see, I'm going a lot further with the variety of hallucinogenic effects, and I'm not even done adding them.  One main difference with the new game is that I'm now using surfaces, which opens up new avenues for psychedelic effects.

[Alec S.]

Here's another enemy:

[Alec S.]

I've made a new sprite for the Captain:

[Alec S.]

Work has been continuing on this.  I'm pretty close to being able to release a demo and a trailer.  I think it's time to upgrade this to %20.

[Alec S.]

A demo is now available!

I've made a feedback thread for it:  http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=16826.0

[Alec S.]

'Allo, I've been away traveling for a few months, but now I'm back and work Space Captain McCallery Episode 3 resumes.

As you may have noticed, I recently announced that Episode 2 is now freeware.  That will carry over to Episode 3 as well (although, Episode 3 will also end up shorter than I originally intended.  I now intend to turn it into a two-parter.)


Anyway, here's a new screenshot.  It's of the forest area.

[zircon]

In a world of samey lo-fi 8bit and faux-8bit games, I have to say this is among the most unique art styles I've seen. Brought back instant nostalgia of old-school PC adventure games like King's Quest and Gold Rush. Bravo.