next »

[Raku]

Im sorry, but I think I'll keep his speed the way it is.

Anyway, I've been working on the cliffs. My previous screenshot contained a big error that I overlooked at the time, which was that the cliff stages are going to be set later in the day.

This is the new background and rock palette. I'm still working out a few bugs with the new permanent ability, but so far it's going smoothly. I think I'll release another demo when I finish the next boss. I haven't started making it yet, because I haven't made all of the cliff stages yet. So it may be a while.

[godsavant]

Man, that island must be a geographic nightmare, to have all those different environments. For some reason that redesigned cliff stage reminds of the desert stages from the SNES Super Stars Wars.

And oh! I spy a third power-up! Does that red arrow just make you move faster? I feel like that might be a detriment in some spots, much like the Speed soul.

[Raku]

Actually, The new ability let's you dash left or right when you dodge. It's helpful in bypassing boulders and enemies. Sometimes you can even get a boost in distance if you're trying to hover over a chasm.

[Rumrusher]

After playing MvC3 I just figured that both these characters(Taskmaster and Jack) have so much in common. Much so that it inspire me to push out this doodle.

[Raku]

Thank you, Rumrusher. I enjoy fan art as much as the next guy.

I apologize for the delay in updates. I've been very sick since Thursday and I couldn't gather the strength to work. I went to the doctor yesterday and got medicine, so I should be all better by the end of the week.
Since I was up and walking around today, I got on the computer and did some more work on Jack while I'm still feeling OK. Here, have pictures.



I'll try not to push myself too hard.

[Raku]

Oh, I should update this to show what I'm doing, huh.








You can ignore the personal notes. I have to write them down as I do these sketches, as I have some very real memory problems.

as usual, I have a lot on my plate, but I'm making progress just as fast as ever.
See?


I dub thee... Heat Panzer.

Also, you may notice I changed the appearance of the perma-abilities. I think they're less garish than before.

[godsavant]

For such a stylized game, there sure is a pleasantly surprising amount of mecha.

The hairstyle one the figure atm is probably the most appropriate, but for some reason I really prefer the one labelled 'stylish' .And excellent self-portrait!

I'll loathe that stage as best I can, I'm sure. Still, that "Flame Panzer" beetle really reminds me of bosses from Mega Man X. I'm also amazed at how faithful that concept-to-sprite conversion is; do you down-res and trace over your initial drawing? Or are you just really good at eyeballing?  

And revised powerup icons do look much nicer. I got a momentary red & blue 3D effect with the arrow for some reason.

You added so much content since the last build, I can't wait until the next one!

[Raku]

Thank you, I felt I didn't have enough mecha.

Ha, yes it does look like a mmx boss.
I just eyeball the original sketch and then draw it out in ms paint.

[Ichigo Jam]

This is a pretty cool project, but the way you slip off platforms really annoys me - especially with all the 1-square platforms you have to jump between.

By which I mean the way that if you just land on the very edge of a platform, you fall off (the game slides you sideways). This also (I think) causes me to fall off when I'm trying to jump as as late as possible from the edge of a platform.

[Raku]

I'm sorry, but it's crucial that I keep that in. What's actually happening is that you're being pushed away from the wall as you're near a side of it. If I take that out, Jack occasionally get's stuck in walls and can't get out.

[deadeye]

I'm sorry, but it's crucial that I keep that in. What's actually happening is that you're being pushed away from the wall as you're near a side of it. If I take that out, Jack occasionally get's stuck in walls and can't get out.

That's a shame, because it makes for some pretty awkward platforming at times.  I also agree that Jack could use perhaps just a tiny little bit of momentum in his movement, but then again I'm one of those folks who has trouble with that pixel-perfect movement style of control.

You graphics are utterly gorgeous though  Is there any way you could add 2x or 3x window scaling as an option?  It's very tiny on my monitor and I'd love to be able to enjoy them without squinting (Sorry if this has been requested before, I'm new to the thread and haven't read all eleven pages)

[Colon Semicolon]

the main thing that could make the one-block platforms much easier to navigate is if you could jump up through them to get on them. that would make them far easier to deal with. Their being solid has managed to screw with my head quite a bit during long stretches.

[Raku]

Is there any way you could add 2x or 3x window scaling as an option?  It's very tiny on my monitor and I'd love to be able to enjoy them without squinting (Sorry if this has been requested before, I'm new to the thread and haven't read all eleven pages)

Actually, you can press F4 at any time to go to fullscreen mode. But in the final game, I will be sure to put in a scaling option.

And actually, I didn't even think to make the platforms... jump-through-able. I'll try to make that work, so look forward to it in the next build.

[Raku]

Acceleration just doesn't work. I spent all day working on it, and it just won't work. it also makes the platforms even harder to land on, which people have been complaining about as well.

The good news is that I've successfully made jump-though-able platforms.

[Superb Joe]

that looks almost exactly the same to me, although obviously i understand it has control implications. i think maybe it just needs a transitional animation so he's not launching straight into that really fast run cycle? i don't know, don't listen to me i'm bad at programming and animating.

[Ichigo Jam]

I'm sorry, but it's crucial that I keep that in. What's actually happening is that you're being pushed away from the wall as you're near a side of it. If I take that out, Jack occasionally get's stuck in walls and can't get out.

Is this because his collision for standing on things is narrower than the collision for running into walls?

Personally, I'd make them them same. Although this does tend to mean you can stand on things with only 1 pixel of your character's foot actually on the platform (e.g. Super Mario Bros.) which some people might not like. (Sonic does something similar, but has an animation for him teetering on the edge if you stop with only a few pixels of support under him.)

[Raku]

actually, something just occurred to me, Ichigo Jam.
jack's hitbox is actually thinner than his sprite. maybe you were falling off the ledges because you didn't realise this?



This red bar is what Jack's actual hitbox looks like. This hitbox is constant and never changes size or orientation in Jack's body. You can't actually stray too close to a cliff edge because Jack's body technically doesn't extend that far out as his sprite.

And as for your suggestion, SuperbJoe, that's actually a very good idea. I believe I could make a transitional frame or two to soften the animation a bit. Thanks for that!

[Ichigo Jam]

I did realise the hit box was smaller than the sprite, but I thought maybe it wasn't consistent between walking off edges and walking into walls.

If it's always the same size, I don't see why he gets pushed away from walls after walking off an edge - if he's fallen off an edge then surely his hit box isn't overlapping the wall? (pic 3 in the diagram below)



Another possibility would be to still let the player still jump if they press the button 2 or 3 frames late after walking off an edge - this is quite a simple way of making it feel more responsive. (There are quite a few 3D platformers that use this approach, and I'm pretty sure Knytt Stories does too.)

[deadeye]

Another another possibility is to take on a more experienced GM coder to handle the game engine.  I don't mean any offense by suggesting this.  It would leave you free to concentrate on your awesome art.

I know that there is a strong auteur desire amongst many developers where they don't want to relinquish control to someone else and want to do everything on their own, but I think your artwork deserves as polished and wonk-free an engine as it can get.  And you'd probably have no problem finding a GM coder to help you out with a project this good looking.

Of course on the other hand, you won't get better at the coding side of things if you don't practice.

I will say this though, the biggest reason folks are being so nitpicky about this is probably because it does look so good from a visual standpoint.  If it were just simple little stick figures and plain blocks I doubt there would be nearly as much quibbling over controls.  But that's the price you pay for having a polished looking project, once you reach a certain level of quality people start tearing it apart all the more.

[mokesmoe]

Another possibility would be to still let the player still jump if they press the button 2 or 3 frames late after walking off an edge - this is quite a simple way of making it feel more responsive. (There are quite a few 3D platformers that use this approach, and I'm pretty sure Knytt Stories does too.)

I feel this is probably the best option.