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[Raku]

Wooah, that trailer is amazing. I had lost all hope of that game coming out, but I guess they're still working at it!

As for a demo... I mean, it's already playable. It's just that I dont feel ready to release it to the public yet. It feels naked right now.

Yes, those are actual screenshots I've taken from gameplay. The game is 40% because I still have a lot of work to do. Half of the overall stages are made, but there's much more to it than that.
Ah, no the abilities would combine as long as you're holding both of them. these screenshots were taken in debug mode, so I was skipping through stages to get some different environments. Normally, after a certain point, you'd get a second slot at the bottom next to the first one.

Inanimate-
Yes, you're correct on all accounts.
But the yellow one... well, I've just been calling it "gas".
It has the properties of a gas, but I can't call it "fire" or "wind".
The Gas attack has several pros and cons:
Pros-
Projectile
Can move through walls
Cons-
Cannot damage any plant-based baddie
only three can be shot at a time
Jack's natural default melee attack is gone as long as you have this ability (or most offensive abilities for that matter)

Thank you for noticing the different sprite as well.

[Superb Joe]

this looks real cool

but the words "let's go" carry a great weight and gravity, i think you need to touch up your rendition a little.

[Raku]

I don't understand what you mean about that. You're saying they shouldn't stand out as much?
It's how I'm doing all the big text in the game, the Title screen has somewhat of the same style. Also, when you finish a stage, the same style of text would say FINISH.

I worked hard to make them look the way they do.

[Chris Pavia]

I don't think you need to take anything Superb Joe says seriously...

[Raku]

Sorry, I'm still new around here.

ooh look another enemy I made yesterday


It's name is Milky, and it will pounce at Jack if he gets noticed.

[Rooky]

To me, this actually seems more Genesis/Megadrive reminiscent than any given Kirby game, but that's just the visual style. In terms of gameplay, looks awesome. I've always loved that Kirby style of being able to combine abilities just to see what the hell happens.

[godsavant]

Wait, 'Superb Joe'? Did someone neuter Super Joe after he got banned? Man, I'm outta the loop.

Also, love the new enemy. Reminds me of Tenchi Muyo, for some reason.

[Superb Joe]

I don't understand what you mean about that. You're saying they shouldn't stand out as much?
It's how I'm doing all the big text in the game, the Title screen has somewhat of the same style. Also, when you finish a stage, the same style of text would say FINISH.

I worked hard to make them look the way they do.

i think the g looks funny. continuous hud uniformity is cool and made street fighter alpha 3 better.

[Adam F.]

Oh wow, really nice screenshots! The style is simple yet really charming and everything looks so colorful. Definitely reminiscent of an SNES game. Can't wait to play this, keep it up!

[Raku]

Oh OK, Superb Joe, I can see what you mean.
The "g" actually looks that way because it's more based on the "e" than the "o". If you look at the loop in the "e", you can see that it's the same as the loop in the "g".

Woah, godsavant, you're right! I bet it's because of the forehead crystal and the long rabbit feet. That's actually my all-time favorite series, so maybe it was subconsciously inspired, you know?

Here's some more screenshots to show some new things I've done in the last 24 hours (and some stuff that I forgot to show the first time)

Pointing out things to notice, from the top left screenshot to the bottom right:
1)Stage names now have a darkened bar behind them when they appear so that they show up better.
2)Screencap of the second in-game cutscene
3)Stage exits are indicated by a Metal Slug-esque ">>>" symbol. (before, there was no indication of the stage's exit)
4)Milky has been implemented in the game, and he's got a couple of redone sprites
5)Enemies now flinch when you strike them, shown here with Milky
6)I forgot to show a tree stage before, also these enemies that work similar to Fuzzy from Yoshi's Island. Anyone who's played it should remember them, but these enemies just drop some kind of nut whenever they're above you.
7)A screenshot of the first miniboss, which has the Gas attribute. also this screenshot shows how jack can dodge out of existence for a second to avoid damage.
8)Another high tree stage, this time showing the game's health containers, which are little scarecrows.
9)aaaand showing a little more of the map to show that there's a sunlight gradient at the top the farther up you go. Something inspired by many SNES games as well.

Also, I keep wanting to show a little bit of music from the game to let you all know how it's going to sound, but I keep forgetting, so now that I remember:

Intro beach stages: "Wet Sand" http://www.mediafire.com/?9szicruxe98h381
One of the normal stage themes: "Running Start" http://www.mediafire.com/?bb5h22c64udl2bn
Another normal stage theme: "Good Evening" http://www.mediafire.com/?7gmuq80p8rrggug
A special stage near the end: "Holy Place" http://www.mediafire.com/?052tw6aziu8aiig

I love composing music, and I love the music of the games from the days of SNES. The most influential game's music for Jack the Reaper is the Kirby series, but also I've taken inspiration from the Sailor moon games, Joe & Mac, Chrono Trigger, and Final Fantasy Six.

[Inanimate]

That's a very ominous purple tower.

[godsavant]

last 24 hours? Wow, you work fast.

Those are some pretty smart improvements, though I still can't imagine how you'd accomplish all this so fast.

Also, what's with the umbrella and up-arrow icons in the HUD? They weren't in the earlier screenshot.

[Raku]

Indeed it is, Inanimate... indeed it is...

I work fast because of how motivated I am to get this game finished. I know exactly what I want to happen in my head, and then I make it happen in the game. Simple as that.

And those icons in the HUD are there always since I'm in debug mode when I'm testing the game. they're passive abilities gained from beating bosses. Usually I censor them out in these screenshots to make them look nice, but sometimes I miss them.

[Superb Joe]

yo usually i'm derisive funny joke man, but this legitimately looks and sounds awesome. your trees are great. but the gold helmet guy looks kinda funky.

[Shawny]

I don't usually post in the dev log forum but this is just too wonderful. The art, graphics, music and style are really good and it's quite rare to see people working at such a fast pace and even showing progress this often.

Really looking forward to your future updates and the release.

[Raku]

Thank you, I appreciate the comments.

You know what it is, honestly?
What motivates me is the overall quality of indie games these days.
I'm trying my best not to sound smug, and please know that I don't think I'm better than anyone, but it's like a lot of people just aren't trying that hard anymore.

Seriously, look at a lot of the games on this site and tell me they doesn't motivate you to make something better:
www.gamemakergames.com

A good game takes planning.

So, I guess I'll reveal some more concept art.
Concept for one of the main bosses:

Trying to make my own logo for when I make games... all the greats have one:

Some more baddie concept:

Several miniboss concepts:


Thank you all for your ongoing encouragement.

[Paint by Numbers]

Seriously, look at any game on this site and tell me it doesn't motivate you to make something better:
www.gamemakergames.com

Your game looks very nice, but there are plenty of very high-quality games on that site, so you are coming across a bit smug.

[Raku]

my bad.
Maybe our definitions of high-quality are different.

[Paint by Numbers]

Maybe they are. In my world, Spelunky is generally considered a pretty good game.

[Raku]

Ah, wow, I didn't know his games were on that site!
I guess I was only looking at the "spotlight" section, which can be misleading.

Sorry, I feel like I've gotten this thread a little off topic.
I'll fix it:

Some things for the prologue:

The background for the cave stages (will be animated):

The skeleton boss sprites from the concept earlier: