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[Jubjub]

I've uploaded my copy so you can play it too.

Also, this is my first post on this thread but I've been following this for a long time, and I just wanted to say that it's amazing and that I've been inspired by it so many times I've lost the count.

I honestly can't wait to play the final game!

edit: I've just played again through the movement prototype and damn, I love the organic feeling it has.

[jamesprimate]

James, you and I have been talking about this before, but I don't remember what we settled on? Donations?

i think we talked about it for a bit, but then got bored of talking about it, and were like "eh lets talk about this later", haha.

i think donationware is a really cool way to do it. i also like what hofmeier did for Cart Life, where there is a freeware version, then some bonus $ versions that include extras and memorabilia. that might be too much of a hassle, but i like the idea: http://www.richardhofmeier.com/cartlife/

basically im saying that because I want a rain world creature plushie doll  

[JLJac]

@Jubjub: Thanks!
@James: Hehe I promise you, if this brings in enough money to make a stuffed toy, then we'll do it, even if it puts us back to 0! Plushie dolls always pay back tenfold, rule number 73 of capitalism.

Update 143
Work has totally flooded me these last couple of days, which is, for some strange reason, no only a bad thing. When you can't get the time to work on your own projects you tend to be thinking about them in the back of your head, and when you suddenly get that one hour of precious free time you make power progress 

Yesterday's power progress included hooking players up to their controls, changing the input system so that hard-coded uglyness was taken out (at one point I just wrote "if keyPressed("K"), completely ignoring whatever controls the player had set up. Seriously.) and making it possible to activate and de-activate players for the custom game type. For the first time ever I spawned four players on  a level:


(Player colors are subject to change, perhaps)

It seems to work. Then there are of course two different kinds of "work", one means "doesn't stop and throw error messages in your face" and the other means "plays well and is balanced enough to work as a game". The second of these I know nothing of at this point. But the lizards don't seem to be too confused, at least.

Next up is game pad support, which is going to be interesting as I'm in africa and I don't have a game pad. My idea is that I'll copy the code line by line from Block Towers, and then send a version to James to try out. We'll see how it goes. Worst case scenario I'll have to postpone the game pad stuff until I get home in two months.

I think the fact that I actually accept that the game will not be finished and released in eigth weeks time reflects some kind of new found maturity - the last year I've continuously been beliving that I'm in the last two weeks of development. Still, at this point it might be a reasonable estimation to say that the remaining devlopment is closer to two months than it is to a year. 

[Panurge]

Oh, this looks better and better all the time! I can't wait to see the final version.

That latest screenshot is beautiful too. It's only slightly spoiled by the fact that the black player clinging to the central post is looking at me in a way which pieces right to the VERY CORE OF MY SOUL. He knows me.

[JLJac]

[Panurge]

Holy crap!

Okay, it was me, I admit it! It was all me and the other thing was me too but the bigger boys told me to do it.

Now please make him stop.

[JLJac]

Update 144

Working on portraits -



Any input?

[Jubjub]

I like how 15 looks, with 10 as a distant second.

[JLJac]

Hm... When ypu say it, 15 is good, but the head is a bit too flattened for me. If I could give it a little bit more of the head shape of 10...

Oh, and since everyone is doing it, here we go:


I'll put it on the first page, to give people an idea about what's up motion-wise.

[DustyDrake]

It almost feels as if someone isn't controlling that.

[Jubjub]

Ooh, I hadn't seen those birds before, they look really cool.

I guess I've always imagined that the rectangle under the bear's eyes is his mouth instead of his snout, so 15's head fits my preconceptions.

But the real reason I like 15 is the scar, I think it makes his face a lot more interesting.

[jamesprimate]

yeahhhhh +1 for scar definitely

[Panurge]

It almost feels as if someone isn't controlling that.

I couldn't agree more. The amount of character in the animation is phenomenal.

Personally, I have to say that I'm not very keen on any of those portraits. They are excellent portraits in their own right, but they seem too cutesy to match the sprites, which have such a wonderful alien feel to them. The portraits are pretty bland by comparison and they puncture the slightly sinister vibe with their smiley anime look. Out of all of them, I would go for 15.

I hope that doesn't sound too negative. Others may well disagree and to be honest it wouldn't make a huge difference to me either way as a player. I just love the way this game is developing so wanted to give some honest feedback.

[JLJac]

Yeah, you're absolutley right, it shouldn't be too anime. I don't want it to look like a pikachu clone.


(Pikachu clones)

So this is what I did - 10 and 15 had a baby. Then I refined that some, and then I slanted the eyes. For the last one I changed the nose (good) and the jaw (not so good).

Still need to make it less anime... The creature in the game is not exactly cute, it has more of a strange, blank expression. If anything I want it to remind of a 1930's cartoon, I'd like it to have a tiny touch of this:



So... how can I make it less pikachu? 

Hehe @Jubjub, I know that the artist should leave the interpretation to the audience, but this time... I'm sorry it has never been a mouth, it's a nose

[Jubjub]

Yeah, I know, but I really can't avoid not seeing the sprite's nose as a mouth!

The new portrait is much better in that regard, I definitely see it as a nose now, probably because of the new snout shape and the extra space under it.

[happymonster]

The eyes should be rounder in the portraits, like the sprites.

[JLJac]

Tried following this gentleman's advice, and I can't say I dislike it...

[eigenbom]

Hm... When ypu say it, 15 is good, but the head is a bit too flattened for me. If I could give it a little bit more of the head shape of 10...

Oh, and since everyone is doing it, here we go:

Woah, so cool!

[jamesprimate]

hahah I've always thought it was a mouth too XD

maybe the eyes are what is making it seem a bit cutesy. in the sprite version the eyes look so EMPTY, like "I've seen some shit".

[Sustrato]

Somehow, I have never seen this project until now. I just read through the first 18 pages + the last few, and I'm feeling a little blown away.

The effects look great, from the hanging chains and wires to the light bloom that you have in some pics. Gameplay of course looks amazing as everyone has pointed out, I love how the animation blends into the actual mechanics, which look very fun in their own right.

I think the decision to go with a hub world won't have as many downsides as you predict (or at least, predicted). Maybe the time of day and such won't be able to change, but by manipulating the tile set you can still get a feeling of progression - one area is more or less stony/industrialized/etc.

Also, I tried the runnMaze2 demo, but it seemed kind of glitchy. I couldn't figure out how to jump with either player (tried all the usual candidates), and with the brown character, movement was mapped to ESDF instead of WASD, which - if intentional - seems very, very unwise.

On a final side note, it turns out a game I've been working on for the past month-ish is very similar to this, with the notable exception that yours is far better. :/ Oh well, I guess it will give me some ideas on how to make my game, ie, avoiding the stuff you're already doing - I don't want to make a total ripoff.

edit: Jump is K/Q? Why...