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[Garlicguy]

Well, I'm thinking it's an interesting twist; a way of being indirectly competitive. You don't have to take it off the table, but you can certainly keep the idea afloat, maybe even just implement a few simple ones - kinda like a competition to break something like a Super Smash Ball, but scoring a point for that (PLUS a point per K.O.), instead of side-tracking it into super attacks.

Screens are looking sweet, btw.

That's what I was thinking, it added more to the fun factor. Also thanks!

Rushing a project is never good because you'll feel like if it were "incomplete" once you finish it. Take your time man, you don't have a deadline or something, and remember that "it's done when it's done". Cheers

Very true, I'd like to make games about my own little characters, is all. Rushing wasn't the best word, maybe I should have said Working Effectively

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Tweeked the fighting system some more, things feel smoother.

I saved the characters I really wanted to work on for last (Duvalier, Kaltos, Arianna, Runman), I like sword type fighters...and Runman.

Currently working on Duvalier, some more of his sprite work is done.

[Garlicguy]

Ive remade Runman's stage. Figured out that adding a black and white center gradient, is the best way to make sunny outdoor stages look half way presentable in this game.

[Garlicguy]

ONE BUTTON FIGHTING

The Attack button, is only one button. It makes things a lot more different game play wise. Z is to jump, and the up arrow is only used to direct attacks.

Melee and special attacks are combined, each character feels completely different from the other.

Castle Christoff : Kaltos's Stage

New stage done. I'll polish it later.

[Garlicguy]

When you're eager to rush, it means you have too much work to do, so I'm only going to make one more character, which is Kaltos. I did some more of his sprite work, should be done in a few more days.

Rushing this whole time has left me blind to alot of flaws, most of which I've fixed since cutting the roster to 8. Runman, Duvalier, and Arianna, will be added, along with more characters, next time I work on this concept. 
 

[Garlicguy]

Not too much hard work left, I've just got to finish up Kaltos, the rest of the items, and the stages. Kaltos only has one attack (Slay = his forward+ Z) for right now.

[Garlicguy]

I've let things marinate for a bit, just so I could see what needs tweaking with a fresher set of eyes. Did some more sprite work. Tweaked some of the character attacks. Been coming up with concepts for stages. So on...

[Ouren]

I sent you a PM duder!

^.~

[Garlicguy]

Kaltos is complete

With Kaltos completed, all the the characters are now done. Kaltos has strong attacks like sword faith (which damages all foes directly above him) and his armor.

Armor system complete

Characters with armor cannot be stunned by weak melee attacks. What this means is Kaltos can body his way through a simple punch and counter.
Kaltos and Naija are the only characters with armor.

[Garlicguy]

I haven't been procrastinating, I've just been adding small details.


Stance Animations:

The image_yscale breathing effect was an easy way of pulling off stance animations, but I've gotten rid of it and animated them by frame.

Changed Some Move-Sets:

When Iji fires her shotgun or shock splinter, a reload bar appears (like in the original game), and she can't fire these guns again until their bars are ready. Iji feels a lot less stiff and seems quicker with this change. Xoda feels more solid now, after re-arranging her move-set and making some attacks more damaging.

All other characters besides Kaltos and Naija feel and play the way I want at this point.

Designing Stages:

I've started to get more into putting interactivity in the stages. For example I've redesigned the "Seiklus" stage. The plant leaves in the stage are more dynamic and slope downward when a player stands on them, and spring back into place when the player jumps off. Little touches like that help give stages a better feel. I intend to continue adding small touches like that to all the stages.

Support character system:

The system of summoning support characters with items has already been in place. I haven't been working with it much recently but if I don't get to it in this version of the game I intend to add it next time.

[Ouren]

cannot wait !! 

[Ouren]

You should put a version out on my birthday (dec 24th), because I get a fightstick then.

[Garlicguy]

You should put a version out on my birthday (dec 24th), because I get a fightstick then.

I might be able to do that, not 100% sure though.


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Here are the new stances I've made. They're good enough in my opinion.

             

I've finished Seikleja's new stage:

[Garlicguy]

Game pad controls are more responsive and fluid

-D-pad or left analog stick controls the character

-button 2, D-pad up/left analog up, or the upper right shoulder button (button 6)= jump

-lower right and left shoulder buttons (buttons 7 & 8 ) = dodge

-button 1 = attack

Gameplay objective has changed: Land The Most Attacks/ Fill The Hit Gauge

-The gameplay is no longer about attacking your opponent until their health bar is empty. It is now about landing the most attacks (with the bonus being how powerful the attack is). This means the only way to win is to be aggressive, and those who camp or wait for other players to kill each other will be further from victory from the players going at each other.

-Blocking activates a multiplier. After blocking, each attack you make increases your hit gauge by two. You lose the multiplier by getting hit.

-Once a players hit gauge is full, they can KO opponents in one hit. Through dodging or blocking it is very possible to make a comeback and turn out a win.

[mokesmoe]

So now it's more like playstation all-stars?

[Garlicguy]

So now it's more like playstation all-stars?

Haha...no. I was going for something like a game nobody has probably heard of called "Thrill Kill" it was a canceled ps1 game from 1998, I played it on an emulator a lot.

About Thrill Kill : http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrill_Kill


I don't have a ps3, but I thought playstation allstars is about collecting orbs to do different special attacks, and score is based on getting multiple kills.

Indie Action is about landing the most attacks, and longest combos, to kill everyone once.

[Joh]

nah.. playstation all stars is exactly that: Land most attacks to fill up your super bar, and use it to give killing blows. Although there are 3 different supers (3 super levels).
orbs are an alternate way to get your super bar (you might consider that too  )
some objects give them and players can drop some through grabs.


Hopefully that system works great for your game, it already looks pretty impressive!

[Garlicguy]

Thanks!

After looking at gameplay footage of playstation allstars, I conclude my game plays nothing like it (no 3 lvl specials, no orbs, no kill score, no stage hazards) But I don't have a demo up to show that right now. I draw my inspiration from overlooked games (thrill kill) not popular or current ones.

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Working On

-Side Kick Characters-

There are 8 main characters to choose from, with the option of one side kick character.. By pressing attack 2 you switch with the side character to preform an attack. For example, if your side character was Curly (cave story) you would perform a rapid fire machine gun attack.

Side kick characters are characters from the same game as one of the main 8 characters (Rilo,Hoops,Curly etc...). The system was originally set up so every character had a fixed side kick (Barkley with hoops, Quote and Curly...etc) but I'm working on a mix an match system.


This was kinda inspired by Jump Superstars

[Sir Raptor]

It might be better if you chose side kick characters from other games. Partly so you can represent a wider variety of games while keeping the roster at the intended level, but mainly because there's not really a good side kick character for Seiklus.


On the topic, hoe do the side kicks work? Is there a reload time between uses, do you build up uses by attacking, or can you only use them a set number of times?

[Garlicguy]

Yeah, I was thinking of using characters from other games, but I thought I'd rather them be fully playable if they're from another game. Thinking about it now though, it would be better to make the sidekicks from other games rather than double dipping. It would reference a lot more indie games.

So yeah, side kicks should be from other games, I'll get on that.

Right now side kicks are spammable because I was just testing it. But maybe I'll make it decrease hit score, or just delay.

[Sir Raptor]

I feel kinda weird about Kaltos, personally. I get that The Spirit Engine is a well known game in the indie community, but he just doesn't have the same kind of stage appearance that the other characters have, so to speak. Characters like Quote or Seikleja, or Iji even, they have stage appearance; anyone can immediately recognize them, if not as this exact character from this game, then at least as a unique figure. Kaltos' appearance is literally "generic knight." You could try removing his helmet, maybe, since he doesn't wear it most of the time, or you could consider replacing him with a more iconic character, like Isaac or Commander Video or something.