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[neon]

so, i'm in the middle of trying to mock up art for this game idea that's been bouncing in my head for awhile.

so, the game basically is an atmospheric platformer, a bit like knytt, but more fast-paced.  it's set in a city, and involves rooftop-jumping, running across clotheslines in an extremely unrealistic manner, etc etc.  the sprites are going to be done in kind of a flashback (is that the name of the game) \ prince of persia style - very animated-y and hard to draw.  i'm keeping the art style relatively simple for now - silhouettes for the background and and possibly for the player as well.  i don't know if i'm up to the task, but i've read and re-read the animator's survival kit, so i thought i'd give it a go, for fun and practice if anything.  the game is going to be set to Rachmaninoff's Etudes-Tableaux no.1, which i'm going to play.  god help me.

anyway, the actual mechanics of the game are still in infancy, but i was thinking of kind of a race-type platformer, where you need to keep up with the tempo of the song.  if you fall behind too far, you lose the game.  i think the place where you're supposed to be in relationship to the song at any given point might be illustrated by a crow or other city bird flying along the course with the tempo of the song.

so, i need help with figuring out more of a concrete game mechanic, and i need tips on pixel art - namely, how do i indicate, for instance, a bright window shining out onto a dark fire escape?  how do i illustrate the shinyness of things and reflections and all that jazz?  basically, i need help.  and by the time this gets finished, i'll probably need mental help.

art and mockups are to come.



        <---- the rachmaninoff etude

[Farbs]

Are you rotoscoping the characters? That's where the super fluid flashback/pop animation came from.

[neon]

nope.  things f l o a t  a r o u n d when you rotoscope and it doesn't yield snappy, exciting animations of the sort that are good for games.

i am, however, gluing my eyes to muybridge photos and the animator's survival kit, so i have good reference.  the only problem is my shittyness.

edit: yeah, when i referred to flashback and pop i was talking about more the semi-realistic style of animation, not the rotoscoping.

[deadeye]

Float around?  Dude, do you know what rotoscoping is?  Because Waking Life ain't it.

And both Flashback and PoP were rotoscoped.


Edit:
Hmm, maybe Waking Life is too obscure.  I should have said A Scanner Darkly.

[neon]

Rotoscoping is an animation technique in which animators trace over live-action film movement, frame by frame, for use in animated films.
from wikipedia

yes, i know what rotoscoping is.  i don't, however, know what Waking Life is.  i realize that flashback and prince of persia were rotoscoped - i thought that was clear.  what i was trying to say was that my influences from those games had nothing to do with the rotoscoping - instead, i liked their practice of using sprites that were a lot more humanoid than those used in other platform games.  does this clear things up?

edit: oh, dude, i haven't seen a scanner darkly either 

[deadeye]

does this clear things up?

Yeah, I was just checking.  Still don't know what you mean by "float around" though.  Neither PoP nor Flashback seemed floaty to me... pretty precise, really.

[neon]

yeah, i don't know, but i prefer handcrafted animation more.. it seems more alive and..uh, yeah.  i think it's a matter of opinion.

[Zaphos]

I think "floaty" is a weird word to use, but perhaps it's coming from the relative lack of squash and stretch when you copy real life as compared to a more cartoon-y style?

Float around?  Dude, do you know what rotoscoping is?  Because Waking Life ain't it.

Waking Life used a form of rotoscoping.


Anyway, for thinking concretely about mechanics, perhaps you could build a little prototype with just a square moving around -- experiment to 'feel out' how you want it to move, what set of moves are satisfying?

[deadeye]

Float around?  Dude, do you know what rotoscoping is?  Because Waking Life ain't it.

Waking Life used a form of rotoscoping.

Yeah but it's not representational of your average rotoscoping, that's all I meant.

After reading the "floating around" bit I assumed he had seen Waking Life or A Scanner Darkly and said "so that's rotoscoping, huh?"  My bad.

[neon]

Anyway, for thinking concretely about mechanics, perhaps you could build a little prototype with just a square moving around -- experiment to 'feel out' how you want it to move, what set of moves are satisfying?

ah, but i can't code.  (i am trying to learn python and pygame, but it's going slowly for me) so for a while this is going to be just an art/mockup thread.

i may have a run cycle tonight. we'll see.  i mocked up my character and mocked up a fugly 5-frame run cycle, so using the powers of ONION SKIN TO THE MAXXX i might have something soon.

[sereneworx]

This sounds interesting. I'm excited to see what you come up with for the art style. I'm seeing something similar to this: http://chobi.deviantart.com/art/Waiting-for-the-Day-33927051 with very painterly backgrounds ala this: http://vekt0r.deviantart.com/art/First-Rays-of-the-Rising-Sun-32229172

[Alevice]

Edit:
Hmm, maybe Waking Life is too obscure.  I should have said A Scanner Darkly.

Thanks god it is. As much as I like experimental movies and stuff, I feel the movie was all about monologues about pseudophilosophy, and drunkassed rotoscoping. Hell, delta zone was a far better rotoscoped work.

[muku]

That sounds like such an awesome concept. Also, hats off to you if you can play that etude competently.

[neon]

oh man it'll take me a WHILE to get that etude - that shit is crazy.  i might have bit off more than i can chew, i don't know yet.

[increpare]

are you planning on getting things synchronised with the music?

[Shambrook]

Yeah but it's not representational of your average rotoscoping, that's all I meant.

He probbably meant floaty in the sense of the fucking atrocious Lord of the Rings or Fire and Ice wich just looked fucking dodgy.

[neon]

are you planning on getting things synchronised with the music?

the goal of the game is to be synchronized with the music, so yes.

[neon]

doing more art and putting more thought into this game, it's dawning on me like a ton of bricks how ferociously tough this is going to be.  so, it's not dead, but this thread will probably not be bumped by me for a while.  sorry guys.  stupid move on my part.

[neon]

http://flickr.com/photos/23611367@N05/2337064029/sizes/l/

it might look a bit like this, in side view

[neon]

development is still going strong!  i'm using toastie's retro game system to make a prototype, for now.  sorry to bump but would like to let you all know that the project isn't dead by any stretch.  it'll still be awhile before mockups and screens, though.  sorry