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[Kekskiller]

That is some really hot looking thing! I always like when developer tackle 2D with more advanced effects.

[Polyphonic Entity]

Looks really promising   For instance, I like the transparent blue water with the shadows of theclouds floating above it.

[JoshuaSmyth]

Wow man! What are you using to do that effect? shaders? :O

Thanks, it's a pretty simple pixel shader. The general method is to render your (flipped) geometry to a texture and then when you render the water sample the texture but use a sin wave and you get that ripple looking effect.

The clouds are another texture alpha blended and the droplets are decals.

[Games Inquirer]

Can the reflection be a little more pixelly? It seems to move a bit unnaturally smooth to me, compared to the normal pixel art. Although that may be because of the small size of the gif. I just think that it should be suitably low-fi even if it uses new tech, to match the limitations of the normal art. For example the number of frames.

[JoshuaSmyth]

Been trying to make the rain a bit more volum-ey. Technically the game is in 3d projected into 2d, so I've been experimenting with weaving the rain in between the other geometry. (Depth+alpha is a royal pain)

It's still a bit early but with a little bit of work it'll be a bit more promising. Hopefully it will mean that I can give any particle effects a z value as well.

Note:Placeholder character and splash animations (Sorry about the filesize, but the framerate needs to be high)


Because I used the depth buffer I had to work out the z values for my tiles and interweave the rain throughout, this required I make a quick debug camera to double check that I was positioning everything correctly.

Debug Cam:


I'm also still working on the reflections. Originally I thought I could auto-reflect the geometry. But I'm going to have to add a tool to the editor for custom control over what gets added to the reflection surface and where. There are just too many edge cases to do it automatically.

[goob256]

The reflection looks pretty good. Maybe make it a double sin wave (two waves out of sync) to make it less "sine wavy".

[JoshuaSmyth]

The reflection looks pretty good. Maybe make it a double sin wave (two waves out of sync) to make it less "sine wavy".

That's how the newer version works 2 waves with different phases.

[Fervir]

Very nice. I'll definitely want to see how this progresses

[dhontecillas]

Posting to follow ! Looks really nice, and you are keeping a good pace developing it.

[shelly]

that's also awesome. you've got a talented artist on your side.
looks pretty good overall!

[Eezo]

The third/first person swap is also new to me -- really interesting, as I never played the older PC rpgs.

I'm curious about your process of finding a pixel artist. Without being too prying, did you actively search someone out, group up with someone you knew personally, or use a place like these forums to solicit a collaboration? I'm always curious about how these collaborations form.

Will be sure to follow this project!

[joseph ¯\_(ツ)_/¯]

Your pixel artist is very good, this is exciting. Love that first + 3rd person shit.

[JoshuaSmyth]

I'm curious about your process of finding a pixel artist. Without being too prying, did you actively search someone out, group up with someone you knew personally, or use a place like these forums to solicit a collaboration? I'm always curious about how these collaborations form.

No prob. I met Lianne maybe a year and half ago at the global game jam, and even though I didn't work with her that time I really liked her art style. I'm paying her out of my own personal funds, so it's definitely a work-for-hire kind of deal, which I'd prefer to do with someone I had actually meet face to face.

When we first talked about the project I said I was after a low-fi kind of enchanted forest kind of thing and she said "Do you like Sword and Sorcery?" And I said sure and she came up with that first screenshot.

There are still lots of environments to get through, but I figured starting a dev blog early is better than later.

Thanks for your interest.

[JoshuaSmyth]

Posting to follow ! Looks really nice, and you are keeping a good pace developing it.

Thanks, It actually feels like it's going really slow. I am working on it full time, but it's like any creative thing you go through periods of getting heaps done and then you find yourself slogging through something for a week and it doesn't seem to quite come out right...

[JoshuaSmyth]

The project was getting to the point where I really needed to sit down and flesh out the story/characters/world/goals etc...

So the last two weeks instead of programming I've been doing just that. I've also been reading lots about how to write stories/characters/screenplays etc...

Oh, and I just replayed Kings Quest VI which gave me a few ideas.

[JoshuaSmyth]

Last night I gave a quick talk (5 mins) and preview of the game at my local Game Dev meetup.

There were a couple people who talked to me afterwards about it and that was cool. I put in some music and sfx for atmosphere specifically because I knew I'd be showing the game. Music certainly helps with the mood and sfx certainly helps with the atmosphere.

Someone said that the game looks like the progression that RPGs would have headed in if 3D never happened, which was certainly a nice compliment.

I would have liked to show off the editor, but I didn't really have enough time.

Overall it was fun, and I'd like to do more talks in the future. Just got to practice removing my umms, and ahhs.

[BomberTREE]

Loving that environment art!
It just hurts to see the player not the same resolution as the world.

[JoshuaSmyth]

It just hurts to see the player not the same resolution as the world.

Its a placeholder

[Kirrund]

Just posting here to let you know that I sent you an email last night JoshuaSmyth at your listed email address.

Really like the game progress so far; the work you've done is impressive.

[JoshuaSmyth]

This month I'm working on the combat system.

It's a bit more involved that I initially thought as there are lots of queues and effects and animations required to give it a more modern feel.

I've been looking at youtube videos of the remake of phantasy star for some ideas.