next »

[DarkWanderer]

It'd definitely add a darker level to the game's overall tone, though at the same time I could see it as a bit immersion immersion breaking, but that may be due to how I'm imagining the game would/should feel. Pretty sure the Castlevanias had exposed breasts, but I don't recall nipples being visible. Maybe have the fungal growth's wrap up from under the breast & obscure the nipples, with bare breast still visible? That way the nudity would still be implied, but less explicit. I'd really have to see it in game though. Is the in game model going to be direct side shot of the character or 3/4ths view?

*It'd seem most character models are on a bit of an angle.

[twotimingpete]

well, I should say that the game will be rated M whether we see breasts or not. It has other stuff that will ensure that.

we'll probably only see her in the form of an in-game sprite -- which are fairly detailed, and we'll see various angles and poses.

in concept, I have no problem with seeing breasts in a video game. I don't think it's objectionable, and I don't think children will be drawn to the game to begin with -- and if they are, it'll be rated M or otherwise have a content notification.

so it really comes down to feel. does it fit? is it a distraction? does it impart somethign to the user I don't want to impart? that's kinda what I'm trying to sort out.

[DarkWanderer]

Without being too revealing, what other kind of things are we talking about M-wise? Blood & Gore? Mutilated Bodies? Because with something like that established I don't think this character would be too out of character. Given all of the media from this game I've consumed so far, all the preview screens & videos, it's a pretty radical shift. But if that kind of tone already existed in the game beyond all the previews, I don't think it'd be out of place. Initially I thought it'd break my immersion but my vision of your game is based solely off of the previews, & not the things you haven't spoiled & kept secret. The only thing at that point would be execution, making sure the depiction is more believable & not too off the wall/distracting. I trust you with that though

*To clarify what I mean by distracting, if there's a stark contrast between the flesh tone & nipple shade, it'd add that more much more emphasis on it(i.e. pale white flesh contrasted with brightly colored nipples). Whereas I think it would be more appropriate if the effect were subtle, darker skin tone, to prevent a stark contrast.

[oldblood]

*To clarify what I mean by distracting, if there's a stark contrast between the flesh tone & nipple shade, it'd add that more much more emphasis on it(i.e. pale white flesh contrasted with brightly colored nipples). Whereas I think it would be more appropriate if the effect were subtle, darker skin tone, to prevent a stark contrast.

This is excellent nipple analysis...

You need to make the game you want to make with the tone you want to utilize. No understands the lore and premise better than you. If this is the design you want to utilize, I highly recommend you follow that path. We have the luxury of developing independent games without the worry of being shot down by legal departments, HR or focus-groups... In fact, we don't even have to use ESRB. Frankly, I'm concerned with using it myself as I don't want to accidentally give myself a rating that will create issues within specific geographic areas. Will I put warnings on my game? Yes. But I don't even know I will get an "official" rating on it. And frankly speaking, I'm developing it solely how I want without concern for impact on ratings. Just my two cents, but I think you should do the same.

...Excellent artwork by the way.

[TheChaoticGood]

Just saw your trailer. It's simple and effective. Keep it up.

[twotimingpete]

thanks guys for the feedback. regarding the game's content, it definitely has some frank language from some of the characters, as well as blood and gore. If the blood and gore didn't get it an M, the language definitely would. You meet some interesting characters and some rough characters and they are written to speak in a way that to me sounds authentic. In real life people rarely avoid ever cursing, especially if they're in a bad situation.

[twotimingpete]

how's everyone. sorry for neglecting threadage.  

http://www.gfycat.com/InformalRegalKiwi

http://www.gfycat.com/EveryOddballElver

here we have a very simple form of player engagement where you basically need to get the ball to the blockage in a given passageway.. this room introduces the concept, but there are, after that, slightly more complicated versions of it. in addition, if you have the charge up shot, holding charge allows you to pull the ball towards you, which enables you to get it to some areas (particularly up hills) that you otherwise never could.

This is something some of you guys may have seen a bit of before, but basically there are these eggs in the bug tunnels that can be interacted with and used for your own purposes, but only if you get up to them without disturbing them too much. too much disturbance and they hatch.

http://www.gfycat.com/BelovedSolidFoxterrier

the eggs never respawn, whether you hatch them or use them. the upgrades they offer are small (+1 to max health, so if you find all the eggs in a given area, cumulatively it's a decent upgrade) but for each egg you hatch that's one less permanent health you could have had.

I like consequences, what can I say.

[twotimingpete]

More nonsense

http://www.gfycat.com/ObedientHoarseCaimanlizard

[DarkWanderer]

As a completionist, those eggs are gonna bug me

When I saw the player flashing in the last post, I assumed they took damage from the ball hitting them. I was wrong, but how would you feel about implementing that as a mechanic, to make the player stay on their toes(you yourself did a pretty good job of continually sidestepping the ball to manipulate it)? Consequently, it could also damage enemies too (presuming there'd be any in those puzzle rooms)

[twotimingpete]

well get ready to be bothered, 'caause there's a lot of them. XD

I pretty much finished my bug fighters. they are the most complex enemies I've put in to date. they are able to burrow/emerge freely, and while they lack true pathfinding type stuff, they fake it pretty well by using a series of nodes in the environment they can emerge from, and they pick ones near the player every time they're ready to come up.

they can also run, jump, stomp stun, regen health, feign death, spin attack, dash, ranged attack, and more.

the shotgun is designed to be pretty good against them. they have a lot of hitpoints, and an up close shotgun blast can do more damage than most things can. but only if it's REALLY close.

http://www.gfycat.com/IncompleteBrownHog

http://www.gfycat.com/ShabbyLeftAmericanmarten

[twotimingpete]

I've kinda neglected public updates -- Both on my KS and here -- So I've attempted to rectify that. I posted a quick update on Kickstarter, which includes an

.

The video is long, but here are some specific links to more interesting parts of the video:

1) this is a difficult battle, and it demonstrates how resources must be managed in real time to make it through some of these encounters. Armor/energy recharges, and it can keep you alive by absorbing hits even if your health is at 1. Ammo must also be managed (regular ammo recharges).

2) this is a serene scene.

thanks guys. I still check the thread, I've just been so busy/distracted I haven't been upkeeping it.

[twotimingpete]

Got a lot done today. Implemented a new system specific to one region of the game -- Basically, the "fungal" (in this game, denoted typically by a bright green coloration) enemies and obstacles can only be permanently killed if you shoot them with a fungal status active on your weapon. You can get that, temporarily, by "inhaling" from the fungal bulbs.



This gif shows a bit how this works with your regular cannon:

http://www.gfycat.com/ImperfectJovialGavial

Alternatively, you can use the charge blast near a bulb to suck it into the chargeup, and unleash a "fungal blast".

http://www.gfycat.com/KeenBadGrebe

Here's a little stress test just to make sure I can blast a group without the game totally croaking.. We see a bit of a hiccup, but that was only with fraps on. Before fraps was on it actually was nearly perfect (on my modest desktop).

http://www.gfycat.com/CelebratedAdmiredEmu

You note how this killed them -- If you were to kill them without a fungal attack, just with a regular gun, they'll get back up and regenerate indefinitely.

Also finished some more concept sketches. This is one I posted in a recent KS update.

[oldblood]

Gorgeous looking gifs. Love the liberal use of colors throughout.

That stress test, wow. Really excellent work...

[twotimingpete]

Gorgeous looking gifs. Love the liberal use of colors throughout.

That stress test, wow. Really excellent work...

Thank you

I actually just now found a problem that was adding some ineffeciency to enemy deaths, something dumb I added a long time ago that isn't needed, now I can do even more.

example:

http://www.gfycat.com/PlaintiveLoneAngwantibo

phew! okay now I rest.

[twotimingpete]

I've been doing some art streaming on twitch.

Tonight I made this on stream:



Tomorrow I'll be streaming again, around 3pm EDT, and we'll do more animations.

www.twitch.tv/ttpete

[twotimingpete]

Some random 60 fps gameplay from the other day after I made some new sounds.

Some of the NPC/story stuff in the game is still running with placeholders, that's why the NPC looks a bit funny.





Sometimes what I like to do, and especially in the above area, is color code terrain and anything of interest (mainly enemies!) to be a stark contrast against it.

Also just today I've changed the game's native res to 1920x1080 (after some thinking/tinkering). Here's some new 1080p captures.

http://www.ghostsonggame.com/miscd/1080p-1.png
http://www.ghostsonggame.com/miscd/1080p-2.png
http://www.ghostsonggame.com/miscd/1080p-3.png
http://www.ghostsonggame.com/miscd/1080p-4.png
http://www.ghostsonggame.com/miscd/1080p-5.png
http://www.ghostsonggame.com/miscd/1080p-6.png
http://www.ghostsonggame.com/miscd/1080p-7.png

I'm pretty happy now that the game is actually in 1080p. I always felt a bit uneasy about the odd resolution it used to be in.

[twotimingpete]

Some riveting action gameplay...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1dWOIaqIpg&feature=youtu.be

First, you see there's a cheeky secret room.

Next, I wanted to make a room where the floor was largely obstructed about waist high, so I could -- well, you'll see. It's just always a challenge trying to make sure the user has a good idea where they can stand. I helped supplement this with a blue soft line, and glowing dots (which is a re-occuring thing in this game)

To explain what's going on in the secret room, there's a green barrier blocking the way to the power ups, and the only way to break it is to have some "gas"... And the only nearby gas source is that big hopper enemy, which leaks gas when you down it.

[twotimingpete]

Hooking up a new thingy.



Click for big webm.

basically the way this works is, in this area, the general environment is increasingly dark, but glowing elements are used to mark where things are. To see these, you have to charge up the room's glow level by shooting a node, which will then dissipate over time. There are enemies and hazards specific to the area which also have glowing elements on them that obey the room's glow level.

[Noid]

I've just finished reading the dev log and it's really nice to see how much the game evolved. There many games that use mechanics inspired by the Metroid series out there, but I think that ghost song is the only one that managed to capture and amplify so well the sensation of loneliness and fear that made the series so great with its use of art and sound effects.

Regarding the nudity, don't change it if you feel that you're censoring yourself or if you feel that someone's gonna be offended or fail to understand its purpose. If the original Ghost in the Shell tried to avoid nudity it would've been a much weaker movie.

Besides, the covered up version looks like a bra or boobplate. Tt doesn't look like the fungi is either trying to protect vital organs or merely covering random parts of the chest. It just looks like the fungi is very concerned about the girl's decency

[twotimingpete]

thanks

I did mess with the design more, and I may again. This was the next incarnation.