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[Aki-at]

Just a minor update, been busy getting ready for GDC because Clickteam was kind enough to show the game off at their booth!

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Brock Playable at GDC 2015!



That’s right the reason we’ve been quiet is getting Brock Crocodile ready to be played at GDC 2015! Very excited to announce that a playable version of Brock Crocodile is going to be hosted at the Game Developer’s Conference thanks to the lovely people over at Clickteam. If you’re going to be in San Fransico for GDC please drop by booth number 736 and give the game a go! If you want to pass any feedback to us or just want to let us know how much you enjoyed the demo, you can shoot us an email to [email protected]

But that’s not it on the announcement front, we’ve got quite a few things to show off and talk about through out March and you’ll understand why we’ve been quiet for so long, so stay tuned for some more updates in what’s going to be a busy month for us, exciting times ahead!

http://brockcrocodile.com/2015/02/27/brock-crocodile-is-playable-at-gdc-2015/
https://twitter.com/BrockCrocodile/status/571362104772562944

Oh yeah and the announcement of more announcements : P

[Aki-at]

Got some images of Brock being playable at GDC 2015. If anyone happens to be around come down to booth #736 to try it

[Aki-at]

Bit of a chunky update this one, first of all, new trailers featuring two new levels!

Trailer #2:

Twitter link: https://twitter.com/BrockCrocodile/status/576088949157924864

Second the project is finally on Steam Greenlight!: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=398370496

Been building upto this and even made a spiffy new trailer. Still a lot more to show off but really happy with how this one came out, especially compared to the last one which felt really plain.

There's also a massive upgrade to the second level, really happy with that, makes the battleship feel more like an airship than a highway in the sky! Made a blog post detailing the process on making the video and the new people I've hired too, hopefully they'll accelerate the development a lot faster.

I'd suggest reading the blog post since there's plenty more information on there. All retweets and shares appreciated!

[Aki-at]

Just a bit more stuff to expand on from my Screenshot Saturday post.

So I started work on the 6th stage, Havoc Waves, which will have Brock chase down some escaped criminals. So far the engine is just going to be slightly modified so that Brock hits top speed in 0.04 seconds and maybe I'll make his jump gravity just a bit stronger. Outside of that the only change would be Brock can only do front attacks now (Obviously) and the inclusion of ramps to send Brock higher into the sky.

Below are some gifs showing the process in developing the stage, unfortunately do not have anything for the wave creator so we're just going to have to start with Brock surf walking across the sea!






https://twitter.com/BrockCrocodile/status/576827182892331008

I'd also like to take this opportunity to show off a new track the music guy, Steve Lakawicz, came up with for the third level Museum Mayhem. Steve's been using DefleMask to pump out the music for Brock and it really helps to make the project feel a lot more authentic and I think this one (Of two) of my personal favourite from him, you can give it a listen HERE. If you loved Mega Drive/Genesis tunes then I think you'll be in for a treat!

Also for those who've been interested in the project and might have missed our last update, our Steam Greenlight page is up. Please do vote if you can! http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=398370496

[Aki-at]

Just a mini-update this time, started work on the map system.

Very rough placeholder graphics!



Please be excited.

I'm not sure how I want to do the map. Part of me wants to go with a typical mini-map with animated background, although another part is thinking about a treasure map to fit the theme. I love both ideas but I think I might pick the former simply because looking at animated scenery is just better in the long run.

If you haven't done so and you're interested in the project, please give an upvote over on Steam Greenlight! http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=398370496

Thinking of doing a playthrough as one of my Steam announcement in run up of launching a demo.

[Aki-at]

Been a while since the last post but I've put up another website update! Also if you haven't done so yet, please go give us a vote on Steam Greenlight, we need all the votes we can get!

Developer's Blog #5: The sounds of Brock Crocodile.



Hi everyone, Steve the sound guy here AKA Ap0c.  I've been hard at work trying to bring you guys some memorable and nostalgic tunes.  Today, I'm going to talk a little bit (or maybe a whole lot!) about what I'm using to create the sounds and touch on the MegaDrive/Genesis's sound capabilities in general.

For Brock Crocodile, I've been trying to stay as authentic as possible to the original MegaDrive/Genesis hardware. I've been using the Sega MegaDrive/Genesis audio set up, which is 6 channels of FM synthesis + 4 channels of PSG through a free tracker program.  Once I've programmed the notes to my liking, I've been exporting them to a flash cartridge and recording the music directly from the console itself.  This ensures that what you hear can be played back on the console itself - 100% authentic!  This does not come without cost, however, as while the tracker is a great program for creating MD/GEN music, it doesn't always translate exactly when played on the console, which leads to lots of tweaking.  Just ask the staff how frustrated I get with it (well, that and frying systems - maybe that's a topic for another post? )


Music for the first level - https://soundcloud.com/ap0c/gazadiaz-ruins-mixed

So, what is FM synthesis?  The non-technical terms would be "the unique boingy-springy sound that you're used to when you hear MD/GEN music".  It's that twangy bass, the bounce off a spring in Sonic the Hedgehog, the raw and dirty guitar sounds in Comix Zone, the gentle sounds of Phantasy Star IV's town themes, and everything in-between.  Many of the MD/GEN's direct competition - such as the NES and the Turbografx-16/PC-Engine - used waveform based sound generators (IE square waves, sawtooth waves, triangle waves, or customizable wavetables).  The Super Nintendo used a sample based sound generator that allowed for lush and diverse tones but did so at the cost of clarity, which just happens to be the MD/GEN's forte.  While it is limited by the very design of FM itself, the YM2612 (the soundchip inside the MD/GEN) is easily manipulated into convincing guitar, string, brass, and woodwind sounds.  A great example of all these diverse sounds in motion would be Michiru Yamane's Castlevania Bloodlines:



As for drums, the Sega MD/GEN is capable of turning the 6th FM channel into an 8bit sample channel.  I can basically convert and drop any sounds I want into it.  However, I find that it's more interesting to create my own drum sounds using the FM since they are clearer, louder, and bolder.  In fact, in the Bloodlines example above, Yamane doesn't use a single sample drum!  That's all FM!  It can be very convincing.  That being said, you'll still hear an occasional "Sonic Drum" in my work.  It's iconic and sometimes it's exactly what the music needs.



Accompanying the YM2612 inside the MD/GEN is a sort of.... dinosaur from a "forgotten" era.  The MD/GEN's mainboard, especially in the case of the very first models, is completely based off the Sega Master System's... so much so that the system INCLUDES the Master System's main chip and sound capabilities.  This is why, with a Power Base Converter, you can easily run old Master System games - the Master System is inside the MD/GEN basically!  The SMS side of things provides me with an extra 4 channels of sound- 3 of pure tone square waves, and one noise channel.  It can be manipulated to make periodic noise and all kinds of interesting sounds, though it was rarely done in the SMS games of old. To hear it in action on the MD/GEN, you need only to listen to the background figures of this iconic track from Sonic 3:



Most of the high-pitched, pure, light responses in the background are from the SMS's old programmable sound generator!  You've been hearing the Sega Master System this whole time and didn't know!

All and all,  I'm very excited to be able to bring you guys an authentic MegaDrive/Genesis experience.  I hope my music brings back as much nostalgia for you as it has for me during this whole process.  I can't wait to share the whole soundtrack when it's done!  Let's get this Greenlit!

You can listen to some of the tracks produced so far below!

Gazadiaz Ruins: https://soundcloud.com/ap0c/gazadiaz-ruins-mixed
Musuem Mayhem: https://soundcloud.com/ap0c/brock-crocodile-ost-museum-mayhem
Second Trailer Track: https://soundcloud.com/ap0c/brock-crocodile-trailer-2

http://brockcrocodile.com/2015/04/20/developers-blog-5-the-sounds-of-brock-crocodile/
https://twitter.com/BrockCrocodile

[Aki-at]

BROCK CROCODILE INTERVIEW WITH EYE FOR GAMES



Got an interview written up on Eye for Games, a 5 page spread even! You can give it a read HERE > http://issuu.com/efgmagazine/docs/efgmagapril2015/1

Available on pages 13 - 17, There's a bit in there with some new character art and a level map for one of the levels, Museum Mayhem Stage 1, give it a read! If you haven't voted for the game on Steam Greenlight but interested in the game, please come give us a vote! http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=398370496

[Aki-at]

Brock Crocodile is Greenlit!

After just over two months on Steam Greenlight I'm happy to say that Brock Crocodile has been greenlit thanks to all the support from the community! A massive MASSIVE thank you to all those who supported this project, it wouldn't have been possible to get here without your votes! I'm happy to say Brock Crocodile is continuing developing and hoping to get a playable demo ready to show off in the future.

Progress updates

From now on I'd like to start commentating on some project updates to keep everyone in the know how the game is developing. When we launched our Greenlight campaign, we had 9 stages completed with bugs to be ironed out and graphics to be put in place. Since then work has started on the 10th stage's level design and art design for the 7th level, Volcanic Meltdown.



As the player is edging closer to the final level, there's plenty of traps and enemies in their way here. Lava streams, conveyor belts and suicidal exploding robot bombs all await them as they'll try to face off against the boss of the volcano base, Ducktor Duckworth.

After Volcanic Meltdown is completed, we'd only have three more levels to finish before the core gameplay for the game is finished. After which it's making sure the hubworld and levels progression works, we're slowly getting there!

Again a BIG thank you to all those who voted, you guys and gals are awesome!

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/updates/398370496

[Aki-at]

Progress Update: Work on the seventh level begins

Hello everyone! I hope everyone had their fill of enjoyment for E3, I know I certainly did! On today’s blog post I’ll be giving you an update to where the project currently is. Over the past couple of weeks, work has began on the seventh level of Brock Crocodile, Volcanic Meltdown. Following the almost baddie-less level of Breakout Prison and the surfing mini-level of Havoc Waves, this level is set to take Brock back to a traditional level structure with a fair few hazardous obstacles included in this stage.
 


You can have a look at the work in progress screenshot above, both our artist have been busy designing the level art and baddies passed off of concept art and previous design of the stages. You may recall from the history of Brock Crocodile blog that original the game had a much more restricted palette and aiming to be closer to a Master System game than a Mega Drive title. You can have a look at what the level use to look like below with another screenshot of the stage to compare it with.
 


I think we’ve definitely managed to stay true to the original level’s art direction. There has been an obvious change in the colour palette so to help Brock stand out more and the saturation for some of the level tiles have dropped done down a few notches. Next up will be making sure the gimmicks for the stage work all well and proper, hopefully on the next update I can talk to you more about the minions that populate the area and the obstacles Brock has to overcome, until next time!

http://brockcrocodile.com/2015/06/29/progress-update-work-on-the-seventh-level-begins/
https://twitter.com/BrockCrocodile/status/616691381696876544

[Aki-at]

Thanks man! It's something I actually started to focus on a year into the project, it use to look very flat but when I decided to transition from 8 bit restrictions to 16 bit I opted for the prespective look to most of the platforms! Anyway time for another update!

Progress Update: The enemies of Volcanic Meltdown

If you’ve been following our Twitter account then you’ll know that work has began on implementing the baddies for Volcanic Meltdown. As this level is set in a mechanical base, I’ve gone with a choice of only robotic enemies in this stage that a bit tougher than the previous grunts Brock has faced.



First of all we introduce Skullface. This orb shaped walking bomb with a skull for a face leisurely walks around the stage however once he locks onto Brock he’ll frantically run towards him and if he misses, players have to be careful they avoid the sparks he sends out after he explodes!



Mecha-Duck is another mechanical menace (Complete with a glitch I need to resolve!) Brock has to take down and slightly tougher too. Whilst Skullface only had 2HP, Mecha-Duck has 3HP meaning on stomping on him will give the player an instant kill. Just like Skullface, he’ll walk around the stage in his set area but he has a longer line of sight and worse still a more deadly attack! Players might remember the flamethrower from the fifth level, Breakout Prison, makes it’s return here equipped as the weapon of choice by Mecha-Duck. What makes him tougher once he activates his flamethrower is bullets are ineffective against him and Brock’s whip doesn’t have enough range, a well timed jump is the only way to rid Brock of this obstacle.



The final baddie is Squeek-bot, a small mice like creature that’ll run from one end of an area to the other. It’s one of the weakest baddies in the game coming at a poultry 1HP. However the nuisance comes from its smaller frame, letting it able to dodge Brock’s projectile weapons or extended whip on a flat surface.

And that wraps up another one of these progress updates. Hope you enjoyed reading it and we’ll continue to keep you updated on Brock Crocodile and a happy Eid Mubarak to everyone celebrating the festivities! Until next time folks!

http://brockcrocodile.com/2015/07/17/progress-update-the-enemies-of-volcanic-meltdown/
https://twitter.com/BrockCrocodile/status/622075245441069057

[Aki-at]

Boss dialogue ahoy! Added it (Or rather, spiced it up) recently and liking the look of it.


https://twitter.com/BrockCrocodile/status/642791300186669057

Hoping this could bring a bit of character to the game, but if the player wants to skip it they can do so at any time.

[Aki-at]

Continued work with the dialogue system, this time full of bee puns!



Though not entirely happy with it (There's been a bit of a revision and need to talk it out with my writer on how to improve it) since I feel it runs too long, even with the option to skip it.


https://twitter.com/BrockCrocodile/status/645359708686155776

Outside of that just working on polishing this level, such as fixing up the transportation gimmick for the stage, Facebook link and a short clip for the gameplay of the stage with some 16 bit music :3

https://www.facebook.com/BrockCrocodile/videos/528878770597729/?permPage=1

[Aki-at]

Progress Update: Let’s have a chat… Development Blog

Hello everyone! It’s been a while since our last development update but fear not, we’ve up another blog to show how the development of Brock Crocodile is progressing. Today we’ll talk about a minor, yet also important improvement that’s been done to Brock Crocodile, the pre-boss fight cutscene.

Now whilst not an essential part of the game, I decided early on that there would be plenty of chatter in the game. The general idea behind it was the give players a feel of the characters and their personality and if in future there is more dialogue in future games, the process isn’t as jarring as going from no talking to every character talking. It also helps to expand the world of Brock Crocodile and more importantly for players who like a neat story to their package, have something to motivate them forwards.

Credit for the coding of the dialogue engine goes to a tutorial provided by Chris Burrows using the text blitter extension for Multimedia Fusion. After obtaining the basic game logic, the next up was how to active it or disregard it. The design process was as follow;

Brock passes specific area > Camera moves into position > Disable movement and Dialogue box drops down > Text begins > Dialogue box moves up once dialogue is finished > Active character movement and boss movement, boss battle begins.

Following that it came down to two more extra features that had to be implemented. First of all if the player died at the boss, the game should disregard the dialogue box and head straight for the boss battle. The second feature would be if the player wanted to actively skip the dialogue and this was done by giving the player to hold the C key (So anyone who accidentally pressed C doesn’t miss the scene) to skip the cutscene. I’m hoping players can enjoy these scenes that would be filled with light hearted humour and interaction with other characters but those who want to go straight down to gameplay can do so too.

Thanks for reading, that wraps up this update! We still have some more exciting news to announce soon all coming in the future so keep on the look out for future Brock Crocodile news. Until next time folks!

http://brockcrocodile.com/2015/10/12/lets-have-a-chat-development-blog/
https://twitter.com/BrockCrocodile/status/653968700291330048

[Aki-at]

Been doing less work on the levels for my platformer and more work on the presentation and menus. Finished off the title screen beginning of the week but came up with two versions.



Nice, relaxing, slow and mellow. Gives that "Going on an adventure" sort of vibe.



This on the other hand, same concept but gives off a totally different feeling. A bit faster pace, a bit more of a hectic adventure (Both versions have the main character jumping off once the player hits enter) Might just go with the former since it helps give that sense of adventure better.



With the main menu, I'm wondering if I should ditch the scrolling fins. Played a bunch of classic SEGA games and most had a static or relatively limited menu, then I've got to figure how to make it transition from the main menu to save select/time attack.

[gimymblert]

o

[supermega_peter]

Those two new title screens look great, a massive improvement over the one in your first post!

When I look at the first, slower animation, I'm reminded of the into to Sonic 2:




Slower paced and upbeat, setting up the feeling of a bright and colourful introduction to their world - this transitions very cleanly into the similarly upbeat and colourful Emerald Hill Zone:





The second title screen animation you've made I also really like, it reminds me more of the slightly darker feel I got from playing Sonic CD, which had a faster paced animation and intro music (NTSC music is best!):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLQMVAMu7AY

The general tone of Sonic CD I believe is generally the darkest of the 16-Bit Sonic games, and that title music/screen is fitting. There is a subtle shift to a musical style that makes me think of a world in turmoil - which given the premise of the game there very much is!


As a comment on your second version, I think it has the potential to be the more interesting of the two intros, but my gut feeling is that the sky is scrolling a little too fast, and the foreground looks unusual as when the sky fades to night, it doesn't change the colour of any of the scenery - these could become darker too, or perhaps the palette could shift towards more blues and purples.


At the end of the day I think the right choice will depend on how it pairs with the music you have for your title screen, and the feeling you want to create as an introduction to your first level.

[Aki-at]

Thanks for the feedback Peter (My how time has flown since then!) I definitely do like your reasoning for the second title screen and you're right it's going to come down to the music we come up with, guess we'll see what we cook up and see what "fits"

It's been a while though, so time for the final update of 2015!

Last progress update for 2015: Happy Christmas and a Merry New Year

Yes those wondering where we've gone, worry not, the work on Brock Crocodile has picked up once more and everyone on the team is wishing all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! As we head in 2016, I've started working on one of the most important art pieces for the game, the main map menu.



Those who have been following our twitter feed would know that I've been working on the map screen for Brock Crocodile. It's been hard trying to come up with a style I felt "right" but after checking a few world maps, I opted out of the usual top down you find in old school RPGs and instead went to focus on a sort of more natural look, as if you're overlooking it from a mountain in the distance (With stylized mini-map icons of course)

The biggest problem that I'm finding so far is trying to keep everything in a relatively similar size, as you can see from the above image, the hub town is a good decent size but then the first stage icon is absolutely massive in comparison. Obviously some stuff that I'll need to fix up once the full map is complete!

This is going to be the final update for the year but rest assured that there is going to be more Brock Crocodile in the future, until then, have a great Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!

http://brockcrocodile.com/2015/12/24/happy-christmas-and-merry-new-year/

[Aki-at]

Nothing to do with the game but we wish everyone a Merry Christmas!



Art done by our very own Molly Heady Carroll.

[flipswitchx]

This project has an TON of heart sir and I appreciate that. Happy holidays to you as well! 

[Aki-at]

This project has an TON of heart sir and I appreciate that. Happy holidays to you as well! 

Thanks for the kind words, hope you enjoyed the holiday and have a great 2016!

And 2016 begins! Happy New Year!

So begins the new year, and we welcome 2016 with another blog post! Since our last post, work has been carried out on the world map, some really awesome tracks on the later levels have been made and fine tuning some of the game’s glitches. Today we’ll continue to look on the world map of Brock Crocodile.



So far I’ve designed two more icons on the world map, one for Beehive Battleship and one for Museum Mayhem. Beehive Battleship actually had a different map icon (see below) but after seeing the original’s finished design, a very generic airplane that only had some black strips to indicate it was related to a bee I decided to scrap the design. Its funny how the answer was looking straight at me, I wanted something to look like a hive and yet didn’t take inspiration from an actual hive design, so I based the final aircraft design with a cross between a ship, a beehive and a bee’s face and stinger. Unfortunately the museum didn’t need as quite elaborate design and stuck with a good old fashion building.



I get the feeling they’ll be a bit more cut content (Infact might make it a blog post about it in future!) from now till the completion of the game. Now comes the slightly trickier part of populating the map with buildings but that’ll be in the next update. That wraps up this blog post but keep coming back for more information on Brock Crocodile and finally we’d like to wish everyone a great 2016, let the good times roll!

https://twitter.com/BrockCrocodile/status/683006998665904129
http://brockcrocodile.com/2016/01/01/and-2016-has-began-happy-new-years/