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TIGSource ForumsCommunityDevLogsBlink the Bulb (pseudorandom, faux 16-bit platformer)
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Quicksand-T
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« Reply #20 on: January 22, 2015, 09:05:35 PM »

That Terra Land screenshot isn't showing up for me.
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Tyro
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« Reply #21 on: January 26, 2015, 07:50:04 PM »

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That Terra Land screenshot isn't showing up for me.

Hey! Sorry about that. I re-uploaded the imaged with a new host. Is it visible now?

Things have been really hectic lately, but I'm going to get back into development as soon as I can this week.

In the meantime, I've been thinking about some of the random effects that will affect levels - I'd like there to be 20 or so if possible. The plan is to have a stage be highlighted on the stage select screen if it's being affected by one and to display a brief description of it. Here's a few I've been fleshing out:

  • An effect that causes some of the stage's collectible sparks to turn into enemies
  • An effect that opens a hidden portal in the level to a treasure trove
  • An effect that increases the damage enemies do
  • An effect that litters the level with mines

More to come!
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Quicksand-T
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« Reply #22 on: January 26, 2015, 10:53:38 PM »

Hey! Sorry about that. I re-uploaded the imaged with a new host. Is it visible now?

Yeah, lookin' good!
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Tyro
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« Reply #23 on: February 08, 2015, 10:14:15 PM »

Back again, with another update.

I finished planning out the game's remaining passive items. Here's their descriptions:

Terra Land - Day
1. Boom Stick - +4% chance of dropping a dynamite stick while ducking
2. Super Seed - +.1 special ability regeneration rate

Terra Land - Night
1. Gloam Goggles - +.2 resistance to light damage
2. Hard Rock - +.3% chance of negating damage from an enemy attack

Fright Land - Day
1. Sharp Stick - +.2 resistance to spike damage
2. Brain Food - +.5% chance of creating a zombie while ducking

Fright Land - Night
1. Spook Sheet - +.4% chance of doubling invincibility length after being hit
2. Garlic - +.5 max health

Egg Land - Day
1. Choco Treat - +.1 charge rate
2. Rabbit's Foot - +.2% chance of inflicting double damage when firing

Egg Land - Night
1. Cute Angel - +.3% chance of surviving fatal damage with .1 HP
2. Double Cross - +.3% chance of creating a duplicate while charging

The plan for the rest of tonight and tomorrow is to get these drawn and coded into the game. Next time I should have some gifs showing off how they work.
« Last Edit: February 22, 2015, 02:23:24 PM by Tyro » Logged

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« Reply #24 on: February 09, 2015, 08:35:37 PM »

Oh, and as a quick mini update prior to the next preview, I've been tweaking some more of the game's music. Here, have a listen to Fright Land's night theme:

https://soundcloud.com/blastprocessing-1/fright-land-2
« Last Edit: February 09, 2015, 08:45:36 PM by Tyro » Logged

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« Reply #25 on: February 14, 2015, 10:07:34 PM »

Once again, another mini update. I'll be working on the game a lot this weekend and spent some of today making gimmicks, enemies, and backgrounds for Terra Land. Here's Blink jumping away from a mobile potted plant deep in the underground portion of this stage.



Terra Land is split up into the earthy section seen here and a factory full of demonic computers, conveyor belts, and waste-spewing pipes.
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Tyro
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« Reply #26 on: February 22, 2015, 02:23:03 PM »

Adding passives to the game continues to go smoothly. I thought I'd show off one I've been developing today: the Brain Food passive. Ordinarily, this item is found in Fright Land during the day, but it can be acquired through other means. Collecting it gives you a chance to create a zombie companion when ducking. He'll trudge along in the direction you were facing, plowing through enemies and violently exploding after a short time.



I'm testing the passive here with a high spawn rate. Since you have a total of 16 passive slots, someone who really liked this effect could stack the item and spawn an undead buddy up to 80% of the time they ducked, since a single Brain Food passive gives you a 5% chance of spawning a zombie and 5x16=80.
« Last Edit: February 24, 2015, 06:47:24 PM by Tyro » Logged

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« Reply #27 on: February 24, 2015, 07:17:27 PM »

Took a break from coding today to try an experiment on some of the game music. I've been fiddling with the VOPM vst in an effort to "demake" a few of the tracks I'd previously composed, making them faux 16-bit. I thought this way they'd better fit the game's aesthetic. Also, I felt like some of the tracks I'd previously done sounded too noisy, to the point where the main melody wasn't discernible.

For comparison, here's Winter Land's previous and new daytime themes:

https://soundcloud.com/blastprocessing-1/winter-land-day
(modern style)

https://soundcloud.com/blastprocessing-1/winter-land-1-16-bit
(faux 16 bit)

I also thought it'd be a good time to point out that the day and night themes for each stage are rearrangements of each other, like a lot of Genesis games did (Sonic 3, Ristar, etc.) This is probably most discernible in two new "demade" tunes I've been working on: the themes for Egg Land. Check 'em out:

https://soundcloud.com/blastprocessing-1/egg-land-day-16-bit
(Egg Land - Day Theme)

https://soundcloud.com/blastprocessing-1/egg-land-night-16-bit
(Egg Land - Night Theme)

Would love to hear which style people prefer.
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Quicksand-T
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« Reply #28 on: February 24, 2015, 07:40:09 PM »

The new sound style does have a certain fitting quality to it, but to my ears the processing has had the opposite effect of what you said for that Winter Land: The main instruments seem to be competing for the same sonic space a little more than before. I'd like to hear the song with the main melody style/timbre taken from the previous version, and everything else kept in the faux 16 bit style.

I'm gonna have to try that VST.

EDIT- Nice zombie dudes, too.
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Tyro
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« Reply #29 on: February 28, 2015, 08:06:01 PM »

Quote
The new sound style does have a certain fitting quality to it, but to my ears the processing has had the opposite effect of what you said for that Winter Land: The main instruments seem to be competing for the same sonic space a little more than before. I'd like to hear the song with the main melody style/timbre taken from the previous version, and everything else kept in the faux 16 bit style.

Thanks for the feedback! So maybe some sort of retro/modern synth blend would work better? I'll keep experimenting.

I spent most of today continuing to add and test passive item effects. I'd hoped to finish them up by the end of February, but I'm more like 90% done at this point. I'll likely take a break after tonight and focus on some other content, completing the passives sometime during the first week of March. I've been focusing on them for a while and could use a change of pace.

Here's one I got working today: the Boom Stick.



When ducking, this item gives you a chance to spawn a tiny dynamite stick that can be launched at enemies when propelled by your standard attack. Alternatively, you can leave the dynamite alone and let it explode as enemies walk over it. The setup for either of these attacks takes a bit of time, but the payoff is well worth it - the Boom Stick deals massive damage, obliterating most normal enemies in a single hit. It can also destroy some environmental hazards that your standard attack can't touch.
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« Reply #30 on: March 03, 2015, 05:08:13 PM »

So I've been experimenting with passives a bit and decided to rework an aspect related to some of them. For any passive that previously gave a percent-based chance to produce a weapon of some sort (dynamite, the thorn shield, zombies, etc.), acquiring a single passive of that type will now allow the effect to be produced immediately when performing its corresponding action (ducking, double jumping, etc.) These items will now be on a cooldown that can be shortened by collecting more passives of the same type.

The reason for this change was that I don't want people to feel like they have to mash their keyboards/buttons in hopes of triggering an effect to make them viable. Using a fast moving, horizontal projectile like the cupid arrow requires you to be facing the right direction and in a strategic position. Having that thing pop up randomly makes it far more unwieldy, to the point of being near useless. Placing the passive abilities that serve as offensive/defensive tools on a timer makes them more predictable and effective.

All in all, giving the player more control was the intended goal. I'm aware that some actions necessary to navigating the stages will still trigger the passive abilities intertwined with them (double jumping and the ice shards, for example.) Hopefully having these skills on a cooldown will mitigate senses of loss or frustration, since you'll be shortly given access to the ability afterward.

Also, here's some background-bereft shots of interest from the upcoming Fright Land. Getting it and Egg Land ready is my intended goal for March.





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« Reply #31 on: March 07, 2015, 07:18:28 PM »

Here's a preview of some of the enemies I've been working on for Fright Land:





Hopefully they aren't 2sp0key. I wanted them to retain the game's cutesy aesthetic despite being Halloween themed.
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« Reply #32 on: March 10, 2015, 04:09:41 PM »

Been tinkering with VOPM again in an attempt to 'demake' the Fright Land themes. Here's what they sound like so far:

https://soundcloud.com/blastprocessing-1/fright-land-1-16-bit (Daytime)

https://soundcloud.com/blastprocessing-1/fright-land-2-16-bit (Nighttime)

I should have the bulk of the world done (including gimmicks, enemies, stage design, etc.) by mid-March, segwaying into the  development of Egg Land.
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« Reply #33 on: March 12, 2015, 06:06:22 PM »

Got done documenting and planning out the remaining stage-specific gimmicks for the game's main areas today. I wanted to make sure each area felt unique and, if there's enough time, implement a few gimmicks specific to each level's second stage. Here's brief descriptions of what I've got so far (an asterisk denoting that it's already in the game; I hope to code most of these into it over the weekend.)

Winter Land
-----------

1. ice blocks that are breakable with standards attacks *
2. slippery ice platforms *
3. moving horizontal platforms *
4. water that freezes during the night *
5. figgy pudding that provides increased jump height with each bounce *
6. ice blocks that are sometimes melted during the day *

||OPTIONAL - for stage 2||

1. exploding presents
2. freezing wall lasers (simulates being frozen in sonic 3d blast)

Love Land
_________

1. tubes that take you to different parts of the level when standing on them and pressing down *
2. giant circular bumpers that repel you when you collide with them *
3. bumpers attached to walls that send you flying in the opposite horizontal direction *
4. flashing floor blocks that propel you upward if standing on them while animated; less vertical height during the day*
5. bouncy clouds that vanish during the night *
6. extending thorns connected to flowers

||Optional - for stage 2||

1. roulette blocks that damage you if you stand on them
2. rotating spike balls connected to chains

Terra Land
__________

1. dirt blocks that crumble when jumped on *
2. lava that turns into water at night
3. door locks that reverse horizontal/vertical direction per time of day
4. chemicals spewing from green pipes breakable with standard attacks
5. conveyor belts that move falling, breakable (and damaging) crates
6. electrified, damaging grids

||Optional - for stage 2||

1. exploding oil barrels that pollute water, cloaking enemies, items, and walls submerged in it in blackness.
2. switches that can be hit with your standard attack, activating columns of vertical platforms.

Fright Land
___________

1. giant spike walls that move and stop, then speed forward either left or right (can be avoided by hiding in gaps) *
2. periodically revealing platforms cloaked by blackness *
3. doors that take you to different parts of the stage depending on the time of day
4. devil blocks that spew fire at day but are asleep at night
5. spikes which raise/lower themselves into the ground in the day but are stationary at night
6. columns of blocks with an alternating, illuminating member that must be attacked with your standard attack to break/pass through.

||Optional - for stage 2||

1. giant, swinging guillotines
2. fire spewing statues that require the player to climb vertical shafts to avoid taking damage

Egg Land
________

1. flowers which, when standing on top of them and charging for a set time, propel you upward
2. flowers which, when touched, propel you upward, rendering you spinning and with lessened gravity (simulates the parachute powerup in Vectorman); effect dissipates when landing
3. dirt clods which need to have water poured on them to open up subterranean areas
4. waterfalls which push the player downward, fighting against them if they're jumping or airborne
5. flower platforms with heights varying per time of day
6. beams of light that grant temporary invincibility and a time-specific buff (day - increased movespeed and can break certain walls; night - increased jump height)

||Optional - for stage 2||

1. jelly floors that slow down movement (can be jumped over)
2. wheel-mounted springs that can be pushed along platforms with standard attacks
« Last Edit: March 19, 2015, 05:38:28 PM by Tyro » Logged

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« Reply #34 on: March 19, 2015, 05:37:11 PM »

Progress on both Easter and Fright Land has been going pretty swimmingly. Here's some more screens to show off, including the current backgrounds for Fright Land.





Egg Land still needs to be prettied up with some scenery, but I'm very happy with its tileset. Here's a still of a few of its enemies that I was testing out.


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Tyro
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« Reply #35 on: April 03, 2015, 06:08:22 PM »

So it's the beginning of April, and Egg Land and Fright Land are both nearly finished. Though I need to refine a few of their gimmicks and adjust their level design as I play through and test the stages, the bulk of the work is done.

April is boss month for me - that means getting all of the game's end-of-area baddies drawn and into the game. As seen in Winter Land, some of them will have different appearances based on the time of day, and those that don't will have different attack patterns. Here's some screenies of a few that I've been working on today:



A rose by any other name is still in need of an exorcism.



Terra Land's miniboss takes place in a factory setting. Get ready for trouble once this world's robot mast- er, Holidaemon, boots up the wall-mounted computing device.
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« Reply #36 on: April 11, 2015, 06:06:32 PM »

Aaaaand here's another miniboss preview, this time with motion:



Fright Land's denizens may look spooky, but they're pretty chill once freed from Holidaemon influence.
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Quicksand-T
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« Reply #37 on: April 11, 2015, 08:15:40 PM »

I dunno why I seem to be the only one commenting on this, but fuck it Imma keep going because you've got some cool stuff here.
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Tyro
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« Reply #38 on: April 20, 2015, 05:15:57 PM »

Thanks man! You've got me. No worries though!

Egg Land is another world that's miniboss is affected by the time of day. During the daytime, you'll duke it out with this shell-clad apparition:



But at night, he'll possess some of the surrounding scenery, completely altering his shape and attack patterns.



I really wanted every stage's miniboss to be dynamic like this, but realistically I'm keeping it to 3/5 of the 'normal' stages (final one excluded, since its structure is entirely different from the main areas.) Right now, I'm aiming for a summer release and getting the Holidaemon fights working takes priority. However, I'd love to go back and add more to the excluded minibosses if I have any time once the core game is complete.
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« Reply #39 on: May 08, 2015, 05:12:19 PM »

Hola.

Still working on those bosses. The past few weeks have been unexpectedly busy, but I've gotten a lot done on the game as well. While working on the Holidaemon fights, I noticed that I'd drawn a lot of them back during the game's early development and they needed some sprucing up. So I gave them a nice visual update to match the game's other incrementally improved sprites. Here's the four I'm happy with so far (Fright Land's is still in the works, expected to be done in the next few weeks):



From left to right: Winter Land, Love Land, Terra Land, and Egg Land's big bads

I should have a few gifs to show of these guys in combat once their fights are a bit more polished. Hype!
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