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[gimymblert]

greatto see progress, awesome nose hanging!

[Quicksand-T]

That's such a cute mechanic!

When did the game's name get shortened?

[Polygonzo]

When did the game's name get shortened?

About a month ago I dropped the Spooky Poo bit and just went with Happy Hell. I don't feel TOO strongly either way, but ultimately decided that the shorter, punchier name is best. Asking around, most people agree. I think including Spooky Poo did add a fittingly goofy flavour but...Happy Hell is strong enough by itself. If people around here feel differently I'm still open to opinions!

Also, and I'm not too worried about this, I found out through multiple comment sections about the game that Spooky Poo was the name of a character on the U.S. kids show 'Arthur'. I watched that show quite a bit and don't remember this character at all (he was apparently a goof on Scooby Doo). Still, it's something that comes up when his name is in the title and I figure, why not just eliminate that unintentional point of reference when promoting the game? I mean, maybe some people LIKE being reminded of the show and it attracts people...it's still the character's name anyway...whatever

Basically I've just sided with brevity on this one.

EDIT: Talking about this makes me realise that I'm still conflicted about the decision! I don't know!

[gimymblert]

happy hell
is just fine, it's like
holy shit

[Polygonzo]

Haha that's the impression I'm getting from people so I just need to leave it and not look back!

[GalaethGames]

Haha, I love the way he hangs with his nose, and the idle animations such as the butt scratching, really cute!

[oahda]

The shorter name is good, especially if the character has the same name as one in what is one of the longest running cartoons or something, isn't it? I think someone once told me so, at least. Plus I kept confusing it with another game here: Spooky Pooky.

Obviously the way the dialogue texts look is currently crude and early as you said, but the transitions between camera angles and so on that's already in there is great. And the whole mechanic with the nose and the way he just hangs there in the final dialogue is hilarious, of course. A few spelling mistakes in there, but I guess you won't be keeping this KS-related dialogue anyway.

Narwalker is the best thing.

Yeah Banjo's swimming is pretty good

Me and most people I've ever heard express an opinion about it would rather strongly disagree about this, tho~

especially the transition between surface/underwater states and how easy it is to jump out of water like you said.

I guess these parts are true, tho.

(one thing that did drive me mad at times was overshooting my destination with those big floaty wings flaps)

But this in combination with the bigger problem that it's half-impossible to make Banjo go in the right direction half of the time makes it one the worst swimming controllers I know. So just make sure your controller stick input versus swimming direction makes sense as perfectly well as the walking controllers (ideally they should be as identical as possible).

[gimymblert]

http://killscreendaily.com/articles/cuphead-fleish-cherry-and-influence-and-impact-classic-animation/

Just in case, I think it might be interested to see that for anticipation. Remember, given the violence in the united state in particular, especially pertaining to image, it's great to be aware and look how to deal. (also the devil guy look caucasian it's a subversion of the tropes?) is it a metaphore of our condition trying to diffuse, help!

[gimymblert]

I want also to say, even though the game DO have some imagery that freak me out, the special brand of creativity, aesthetics collision, and simply the pure joy and energy it have, really crack me up! The original and old alpha teaser still get me excited, I can watch it non stop. It has real identity and personality, way above cuphead slavish homage.

[Polygonzo]

Yeah I saw the original article about Cuphead a day or two after it was posted and I think it's a completely valid reaction to that style. I mean, with such a deliberate homage as that, one has to ask, "Is this meant to come off as a video game from the 1930s? And if so, how can it acknowledge everything about that style BUT the problematic stuff?" The whole premise seems to be that it would exist in the context of depression-era America so...yeah that time/place isn't very appealing to many people, understandably!

Anyway, as I reflected on what she was saying, it just strengthened my resolve to distance myself from that vintage 20s/30s animation vibe. And really I've been gradually doing that ever since the Kickstarter ended. From a creative standpoint, I'm just not that interested in framing my game in such a way (although I think it did help the game "click" with certain people). As Happy Hell's graphics and music start to come together, I'm naturally pursuing a more original vibe rather than piggybacking on certain vintage hallmarks (that come with their own baggage even beyond the problematic racist stuff). And really that's truer to the spirit of Happy Hell anyway. Happy Hell should feel like a fresh psychedelic cartoon world of the unexpected. I dig a lot of art from the past but I also want to create NEW dream imagery that's as eclectic and diverse as the audience I hope to reach.

So yeah, aside from Spooky Poo being a kind of "stock" cartoon character/freak, there's not going to be much 20s/30s callbacks in the game. Certainly I've enjoyed and been inspired by those cartoons but I'm out to make something new and as inclusive as possible. I'm sorry if leaving that vintage vibe behind is a let down for some people, but I think what I'll come up with will be just as entertaining/weird/endearing/whatever.

As for the devil, he's probably going to be the most human character in the game. It's mostly freaky monsters/demons/ghosts etc. I won't pretend that I had any progressive reasoning for the Devil being a somewhat caucasian looking male, but I think it works... He's probably one of the most "normal" looking characters too. The rest are freaks and misfits, but also more sympathetic and likable as they are all "trapped" in this Happy Hell (they entered just like Spooky Poo did except they never made it out and slowly lost their original identities). I don't know, there may be some subconscious socio-political power dynamics going on with that but...I'm reaching a bit now!

As for Spooky's design, it's pretty much final but I am now more conscious of how I draw him. I hope that going forward, it doesn't make people feel uncomfortable, but I'm willing to discuss it. Plus I think distancing myself from the 20s/30s stuff (even though it wasn't entirely due to the racist aspects) should maybe help with triggering that reaction? We'll see! In the end, if someone writes an article about Spooky's design being problematic, I will do my best not to get overly aggressive in my defense and try to have a dialogue. America's going through some intense shit right now and since I count myself (and my art) on the side of acceptance and respect for all ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc. I want to make that clear.

[gimymblert]

Yeah I was "reaching" as a comedic effect too

Too bad because that old trailer works really well for me

[Polygonzo]

And thanks for being excited about this game Jimym GIMBERT! I'm glad you still have that reaction to it (it'll only get better ).

In closing...uh, a progress report: health bar UI has been consolidated to a single upside down cross that drains/fills, changing colour to reflect health (like Mario 64). There is now a button that shows up when you have ammo. It displays what ammo Spooky currently has and also when he is switched from spin attack to shooting (since they use the same button (hold the button for a second to switch)). (c)Heck Points are fully functional in that Spooky will always respawn at the last one and they fully heal him. There's a new soul sucker ability temporarily called "Aqualung" that let's Spooky breathe underwater.

I may have a video update next week. Right now I'm working on getting dialogue/progress menus functional as well as "cutscenes" for when Spooky collects a Goodie or a Soul Sucker. Lots of work to do! My hope is to start designing levels at the end of July!

Cheers

[Polygonzo]

Is the ragtime music a big part of the trailer's appeal you mean? I know I've been slow with revealing any original music but the new stuff is sounding pretty good! There's hints of ragtime with kind of psychedelic pop overtones and a dash of that Nintendo-lullaby charm. Still working it out with my musician friend though (he hasn't had too much in the way of art to go by .

[Polygonzo]

Welly welly well, what a stale smelly smell this thread greets me with. My own fault surely for leaving it to gather cobwebs for...over a year!? Yikes!

Work has steadily carried on since my last posting although I did start limiting what I shared of the game to the Kickstarter and Facebook pages (the latter being the most up-to-date source of goings on: https://www.facebook.com/occultimategames/) I hope to be far less scarce around these parts going forward.

A lot has gone on...life has been hectic at times. I won't go into it too much but the early part of 2016 was kind of a rough one in terms of my personal life and my development flow was rather shaky. By the spring however, I got back into the groove and have been working as hard as I can since. I remain as excited, perhaps even more so about where Happy Hell will go. I've had to take on some contract work to pay the bills but still manage an average of 30+ hours of development a week. Obviously I've taken on a massive project and haven't yet put in the full effort to secure a publisher but that still is a plan...in the future. Luckily all of the KS backers remain incredibly supportive and patient! I did start working with another 3D artist but after a couple months they didn't really produce much worthwhile and it just became a drag managing them so everything is still by yours truly (this will prooooobably change at some point (whether it's that artist or someone else)).

Anyway, how about some things to ogle at? I'm just going to dump this here with a few words and maybe elaborate in the future. From oldest to newest:

Here's an update video from summer last year (plenty has changed since (especially the way I build brick architecture)). Also, aside from the tune in this video (by my musician friends) all the video songs were created by me.




Jerk O' Lanterns




Block Heads
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2Eo4tAFAwY

Guardgoyle
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKc3ZQEgbfw&t

Hexed Collextables
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34F5GwxBRRY&t

Some concept art:

Cerumen (some gloop around to illuminate dark places, others stay put)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/io0xb64lbkdh792/Cerumen.png?dl=0

Dooby Doo (will try to help Spooky Poo "stay true" and not sell Soul to the Devil)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/wv85a9816aw60vk/Dooby%20Doo.png?dl=0

Hearty Beatrice (a strong individual that screams pure positivity)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/n3o9hw1665o7f8f/Heart%20Beater.png?dl=0

Lefty Lucy (they are the vendor that actually sells black magick powers in exchange for Soul. known as the Devil's "left-hand person" they are a rather important character in the grand scheme of things (with a rumoured sibling known as Righty Titus)). I'm currently modeling them and the Glove Shack they can be found in on each level.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/qe477d9k0etm9jn/Lefty.png?dl=0

Licky Fingers (a common enemy. attacking them in certain ways will cause them to make certain hand-gestures that may prove useful...)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/i6itqevk9v0l9dp/Licky%20Fingers.png?dl=0

Rippits (farting frogs from Crock O' Bile Bog. in the first level they seem to be guarding cauldron-bound Croakus Pocus (seen and known as Frigwitch in the Kickstarter demo/trailer)).
https://www.dropbox.com/s/0d5v734wz2pmo8x/Rippit.png?dl=0

Peek-a-Boom (rocks that light up and explode when Spooky gets too close (cousins of the mighty mountains of Peek-a-Boo Peaks)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/pn7blhusokttkva/Peek-a-Boom.png?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/spr77xxeoxk2oht/Peek-a-Boommodel.png?dl=0

Name the reference??
https://www.dropbox.com/s/md7gptny0qcf9xq/CrowleyPoo.png?dl=0

Happy Hellidays
https://www.dropbox.com/s/wf6fq0lbzr7jdke/Happy%20Hellidays.png?dl=0

Ok that's all for now! Before I head back to work, um...anyone know why some of the YouTube videos show up with previews and others are just ugly links?

Cheers!
Polygonzo \m/

[Quicksand-T]

Your concept art pictures aren't showing up for me, but I'm glad to see this is still in active development!

[Polygonzo]

Oh darn. Anyone else not seeing the concept art? I haven't used the forum in a while so I may have forgotten some of its peculiarities. I linked them from my Dropbox? Just changes the resolution in code to 800x600?

[gimymblert]

Dropbox dropped the public feature for hotlinking, you can just link and we get to see it in a separate windows welcome to real life, as absurd as happy hell

[Polygonzo]

Thanks for the heads up gimymblert. Posted the links, hope that works.

Here's the newly modeled and rigged Lefty Lucy: https://www.dropbox.com/s/wrz16pgcup06yxl/LeftyLucyTextured.png?dl=0

And I just completed the mesh for the Boss Door. If Spooky has enough bad vibes, he can stand on the tip of the tongue until it tingles and retracts. Then it's boss fightin' time! https://www.dropbox.com/s/01rk3orol861c52/BossDoor.png?dl=0

Going to work on getting the doors functional and setting up Lucy's Glove Shack this week.

[gimymblert]

Did you just past the link in your browser? you need a specific link given by "share url" within dropbox

[Polygonzo]

Thank you for enlightening me I am clueless! Will fix that.