next »

[ProgramGamer]

    Codename Rose Bot is a side scrolling platform game developed by me, an amateur game programmer, using Game Maker: Studio. It will boast a couple of fun and classic features, such as wall jumping and ledge grabbing, but the feature that really takes the cake is the control scheme for your weapons. You are able (and required actually) to use the numeric keypad (or numpad, for short) to determine the direction of your attacks. So, for example, let's say that you want to shoot something off to your right. You would then press the 6 key. Something bugging you on your upper left? Take it out with the 7 key!

    I'm experimenting with this scheme because I feel that most modern platform games lack a certain depth and complexity that could greatly benefit them. As of now, I want to implement about three weapons types, a few platforming upgrades and I already have some ideas for enemies, though the only enemy actually programmed in the game right now is a placeholder-cube-frowny-face thingy . (see bellow)







    There's also a video

if you want to see this in action.

    I'll be posting an update to this topic every Tuesday and a new video every Wednesday, even if I've done nothing particularly interesting in the meantime. I'd like some feedback from you guys, since I want to finish this project and eventually release it somewhere and, for that to happen, I need to know if I'm doing something extremely wrong.

    Anyways, come back weekly to read about my ramblings with this thing. See ya!

[tok]

looks pormising.

[ProgramGamer]

Thanks!

[ProgramGamer]

Hello everyone,
I know, I'm late for the post and the video. I was not able to make much progress in the last week, so I don't have a lot to show you. Hopefuly I will have made something by next tuesday which I will be able to talk about.

[baconman]

Sweet, I'm looking forward to where this goes.

[ProgramGamer]

So, uh, nine months later things are go again I guess? I've talked to people on the delete everything thread and apparently future robot lazer kendo is a good idea. I'll see what I can make of this. In the meantime here's some concept art.





















See you in another year I guess lol

[ProgramGamer]

Testing a style with a higher level of detail and a clearer indication that the robots are, well, robots! I'm still not too keen on it though, mostly because it's really busy and it wouldn't read as well on a smaller scale. Still, I think it's a step in the right direction, since the plans I have for this game rely heavily on it being clear that the robots in this universe are in fact mechanical.

Also please ignore the weird proportions with the legs compared to the rest of the body, I don't usually use a full sheet of paper to draw things...

Edit: OMG I FORGOT HER EYEBROWS

Edit 2: Better?

[ProgramGamer]

Another iteration of the main character.

I'm having issues with making the overall design consistent though. I'm trying to make sure that all the elements that I've introduced are used in proportions that are satisfying, but I'm not sure if I've hit that point where it's nice to look at yet. Some feedback would be welcome!

[Aamp]

I like the look of the art a lot. Gameplay looks good too.

[kshankin]

The concept art looks great and kind of reminds of mega man. 

[ProgramGamer]

Thanks, it's nice to get some feedback! And I'll admit that the mega man inspiration is quite real, as obvious as that may be

[kshankin]

...I'll admit that the mega man inspiration is quite rea,...

Nothing wrong with that! :D

[ｂ∀ ｋｋｕｓａ]

While the design is nice, you should try first making a functional sprite for your game from this design before putting too much efforts into the art aspect of your game.
Because it looks more like something more suited for comics yet

[ProgramGamer]

While the design is nice, you should try first making a functional sprite for your game from this design before putting too much efforts into the art aspect of your game.
Because it looks more like something more suited for comics yet

I will! As soon as I get a cable in the mail that allows me to use my tablet again :D

Edit: It's funny that you mention comics, because when I was a kid I wanted to become a comic writer instead of a game dev. Funny how things turn out huh?

Also I just came up with a design philosophy for the robots in this game: Design by purpose. Robots are inventions of humans to optimize a specific task, right? Well, robots in this game should have visual designs based on what their primary purpose is. For an example, a robot who's purpose is to shoot things at you should be nothing more than a stylized gun on a stand, and an enemy that swoops down at you from the air should be mostly wings, propeller or balloon. Of course, it doesn't seem like this applies to the player avatar, but in reality it does! The main purpose of the player character is to create an agent in the game world for the player, and as such, it should resemble a human being in order to remain relatable. It should also be able to perform superhuman tasks, because it is an optimized form of a human being.

I just wanted to write this down somewhere do that I don't forget it in the future, ala Gimym Jimbert with his vaporware thread.

conversely, I also came up with this alternate version of the main character with the twist of being designed with classic robot tropes in mind. It's just for fun, but it might make a minor appearance in the finished game as a gag or something. Just to remind myself that this isn't a completely serious project either



Edit 2:

Turns out that I like this design so much that I made a facial expression sheet for it. It's very expressive and cute and might fit the game better than I anticipated. Maybe I'll switcharoo with the other design sometime soon, especially since it's so simple and effectively expressive. State your opinion on this if you have one!

[Cobralad]

im not a fan of bolts and screws, i actually like first one hair better

[ProgramGamer]

Well shoot, the whole point of that was to make her look more mechanical. I guess I could reduce the amount of bolts on the head, but there's going to be a few that will have to stay because bolts will actually be a gameplay mechanic, so making them part of the character design is essential. Anything else by any chance?

[gimymblert]

the first design was fine, no need for more mechanical, also bolt is more steampunk now than iphone

[Cobralad]

my complaint was that they have generic cartoon faces
its same design basically but with different mouth and greeble

[ProgramGamer]

I'm not really sure what the alternative to cartoon faces would be in this situation. Realistic japanese robot faces? Fully mechanical faces that barely read as such? No face at all and just eyes with some other means of expressing emptions? I'm not sure where to go from here.

At least now I know the word for useless detail haha...

[gimymblert]

what are you trying to achieve for the player? You seems to have lost the basis for the character

The old design is safe so at least it's a fallback