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[David Stanley]

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Skelattack is a 2D sidescroller that I'm very happy to be creating.  I have a background in illustration/animation, and I'm also programming the game by myself.  I'm building this game in Game Maker Studio, and so far I'm planning a release on PC/Mac. I'll introduce other formats as long as I have a way to test the builds.

What's the Story?
You are an enchanted skeleton tasked with clearing out your dungeon home of looters and trespassers.  Adventurers from across the land have heard legends of the staggering amount of treasure in this dungeon, and...these raids are sorta becoming a weekly event.  Take up your blade and clean the house!

There's bound to be SOME collateral damage.

Armed with your mystical Bone Blade, a helpful bat companion, and magic spells, you will be ready to protect your dungeon home.  But it's not all about the weapons. Movement is very important, and I want players to feel in-control and incredibly agile as they move through the dungeon.

There is much room for exploration and discovery!  I look forward to presenting some very interesting experiences to the player.  Larger-than-life experiences that live on the edge of the imagination:

As well as cozy environments and attention to detail that I wish I saw in more games:

Who is Handling the Music?
Steven Melin is crazy talented and I feel great leaving the music in his hands. Show him some love! Maybe some of you have worked with him before

I'll be updating this thread often as I continue working on Skelattack. Thanks for stopping by!

-David Stanley

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[flipswitchx]

Looks fun! I quite like the cartoon style you've got going on here 

[David Stanley]

Looks fun! I quite like the cartoon style you've got going on here 

Thanks a lot!  Years of 90's cartoons has prepared me for this project haha

[David Stanley]

I finally went back and animated a death state for my Knight enemy.  I'm really happy with how his loot bag and sword clatter to the ground, all at different speeds from his body.  In animation we call this Overlapping Action. I do need to finish this up by adding some dust as he hits the ground.

Happy Saturday!

[David Stanley]

Here's an up-close shot of artwork for the main character, and one of the Knight looters.  These are actual frames from the in-game sprites.

[David Stanley]

This is concept art for a the lowest level of the dungeon.  All the water flows down here; it's deep underground and not very pleasant.  There's a constant mist in the air, and everything is damp. 

[David Stanley]

A still frame from another enemy: a tribal warrior.  Watch out, this guy really packs a punch!  I want there to be a diverse range of trespassers in your dungeon...people from all walks of life can't resist the allure of treasure.

[David Stanley]

Once I got my breakable pottery working, naturally I tossed a bunch of them into a room to live out my Legend of Zelda fantasies.

The vase is a single object that chooses 1 of 4 sprites randomly when the room is created.  I'll probably add more variations in the future just for fun.

[David Stanley]

The player character and Tribal Adventurer, just being idle together.  All animations are done in Flash, a combination of motion tweens and frame-by-frame depending on the action.

[David Stanley]

Today I got my UI in place, and made some progress on a new room.  This is meant to be a more cozy area: the player's sleeping quarters!  You'll be starting the game in this room.  I enjoy tossing in WIP art to make sure things are on the right track.  There are more things I want to add, but it's a good start.

[David Stanley]

This is where the game begins.  A long time ago, an alarm system was built into many areas of the dungeon to keep citizens alert to trespassers.  The room looks pretty cozy, but who knows what lies beyond the door when the alarm goes off..

[David Stanley]

On every layer of the dungeon, the skeletons have built an alarm system of bells. When a threat is seen at the ground level, even fighters down in the sewer level will be aware of it. This is your bedroom, and where the game begins. In this short video you can see the bell in motion.

In other news, I’ve got room transitions working!  I’m going to be sketching out areas roughly and tossing them in the game for quick testing.  Should be better to do it this way than to start building levels and then struggling to edit everything if I need to make changes.

[The Great Emoticon]

Love that room! All the little items and details in the background are a very nice touch - plus the lil glowy lights make it feel very warm and cozy. Love the attention to detail!

[David Stanley]

Love that room! All the little items and details in the background are a very nice touch - plus the lil glowy lights make it feel very warm and cozy. Love the attention to detail!

Thanks a lot!  It's such a discovery for me just making the game...things take on a life of their own.  A very important thing for me with this game is to have setpieces like this that make you feel like it's actually inhabited by real entities who care about comfort and culture (to some extent).  The core gameplay is pretty simple, so it's nice to turn my attention to things like this :D

[David Stanley]

In Skelattack, you'll be running through different levels of the dungeon. Each will have its own aesthetic...but I saw there was a problem with my terrain blocks! They were all purple and certainly wouldn't look like they belonged in the scene. Alternatively, it doesn't make sense to have multiple sets of bricks for every area. So here's what I did: using a Global Variable when the room is created, I can use image blends whenever I want and assign a new color to my original tiles.

The best thing about it is that the color is edited on the code level. So if I build an entire area and decide that color isn't working, I can change it across the entire level, instantly.
Not the coolest update, but I woke up early today because I was so excited to figure out how to make it do exactly what I want.

[David Stanley]

A work-in-progress shot of my Sewer area. I have mist that drifts slowly across the screen, and I'm going to be adding a few other things such as water pouring from the drain pipes, occasional drops of water from the ceiling, and some rats that scurry away if you get too close.

[David Stanley]

Doing a bit of animating today.  Finally got the plumbing working down here on the bottom level!

[David Stanley]

Here's some new background art for Skelattack.  Your blade is so cool that it gets its own room 

[Silkworm]

Looks cool! What does the bat do?

[David Stanley]

Looks cool! What does the bat do?

Thank you!  The bat is your pet/companion, who knows pretty much every nook and cranny of this large dungeon.  The bat will have things to say depending on the situation...some of it is humorous conversation, and other times it will be helpful things or help lead you to a secret area nearby.  I was actually building that dialogue capability today, and with a button press you can have a bat chat whenever you like, but at the same time if you don't want to be bothered, you can play the entire game without these conversations.  I want to be careful not to pull the player away from the action, and just give them a choice.  I'm personally looking forward to writing the bat's dialogue, but that won't come until the levels are all figured out.