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TIGSource ForumsCommunityDevLogsAETHER CELL
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Zivzoo
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« on: March 30, 2016, 07:14:18 PM »


A fast paced polarity physics mobile game with simple controls.






I had started working on Aether Cell about 2 years ago when it was a concept for my first game, a local multiplayer PC game. I stopped development because it grew too large in scope. Instead, I decided to make a simple mobile endless runner, Clumsy Hootey and release it for free on iOS (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/clumsy-hootey/id978541630?ls=1&mt=8).

I have recently made a prototype, a simplified version of what Flywrench had had pulled off extremely well. In my case, the controls boil down to touching and releasing the screen. In the pressed state, the player is propelled downward and changes color to red. The released state stops the acceleration and the player, turned blue, is dragged back up by inverted “gravity”. The goal is to reach the bottom of the level by going through obstacles while matching their color. The Aether Cell aesthetic turned out to be a perfect match for this type of game.


I have lowered the resolution and adopted a "pixel graphics" style to make asset production faster and increase game performance. I plan on making between 60 and 100 levels. The levels don't need to be completely vertical, even if there is no left-right controls, the orb can slide along diagonal walls and bounce from them in any direction (think of a pinball machine). I'm also considering "Boss" levels, 10 to 15 obstacle types and upgrades. In the end I might have to make it as bare bone as possible to avoid an endless production.



color/mood study and initial palette


I will make sure to keep you updated every few weeks.
« Last Edit: February 19, 2018, 05:25:35 PM by Zivzoo » Logged

woodsmoke
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« Reply #1 on: March 30, 2016, 10:40:18 PM »

Oh it's so pretty. Nice colours.
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Zivzoo
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« Reply #2 on: March 31, 2016, 06:00:32 AM »

Thanks! Grin I tried to focus on darker and more neutral tones to let the blues and reds stand out as much as possible for readability. Purple is the only other color I'm planing on using on environments.
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Silent Crow
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« Reply #3 on: March 31, 2016, 10:05:03 AM »

I really like the colors, gameplay seems cool too. I can't wait to see more!
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HopFrog
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« Reply #4 on: March 31, 2016, 10:14:26 AM »

Oh looks interesting! Any plans for new game mechanics? Feels like with just the polarity thing you could run out of gameplay rather fast.
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Zivzoo
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« Reply #5 on: March 31, 2016, 05:37:29 PM »

I feel like giving the player more controls would end up being a bit cumbersome on a touch device. So far, I'm enjoying the single input control. The only mechanics that I'm working on so far are different obstacles such as wind, accelerators, projectiles, funnels that direct you in other directions, moving platforms, switches to open gates, timed obstacles and so on. It will be up to me to get creative with all of these. The levels will get progressively harder so mastering new obstacles will be the main draw. I might have to look into more mechanics if I feel that the gameplay is a bit dry further down the road.
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tankorsmash
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« Reply #6 on: March 31, 2016, 07:19:14 PM »

Yeah I'd agree with him, if the only input you had was going up or down, it'd be tricky to keep it interesting. If you managed to do that though you'd be in good shape, since it'd be such a simple idea your mom could play it.
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Zivzoo
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« Reply #7 on: April 01, 2016, 05:26:14 AM »

Haha yeah, mobile games should be mom friendly for sure. I could experiment with objects that steer the player's direction, so interacting with them at the right time will give the player an extra layer of movement control. Thanks for all the good feedback so far!
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mleta20
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« Reply #8 on: April 01, 2016, 09:31:47 AM »

Great use of colors and pixel style. I think you really nailed the UI feel for a mobile game too Smiley
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« Reply #9 on: April 04, 2016, 08:07:01 AM »

The dark theme with the bright energy colors is sick, really nice work on the animation too. Lookin forward to more development on powerups or whatever to keep up the replay excitement.
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Bluebutton
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« Reply #10 on: April 04, 2016, 01:12:08 PM »

I made a game a while back with a similar concept called Polarity. But your art and animation is far better than mine. Looks really nice and clean. I like that.
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lil lantern
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« Reply #11 on: April 04, 2016, 02:10:04 PM »

I really loved how the camera works!

The "ease" motion and timing is really smooth and spot on!!
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quantumpotato
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« Reply #12 on: April 04, 2016, 03:33:42 PM »

First video reminds me of





nice looking graphics!
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Zivzoo
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« Reply #13 on: April 05, 2016, 07:52:05 AM »

Thanks for all the positive comments! I checked out Polarity, it looks really fun and i can see the similarities + Portal. Flywrench is for sure my main inspiration, that game is crazy good and crazy hard.
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elisof
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« Reply #14 on: April 05, 2016, 08:33:41 AM »

This is looking really cool so far, pretty much agreeing with everyone else here on that! I really liked playing through Flywrench and was wondering whether there would be something a little like it in terms of gameplay, but for mobile. Really liked those initial animation renders from the website, too. Looking forward to hearing and seeing more about the game ^^
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« Reply #15 on: April 12, 2016, 02:11:41 PM »

Looks great. I love mobile games with as simple as controls as possible.  Hand Thumbs Up Right
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Zivzoo
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« Reply #16 on: April 12, 2016, 03:47:42 PM »

Hey guys, here's a quick example of a demo level done from start to finish. The UI, effects and environments still need a lot of polish.

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tankorsmash
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« Reply #17 on: April 12, 2016, 06:54:14 PM »

Seems like you'd want more screenspace dedicated to seeing what's coming up next. That's like only the bottom 1/4 of the screen. I could see it being a difficulty setting or maybe the faster you go the less you see but it seems like you'd just want to see more.
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Zivzoo
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« Reply #18 on: April 13, 2016, 04:02:29 AM »

Yeah, so far it's basically, the faster you go the further down the screen you get but you do start up in the top 1/4 of the screen and slowly move down as you go faster. I probably should cap how for down you go, this might make the camera feel a bit more stiff though.
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Zivzoo
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« Reply #19 on: February 19, 2018, 06:09:22 PM »

Hey guys, it's been a while since my last post. I had the project on ice for the last year but I've recently come back to it and I have been actively working on it for the last few weeks. I decided to rework all the tiles and make them more modular and bulky. I have passed from small 32px or 64px tiles to a much larger format, the side walls are now made up of 128px x 512px tiles. This switch will save me tons of time when creating levels since there will be exponentially less tiles to place and less chance of errors. The more modular design of tiles allows me to only have about a dozen basic tiles to cover all my needs.

The example below shows a test layout of a complete level and it uses only 24 tiles.



Here's a peek at the new tiles in action



My next step is to work on new types of obstacles including barriers placed along the walls and moving barriers.
I hope that I'll be able give updates more often from now on!
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