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[threesided]

Serial Experiments Lain is another crazy-ass story (though with a different, high-tech focus), that suffers from the 'it starts sucking a bit when you know the plot' syndrome.

This has actually been my biggest concern when trying to work on it. I keep catching myself wanting this to be a story i'm reading instead of a story I'm writing, and I get caught forgetting that I have to already know what's coming next. Kinda takes all the wonderment out of it for me, since I'm the one who has to construct the archetype.

Alas, tis the woe of trying to write a gripping tale I suppose.

Another question: Are there any musical synthesizing programs out there where I could digitally create music? I want to start experimenting with mood and setting and sound, just to keep the creative juices flowing. I'm a very musical person, and having that may help spark ideas.

[Flink]

  i'm stunned! Every thing looks really great!, specially the characters they are really charming! And of course the whole concept kicks ass!

But im at bit thoughtful about it being a classic  adventure game. Dont get me wrong i love those old lucas art adventures like Day Of the Tentacle & Full Throttle but i would rather se it in a plattform game like an mix of Odin Sphere & Knytt, with a lot of backtracking and as you said with an drawn style.

And i think that the world map could work as the Super Mario World map or something simular. But all that is only one mans opinion  And if you ever need a programer im up for it!

[fish]

im more of a magritte man myself.

[Zaphos]

But im at bit thoughtful about it being a classic  adventure game. Dont get me wrong i love those old lucas art adventures like Day Of the Tentacle & Full Throttle but i would rather se it in a plattform game like an mix of Odin Sphere & Knytt, with a lot of backtracking and as you said with an drawn style.

Who said it was going to be a classic adventure game?  "exploration/adventure-RPG kinda game, but I've yet to decide anything on how gameplay would pan out" sounds pretty far from that ...

Also: This game looks very sweet.  Also: I don't think there's any need to make it a platform game with backtracking, though that does seem trendy these days ...

Also: For music, Pixel's pxTone ( http://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA022293/pxtone.html [ page is in japanese, there's an english tutorial here:  http://buzinkai.net/PXTone/tutorial/ ] ) and DrPetter's musagi ( http://www.cyd.liu.se/~tompe573/hp/project_musagi.html ) both can be used to create chiptune-style music interactively.
Edit: oh, and there are also the tools mentioned here: http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=66.0
http://www.modplug.com/ - A brilliant free tracker for MOD/IT/XM and other formats.
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/- A free digital audio editor.
http://anvilstudio.com/ - A great tool for creating MIDI files.

[Flink]

But im at bit thoughtful about it being a classic  adventure game. Dont get me wrong i love those old lucas art adventures like Day Of the Tentacle & Full Throttle but i would rather se it in a plattform game like an mix of Odin Sphere & Knytt, with a lot of backtracking and as you said with an drawn style.

Who said it was going to be a classic adventure game?  "exploration/adventure-RPG kinda game, but I've yet to decide anything on how gameplay would pan out" sounds pretty far from that ...

Okey sorry i just got the impression from the gameplay mockups that it was gonna be something simular to a classic adventure game in the structure & design of the levels. And yes i know it's not final but it was criticism on hi's idea.

[threesided]

Hey, despite this seeeming like a minor update:

It took me ages to make and is a huge milestone for me game development-wise.

As for the type of gameplay, it's not an adventure game. I want to stress that the only reason I call it an "adventure" game, is because a big chunk of the gameplay will revolve around exploration and discovery. Since the world uncovers itself as it goes, it promotes that adventurous aspect. But the actual flow of game would be more open ended (hopefully) so that you don't feel like you're forced along a linear path. There will be no point-and-click, discover these things in sequential order or else mentality in this game. I want it to feel like a scenic journey that you get to go along with (heh, i've been looking a lot at Jenova Chen's work) I want you to become immersed in the world, so high interactivity is a must for me. I WANT you to become attached the same way I have. I realize this hikes up the ambitiousness of the project, but I'll take as long as it takes to achieve this. Just don't expect this when I start making first drafts and demos, because this is exploratory for me too.

Sorry for all the wordiness, but as I said, I've been conceptualizing this for over a year now.

edit: Oh, also... I've been working on gameplay ideas, and one thing I want to add which is relevant to my flow thing, is that I don't want fighting and grinding to be a factor at all. The battles should accent the story, not deter from them. So there will be some sort of action-rpg system a la kingdom hearts, but there will be virtually no need to grind. I'd like to make battle systems a minor part of the game. This should play more like a movie or a graphic novel. I don't want fighting to interrupt story telling at all.

[Average Higgins]

Hey, despite this seeeming like a minor update:

It took me ages to make and is a huge milestone for me game development-wise.

Man, the time you took on that really shows!

Also, this is really a huge update for me because I always assumed the character floated around. I mean, who could actually move their legs in those tight indie jeans?

[Flink]

I like your thinking with the "I want it to feel like a scenic journey that you get to go along with. I want you to become immersed in the world, so high interactivity is a must for me. I WANT you to become attached the same way I have." -feeling you are trying "to give" to the player and think that makes the project so much bigger(and way cooler) as you self said.

To get this feeling of the game i think it's specially important to have a solid manuscript & story, some very "epic" scenes that will make you feel all that and a lot more. The games that can master that is the top notch of Story driven games in my opinion but it's a hard nut to crack.

I can think of the game as a Okami/Ico but with less fighting cus i think elements in both these games did make you feel alot more than in an average game. But keep pushing the koncept to new levels and i think this project kan turn out VERY well, thats all, goodnight!

[rey-o]

heya mr. trianglehead

this is looking really cool! do you perhaps have a blog/deviantart/flickr/website which features more of your art? it'd be easier to browse and appreciate vs going through em on forums.

anywho, keep up the great work!

[Tr00jg]

That. looks. awesome. I kind of have 2D Tim Burton feel to it. I love it and it would be great to see a game of this.

[threesided]

rey-o: Sorry man, I don't have any site, all my attempts to maintain such a thing has always failed. If you want you can look at my photobucket site which is public ( http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v320/AlienQuark/ ) that has most of my work on it. That's the best I can offer right now.

Tr00jg: I love the fact that you guys have been calling on all my inspirations in here. It's good to see it being echoed in my work. Also, I've been contemplating a tech demo. However if I want such a thing I am going to need a lot more frames for The Boy, as well as a well done environment for him to run around in. And a programmer. And then the tech demo itself. Ergo, I guess that won't be coming for quite some time.

[fish]

Ergo,

+5pts for you.

[Tr00jg]

And a programmer...

If I didn't have a project, I would've loved to do it! I am sure there are lots of people who would be willing to work with this.

[bigbossSNK]

Damn, I hate arbitrary scoring systems. I bet the parser wouldn't have given any points if one had typed "So, I guess that ...", even if the cognitive structure behind it is the same.

[Nash]

I sent you a e-mail last night about the programmer issue.

[sharksweetheart]

.

[threesided]

http://livetheodyssey.blogspot.com/

I decided it was best if I made a dev log. I'm doing everything I can to keep myself motivated, from sketching out plot developments and little cinematic ideas, to actually writing out a proper introdcution (which I did!)

So I have nothing to show you guys in terms of pictures, but I can tell you that last night I wrote out a full-blown introduction in a novel-esque way. It's about 6 pages. So whether that means anything to anyone or not, it at least lets you know I'm in no way slacking and am in no way skimping on story. There's just a lot of things I needed to get down. If anyone wants to, I'd be willing to send the intro I wrote over to maybe 1 or 2 people who have any interest in such a thing. You could help me monitor pacing and stuff.

Okay, enough about story. This is an art forum. So here's what I plan on next:

-Fully finish walk cycle for The Boy (all 8 directions)
-Finalize how I am going to make my pre-rendered environments (pixel, pshop, illusrator, 3D?!?!?, combination of any of the above)
-Find some more people to help me on this project once those 2 facets have been finished (this would include a programmer and music composer. I was going to take care of that myself as well, but as it stands I'm already overloading myself with stuff, and I don't wanna delay the process any further than I already am for making this a solo project) I've already talked a bit with Nash about potential plans of action, but i'm at least about a month away from even considering programming. So for any one who's super keen and eager, I'll probably just ignore your offers for now until I can solidify my art direction.

More updates as I have them to give. Also, if anyone knows how to work with blogs and edit the layout and stuff, that would also be helpful.

[Akhel]

So I have nothing to show you guys in terms of pictures, but I can tell you that last night I wrote out a full-blown introduction in a novel-esque way. It's about 6 pages.

Do want, very much want.

[Pigbuster]

I would LOVE to take a gander that intro.

[threesided]

Things have been going slow, but school has been raping me, tests and projects coming out the ying yang.

I've settled on the fact that the only way I'm going to manage something good for backgrounds, I'm going to have to do it in pixel. So the only thing I have to show right now is a little fake mockup.

Old:New:

I think it's another big step forward for me in terms of progress. Still not done, which is why the tree looks to be floating on the grass, but I rarely work in such a large scale as this. I've been working really hard to finish it so I can finally get this scene out of the way (since it's been the source of my obsession. I need to finish this just to move on in my mind).


One other thing: I've also decided that if I want to ever make enough progress art-wise, I'm going to need to find another artist to work with. So if you think you've got a similar style and feel like working with me, and are interested in this project, I'd be totally stoked about it. It would be preferable if you were better at environments.

I can't do this alone... anyone feel like lending me a helping hand? I'd really like to move this forward, and finding people to work with will just help  it along even more.

Oh, and Akhel, let me know what you thought of my intro if you've read it.

The last thing I was considering was taking some of the first advice of this thread and taking on a smaller scale project as well, something that could be done in a short while, something not overly complicated. If someone wants to team up for a quick experience-booster project, let me know, I'm also making myself fully available for some making some artwork. Let me know if this appeals to anyone either.