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[Pixel Noise]

Also, I think the new trees are definitely moving in the right direction. Of the two you posted, I prefer the left one.

Really? I was about to pick the right one, because I thought the left one seemed blurry.
But now? I'm more confused than ever. (Btw, thanks for the feedback, it's really important to me, even when it makes me confused)

I should mention that I know nothing about art.

[Stricle]

I should mention that I know nothing about art.

hahaha, me neither. That's why I have some random terrible looking sprites.

[Stricle]

Hey people!

I've been taking a little slow now (playing too much overwatch). So, I'll do just a little update:

The game is 360x240, but scaled to 720x480. However, when you choose to go fullscreen the game is scaled the max it can, as long as it's multiple of 720x480.
This means that if your resolution is not a exact multiple of 720x480, you'd see black borders.
Some people choose to stretch the image to get rid of the black borders. I'll try something like this:



I still need to make some adjustments but the basic is here.

(sorry about the big image)

[Stricle]

Hey guys!
This week I've worked quite a lot on the game, but most of the things I did, were "invisible" improvement.

Like the save/load system that is mostly done, or even the room transitions that was lacking in my game.
Actually, I want to talk about the room transitions here:

I have never thought too hard about them, but they can be what turns a "sketch-looking-game" into a "finished-looking-game".

I did the simplest room transition:



besides that, I worked on an NPC and some rooms.
I wish I could say I have one battle finished, but it's still like 92% done. I'm trying to come up with a design for this "enemy" for ages.

[Stricle]

Today was a very important day to Private Party!

Today... I... fixed a memory leak !!! (at least, I'm pretty sure I did...)

No really, I was struggling with this damn problem for months and I was about to give up on the entire shadowing system of my game.
I don't know how does it work in other engines, but Game maker has something called "surfaces", and it can be a little b*tch if you don't fully understand it (like me).

Now that I'm able to use shadows, I'll try to make some upgrades on my graphics (I got inspired seeing eastward's graphics). I just need to know if the surfaces are fully compatible with all pcs.

And... I don't know if you guys are interested in these things...

Anyway, I have done other stuff too. But, I'll talk about that later...

[Stricle]

Today, Image update!

I made some teaks in the shadowing codes, and now its just a matter of drawing the "shape of the light".

I'm currently using two kinds of shapes:

The perfect one: (very, very, subtle)





And the imperfect one:



I'm 100% sure I'll use the perfect one. The imperfect on another hand I'm not sure, I liked the look of it, it feels more real, I think.

What do you think? Did the shadows worth the time spent on them?

[Pixel Noise]

I think the second one is still good for a special area, or effect. Like a really dark area, or a nighttime feel, etc. It makes it feel more like the character is holding a small light source, so would suit those environments well. If you do end up using it that way, I think you could even make it smaller and more pronounced.

[vitorlanna]

I... don't really get the lighting. In the second screenshot, there seems to be a shadow starting from the left of the carpet and ending in the right. It looks like there isn't anything making that shadow, so it just looks like the floor is dirty.
Also, are the shadows pure black?

[DragonDePlatino]

I really dislike both lights, to be honest. You have very simple and flat-colored environments but this incredibly smooth shading. It's jarring.

I would experiment with perfectly round lights with no or little anti-aliasing. Make them flicker a bit. Experiment with cones. For lack of a better example (did MOTHER 3 have any dark sections?), here's what I'm talking about:



See how well that fits with the pixel art even though it's heavily aliased?

[Ashedragon]

I agree with DragonDePlatino. The smooth lightning just does not look good nor does it mesh well with the art style.

[Stricle]

Hey people!

First, thanks for giving me your honest opinion, it's really important for my game.

I totally get you guys not liking the second one.

Well, going back to the original shadows I have something like this:




What do you think ?

Some things I can change easily:

- I can make the dark areas darker or lighter.
- I can make only one circle of light.
- I can change the color of the shadows.


I could also make the light cone-shaped, but it would consume me quite a lot time, does it worth it?

I got to admit that I still like the first-smooth one.

[Silkworm]

Liking what I see. The sprites and portraits are really charming! I'm also in favor of the no-grind aspect.

Well, going back to the original shadows I have something like this

Much, MUCH better! The other shadows just kinda look like compression artifacts.

[vitorlanna]

These look much better, yeah. I think a cone light may be good depending on the context. For example, in the undertale screenshot, that cone light:
-> Draws attention to the statue, which is part of a puzzle
-> Helps highlighting that is raining in the statue (and that the reason for that may be that it is connect to the surface)
-> Contributes to the dramatic lighting of the statue.

So basically... If it contributes signifanctly to the composition of the scene and mood, I'd say it may be worth it. Otherwise, maybe not.

[Stricle]

Thank you guys!

It's a relief that you liked the last one. I was starting to think I'd have to get rid of the shadows. (and it took me a lot of time).



I wish I had another update, but I don't... 

[breakfastbat]

Heya! It's nice to see other Earthboundlikes cropping up. Make sure you don't take too much influence from one game! A lot of games in the Earthboundlike category are incredibly unique, so it's usually painfully obvious when you get heavily inspired by one in particular. I'm working on a game in this general sort of genre so I know how hard it can be to get inspired without copying. Try to find your own voice through the development of the game, and embrace that. If Undertale was one of your bigger influences, try to look at every game except Undertale when you are working on something new.

I got really scared halfway through catching up on this topic because those soft shadows looked atrocious. Glad you're back to the hard lights!

That said, I'm looking forward to more!

[Stricle]

Hello fellow RGP developer!

Heya! It's nice to see other Earthboundlikes cropping up. Make sure you don't take too much influence from one game! A lot of games in the Earthboundlike category are incredibly unique, so it's usually painfully obvious when you get heavily inspired by one in particular. I'm working on a game in this general sort of genre so I know how hard it can be to get inspired without copying. Try to find your own voice through the development of the game, and embrace that. If Undertale was one of your bigger influences, try to look at every game except Undertale when you are working on something new.

I totally know what you're talking about and I'm worried with this since the beginning.

I say that my game is Earthboundlike, but I don't see much of Earthbound in it. Basically I took the battle system, that is actually similar to many other RPGs (I didn't took the HP rolling thing).

The graphics, I try to find different references (I really try), but usually I just end up looking at Undertale art, not because it is amazingly good, but because it has the same perspective of my game and it has more accurate scaling (Earthbound, for example has trees and houses too small, maybe to make the player feel big, important).

I'm trying to create an identity for my game using its graphics (in the future, music and sounds) and "feel".

I don't have an awesome innovative mechanic, I'm focusing on details. I'll try to just make it fun.

- No annoying random encounters;
- places that make the player wonder "How will I get there?"
- The game has a story, but I won't force it to the player, if he is interested, he'll look for it in the details.
- You can search for "masters", they can teach you things that will actually impact your play.
 

About the last one, this probably mean multiples endings. I'm 80% sure it will have it. Still, I would like to hear your thoughts (though this time I may keep with my original idea). Is it hard to make? Do you find it annoying? My cousin says it makes he feel obligated to make them all, this happens with you?

I got really scared halfway through catching up on this topic because those soft shadows looked atrocious. Glad you're back to the hard lights!

Hahaha, I'm glad I made this devlog, or else my game would came out with a lot of atrocities.

[breakfastbat]

I also took random encounters out of my game! For me, it has created a challenge in my multiple ending design, but I think restriction generally leads to creativity.

Multiple endings will add a ton of work in terms of checking and double checking and triple checking that everything works in all possible permutations of the game. But that work isn't "hard." It's just playing your game a LOT and constantly thinking "what if I did this?" and "how does this character react to this action?" Even one mistake here could really destroy your immersion. One line of dialogue that references the wrong game state is enough to totally ruin the experience.

The good news is, in order to really nail multiple endings properly, you have to really really love playing your game A LOT which means it's probably a good game. But also really take the time to think about whether multiple endings are right for your game. Can you make choices different enough to warrant a different ending? How drastic are the two ends of the decision spectrum? What greater moral or commentary are you creating by providing multiple endings?

Multiple endings can be very rewarding, but make sure you have a reason to use them and that you're prepared to do a ton of quality control.

[Stricle]

Hello, eidobunny.

I'm happy to say that I'm in agreement with everything you say. By "hard" I was really meaning the beta testing thing, I guess it'll show me if the game is really fun. XD

I'm keeping the multiple endings because they are what makes the "dying is big deal" meaningful.

[Stricle]

Hello people!

It's funny how some ideas come from nowhere, right?
I was trying to come up with a design for my first fight. I knew I wanted him to be an old fellow, I sketched a lot o stuff, but everything  was so bad. Until today. I was browsing through my sprites... and then I found an old sprite that would be just an shitty NPC:



But, something about his weird spine resonated with me: It's perfect for an old dude. So I turned that into this:



* MS paint kind of messed up with the colors in some parts

I also "finished" some other NPCs, but I'm thinking on saving them for the game.

Oh, one more thing, do you guys think it's worth making a twitter for devlogs as well?

Always accepting feedbacks...

[breakfastbat]

Absolutely make a Twitter. If you don't grow an audience pre-release it's nearly impossible to promote after the fact.