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[haks109]

Those animations look NEAT! I think that and the modular leveling stuff are the most attractive items of this game!

I was wondering if this game will have an story or it will only focus on gameplay in an Incan aesthetics

About not having yet the aesthetics for the level in the roadmap, yep, I like the idea about working first on core and other game mechanics (enemies, level architecture, puzzles, etc) and then to work on environmental aesthetics, so you can polish every mechanics detail before moving into the next step. However IMHO if you want to have Kickstarter in your roadmap, I think before you do a fundraising campaign you'd want to do some work on that env. aesthetics at least for 2 or 3 levels, visuals are the first thing people sees and helps to get people interested in your game.

BTW I am Peruvian that's why this game got my attention when I saw that name, keep the good work!

[Pehesse]

Beautiful animations!!!!!!!!
I hope to see more of your game!!!

Thanks! And more is coming, though it'll only be about cleaning animations for quite a while... but we'll get back to the game proper eventually :-)

Those animations look NEAT! I think that and the modular leveling stuff are the most attractive items of this game!

I was wondering if this game will have an story or it will only focus on gameplay in an Incan aesthetics

About not having yet the aesthetics for the level in the roadmap, yep, I like the idea about working first on core and other game mechanics (enemies, level architecture, puzzles, etc) and then to work on environmental aesthetics, so you can polish every mechanics detail before moving into the next step. However IMHO if you want to have Kickstarter in your roadmap, I think before you do a fundraising campaign you'd want to do some work on that env. aesthetics at least for 2 or 3 levels, visuals are the first thing people sees and helps to get people interested in your game.

BTW I am Peruvian that's why this game got my attention when I saw that name, keep the good work!

Oh, thanks a lot!

I completely agree that for a Kickstarter, I'll need "semi-final" slices of the game to show (through screenshots, and possibly through a demo as well). Ideally I'd have wanted to start a KS this year, but looking at the timetable, that's why it's likely going to need to happen later, after I have some environment work done. It's basically going to be a balance exercice: the pressing needs of my financial situation (ie: sooner=better) versus the needs of the game/campaign (later=better). I hope I won't make too many crippling mistakes preparing the campaign, but I intend to talk to as many as I can about it before it starts, to get it in the best possible shape it can. That's why I start the discussion about it now, even though the actual thing is still quite a ways off :-)

For the story: yeah, there'll be one, but it'll be very simple and straightforward, and told through visuals only. No lengthy cutscenes or dialog, no text to skip (and no localization to consider :v)! It's going to be more thematical than detail-oriented, but at the end of the journey, (simple) things will have happened... at least, that's the current plan :-D

[TheArtistJiii]

I'm planning to make a few illustrations to have at hand when I need to present/accompany the game (say, for a kickstarter campaign, for example) - I kind of struggle with the exact style to go for, as it turns out I'm not very good at anything not related to lines. I might still try different techniques going forward, but here's a first pic/attempt using my usual approach. Thoughts?

I like this illustration, although i'm not understanding the perspective of the lower branch she seems to be perched on. A few Questions though. What is that place she's looking toward, and does hint at the narrative or story?

[Pehesse]

I like this illustration, although i'm not understanding the perspective of the lower branch she seems to be perched on. A few Questions though. What is that place she's looking toward, and does hint at the narrative or story?

The illustration does hint (well, show, rather) the game's narrative (it showcases two of the game's main environments: the outside forest/jungle, and the Sun Temple), but as I said above, the story won't be complex or feature twists, as I'm going for something very simple, straightforward and wordless.
 
The best reference I can think of are the original Castlevania's stories: there's a setting, a villain, an objective, an environment... and that's it! :-D Pacha is basically a Castlevania story, except the temple is Inti's own home (this being the Sun Temple and her being the Sun's daughter), and the opponent she's fighting against is the Moon Spirit (the glowing purple light in the temple on the picture).

[valrus]

The story reminds me a bit about an Incan tactic during their expansion.  The empire would tolerate subjugated people worshiping their old gods so long as they didn't claim the old gods' superiority to the Sun (from which the Inca derived his supernatural authority). 

So foreign gods would be added to the pantheon, and this was represented by taking their gods (as statues) to "honor" them in the pantheon of gods in the capital.  But really it was to keep them hostage against good behavior: don't act up 'cuz we've got your god.  (Similar to what they and many empires did with noble children for "education".)

Anyway, God-hostaging would be a historically-based way to get a god "out" of her own temple, moved far away, and her temple rededicated to a foreign god. 

[Pehesse]

The story reminds me a bit about an Incan tactic during their expansion.  The empire would tolerate subjugated people worshiping their old gods so long as they didn't claim the old gods' superiority to the Sun (from which the Inca derived his supernatural authority). 

So foreign gods would be added to the pantheon, and this was represented by taking their gods (as statues) to "honor" them in the pantheon of gods in the capital.  But really it was to keep them hostage against good behavior: don't act up 'cuz we've got your god.  (Similar to what they and many empires did with noble children for "education".)

Anyway, God-hostaging would be a historically-based way to get a god "out" of her own temple, moved far away, and her temple rededicated to a foreign god. 

Oh, that's very interesting, thanks a lot!

[Silkworm]

Looks great! Mad props on the animations! So are there essentially two alternatives for the modules, one per character? Or does it get even deeper than that? Has this kind of modular design been done before? It seems like such a good idea and a great alternative to just completely procedural stuff.

[Pehesse]

Looks great! Mad props on the animations! So are there essentially two alternatives for the modules, one per character? Or does it get even deeper than that? Has this kind of modular design been done before? It seems like such a good idea and a great alternative to just completely procedural stuff.

Thank you very much!

The modules are basically binary, yeah - though my main method of separating them is through tracking the time spent using each form, rather than a simple form check at specific triggers (though I can track that as well for some variance, and it's what I used in the proof of concept demo video). I could probably add other conditions related to the use of each form, if I think of them! If you have any thoughts on that, I'd love to hear them :-D

The general idea is to add a strategy layer about how and when to play each form, not only based on the challenges you encounter, but on the time you aim to spend compared to a trigger you know is coming later. Of course, this only applies for replays/routing the game for speedruns - for first time throughs, the aim is simply to make the basic thing as enjoyable as possible (play+aesthetics)!

Inside modules, I can also add new triggers for new modules, so this can become as granular as I can manage and have the patience for :-D It basically amounts to designing levels on top of levels, so as long as I don't mix my layers, I should be fine :-D

I'm sure this has been done already though I'd be hard pressed to name specific examples right here and now - I believe the recently announced Sundered uses a similar concept (though tied to some level of random generation)?

[Silkworm]

If you have any thoughts on that, I'd love to hear them :-D

I say stick to binary, it's probably enough. Sometimes less is more, it's better to have two good level designs than three mediocre.

[Pehesse]

If you have any thoughts on that, I'd love to hear them :-D

I say stick to binary, it's probably enough. Sometimes less is more, it's better to have two good level designs than three mediocre.

Indeed, that's my current thinking as well :-D We'll see once I start designing proper levels!

[Pehesse]

I've started the animation cleanup process:



To make it as simple as possible, I'm going through the list of animations alphabetically (rather than based on the initial order I made them in, like in Honey). I'll also be going Acrobat Line->Warrior Line->Acrobat Color->Warrior Color, so I keep the momentum of a single type of action going, and hopefully get faster as time goes on. The current planning takes a minimum of 32 weeks, and that's if I manage to keep up a steady pace of production, so this is going to be a *very* long ride!

[Pehesse]

Animation cleanup, week 2!

[Zorg]

Great animations!

The only thing that bothers me is the idle pose which does not fit to the rest, imho. It's hard to nail it down, the active poses feel very powerful but as soon as the movement is over it feels like she has been teleported to a catwalk.

[Pehesse]

Great animations!

The only thing that bothers me is the idle pose which does not fit to the rest, imho. It's hard to nail it down, the active poses feel very powerful but as soon as the movement is over it feels like she has been teleported to a catwalk.

Thanks a lot!

I actually find the idle ended up close to what I was looking for, much closer to what it was like at the sketch phase: for the acrobat, the point was to make her return to a light-footed pose, as if she were balancing on a rope at all times. I'll keep your thoughts in mind and see if I change my view later down the line and rework the idle (I did for Honey after all), though it'll pose problems with connecting other animations of the pose changes too wildly... and ideally I'd like not to spend too much time iterating over the same animations over and over, as I have years of work ahead as it is :-D

[Pehesse]

Just so I don't get horribly rusty while working on animation, I'm toying with LD ideas from time to time. Here's the latest test thing:





Lots left to figure out (I have several options for what happens when the player fails/falls back: for instance, I can either make it a "vertical scroll" level where falling means death, or I could have progressive checkpoints to force-respawn all platforms of a given segment), and I have to find out more challenges/ways to combine those different elements for the acrobat, and find stuff for the warrior to do (will be easier when I'll have actual enemies!). Still... it's a start!

[Pehesse]

[Pehesse]

I've been mostly focused on animations this week, as usual, and as I will be in the foreseeable future... and yet, there was still some progress on the game itself, thanks to some external help! Most notably, the biggest one:



We've managed to overcome my biggest problem so far, getting the combat to register against multiple opponents simultanously. It's now possible to send plenty of enemies flying in the air at once... which should make for some interesting combat scenarios :-D

[Pehesse]

Here are the fruits of this week's animation cleanup efforts! Already tired of it, but we're barely getting started, so... hang in there.



I'm halfway through the acrobat's animations (at least, the current ones - I can always make more after all is said and done :v). Which, according to the planning, is... right on schedule. Eh. This is one of those moments where I don't like being right!

Also, thread title change, to reflect the focus of the upcoming months :-D

[tjpalmer]

Fantastic work! Like a 2D animated movie. And lots of great moves and interaction.

I think some animations could be snappier.

Also, the standing with her hand on her hip seems too cutesy compared to everything else being more serious-like. Maybe could do that occasionally, but I don't think it should be the default standing pose.

[Pehesse]

Fantastic work! Like a 2D animated movie. And lots of great moves and interaction.

I think some animations could be snappier.

Also, the standing with her hand on her hip seems too cutesy compared to everything else being more serious-like. Maybe could do that occasionally, but I don't think it should be the default standing pose.

Thanks a lot :-)

Regarding snappier animation and the general rhythm: keep in mind that the actual final rhythm is fine tuned in-game, those cleanup gifs are only meant to showcase the lineart progress, they're all playing at the same 18FPS with no other tuning whatsoever. In the game, it ends up being pretty different, you can look in the videos of gameplay to see.

Regarding the idle pose: as I said above, I'll take that under consideration, but the current pose and how you're reading it are actually what I wanted, so I'm not currently planning to change it. Even if I did, it'd be a lot of work, as it'd mean reworking several idles, and all the transitions leading from/to it. I already have months ahead to simply finish off what's already there, and years when considering enemies+backgrounds+rest of the game, so any extra redo work will need *very* good justification :-)