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[rcastoro]

OVERFLO GAME – DEV LOG 1
Visit the homepage for Overflo Game here: http://www.overflogame.com

Dynamic Environments, responsive controls

My number one goal with Overflo Game is to provide players with a fun, captivating experience that will transports the player into another world. I hope Overflo game gives off some notes of my 90’s childhood inspirations such as Mario, Donkey Kong, Zelda and more recent platformers like Super Meat Boy that provide a more gruesome and current take on the older platformer games. While Overflo Game is a platformer, it’s also an adventure with physics puzzles and combat. I want to challenge the players mind, not unlike Limbo game or Inside. While Overflo’s puzzles aren’t as advanced, they are challenging and more importantly, fun.

OUR HEROS DEVELOPMENT

Development of our first character, hero.

SLYMER – ROAMING CREATURE

Slymer is a roaming snail who's lifetime locked in a toxic sewer has mutated his shell into a pipe (which is collectible)



My intention to provide the player with a challenging experience that requires thinking for reward, I developed a puzzle pully mechanic that can be re-used throughout the game. I had a design for a level, and no way to implement it using Unity’s standard tools so I developed a custom pully system (WIP) using procedurally generated meshes that are completely adjustable and dynamic to UI defined elements.

PUZZLE MECHANICS

Initial sketch up of pully puzzle element



We have a few enemy characters that I want to show you before I end this dev log.

CROOKADILE

was born out of the need for difficult combat in certain areas, to slow player progression and add an increased sense of panic:






There’s so much more to show you, including the combat system, dialog system, towns people, enemies and more. Please come back to the next dev log 2 for more, hopefully next week.

This is it for the first devlog. I hope what I’m doing will give people a fun experience that they can enjoy for an amount of time. Thinking of adding Multi Player when development is near complete to extend the replay-ability and fun of game. Let me know your comments and suggestions.

Visit the homepage for Overflo Game here: http://www.overflogame.com

[rcastoro]

I have more

[rcastoro]

OVERFLO GAME – DEV LOG 2

www.overflogame.com

Overflo Game is progressing, however slowly because I have a full time job and wife and kids. It’s progressing none the less. This weeks dev log includes some sketches and artwork for Level’s 3 and 4, Train and Sawmill, respectively.

Boom!


Level 3 train will take you to the industrial park, but you need to get through the train cars first. There will be 5 or 6 train cars with different puzzles in each one.

Here's the lead up to entering train:


And here's a static shot of the train


Entering Train:




On to level 4 sawmill. Sawmill should be a fun level, a lot of movement finesse to make it through alive, more platformer feeling then everything else so far.

Some finished art


Design Sketch








RAWR

[General]

It's great that you share your sketches together with the resuling art. It lets us see the step-by-step creation.

[rcastoro]

Thanks for the compliment, my artists are great. My goal for the dev logs are to provide transparency into development of Overflo Game. Since I was a new game developer I always looked for resources on how a game development takes shape. I want to share the game development experience since I found so many helpful development logs when I first started.

Here's a video of some of the puzzle logic that will be in Overflo Game, I hope to expand my puzzle development skills in order to create the most value for players.

Sewer puzzle boxes




Sewer secret room and don't get electrocuted

[rcastoro]

Player enhancements made over the week... Much cleaner movements and jump / wall jump ability. Fast response and easy control in air.

Fast, responsive player controls make movement accurate and fun


New tweaks in Sawmill Level




finally added propeller hat to game, higher jumps and lower gravity

[rcastoro]

I created some ISpookable, IDestroyable, IExplodable, ICarryable interfaces and look mah, Dynamic Environments.



I bet making those birds attack player would boost player enjoyment a bit!!

It did...

[rcastoro]

WELCOME BACK TO OVERFLO GAME DEVELOPMENT LOG 3!....

On INDIEDB: http://www.indiedb.com/games/overflo-game/news/overflo-game-dev-log-3
On OVERFLOGAME.COM: http://www.overflogame.com/overflo-game-development-log-3/

Here's a stripped down version:

Hello friends, this log presents what I have been up to the last few weeks. Lots of detail work, rest, and more detail work. When developing a game as a programmer, game design and gameplay can sometimes take a back seat to assets. At first while you iron out the code, prefabricate reusable assets, and learn how your games heart beats, I was in the weeds… I need a machete, I found one. So, recently I’ve focused on making the game more game like and more importantly, FUN! No major characters or new levels have been added yet, but new level art is in the works… here’s a peak at

Level 5, Mutated Forest:



This level will be dark (might maintain the black white look) but will be filled with highlighted objects full of bright, vibrant color. The objective will be to make your way through the mutated forest to the mutated tree of Othoros. (just kidding, the tree has no name). Either way, the tree will have a large interior and most of the level will take place inside.

There was some progress on level 4, Sour Sawmill… Since each level so far features a unique gameplay element:

--level 1, Overflo Town, is introductory level that teaches how to play and includes some platforming elements
--level 2, Sewer, features puzzle and combat elements
--level 3, Train, is strictly puzzle elements

Level 4 will be mostly platformer / physics driven gameplay where fast player response and thinking is the best recipe for success..

Speaking of testing, level 1 has been the victim of some testing as well.

Take for instance this hat rack (temporary art), that will only allow you to maintain a collected piece of performance enhancing clothing within the scope of the two hat racks.





Also, we’re tidying up level 1’s end game to get us smoothly into level 2 with some fun puzzle elements and a secret passage!…. This is still in development.





So all in all, there’s been productivity, albeit on already created levels. Development log 4 will bring new characters and character A.I., some new fun combat attributes, and more. Check back to stay up to date with Overflo Game! As always, we invite and downright hope you’ll provide feedback and comments to these development logs to better Overflo Game. Without you, there is no indie game developer.

Read the development log for more Cannoli.

On INDIEDB: http://www.indiedb.com/games/overflo-game/news/overflo-game-dev-log-3
On OVERFLOGAME.COM: http://www.overflogame.com/overflo-game-development-log-3/