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[GabZero]

As someone who's also made a complete restart on the development of their game, I appreciate your dedication to making the best game you could and implementing the things you learned by making your other project. Looking forward to future updates!

Thank you very much! You know well that it is a hard decision, especially when we were so close to finishing the project. But after all we have learned, and taking a fresh look at the game after so long, we felt this was really needed. I'm happy with the decision, I'm sure the game will be even better with these additions!

[Superb Joe]

We are still deciding how to make one of the skills "Ninja Swap", where you will avoid a hit completely by changing places with an object. At first, we tried a log, but maybe a dummy will be more fun.



That's all for today, ninjas!

Make it a scratching post. You're welcome.

[GabZero]

Make it a scratching post. You're welcome.

Hahaha thanks for the suggestion! We will use 3 or 4 objects at random and this may be a good addition.

[GabZero]

Greetings, ninjas!

The development pace was slow this week because I had to study UI (User Interface) and UX (User Experience). As a self-taught developer, I never knew those 2 were a thing til last week when I struggled to make the game's Hud. It was a mind blow! I instantly got attached to learn more and dive in those subjects. I'm far from being a decent UI designer, but I believe the results will be WAY better now.

This is the evolution for the HUD, the third one being what I made after studying UI and UX for a few days:



The main changes where the location and shape of the elements. What does the player need to know? What is useful during a playthrough, what is not? With that in mind, I made this HUD the most intuitive possible. The hero portrait with the number of lives you have is here on the left, followed by your HP and Chakra. Those 3 are essential, therefore I made them easy to spot. Next, the Ninja Tool you have equipped, followed by the Ninja Skills. You have 3 available, and I had to show that the third one is more powerful by adding a charge bar and a different shape. I will work on the detailing a bit longer, but I like the overall design and it may be the definitive one.

Once the Ult bar is full, I made a quick animation to make it more interesting:



We also added a small clock-shaped counter for the Ninja Dexterity skill. When it is active, you will now know for how long it will stay active.



The icon will be repositioned if the player charges the Sword Attack while Ninja Dexterity is active. The skill also makes charging faster.




That's all for today!

[GabZero]

Greetings, ninjas!

These days we have been working hard in making a few adjustments and finding a new idea for a Ninja Tool. We came up with the Ninja Flower, which we will be testing in the next weeks. For now, I made the Fade In and Fade Out animation using scrolls as the theme. I liked how it looks smooth and the execution was not hard at all. I just had to create an image with the scrolls + a black box and slide it through the camera.



I've been giving my best to reach the next level in pixel art animation, and I believe I'm on the right path for that. It is a bit unfair to compare the new Idle animation with the original one, but I like to see how far I have improved since we started the project. Oh what a journey =)



That's all for today!

[GabZero]

Greetings, ninjas!

The work on the new animations for our hero is going really well. Animations for running, jumping and attacking with the sword are all done. I made the "shuriken toss" animation as well but the shuriken is not added yet to the prototype. Below we made a gif with all the movements that are complete:




Idle:



We decided to test something new with the Sword Charge attack. The original idea was for the charge to give an extensor for the sword, allowing the player's attack to reach further. We tested it with a few players (this still in the Alpha version) and it was barely used, players preferred to get close to the enemies and slice with multiple sword attacks. So for this Rework, we decided to make a basic charged attack which gives 3x more damage. We still did not like the idea that much, we want Meawja to be a fast-paced game and have fast attacks instead.

Because of that, we are testing a Thrust that will be one of the Charge Attacks. It will launch the player a little ahead, helping you close the distance quickly, and probably will push enemies (requires testing). The animation below is still a prototype:




Original animation prototype:



That's all for now! We are really focusing a lot on the Character, our goal is to make the gameplay fun and engaging so this will take a good while to be completed.


Oh, and I could not forget the small April Fools prank we posted on our Twitter account yesterday. We said that the hero would be a dog from now on, and we had so much fun with the reactions haha.



Just a prank, don't worry! Our hero will still be a ninja cat <3

[FalconsLegacy]

This game looks stunning! I'm in love with the art style - pixel art is something I really enjoy, and it feels like I don't see it a lot anymore. That could just be me though. I think the rework of the character animations was a good call: The little details make them seem a little more alive. I noticed that in particular with the hero's ear movements.
While I'm not generally a huge fan of platformer games, the concept of a ninja cat piqued my interest, and I'm glad it did. I'll be keeping an eye on this project for sure. I'm looking forward to seeing how Meawja develops.

[GabZero]

This game looks stunning! I'm in love with the art style - pixel art is something I really enjoy, and it feels like I don't see it a lot anymore. That could just be me though. I think the rework of the character animations was a good call: The little details make them seem a little more alive. I noticed that in particular with the hero's ear movements.
While I'm not generally a huge fan of platformer games, the concept of a ninja cat piqued my interest, and I'm glad it did. I'll be keeping an eye on this project for sure. I'm looking forward to seeing how Meawja develops.

Thank you!! I'm really happy you liked the project. I am happy with the decision to remake the hero. Honestly, the old one was the first thing I ever animated in pixel art, so I'm happy to see how much I have improved in those years =)

To make it easier to follow our development progress, you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook or even join our Discord server! This last one is the best because I post all the news there first, and you can chat with us devs anytime. Here are the links:

Discord: https://discord.gg/EJNJTbz
Twitter: https://twitter.com/galope_team
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/galopeteam/

Again, thank you for your kind message =) Hope you enjoy the game once it releases!

[GabZero]

Greetings, ninjas!

It's been a while since my last post, we used this extra time to update some of the animations like the Sword Attack. But for this post, I will focus on our fun stuff: the Charge attacks and the Ninja Tools.

During the game you will get an upgrade that will allow you to use Charge Attacks. Like the name says, you will have to hold the attack button for a while so you can unleash a special attack. Using it on the ground will give you a Thrust attack while in the air it will give you a Spinning attack.




(this gif is a little glitchy, sorry)

---------------

The Ninja Tools are items you will gather through the stages, but you can have only 1 NT active at a time. They use chakra as a resource and they offer different approaches at enemies. They are 4:


• Ninja Flower


It is like a sharp spinning-top that can be tossed and hit every enemy in the way. It bounces on walls and disappears after a while. It can be used in the air or in strategic places, giving the player new ways to use the map at your advantage.



• Flash Bomb


This quick tool will stun enemies for a while (still need testing), allowing you to have free attacks on them. Some enemies may be weaker to this particular tool. It also can be used to reveal secrets in some areas.



• Schyte in Chain


A defensive tool that can only be used on the ground and you can't move while it is active. It will push and damage any enemy in the range. It will also damage blocks below the hero, so we may create something interesting on that.



• Great Shuriken


A ninja is not complete without a badass Great Shuriken! This tool is the strongest and will hit every enemy in the way, slowing down in the process and dealing extra hits to big and slower targets. It consumes more chakra than the other tools.



We are now refining the animations, but the hero rework is really close to being complete! We can't wait to begin the Combat testing.

[Superb Joe]

your animations look really good but the amplitude of the movement in the running animation is really at odds with the movement speed, which i presume is not yet final anyway

[GabZero]

your animations look really good but the amplitude of the movement in the running animation is really at odds with the movement speed, which i presume is not yet final anyway

Hey Joe, thank you very much for the feedback! I feel that problem with the running animation as well, we're making some adjustments and hope this odd feeling go away haha, maybe removing one or two frames will give it a faster look.

[nova++]

Such wonderful animations. I hope someday I can get the hang of that sort of thing. I would absolutely risk getting a ninja star embedded in my abdomen to pet him. I mean, that risk isn't that much different than petting real cats, yknow?

I have to confess though... no matter how much I try to convince my brain that I'm looking at cat eyes peeking out of holes in a mask, I just keep seeing a yellow head with black eyes peeking out of a mask. Not your fault, just my brain's 

[ProgramGamer]

 

[GabZero]

Such wonderful animations. I hope someday I can get the hang of that sort of thing. I would absolutely risk getting a ninja star embedded in my abdomen to pet him. I mean, that risk isn't that much different than petting real cats, yknow?

I have to confess though... no matter how much I try to convince my brain that I'm looking at cat eyes peeking out of holes in a mask, I just keep seeing a yellow head with black eyes peeking out of a mask. Not your fault, just my brain's 

Awn, should be nice to pet him <3 Believe me, animation is all about practice. I am really surprised by how much I evolved since we started this project, I just kept working and studying. I'm sure you will be an amazing animator if you work hard <3

Hahaha, I believe you see it like that because there is no visible line separating the eyes. For a 32x32 character size, I had to get rid of this single pixel >.< That's the main struggle with pixel art in small-sized characters, there is a lot of thinking in adding or remove details that may not be easy to read. It is super fun though! You end up with interesting ideas or even better ones =D

[kampy]

I just wanted to drop in and say this project is looking and sounding great. I look forward to seeing more progress.

[GabZero]

Greetings!

I have finally completed all the new animations for the Hero! Phew! With more frames, more moves and more details, it has been an awesome journey. I have adjusted a few animations from previous posts but in overall, the Hero is complete. Next step should be the external effects.

For now, these are some of the animations:

Death:


Chakra Charge:


Thrust:


Updated Sword Attack:


I had to make a new version for the Great Shuriken when it is launched from the ground:


New INTRO animation:


New INTRO animation, now compared to the original one:



I may post some gameplay soon with the Ninja Tools working.

Onward, ninjas!

[GabZero]

Greetings, ninjas!

We are happy to announce that Galope now has a Patreon page! If you wish to support us a little further, your help will greatly be appreciated! You can know a little bit more about on the link as well:

https://www.patreon.com/galopeteam

>>> What is Patreon?

It is a way to support creators with a monthly income. You can help with just a little tip, only 1$ or any sum you wish, and with the help of many other supporters, the creators may have a nice financial help to keep working and improving their projects! For Galope, this will help us to keep producing the games and also with the development costs. In return, there are regular updates and specific rewards like your name in the games credits, access to BETA testing and keys! Click on the link to know more =3

Thanks, everyone for every kind of support! You are the best!!

Onward! ◣◢

[GabZero]

Greetings, ninjas!

Mini-log #36 is live! We finished the new hud (this time is for real haha) and you can check the details on this post:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/27419483

Onward! ◣◢

[GabZero]

Greetings, ninjas!

Mini-log #37 for Meawja is live! Check out the new look for the Bamboo Forest:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/27671226

[GabZero]

Hey, ninjas! ◣◢

Another fresh update: Mini-Log #38 includes the underground section of the Bamboo Forest and the training targets. Check it out:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/27778586