Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length

 
Advanced search

1411196 Posts in 69314 Topics- by 58380 Members - Latest Member: feakk

March 18, 2024, 10:20:57 PM

Need hosting? Check out Digital Ocean
(more details in this thread)
TIGSource ForumsCommunityDevLogs= Space Punk Slam Dunk =
Pages: [1] 2 3
Print
Author Topic: = Space Punk Slam Dunk =  (Read 16527 times)
ProgramGamer
Administrator
Level 10
******


aka Mireille


View Profile
« on: January 17, 2018, 04:54:36 AM »


Official Space Punk Slam Dunk Devlog

Summary:

Space Punk Slam Dunk is a puzzle platformer being developed by me with music composed by rj, composer for Homestuck, but also for Muddledash, BULLETIN, Salem, HALT AND C R T T R! Space Punk is a game where you, a young girl on her way to the gym, gets her sports equipment stolen by alien punks. Eager to get your stuff back, you jump in the alien ship's tractor beam and make your way through the various sections of the ship to retrieve your stolen items. The game involves using basketballs to solve puzzles and defeat the no-good space punks!

Release Platforms:

We plan on releasing the game for PC, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Switch and maybe a few more down the line. The different versions will most likely release in that order, with a few months in between to give us some time to port the game properly.

Promotion:

For regular updates concerning the game, please check our official Twitter account!

Technical:

As you may have seen from the posts on our Twitter account above, we are (well, I am) in the process of completely re-writing the game, from scratch, in C++. The reason for that has to do with our plans to port to Nintendo consoles. The game, up until about a week and a half ago, was being developed with Game Maker Studio 2. The problem with that is that GMS2 doesn't have an export function for 3DS and Switch, so if we want to release for Nintendo consoles, which is where we anticipate our target audience to be, we need to "switch" tools.

Finally...

We hope you'll enjoy seeing the game together as much as we enjoy making it! We'll keep you posted with regular updates both here and on Twitter! If you have feedback or questions, don't hesitate to post!
« Last Edit: January 22, 2019, 08:08:05 PM by ProgramGamer » Logged

Nikolas
Level 0
**



View Profile
« Reply #1 on: January 17, 2018, 08:31:32 AM »

The name is awesome!
Logged

ProgramGamer
Administrator
Level 10
******


aka Mireille


View Profile
« Reply #2 on: January 17, 2018, 08:56:13 AM »

Thanks! It was actually rj who came up with it after we finalized the enemy design and basketball theme.
Logged

SchriefFighter
Level 1
*


View Profile
« Reply #3 on: January 17, 2018, 09:59:53 AM »

Love the name
Logged
Josh Bossie
Level 3
***


Fly Safe, Pup


View Profile WWW
« Reply #4 on: January 17, 2018, 01:55:36 PM »

Just wanted to say I'm also here for the name.

I was actually half expecting a game similar to the Barkley RPG games, and given that GIF you posted on Twitter I might not be that far off
Logged

ProgramGamer
Administrator
Level 10
******


aka Mireille


View Profile
« Reply #5 on: January 17, 2018, 02:56:56 PM »

Not gonna lie, I had to look up what the Barkley RPG games are. Having said that, Space Jam definitely came up when me and rj would discuss game ideas haha.
Logged

rj
Level 10
*****


bad, yells


View Profile WWW
« Reply #6 on: January 17, 2018, 04:50:20 PM »

i am an avid fan of barkley shut up and jam gaiden and you can be certain that the phrase “chaos dunk” will be used at least once
Logged

ProgramGamer
Administrator
Level 10
******


aka Mireille


View Profile
« Reply #7 on: January 17, 2018, 06:32:30 PM »

rj, you knew about this potential source of inspiration and never told me about it? How could you!  Cry

(just kidding, you probably told me about it a thousand times and I just don't remember)
Logged

Cobralad
Cowardly Baby
Level 10
*****



View Profile
« Reply #8 on: January 18, 2018, 12:54:08 AM »

looks like BAWOB on itch.io
Logged
rj
Level 10
*****


bad, yells


View Profile WWW
« Reply #9 on: January 18, 2018, 01:27:09 AM »

it's that, but stronger
Logged

ProgramGamer
Administrator
Level 10
******


aka Mireille


View Profile
« Reply #10 on: January 26, 2018, 01:37:07 PM »

Since there's a lack of actual game stuff to show due to me hitting the reset button on this project (as stated in the OP) I'm going to present you with some concept art for the main character and the alien enemies. Don't worry, I'll get to the good in-game stuff in time  Wink

 

 
Logged

ProgramGamer
Administrator
Level 10
******


aka Mireille


View Profile
« Reply #11 on: August 12, 2018, 06:11:37 PM »

Hey, sorry about the lack of updates in the last, uh, wow, 6+ months huh. To be perfectly honest, I had planned to wait a bit before posting updates so that I'd have a backlog of stuff to talk about, but I got busy with life (good stuff, don't worry) and I sorta forgot to post about any of it. But I'm making it up now, and I should have a post to publish here about every one or two weeks for the foreseable future!

Update #1 (Finally!): Player Sprites

So, before I start talking about the game proper, I'd like to get into a bit of where I'm going with the graphical style of this project, and compare it to their previous iteration in the old Game Maker version.

So, to start off, let's look at the main character, Serena:



So, as you can see, her first iteration's face was bit more rounded, and there's anti-aliasing between pixel clusters. Her feet were also much narrower, which didn't make much sense considering whe's running around a lot, and her hairstyle was also different due to the fact that, at that point in development, the inciting incident for the story was to have the aliens steal her hairband, which she would have gotten back at the end of the game. She also grew a few inches while the game was being made!

There's a few reasons for these changes. First, I wanted to make her silhouette a bit more defined and easily identifiable, so I gave her a better posture and a bit wilder hair, and I made her a bit taller so she'd take up more screen space. Second, while the anti-aliasing wasn't bad per se, it felt a bit inconsistent and messy in the places I did use it, especially on the face, so I decided to throw it out entirely and go with solid clusters of pixels with no AA in most cases. I feel like this gives it a bit more of a crisp GBAesque look, which is an aesthetic I can definitely get behind! Also, some of the AA was done with transparent pixels on the edges, which some purists might frown upon.

I also did a running animation, though I'm not going to go in great detail into why I made it the way I did quite yet because I intend to rework it for various reasons. I'll say though that I'm pretty happy with the ponytail flow in this one. Here it is, compared with its old version. There's a few other animations as well, but they don't read as well when not in motion, so I'd rather show them in action in proper game capture.



A more subtle detail with this design (and something rj came up with if memory serves) is the color scheme. The two main colors in this design are purple and yellow, and derivatives thereof. With purple and yellow being relatively underused complementary colors, I think this gives Serena qutie a distinct and contrasting look.



And that's about it for now! Sorry if this was a bit underwhelming after such a long time. I'll try to have some gameplay footage next time! And I do mean try, because, well, I'm in the middle of refactoring a bunch of technical stuff in the game right now, and all these changes somehow completely broke collisions with level tiles, so every moving object goes through walls right now.

Maybe I should rework this game to be about ghosts instead then Tongue

In any case, I'm working on this while working a full time job and making preparations for University, so I'll be a bit busy in the next few weeks. Again though, since I have a backlog of juicy technical details to talk about, I should be able to post here even if I don't manage to make much progress on the actual game.

See you in the next one!
Logged

litHermit
Level 1
*


1


View Profile WWW
« Reply #12 on: August 13, 2018, 04:08:34 AM »

Also here for the name.
Liking the main char design, also much prefer the look of the crisper sprite with less AA
Logged

Ramos
Level 9
****



View Profile WWW
« Reply #13 on: August 13, 2018, 04:31:00 AM »

Very fluid animation you have there, gj
Logged

WayedOut
Level 0
**



View Profile
« Reply #14 on: August 13, 2018, 06:15:48 AM »

Another  Hand Thumbs Up Right for the name lol.
Animations are looking good so far too
Logged
rj
Level 10
*****


bad, yells


View Profile WWW
« Reply #15 on: August 13, 2018, 05:35:52 PM »

i can't wait to get rich off of naming this game
Logged

ProgramGamer
Administrator
Level 10
******


aka Mireille


View Profile
« Reply #16 on: August 22, 2018, 03:54:39 PM »

First off, I'd like to thank everyone who replied to the first update! I was a bit worried about reviving the devlog since it'd been so long since I posted, but seeing your positive response revived a sense of enthusiasm in me! I'm now more eager to post updates here and I can't wait for you all to see where this game goes!

Update #2: Gameplay

Last time, I talked a bit about the main character and her sprites, as well as the way in which they differ from their previous incarnations. This time, we'll see how they and a few others look in action!

As you probably already know, this game is an action-focused puzzle-platformer about defeating aliens by hurling basketballs at them. While the premise is simple enough, there's a few creative ways you can use basketballs to your advantage.

Of course, there's always the good old reliable way of bonking your enemies in the head with a sportsball:


(Please ignore the lack of animations in this particular example, animations take time to make and the way all this works is not finalized quite yet.)

But that's not all! Throwing basketballs also provides you with some handy movement options!



This mechanic lets you access some otherwise inaccessible areas in the game, and is sometimes used as a setup for a puzzle since you effectively can't take the basketball with you when you do this. It's also worth mentioning that the basketball can hit aliens on its way down >Smiley

Then, I'll talk a bit about stuff that's not part of the player's controls, but rather functionality enabled by objects placed in levels. First, let's talk about buttons and doors, the two most quintessential puzzle elements in video games. These are simple enough; Any object that collides with the button activates it, in turn activating whatever object is being activated by that button, which in this case is a door. It's worth noting that some other objects will have the ability to be activated by buttons, though I'm not telling what they are just yet.



Finally, let's talk about baskets. After all, what's a game of basketball without a basket, am I right? The role of baskets are simple; They're basically the same as buttons, except for the fact that they stay activated after you throw a ball in them. They'll be used mostly for end-of-level triggers, but can also serve other purposes in some more rare and unique cases.

You will also, of course, be able to perform a proper Slam Dunk if you come in contact with a basket while holding a basketball!



And this concludes this gameplay-focused update! It's not super detailed since the game is still relatively early in development, but I think I'll be able to make it into something pretty fun and unique eventually!

Also, despite what I said above, I think I'll add a placeholder throwing animation soon. It looks kinda goofy for Serena to telekinetically launch basketballs forwards, and you're gonna be seeing gifs of her doing that quite a lot in the future, so it's probably a wise time investment.

Again, see you in the next one!
Logged

andyfromiowa
Level 1
*



View Profile
« Reply #17 on: August 22, 2018, 06:53:51 PM »

Looks like a cool project. FYI, it was recently announced that Game Maker Studio 2 is getting a Switch export module in the near future. I'm sure there are a lot of benefits to writing your own engine, especially if you're also developing for 3DS, but just thought I'd mention it.

Good luck!  Smiley Hand Thumbs Up Right
Logged

ProgramGamer
Administrator
Level 10
******


aka Mireille


View Profile
« Reply #18 on: August 24, 2018, 05:28:11 AM »

Yeah, I follow YoYo Games on twitter, so I found out almost immediately when the Switch export was announced. It came out two or three months after I'd decided to switch engines too, which was a huge bummer at the time. The one thing GMS2 doesn't have though is an option to export for 3DS, and since Nintendo still seemingly wants to support that line of consoles, I'd say it's still worth the effort to make the game with a tool that's 3DS compatible, which in this case is just C++.

In any case, I appreciate the thought! And thanks, I'll do my best to make sure it's a fun game!
Logged

ProgramGamer
Administrator
Level 10
******


aka Mireille


View Profile
« Reply #19 on: August 28, 2018, 01:40:47 PM »

Hey, just wanted to say there's not gonna be a devlog post this week. I'm moving into my apartment, then next week I'm starting university, plus I have to meet up with someone in order to figure out exactly what my schedule is going to be since I'm caught between two weird situations with that. Nothing to worry about, but it does mean my focus is going to be elsewhere for the time being. I'll have something a bit more nerdy to talk about next week though!

Anyway, hope you have a nice week nonetheless!
Logged

Pages: [1] 2 3
Print
Jump to:  

Theme orange-lt created by panic