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[Lowbit]

Cliff Clambering








This is Lynn’s jump height.
It’s about a tile plus some change.
Not enough to jump over two tiles.


Kind of lame, because it looks like
she should be able to clamber over.









Reaching the top requires players
to perform a ledge hop.



Which takes time.






Doing it just right can be a little bit faster.













And this ledge hopping business is fine,
unless the game is saturated with 2+ tile ledges.





Which it is.

They are everywhere.















As a solution, I’ve crammed in a new move
that’s basically just the tablehop…









… But now it can be performed mid-air!



Smooth!





Clambering is activated by holding
forward against a target cliff. Easy peasy.

Although I’m a little worried that it’s too easy,
and players will unintentionally clamber
right past their target platform.








At least for now, clambering feels like a fun addition.

[flex$]

hey, incredibly smooth stuff. looking butter in motion 

[Lowbit]

Traps - Guillotine





Can I really call it a trap when it's so obvious?






I guess, technically, it's a hazard.

Trap sounds better, though.












In the original version, the guillotine was completely
non-interactive unless it was descending.




That's how it works with spike traps,
but with a giant guillotine it looks funky.











The guillotine now functions as a falling, killer wall.





Which might lead to some issues,
but it's good for now.

[MegaTiny]

Ah I missed the cliff clambering update. Very cool. I don't know how free your control inputs are right now, but you could do an assassins creed and have it so you only clamber when a certain button is held (i.e. a trigger or some such).

[Lowbit]

you could do an assassins creed and have it so you only
clamber when a certain button is held (i.e. a trigger or some such).

I agree! In fact, that’s exactly what I started with.

Right-Trigger = Grab





Or at least that's what it used to be.


Playtesters couldn’t get the hang of it.
I’m not sure if the tutorial was lacking or what,
but my solution was to drop R-Trigger
and focus on automatic input.




R-Trigger still works, but so does holding
the jump button, or holding forward.




Players now grab ledges on accident.
In a good way.






I also made grapple points automatic.
Instead of holding a button, you
just snap right onto them.










And playtesters pick it up immediately.

I’m a total convert to automated controls.
I’ve joined the cult. My card is in the mail.

Right trigger? What right trigger?

[Lowbit]

Traps - Blade Spinners




Like the guillotine, not hidden.
So, technically, not traps.





Close one.





I've got them scooting back and forth.

Still searching for the best positions
to turn them into satisfying obstacles.






Also, close.





Buzzsaws are a pretty common
hazard, aren't they?























You know what?



Forget about blade spinners.
That's old news.




Traps - Blade Spinners










This post is now all about ferris wheels.












New title!

Ferris Wheel





Whee!







Maybe I should combine them...

[Lowbit]

Castle Vomm

Completed the tileset and room layout for a new level.







A very Grayskull green.












Doors are fun to break, so I put a bunch of them in the castle.











But those leftover, empty hinges look a little odd.

They might need some splintered wood, or something.












This is the first level that I gave a dropshadow to the background wall.

It kind of gives the castle a (vague) dollhouse look.












The next step is to fill it with monsters.

I'm planning on tubby knights, axe goblins, and magical constructs that climb out of the walls.

[Lowbit]

Castle Vomm: Axe Goblin






What a hero.










Now that I'm taking a second look...



...That back leg is kind of rigid.















This is a lot more lewd than I intended.














Here's a turn animation without any flip frames.



That sorta works, I guess.







But two extra frames really help sell it.















I've begun avoiding dead-center keyframes.




Most of the time, I feel like it looks better without them.

(Also, it's a million times easier.)













Can't wait to do the SFX for this guy.

[QOG]

Really impressive attention to detail, thanks for sharing some of your thought process. Also: am I supposed to think of vomit when I read "Castle Vomm" because the goblin sure isn't making me not think that.

[Lowbit]

Also: am I supposed to think of vomit when I read "Castle Vomm" because the goblin sure isn't making me not think that.

Just a dumb syllable with an extra M in the trunk.

Ironically, this is the one level where there aren't any enemies who spit at you.

            Except for this guy.

[Lowbit]

Castle Vomm: Belfry Blueberry





Hold on. I got another guy who vomits.















The Belfry Blueberry. ?

Technically, you need a bell in your tower to have a belfry.
And I've never seen a dull red blueberry, before.

But after you write a dumb filename at 3AM, why change it?













Most of my enemies are designed to walk around,
but this guy is built for tower chests only.

He just sits right on top of them.








Check out the layer setup.












I'm growing fonder of badguys with big faces.

They're fun to animate.

[Lowbit]

Castle Vomm: Bird Knight








1


I kept an archive of the WIPs.

Thought I'd share.








2



The objective is an 8-frame run animation.

Cape's the trickiest part,
so I did that first.








3


Applied bounce.












4



Right here, I already messed up.







5



Have you ever just turned on a podcast and zoned out?

That's what happened here, because I just kept going.

See the biff?






For reference, here's what I didn't do:




Those are proper bird legs.






I gave people legs to a bird.








6






I was going to redo the people legs,
but, technically, the animation works.

They just look super weird.

And the animation took so long to make
that I had time to grow attached to it.



So, end result:



7



It kinda looks like a guy in tights wearing a bird suit.

[Devilkay]

AWESOME  an amazing pixel art and the moviments are very fluid! Incredible!

[Lowbit]

Directional Death Animations



Most of the enemy death animations are non-directional.



The giblets have no preferred momentum.









But I have a handful of enemies with
directional death animations.




Single-color sprites are soooo easy to animate.



I find these animations a lot more satisfying, but unless I make an extra version
for when the enemy gets struck in the back, the animation has limited purpose.












So I only create directional death animations for enemies who
spawn and attack in a very reliable direction.







PSHHHOOOooo...

[Lowbit]

Squirrel King


I'm wrapping up asset creation for Castle Vomm.
Still a ton left to do, but at least the art's finished.







Here's the boss with his descending, floating, and rising animations.

Like any self-respecting castle boss, he's got a crown.
Like any self-respecting squirrel, he flies with his ears.

I'm not yet sure whether the tail should count as something the player can attack.
No damage-on-touch, though. That'd be annoying.






Up next is The Capital, which will be the biggest level in the game. I'm very excited to get started!

[Lowbit]

Auto-Run







Just walking



Starting jog



Loping jog



Full run





After 1.5 seconds of jogging, Lynn breaks into a run.

Any action, from jumping to attacking, instantly cancels the run.


I'm sure this'll make playtesters happy, but if I'm being
honest, I just wanted an excuse to make a run animation.

[Lowbit]

Pizza Time


I'm working on some animations
of Lynn eating snacks.



Here's the pizza animation. In reverse.

[Lowbit]

HP Bar: Slap and Tickle




5-year-old health bar versus yesterday's results.


I'm terrible at UI, but permutation breeds results. Eventually.

Between you and me, I really shouldn't be doing this.
UI polish is something that should come after
the levels are asset complete.

But since this game's development just hit its fifth birthday
I've decided to treat myself to a diversion before
I have to shuffle back down into the sprite mines.

(Maybe tomorrow I'll put some shine on the pause screen.)

[turnipinrut]

this looks fantastic!