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TIGSource ForumsCommunityDevLogsBrainmelter Deluxe - platforming with a twist (out now on Steam!)
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Author Topic: Brainmelter Deluxe - platforming with a twist (out now on Steam!)  (Read 3685 times)
Cosmocat Games
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« on: September 30, 2018, 05:05:10 AM »

Hi all, I'd like to introduce you to my newest game: Brainmelter Deluxe! This is the second in my series of smaller games--the last one being Cosmic Ray--that I hope to develop, release, and market in 3 months or less.

Brainmelter Deluxe is a platformer with a (quite literal) twist: the level rotates 90 degrees when you jump.





The levels are randomized in a similar way to Spelunky, but slightly more linear/predictable. The format is similar as well (4 worlds of 4 levels each), but I also have (mostly) non-lethal "transition" levels between worlds to give the player a bit of a break, as the main gameplay can be quite intense. Oh yeah, and deaths are over the top... because I can. Evil

As with my past couple games, I've chosen to release on Steam--I'm starting to get a bit of a flow/process down so it's kind of a no-brainer--but I'm especially excited by the fact that there are only 3 buttons, which means a mobile version is a definite possibility. (likely Android first)

I'm working with the guy who did the art for Thy Sword. His style is very small pixels, which works well for my budget, and the short timeframe.

I'm also really happy with the way the soundtrack turned out. Instead of going the obvious/cliché route (chiptunes), I went with instrumental hip-hop and funky stuff.

Anyhow, thanks for checking it out. Drop me a line if this sounds interesting to you, and/or feel free to stop by my Discord, where I generally post lots of exclusive content.
« Last Edit: June 22, 2019, 03:57:04 AM by snugsound » Logged

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« Reply #1 on: September 30, 2018, 05:17:09 AM »

I have something like this in mind for the transition levels; a spooky server room sort of thing. I want these levels to be "safe", but I may have some light puzzles that require rotating the level to solve.



The final boss will likely be a haywire computer--an homage to Portal--so the transition levels would be a bit of foreshadowing and perhaps build in intensity/glitchiness.
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« Reply #2 on: October 01, 2018, 05:13:25 AM »

Here's a quick GIF showcasing some of the work Thomas and I did yesterday:



New stuff you can see in the GIF:
  • new background tiles
  • guidance arrows are now blended with a multiply shader so they look more like part of the background
  • new falling animation, new death frame
  • new sprite for sawblade
  • more intense screen-shake on death

Not pictured:
  • new sprite for spikeballs
  • added SFX for 1UP, swinging blades
  • added ability for player to look up/down (I also started experimenting with a more adaptive camera that focuses on the next room, but my first attempt felt too obtrusive so I may park it for now)

Overall I'm really happy with how quickly this is coming together, and how good it's feeling so far!
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« Reply #3 on: October 06, 2018, 06:09:32 AM »

Hey all, back with another update.

I spent the first part of the week trying to add more "depth" to the environment via shadows, as the whole thing was feeling a bit flat. I tried both tile-based shadows, and real-time (3D) shadows, but in the end, I decided against either. It wasn't worth the extra complexity for something so subtle. (The complexity came from the fact that all of the modules are dynamically rotated and flipped, so the shadows can't be "baked" into the modules.)

Instead, I decided to achieve depth through the addition of some background props. These are just placeholders pilfered from a past game, but you get the idea:



I also kept the dynamic lighting that I had started integrating for shadows. (Originally I had this idea of going "pure" pixel art for this, but the allure of glowing stuff is just too strong Grin) Maybe a bit overkill here in the above shot, but again, you get the idea.

I've also started working on a concept for a boss battle. Essentially, a haywire computer that tries to stomp you. You need to get it to break the solid blocks and land on the spikes below:



Side note: you can see me experimenting with some camera tweaks as well. In this case, constraining the camera position based on the size of the level. I'm still on the fence about this, as it's a bit jarring having the focal point move so abruptly, but the alternative means a lot of empty space on the screen.

Last but not least, I've also commissioned an artist to do some illustrations for the promotional art, as well as the intro and ending cutscenes. We're starting with one of the intro scenes first, to establish the style:



The simple backstory is that your dad works at a lab and it's "bring your kid to work day". You wander off, get into some trouble, and hilarity/insanity ensues.
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« Reply #4 on: October 09, 2018, 04:37:39 AM »

Made a bunch of progress on the boss over the weekend, including:

  • integrating new tiles from Thomas
  • more ambience stuff (steam, lights)
  • boss animations
  • cracking/crumbling blocks
  • SFX for pretty much everything

Here's a video that captures a full playthrough of the boss in its current state:




Next up, switching back to the main game levels and:

  • experimenting with some "ramp" tiles to smooth player movement within/between rooms--all the sharp edges were making it feel a bit clunky
  • switching to a full-size background tilemap (vs. a looped background image), thereby making it possible to add details like pipes that follow the spiraling path of the level
  • adding the ambient stuff from boss room to the main levels (steam, lights)

More shots/GIFs tonight hopefully.
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« Reply #5 on: October 09, 2018, 02:50:36 PM »

Here's a video showing the aforementioned changes to the main game levels:




As an added bonus, it was recorded on a Samsung Galaxy S8. The touch controls came together amazingly fast thanks to InControl, and it runs surprisingly well seeing as I've done almost nothing in the way of optimization.

I was worried all the real-time lights would kill performance (and I'm sure they will on older hardware--I'll likely need to add an option to disable them), but it's a really promising start.

The only potential challenge I see is with the camera size; it's fine on my wide 1080p monitor, but quite small on a 5.6" screen (duh). I'll probably need to add some dynamic camera scaling, i.e. zoom out when falling, or when there's a room below you.

Luckily I had already started implementing logic to look ahead towards the next room. I should be able to easily repurpose this to instead adjust the camera size.
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« Reply #6 on: October 09, 2018, 06:36:54 PM »

Looks good! How do you switch the rotation? Is that a button press or something that is done automatically when the player lands on the ground?
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« Reply #7 on: October 09, 2018, 11:30:02 PM »

inspired by vvvvvvvvvvvv?
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« Reply #8 on: October 10, 2018, 05:06:40 AM »

Looks good! How do you switch the rotation? Is that a button press or something that is done automatically when the player lands on the ground?

Thanks! The level rotates "towards" you when you jump, i.e. you jump onto the wall you're looking at. It takes a minute or two to get used to--mostly because it's so different--but I think it's fairly intuitive once you get the hang of it.
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« Reply #9 on: October 10, 2018, 05:09:55 AM »

inspired by vvvvvvvvvvvv?

Yup, VVVVVV is definitely one of my influences here.

Also, this. I always loved this Smiley

https://youtu.be/_QPGuzGOgSA?t=130

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« Reply #10 on: October 10, 2018, 11:41:09 AM »

Initial sketch for the promo art Cheesy

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« Reply #11 on: October 10, 2018, 01:35:14 PM »

First attempt at dynamic camera zoom and focus:

  • zoom in if there's room below
  • move the focus point below slightly if player is falling (scaled with velocity)

« Last Edit: October 12, 2018, 07:06:42 AM by snugsound » Logged

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« Reply #12 on: October 12, 2018, 07:05:59 AM »

Colour version of the promo art!

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« Reply #13 on: October 15, 2018, 04:41:06 AM »

Solid progress this weekend:

  • Integrated FMOD. It wasn't really in my plans but Unity's lack of a brickwall limiter was getting on my nerves. I capitalized on this addition by improving many of the SFX, making them much more dynamic. For example, the player's corpse impact SFX now blends between a few different squirty gore sounds, and has a base "thud" that scales with the force of the impact. Evil
  • Added the game to the Cosmocat website, along with a link to the devlog.
  • Paid the Steam Direct fee and made it most of the way through the store setup checklist. I just need to capture some shots and video which I hope to do tonight.
  • Created a little composite GIF for #screenshotsaturday. (in retrospect, I should have included more rotation, but it does a pretty good job of showing the visual progress)



I also received another sketch for the intro cutscene. Here are the first two together:




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« Reply #14 on: October 27, 2018, 09:48:04 AM »

The intro cutscene illustrations are really starting to come together:

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« Reply #15 on: October 29, 2018, 10:24:29 AM »

On the development side, I've kind of stalled a bit. I've run into some issues with the character controller I'm using--specifically, the character becoming ungrounded while traversing ramps--and it's one of those things I feel MUST be addressed to move forward as it so negatively affects the experience.

Unfortunately, math and physics are not my strong suits, and I'm not seeing a clear solution to the problem, so I'm going to reach out to my network of developer colleagues to see if somebody is able to help. It's probably a trivial fix for the right person.

Once I get that taken care of that I can get back on track: putting together a video for the Steam store page, putting it live, and then developing some new features. Short-term I'm thinking:

  • new module types, especially focused on the longer rectangular rooms, as I only have a couple of variations for these
  • some additional concepts for the "transition" levels--likely some light puzzling involving flipping the rooms correctly
  • a healthy dose of boilerplate stuff (menus and the like), as I have a nasty habit of putting these off till the very end!
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« Reply #16 on: November 05, 2018, 04:58:01 AM »

This weekend's progress:

  • With the art just about done, I've started building out the intro cutscene using Unity's Timeline. I've got some of the key animations and SFX in place, but still need to add dialog, and maybe some subtle animations in places (cloud movement, camera zoom, etc.)
  • Added foot dust particles when the player lands. It's based on a sprite-sheet animation, but rendered using the particle system.
  • Added a proper door between levels, with animation, some volumetric lighting, and SFX.





On the character controller front, I've made some solid headway here, with some help. Part of the fix will likely involve running the logic in FixedUpdate and increasing the fixed timestep for higher precision, as well as adding an extra raycast to detect the problematic edge cases.
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« Reply #17 on: November 11, 2018, 05:35:33 AM »

On the character controller front, I've made some solid headway here, with some help. Part of the fix will likely involve running the logic in FixedUpdate and increasing the fixed timestep for higher precision, as well as adding an extra raycast to detect the problematic edge cases.

I ended up making so many changes to the open source controller I was using that I figured I should share in case others were facing similar issues. So, here's a fork of prime31's CharacterController2D with the following:

  • fix for bug with player jumping 3x the height when holding down arrow key and jumping
  • fix IDE1006 naming rule violations
  • fix for player becoming ungrounded when turning on a steep slope
  • fix for player X velocity reset when attempting to jump up a steep slope
  • fix for demo player scaled x2
  • add a second slope ray to prevent character from becoming ungrounded at the bottom of slopes
  • execute Move in FixedUpdate, and at a higher resolution than default
  • display debug information in DemoScene
  • change jump key to space bar
  • remove underscore variable notification, bracketless if statements (personal preference)
  • replace jumpingThreshold with explicit parameter (isJumpingThisFrame)
  • play falling animation upon becoming ungrounded
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« Reply #18 on: November 15, 2018, 07:19:21 AM »

Just about ready to put the Steam store page live (for wishlisting/etc.)! Here's a quick trailer I whipped together using footage from the latest build:



« Last Edit: November 15, 2018, 07:41:16 AM by snugsound » Logged

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« Reply #19 on: November 17, 2018, 03:43:11 AM »

The Steam store page is live now! Smiley
« Last Edit: November 17, 2018, 03:48:46 AM by snugsound » Logged

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