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[SirTrashyton]

Hi,

I'm new to the forums and new to game development (releasing a game, that is), my friend and I are creating a 2D sidescroller and would like feedback on the concept. Our goal being a completely free to download IOS game, and or a desktop release. The art is game is this artist's first work with pixel art, and we would love feedback. Please note that the art in the screenshot is far from being final. The game is coded in Java and has many custom coded systems such as physics hard and soft, entities, parallax backgrounds, dynamic blood and more. We are aiming for a summer release, so any constructive criticism for now is much appreciated.

The environment is wet and harsh, the rules of this underwater food chain is clear; eat or be eaten. Spawn as small albacore (Thunnus alalunga) who's presence is over shadowed by a multitude of creatures. The food chain in this environment is dictated not only by size, but by wit. There are many reef fish that populate the abundant kelp and coral, such as Damsel (Pomacentridae) and Angel fish (Pterophyllum). Others prefer the open water. Tuna (Thunnini), Swordifsh (Xiphias gladius) and whales pass over the reef individually in a brave dash, or in larger pacts to avoid even larger predators. The taste of blood travels quickly underwater, they say, as sharks and almost any other fish can at any moment take your pray. Eels (tobacco hornworm) lurk under the sand and rockfish disguise themselfs as small rocks . Use your environment to your advantage as your fight your way up the food chain and subsequently deeper into the ocean. Almost everything that can swim, will probably try to eat you. Then again, the climbing perch (Anabas testudineus) fish doesn't need to swim.

Think a fishy-like game with complex enemies, a lush handrawn environment and items to visually augment and change gameplay upon each play.

gifs:
https://i.gyazo.com/834a7a64c928166c510b058e3035945e.mp4
https://i.gyazo.com/936152211250d28f88ee085cdf537e15.mp4
https://i.gyazo.com/d2d889c2e32c7c8d26a02b3f5c97d62e.mp4
screenshots:




- Jake from Black Ear Studios

[pyxelbit]

sounds like a interesting idea for a game - i imagine the gameplay is kinda like the start of spore?
i like the overall look and the vivid colors. i think this could be a great gameplay with some finetuning on the graphics and proper gameplay.


heres some quick feedback:

[SirTrashyton]

That is definitely what we are going for, however most of the strategy will be contained in the interactions between pray and and predators. Items will be distinct and visual, all affecting a crucial part of gameplay, in a way that, hopefully,  insinuates interesting and different situations each play.

Thank you for the feedback on the art, it is much appreciated! The style of the fish will be consistent in the end, and we agree that many are not consistent with brush size either. Now for distinction between the foreground and background I would love to be creative but don't know how to start. We looked at 2D shadows casted by the rocks in the front layer, but decided that it would be too dark for entities to be visible. Any ideas on how to increase distinction between the layers?
Here are some (kinda-but-bot-even-updated) screenshots:
https://gyazo.com/833916c97d761895000ad1ed3a550b66
https://gyazo.com/c2a1ac0cbe0210a69f4f2ef01efcaa07

[pyxelbit]

i think making the background more blue and less saturated works quite well for the most part. smaller assets to imply them beeing further away is also good. the kontrast between the layers just need to be more extreme. its not very clear what is infront of the fish, behind or on the same layer. especially with the coralls. sometimes they are infront while the thing they are growing on is behind the fish. you could maybe do it like in the example i did, but i imagine its rather difficult with the parallax and collissions . always behind or infront the fish would be way easier i guess.

[Ramos]

I agree with pixelbit but there is something that makes it attractive the way it is, I played something similar on Nintendo or sega and triggered my nostalgia meter