AuthorTopic: [wip] Bilou's school : Pendats goes marchin' in [c+c]  (Read 102767 times)

Offline PypeBros

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Re: [wip] Bilou's school : injet ahead! [c+c]

Reply #120 on: March 10, 2013, 03:31:49 pm

I would vote for that one. Now show us the ink!
Thanks for the vote.
is the ink.
(that's an emulator-recorded animation. it may skip some frame from time to time. I hope I'll be able to use the hardware to shear the sprites so that the larger horizontal speed droplets have, the more "skewed" they look).

Offline Lazycow

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Re: [wip] Bilou's school : injet ahead! [c+c]

Reply #121 on: March 14, 2013, 06:09:15 am
Hm... Is "Inky" supposed to fly in the air or was that just a test?

->
I like the spit-animation, but seeing Inky moving around, I think it could be a bit more dynamic. With my humble animating-capabilities, I only could think of a small bounce, caused by the inertia of the ink.

Another thing, when Inky starts to spit, his eyes get centered again. This is a bit confusing for my eye, I would suggest doing different spit animations with the eyes looking in the correct direction.
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Re: [wip] Bilou's school : injet ahead! [c+c]

Reply #122 on: March 14, 2013, 08:14:24 am
Nice animations. I agree with LazyCow though that the ink bottle enemies should "jump" instead of float. That's what the animation seems to suggest he's doing.
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Offline PypeBros

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Re: [wip] Bilou's school : injet ahead! [c+c]

Reply #123 on: March 14, 2013, 01:19:18 pm
Hm... Is "Inky" supposed to fly in the air or was that just a test?
He's indeed supposed to float, or to camp on some location. Actually, he's the moving platform of the level, but a platform that may throw you up and throw droplets when you're not riding him.

Quote
Another thing, when Inky starts to spit, his eyes get centered again. This is a bit confusing for my eye, I would suggest doing different spit animations with the eyes looking in the correct direction.
The more things progress, the more it seems to be an un-satisfying choice to have such a strong direction for the eyes. I need to think about it.
« Last Edit: March 14, 2013, 03:35:01 pm by PypeBros »

Offline Ymedron

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Re: [wip] Bilou's school : injet ahead! [c+c]

Reply #124 on: March 14, 2013, 02:39:48 pm
If they are floating, maybe have them sit on top of a platform of some kind? For example, a revolving ruler with pencils as the plaforms -> the inkbottle is camping the pencil. It seems like an odd/inconsistent choice to have an ink bottle fly around, when it doesn't really have any qualities that would allow it to do that. (If it was spitting ink as a weird kind of jetpack, that would make some kind of sense.)
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Offline PypeBros

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Re: [wip] Bilou's school : injet ahead! [c+c]

Reply #125 on: March 14, 2013, 03:50:30 pm
If they are floating, maybe have them sit on top of a platform of some kind? For example, a revolving ruler with pencils as the plaforms -> the inkbottle is camping the pencil. It seems like an odd/inconsistent choice to have an ink bottle fly around, when it doesn't really have any qualities that would allow it to do that. (If it was spitting ink as a weird kind of jetpack, that would make some kind of sense.)

Well, common sense (including mine) dictates that you're right. There are plenty of situations where I could have a physical support even though the Inkjets move around, as you suggest. There are a few cases (involved as key elements in some levels I designed already) where I have no good alternative because they really serve the floating platform purpose.

Yet, former video games are full of floating platforms that float for no clear reason (or abstract reasons not depicted on screen), and the rules in Bilou's world are usually more cartoony than any realistic. I'm very tempted to follow this line, although I admit that for gameplay reasons, it could be interesting to have a visual clue on whether an inkjet is camping or floating (like "when they're empty, they can float").

Offline k93

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Re: [wip] Bilou's school : injet ahead! [c+c]

Reply #126 on: March 14, 2013, 03:54:43 pm
Even with a cartoonish sense of physics, it would make more sense for the player to see those inkwells standing on moving platforms. You could then create platforms with one or various black stains.

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Re: [wip] Bilou's school : injet ahead! [c+c]

Reply #127 on: March 14, 2013, 09:59:35 pm
The problem is, usually floaty platforms are non-animated blocks of some kind. They are also very consistent. "Square blocks can move around vertically or horizontally in the air." But wouldn't it look wrong/scary if suddenly the platforms started following you around or floating around in non-consistent patterns?
What about the ink bottles makes them special? Is there a special reason why they can float while other enemies can't? Why doesn't it show in their design? Even giving inkbottles wings would make better sense than having them slide around on the screen. (Also, the way they can touch the platform as they pass it by without reacting to it makes it look even weirder, as in sidescrollers touching platforms -> you are standing on it. Flying enemies always keep a certain distance from the platforms unless they are programmed to fly through walls.)

I strongly urge you to rethink your choice here, it's detracting from the rest of your game.
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Re: [wip] Bilou's school : injet ahead! [c+c]

Reply #128 on: March 15, 2013, 09:05:27 am
The problem is, usually floaty platforms are non-animated blocks of some kind. They are also very consistent. "Square blocks can move around vertically or horizontally in the air." But wouldn't it look wrong/scary if suddenly the platforms started following you around or floating around in non-consistent patterns?
I had no plans to have inkjet following the character. Actually, they're "on rails", and you can spot those direction-changing tiles that are still visible on the level.

Quote
What about the ink bottles makes them special? Is there a special reason why they can float while other enemies can't? Why doesn't it show in their design?
I have to admit that I have no good answer to those accurate questions. I could make up some like "but wait, they're carrying ink! the magic that brings words to life, etc." but that would not make it more consistent so I guess I'd better not try to.

Quote
(Also, the way they can touch the platform as they pass it by without reacting to it makes it look even weirder, as in sidescrollers touching platforms -> you are standing on it. Flying enemies always keep a certain distance from the platforms unless they are programmed to fly through walls.)
Oh, that's just the direction-changing tiles that are a bit too close. Nothing intentional here.

Quote
Even giving inkbottles wings would make better sense than having them slide around on the screen.
I strongly urge you to rethink your choice here, it's detracting from the rest of your game.
You definitely got a point here. I value "better game immersion through consistent fantasy", so since you demonstrated I have no way to make the fantasy of floating inkjets consistent, I will make my best to recycle levels and sprites to the best as soon as I'm done with the technical challenges in the engine that they allow me to illustrate and test.

Moreover, the fanbase approves. Let's make it so.
« Last Edit: March 15, 2013, 10:21:31 am by PypeBros »

Offline Ymedron

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Re: [wip] Bilou's school : injet ahead! [c+c]

Reply #129 on: March 15, 2013, 12:48:50 pm
Quote
I had no plans to have inkjet following the character. Actually, they're "on rails", and you can spot those direction-changing tiles that are still visible on the level.
Hehe, that was mainly me trying to prove the case of how extremely important consistency is for a game. <:U!

I hope you find a solution that is satisfying to you~
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