Pixelation

Critique => Pixel Art => Topic started by: AdamAtomic on March 27, 2007, 11:06:30 pm

Title: Wii Got Fliis - A Wii Flash Game WIP
Post by: AdamAtomic on March 27, 2007, 11:06:30 pm
I thought I better start a new thread for this, as it is something I'd still like a lot of feedback on, and the feedback I have gotten already is very helpful, but its kind of buried in my other thread.  So!  A new one.

To sum up:  a few weeks ago I registered the URL 'wiigotfliis' on an impulse, thinking it might be fun to make a flash game using the new Flash Wiimote API by Wiicade (http://www.wiicade.com/api.aspx).  Around the same time I was playing Kirby's Adventure and Kid Icarus on the Wii VC, and Poyo (http://www.tigsource.com/articles/2006/07/22/poyo) on the PC.  So I got thinking about all the old puzzle platformers that demolished my childhood, like Solomon's Key and Lemmings, and thinking I might like to try and make a little homage to those games.  So I started thinking about this game that would be pretty simple as far as controls go, just a "follow me" toggle button and jump button.  You play a momma flea guiding her crazed baby fleas through a surreal/abstract (and as you will soon see crappy) single screen platform area.  This started to get mixed up with some NES mockup ideas, and well, just generally went south:

Mockup 1:
(http://wiigotfliis.lastchancemedia.com/temp.gif)

I was rightly and justly admonished for "phoning it in" and "sucking" (to paraphrase!), so last night I tried a little too hard to make it all retro and NES-y, resulting in Mockup 2:

(http://wiigotfliis.lastchancemedia.com/mockup2.gif)

Looks good compared to mockup 1, but then, anything would!  So, version 3:

(http://wiigotfliis.lastchancemedia.com/mockup3.gif)

Ptoing and Panda finally convinced me that this experiment was a failure, and for that I thank them, because I have a NEW IDEA now!


"Wii Got Fliis" - The New Idea
The new idea is you play a tiny exterminator named Jeffrey, as pictured here:

(http://wiigotfliis.lastchancemedia.com/jeffrey.gif)

This game will have a jump button and a "blow" button.  The blow button shoots air out of your gun, pushing things about in a hopefully pleasantly physicsy way.  The goal on each level is to exterminate all the fleas, frequently by using your gun to push them into water, spikes, etc.  There will be various temporary powerups, such as Poison (kill any fleas that your air gun touches) and the Gasmask (allow you to walk through poison before it dissipates).  The plan is for this game's graphics to NOT be crappy and phoned in; I'll post a new environment later today.  Thanks!

EDIT - mini-update before I start working on the environment, jeffrey is on the move...

(http://wiigotfliis.lastchancemedia.com/jeffrey_runs.gif)
Title: Re: Wii Got Fliis - A Wii Flash Game WIP
Post by: Alucard on March 27, 2007, 11:14:46 pm
Finally a truly killer apps for the Wii!

It is interesting enough and I would totally play it on my Wii
Title: Re: Wii Got Fliis - A Wii Flash Game WIP
Post by: AdamAtomic on March 28, 2007, 02:36:52 am
the new stuff so far:

(http://wiigotfliis.lastchancemedia.com/mockup4.gif)

very very WIP - most of the stuff in it so far is just there to get promotion's auto-tile to pick out the right stuff!  not sure how to approach the rest but i know i don't want to rely on outlines, or go completely realistic/dithered...

EDIT - yeah there's no plants for the roots yet :P
Title: Re: Wii Got Fliis - A Wii Flash Game WIP
Post by: Grindie on March 28, 2007, 03:38:20 am
I love everything I see here. That sprite is excellent! I love the damn anmation!
Title: Re: Wii Got Fliis - A Wii Flash Game WIP
Post by: Faceless on March 28, 2007, 03:46:10 am
Without any bounce in his step, the hat flapping on Jeffrey looks bizarre.
I've not got anything to say about the tiles as of yet, other than that I don't think the repeating squares in the grass work.
Title: Re: Wii Got Fliis - A Wii Flash Game WIP
Post by: Cure on March 28, 2007, 04:03:28 am
That insecticide swashing around in the pack is real nice.  Yeah, I'd definitely keep this simple, undetailed look, its working well.
Title: Re: Wii Got Fliis - A Wii Flash Game WIP
Post by: AdamAtomic on March 28, 2007, 05:27:51 am
Faceless - 100% dude, I completely agree.  Here is a redux on the Jeffrey:

(http://wiigotfliis.lastchancemedia.com/jeffrey_runs.gif) (http://wiigotfliis.lastchancemedia.com/jeffrey_runs2.gif)
OLD vs NEW

I fixed his bounce and hat movement, and I also shaded his back leg darker, let me know if you spot anything else, thanks!

Grindie, Cure - thanks, the environment has a long ways to go though!

EDIT - Minor level update:

(http://wiigotfliis.lastchancemedia.com/mockup4b.gif)

EDIT AGAIN - just realized that my stone is a completely different style from the rest of the graphics...
Title: Re: Wii Got Fliis - A Wii Flash Game WIP
Post by: Panda on March 28, 2007, 07:55:33 am
I definitely like this approach more.
It is coming nice, though the colors on the tiles aren't my cup of tea.
I hope you kinda break that blocky feeling on the tiles on further updates.
(And since you are more of a dino fan, I guess you could add fossils in the soil.)

Just some random idea, but maybe you could make some multiplayer mode where one plays as the exterminator, and the other one as the fleas (so practically it is a mouse-cat chase). The exterminator having lives + limited weapon usage (so once you run out of either you are screwed), and the fleas losing family members.
Title: Re: Wii Got Fliis - A Wii Flash Game WIP
Post by: snake on March 28, 2007, 09:17:47 am
Looks very promising. I take it that it's still designed for Wii controll? If so, maybe you should do a scaled version. By the looks of the app. there is a zoom feature, but it's always better to maximise the potential of fullscreen IMO.

Looking at your consept, I immediately thought of a mix of Mario (the hat and pipes) and his stand-in in Donkey Kong 3: Stanley the Bugman (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a2/BioStanley.jpg/180px-BioStanley.jpg). He used a similar design of using a pump for spraying insects with bugspray.

I like where this is going though. I'm a fan of stylistic approaches to gamedesign, so I don't feel like I need to point at anything just yet. The roots near the opening clashes with the rest though. Just make sure it's consistent and this should be great.

I'll have to take a closer look at that Wii app. Thanks.
Title: Re: Wii Got Fliis - A Wii Flash Game WIP
Post by: Squirrelsquid on March 28, 2007, 11:36:07 am
looking good! the new bouncy animation on the main-character looks way better than the first interation. some sort of pattern for the soil would look good in my opinion though. Currently it looks a tad too simple for my taste.
Title: Re: Wii Got Fliis - A Wii Flash Game WIP
Post by: AdamAtomic on March 28, 2007, 03:29:20 pm
Looks very promising. I take it that it's still designed for Wii controll? If so, maybe you should do a scaled version. By the looks of the app. there is a zoom feature, but it's always better to maximise the potential of fullscreen IMO.

Looking at your consept, I immediately thought of a mix of Mario (the hat and pipes) and his stand-in in Donkey Kong 3: Stanley the Bugman (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a2/BioStanley.jpg/180px-BioStanley.jpg). He used a similar design of using a pump for spraying insects with bugspray.

I like where this is going though. I'm a fan of stylistic approaches to gamedesign, so I don't feel like I need to point at anything just yet. The roots near the opening clashes with the rest though. Just make sure it's consistent and this should be great.

I'll have to take a closer look at that Wii app. Thanks.

Wow, I'm a little embarassed, this is the first I've heard of Stanley!  I guess the game is a secret homage now...though there is a lot of nintendo in it already :D  the game is basically a mix of Kid Icarus and backwards Kirby!  I'm going to try and get the rest of the tiles to be a little more detailed so that the roots and rocks fit in a little bit better.  And yeah, the .swf will be scaled to 3x for proper Wii consumption - a 720x480 HTML object fits in the browser window almost perfectly, it's nice.

Panda - multiplayer probably won't happen, at least on the Wii, afaik the API can only hook input from a single controller, but i've always loved one-vs-many type MP games.  I'll do a tile update sometime today that will hopefully sync things up a little bit better.  And yeah, dino fossils are practically a must!

Squirrelsquid - yes I agree, I will be working on it tonight, thanks!

A few more things about the game:

64 Levels w/ Branching Paths
16 Secret Levels
Can Win After Just 40 Levels
6-letter Password System
Powerups (so far): Poison, Gasmask, Vacuum
Misc: Fire the fan gun downward while leaping to jump extra high

Finally, I am definitely open to edits/crazy ideas, this is my first real tiled environment (*gasp!*  I know I know I'm such a noob :( ) so I'm still learning a lot as I go; if anyone has particular examples of sidescroller gfx they adore I'd be happy to check them out.  My big influences are mainly Drill Dozer and Wario Land 4, but they're both pretty outline-dependent which is something I'd like to avoid if possible on this design.  EDIT - Also I'm having a hell of a time getting my 'beam of daylight' to look right at all.  Knytt and WADF use them but they use hideous gradients, but even then they work better than my sad attempt...

EDIT - Another environment update, tiling is friggin hard!

(http://wiigotfliis.lastchancemedia.com/mockup4c.gif)

DOUBLE EDIT - Just to clarify, the rocks & roots & pipes are more the level of detail I'd like to have in the final product - the bulk of the dirt and grass tiles are still placeholders!
Title: Re: Wii Got Fliis - A Wii Flash Game WIP
Post by: willfaulds on March 29, 2007, 10:49:14 am
adam, heres a quick little edit showing what direction I would consider going in;

1/ widened light shaft at bottom (must now spread over quite a few tiles)
2/ altered the hole shape to be more in keeping with the light where it hits the ground at the bottom.
3/ added the backpack color to highlight main grass
4/ added an outline to the top of the cave (by the routes) - i guess you're actually going to integrate the tiles with the routes more so this will become obsolete.

(http://www.willfaulds.com/pixel-arts/adamatomic.gif)
Title: Re: Wii Got Fliis - A Wii Flash Game WIP
Post by: AdamAtomic on March 29, 2007, 02:29:00 pm
thanks will - the outline at the top of the beam and the new beam shape help a lot, that's great.  I'm still not 100% sure I'll actually use the new beam shape, but I'm totally stealing that outline, it helps so much.  I spent 2 or 3 hours attempting some different grass and vegetation ideas and ended up just throwing them all out and going back to the basics for now:

(http://wiigotfliis.lastchancemedia.com/mockup4d.gif)

I'm going to try and get my dirt right before I go to far with any of the grassy areas.  Thanks for the edit!
Title: Re: Wii Got Fliis - A Wii Flash Game WIP
Post by: Faceless on March 29, 2007, 05:49:03 pm
I'd suggest going with the widening light shaft, and I don't think this new palette works as well as the last...
Title: Re: Wii Got Fliis - A Wii Flash Game WIP
Post by: Jake on March 29, 2007, 07:53:25 pm
i fixed your light shaft and messed up your rocks:

(http://nuqlear.com/crap/fliis.png)
Title: Re: Wii Got Fliis - A Wii Flash Game WIP
Post by: AdamAtomic on March 29, 2007, 07:56:39 pm
sweet thanks guys!  I'll have another update tonight, hopefully with the dirt done finally!
Title: Re: Wii Got Fliis - A Wii Flash Game WIP
Post by: AdamAtomic on April 04, 2007, 09:09:53 pm
Update time:

(http://wiigotfliis.lastchancemedia.com/mockup4f.gif)

Again, desired viewing size is 3x: http://wiigotfliis.lastchancemedia.com/

Slam me with those crits!!
Title: Re: Wii Got Fliis - A Wii Flash Game WIP
Post by: eck on April 04, 2007, 10:11:29 pm
dunno about that 3x...

2x looks fine, but 3x is pushing it. 

tbh i would never buy a wii game that had 3x pixel graphics...
Title: Re: Wii Got Fliis - A Wii Flash Game WIP
Post by: AdamAtomic on April 04, 2007, 10:19:34 pm
dunno about that 3x...

2x looks fine, but 3x is pushing it. 

tbh i would never buy a wii game that had 3x pixel graphics...

a) it's not for sale

b) flash on the wii doesn't actually display 1:1 anyways
Title: Re: Wii Got Fliis - A Wii Flash Game WIP
Post by: ptoing on April 04, 2007, 10:48:22 pm
tbh i would never buy a wii game that had 3x pixel graphics...

What if it had a really cool style and AWESOME gameplay? I would buy that.

Anyway, Adam, the stones look really nice now. Good stuffs.
Title: Re: Wii Got Fliis - A Wii Flash Game WIP
Post by: Evil-Ville on April 04, 2007, 11:47:46 pm
I was surprised at how good this looks in 3x. Awesome stuff. Some vegetation wouldn't hurt though.
Title: Re: Wii Got Fliis - A Wii Flash Game WIP
Post by: AdamAtomic on April 05, 2007, 12:35:08 am
Some vegetation wouldn't hurt though.

100% correct - i have tried like 6 or 7 versions of green stuff  (just erased 2 more like a minute ago) and still no success, but that is definitely in the plans, as long as I can not screw it up too bad :P  thanks guys
Title: Re: Wii Got Fliis - A Wii Flash Game WIP
Post by: setz on April 05, 2007, 03:07:12 am
tbh i would never buy a wii game that had 3x pixel graphics...

tbh, I would never base my decisions on games on the graphics.

this looks great, the only thing that really bugs me about it is the flat/squareness of the pipes. Perhaps make the hero 8 pixels bigger? Also the rocks really stand out, but I can't tell if they are meant to be foreground or background objects. If they are foreground make them abit more square so it doesn't look odd when they're walked upon, if background, maybe dull them abit, as they really pop out like that.
Title: Re: Wii Got Fliis - A Wii Flash Game WIP
Post by: Panda on April 05, 2007, 09:00:13 am
Coming neat, huge improvement overall.
Can't wait to see the fleas on the mockup
(Which makes me wonder, are they going to be pink and blue like on the previous mockups?)
Title: Re: Wii Got Fliis - A Wii Flash Game WIP
Post by: Lackey on April 05, 2007, 04:40:20 pm
(http://individual.utoronto.ca/lackey/pixel/edit/fliispipe_edit.png)

Maybe suggest the inside of the pipe is cylindrical?
Title: Re: Wii Got Fliis - A Wii Flash Game WIP
Post by: ndchristie on April 07, 2007, 01:40:17 am
the highlight you have on the rocks below the hole is throwing me visually with the rest fo the light and environment.  the sides of the light go straight down, so in order for there to be shapr highlights, those rocks must be directly underneath the hole.  but they arent, because that's where the character is standing.  huh??  if anything, those rocks should have less definition, because the light would be hitting all of the dust in the air (as evidenced by the beam) and the eye would need to look through that light to see the rocks behind, which still cannot be at an angle to directly reflect the lightsource given the angle of the beam.  the rocks outside the beam can stay clear, since the dust in the air around them would be mostly invisible when it isnt being struck by light.

of course, none of the lighting makes any sense to begin with, but its just in that particular case the rocks need to be behind the character visually, and they are not.