AuthorTopic: Twinsen - Pilot Episode Demo  (Read 9011 times)

Offline .TakaM

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Twinsen - Pilot Episode Demo

on: November 16, 2006, 06:49:41 am
As some of you may or may not know, Ive been working on a platformer with my coder for about the last two months, we're very happy with how everything has progressed and the time has come for the first public demo.

but first, why is it called the 'Pilot Episode Demo'? because this game is a TV show, and features the first level as the pilot episode, the first level may change in the final game, just how the first episode in a TV show may be remade if the show gets picked up, time will tell.  ;)

so, let me get on with it.
here are some screens:




what does the demo feature? play it yourself and find out! ;D
the controls are as follow:
    * f4 - toggle full screen
    * shift - run
    * z - jump
    * x - sword
    * c - magic ball
    * enter - start
    * arrow keys - move
but, if you have a controller, I highly suggest downloading joy2key and playing the game with that :y:

spend some time mastering the controls and how Twinsen moves and attacks, there are also a few secrets in the demo, if you don't figure them out after a few days, I'll tell you them :yay: :y:

Okay, heres the demo links
www.crimsonproductions.com/Twinsen.exe
http://jessetyler.net/files/Twinsen.exe
(windows only sorry)


crit the pixels if you wish, report an errors also please
ENJOY!!!!
« Last Edit: June 04, 2007, 05:57:08 am by .TakaM »
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Offline Darien

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Re: Twinsen - Pilot Episode Demo

Reply #1 on: November 16, 2006, 07:42:14 am
This has great atmosphere.  Great pixels all around.  Gives it a unique feeling.  I really want to play more.

I'm not going to get into why I don't think you should use Twinsen, you can just go to that Link thread you had earlier.

I'm not sure what this gains by being a TV show?  I guess just an arbitrary way of starting an adventure?  Seems contrived to me.

Great work though, I'm looking forward to more.

Offline .TakaM

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Re: Twinsen - Pilot Episode Demo

Reply #2 on: November 16, 2006, 07:55:30 am
lol, Im kinda expecting a bit of a beating for continuing to use IP.. well atleast twinsen is a lot less famous than link :angel:
and honestly, the TV show aspect hasnt really been intergrated all that well, its just when I made the tiles I was thinking, "these tiles look like theyre of an ant farm, how am I going to explain that?" then i thought, why cant the world just be a giant ant farm? then why? alien reality TV show seemed to fit :P
all the TV show aspect explains is why its a platformer (couldnt be anything else really) and the points in the bottom right (viewer ratings)
in the future the viewer rating's numbers will determine which direction the show gets taken, play stealthfully and the game will become more stealth based, play aggressively and there will be more enemies to kill etc
also planning on having special effects if you have higher ratings, since it becomes a show with a bigger budget :P

glad you enjoyed it :)
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Offline Helm

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Re: Twinsen - Pilot Episode Demo

Reply #3 on: November 16, 2006, 08:05:14 am
You know my opinion on it more or less. I think the 'tv-show' thing is very tacked-on and really spoils the idea, though. Why is it a platformer? Because. Why are the tiles cut-out like that? Because. It's aesthetics, man, you don't have to explain shit. Do you see Shadow of the Beast dropping a disclaimer on you on that somebody robber the world of its third dimension so now people can only walk about on one plane and punch each other off of it or anything? It's a game. A level of abstraction is fine without far-fetched theories to make it 'realistic' again. Perhaps it would be a better idea if Twinsen wasn't in a TV-show, because why would Twinsen be in a TV-show? If it were your own original character it would be less absurd. But Twinsen is an established character that has... nothing to do with TV, or reality shows.

Offline .TakaM

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Re: Twinsen - Pilot Episode Demo

Reply #4 on: November 16, 2006, 08:37:30 am
valid points, but do you think having a reason why the tiles are cut etc is a bad thing? I dont think it really detracts from the game..
and why would he be in a show? well, say by this point hes quite famous in his universe, the aliens know he'd be a good character to base a show around, especially if they seperate him from his family and the rest of his world and consider the glass has pushed sendels power to the surface giving everything life :crazy:

at the least I intend on using the TV show aspect for presentation and some of the gameplay, I wouldnt go as far as say viewtiful joe though
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Offline Darien

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Re: Twinsen - Pilot Episode Demo

Reply #5 on: November 16, 2006, 08:54:18 am
viewtiful joe makes sense to use the movie because the style is meant to draw from B movies, here you only seem to have pulled the TV show out as a way to justify yourself.  Maybe it doesn't detract from the game but I don't think it adds to it.  You don't need the TV show to justify the points (and I don't understand how a linear measurement like that would account for stealth and aggression)

Personally I'm not a fan of the TV show in also that instead of having this character that goes out and does something he is forced to do something... which makes him not a character but a puppet.

I mean the way Viewtiful Joe gains from the movie theme is that that's what the game is about, they take it all the way.  Like Helm said, the TV show here seems tacked on.  Either really take advantage of everything a TV show premise has to offer and design your game around it, or don't do it.  Don't half ass it.

Offline .TakaM

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Re: Twinsen - Pilot Episode Demo

Reply #6 on: November 16, 2006, 09:03:12 am
what would you suggest to make the TV show aspect not seem tacked on?
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Offline ptoing

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Re: Twinsen - Pilot Episode Demo

Reply #7 on: November 16, 2006, 11:53:33 am
what would you suggest to make the TV show aspect not seem tacked on?

axe it.
There are no ugly colours, only ugly combinations of colours.

Offline snake

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Re: Twinsen - Pilot Episode Demo

Reply #8 on: November 16, 2006, 03:24:23 pm
Not sure I agree with totally removing the idea. Tested the game and the sequence where the world is split into a single plane is great. Gives a more dramatic sense to the idea, rather than just being backstory filler in text. However, I don't like the idea of it being done by normal TV station people working on some reality show, drinking coffee. The dramatic split scene contradicts it. If you abstract them a bit, make them aliens doing mouse-maze experiments on humans for example, or doing a show of some sorts. The TV guy's don't seem to have the power to do such a thing.

The controlls handle great for now. I'm not sure I like his jumping speed as it's a little slow and allmost makes you have to plan tactics in order to figure out where to land. I died a lot of times simply because I over estimated his jumping, falling off the ledge I was supposed to be jumping off or just missing or falling over the next ledge. Just needs a little tweaking.

I hardly know anything about Twinsen's Little Big Adventure.. adventures. Only time I've run into him was through a demo of LBA1. Still, I'll add to what the others have suggested of making your own character. You could just tweak what you have so far. The visual style is allready very different from LBA and you're still early enough on in development to make the changes.

Apart from that, there's only praise. Good game.  :y:

Offline Frychiko

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Re: Twinsen - Pilot Episode Demo

Reply #9 on: November 17, 2006, 09:00:18 am
I played until I got to the bridge, and was that the end of the demo? It just didn't scroll any further.
Anyway I like what you got so far. The game tune got stuck in my head and I was whistling it at school and one of my students started humming the tune also.
Congratulation this story is happy end. Thank you. - Ghost & Goblins

Offline Evil-Ville

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Re: Twinsen - Pilot Episode Demo

Reply #10 on: November 17, 2006, 11:17:21 am
I thought the controls were quite sloppy and not responsive enough. Also I don't like how the running key is shift, it's too far away from the other keys.

Offline Xion

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Re: Twinsen - Pilot Episode Demo

Reply #11 on: November 18, 2006, 12:43:56 am
Agreed on the shift to run point.
But I see in the options menu nonfunctional Key configure option?

I must admit, I did find the part with the world splitting pretty awesome. But the TV thing is kinda cheese. How about a big bad boss guy just came along and used his big bad boss weapon to split the world up (into the different worlds/levels)? Each time you change levels you could go from one plane to another. Something simple. Something that fits in with the rest of the game's atmosphere. It should all take place in one world, methinks, rather than the god-pawn relationship you've got going now.

Offline Lackey

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Re: Twinsen - Pilot Episode Demo

Reply #12 on: November 18, 2006, 01:13:34 am
The planet Twinsun in the LBA games has a huge mountain range around the equator, or is the planet split going along the other way?

The game is really solid so far, although the short jumps are extremely punishing.  Maybe just lighten the gravity a little?  Also the knife seemed completely ineffectual compared to the ball but maybe I wasn't using it right.

Twinsen never had a sword, did he?  I have to hop on the "drop the intellectual property" bandwagon as well, but only because the connection already seems so tenuous.  I didn't even realize the character was meant to look like Twinsen the first time I saw it because there's a vast stylistic difference and the characters aren't even identical.  Twinsen has brown hair, no earings and no eyebrows to start; I thought yours was a generic Asian fighting monk!

Offline Xion

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Re: Twinsen - Pilot Episode Demo

Reply #13 on: November 18, 2006, 09:16:11 pm
Oh, wow. I'm late, but still, congrats on the 4cr featurization.

Offline JWW

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Re: Twinsen - Pilot Episode Demo

Reply #14 on: November 18, 2006, 09:38:57 pm
god the graphics are great .takam.  All the little animation effects give it so much life.  I loove his combo technique with a passion and look forward to seeing more of this game.

Offline Evil-Ville

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Re: Twinsen - Pilot Episode Demo

Reply #15 on: November 18, 2006, 11:28:26 pm
Agreed on the shift to run point.
But I see in the options menu nonfunctional Key configure option?

Didn't even check the options, maybe I am too used to games that have good key configurations by default. :)

Offline Akira

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Re: Twinsen - Pilot Episode Demo

Reply #16 on: November 18, 2006, 11:40:41 pm
shift to run doesn't bother me any. but yeah customizable keys are always immmportant and add to the polish of the game. awesome graphics. i feel that the character moves too slowly when walking/running though.
thanks Dogmeat!

Offline Dusty

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Re: Twinsen - Pilot Episode Demo

Reply #17 on: November 20, 2006, 02:18:25 pm
Hmm. The way you have the water lighter under the platform tiles, and darker where there are no platforms really confuses me, as I'd expect the water to get darker where the platform enters the water and goes in.

EDIT: After actually playing the demo, having in action does clear up some confusion, but I still think it looks out of place a bit.
Ya, the controls being all on one line of keys makes it hard to work with things. Very hard to run, jump and slash at the same time.
On a technical note, for some reason or another it seems to run very sluggish for me when there's a shadow displaying. I'm assuming this has something to do with the way the shadows crop themselves while only half-over a platform.
« Last Edit: November 20, 2006, 02:34:54 pm by Dusty »

Offline AlexHW

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Re: Twinsen - Pilot Episode Demo

Reply #18 on: November 21, 2006, 06:01:06 am
there are also a few secrets in the demo, if you don't figure them out after a few days, I'll tell you them :yay: :y:

me wants to know.. cant seem to figure them out..

Offline .TakaM

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Re: Twinsen - Pilot Episode Demo

Reply #19 on: November 21, 2006, 06:16:06 am
thanks everyone for taking the time.
a few things I need to address:
the controls - some of you don't like the buttons, some do - no need to worry about this because they will be customizable in the future. in the mean time I suggest downloading joy2key (mentioned in the first post) not only so you can change the keys as you please, but it works great for any game that you just don't want to use the keyboard for.
as for sloppy and unresponsive, I haven't really noticed anything I'd consider this except for the running button, but this was kinda intentional, I liked the idea of having to build up speed and have to plan your steps if you want to maintain a sprint throughout the level (one of my favourite parts of super metroid), if the sword or jump etc felt unresponsive please clarify :)

gravity - I think it will be better so Twinsen falls at a constant speed instead of accelerating, which will add a bit of that floaty feeling from most popular platformers, i should mention I plan on re-doing the jump anim and the jumping will be altered also

the story - I still quite like the idea of his planet being turned into an ant farm, but I agree I need to either implement the TV aspect a lot better or come up with a different reason behind it

lackey, the split down the planet isn't on the equator, so he'll get parts of all the islands in the official games, and yah he did have a sword in the LBA games, a saber it was called, had some crazy guitar sounding effects when he used it lol

me wants to know.. cant seem to figure them out..
the secrets, well, the first is the bush behind Twinsen's house contains ten points, so if you die and lose ten points you can easily get them back :)
the other secret is if you kill the enemies in reverse order of appearance, you get 999 points, which unlocks all the health units (an extra unit is obtained at intervals of 100 up until 700, 800 and 900 give you two extra spin slashes when you are run jumping- which acts as a quadruple jump.
also I should mention that the number of health you have obtained dictates the number of bounces the magic ball has before returning




so yeah, thanks again everyone for taking the time, any more suggestions are greatly appreciated.
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