AuthorTopic: Slime:Evo devlog  (Read 18228 times)

Offline eishiya

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Re: Slime:Evo devlog

Reply #10 on: June 06, 2018, 03:07:31 pm
Sorry, they're still very blurry, so I can't easily replace the colours ): Does your editor not have a pixel-perfect mode?

Offline falcon167

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Re: Slime:Evo devlog

Reply #11 on: June 20, 2018, 12:13:47 am

Offline eishiya

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Re: Slime:Evo devlog

Reply #12 on: June 20, 2018, 02:36:04 am
Here's the colour-tweak I promised.


Before tweaking the colours, I removed the highlights from the bricks, as they were adding needless, distracting noise and making the foreground harder to discern. I also darkened the background and some of the non-interactive(?) background elements such as the mounted heads to make the foreground elements stand out better.

Your tiles have a very high colour count, which made editing the colours difficult, so I ended up doing what I could with some overlay layers. Since the castle is meant to be "undead" and falling apart, I went for a green cast over most of it, with a bit of blue. I kept the wood reddish in comparison, so that it stands out well, making it easy for the player to know where they can go. I didn't want to add more colours or change your pixel work too much, but here are some ideas for additional changes you could make:
- have the vines on the table also creep along the floor. Those colours would make the floor pop better and give the castle more of an abandoned feel. Even if you just do some colour tweaks along the top few pixels of the floor instead of drawing out the vines in detail, it could look good.
- Make the map(?) at the top contrast less from the wall, unless it's interactive. Even with my colour tweaks, it's still distracting.
- Have some glow on the bricks from the window(?) and around other light sources, like the candles. Not full circles of light, just some highlights.

I mentioned your high colour counts. Is there reason for those? Tiles with so many colours are harder to author, and even harder to edit.
« Last Edit: June 20, 2018, 10:07:27 pm by eishiya »

Offline falcon167

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Re: Slime:Evo devlog

Reply #13 on: June 23, 2018, 02:00:52 pm
While I'm not quite a fan of the color, reminds me of The Messenger, the contrast difference is quite striking, so that is definitely something I'll have done in the final. Demo for Kickstarter, maybe.

The green and gold on the vines and furniture is also something that looks better, though likely because of the blue huh? I'll figure something out.

Window, ignore for now. It's a placeholder for a real window eventually with moving background.

About the high color count, I'll have a talk, but I didn't see anything wrong with the original stuff.

I really appreciate the feedback

Offline falcon167

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Re: Slime:Evo devlog

Reply #14 on: August 06, 2018, 12:22:00 am
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haK4ROJOb0E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFgfcBj66QU

While I know some of you are waiting for a game update, I'm pleased to say it'll be out next week. In the meantime, enjoy some video game music!

Offline falcon167

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Re: Slime:Evo devlog

Reply #15 on: August 07, 2018, 07:29:26 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDpv2h98UHM

Here's the finished lich fight!

Offline Atnas

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Re: Slime:Evo devlog

Reply #16 on: August 13, 2018, 04:06:56 am
Wow, I really love the lich. And the jump animation for the slime is superb!

I have a critique though! This will improve everything from the art to gameplay. It's tried and true: Lower the value and contrast of the background assets, optionally tone shifting away from the foreground color

This will make all the platforms pop! It will make the player pop! the boss pop! the attacks pop! that awesome organ pop!

You can even just add some layer above all the bg assets with filters applied, depending on the engine you are using.

eishiya said something similar to this. I would highly recommend listening to their advice, even if their example is not done in a way you would like, the concepts are still good. There exists an option you would like that aids the utility of darkening the background while liking it, I promise!

Offline falcon167

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Re: Slime:Evo devlog

Reply #17 on: August 13, 2018, 07:58:09 pm


Here's an image of the room with added light and filters.

Honestly Atnas, and Eishiya too, I wasn't really able to follow your advise due to my inability. However, I've recently got a guy who understands these things a lot better then me, and now I can get into this contrast with him. Thanks for the advice!

Offline eishiya

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Re: Slime:Evo devlog

Reply #18 on: August 14, 2018, 01:01:03 am
Keep the contrast in the backgrounds as low as you can. For example, this newest one includes black lines in both the background and the foreground, making it harder to distinguish the two. The windows(?) include both dark colours and almost-white, making them look like foreground elements that could block the player's movement.

I feel like the lighting is going to hurt the gameplay rather than enhancing it, because the darkness between the lights makes the platforms look like background. Try to keep the lighting subtle. You can make the lighting look stronger than it is by incorporating static/baked "lighting" into the base background, e.g. by having some darker tiles beneath platforms to suggest shadows.

Offline falcon167

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Re: Slime:Evo devlog

Reply #19 on: August 25, 2018, 08:55:10 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuCMIgFUPg0

New vid for your viewing pleasure

Now, I hope everyone enjoys the first slime evolutions in practice as well as the new rain.