[WIP] Arcade Academy

[Bouzolf]

THIS GAME IS GONNA BE AWSOME! Please make a Mac version, please.

What bugs me in the ledge crawl is that, to me, he sould be steping on the wall with his foot to get higher, because that's why he woulddo in real life. But maybe that,s not what your aming for...

[robotacon]

Thanks for the kind words.

I'll have another look at the ledge-crawl.
The pause in the crawl is for player input as suggested by Dave.

Here is one of the professors...


I've started drawing what the school is going to look like inside on paper
but I'm not that good on drawing interesting backgrounds
so I'm having problems transferring the sketches to pixel art.

I've also started to work on the mini games (again on paper).
I hope I can show some mock-ups soon 

[eobet]

I'll have another look at the ledge-crawl.
The pause in the crawl is for player input as suggested by Dave.

That's cool, then. I'd still suggest finishing the first part of the animation off with a bounce of his feet, just so he doesn't look stuck/glued to the wall.

[robotacon]

I've been too busy trying out different pixel shading techniques lately so I've been away from real pixel art for too long.
To make up for this I'm bringing the soldiers running cycle.



I tried to keep it similar to the younger characters run-cycle but with a more defined step. Perhaps I over did it?
As with the other run-cycles frame 2 and 8 is used as the jump animation.

I wish the arms weren't so glued to the gun but I don't know to loosen the grip without it looking like he's holding a piece of rubber.

EDIT: Also grandpa got bigger to better fit the grown-ups scale.

[Jad]

This is totally a low-gravity power walk and not a run at the moment. You know, when you run, you thrust yourself from the ground in a fast motion, actually bringing you into the air in a movement where neither of your feet touches the ground. There's a lot of force needed for such a move.

You need more air frames and a more defined thrust, I think. :O

[brigadon]

I know this is not exactly a critique of the graphics themselves, but I think this is an absolutely lovely idea.
Have you considered changing the character's outfits for each mini-game? Not something from an actual game (unless you have the licenses) but something in specific recognizeable styles of video game heroes, with a matching professor giving the course?

Like...say...a sonic-style minigame, the protagonist dresses up as an animal of some kind. or a metroid-style mini, with a professor dressed in power armor with a gun-arm?

[Souly]

YOURS-MINE
All I did was remove frame 6 and frame 11.
Yours was seeming a tad slow.

[robotacon]

You're right Jad, it looks weak.
Soulys edit looks better but I need 12 frames and a constant "foot moving along the floor"-speed of 3 pixels.
If all you did was remove frames 6 and 11 you managed to remove a wobbly elbow which looks alot better.
I'll fix!

And yes Brigadon, the characters might look different in the mini-games piloting space-ships and stuff like that.
I'm trying to stay away from all references to other games or real world people, places or events.
There are too many games with pop-cultural references, I want something that is a tribute to the idea of arcade games without being too obvious.
I haven't got it all ironed out yet but that was the idea.

[Souly]

You're right Jad, it looks weak.
Soulys edit looks better but I need 12 frames and a constant "foot moving along the floor"-speed of 3 pixels.
If all you did was remove frames 6 and 11 you managed to remove a wobbly elbow which looks alot better.
I'll fix!

The legs were more what I was trying to change.
But you're right the elbow does seem better without the two extra frames.

[DavidCarney]

I see this alot in running animations, but don't you generally run on your toes?  I rarely see run animations like that.