AuthorTopic: GR#119 - Project Deadbird - Gameart, Sprites, Icons, Conceptart  (Read 28736 times)

Offline Ryumaru

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Thanks for viewing, this is Project Deadbird. Don't ask why it's called Deadbird; I don't know either( more info in other posts)
-OVERVIEW OF GAME CONCEPT-
Play the role of a criminal convicted of horrible crimes, who's punishment is eternal isolation from the world he knows; left for dead you must use the resources of this forsaken land to fend off Hordes of demons that come by the night wishing nothing other than your end.

I've been feeling very productive lately, so I decided I would go back and work on some old game ideas of mine.  My pixeling muscles are a little weak so I would appreciate all the critique I can get. Since this is for a game readability is one of my most important concerns- I believe if I had it made it would be at at least 2x resolution so you can put that into account. Before I indulge with you the basic premise and story and such id like to see if what I've created so far is identifiable without context, so here goes:


« Last Edit: May 18, 2009, 02:10:43 am by Ryumaru »

Offline Dr D

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Re: Making a game :o

Reply #1 on: May 14, 2009, 05:32:49 am
Would you like us to try to identify what you've drawn?

What I see is this:

A pretty buff guy, nearly fully unclothed, with short brown hair.
Below that, the same or a similar dude with some kind of dark blue torn cape or so.
Of course next to that is the dudes profile, and underneath it, a tent.

As for the little icons..
-Some kind of teeth or fangs
-A feather
-Bone and Skull
-Some kind of fabric stained in blood
-A bone with a little bit of meat on it
-Berries
-Either a log, a hammer, or some kind of canister
-Necklace/Pendant
-Book
-A rock (maybe an ore)
-Some kind of plant

Below that I see weapons:
-Large, thin bone with a sharp rock tied to it.
-Sharp, sickle-shaped bone, with 'strings' between it. (Not sure what kind of application this weapon has, besides being a weapon.)
-Short, sharp bone.
-Long stick
-Sharp Rock
-Bow and Arrow

I'm guessing this game takes place some time fairly far back in the past?

I think most of it looks pretty lovely, the only thing that looks a little off to me is the profile, the top of the head is rather flat looking.

Offline Ryumaru

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Re: Making a game :o

Reply #2 on: May 14, 2009, 05:59:15 am
Wow Dr.D you are... completely accurate. Im glad to know that you could identify them well.
Except for the character- supposed to have longish dark hair. I agree with you on the profile.

The game is supposed to be a sort of survival game. During the day you are free to roam around and explore, find things of use such as wood and stones to create weapons and other things. At night, demons come to try and extinguish you, and by killing them you can get 3 main things: Bones, Hide/skin, and meat ( which are 3 of the items you mentioned) and then each different demon species has one special item given such as the feather and fangs.
The game might not necessarily be in the past, but he is stranded without new technology and so has very primitive things.

Offline Dr D

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Re: Making a game :o

Reply #3 on: May 14, 2009, 07:01:29 am
Oh, yeah. Well his hair is obviously long, don't know why I said short.

It looks very promising, keep up the good work.

Offline ndchristie

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Re: Making a game :o

Reply #4 on: May 14, 2009, 02:56:39 pm
I love most of it so my only crits are that the light changing on the tent makes no sense to me and that the second weapon (axe-type-thing) looks fragile to use and complicated to make
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Offline Tobe

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Re: Making a game :o

Reply #5 on: May 14, 2009, 04:02:04 pm
Yea, the tent definitely looks wrong in comparison.

Also... is the side view of the character standing in a different pose as the front and back.
The side view pose seems like more... straighten up?

readability wise, I have some problem with the fang + meat with bone actually. You might want to try and beef them up a little.

anyway, really love the style and colors  :D

Offline Ryumaru

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Re: Making a game :o

Reply #6 on: May 15, 2009, 04:45:13 am
Dr D: Thanks : D

ndchristie: on the tent there is supposed to be like, a blood splatter, could that be what you are referring too? Either way I made another tent, better? worse?
Oh and the second weapon, yeah I was just playing around, I'm horrible at weapon design- is the new one any more plausible?

Tobe: the differing positions is probably due to faulty perspective like sometimes in a 3/4 perspective the side views are almost straight on.
Also, I redid the fangs and meat, tell me if the are more readable, actually redid a lot and would like to hear everybody's opinion on them.

Also, a spoiler :]


Thanks for taking the time to comment everybody.

edit: Oh, almost forgot. At the bottom is the beginnings of attempts of my nightmare: animation. I'm positively horrible with it. Any animation help would be VERY appreciated.
« Last Edit: May 15, 2009, 04:47:37 am by Ryumaru »

Offline robotriot

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Re: Making a game :o

Reply #7 on: May 15, 2009, 09:12:43 am
I think the tent would look a lot better if it wasn't symmetrical. Make the lighting come either from the left or from the right.

Regarding your animation: it looks like you're using the idle frame as part of the walk cycle, that's something you shouldn't do because in reality, it just doesn't happen. You should change the idle frames to passing frames for each leg, where one of them is pretty much straight, and the other is bent, passing the first leg. Take a look at some walkcycle tutorials like http://www.idleworm.com/how/anm/02w/walk1.shtml
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Offline Pawige

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Re: Making a game :o

Reply #8 on: May 15, 2009, 02:13:38 pm
I like this so much you made me come out of my pixelation-hibernation to do an edit.

Yours:


Mine:


I imagine you can see most of the changes I made pretty easily. Some of the main ones were I knocked the changes in the torso and arms down a notch so that there's more continuity between the frames. so it's easier for the eye to follow what's going on. Did a lot of work on the legs, especially the two frames where both his feet were on the ground at the same time, I changed it so that the one passing to the front was raised up. Added a little bob to the head and body, as well as a few other minor things.

Anyway, did I mention that this is totally wicked awesome and I hope you finish it?  :y:

Offline Ryumaru

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Re: Making a game :o

Reply #9 on: May 16, 2009, 12:03:14 am
Robotroit: Yes those are my thoughts as well, but my ideas for the game include day progression which would of course change the direction and placement of the shadows. Of the two tents, which one do you prefer however? Would it be improved if I kept the light source top down and instead just individually shaded both sides? thankyou for your comment :]

Pawige: Wow, firstly its an honor to hear you say that you came out of hibernation just for this! I really admire your animation skills and was actually looking at your site just yesterday! Yep those changes are clear as day; not to mention the pace of your animation is just perfect! thankyou very much for your edit!

Offline Ryumaru

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Re: Making a game :o [ Project Deadbird]

Reply #10 on: May 16, 2009, 04:07:03 am
So for almost an hour I was trying to perfect the animation based on Pawige's great edit. Working in promotion, it seemed whatever I did, it still had this crazy snap that made him look like he was on speed. Come to find out some of the frames were on 40 miliseconds and some on 150 or something D:

Also, some old and new weapons, still looking for comments on those as well : D

Offline robotriot

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Re: Making a game :o

Reply #11 on: May 16, 2009, 09:16:27 am
Robotroit: Yes those are my thoughts as well, but my ideas for the game include day progression which would of course change the direction and placement of the shadows. Of the two tents, which one do you prefer however? Would it be improved if I kept the light source top down and instead just individually shaded both sides? thankyou for your comment :]

Alright, I see ... in that case, I'd take the second version but change the folds on one side to make it look less mirrored.

I like the new animation btw, it improved a lot!
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Offline Chris2balls

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Re: Making a game :o [ Project Deadbird]

Reply #12 on: May 16, 2009, 10:33:15 am
Just made minute changes to his pecs:
Mine:
Yours:
His ribcage should move to a certain extent, but not as much as the pecs. The pecs should change shape according to the movement, not reduce in width. I don't know if I conveyed that in my edit but I hope it helps.

I love the sprites and idea!
« Last Edit: May 16, 2009, 11:03:38 am by Chris2balls »
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Offline ndchristie

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Re: Making a game :o [ Project Deadbird]

Reply #13 on: May 17, 2009, 02:40:37 am
you can't just think about shape, you have to think about materials, construction, and forces.  fragility and complicated designs are visually obvious in the same way that simplicity and sturdiness are aswell.  pm for clarification.
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Offline Ryumaru

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Re: Making a game :o [ Project Deadbird]

Reply #14 on: May 18, 2009, 03:08:44 am
Chris2balls: Thankyou very much for your critique, I believe I understand what you're saying and I'll fix it soonly.

ndchristie: Your post is definitely clear, im just not versed with weapon design. I have some concept art in my moleskine for this game that I will update with soon, and maybe you could help me out more once you see the bigger ideas that are harder to express in such a small pixel box.
Speaking of weopons heres a select few new ones- comments on readability are greatly appreciated. The one with the red outline and star is supposed to be a weapon gained from defeating the first boss.

Offline Arachne

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Re: Making a game :o [ Project Deadbird]

Reply #15 on: May 18, 2009, 04:11:11 pm
His shoulders should move because he's moving his arms, not the other way around. I think his feet need to be closer to the center. They also bend oddly when he lifts them, which makes it look like they're moving in an arc. His biceps are too bright and don't really look like they're a natural part of the arm.

Edit! ;D



Otherwise, I really like this. The bright gray you're separating your icons with drowns them out a bit, though.

Edit: Experimented with the frame delays.
« Last Edit: May 18, 2009, 07:09:12 pm by Arachne »

Offline robotacon

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Re: Making a game :o [ Project Deadbird]

Reply #16 on: May 19, 2009, 09:55:52 pm
His feet are almost in the same two positions in all frames.

The feet should travel on the ground.
Make an animation where the sprite moves downwards for two or three cycles and you'll see that the feet don't align.

At what speed is this character supposed to move?

Offline TrevoriuS

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Re: Making a game :o [ Project Deadbird]

Reply #17 on: May 19, 2009, 10:22:46 pm
if I look at it like this he'll walk about 6 or 7 pixels per cycle, i don't know if that indeed matches the intended speed, but that his feet are not traveling across the ground is in my eyes absolutely not true

Offline Ryumaru

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Re: Making a game :o [ Project Deadbird]

Reply #18 on: May 21, 2009, 04:29:04 am
Arachne: Thank you for the wonderful edit! I will look at the changes you made and see what I come up with :]

Robatacon and TrevoriuS: I have to agree with TrevoriuS, can personally see the feet as traveling across the ground. I don't know the exact speed such as pixels over time that he will travel but the animation's pace seems fine to me.

No pixels, but I have some sketches as well as a design document im working on for the game, tell me what you think. I probably won't be submitting this to someone like a publisher- but I might so it should be nice and pretty and perfect:

-OVERVIEW OF GAME CONCEPT-
Play the role of a criminal convicted of horrible crimes, who's punishment is eternal isolation from the world he knows; left for dead you must use the resources of this forsaken land to fend off Hordes of demons that come by the night wishing nothing other than your end.

-GAME PLAY-
Game play is highly centered around day progression of day. Time between morning and evening is used to collect resources such as lumber and stone as well as explore an intricate game map that is full of remnants from past inhabiters. Night time will hold all the battles between the main character and demons- generally named the " Diavolo"- who, upon their death may leave behind remains that can be used to create weapons and other items.

- THE DIAVOLO-
The Diavolo are very mysterious creatures. It is believed that they are a physical embodiment of the evil in this world. Their bodies are at once both real and ethereal, their spirit compositions licking in the air like flames; each one sees it's prey with only one eye.
The Diavolo have 3 main stats:

Vita: commonly known as " health points" or HP, this stat determines how much damage is taken before it is destroyed.

Attack: This stat determines how much damage is done to the main character each time the Diavolo lands a hit. Boss Diavolo may have different attacks that cause different amount of damage.

Defense: This stat determines how much attack from the main characters weapon is negated before damage is calculated. For example, if a Diavolo had a defense of 2, and the main character was attacking with a weapon that has 3 attack, each strike to the Diavolo would subtract 1 from the Diavolo's Vita. If a Diavolo's defense is higher than the attack of the weapon, that weapon is rendered useless and every landed hit will not do any damage whatsoever. Some weapons may be designed to disregard Diavolo's defense at the cost of a very low attack.
« Last Edit: May 22, 2009, 04:55:05 am by Ryumaru »

Offline Helm

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Re: Making a game :o [ Project Deadbird]

Reply #19 on: May 21, 2009, 02:18:50 pm
If you're gonna actually make this you need to be more considering as to what gameplay aspects you want to put in there, not just write down and include any thought that comes to you. Like weapon durability, is that fun? To have your weapons break down on you while you play. It might support the theme of stone-ageish exploration game, but is it fun? Is it fun to swing a weapon ineffectively at enemies because you have too low attack and they too high defense? These sort of things need to be addressed with a firm design concept in mind. Weed out the brainstorm ideas and keep only the absolute essentials first and if you can code that stuff in your game will be playable even if it's not complete. Just add more things then, if you have time. But if your design doc is just a list of things you thought would be cool in the abstract and as belonging to 15 different games, then you're screwed when it comes to hierarchical implementation of them.

Also, perhaps that doesn't matter though, most of the weapon designs are impossible given the weapon-making tools a stone-age dude would have or even when they're not impossible, are not functional, one can tell just by looking at them. Though that might not be a problem for most players, a survival game rests its concept on that the things you make in it *make sense* and the combinations are intuitive. A club is a chiseled rock, a femur bone and some twine and I know that even before I play your game. But that knife on the right page, the first one on the left, it's made out of a bone, twine, a seemingly perfect factory-made sharp bone blade and a... rock?

Offline Ryumaru

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Re: Making a game :o [ Project Deadbird]

Reply #20 on: May 21, 2009, 07:04:01 pm
Helm: I think I might see where you're coming from, but let me reply to a few of those points. I personally know of at least 2 games that use durability with weapons: Dark cloud and Drakon the ancient gates and I found it fun because you couldn't just have one favorite weapon. Also, the time is not stone age-ish although it might appear to be( I might have to do things to correct this) he is placed in a world without technology- so the main character is knowledgeable of things such as computers but just does not have access to them.
If you're point is to create my design document in such a way that the most integral parts of the game are explained first I can definitely take that into consideration.

Firstly: that is the reason that sword has an X next to it, I drew it out for fun and basically said" what was I thinking?"
My dilemma with the weapons is that I want the designs to be more extravagant as they become more powerful; some of the sense of reward would be lost by the player if weapons with higher requirements looked just as plain as the ones he made before. I will go back to the drawing board for some of my weapons.

Offline Mathias

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Re: Making a game :o [ Project Deadbird]

Reply #21 on: May 21, 2009, 07:47:47 pm
Always nice to see another artist's sketches. It's insightful in many ways. That, and the masses get to shoot down your concepts before you spend time pixelling anything, hehe. Saves you time, right? You also reminded me moleskins exist; got one in the mail as a result. Hopefully it'll motivate me to keep a better sketching routine. We all need that. Thanks for the reminder.

Way to go for starting up a game project, it's looking beautiful so far! Love the purple darks. The fundamental concept for Deadbird is really interesting. I was thinking this morning during my mind-numbing drive to work how I'd like to see yer design doc/outline, or at least chunks you care to release. You seem to be operating on assumptions about the game's final state, yet I get the impression that it's still very much clay. It's good to not get too far ahead of yourself. Too much backtracking can be a fatal killjoy for any game dev project. My own previous failures taught me that. So just watch out. Hopefully your current burst of ambition can be sustained.

I have some concerns/thoughts for your consumption here, Ryu. As the guy behind this project, you've probably already thought of all or most of this, but I think right now, the most effective feedback you can get is feedback focused on the core of the game - the gameplay, not the graphics, if you really are looking for a successful game and not simply an outlet for some pixel art. And I think you are, considering the good concept.
As for the weapon durability thing, which I hadn't picked up on anywhere except for the sketches just posted, like Helm did too I'm guessing - it's a dynamic idea, but one that seems like it should be kept in check - for instance it may be annoying if all weapons "broke" after a while so only crafted weapons would be subject to the durability thing. As a player, I expect that to be frustrating. Then again, during the day you'll be making lots of weapons, so after only a short while you'll have a crapload of weapons, so it makes sense that they break necessitating the creation of more, which supports your gameplay idea for daytime. But still, if I make a cool weapon, I don't want it to break. In my gaming, I get kind of attached to certain weapons; they become an important element in the game, even if they're not meant to. Case in point - Doom's chainsaw. I certainly used that thing when I wasn't supposed to. It became an improvised challenge to see how effective I could melee everything to their knees with it. If it ever ran out of gas and died on me, some of the game's intrinsic fun would've faded, for me anyway. Is it realistic for the gas to never deplete? No. But who cares, dangit!

How are you balancing the warrior/explorer by night mechanic with the crafting weapons/items by day mechanic? I see them as opposites. I'm a pretty casual gamer, too much weapon making seems like it may bore me pretty quickly. But, in a balanced amount, it could be refreshing.
How does weapon crafting work? I'm a former Everquester and am accustomed to the jewel crafting thing where you throw a certain combo of items into the kiln and hit "combine". You either fail or have success, depending on your skill level. Each prest combo is a receipé for a certain result.
Then, depending on what weapon is currently armed, how is this reflected in the player's character sprite walking around? Again, in EQ1, your character could be seen holding only a few different weapons based on what class of weapon it was - the rusty bastard sword, normal bastard sword, short broadsword, etc all looked the same in your hand.

And yikes, your game clock will render the environment of the game to depict time of day? I've always wanted to see this done well. Hmm, Ocarina of Time did do it pretty well, and hey, that's when the skellies and other baddies would attack, like Deadbird here. Had an idea for a website a while back that would reflect the time of day, depending on the user's OS clock. It may seem really odd for a whole day to transpire in a few minutes. How long do you plan to make one game hour, when there's 24 total? Oh hey just had a thought - Alaska's sunlight schedule is all jacked up due to being close to a pole, what if the criminal containment land where you're trapped has the same thing going on, which makes days very short. This would offer you flexible control over how long a day is. A day may be so short with this in place you'd pray for day to come so you could finally get recharged and mend yourself and your weapons, do your grocery shopping, etc. I imagine it - you're hobbling along, battling ferocious and mean monsters that have nothing but malice and injustice in their hearts, and in the middle of fighting - the enemies you fear are becoming so many they'll overrun you and your weapons are all busting on you and you're really far from a savepoint - Khaaaaa kuhh kaaaAAAHHHHhhh - the rooster crows and daylight cracks, all enemies suddenly vaporize or run for cover like vampires or those awesome creatures from Pitch Black. Tell me you've seen Vin Diesel's first good movie.

Well, there's more, but don't want to bore anyone. I'll try and keep up with this thread. I'd appreciate some comments from you in mine, as well. Granted, I am just bored at work.





To better understand Deadbird:

1) What age/time is this game set in? Is it alternate reality or does it take place in our linear past, present or future?
2) What culture is this? It's surely not stone age, your character doesn't look neanderthal, and the reason there are such basic weapons is because that's all there is. This could be futuristic for all we know.
2) Is this a one-man team project? Like Cave Story was. (finally got around to playing it, what a well done little game, wow)
3) What dev kit are you using? You're coding it as well I've gathered. (frightening!)
« Last Edit: May 21, 2009, 07:55:11 pm by Mathias »

Offline Chris2balls

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Re: Making a game :o [ Project Deadbird]

Reply #22 on: May 21, 2009, 08:41:07 pm
Just to take on what Helm said about the weapons: design is very important. If design isn't convincing, then you lose credibility. Imagine yourself making those weapons. Hell, go out and make them, and see how long they last. You need to find a balance between sturdiness and class, you need to take in count the pressure of making the weapons in time. Ask yourself questions: do I need two bones for a handle? Is it solid and will it stay together? How do I craft a sharp blade? Which parts of the Diavolo are the blades carved from? I don't know if you have, but do go searching for primitive tools on the internet and in books. I would actually go out and make some tools in your place ;)
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Offline Ryumaru

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Re: Making a game :o [ Project Deadbird]

Reply #23 on: May 22, 2009, 12:32:01 am
Mathias: Thank you very much for your comment, I can't even reply to all of it right now but I read it and you definitely got me asking some questions.
Chris2balls: I would make some of my own, but Ironically I don't have the tools. I don't know of any flint near by that I could carve but I spent some time looking at some stone age weapons and such.
I apologize for no pixel art but heres a page( sorry for the bad quality too) that I did after rethinking some things. Don't mind the render on the flint stone knife, I got a little carried away on that one and also I know the sword like thing might need a redesign in contour but I just wanted to get it down.BUT what I really wanted to show is the possible weapon creation feature. what it would be is a " weapons workshop" that would hold all the resources that the main character would use. the workshop would grow as more resources are obtained- but only signifying major land marks such as first getting bones and first getting something of each resource, then possibly filling up an inventory or the like. The workshop could work like this: using the arrow keys to scan the array of resources, you could stop on one item such as " bone" and click enter or some other button. This would open a little menu that showed the inventory- showing items such as " bone 1" and "bone 3" ( in my game the numbers will represent the size and/ or quality of the item). After picking say, bone 3, a menu would appear that would show any past creations that were logged in a journal( more on that later) in clear colors, and any possible weapons to create with the resources available that have NOT been made before would be shown in a dark sillouette.
What do you guys think? horrible idea?

Offline Mathias

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Re: Making a game :o [ Project Deadbird]

Reply #24 on: May 22, 2009, 07:03:42 pm
I dunno guys, I'm placing far less importance on the weapons being completely logical. Too much logic saps the fun. I still agree, but only in limit.

I wanted to venture a guess at your earlier posted "spoiler" sprite sheet. The purple spiky shoulder growth thing on the player is the main player character slowly 'corrupting' or becoming one of the demon creatures himself. It's what eventaully happens to all individuals tossed into this "evil australia", if that is, they don't get killed before their final "becoming" stage. So, in yer sheet the player character is harvesting some of the superhuman ability of the evil race, while struggling to remain human. Am I warm?


Also on the player character, the protagonist of this saga, is he really a bad criminal, or is he innocent and fighting his way out of australia, unjustly sentanced? I'm thinking about game psychology here. Don't we want a character that's really good, to conquer. If he deserves his punishment to be banished, like he is, doesn't that motivate us, the player, less to save him and succeed? Do you know what I mean? Or is it just that we want to be fighting something more malevolent than we? In this, we have a convicted criminal, of a heinous crime(s) apparently, fighting creatures definitely mroe evil than he, so then does that work? I guess so. Because of this he doesn't need to be the stereotypical dashing hero type, because his struggle is still against forces far worse than he, so we still have that differentiation there.
Yet, some games do pit an obvioulsy malicious character, as the player character, against things or people that is/are good. But those good people/things are always trying to capture or kill you, as the player, so from your point of view, they are the bad guy, simply because they're trying to get you. I guess this still work, I'm not sure . . . You see, perfect gameplay is such an elusive thing, it's nearly all that really matters in a game. But that's because it's the sum of all of it's parts, with less emphasis on the "presentation layer" of the game than anything else. Yet, I can argue that graphics do equate to gameplay value because I play some games just to see the graphics, so if the graphics aren't there, my mind isn't there, haha. You can't win for losing.

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Re: Making a game :o [ Project Deadbird]

Reply #25 on: May 22, 2009, 11:02:54 pm
Mathias: You have questions I at least want to answer with some pretty pixels :]

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Re: Making a game :o [ Project Deadbird]

Reply #26 on: July 01, 2010, 10:19:09 am
Since it's summer I have a bit more free time for pixels. I'm working on the walking animations, but for now, here is the display. The avatar on the right would show his current status, any transformation etc. the red liquid stuff is blood- his health bar and the blue is water- his hydration bar. then to the left are 2 items the player would currently be able to use.
I'm pretty satisfied with it :D

I need a programmer D:

Offline Olothontor

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Re: Making a game :o [ Project Deadbird]

Reply #27 on: July 01, 2010, 01:55:32 pm
Wow, this looks amazing.

Since I really want to see this go somewhere, you might look for Programmers on the Facepunch forums. There are a fair number of idiots, but when I first posted my game concept I had 8 C++ programmers waiting to get started. Just a thought.

The sprites are simply stunning, although I think the HUD might be pretty distracting from actual gameplay. I think it draws TOO much attention, both in size and detail.
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Re: Making a game :o [ Project Deadbird]

Reply #28 on: July 01, 2010, 02:21:33 pm
(oh, now you're gonna animate that avatar huh? hehe har)

I was waiting for this one to reactivate.


This project seems more like just an art project than an actual game dev project. It'll take months of development to bring this game about. And look at how little time you have. Not to be a doomsayer, but how far have you ever gotten into creating a fully-featured game like this?

With all the final art being produced there needs to already be a thoroughly planned out design doc in existence, yet last I remembered some of the game's fundamentals were still up in the air, nowhere near ready for being recorded in the DD. Others here have much more valid experience with game dev, commercial even (just see their lamentations in the Off-Topic thread right now to identify a few). Maybe they can advise.



Your latest stuff. I agreem the HUD is big, I was surprised.

I assume it spans the width of your targeted resolution, which would be 320px X 240px. How is it going to work? What happens when the game world is overlapped by the protrusions on top of the HUD? When art crosses over into game art there's a painful need for functionality above all else, and right now it looks like a form-over-function situation goin' on here.




Top left of HUD, is that a closed eye waiting to open? Perhaps a toggle switch for some type of game mode, like invincibility for the player?
« Last Edit: July 01, 2010, 03:57:12 pm by Mathias »

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Re: Making a game :o [ Project Deadbird]

Reply #29 on: July 01, 2010, 03:50:23 pm
I have to agree with Mathias. It is very nicely done, but probably way too huge for a nice and functional hud.

You have to ask yourself which parts you really really need and how big they have to be.
Do you need the portrait of the dude in the lower right at all cost?
Do the powerbars have to be that thick?
Do the weapon slots have to be staggered?

And so on.

Also, please change the colour of that red on your sig, it seriously burns and attracts the eyes away from stuff.
There are no ugly colours, only ugly combinations of colours.

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Re: Making a game :o [ Project Deadbird]

Reply #30 on: July 01, 2010, 08:46:35 pm
Olothontor: Oh wow, never heard of the place! If I ever get some sort of a foundation with the graphics on this I will definitely go there.
Mathias: I have no experience with game design or programming- so as a pixel artist I'm going to make pixels. In my head this game being actually made it merely a pleasant "what it" or at best a " maybe it will" but that said looking at it in the intended resolution It is too big. Honestly it was an old piece that I had started back when I started making sprites for this years ago and just decided to finish rendering it. Perhaps the avatar would be more fitting for an inventory view where the entire screen would be dedicated to that sort of thing.

Ptoing: I will make a new display that takes all those points into consideration.
Short fix: I lowered the saturation of the red in my sig a good bit but I'll change the hue to something less intense soon.


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Re: Making a game :o [ Project Deadbird]

Reply #31 on: July 02, 2010, 04:37:42 am
I tried to sketch out some ideas for a new display and I came up with some things. I'm using these icons just as shorthand representation. in the first one the idea is the HUD is a stone slab with hand carvings on either side that "hold" the weapons of the characters left and right hand, and in the middle it shows his life and hydration bar. The one next to it is the same thing but taking away the connection part for more viewing area. Then on the bottom is another idea I had which would just display his life/hydration and on each side larger scale images of the items in either hand.


I'm interested in what you guys think so don't hesitate to comment :]t

edit: also, an update on the south walking animation- taking into account arachne's points
« Last Edit: July 02, 2010, 10:36:46 am by Ryumaru »

Offline Olothontor

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Re: Making a game :o [ Project Deadbird]

Reply #32 on: July 02, 2010, 11:53:50 am
The white is very bright, as is its nature, but that makes it pop out a ton. While I understand why you'd want the equipment to be obvious, I think you overshot a little. Tone it down a bit! :D

As for the HUDs themselves, I like the concepts. The detail was toned down a lot, and they're a lot smaller. I personally like the HUD with the connector bit at the top, I think it adds the most feel without detracting from the player's view or gameplay.
"In a mad world, only the mad are sane." - Akira Kurosawa

Offline Porque

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Re: Making a game :o [ Project Deadbird]

Reply #33 on: July 02, 2010, 09:34:01 pm
I am really digging that style, it looks really cool. Somehow it keep me reminding of Diablo II.
I would suggest to get inspiration for a HUD by looking at Diablo's HUD.

I would also say lose the colors in the hud (the purple like 1) It looks amazing but I think it doesnt fit the character.
The character looks like a barbarian type that uses bones, stones etc. as weapons. And the hud makes me think
hes more like a mystic warrior/paladin type or anything like that :P

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Re: Making a game :o [ Project Deadbird]

Reply #34 on: July 03, 2010, 07:15:49 am
Olothontor: Thanks for your opinion :D yeah when I incorporate those Ideas I will most likely tone down the white. Not to mention once it's full scale the single pixel outline would make less of a difference. You picked my favorite too :D I think it'll leave enough room but also make some opportunities for some pretty pixeling.

Porque:
I guess in a way that the Diablo hud is very similar to the 3rd display composition, with the bars at the bottom and two equipments on either side. Also the character represented in the sprites is kind of different than the more demonic one represented in the previous HUD. I had the idea of the display transforming after the character did- I might still use details from that in things such as status screens.

Thanks for the comments guys.
heres a north facing walk cycle( i guess he's closer to running than walking actually) and I'm marginally satisfied with it given my deplorable animation skills.

Offline Olothontor

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Re: Making a game :o [ Project Deadbird]

Reply #35 on: July 03, 2010, 03:05:35 pm
Porque:
I guess in a way that the Diablo hud is very similar to the 3rd display composition, with the bars at the bottom and two equipments on either side. Also the character represented in the sprites is kind of different than the more demonic one represented in the previous HUD. I had the idea of the display transforming after the character did- I might still use details from that in things such as status screens.

Wow, I like that idea a lot. I seriously wish I was enough of a programmer to team up with you, but I couldn't tackle something this big.

Anywho, I think the animation is a bit... I dunno. It seems very clunky and stompy. Unfortunately, I have no animation experience whatsoever, I don't have a clue as to how one would fix that. And I guess you already knew it was kinda awkward... so this post was useless. Nevermind :(
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Re: Making a game :o [ Project Deadbird]

Reply #36 on: July 03, 2010, 04:35:45 pm
Would XNA be an okay platform for you?
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Re: Making a game :o [ Project Deadbird]

Reply #37 on: July 04, 2010, 03:28:43 am
Olothontor: Hah no worries for speaking your opinion! My animation skills are barely passable so some of the awkwardness is that it's only a 4 frame animation but I'm trying to make the most out of them.

Elrinth: I have no experience with XNA but it seems it has xbox live capabilities? I know next to nothing of a game ACTUALLY being made so I would have no knowledge to say any way or the other.

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Re: Making a game :o [ Project Deadbird]

Reply #38 on: July 08, 2010, 01:29:51 pm
Having some difficulties settling on the HUD now that It's full size and I decided to add some elements. The green bar would be experience- and I find that important enough to post on the HUD because visual representation of growth is satisfying. Also added the day to night phases as having a clear cut visual of where the day is would be important in keeping track of time and how much is left before the nocturne's battle would start.
It's obviously in a bare bones state at the moment, but any advice or ideas on the composition and arrangement of everything inside would be much appreciated:

Offline st0ven

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Re: Making a game :o [ Project Deadbird]

Reply #39 on: July 08, 2010, 02:51:19 pm
hey man if youre making games i think its not really so much important to get caught up in the end product look/feel right away. usually youll go through several iterations to get many aspects of your game looking the way you want it (or the way your boss wants it). if the HUD is giving you some trouble, use a simple, sensible layout at first, being minimalistic, and then move on to the rest of your game. things like HUD design may very well be influenced by the progression of your game's content, so sometimes its best not to commit to these things too soon. Spend that time on content content content! :)



Offline Hyrule_SwordsMan

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Re: Making a game :o [ Project Deadbird]

Reply #40 on: July 08, 2010, 02:59:10 pm
Great art, I think you have talent and I like what you do.

About the HUD, I would deff add some contrast in those blue and red bars. Maybe using both black and white, or some hue variation instead would get a nice result. I think the same goes for the rest of the HUD. The "dark purple" part is too boring. Don't forget that color is as much important as shape. Maybe you have a really interesting shape, but  not more than 6 colors in a huge surface. I recommend you adding some details on some other colors, conserving the saturation so it doesn't pop out very much.

(oh, now you're gonna animate that avatar huh? hehe har)

I was waiting for this one to reactivate.


This project seems more like just an art project than an actual game dev project. It'll take months of development to bring this game about. And look at how little time you have. Not to be a doomsayer, but how far have you ever gotten into creating a fully-featured game like this?

With all the final art being produced there needs to already be a thoroughly planned out design doc in existence, yet last I remembered some of the game's fundamentals were still up in the air, nowhere near ready for being recorded in the DD. Others here have much more valid experience with game dev, commercial even (just see their lamentations in the Off-Topic thread right now to identify a few). Maybe they can advise.



Your latest stuff. I agreem the HUD is big, I was surprised.

I assume it spans the width of your targeted resolution, which would be 320px X 240px. How is it going to work? What happens when the game world is overlapped by the protrusions on top of the HUD? When art crosses over into game art there's a painful need for functionality above all else, and right now it looks like a form-over-function situation goin' on here.
What does need to pop out and doesn't, are the weapons icons. Agreed, I like their pallets, so maybe you shouldn't edit them, maybe what you have to do is pushing a bit down the strength of the rest of the hud. When I see your HUD I first see the red bar, then the arm of the guy, then the rest of the purple hud and just after everything i can barely see the weapons. I think that should work differently, you may work a bit more on that. Should the guy in the middle have that much protagonism on your HUD?
Well, let's see some improvements :]

cheers and good luck from Argentina




Top left of HUD, is that a closed eye waiting to open? Perhaps a toggle switch for some type of game mode, like invincibility for the player?

Offline Hyrule_SwordsMan

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Re: Making a game :o [ Project Deadbird]

Reply #41 on: July 08, 2010, 03:01:17 pm
What St0ven says is true, Ryumaru. Have in mind that if you are using such a cool and full of details HUD, the rest of the windows should have at least the same ammount of details, or more; so the player won't focus all his attention on something that is really secondary.
Maybe you should try something more modest.

hey man if youre making games i think its not really so much important to get caught up in the end product look/feel right away. usually youll go through several iterations to get many aspects of your game looking the way you want it (or the way your boss wants it). if the HUD is giving you some trouble, use a simple, sensible layout at first, being minimalistic, and then move on to the rest of your game. things like HUD design may very well be influenced by the progression of your game's content, so sometimes its best not to commit to these things too soon. Spend that time on content content content! :)




« Last Edit: July 08, 2010, 03:11:39 pm by Hyrule_SwordsMan »

Offline Ryumaru

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Re: Making a game :o [ Project Deadbird]

Reply #42 on: September 30, 2011, 08:54:16 am
So as this thread has proven I am deplorable at animation, but my cousin and I have been throwing around some game ideas and we found game maker for mac so I've been a bit inspired. Mac still doesn't have a great pixel app. I just wan my mspaint :[

The game maker sprite editor doesn't have a function to save as a .gif so all I have is this measly, horrible sprite strip  ._.

Besides the general lack of quality I liked how the other animations served as a run, but could still be used as a walk animation- this one doesn't have the same effect. Some day I will increase the frame rate on these but I am at least at the point where I know adding frames doesn't do shit until the key frames are passable. Any and all critique welcome

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Re: Making a game :o [ Project Deadbird]

Reply #43 on: September 30, 2011, 07:52:57 pm
I gotchyer back, homey: (animation a bit slow for easier appraisal)



Two things - Animating sprites that detailed is going to be true work! I assume you'll be matching this detail level for all other sprites. And, my biggest crit is the head looking copy/pasted across frames; doesn't change.

I like it a lot, though.

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Re: Making a game :o [ Project Deadbird]

Reply #44 on: September 30, 2011, 08:12:52 pm
First three frames are great, fourth needs work!

The main problem I see is his back leg is a bit too thick in the final frame. I also think it should move upwards a bit more, you'll notice its as if he's only occupying one half of the shadow he's making, because he's not spread out enough along the Y axis. In that last frame his front foot is strangely positioned as well, I don't think it should be angled like that, try his toes touching the ground and his heel raised without being angled as much towards the camera. And finally the arms are much more drastic in their angles than the second frame. Try to mirror the positions of the second frame and it will look much more natural. Glad to see this getting revived by the way. c:

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Re: Making a game :o [ Project Deadbird]

Reply #45 on: September 30, 2011, 11:41:12 pm
Tell me what you think of this guys. Mathias, I tried to do some sub pixeling to A) reduce the effect of the 1 pixel head bob and B) slightly edit the face configuration so it doesn't look as copypasted.
Atnas: I tried to fix through your suggestions; the final frame is a bit less extreme:

Offline Ryumaru

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Re: Making a game :o [ Project Deadbird]

Reply #46 on: January 19, 2013, 10:00:56 am
Just dumping some weapon concepts. Mostly reworks of earlier designs as these are the weapons you get earliest in game.



carved bone knife. Second one indicates what can be created with higher intelligence stat ( utilization of serrated edges for more damage) third indicates what can be created with both higher intelligence and higher creativity( focus on aesthetics, desire for symmetry.



Boss weapons utilizing remains specific to the bosses you defeat. first one is utilizes large fangs and the fur of a beast, second comes from the skull and hand bones from the guy I posted in creativity thread. I'm fine with these designs specifically being more aesthetic or for the cool factor, as these are rewards and as such should be special.