Shmup mockup

[LoTekK]

Having just released Rocketbirds: Revolution, an in-browser Flash game for which I did the majority of the background art [/shameless plug], I figured I'd use the down-time to start mocking up a shmup based on the characters from that game, and specifically, the circumstances in the intro. I haven't really figured how I want to handle the background (ie, whether to go for simple, parallaxing silhouettes, or something more detailed a la Aero Blaster or UN Squadron). So for now, the background and sky are somewhat placeholder.

For the sprites, I still need to go in and rejigger the palettes, since I did up Hardboiled (the chicken) with largely the same palette I used for the penguins (and you can clearly see the difference in color focus between them). Right now I'm also trying to sort out the working files, since they're a bit of a mess of layers (am I the only one that's underwhelmed/frustrated with how Pro Motion handles layers?). I'll likely have separate sprites for arms/weapons, body, jet plume, and the lighting from the muzzle flashes.

Style-wise, I'm more than likely going to stay away from any AA, except possibly some local buffer shading if absolutely necessary.

Not sure where this is gonna go, but once I get a few more assets together, I'll probably start prototyping in Construct. Whether it goes beyond prototype will depend on the bossman.



different weapons and orientations (for movement around the screen)


and a quick animation test


Any c&c is more than welcome.

[QuaziGNRLnose]

i absolutely love the light up on the character when he shoots it looks really natural!

[LoTekK]

Cheers Quazi. Hopefully when I get around to fixing up the palettes the lighting will look better, since right now the yellow is a bit over-saturated, and the secondary is pinkish :p

Did up a rocket-strapped kiwi (I'm thinking swarm-type enemy).



edit:
aaand a quick AKM. Which upon looking at it again, is a tad undersized. (fixed)

[rikfuzz]

Love this - really nice palette and lineless style. It does look odd that the giant flames on their backs aren't used as a source of light (where the gunfire is - in the animation anyway). Also, the flames - I expect them to be white in the middle, your shades seem reversed.

[Zoggles]

with those rocketpacks being mentioned, I might also point out that those characters must have very hot feet looking at how close they are to the jet flames.... I think there's likely to be a third potential light source

[LoTekK]

Cheers, guys. Good point about the missing lightsource from the rocketpack. I hadn't sorted out how best to approach additional lighting for that, in the interests of clarity. I'll play around with it some more, though.

Zoggles: Flaming feet could be a fun random effect. :p

Haven't had a lot of time to work on this, but recently started getting my feet wet with Construct to get a feel for it. While there are aspects of it I like, I think I may switch over to a more code-based framework like pyGame or LÖVE. The inconsistent interface and relative inflexibility are starting to grate.

Short youtube vid

(shell casings are probably a bit overdone :p)

[Gil]

(shell casings are probably a bit overdone :p)

I personally love the look of the shell casings

[ptoing]

Looks nice so far. I too have no problem with the shell casings.

What I would do tho is make the player shot quite a bit bigger. Sorta like in Metal Slug.

[bengo]

Reminds me of Team Fortress 2, I think you should make it more colorful, I tried making an edit but it really didn't do much, it just needs a bit more contrast and clean-up.