Little character with over-powered weapon [updated]

[turfsurfer]

I recently picked up the pixel again to work on a small game. I was having fun with this particular animation so I thought I would post it up. Its the main character (a faun type thing) with one of the last weapons ou will get in the game, a trident:



Its only the first go-through with the animation. At this point I'm thinking I want the energy ball to build up slower instead of having it just sit there for a while before firing. The projectile sprites are both just FPOs, the idea is that you would fire the weapon (first projectile) and hold down the fire button untill the trident charges and unleashes itself.

I managed to bang this and a lot more out in an afternoon so I'll post up more stuff once I get GIFs made. C&C welcome and all that, thanks for looking.

[blumunkee]

Looks good. Might I suggest the orb starts smaller, then grows large while pulsating? I really don't get the feel of energy buildup here. More like energy is there, energy is delayed, energy is released. I think gameplay-wise it'll be important to have a visual clue so the player knows when to release the button for the powered up shot.

[rustEdge]

The delay before firing looks cute, and it could work for a cutscene or for an enemy's attack.
But if it's for the player's actual attack, it'll put the player off, as munkee mentioned.
Here's a quick edit I did. The one on the left is your original; mine's on the right.


For the buildup, the more abrupt it is, the stronger the energy transfer would appear. Think of it as a power surge when lightning hits an electrical pole. To do this I removed the slow buildup animation. I replaced it with a white arc coming from the trident to the charged shot, instantly boosting it to its final size. I also added a bit of an overshoot with the energy transfer to exaggerate the energy surge.
I also added some energy arcing between the trident and the ball. While it makes the ball look way more unstable, it reinforces the connection between it and your weapon. (More variants could be placed here. stronger primary energy bolt, more prominent color transferred from the trident to the ball, the trident having its own progressive animation, etc.)

Can't wait to see your updates. This looks like a really interesting game.   

[turfsurfer]

More stuff, as promised: A run animation and a another attack animation, this time with a large hammer.




I'm pretty satasfied with the both of them, though I want to make the run faster.

Rust, I love that edit, it looks much more like electricity, I'm going to take a shot at retouching that animation soon.

As for the pause and it being strange for the player, that has kind of been the idea. The power of the trident is a bit too much for the character to handle (he recieves it from someone who doesn't like him much,) and I am attempting to make it seem that way for the player as well. The control wont be push+hold the attack button to charge and release to fire, it would be puch+hold the attack button to charge and the trident fires when it wants to. I know thats counter intuitive for gameplay, but this particular attack's purpose is more to activate machinery and manipulate the enviroment, I actually dont want it to be super useful in fights (though if you can manage to fire one off it will do appropriately large amounts of damage.)

C&C still welcome and appriciated, thanks for all the input so far!

Edit: I did some preliminary animations for climbing and flying, the wings and the big claws come from artifacts you get during the game:

 

[JaJitsu]

what a cute little character.

i really like the hammer weapon. fits better then the gun

[turfsurfer]

Updates again! Refined run and climb animations, a new jump animation as well as some more of that first tile-set:

      


I should probably put all this stuff in the original post yeah? I'm not realy sure how to go about building this thread since I'm hoping to have a lot of material in it. Anyway, I appreciate any c&c you could throw my way. Thanks for looking!

[Tuna Unleashed]

the idea reminds me of demon's crest. i like the sprites, the dust on the hammer is weird though. i would try and find a ref for it

[turfsurfer]

More stuff!

First up: the head of what will be the second boss, some generic blob baddies, and some NPCs.







And some new tiles, the red-rock style one is a WIP I could use some help with and is my first attempt at dithering, the second set is supposed to be sea themed.





I look forward to what you all have to say, C&C welcome and encouraged all over the board, and I promise I will work with the feedback I get, I've just got a good head of creative steam built up and I'm running with it. Thanks!

[alspal]

I really like the personality of your sprites. Although I think it's a shame you've chosen to just do "generic blob baddies", why not keep all the sprites interesting?

[Shrub]

Arghhhhh! Pillow shading! Kill it with fire then nuke it from orbit!