Thanks for the feedback. I was actually a little unsure about posting that article here for the reasons you mentioned. I was thinking it was relevant as it was an update explaining to any followers why there hasn't been a regular update in a while, but you're right that it doesn't -really- belong here as game news.
I've moved it to the blog section on indiedb instead which is a bit more appropriate: Indiedb.com
That's exactly why we wrote it! We love reading stuff from other developers and figured that the only way the information spreads is if those who go through the process talk about it :)
Hello kind sir,
Thanks for the comments! We're still working out details for the particle system ourselves, though we'll have more to say about this soon. To answer your question, collision data is stored a number of ways depending on the complexity of the particular geometry. For the most part, level geometry is axis aligned to planes on X Y and Z axes. Real 3D data points are used for all meshes including the more complex slopes and arbitrarily oriented walls and such, but axis-aligned planes use simpler collision checks. Actual solid objects usually have bounded box collision that can be described in two points, but a position + radius scheme exists for spheres as well.
As for resolution of the third dimension, that's a little harder to answer. The third dimension is actually fully present, though its display is a bit simplified. Our sprites are obviously flat, but the bruisers and objects themselves have "thicknesses" so that they can still collide with each other even if their positional depths differ within some threshold.
Good luck on your project!
Well, what I'm doing in the preview image with Houdini is literally just so I can preview it. We don't have the game engine programmed yet, so that's the only way I can visualize it.
But if you mean in game, then the reason is that the game is going to play somewhat similar to the old school River City Ransom or Battletoads (or any beat-em-up) in that you can move through the depth plane as well as the horizontal and vertical.
Because the game is three dimensional, if you have an AoE attack like a molotov it's going to feel less cohesive if that AoE is only horizontal and not through depth. So to be able to get the fire to look like it belongs in 3D space (wrapping around obstacles or not going off into mid air when at the edge of a platform) I think that everything does indeed need to take place in 3D space.
Good question actually :)
That's one of the questions that needs answering still
One thought is that I can have the flame animation just die down. Right now it's actually just a single animation with about 8 frames that's scattered around using sprites. I could continue to loop that for x amount of time, and then have a die-down animation to finish the cycle. The x amount of time might either get reset each time a new fire source makes contact with the oil, or it might just always ignite for the same amount of time.
I'd always imagined that it could get lit and die off and ignite again meaning that the oil is frequently safe to be in, but you always have that tension that it could be lit up at any moment, and that's something that I still think will make the level fun, but I never really imagined it to be a situation where the player could willfully snuff it out with any sort of an item.
Thanks! Having people's support really helps keep us encouraged!
Thanks for the kind words! To answer your question, curiosity and interest really. That's how I'd always done it in the past and I wanted a set of reusable tools to bring forward to other projects as well.
Actually, you might also want to check out this post from a while back for more on how we're planning on assembling the characters :)
Indiedb.com
Yeah, you guessed right with the idea of them being rendered separately and being matched with coordinates.
There will be swappable eyes and hair, and while I haven't decided how much animation if any will exist on hair (part of the reason I was aiming for short hair cuts instead of pony tails or pig tails) there will definitely be some different expressions per eye piece depending on if the character is blinking, or has just been hit.
At the very minimum, there will be a 3/4 view of each piece of hair, and a back view (for when a character is climbing something). As much as I'd like more dynamic hair, I think it's a feature that I'll likely have to leave out.
We're making an arena fighting game to start with that will play somewhat similarly to the beat-em-up genre of games. We've got a few other levels planned, and multiplayer will definitely be our initial focus. But we do eventually hope to have enough interested that we can build a campaign mode as well.
Thanks! We're starting to pick up some steam, so hopefully we'll have some great stuff to show in a couple of weeks :)
The characters have actually been revised a bit, but because we've increased the complexity in how the game needs to load them, we haven't yet got them demonstrable in-game.
That said, it's not a drastic rehaul, so maybe you'll still feel conflicted about them down the road.
Thanks!
The cycles! They take forever!
Yeah, IndieDB doesn't even really have a category for text adventures, so I'm not sure what exactly the audience is here for it. I wonder if there's a better community for text games?
Yes! We're using -some- API's... XAudio2 for sound and Direct X for video, but essentially everything is being built from the ground up in C++.
You got it! Definitely have to claim Technōs Japan as an inspiration for what we're doing.:)
Neat! I'd never heard of that game before. It looks like it has some interesting things going on!
Thanks for the comment Sph!nx. We're pretty fond of it ourselves, but admittedly a title is probably one of the easiest things to change later down the road. We'll be sure to consider any alternative names we come up with in the meantime!
Thanks Jonathan! My partner and I are constantly knee deep in things to do :) He's still working his day job and programs at night, and I'm surprised at how hard it is to get everything done even when I'm working all day.
We're planning on incorporating soon, and it's a tough balance between business, marketing, and development. I think we'll be good, but encouragement is always nice :)
Sprixelsoft
Stephen joined
Matthew Langille and Stephen Tucker have been playing games since they developed the powers of long-term memory. Now that they're "adults" they're currently working together to make a foray into the world of indie development. Steve is the art side of things, and Matt is the programming side, and together they are SPRIXELSOFT! Their first "serious" game will be called Super Hematoma and will be a retro beat-em-up inspired, multiplayer fighting game.