Makeover

Click for full image.

Lizards.. SSsssss~

Showcasing a few simple graphical improvements.
(Click images for full res)

So I though to myself, "hey, I should write something on where I'm going with Lizard Warrior. Because yeah, I have a blog. Makes sense." So, I went to take a snapshot of my game and I realized to myself two things:

One, how most nearly useless it would be because most of the visual improvements lately have been visual effects which are difficult to communicate in a still.

Two, how far my game has went in such a short amount of time, especially considering how much time I've spent on it.(read: not all that much)

In the screenshot pictured above you can see the improved background graphic and the final bits of a smoke explosion animation playing, which triggers when an enemy is defeated. Wasps explode into swaths of smoke, awesome!

A mockup to tease the new character, Toad.(the frog)

For the future of the game, I'm planning on creating multiple playable characters, much to the dismay of the game's title. The first of which is "Toad", who is a frog. All of the characters will be unique to one another and play very differently, for that is their purpose. It should make for lots of great variety and fun times to be had.

I'll also be removing the stat upgrading in favor of a skill tree, which will give me much more flexibility in designing ways to upgrade your character.

In addition to this will be what I am calling "Personalities", where you pick a personality for your character. The personality you pick affects them in some way!(read: somewhat undecided) This will add another layer of depth to choosing characters and will help introduce interesting complex strategies. Also, if I ever add dialogue to the game these will have a major role in it somehow.

I made textboxes but I don't have a use for them yet...

Beyond characters, I'm working on the game's first boss, which, unless something big makes me change my mind, is going to be a giant crocodile. My goal is to make it epic, and to make you feel like a tiny little helpless ant at the mercy of a merciless child with an aerosol can of bug spray.

Sound effects are being worked on. I'm not satisfied with my SFXR-generated sound effects, so I'm thinking of making an ambitious move and recording my own, somehow. We'll see how that works out. Voice acting is also being experimented with. Hahaha!

To wrap things up, I'm also putting a lot of effort into the level design now. I'm enjoying the mix of pre-made levels and procedural generation, so far it's been a lot of fun to work with.

Not sure how much of this stuff will be completed by the time I feel like releasing the next version, butttt, it's being worked on!

Ciao for now!!

"Combat Skip Button" and SUCKING at game design

This is my view on a subject discussed in one of TotalHalibut's "The Mailbox" episodes on Youtube. (link) It begins around the 2:00 mark I believe.

To be brief, talking about whether a "Skip Combat" mechanism(fairly self-descriptive I believe) is called for in some games. Various arguments are tossed around in both directions, but I'll skip summarizing that. Instead I'm just going to jump right in to my position on the subject.

Note that my hypothetical "you" is directed at developers.

BOTTOM LINE: If your game would be better off having had a "Skip Combat" button then you flat out suck at game design and you failed really damn hard. Your game sucks and it's not worth playing.

As a game, if you design your combat in a way that ends up making users want to skip it, you fail. You fail hard. Go make a movie, because chances are the only reason one would want to keep progressing through your game at that point would be to know what happens next in the plot-line. Or REMOVE the combat, because it apparently sucks so damn hard that is only acts to disservice the player and hamper the experience. That's the result of a "Skip Combat" button anyway.

I don't think any more elaboration is necessary.

Smooth Shading? What is this crap?

So yes, right there is my first attempt at making a piece of art which is smooth shaded. Who knew it would take me so long to try it? I'm pretty pleased with the results. Some things look a bit too pillow-y and lack the amount of volume definition that I'd like, but I'm OK with that as a first try. Highlights on hair are the bane of my existence.

- ALSO -

New Lizard Warrior update is being worked on. Lots of neat stuff is happening there.

Senior Yearbook Page

High school is ending, so I thought I'd go out with a bang.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/21167434/Artwork/YearbookPage-01.png <-- full size

Lizard Warrior

I made this game called "Lizard Warrior" for 7DRL. I didn't get as much time as I wanted to work on it, so as a result it was less roguelike more platform action rpg by the time the week was over. However, I liked the project so much that I decided to continue with it.

Your are a lizard man in a scary ass swamp. And pretty much everything is trying to kill you.

Fun!

TIGForums Development Log

Play the game

Development will be gradual, along side my other aforementioned project which has as of yet remained rather mysterious.

A Month of Hiatus

Hello!
This past month has been hectic for me; school, financials, preparing to move, university woes, etc.
And by extension, I did not allocate time towards writing for this blog, and furthermore did not have much to write about. Be ready for that to change.