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GAF Indie Game Development Thread 2: High Res Work for Low Res Pay
- Thread starter Jacksinthe
- Start date
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timetokill
Banned
Stage Presence continues to look funny as hell. Can't wait.
Tetraeon
Member
Hey guys, I've been developing some GearVR content (it's my first time programming with C# and using Unity) and after a lengthy review process I've finally released a small arcade game on the Oculus store called Skee Ball Simulator!
Check it out here! If you have a Gear VR, I've got a couple of codes for the download ready to go; the first three gaffers to PM me get them!
I'm in the process of expanding the experience with a patch that adds online leaderboards, new locations to play, and a trophy system to reward the player. Can anyone think of anything else to add for further engagement? I was thinking of porting this to Oculus/Vive as well, but I feel like Pierhead Arcade already has the motion replicated control side of things covered; does anyone feel my game would still be a viable $0.99 sell with the arcade style gameplay instead of motion controls?
Check it out here! If you have a Gear VR, I've got a couple of codes for the download ready to go; the first three gaffers to PM me get them!
I'm in the process of expanding the experience with a patch that adds online leaderboards, new locations to play, and a trophy system to reward the player. Can anyone think of anything else to add for further engagement? I was thinking of porting this to Oculus/Vive as well, but I feel like Pierhead Arcade already has the motion replicated control side of things covered; does anyone feel my game would still be a viable $0.99 sell with the arcade style gameplay instead of motion controls?
timetokill
Banned
Here's a shot of my latest voxel model progress
timetokill
Banned
timetokill
Banned
It think it looks great lol
And Qubicle, didn't know about it. Seems pretty good
Haha okay I'm no artist 😉
Qubicle is pretty much the gold standard when it comes to voxeling for games. MagicaVoxel kicks its ass at rendering though so if you just want to make gorgeous voxel scenes on their own, that's the far better option. Plus it's free.
OricWindstar
Member
So, I actually got really lucky and had a coworker come up to me and ask me if I'd be interested in doing making art for a video game. One thing led to another and now we're basically co-creating a game between the two of us, with him handling most of the programming and me focusing on presentation and level design. It's already slightly overwhelming but I'm thrilled to finally start working on something.
Today was about trying to find an aesthetic for it. It's a platformer and the tone is still up in the air, but I'm shooting for something like Donkey Kong Country's kind of foreboding world with a Castle Crasher's coat of paint on top.
There's more copying and pasting going on then there will be in the final product, but overall not too shabby for early concept art I think. I'm also simultaneously having to teach myself how to animate and this is the result so far:
Really hoping I'll have more interesting stuff to share soon, but either way it's so cool to finally be getting started on a serious project.
Today was about trying to find an aesthetic for it. It's a platformer and the tone is still up in the air, but I'm shooting for something like Donkey Kong Country's kind of foreboding world with a Castle Crasher's coat of paint on top.
There's more copying and pasting going on then there will be in the final product, but overall not too shabby for early concept art I think. I'm also simultaneously having to teach myself how to animate and this is the result so far:
Really hoping I'll have more interesting stuff to share soon, but either way it's so cool to finally be getting started on a serious project.
TheHollowNight
Member
Twitch Chat not supporting your "singing"? Show 'em how you feel!
this gif gives my soul life
timetokill
Banned
Voxels can create a lot of tris if you're going for "detail" so I'm trying to find the sweet spot.
OricWindstar
Member
These gifs combined with your username make me really happy. I'm going with the head canon that this game is from Thom's POV.
timetokill
Banned
Okay, last shot for today. A much more productive day than I've had in a long time! Any suggestions or critique is welcome!!
Sorry for the nudes
Sorry for the nudes
liliththepale
Banned
so much great stuff coming out, it makes me happy
I have to confess, I haven't really been paying attention to this before since neither music games nor VR are in my wheelhouse, but this looks quite amusing. I'm glad you're working on this and sharing it with us ♥
I really like these oversized sprites and great animations. Keep it up!
Donkey Kong Country and Castle Crashers are great games to ape, so I'm happy to see this being made. It already looks like it's off to a good start.
Working with others is a joy but it can also be quite stressful, especially if you let outside experiences taint the workplace. But best of luck to you both!
I have to confess, I haven't really been paying attention to this before since neither music games nor VR are in my wheelhouse, but this looks quite amusing. I'm glad you're working on this and sharing it with us ♥
Haven't posted here in a while
I really like these oversized sprites and great animations. Keep it up!
Donkey Kong Country and Castle Crashers are great games to ape, so I'm happy to see this being made. It already looks like it's off to a good start.
Working with others is a joy but it can also be quite stressful, especially if you let outside experiences taint the workplace. But best of luck to you both!
lol'd so much! xDI've spent the last week adding motion control support to Stage Presence and I'm super pleased with the results so far! Enjoy some gifs!
Twitch Chat not supporting your "singing"? Show 'em how you feel!
...
Edit:
lol, still! xD
GroundCombo
Member
Twitch Chat not supporting your "singing"? Show 'em how you feel!
Best use of VR 2016 award right here.
I've spent the last week adding motion control support to Stage Presence and I'm super pleased with the results so far! Enjoy some gifs!
Twitch Chat not supporting your "singing"? Show 'em how you feel!
I'm not sure what the game is supposed to be about anymore after these gifs, but I don't really care either, this looks so much fun!
Thanks for sharing, and good luck with the project! Keep us updated
And good luck with the animation, too! It's tough, but definitely rewarding :-D
ThePhotoshop
Member
Has anyone here exhibited a game at a convention like PAX before and can give me some advice? Basically I'm looking to learn about completely unexpected things that might come up but you wish you'd known about beforehand!
Thom Yorke's Wobbly Eye
Member
Thanks for the kind words about Stage Presence guys I've got some more daft gifs to show off soon!
I've got some more daft gifs to show off soon!
LordRaptor
Member
If its not literally chained down someone will try and take it.
Make sure anything you're exhibiting with like controllers, laptops etc are well secured.
Basic rigging for Alice:
Had to start over because I messed up a few things. Just this basic rigging took me a few days -_-, hopefully the new one will be quicker.
Does Qubicle has rigging to? Or do you export the rigging in another software?
Had to start over because I messed up a few things. Just this basic rigging took me a few days -_-, hopefully the new one will be quicker.
Okay, last shot for today. A much more productive day than I've had in a long time! Any suggestions or critique is welcome!!
Sorry for the nudes
Does Qubicle has rigging to? Or do you export the rigging in another software?
timetokill
Banned
Nope, I have to export and do the rigging elsewhere. The process isn't too bad because it's easy to model different "limbs" in Qubicle and then export them separately to be recombined in a program like Blender or Maya.
That said, I'm considering doing frame-based animation to really get that authentic retro feel. Voxels are supposed to be on a grid, so rotating them is "against the rules" so to speak. Obviously it can be done, has been done, and looks fine, but I'm just thinking about doing it another way.
TheHollowNight
Member
I can't of too many things I've experienced that have totally taken me by surprise, though in all fairness, events we've demoed at have been hosted by much bigger, well organized teams (ID@Xbox, Made With Unity etc). So we've probably gotten lucky with how smooth things have gone.
Saying that though, here's some general bits of advice that's probably good to know going in:
-Be prepared for on the spot video interviews, so nail any major talking points about your game. Keeping it concise and brief is very important. Also learn to chat and play your game and the same time (much harder than it sounds)
-Bring lots (LOTS) of business cards for the game, and stickers.
-Expect your game to break or reveal bugs that's never occurred prior to the event. It always, always happens. Some debug/console commands are pretty useful to make notes of the times things go awry.
-Further to that point, press and most public playing the game are very forgiving if a crash or glitch occurs.
-Try to be as receptive as possible, but learn to judge when it's best to just leave someone alone and the play the game without being pestered. Some folks don't give a shit about your pitch and want to figure it out themselves. You get better over time knowing instinctively when to jump in and guide them.
-Always have water on hand, you won't believe how strained your voice gets speaking all day.
-If you can, try and rotate yourself and another person on the team throughout the day, it's very tiring being on your feet all day, because most events I've been to provide no chairs for exhibitors (only usually one for folks playing). You might be able to get a cheeky seat if things have calmed down for a bit, but its best to swap out to have a break/fresh air/food etc.
-It might be great fun going to an after-party you got invited to, but let me tell you, demoing the game whilst hungover the next day is the literal worst thing ever.
-Take good care of your gear during the event, you probably won't get a traditional space to store things and there are always stories of devs getting their shit stolen. We had a cabinet under the screen at GDC to chuck some things into, but no proper locker, so only bring essentials.
-If someone is hosting you, you can almost always take the cool banner above your booth they made for you at the end of the event
Some suggestions for big events and showcases I'd make would probably be:
- Bring lots of business cards for the media/press/publishers/devs, and stickers or other merchandise for the players
- Keep at least one person of your team attracting people to the booth, another supervising the players to see what changes might be needed in the future, and a third person to take care of talking to players and press without disrupting your other two guys/gals. I went alone to TGS 2014 with my game, and it was painfully obvious that I could've accomplished a lot more by bringing more people with me. Two people manning the booth is still doable as well
- Have at least someone who's charismatic and has good people skills at the booth, since people on technical roles tend to be bad at actually selling people on stuff (unless they're actually looking for something technical in the first place)
- Value comfortable footwear and clothes over flashier stuff. You really don't want to be in an awful mood after having to stand up for too long
- Keep an eye on big events such as conferences and announcements, and try not to compete with them
- Depending on the event, you might be able to get one of your staff roaming around the showfloor to further promote your booth. Capitalize on that if you can, because it could mean more awareness of your game actually being showcased there (unless it's already pretty popular), and not everyone bothers to read through the whole exhibitor list to look for companies and games they might like
- It's probably obvious, but you must prepare banners and other stuff to put up at your booth to catch people's attention, since stuff such as the TGS's default signs with your company name on a solid background aren't exactly eye-catching in the first place
- Prepare an attract mode, or at least a gameplay video of the game that you can leave on loop even while nobody's playing the game. People are a lot more likely to try it out if it looks interesting, and a menu screen isn't going to cut it
- As an add-on to the previous point, you should implement a quick reboot command for your game that can be input by your crew to quickly reset the game in between plays, since having to manually go back to the main menu and/or deleting the save data each time quickly adds up. Other "demo-only" commands such as level skip and whatever are also good to have, but make sure players won't be able to input those commands by mistake (you could try making them keyboard commands while giving players controllers to play the game with, for example)
- If you can, try to work some analytics system into the game. Even something as simple as a long-ass text file with lots of entries that read "level 1 beat in 1:46 with 4 deaths" are going to be really useful for data mining later on, and adding any extra information on gameplay stats or events your designers might want to check out and compare will probably mean hundreds or thousands of juicy entries for them to analyze and crunch numbers with after the event
OricWindstar
Member
Thanks! And fortunately, my partner is a really cool dude that balances a lot of my faults with his strengths and vice versa.
Thanks!Thanks for sharing, and good luck with the project! Keep us updated
And good luck with the animation, too! It's tough, but definitely rewarding :-D
Your game is amazing.
Lol, that GIF sells the game by itself. Awesome job!I've spent the last week adding motion control support to Stage Presence and I'm super pleased with the results so far! Enjoy some gifs!
Twitch Chat not supporting your "singing"? Show 'em how you feel!
Wow, this looks really good, love everything about it. What engine are you doing it in?Haven't posted here in a while
floatstarpx
Member
My TinyArcade just arrived... looking forward to building a tiny, tiny game for this!
OricWindstar
Member
Oh wow, I've never seen on of these. Is it actually at all comfortable to play?
My TinyArcade just arrived... looking forward to building a tiny, tiny game for this!
LordRaptor
Member
I made the mistake of loading this thread on mobile, and promptly burned like 200MB of data plan on GIFs alone.
I'm impressed your phone managed to load it tbh, if I dare coming here near a weekend on my phone I get good old "Chrome has encountered a problem"
JeffG
Member
timetokill
Banned
Depends if I was still actively using it, of course, but you have to protect your IP.
LordRaptor
Member
There are actually full on scumbag developers who make a way better living than they deserve following things like gamejams and recompiling / cloning entries to sell on mobile appstores, sometimes even using the actual assets made by the indie as part of their entry.
e:
and of course, they have their defenders along the lines of "Fuck that indie dev not putting his game on IOS so I can play it, its his fault someone cloned his game and then sold it before he could"
HellBlazer
Member
I probably wouldn't be thrilled... but I wouldn't wait for 7 years of development and the game finally coming out before sending a C&D like a fucking dick.
D
Deleted member 10571
Unconfirmed Member
So how do you guys come up with a story? I have some ideas but having trouble finding an actual coherent plot to base a storyboard on. It's probably a super stupid question but eh, might as well.
timetokill
Banned
Imagine a character, and give him a goal. Give him personality traits and most importantly, flaws.
Put the character on a quest to reach his goal. Have obstacles in his way (human or otherwise) that exploit his flaws and prevent him from reaching his goal.
Figure out a way for the character to grow by addressing his flaws (if heroic), or meet his doom by failing to (if tragic).
Badabing, badaboom.
timetokill
Banned
Wow, that AM2R thread has no respect for creators whatsoever. Kinda sad.
So, I'm currently dealing with a technical quirk. I'm trying to create a scan line effect for my project, and in general it's been a massive bitch. Maybe someone here can provide some insight?
This is a mockup of the effect. More or less, the end goal. I took a simple line pattern, applied it above the image, set it to overlay blending, and 50% transparency. Obviously, this isn't going to translate 1:1, but anyway, here's what happens in actuality:
Don't mind the level of darkness. That's due to the fact that 1; it's at 100% opacity, and 2; no blending modes are on. That's stuff I'll figure out later. But the BIG thing is this pattern. It would imply that the image being drawn is 5 or so thick lines, then some thin lines. But I'm looking at the source image right now, and that's not the case. At first, I thought it might be due to the fact that the base resolution is 544x416, so scaling up might be an issue. So, I doubled the image size, and render it at 50% size. However, the issue is still present.
I'm out of ideas, and thought I'd pop in to see if anyone had dealt with this before, or knew if there was a fix to what is obviously my stupidity.
This is a mockup of the effect. More or less, the end goal. I took a simple line pattern, applied it above the image, set it to overlay blending, and 50% transparency. Obviously, this isn't going to translate 1:1, but anyway, here's what happens in actuality:
Don't mind the level of darkness. That's due to the fact that 1; it's at 100% opacity, and 2; no blending modes are on. That's stuff I'll figure out later. But the BIG thing is this pattern. It would imply that the image being drawn is 5 or so thick lines, then some thin lines. But I'm looking at the source image right now, and that's not the case. At first, I thought it might be due to the fact that the base resolution is 544x416, so scaling up might be an issue. So, I doubled the image size, and render it at 50% size. However, the issue is still present.
I'm out of ideas, and thought I'd pop in to see if anyone had dealt with this before, or knew if there was a fix to what is obviously my stupidity.
JeffG
Member
Typically...Stories don't just pop up in full form. They start as rough ideas and through iterations slowly take shape.
Different ways to come up with stories. Some authors come up with the ending first and work their way backwards.
Some start at the beginning and the act of creating the story is also their journey.
Here is an exercise. Find a random picture on the internet that contains some man made object. (maybe get someone to pick one for you)
Think of a story based on that picture. How did it get there? Who owned it? What sex are they? Name of owner? Do they have a partner? Do they have a job?
liliththepale
Banned
some of this art is making me really, really happy
liliththepale
Banned
Sometimes it just comes to you. Sometimes you sit and think on it for several days. I don't have a consistent method, and I love writing!
Depends on what the existing plans with the IP are. Either try and come to a licensing agreement with the developers in question or just shut them down outright. You have to protect your copyright or else you'll lose it.
LordRaptor
Member
Its an optical illusion called moiré - basically, you need to use a pixel perfect unresized scanline for the actual scanlines, or else you get moiring.
I'm not sure what engine you're using for your project, but there's a couple of ways you could achieve the effect; a while loop setting every pixel black if its modulo Y value is 0 would give a scanline effect, and wouldn't need to be done more than once (as future render calls could just skip any pixel whose Ypos modulo isn't 0).
The easier way if your engine supports it would be a tiled overlay texture
LordRaptor
Member
Unity 2D doesn't effectively* (star, huge caveats you'll find when you get to them) have any restrictions on sprite sizes or even any need for power of two textures, so you can pretty much make your sprites any arbitrary size you want - most people go with the 16x16 or 32x32 tiles for aesthetic reasons
HellBlazer
Member
Pretty awesome. Do you ride the ship between different regions of the world, or what?
liliththepale
Banned
Thanks!
No, this is part of the intro sequence. You cross a channel and arrive by ship to the peninsula where 90% of the game is played.
timetokill
Banned
some of this art is making me really, really happy
Ohh, pretty!
TheHollowNight
Member
More environmental traps!
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