Exilian

Game Design and Project Resources: The Workshops Quarter => Computer Game Development - The Indie Alley => Topic started by: ndnninja15 on September 15, 2016, 12:28:19 AM

Title: Blinxed - 2D Action Platformer
Post by: ndnninja15 on September 15, 2016, 12:28:19 AM
Hey guys I'm working on a 2D platformer and am targeting Android though I'm sure I'll release it to PC as well. Though for now I've been developing with Android in mind and have been testing the game on my phone as opposed to my laptop.

(http://flashpawstudios.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/dlLink.jpg) (http://www.flashpawstudios.com/games/com.flashpawstudios.platformer.apk)

Here's a snapshot of the game and a little video of me just testing it out.

(http://flashpawstudios.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/purpleTileSet-300x171.jpg)


I have the current build hosted on my site if you want to download it to your phone but I tested it on someone elses phone and have noticed an issue with the sizing. I have yet to get around to it since I'm still working on the mechanics however it still should run and be somewhat playable.

Would love any and all comments/criticisms. Say anything you like, my feelings won't be hurt.

I'll be sure to keep posting updates as I make them.
Title: Re: 2D Platformer (Still needs a name)
Post by: DeepCandle Games on September 15, 2016, 09:21:18 AM
Is there a basic plot/setting? So far all I have for names is Block-buster  :P
Title: Re: 2D Platformer (Still needs a name)
Post by: Jubal on September 15, 2016, 11:42:09 AM
I've got a couple train journeys over the weekend, I'll try and download it and have a playthrough then :)
Title: Re: 2D Platformer (Still needs a name)
Post by: ndnninja15 on September 15, 2016, 02:49:30 PM
Is there a basic plot/setting? So far all I have for names is Block-buster  :P

Haha, reminds me of the old video rental shop, Blockbuster.

I do have some ideas in mind about a plot though this early in development I'm still focused on the gameplay/structure. I think within the next week or so I'll start fleshing out the character storyline.

^ Awesome, would love any feedback
Title: Re: 2D Platformer (Still needs a name)
Post by: Pentagathus on September 15, 2016, 04:44:24 PM
I don't see what's wrong with using 2D Platformer as a name. At least you know what you're getting.
Title: Re: 2D Platformer (Still needs a name)
Post by: ndnninja15 on September 16, 2016, 05:03:15 AM
Haha this is true.

I made a little totem thing to shoot fireballs. There's also a specific tile type that will block the fireballs from continuing movement left/right thru the map.

(http://flashpawstudios.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/fireStatue.png)

(http://flashpawstudios.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/statuePositioning.jpg)
Title: Re: 2D Platformer (Still needs a name)
Post by: ndnninja15 on September 16, 2016, 08:30:16 PM
Workin on some levels

- Made buttons bigger
- Created a game over screen and a way to restart the level

(http://flashpawstudios.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/091616_ss_level.png)
This is a screen capture from my phone with the camera zoomed out
Title: Re: 2D Platformer (Still needs a name)
Post by: Jubal on September 16, 2016, 08:56:08 PM
Some of the textures/tiling will need work, they cut off a bit oddly at the edges, but it looks fine for this stage certainly, good stuff. :)
Title: Re: 2D Platformer (Still needs a name)
Post by: ndnninja15 on September 19, 2016, 12:52:57 AM
Yeah I agree, looks like some of the rocks just end and it's way too sharp. I will for sure go back through and make adjacent tiles to make it look better.

- Added platforms that can be jumped up through
- Added spikes which kill the player instantly, though will probably need to change up the colors a bit so it stands out more
- Added a horizontal lazers that knock the player around when colliding with them
- Added an end zone that brings the player back out to a level selector (will need to add some sort of animation or something and maybe a BONUS screen)

-Fire totems shoot both left and right and have tiles that block the fireballs to keep them from flying through the entire level
- Added a treasure chest (player must be next to the chest and to open, the player taps the chest itself though I can't show this from recording from a screen capture)
     Right now it dumps out like 10 coins but have yet to implement collision checks with them

Title: Re: 2D Platformer (Still needs a name)
Post by: ndnninja15 on September 21, 2016, 02:28:01 AM
Did a bit of polishing today.

- Made the player slow down and speed up when moving instead of an abrupt halt.
- Stored level objects after initial loading so that reloading is faster after dying (got sick of waiting 10 secs to respawn, ha!)
- Have a little loading symbol pop up while a level loads from the "World 1" menu
- Collision checks for coins are now implemented though I need a way to convey that a treasure chest has been opened
- Moved player draw commands to the center of the screen so it's easier to see stuff on the left AND right side
- Made a new level

- Working on adding a grenade with two different types, a sticky type and a bouncy type
- Working on getting some numbers in the HUD to show number of coins
- Also cooking up some new tiles so things like the lava and the rock edges aren't so sharp

Title: Re: 2D Platformer (Still needs a name)
Post by: Jubal on September 21, 2016, 06:29:24 PM
Had a bit of a playthrough - it all works well so far, everything's smooth, as I said above it probably wants some graphic polishing at some point.

Thoughts:
Title: Re: 2D Platformer (Still needs a name)
Post by: ndnninja15 on September 21, 2016, 10:28:05 PM
- I agree, I put that in there just for armadillo's but I've gotten rid of the bitch stuffs
- What do you mean by doubling up with the crouch button? Like holding the crouch button and pressing left or right to turn? I think I'm going to try and avoid single tile tight spots so this wouldn't be necessary. Either that or make the player a bit smaller than the tile sizes.
- I'm not exactly sure what they are. They kind of just appeared from some random sketch I made, but yeah they do seem like snakes.

What kind of phone were you playing it on, out of curiosity? My brother-in-law has a phone where the rendering doesn't look so good, so I'm trying to fix my OpenGL calls ATM.
Title: Re: 2D Platformer (Still needs a name)
Post by: DeepCandle Games on September 22, 2016, 07:19:10 AM
Coming along nicely.

Worried about the scale of the controls in proportion to screen size, but I'm not sure what the true scale is so who knows.
Title: Re: 2D Platformer (Still needs a name)
Post by: Jubal on September 22, 2016, 06:29:30 PM
I'm using a Nexus tablet, which is what I always use for android games - I find phones far too small to play on comfortably.

What I was thinking is that the first tap of the crouch button could switch the player's facing, so if you're not moving and you just tap it once you switch facing at the same time. I don't think that would affect any of its other functions (you could still have it so if you held it down and then pressed left or right the player moved in the right directions, for example, it would just be that if you were sitting still and crouching tapping it would change your facing). That might not be optimal, and you could just do it by avoiding tight ladders, but that restricts your level design more.
Title: Re: 2D Platformer (Still needs a name)
Post by: ndnninja15 on September 28, 2016, 04:34:08 AM
^ I'm thinking of either reducing the player size or increasing the tile size that way the tight spots are avoided altogether.

I've been working on improving the tilesets and upgrading Open GL from version 1 to 2. It renders smoother with 2 but I'm not quite finished writing the new renderer yet.

Here's my WIP of the new tileset though.

(http://flashpawstudios.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/totemSnake.png)
Title: Re: 2D Platformer (Still needs a name)
Post by: Jubal on September 28, 2016, 12:17:41 PM
The grass definitely improves the look, nicely done :)
Title: Re: 2D Platformer (Still needs a name)
Post by: ndnninja15 on September 30, 2016, 04:19:24 AM
^ Hey thanks!

Finally got my renderer updated to Open GL ES 2 and I'm lovin it. The matrix operations seem simpler though it was a bit of a hurdle to understand at first. I'm curious about writing some of my own shader programs.

Now that I've updated the render I can finally get back to adding more content to the game.

I added to the HUD showing bullets and coins picked up, see below.

I've also been brainstorming for some name ideas and hopefully I'll come up with something soon.

(http://flashpawstudios.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/screenShot_092916.png)
Title: Re: 2D Platformer (Still needs a name)
Post by: Jubal on October 01, 2016, 12:18:30 PM
Featured this thread in September's "Updates from the Forge":

http://exilian.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=4759

:)
Title: Re: 2D Platformer (Still needs a name)
Post by: ndnninja15 on October 05, 2016, 04:05:57 AM
Hey hey that is cool thanks!

After rewriting the game renderer I got a little burned out from code, I did mess around with some rotation and got the fireballs to spin so I'll probably draw up something new that looks cooler spinning. Though I've been spending my time drawing in order to recover from the code-a-thon. I'll probably get back to it within the next few days. Also came up with this level select mockup.

(http://flashpawstudios.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/levelSelect.png)
Title: Re: 2D Platformer (Still needs a name)
Post by: ndnninja15 on October 14, 2016, 04:44:56 AM
Been a little while since my last post since I went on a little art/drawing hiatus and haven't done too much with the code. I got around to upgrading my camera today to have a better view in the direction the player moves. Though it's still a little rusty and needs a little more work.

I also changed up the enemy "pathfinding" and it's not entirely working either, so they are floating right now. Before, I had them finding a path before the level would start and with bigger maps the loading time was taking too long for my tastes. My plan is to polish up both the camera and the enemy paths tomorrow.

Title: Re: 2D Platformer (Still needs a name)
Post by: Jubal on October 29, 2016, 11:44:18 AM
Good luck! Finished organising Exilian's annual convention now so should hopefully be able to offer a bit more feedback/be around a bit more :)
Title: Re: 2D Platformer (Still needs a name)
Post by: ndnninja15 on November 09, 2016, 04:49:42 AM
I did a thing!

(http://orig13.deviantart.net/0b5f/f/2016/311/c/4/lookatme_by_flashpawstudios-danp5st.png)

Been drawing my balls off to bring my art work up to par and have been getting into some Rick and Morty characters.

- Redrew my tiles and have decided to stick with pixel art. I'll more than likely be touching up the artwork further but I like the new colors better.

- Got the gun back in there though I have plans to make it lag a bit behind the player when moving and some other minor subtleties

- Added new buttons

- Added a armadillo little animation for finishing the level but it's a placeholder for now

- Watched a yt talk given by John Romero where he says the guys at id would polish as they went and would fix a bug the moment it was discovered. I decided to take on this approach instead of trying to get a rough cut of the entire game and then polishing later. So far so good. I've fixed a few minor things that aren't noticeable unless I bring it up so...

Here it is



Title: Re: 2D Platformer (Still needs a name)
Post by: Jubal on November 09, 2016, 01:16:31 PM
Looks a lot neater, great stuff - look forward to testing a newer version :)
Title: Re: Blinxed - 2D Action Platformer
Post by: ndnninja15 on November 10, 2016, 01:54:12 AM
Thank you sir!

Today I worked on getting the game to run on my PC but am having a little ghosting issue. I think I have an idea of what's wrong and will test out a solution tomorrow. Will probably start working on some new levels after that.

(http://flashpawstudios.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/screenshot_110916.png)
Title: Re: Blinxed - 2D Action Platformer
Post by: Jubal on November 10, 2016, 05:27:03 PM
Blinxed - the Clone Wars edition? :P
Title: Re: Blinxed - 2D Action Platformer
Post by: ndnninja15 on November 25, 2016, 02:06:17 AM
Yes  ;D

So I fixed that issue days ago but have switched focus to my artwork. I get sick of working on code and switch, then when I get sick of drawing I'll switch back. But who knows when that'll be  ::)

Here's some stuff I've been drawing

(http://orig01.deviantart.net/5695/f/2016/326/b/9/doodles_112116_by_ndnninja15-dapaojr.png)

(http://orig01.deviantart.net/4312/f/2016/327/b/c/doodles_112216_by_ndnninja15-dapdtdz.png)

(http://orig07.deviantart.net/8419/f/2016/322/9/1/cemeteryzombie_by_ndnninja15-daouphw.png)

(http://orig01.deviantart.net/2f81/f/2016/323/b/b/pixelrick_by_ndnninja15-daoxt33.png)

(http://orig00.deviantart.net/5ada/f/2016/328/2/b/boulderman_by_ndnninja15-daphvrg.png)

(http://orig12.deviantart.net/5b36/f/2016/329/f/8/dragon_by_ndnninja15-daplqhr.png)
Title: Re: Blinxed - 2D Action Platformer
Post by: Jubal on November 25, 2016, 11:29:18 AM
Nice stuff! Are you doing this freehand on a computer, or if not what art method are you using? :)
Title: Re: Blinxed - 2D Action Platformer
Post by: ndnninja15 on November 26, 2016, 04:54:01 AM
Thanks! Yeah I'm using a computer but I have a Wacom drawing tablet. I'll usually start with a sketch and shrink it down really small then draw with individual pixels. It's possible to do pixel art with a mouse but I don't recommend it. I started that way and the ball near my wrist started to ache so the tablet has been awesome.

Made another thing and think I'm startin to get the hang of this shading stuff

(http://orig08.deviantart.net/ebc7/f/2016/330/c/9/knight_by_ndnninja15-dapo38u.png)
Title: Re: Blinxed - 2D Action Platformer
Post by: Jubal on November 26, 2016, 10:41:51 AM
Yeah, I've done freehand pixel art for a card game I'm designing, but that's designed very much to be blocky and low-grade. Then for the game I'm working on I've done "pixel art" by making photomontages on the computer, messing with the colours a bit, then crunching them down to a couple hundred pixels across and indexing the colours to reduce the palette. Which works surprisingly well - not very well, but it's alright.