Vapourware Codexian Game Development Thread

[TheDeveloperDude]

I made the A.I. to build some random design castle.
Here is the result: https://youtu.be/HenHvNmOhhw
It has became a puzzle game. A front attack is suicide. So you have to carefully navigate and use every trick to a successful siege.
What a surprise.

 

[Tavernking]

Those water effects are beautiful, I'm very jealous because I use the same tileset you're using (also Godot!)

Try not to get too caught up with polishing things especially if you're starved for time. Just get the prototype done ASAP.

 

[RaggleFraggle]

After becoming disgusted with Paradox and the bad luck afflicting the IP for the last decades, I decided to work on my own game in a similar vein (pun intended) to Vampire: Bloodlines. The problem is that I have zero experience with game design, music composition, visual art… although I was able to write an outline to keep things structured.

It would be about a newly turned vampire becoming involved in a local faction dispute and deciding the outcome by siding or not siding with the factions. Before you roll your eyes and skip past this, I picked that premise because it feels like the easiest way to introduce players to the plot and setting. Although yes I’m worried that the premise is too similar to BL and just plain repetitive, since both Red Embrace: Hollywood and Coteries of New York did that already. I’ve thought of a few ways to change things up, like having the PC sponsored by their maker rather than abandoned yet again, introducing other kinds of character types like werewolves, incubi, whatever. Since I’m not slaved to an existing IP then I can pretty much invent whatever I want. I always appreciated that BL felt so gonzo with all of the weird stuff it threw at you, like no less than three separate missions involving zombies, a landshark, a Russian mob boss, that one crazy dude who carried a severed arm…

Anyway, I’m not sure what to do so I decided to ask here.

 

[Ninjerk]

After becoming disgusted with Paradox and the bad luck afflicting the IP for the last decades, I decided to work on my own game in a similar vein (pun intended) to Vampire: Bloodlines. The problem is that I have zero experience with game design, music composition, visual art… although I was able to write an outline to keep things structured.

It would be about a newly turned vampire becoming involved in a local faction dispute and deciding the outcome by siding or not siding with the factions. Before you roll your eyes and skip past this, I picked that premise because it feels like the easiest way to introduce players to the plot and setting. Although yes I’m worried that the premise is too similar to BL and just plain repetitive, since both Red Embrace: Hollywood and Coteries of New York did that already. I’ve thought of a few ways to change things up, like having the PC sponsored by their maker rather than abandoned yet again, introducing other kinds of character types like werewolves, incubi, whatever. Since I’m not slaved to an existing IP then I can pretty much invent whatever I want. I always appreciated that BL felt so gonzo with all of the weird stuff it threw at you, like no less than three separate missions involving zombies, a landshark, a Russian mob boss, that one crazy dude who carried a severed arm…

Anyway, I’m not sure what to do so I decided to ask here.

What skills do you have?

 

[RaggleFraggle]

What skills do you have?

I’ve written some amateur fiction. My other skills are in hard science fields and my current job is bureaucratic.

 

[Ninjerk]

What skills do you have?

I’ve written some amateur fiction. My other skills are in hard science fields and my current job is bureaucratic.

Well, then I think you have a choice to make: develop hard skills to try to approximate what's in your head (probably takes a long time depending on how deep you go), use what you already know and make something that doesn't deviate far from those skills (higher likelihood of producing something in a shorter time than the former), or be an ideas guy (what most of us do, no game ever gets made).

 

[Morpheus Kitami]

If you just want to dip your toe in and not do any serious coding stuff, I'd recommend using one of the pre-made engines around that abstract away most of it. Things like Adventure Game Studio, Inform 7 or OHRRPGCE on the free side, or RPGmaker, and I think GameMaker Studio. There's also 001 Game Creator or whatever its calling itself these days, but it runs like shit, both the creator itself and the game itself. I would not recommend paying the current asking price for it.
As to getting everything else, well, I can't help you there. There does exist plenty of assets one can use, both free and paid, so that part depends on how much you're willing to expend without learning any of those skills, which are fairly difficult to pick up. I know because I'm still not really a great pixel artist despite hacking away at it for quite some time.

 

[Tavernking]

The problem is that I have zero experience with game design, music composition, visual art… although I was able to write an outline to keep things structured.

Anyway, I’m not sure what to do so I decided to ask here.

Playing a game vs. making a game = riding a rollercoaster vs. planning and building one. Do you enjoy construction work?

 

[Zanzoken]

I started experimenting a bit with pixel art. Focusing on characters at the moment because it seems easy enough to source stuff like grass, trees, buildings, etc from asset packs, but good character art / animation is hard to come by.

Please note I didn't draw these from scratch. They are hand-copied rips from other sources, with a few edits and recoloring. I think they look pretty cool though, and are a good mock-up of the aesthetic I want for my ARPG characters.

Just a few bros on their way to a gay sex orgy pool party with lots of hot babes, in case you are wondering.

 

[MichaelB]

Just a few bros on their way to a gay sex orgy pool party with lots of hot babes, in case you are wondering.

Would be funnier if you did the opposite there.

I think the sprites are ok, but that's not much to say; seeing them in motion would be nicer. I think you should be very conscious of what kind of style of sprites you feel most comfortable with(when it comes to both enjoying and making them), for example whether you prefer true to life proportions, or something more like what you've attached; because you'll likely spend some time animating them. A significant choice I was not aware of when I started to approach character art was the one between a full side-view on one hand, and a 3/4 perspective on the other. Since that's something you'll probably not pay much attention to while playing games yourself. Both are viable and I've seen both used in recent indie releases.

Spoiler

Side-view + realistic proportions combo I found the most natural, just because I could use various real-life references; and even if one does not do that, it's still easier to imagine that kind of movement and project it without reference. 3/4 is a difficult perspective, but it is fine if you apply more of a symbolic approach - Deadbolt's sprites were made that way - they look nice and were rather simple to make. The 'walking' loop I found to be very unintuitive, but it looks ok in practice. I think that in this approach you'll find yourself treating your characters as little figurines, you'll copy the movement of opposite limbs(asynchronously; and despite the fact that its not true to life) and not rely on any real life references. Do whatever looks good on its own, basically. (Also if you opt for the side view, the main idle pose will still be 3/4).

Spoiler

(i don't have the animation at hand, just picture their little blocky legs wiggling)

here's The Final Station with it's cheap to produce, simplistic and readable artstyle

It's always helpful to look up some indie/older games, in order to find a spritesheet similar to what you want to achieve, and then straight up try to reproduce it. If your results are somewhat different, and have their own style, that's fine, that's just you as an artist. Additionally, if your game does not feature directly controlling the characters, you may consider not animating them at all(or some kind of symbolic movement of a single sprite). One would expect a bit more detail in that case.

 

[Zanzoken]

I think the sprites are ok, but that's not much to say; seeing them in motion would be nicer. I think you should be very conscious of what kind of style of sprites you feel most comfortable with(when it comes to both enjoying and making them), for example whether you prefer true to life proportions, or something more like what you've attached; because you'll likely spend some time animating them.

Thanks for the detailed post. I have spent quite some time studying different styles, and this is my favorite. I like that the sprites are short and cute, and the big heads make it easier for them to be expressive and customizable.

They're also somewhat different than the classic 16-bit Japanese style. My game is not a JRPG so I don't want to confuse the audience by using sprites that look like they came straight out of FF6.

A significant choice I was not aware of when I started to approach character art was the one between a full side-view on one hand, and a 3/4 perspective on the other. Since that's something you'll probably not pay much attention to while playing games yourself. Both are viable and I've seen both used in recent indie releases.

Spoiler

Side-view + realistic proportions combo I found the most natural, just because I could use various real-life references; and even if one does not do that, it's still easier to imagine that kind of movement and project it without reference. 3/4 is a difficult perspective, but it is fine if you apply more of a symbolic approach - Deadbolt's sprites were made that way - they look nice and were rather simple to make. The 'walking' loop I found to be very unintuitive, but it looks ok in practice. I think that in this approach you'll find yourself treating your characters as little figurines, you'll copy the movement of opposite limbs(asynchronously; and despite the fact that its not true to life) and not rely on any real life references. Do whatever looks good on its own, basically. (Also if you opt for the side view, the main idle pose will still be 3/4).

Spoiler

(i don't have the animation at hand, just picture their little blocky legs wiggling)

here's The Final Station with it's cheap to produce, simplistic and readable artstyle

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by these different perspectives. I want to make a 2D RPG, which usually means one of two perspectives -- top-down like in classic SNES Zelda and Final Fantasy, or isometric like in Baldur's Gate. Isometric is probably the more interesting of the two, but I've heard it's significantly more difficult to work in, and being the talentless hack that I am, I want to reduce the difficulty of creating the game as much as possible. I also think top-down will work just fine for the concept and presentation I'm looking for.

It's always helpful to look up some indie/older games, in order to find a spritesheet similar to what you want to achieve, and then straight up try to reproduce it. If your results are somewhat different, and have their own style, that's fine, that's just you as an artist. Additionally, if your game does not feature directly controlling the characters, you may consider not animating them at all(or some kind of symbolic movement of a single sprite). One would expect a bit more detail in that case.

Yeah this is something I'm chewing on a bit currently. The sprites above are pulled in part from Stoneshard, which looks great and doesn't use any character animation, but the game I want to make is an action RPG so I don't think I can get away with that. I'm currently trying to think through the minimum viable amount of animation I can do and still have the game meet the standard of quality I want. I have a prototype as part of a tutorial project I'm doing where I plan to test this out.

 

[MichaelB]

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by these different perspectives. I want to make a 2D RPG, which usually means one of two perspectives -- top-down like in classic SNES Zelda and Final Fantasy, or isometric like in Baldur's Gate. Isometric is probably the more interesting of the two, but I've heard it's significantly more difficult to work in, and being the talentless hack that I am, I want to reduce the difficulty of creating the game as much as possible. I also think top-down will work just fine for the concept and presentation I'm looking for.

My bad, I assumed you were making something with a side view, like idk, super mario bros or street fighter(beyond the games I've already mentioned). I suppose the difference between 3/4 and typical side perspective could still be relevant, but there's no point in dwelling on it if it did not turn out to be a problem during your work.

I like that the sprites are short and cute, and the big heads make it easier for them to be expressive and customizable.

That's what I like about this style as well, but it does not render well to what I'm working on.

The sprites above are pulled in part from Stoneshard, which looks great and doesn't use any character animation, but the game I want to make is an action RPG so I don't think I can get away with that.

You could look up Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon, which is an action side-scroller with some satisfying short 3-4 frame animations. The spritesheets are easily accessible.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

I started experimenting a bit with pixel art. Focusing on characters at the moment because it seems easy enough to source stuff like grass, trees, buildings, etc from asset packs, but good character art / animation is hard to come by.

Please note I didn't draw these from scratch. They are hand-copied rips from other sources, with a few edits and recoloring. I think they look pretty cool though, and are a good mock-up of the aesthetic I want for my ARPG characters.

Just a few bros on their way to a gay sex orgy pool party with lots of hot babes, in case you are wondering.

Strong skipped leg day vibes here.

 

[Zanzoken]

You could look up Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon, which is an action side-scroller with some satisfying short 3-4 frame animations. The spritesheets are easily accessible.

Cheers for the recommendation. Simple animations that look passable are right up my alley. I plan on having combat obviously, and I want it to feel good, but at the same time it isn't intended to be a Souls-like or something where the gameplay is nothing more than just a constant stream of battles.

 

[MichaelB]

Cheers for the recommendation. Simple animations that look passable are right up my alley. I plan on having combat obviously, and I want it to feel good, but at the same time it isn't intended to be a Souls-like or something where the gameplay is nothing more than just a constant stream of battles.

No problem, good luck on your game

 

[Zanzoken]

See, I told you there would be scantily clad women.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

See, I told you there would be scantily clad women.

At least they didn't skip booba day.

 

[JarlFrank]

See, I told you there would be scantily clad women.

Pixel feet!

 

[TheDeveloperDude]

Should I release a half-baked demo for my Masters of the Unknown Worlds crpg game? https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads/my-new-crpg-under-heavy-development.66765/
It is playable, there is some quests and dungeons.
Ot is it better when the full game is ready?

Started with the half-baked demo to see if there are any obvious flaws in the core gameplay loop.

I have published the demo.
https://magicscreen-games.itch.io/masters-of-the-unknown-worlds-demo

 

[Bad Sector]

Haven't worked in Little Immersive Engine for a while, i finally found a bit of time to spend in making some initial (after a couple of false starts) implementation for the brush editing mode. I decided to go with an early UE-style approach where you edit a "mold" for the brushes to create instead of the brushes directly, except this mold is edited as a mesh in Little Immersive Engine that you just need to ensure it is made up of convex "pieces" (the engine will help with that - and disallow invalid pieces to avoid issues - but during editing wont enforce it to allow for easier manipulation).

Initially i wanted to edit the brushes directly but i wanted to be able to select, move and rotate vertices and edges to make the brushes... and brushes are made up of planes, so the vertices/faces/edges/etc are only exist indirectly. However as i was thinking about it i realized that by going with the mold-based approach i'd also get more flexibility by being able to create multiple brushes with similar shapes by manipulating and "casting" the mold on the world, juggle multiple molds in memory, save molds to disk, etc.

Or at least that is the idea, for now the functionality is very clunky and as can be seen in the video i can't even move the entire mold around :-P.

 

[Viata]

Even in 2D you can identify a trans easily. And they still say "they can pass". kek

 

[TheDeveloperDude]

How interesting..experiment this game developing.
I changed a "little" thing, army of enemy will randomly change the formation/position at the beginning of the battle. Suddenly, the battles became hard.
https://youtu.be/O68v_nV5N0I

 

[Bad Sector]

Added commands to make cube brush molds and convert any selected brush elements to a brush mold (so i can select anything, like one of the pillars in the image below, and then use it as a template for making more brushes) which let me make this crypt-or-temple-like thing (after tuning down the specularity of the "wet bathroom tiles"-like material too :-P):

Also fixed a couple of bugs with world deserialization meaning that i can now save and load world assets (previously the scene was procedurally generated in an empty world to stress out the renderer but now i can actually create stuff in the world i wanted to get saving and loading working).

 

[Talby]

Some more exotic enemy types for my game.

 

[Tavernking]

Beginning work on a small Fallout/Arcanum inspired game. The idea is to create a small 2-3 hour adventure with tons of reactivity, choices & consequences, and replayability. I'm open to any design advice