team project, anyone?

[marmotte]

thanks for your posts guys. i also want to thanks RipX and strille (strille already submitted an excellent wip engine. believe me, it's fantastic!).

OK, i have some more precise ideas to throw now:
as i want to re-create a game like if it was on a super nintendo (except maybe it's smoothness, which will probably vary), here are the main characteristics that we can discuss about:
-------------------------------
> window size: 256*224
> tile size: 16*16 (may be different sized with strille's actual engine)
> fps 50/60
-------------------------------
ok, now the in-game ideas:
> you start-off like in super mario world (SMW), with an overview map that is not directly playable, but in which you can choose the area you want to explore. the more you pass areas, the more the map is accessible... there are more than one map of course, and in order to change you'll have to either defeat a boss, either find a key or particular item... one map has several areas to explore, with a replay value (find all secrets, find all rubies etc... 100 per stage for example), so that people are able to re-enter these old areas explore better rather than going from start to end too fast...
> you enter a stage. depending on the actul stage, ther are maybe several scrolling (it's better to limit it to 2 different speeds i think). stages are quite long, but you have some kind of check point in the middle of the stage, so that if you die near the end, you don't have to redo all. that check point is NOT a save game feature. a save game feature can be implemented when you are in the main map (overview), there's a special place for that...
> at the end of the stage, you have of course the count of the items you found (let's say you found 79/100 rubies)
> stages have depth: you may enter caverns, etc. i'll have to take care of the stage configuration, so that exploring caverns or outsides match together in therm of distances...
> the playability. i want the game not to be a too classical platform game, so i wanted to put some strategy in it; i took the inspiration from games like bubble bobble or klonoa; my idea is a bit a mix of these games. OK, the player has the ability to throw bubbles. these bubbles can capture enemies. when an enemy is captured into a bubble, he's going up/in the air slowly... if we wait too long he escapes and is stronger/faster than before). but when it's captured, you have the choice:
1) jump at it keeping the jump button pushed and rebound, so that you can access higher platforms. when you do that, the bubble and the enemy explodes (there's no blood involved :-), so no way to rebound again on it.
2) to jump at it so that you can "take it" and throw it against other enemies.
> that ability to throw a captured enemy can do wonderful things: it can for example breaks walls (depending maybe on the enemy), so you may find other ways (some areas will have 2 or 3 exits, so that the overview map can be build differently; the paths you'll have may open "hidden" areas, not obligatory to finish the game, but obligatory if you want to finish it at 100%). i don't know if you are familiar with the overview map function, but it's like in SMW and also SMB3...
PLUS, you may capture enemies that look like bombs... you cannot have them too long with, or they will explode at your face. BUT they are able to destroy particular walls also...


WELL, that's all for now, no storyline yet, just some ideas :-)

and you, coders, what do you think? still motivated after that? :-))

[RipX]

Sounds great to me Marmotte

[random10122]

Sounds excellent to me... If you already have an engine (no point reinventing the wheel) and dont mind having more than two people i will happily help with all of that stuff!

[I_am_TheFlasher]

This thread just inspired me to try to make my own platform game. Thanks for the insparation guys.

[marmotte]

what about the ability to charge? that way you can throw bigger bubbles, that may capture bigger enemies...
that ability to capture and throw enemies can involve some nice puzzles IMO :-)

ok, about the fact having several coders: is it really a good idea? each person has it's own method for coding. some are faster, some are more flexible etc... i'm sure that if we are more than 2 coders, things will not work well. also if we have two pixel artists, then the difference between their art will be noticeable. i don't know, how are you planning to code the engine together? maybe it's a good idea, but i just wonder if it fits you that well.
ok, other than that, someone can create the puzzles (not the code or the graphics, just some puzzles), that's true. again, nothing is 100% planned, it's just an idea/project for now, i hope it may become reality.
oh, and I_am_TheFlasher, no problem; i got inspired myself with some games also :-)

***edit***
oh, btw here's an exemple of that overview map in SMW: as you can see, you can choose you area. and when you pass it, then another one is showing... hope you figure it out...

[jleonardbc]

Originally posted by marmotte

WELL, that's all for now, no storyline yet, just some ideas :-)

and you, coders, what do you think? still motivated after that? :-))

Sounds great, marmotte...I'd be glad to help as a tester/level designer, if you need it later on. Just let me know. Thanks!

Jleonardbc
If you need any help, I'm game...

[strille]

marmotte, sounds good to me. The only thing I'm not crazy about is the suggested window size of 256x224. That's a bit too small IMO. I think it can be cute at first, but a bit annoying after a while. And I think a 4:3 aspect ratio is better, because it's the one we're used to. I suggest 320x240 as a minimum. That's still small enough to get a reasonably high frame rate.

[Covenent]

OK it seems like strille has got everything covered then; if you want me to help in any way just give me a buzz. Im interested about this polygon idea for slopes etc., Im trying to imagine and I cant get my head around it; sounds cool though!

[marmotte]

jleonardbc and covenent
ok, i'll note that, thanks :-)

strille
yes, that window size is not too big... BUT you may open it in 2x size in html for example, what do you think?
it's like the super nintendo; when you play it at 1:1, the window size is small, but likeable/cute/original. you may choose to play it also 2:1, 4:1, or full screen. pixels become really apparent in that case, but it has a particular charm :-)
of course we can trick and add an extra layer to give a tv effect. if you are familiar with emulators then you know what i'm talking about.

and yes, i'm a little afraid that a 320x240 px (which is a standard size i reckon), coupled with 16x16 tiles AND 50/60 fps may slow down things, since there are so many parameters, like multi-scrollings and enemies etc...

[strille]

Maybe it's better to wait and see what screen size to use until the engine is more finished... Right now it's 320x240 and runs at 90-100 fps if fps is set to max (1.4 GHz AMD, Internet Explorer, Flash Player 7).

[marmotte]

^_^
you are great strille...
but don't work too much on it -or make it the most flexible possible- since the game concept is not finalized...

i'm curious to see how your engine works with my old mac comp (is it the same you sent to me? i had something like 30/34 fps. i'm not sure now, but i was downloading some files at the same time)

[tonypa]

Originally posted by marmotte
yes, that window size is not too big... BUT you may open it in 2x size in html for example, what do you think?

I really think scaling swf makes it even slower.

[DayDream]

Hi... I was away for a week and nearly missed the thread...

This sounds like a fun project... I am busy at the moment... but that's the normal state... so... if you need some gfx - pixel and / or vector - let me know...

[znoskieman]

If you need some more testers, i want to!

[marmotte]

daydram
^_^ yes, i already contacted you...
we have to talk about it via icq, don't forget!
see you later

znoskieman
recorded :-)

terrible news, guys, about my external harddrive. but it deserves a new thread :-(

[SaphuA]

Geesh that's old news already marmotte


Newayz.. If theres still a tiny place in the corner... Lemme in!!

SaphuA