Hello Everyone!
We are excited to announce that we have finally produced a level with our totally original art and design! Again, the game can be accessed on our website www.frobotgame.com. This level will serve as version 1.0 of our actual first level.
As Kyle has been fervently working on the level design and tilesets, I have been busy with finishing up the basic sprites. I finally completed the fundamental animations for the main character, the base enemy, and the collectable silver sequins (so retro) dispersed across the map. Additionally, I created a very simple title screen for the game (so please don’t judge). I had a hard time finding the right program to accomplish this, but finally Aseprite proved to be my knight in shining armor (check them out at http://www.aseprite.org/). This program is not only free, but it also allows for the fluid and simple creation of pixel art; I may even use this for some future sprite editing.
So, now that we’ve come this far, what’s left to do? Well, most importantly, we still must come up with a minimum viable product as soon as we can. This is our goal for the next two weeks, so in order to achieve this, we must implement a damage/health system, a navigable menu, attack animations, and static obstacles. As you can see, a lot of work needs to be done before we can accomplish the halfway point of the project. After these features have been integrated into our game, we can add some more variation in enemies and attacks, as well as create more levels.
Obviously, we put a lot of time into our work, but it isn’t as good as it could be. At this stage in our development, we kindly ask for your constructive criticism on our game; whether it be bugs, glitches, stylistic features, art, or anything else you can think of, we will appreciate your insight. So, please, if you find anything unsatisfying about the game, feel free to comment below. Remember that we’re not doing this game solely for our enjoyment, we’re doing it for everyone else’s as well.
Thank you all so much and have a great weekend!
Alex
I like your art/design in Version 1.0 (yay, that sounds so official). :) Great work!
ReplyDeleteHow long does it take you to create/design/edit a basic sprite? Is it a complicated process? Do you have someone/a resource on hand to assist you if you need it, besides your on-site mentor?
Congrats on finishing the fundamental animations (those silver sequins are TOTALLY RETRO!) and discovering a favorable pixel art program!
I have not yet experienced anything out of sorts with the game. But I will definitely let you know if I come across anything unsatisfactory.
I'm enjoying your posts and wishing you luck on your future projects!
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ReplyDeleteHi Alex, I think your progress so far has been really great! I'm happy to see Frobot's appearance in your version 1.0 (he even blinks!!) Can't wait to see your final Level 1 and anything you may add in the next 2 weeks. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteSo in addition to wonderful e-mails, I'm also gonna start posting here - yay for me! haha.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, I left many a question over on Kyle's page, so please feel free to address those issues as you see fit, especially as relates to sprite-ness.
Specifically for you, I'm wondering what will be unique or compelling about the way in which frobot moves? I think there is an opportunity here to develop a compelling set of movements or actions that relate to the disco-nature of the bot... perhaps bringing in some of those characteristic Saturday Night Fever John Travolta moves. Perhaps your engine restricts you to the basic jump/move/attack kit... but if not, where else can we see the disco theme coming through?
2) Relatedly, though perhaps not your department, "Take on Me" is a mid-80's pop song... so while I enjoy it, it seemed to work against your general disco aesthetic.
3) I love the Frobot sprite - so unique. The enemy sprites I couldn't quite figure out - though ninja robots came to mind. I'm wondering if/where the disco aesthetic will be incorporated into them - and if you plan on having additional enemy types in the coming weeks.
4) Finally, and again perhaps not you, but a question for you both - I get post-apocalyptic wasteland from your level design... but again I don't get post-apocalyptic DISCO wasteland... are there any graphic features you plan to add to better merge this unique take on our retro-future?
Hi Dr. Helmers,
DeleteMost of the concerns that you raised are currently being developed and integrated into the game; for example, the disco-nature animations, a more genuine soundtrack, and more disco-ness in general. Right now, we're trying to get the basics out of the way first (health, menu screens, and intro text), and later on we'll polish the game to reach its full potential. Yes, I realize that "Take On Me" wasn't disco or 70s, but we wanted an 8-bit version of a song and I liked how that one sounded. However, we will soon implement a more immersive soundtrack.
I appreciate your feedback!
Alex