main character

ok ppl so lets think about our main man MR.X we want him to be kool right and we said on monday that the anti hero idea was good to go right? (feel free to correct me if your aginst it)
so what makes kool?
think about what makes our character special (better than every one else in the game)

• the sword could be magical
• he could have some sort of mild power (extra strong,fast or skill full)

why are ppl trying to kill him

• is the sword he carrying enchanted and every one whants it (like the ring in lord of the rings)
• is he an off spring of the devil whos denouced his thrown and is now hunted by his siblings (simliar to cloud strife in advent children)

what are his motives

• does he want supreme power
• is out for revenge (IMO this is way over done pluse you have to comuicate to the player that theres a long winded relationship between the main player and the antagonist)

personaly im not married to any of these ideas but they might get the ball rolling and lead to some amizing group ideas.

a few things that i would like to steer clear of are

• if hes going to ba an anti hero lets make him ruthless (similar to the desperation concept)
• no rescue stories if the bad guy was that bad he'd just kill the girl without thinkin twice if you make him say "im ganna do this then this" and end upnot doing it we'll make the bad guy efectivly look like a pussy and rouining the game.
• say he was a mercenry he'd be pritty closed off guy so he'd need a huge emtional envolvement to even take part in the games events we should try to keep him as closed off as posible we dont need an anti hero who tells us his emtions so lets try and find a way of getting his feelings across while still makeing him look Arrd.

any way thats all thats onmy mind at the mo so tell me what you think .

kiwi

My bad

I wasn't clear enough on my last post. My idea wasn't for the game to be fast paced, only the combat scenes where there's a horde of opponents coming at you. This is where the speed and fluidity of using a sword will come in- think DMC/Viewtiful Joe but with more opponents that only take about three hits to kill.

I've been working on character concepts from scratch, I've only been working on the head so far otherwise every sketch would be a mess. I've been thinking about doing some sketches of one of my best mates, his personality might suit the game too, he's easy going but if things turn nasty, so is he.

Looking at the videos

So I've just sat down and read threw all the posts and watched the videos. The Mirror's Edge game looks sick btw. And like has given me inspiration for the game anyway, imagine that kind of fluidity of running and jumping up and down buildings, but not that fast obviously cos of the whole sonic thing that was mentioned it's tooooo fast and I don't know bout anyone else but when I get on Sonic I try and run threw the level and don't feel like I've accomplished much.

I also feel with that kind of fluidity in the moves it would go really really well with the anime feel we want from the game, imagine a tall, thin guy with a massive sword on his back scaling the level with the utmost ease. And it would make for some cool fighting sequences, running up and then backflipping off a wall to land behind an enemy with his back to you to get the drop on him lol.

And the whole minigame/puzzle thing I think the whole idea in putting these down IS to slow down a game. that's why they are used. Because a gamer wants a breather and to recuperate every once in awhile. With the jumping around and the fighting it might be a good idea to give the player a safe haven, maybe when the player goes into a building, sometimes there can be puzzles inside.

Lastly cos I'm goin on abit I just wanted to reiterate my idea for him being a Mercenary. This would explain his ability with a sword and ability to move around the level and would tie in beautifully with the anti-hero thing. And to be honest with the way we want the game I feel like we should maybe move the game back over to Urban Japan, that way we can have some beautiful neon scenery going on in the background but still have a very dark and gritty setting.

Im done :D

Kickin' it Old Skool... Again...

You know something? The more I sit on the bus listening to my Ipod the more I get inspiration since its a good time to think without distractions and I know Kiwi will break my neck for more retro stuff but hey.

Ok here's another 2D SS from the Amiga called Zool 2 or as it was dubbed in the day "The poor man's Sonic". I could have picked its' predecessor Zool but I decided Zool 2 was better just because it was endorsed by Chupa Chups. Since it was released in '93 just after Sonic (I think?) it obviously didnt do as well as Sonic did which was a shame because it was an amusing game.

Now before you flame me for signs of Sonic fanboyism hear me out, Even with Sonic on the market IMO there was something truly inspired, marvelous and cool about zool (:P).



And since we are on the topic of endorsed games let's look at Global Gladiators also on the Amiga





Ok the main gameplay one is obvious and I threw a bonus stage shot in there because again maybe putting something like this in the game would be fun... Possibly as the only solution for completing a puzzle? or in laymans terms beat the game in the game to progress. I'm not saying make a complex game just something to divert the players attention for a few seconds a "Pause menu pocket of peace" if you will. Besides who wouldnt laugh at the game insulting you when an anvil landed on your head and the game retorts "Anvils don't make very good hats do they?"

My question for you is this though what did both these games have that Sonic didn't apart from endorsements with Mcdonalds and Chupa Chups respectively?

The answer IMO is appeal to kids because who doesn't know Chupa Chups or Mcdonalds and surely if they endorse it kids will buy it right?
Sonic wasnt designed to be played by younger children and odds are those that did probably died in the first level anyway.

Anyway that point isnt too relevant as it's about target audiences and making gameplay both fun and accessible but it's just a little something-something to keep in mind from a business perspective that a lot of developers will forget because they focus on the older fanbase.

But thats my random thought for the day, take what you can from it good or bad ;)

Concerns

Ok as most of you know; Kiwi has suggested an "alley level" in 3D from a third person perspective very much in the same style of the Sonic 2 Chaos Emeralds mini game, I'm uncertain about this because it may slow the gameplay down.



As you can see above, the gameplay is fast but for the mini game in Sonic the only player interaction required was directing Sonic left or right and occasionally pressing A to jump over oncoming obstacles, there was no need to move him forwards or backwards, attack any opponents or interact with the environment and this is where it may get difficult for the player if he's in an alley in third person perspective; they may no be able to see their opponents or environments that are possible to interact with.


Here's a clip from Viewtiful Joe 2; as you can see, it's easy to see all of the environment and as I suggested in Gins lesson last week (sick!) cell-shaded graphics make 2D games with 3D elements look amazing. Also, picture this as our alley level and with the dude I'm yet to design but with a horde of enemies charging at him; it could be an immense beat 'em up!

Comments?

Mirrors Edge controler test + 2.5D side scrollers

okk to I've just put my xbox controller into the lap top and game the mirrors edge game ago like that.
two reasons why
1. to see if a controller makes the game any more interesting to play(it does)
2. to see if its worth making a 2D game for a console (you can decide that)

so0o if any ones interested in giving it a go on a controller (and doesn't want to do it at home.)
ill bring my lap top in on Monday get in touch or comment if your interested.

also here are some modern 2.5D scrollers that we could probly draw inspraition from

Bionic Commando Rearmed

peronaly i like the look of this game but the floating platforms that the player jumps on make the game feel too much like a realistic looking mario.

Shadow Complex



sorry about how poor the vid is but this game looks realy good.

i keep editing this post because keep finding more recent 2.5D games
this ones called
Trine





kiwi

More 2d side scrollers

wow its hard to follow nate's post but heres the video of game i showed you in class
Muramasa The Demon Blade



looking at this vid the game appears to have believe it or not too much fighting (i know sound stupid)so when makeing ours may be we should look into adding some more puzzels aswell.

and heres on of another fast paced 2d game
Mirror's Edge 2D



this one seems to have more jumping and other factors but looking at it, it sometimes feels like sonic.
also at 2:12 in the vid above theres an example of how we could work in climbing the buildings.

the mirrors edge one is a free online game if you wanna giveit ago heres the link
http://mirrorsedge2d.com/#

any way thats all i've got thus far take a look and tell me what you think.

kiwi

Throwing It Out There.

So this is where the GS8-2 musings on the untitled and possibly soon to be epic game will take place. Very nice indeed! :D.

Anyway I'm not killing my friday to do 16Bit Nexus nonsense this is business, so to follow Craigs lead, show my age and to get the ball rolling on my end I will highlight some possibly lesser known Retro 2D games that follow the path we are going since everything today is 3D :P. Hopefully we can see what elements made them good or bad and draw inspiration from them for our own game. If anyone is really bored check them out on youtube to get the jist of how it moves and sounds and I guess this could count towards Sarge's homework.

Game 1: Disney's Aladdin (Mega Drive)





As you can see we have bright colours and a have a good theme in place, well albeit the one of the genie but hey silly things are interesting too :P.

Game 2: Streets of Rage 2(Mega Drive)



If you haven't played this, boil your head and get it on emulator and see why its still rated one of the best!

Game 3: Michael Jackson's Moonwalker (Mega Drive/Arcade)







Ok the first 2 images of the moonwalker game were taken from the MD and it looks good but compared to the arcade version in picture 3 it was lousy and wasn't as polished. I put this in mainly to show you the comparision of the same title but why one sucked beans and one was immense, I definitely recommend youtubing these 2 to see my point.

Game 4: WWF Betrayal (GB Color)



I was hard pressed to find a good image of this game because 1 its old and 2 it's on a handheld so again youtube or emulate it.

Game 5: The Lion King (Mega Drive)





This one was an interesting side scroller that utilised height as well as length to progress in the levels. As you can see Simba starts off as a cub and eventually becomes an awesome adult lion that comes with more power, more moves and a new attitude. This picture was thrown in because maybe growth like this in the main character is important?

Anyway that's my 2 cents for now hopefully I've contributed a little bit into some good old school stuff that's 2D side scrolling, even if we can take small elements like "Good HUD" or "Game X can be improved by..." then we are making progress. ;)

Let the ideas flow!

Hi everyone. {:D

This is the blog for all members of the GS8-2 Dev team to use, whether that be for sharing ideas or whatever it may be.

Let the ideas flow!

Here's one that Kieron mentioned on Wednesday, just to get this blog started.
The game could have houses or buildings to enter that would be accessed from directly behind the character, almost in the background of the level, if you can imagine that in a 2D perspective. The camera would then switch to a different view inside the building, with the entrance/exit door on the left, and the rest of the interior free to explore, until the character would decide to leave from whence they came. That's quite difficult for me to explain without a diagram, but hopefully everyone will remember the point.

Anyway, that's all for this first post. :D