MAGS August: "Sub-par Hero" (CLOSED)

Fitz · Fri 08/08/2014 15:04:58

Gave it some more thought and I think I got it: KARBON! It starts with a K, it's a chemical symbol for coal, which is black, AND it kinda sounds ominous. So there ya go. But I will make you a villain in some other game, Selmiak.

Meanwhile, here's a walk cycle for Magenta. I also added a little mole on her cheek.

Ghost · Sat 09/08/2014 09:35:33

Karbon! Now that's clever!

I also found the perfect song to while away the codin' hours: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pG0QTzO-K0

Fitz · Wed 13/08/2014 11:36:41

After an initial explosion of ideas I spent the next few days thinking about the actual game: the mechanics, the puzzles -- and how they'd come together into an actual story. The breakthrough came when I realized I should make Magenta a night-time crime-fighter. That's when ideas started flowing again.

Here's a glimpse at Magenta's fellow super-freak:

YOLLOW

Fitz · Wed 20/08/2014 20:44:17

Another week has passed, so a quick update is in order. I'm busy drawing and animating, mostly, but I've taken some time to map out and code some basic in-game interactions and cutscenes. Meanwhile, here's another bit of character animation.

No, she's not a superhero

Anyone else joining in on the fun? How's that chicken-man game coming along, Stupot?

ArgyBoi · Wed 20/08/2014 21:05:20

That looks amazing, Fitz. Keep up the good work!

Stupot · Wed 27/08/2014 09:32:31

Looking good, Fitz. Coming along nicely.

Quote from: Fitz on Wed 20/08/2014 20:44:17
Anyone else joining in on the fun? How's that chicken-man game coming along, Stupot?

I've only really done a few bits and bobs so far but planning to get as much done as I can in the next week.
Got a "story" and some basic basic "puzzles" (e.g. Find stuff), plus a few bits of art which I'm doing entirely in real-life watercolors. This is a new hobby and I'm rubbish but I'm intending to have *something* to release if only so that you don't have to win by default.

Here's a clue as to the nature of Hen-man's subparpower: https://vine.co/v/MlHWTbj5wwa

If there's time I'd like to include voice acting, at least for the intro and outro. I'm gonna do Hen-Man's voice, but I need one other person to voice another character, preferably a female, since I've painted a female character. If anyone is interested, please PM me. Thanks :-)

Atelier · Wed 27/08/2014 11:48:45

Looking good Fitz!

I'm sure you and Stupot know already, but just in case, don't forget this month's MAGS ends on the 3rd Sep, so you have a week today left!

Fitz · Wed 27/08/2014 12:14:30

Atelier: Whew! I thought the deadline was the 31st -- so I was *just* about to ask for an extension right before you posted. Just last Saturday I found out that I have a hernia, and the past few days have been all about running around like a headless chicken: had to get checked, checked again for pre-op vaccination, then vaccinated (all of which included waiting, waaaaiting, the usual "sorry, come again tomorrow", then "sorry, come again later")) -- so while I'm done running for now, I'm completely exhausted.

Stupot: Awesome! August does seem like a hard month for MAGS, last year's only had one entry -- so I'm happy to see I'll have company, after all. Those watercolors look really nice -- plus, MAGS is a good opportunity to try out new things. Me, I took up hand drawn animation for my game. I do have years of experience in comics, where I draw everything by hand, scan it and color it digitally -- but doing animation by tracing over the previous frame on paper is still new territory to me. To make things easier for myself, I'm doing it the Hanna Barbera way, wherein I just draw the animated part (e.g. jaw and lips moving) and later paste it over the whole character's stencil (say, head with no mouth). Speaking of which -- here's yet another in a slew of hot babes:

She's pretty tied up!

Atavismus · Wed 27/08/2014 20:56:19

QuoteShe's pretty tied up!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFbujpjmTzs

Very nice art btw!

Stupot · Fri 29/08/2014 20:46:44

Here's a glimpse of the title screen for Hen Man

https://twitter.com/stuartforbes/status/505391153257013249

selmiak · Sat 30/08/2014 16:24:14

na na na na na na na na henman!

Stupot · Sun 31/08/2014 17:10:18

By Jove I think I'm actually gonna finish this. Although I've ditched the voice acting idea.
Almost totally coded and playable. Art wise I just have half a background still to paint. It will be totally releasable by the end of tomorrow, but I'm gonna spend Tuesday night tweaking and giving the dialogue a bit of sprucing up. Then It's good to go.

How's yours coming along, Fitz?
Anyone else secretly working on something?

Fitz · Sun 31/08/2014 17:49:21

I'm getting close -- but not as fast as I would like. The animations are allllmost done and those that are done are mostly composed into interactions/cutscenes. But there's still a bit of work to be done on the gameplay side and the dialogs need to be more fleshed out. I'm a bit behind schedule -- and I'm not always comfortable cutting corners, especially in the animation department. I ditched the intro altogether, though, and I'll probably make the backgrounds very simple. There are still three days left (not counting today, it's Magenta & Karbon's third anniversary so I'm busy), so if I pull an all-nighter or two, I might just make it

Ghost · Sun 31/08/2014 20:08:10

I wish you all the best of luck! Looking forward to stunning superheroics

Stupot · Sun 31/08/2014 23:08:29

Quote from: Fitz on Sun 31/08/2014 17:49:21
and I'm not always comfortable cutting corners, especially in the animation department.

Fitz · Mon 01/09/2014 10:44:11

Oh, Stu, you shouldn't feel embarrassed. If anything, you should weep for me

Stupot · Tue 02/09/2014 12:03:31

Hehe I'm weeping for myself at the moment. I've finished the game, zipped it, and now I don't seem to have the internet capacity to upload it. I rely on my phone's 3/4g for internet but they don't give me much allowance and some days are worse than others. So I need to go somewhere with free wifi and hope it works. Wish me luck :-)

If worse comes to the worst I'll just strip the sounds out and see if that helps... And to think I was considering voice acting :-/

Fitz · Tue 02/09/2014 12:13:06

Meanwhile, I'm drowning in the endless sea of sprites -- which I've focused at the expense of... well, everything else. They've consumed ridiculous amounts of time to make, and right now I'm nowhere near finishing it. I was hoping to be putting finishing touches today and testing tomorrow. Gaaah... What do you say to an extension, guys?

Stupot · Tue 02/09/2014 15:39:02

Well, It's been uploading for an hour now and it's only 40% done...
Not bad going for a massive 48mb file. I've gotta sleep now and have work in the morning. And I'm out tomorrow night, hence I wanted it finished today.

I don't mind if there's a little extention,Fitz. Especially if this upload fails while I'm asleep. 45% now so progress is happening.

Fitz · Tue 02/09/2014 15:50:27

Yowza, that's worse than the 56 kbps I had in 2000! Keeping my fingers crossed!

Ghost, Atelier, can we have... three extra days, if that's not too much? These past few days I've been working on the game non-stop, my brain is hot, spinning jello. Haven't driven myself this crazy since... the last MAGS I took part in? Need to chill -- AND save some processing power for work, too.