Game Development Omni-thread [Unity, XNA, UDK, etc]

Trumpets

Yeah, that bit is quite dull. I'll try and find a better way to intruduce the coloured enemies. Good news on the difficulty though - I've played so much Apple Jack now that I have no idea what's easy and what's hard.

Starglider

Posted the final entry in the Windhaven development diary series. Production values are a bit higher for this one (battle zeppelins and tower defence elements are in the second half);



I had to chop Zack's rocking theme down a bit for brevity so any jarring transitions you might hear are my fault. Now that core development is complete I'm going to start promoting the game, so if you like the look of this I'd really appreciate it if you'd consider 'like' and/or share this video. At what point is it appropriate to make a thread for the game (presumably close to release)?

Dusda

Not exactly the right place to put this, but Notch is working on 0x10c live right now, streaming over Twitch. It's pretty cool watching him work stuff out (anyone here can relate I'm sure).

http://www.twitch.tv/notch

Just ignore the chat, wherein they bitch at each other about what language is of the gods.

Starglider

Wow, I'm getting fan-art before the game is even released, just based on that trailer!

RiemannLives

Here is some good info about combining Direct2D / Direct3D with XAML based UI in windows 8. I think this is going to be a huge help to indie games dev as it means you no longer need to start from scratch on all the routine-but-suprisingly-complicated stuff like scrollbars, buttons, layout etc... in a game.

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/windowsappdev/archive/2012/03/15/combining-xaml-and-directx.aspx

Of course XNA + XAML would have been better but.... ah well. *sigh*

this will do.

darleysam

Dusda wrote: »

Not exactly the right place to put this, but Notch is working on 0x10c live right now, streaming over Twitch. It's pretty cool watching him work stuff out (anyone here can relate I'm sure).

http://www.twitch.tv/notch

Just ignore the chat, wherein they bitch at each other about what language is of the gods.

This will be the last game I ever buy.

AlejandroDaJ

Gents, I'm still looking for beta testers for the PC version of Cute Things Dying Violently. If anyone's interested, please PM me your email address or you can email me at AlejandroDaJ [splat] gee male dawt calm.

Kupi

If my graphics card hadn't recently perished a horrible perishment, I would totally be on board for that. Does it run on Reach? That's the only profile my laptop supports.

AlejandroDaJ

Yeah, I bent over backwards and put all my PS 3.0 shaders into PS 2.0 so it could run on Reach.

Starglider

I'd volunteer but I haven't even had time to properly stress the Dead Pixels beta yet (due to work & IndieCade submission).
There is absolutely no way I am going to make Windhaven work on PS 2.0. PS 3.0 is limiting enough.

Death of Rats

Here's a question for you fine programming game making folks...

I'm trying to learn C# and XNA at the same time. I've started to get the basics for 2D games down, but before I go hog wild into the nuts and bolts of designing a game engine from the ground up, I want to make a prototype of my 2D game using a simpler package, so that I know what I'm shooting for when it comes to gameplay.

I've been thinking about using gamemaker to set up the basic gameplay and logic of the game, so I know it works before I put countless hours into programming the engine that does everything I want it to do bells and whistles wise. Does this sound like a good idea?

darleysam

Where are you learning those? Because I keep flirting with the idea, then never get started.

AlejandroDaJ

No, it doesn't sound like a good idea. XNA has a lot of shortcomings, but the thing I hear most often in its favor is that it's great for prototyping.

tastydonuts

Aye, the best way to learn it is to do it. And when it's done at the very least you can reuse portions of it and get a better grasp of the key concepts behind what you're doing.

Death of Rats

@darleysam

I bought a really simple C# book, so that I could refresh myself on the concepts of object oriented programming (haven't touched programming in 9 years besides some very basic after effects scripting).

I also bought two XNA books so I'd have a reference to flip through: XNA Game Studio 4.0 Programming and Learning XNA 4.0.

Once you get the basic concepts down and understand the basic building blocks, all you really have to do from there is be willing to search to find examples of anything you want to do. There's a wealth of information all over the internet as far as XNA programming, and if you're at least familiar with object oriented programming, brushing up on C# and the XNA framework give you a pretty good idea of where to take it. The main problem I'm having is really figuring out the best way to put together the pieces of my very simple game.

darleysam

Cheers man. I've done little bits of progamming over the years, but I think the last stuff I touched would've been some BASIC and then a very poor grasp of Java about 7 or 8 years ago. I think the only language I've ever felt remotely better-than-awkward with was Lingo, but then Shockwave caught rabies and had to be put down. I've been looking for a good "Here's how to get started in c#, for the man who knows nothing" book, and that one looks pretty handy. Could probably just bug my brother with any questions, after that..

edit: it's £6 for the kindle edition in my native currency. I only have kindle access on my phone, but that is tempting.

Death of Rats

I went ahead and got the book versions of all of them. Figured it'd be better to be able to read the reference in the bath.

Trumpets

At last I got around to making an Apple Jack 2 trailer:

darleysam

Death of Rats wrote: »

I went ahead and got the book versions of all of them. Figured it'd be better to be able to read the reference in the bath.

Yeah, I'd prefer to have the physical book to read from, would be easier to flip between sections.

And yeeeeeeeahhhhh, Apple Jack 2 trailer!

AlejandroDaJ

Hmm, Trumpets, do I see some homages in there? (Probably just coincidences: there's only so much you can do with a physics platformer before finding overlap with others, right?)

2 Marcus 2 Ravens

Hello thread! Warning: I am a despicable noob.

A programming friend of mine and I are teaming up to make some games, hopefully. He's got the programming know-how, but is new to XNA. Anyway, I'll be covering the art, music, design...all the creative stuff (not that programming isn't a creative process, or...you know what I mean).

So I just watched the latest PATV where Zeboyd was showing off the new Penny Arcade game (looks great!), but I noticed there was some kind of program for laying tiles and making maps and whatnot. I'm using GraphicsGale to make my sprites which has been pretty handy, but when it comes to putting tiles together, I've no clue how to do that. I play with photoshop just to see how everything looks together, trying to make my grass and buildings not look terrible etc., but I have a feeling that's not how it works.

I'm not a programmer. It's beyond me. I've tried many times, and really thrown myself at it, but it's simply not compatible with my brain. Basically I'm just wondering if there's any way I can help with map/dungeon design in some kind of program or another, so I can help share the workload with my friend.

Thanks in advance!

Trumpets

AlejandroDaJ wrote:

Hmm, Trumpets, do I see some homages in there? (Probably just coincidences: there's only so much you can do with a physics platformer before finding overlap with others, right?)

There's one particular level ('Test chamber One', not in the trailer) where I specifically had CTDV in mind. Otherwise the saw blades, moving platforms and switches are a natural evolution of the first game. Stand your lawyers down;-)


2 Marcus 2 Ravens - This works well for me: http://www.tilemap.co.uk/mappy.php

2 Marcus 2 Ravens

Trumpets wrote: »

AlejandroDaJ wrote:

Hmm, Trumpets, do I see some homages in there? (Probably just coincidences: there's only so much you can do with a physics platformer before finding overlap with others, right?)

There's one particular level ('Test chamber One', not in the trailer) where I specifically had CTDV in mind. Otherwise the saw blades, moving platforms and switches are a natural evolution of the first game. Stand your lawyers down;-)


2 Marcus 2 Ravens - This works well for me: http://www.tilemap.co.uk/mappy.php

Thanks! I'll check that out.

Does anybody have any idea how Zeboyd does it? Are those guys still active here? It just looked quite slick and I'm curious.

Balrog

I used Mappy for Curse of the Crescent Isle but I'm using Tiled now. You can use TiledLib to process the .tmx files it spits out (which are just .xml).

slash000

2 Marcus 2 Ravens wrote: »

Trumpets wrote: »

AlejandroDaJ wrote:

Hmm, Trumpets, do I see some homages in there? (Probably just coincidences: there's only so much you can do with a physics platformer before finding overlap with others, right?)

There's one particular level ('Test chamber One', not in the trailer) where I specifically had CTDV in mind. Otherwise the saw blades, moving platforms and switches are a natural evolution of the first game. Stand your lawyers down;-)


2 Marcus 2 Ravens - This works well for me: http://www.tilemap.co.uk/mappy.php

Thanks! I'll check that out.

Does anybody have any idea how Zeboyd does it? Are those guys still active here? It just looked quite slick and I'm curious.

Hey sorry for the late response -- the program I was using in the PATV episode is indeed Mappy.

I hear that Tiled is probably a better program though (see Balrog's link).

2 Marcus 2 Ravens

Thanks everyone! I'm downloading Tiled as we speak, but I'll probably check them both out.

And man, Apple Jack 2 looks like loads of fun. I hope that music is actually in the game. It works in such a weird way.

mntorankusu

I've used Mappy for all of my tile-based games. It's rad. I'm using the map editor built into Tilestudio right now, because that's what I'm drawing my sprites and tiles in, so it allows me to get a super quick preview of how everything looks, but for actual level design I've been planning to go back to Mappy.

I'm gonna check out Tiled now, though.

Trumpets

And man, Apple Jack 2 looks like loads of fun. I hope that music is actually in the game. It works in such a weird way.

'Fraid not, sorry. It's an obscure Ennio Morricone track from the 70's, not something original.

Not to worry though! darleysam (of this parish) and the rest of This Eden have produced some excellent acoustic tracks for the game.

darleysam

I hope you guys like dubstep!

Spoiler:

Acoustc dubstep.

2 Marcus 2 Ravens

Trumpets wrote: »

And man, Apple Jack 2 looks like loads of fun. I hope that music is actually in the game. It works in such a weird way.

'Fraid not, sorry. It's an obscure Ennio Morricone track from the 70's, not something original.

Not to worry though! darleysam (of this parish) and the rest of This Eden have produced some excellent acoustic tracks for the game.

Ah, that explains it. Well good call on Ennio. It really made the trailer more captivating. I'm sure the proper music will be awesome too!

agoaj

Dubstep is not enough, you need the trailer for your game to be more interesting than the one for Internet Explorer 9.

darleysam

2 Marcus 2 Ravens wrote: »

Trumpets wrote: »

And man, Apple Jack 2 looks like loads of fun. I hope that music is actually in the game. It works in such a weird way.

'Fraid not, sorry. It's an obscure Ennio Morricone track from the 70's, not something original.

Not to worry though! darleysam (of this parish) and the rest of This Eden have produced some excellent acoustic tracks for the game.

Ah, that explains it. Well good call on Ennio. It really made the trailer more captivating. I'm sure the proper music will be awesome too!

brrrmmmmmmmmmmmmmm SKSHHHHHH STRWUB STRWUB STRWUB STRWUB

2 Marcus 2 Ravens

darleysam wrote: »

2 Marcus 2 Ravens wrote: »

Trumpets wrote: »

And man, Apple Jack 2 looks like loads of fun. I hope that music is actually in the game. It works in such a weird way.

'Fraid not, sorry. It's an obscure Ennio Morricone track from the 70's, not something original.

Not to worry though! darleysam (of this parish) and the rest of This Eden have produced some excellent acoustic tracks for the game.

Ah, that explains it. Well good call on Ennio. It really made the trailer more captivating. I'm sure the proper music will be awesome too!

brrrmmmmmmmmmmmmmm SKSHHHHHH STRWUB STRWUB STRWUB STRWUB

HOT!! What a hot beat! WHOOOOAH! YEEEEAH! YAHOOO!!

darleysam

I'm hoping I can prise the super-absolutely-really-completely final tracks from my brother sometime soon so we can get it all up on Bandcamp for launch.

It's not dubstep

Starglider

Integrating media assets at the moment; voice acting. music, story art :



Hopefully the voices are comprehensible (i.e. the telepathy effect isn't too strong), though there were some volume glitches in that video. Windhaven has approx 40,000 words of dialog, which is a short novel. It's a bit static at the moment but there are more animation frames in progress.

What's your view on voice acting Zeboyd? I know it kind of violates the retro aesthetic but you must have been tempted?

slash000

I don't have my audio on right now, so I can't listen to the sound/voices/etc in your video, but I like the way you're handling the cutscenes. It gets the scenes and important movement of the characters across without requiring a vast amount of animation or the like.

As far as voice acting, yeah, we've seriously considered it, and in fact researched it quite a bit. It's something we'll probably do eventually, for the right game. Whenever we end up doing it, we want to make sure it's as professional as possible, is the main thing. For now, using text works within the current games we're doing quite well. But we figure we'll probably get to a certain point with a certain game design that would work well with VA and hopefully by that time we'll have the resources to do VA the way we'd want.

Trumpets

How on earth did you manage to get Marcus Brigstocke to do one of the voices

It certainly looks like a big production you're putting together. The dialogue seems good and I've heard worse voice acting in commercial releases in the past, but it still comes across as slightly stilted. I guess it's unavoidable unless you get professional actors involved, or else very talented amateurs.

The telepathy effect is perfectly understandable, but being ultra critical perhaps if you gave it a bit more bass it would sound more like it was inside the players head? El Shaddai did that effect really well.

Starglider

Trumpets wrote: »

How on earth did you manage to get Marcus Brigstocke to do one of the voices

Tom joked that the real objective of the story campaign was not to save Windhaven, but to cheer his character up. Nations fall, armies clash, thousands die but the important thing is that we eventually get Deajan to smile.

Trumpets wrote: »

The dialogue seems good and I've heard worse voice acting in commercial releases in the past, but it still comes across as slightly stilted.

To be fair to my voice actors, they didn't get the script until half an hour before we started recording, and I chop up their lines into individual wavs to spool them without using too much memory or getting out of sync with the subtitles. I make a rough guess of the intervals in the dlg file like this;

<Background ImageFile="tutorial7" CueNext="700" />
<Line AudioFile="tutorial-035d" CueNext="1000"> <!-- dlg #36 -->
<Subtitle>It's not that... (sighs)</Subtitle>
<Subtitle StartTime="3000">I'll grant you, a flier would be more use to</Subtitle>
<Subtitle StartTime="5300" EndTime="7500">Taahay than a grounded spellworker.</Subtitle>
</Line>
<Line AudioFile="tutorial-038s" CueNext="500"> <!-- dlg #37 -->
<Subtitle EndTime="1800">Let me show you to fly again.</Subtitle>
</Line>
<Background ImageFile="tutorial8" CueNext="1000" />

...and I may have got some of them wrong. EndTime isn't essential but I like to hold the subtitles for a few hundred ms beyond the end of the sample for slower readers.

The telepathy effect is perfectly understandable, but being ultra critical perhaps if you gave it a bit more bass it would sound more like it was inside the players head? El Shaddai did that effect really well.

Thanks, I'll try some EQ in that direction.

P.S. Neat trailer As I said, I think your game is a good candidate to win DBP2012, as long as you don't make the default difficulty too hard.

Trumpets

Being the kind of game it is, I think the challenge is a big part of the enjoyment so it will be pretty tough. That said, the trailer takes a lot of the more intense bits of the game and sticks them all together, so the full game isn't THAT full on.

Zoomz09

I'm looking at these pictures and messages and wondering how i can i fit into all this armed with around 30 youtube videos of experience on xna and paint.net but who cares my game shall still be produced!