#devposting

[fioblah]

kid

tip jar

[implied-gay-sex]

He’s so mommy I love him (I have not played dmc)

[defeatthedarkness]

Defeat the Darkness 2 will be made in RPG Maker VX Ace

>It uses my preferred tile resolution (32x32, not 48x48) >It supports tall sprites that I can quickly make in Game Character Hub (I vastly prefer tall sprites over square sprites at modern resolutions) >Yanfly's scripting support makes it ridiculously flexible >All of XP's midi music will work properly without chugging, should I need it >It can also support movie files >Unlike the PS1 version, I can release this on Steam/itch/etc. It will be similar in style to flash movies of the Newgrounds/Home Star Runner era where it's a linear story with interactive extras like bloopers/outtakes/commentary/etc. This will also allow me to easily monetize it The irony of it all is that I purchased VX Ace in a Humble Weekly Bundle on May 31st, 2014, the same day Defeat the Darkness 1 premiered on Youtube. It's all coming back around, baby. The original DtD took around 250 hours to develop in PS1 RPG Maker. We'll see how this one goes

[steellotus54]

A devpost? It’s about time for one of those.

I’ve put this off for too long, but I have some free time for a minute, so now’s the best moment to finally unveil my first project! So, without further ado, I hereby announce..

RETINA

A puzzle-platformer metroidvania about memories, letting go of the past, and finding oneself; RETINA is now in development!

From here on out, I’ll be cataloging the development of the game as it happens! In this first (technically 0th) devpost, I'll go over my progress so far and an overview of my rough plans for the game.

RETINA Development #0 - You Gotta Start Somewhere

Over the past couple weeks, I've been busy trying to get some basic movement and animations working. That has been substantially more difficult than I thought it was going to be.

In hindsight, this makes sense, given that I'm still relatively new to using Godot and GDscript. In any case, I've managed to get basic running and jumping working, as well as a rudimentary dash ability and test level; which you can see here:

The dash is pretty janky in its current state, though: The vector is added to the player's current velocity, which is technically how it's supposed to work, but that means it only nudges the character a bit when they aren't moving. The dash vector is also determined by the cursor's global position, which is what allows it to work in the code currently, but that causes a player intent issue - the direction the character dashes in sometimes won't match the one the player wants them to. Unfortunately, I'm still not entirely sure why this is the case. Using coordinates in relation to the viewport (the camera, effectively) would fix this, but that has its own problems I need to work out. Additionally, the velocity issue means that it's possible to gain speed theoretically infinitely by just dashing along the floor. Oops!

Once I fix the dashing issues, my next goal is to implement crouching, sliding, and/or climbing walls. After that, I intend to start working on adding a grappling hook mechanic.

A Roadmap(ish)

Since RETINA is the first game I plan to release publicly, I'm trying to keep it relatively small in scope. That said, I've found that I'm rather incapable of keeping the ambitious side of me in check, so we'll have to wait and see.

Currently, RETINA is planned to be split into several distinct zones, of which two are currently in progress at the time of writing. I don't have a concrete final number of these zones in mind, but I want to aim to have a minimum of 4 in the final release. At the time of writing, I also have an idea that would necessitate having there be a variation of each zone - I'll talk more on that later in development.

When it comes to the narrative of the game, I'm aiming to convey the plot with no spoken words - some non-diegetic text will be present that will give you hints as to what's going on (The text on a game over screen, for instance), but otherwise no dialogue is present. I also plan to make a number of animated cutscenes - These are probably going to be the most ambitious and time intensive parts of the game artistically. I want there to be at least two cutscenes for each area, totaling to a minimum of 8, but the final number will depend of a variety of factors, including the scope.

Speaking of cutscenes and narrative, I also intend for RETINA to have multiple different endings. Currently, I'm aiming for three - One acquirable from the outset, one for finishing the game, and a secret "true" ending requiring finishing the game under certain conditions.

With regards to releasing the game, I currently only have plans to make RETINA available on PC for Windows and probably Linux. Mac support sounds like a pain in the ass (even though I'm using an engine), and I don't have a Mac to test on, either. I'm highly unlikely to publish it on consoles seeing as though this is my first release project, but I might consider porting it to Switch in the future when I've got more experience.

Moving Forward

All in all, this is a highly ambitious project. I can't promise a schedule for these devposts due to permanent extenuating circumstances, but I'm hoping I can at least get around to making a devpost once a month. Furthermore, this game is going to take a really long time to make. I can't promise a release window of any sort, and RETINA is likely going to be a multi-year project. Real life sucks, we unfortunately all have to participate in it, and it takes more of my time than I'd like.

Having said all of that, thanks for reading! I hope you're as excited about this game as I am, and I'm looking forward to going on this development journey with y'all!

[kinglyqueenly]

did you guys know you can just like. make video games. and put them out into the world.

[tranz-vamp1rezzz]

Devorah says he has a question. Are radfem ans terf the same thing? Please give me an answer because I’m very confused

[freechicken]

Its me and gracie adams against this thermodynamics and thermal engineering final.

[brainrotzora]

i think it was cute of me to set up message blips for my bodyswap comedy game with the message blips differing per character and then further slightly differing depending on who is in the body. these are the kinds of things that matter to me

[chillingwithasloppystyle]

Game thoughts

played bowsers fury to look at platformer structure and this game is so good design wise. The way it reuses the same environments to create a variety of different challenges is pretty good. It does actually show just how much you can do by just switching up a few conditions.

The bowser mechanic is also fun. It did kinda overstay its welcome closer to the end before the post-game, but that was mostly because the visuals get kinda overwhelming.

It did give me some ideas for my own game. It's less of a collectathon, but i definitely wanna do something inspired by the invisible area and hylics underground labyrinth. I think ill design each area as its own tiny movement challenge/jungle gym and have a not too difficult speed and precision focused challenge for unlockable things. I was thing hats and different outfits. I tried making a hoodie and that worked fairly well because it was oversized. Clingy or body fitting clothing was way messier and did not look good at all. we'll see. Worst case ill make individual models for each outfit. That'll definitely have more quality, but will also be super time consuming.

[fioblah]

mr dev..

tip jar

[implied-gay-sex]

I love this old man

[stanwixbuster]

thats act 1

hm this game may be longer than anticipated

[steellotus54]

Me, in my infinite foolishness: "I should stop lurking about and actually post things about my games! Especially with there only being a few people actually following me, it'd be helpful on the nerves." Also me: *does not do this* "Why isn't anything happening."

[snoozykazoo]

merry ides of march devpost!

Ahhh, it’s that time of year again; another lap around the sun and another day closer to the Ides of March, the day that Julius Caesar got skewered through by his beloved friends! Sweet, sweet memories… But no matter! It’s Snoozy Devpost time!

If this is your first time seeing us, hey! We’re Snoozy Kazoo, a game dev studio of six guys who make dumb, silly, and fun games. We made the Turnip Boy games, and we’re currently in the midst of our latest release: Hobnobbers!

This month, we'll be getting into how we concept our characters!

What's Snoozy been up to?

A lot we can’t talk about, actually, but a lot of behind the scenes work as we’ve been nailing down various elements on Hobnobbers! Part of this work has manifested itself in, of course, Hobnobbers art style!

As with any game- or visual project, really- it’s important to spend time on concepting ideas and styles, so that the project has a strong foundation. Hobnobbers is no exception, and our lovely Creative Director, Jen, has come up with a workflow to ensure this works out!

We’ll be introducing a new character to convey this idea: the Gacha Goose! The host of one of our in-game shops, the Goose is an intimidating bird that controls a puppet girl.

(Note: Despite the name ‘Gacha Goose’, there will be no microtransactions in Hobnobbers! Fret not!)

The Process

Concepting is broken down into 6 phases:

Outlining the goal

Research

Sketch

Feedback

Refinement

Finishing

Outlining the goal is a process of figuring out what we want the design to be. In terms of utility: is this character an early-stage boss that is meant to introduce the character to the whimsy of a game’s world? Are they a shop-keeper? An intimidating mob enemy that can kill you in one hit? In addition, what sort of feelings do we want this character to invoke? For the Gacha Goose, we wanted the player to despise the Goose and feel pity for the girl. What specific vibes would help convey these emotions?

Taking the time to write down your goals before starting to draw can set a strong foundation that snowballs into the rest of these stages! Conveying as much information as possible with visuals alone is particularly important for games, where players don’t have the time to read a novel before playing.

Research

...is self-explanatory, yet sometimes the longest stage in the process: we collect reference materials that achieve the goals we mentioned in our first section, and see what we can learn from them!

For the Gacha Goose, medieval and doll-like pieces of clothing served as big inspiration. We ended up looking at a lot of clown-adjacent pieces, porcelain-esque prosthetics, and watercolor illustrations to get closer to our final idea.

Sketch

...is when all the ideas that have been worked on reach fruition for the first time. It can be messy, but just slamming together a variety of different vibes and looks to see what invokes the right feeling. Many different concepts should be made here, in order to keep in mind the next round…

Feedback!

It’s time to show the concepts to an audience. We do several different types of feedback: an internal one with just the team, a semi-internal one with friends and family of the team, and one with Camp Kazoo over in our Discord.

Not only do we ask for what people like best, but also what they feel about the design. Sometimes context is given for the character’s role in the world, sometimes it isn’t; finding out what that ‘first gut feeling’ is important.

Refinement

...is the actual application of the feedback that’s been received. It is a process of reflection, reassessing our goals, and figuring out how to marry what people think with what the purpose of our design is.

It should be noted that one stage of refinement isn’t the end of the process- going back to Feedback after finishing up another iteration and getting even more notes on what people think is just as important! Just be mindful of reaching a done state at some point. You’ve got a whole game to make, after all, and iterating constantly on the same idea will make for a game that never gets shipped.

And we're done!

The final result of our beloved Gacha Goose’s design is…

…

…oops! We’re keeping that secret for now! ;p We’ll be showing her final design in future updates, so keep your eyes peeled for those!

That’s our concepting process, out in the open! We hope it was insightful, and perhaps even helpful to other game developers out there! Now, onto other news…

Some new looks...?

We’re not just updating our game’s aesthetics; we’re updating our own! If you had peeped our website within the past few months, you’d have seen that everyone on the team had somewhat different icons; but no longer! We are all now united under the banner of having an Anime Profile Picture… okay yes perhaps incredibly minor compared to the epic task of making a game But. Look At How Cutie We Look Anyways.

Team Corner!

It’s back! Our favorite little place to meet different team members and bombard them with questions to foster a parasocial relationship with them! What fun and whimsy!

This week we’ve got… badadadum, Jen! Our Art Director!

What are you most excited for in Hobnobbers?

I’ve been really enjoying our concepting phase! It’s always fun to create new characters/environments and figure out what makes them tick. We’ve also been playing around with some UI design, which is personally one of my favorite things to work on. I’m excited to continue to see these things make it into the game! There’s always a point in development when all the pieces kind of click together, and you can see the fruits of everyone’s disciplines start to create something truly unique!

What���s something you’ve worked on in Hobnobbers recently that you’ve found particularly frustrating?

I feel most in my element when I’m working on 2D assets. Whenever I touch anything 3D, there’s some growing pains that come along with it. All in all, I get really passionate about learning new things, so it’s been pretty fun. When I start concepting characters or mocking up UI screens I feel like I can take a breath of relief though. I’m hoping some day 3D feels as natural as 2D to me!

What’s a source of personal inspiration for you as you design characters for Hobnobbers?

When it comes to the world of Hobnobbers, I’ve been really inspired by Studio Ghibli films! I love the soft world building in films like Spirited Away or Princess Mononoke, and how they handle spirits and folklore within these films. I’m hopping that we can create some interesting characters that players can really speculate about, but not necessarily get all the answers easily. I kind of want the players to create the answers themselves.

When it comes to the stores and what we call “whimsical consumerism”, I’ve been inspired by games like “Bombrush Cyberfunk” and, funnily enough, a game called “Breaking da Rules”, an old Fairly Odd Parents game made by THQ. Bombrush I just love those Y2K vibes, and it was a big inspiration for creating the runner. Breaking da Rules has a great way of creating these very whimsical and silly spaces. They also have this great ability to mesh 2D and 3D elements, which gives us some inspiration as well!

Lastly, I’ve been really inspired by old fantasy books. I love absorbing and learning from materials that inspire me, and recently I’ve received this book called “Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You!” (A long title I know.) I can always go on Pinterest, but having physical resources from fantasy artists that I feel like to me are “the greats” gives me a lot of inspiration.

Yay! Thank you for your time!

Andddd we're all wrapped up!

As a reminder, feel free to send in questions for us to answer here on our Tumblr, or join our Discord and ask questions in the “ask-the-devs-❓” channel!

See you next month!!

— Kiki

[axlelism]

Swallows / Warmer Places

featuring an OC from my game "Naiko's Room"

[ashleyhuh]

OMFG NEW DEVLOG(idgaf if they're now called progress reports they're devlogs to me)

OMFG ITS FRIEND B AND THE HUSSIE AND FLOOZIE

:(

yeah I know where this is going

huh maybe they were doing shit but maybe we'll get dad sprites(not that I care if we do but in chapter 1 the mom didn't have sprites so)

I will do a more in depth analysis of this but I need to process this more