crispygibb

[crispygibb]

M.o.SC.o.W

Must have: 2D art, platforms, Sprites. My project requires the game to be set in 2D so pixel art is a must for my platformer.

Should have: Enemy/entity, Jump mechanic, sword mechanic.

Could have: Slightly cleaner animations, Enemies only being a head, Mobile compatibility

Won't have: VR compatibility, 3D art, multiplayer. My project does not require multiplayer whatsoever plus I do not see any way that a multiplayer function can be incorporated into the platformer.

[crispygibb]

S.W.O.T

S.W.O.T

Strengths: I have a good imagination, Eager to fix mishaps, I find pixel art entertaining

Weaknesses: Had no prior experience with animation, never coded using unreal before, new to photoshop.

Opportunities: Free use of photoshop, Access to pc, as I only have a laptop at home that is unable to run most applications needed for my course requiring me to only work at college, assistance with coding

Threats: No internet connection, Too long spent on future art for platformer, Burnout.

[crispygibb]

2D platformer development

Post #2

Today I began the design of a HUD. At first I was unsure whether or not I would include a HUD in my platformer but now I have decided that if I were to introduce enemies the health would prove quite useful. At this moment in time I still need to add damaging objects as there are currently none in my game plus coding the health bar to move corresponding to the damage received. I designed the bar using photoshop which I then exported as a png and inserted it into my canvas in unreal. I also downloaded a font off a website called dafont and I found the one I wanted to use which was also put into unreal to rest above the health bar.

I wanted to add the weapon to me character as an inspiration when I come to complete my sprite sheet

more code to make the HUD function

Functioning collectible

Today I began the designing of the sprites used on a sprite sheet. With some help I conquered my struggle of walking animations. The sprite used here very well may be the final design of my character for the platformer

And because I had the time I also animated my bandage collectible which may need to be changed into 64 bit due to it being 32.

This is the sprite sheet for my walking animation

Tile maps include the designs of the room/levels. Each square represents one tile.

[crispygibb]

Within the time I have been in directed study I have taken inspiration from the games Super Mario and Metal Gear Rising Revengeance. MGR will inspire the use of weapons and general game movement following the intense action the game offers. I found this great game through parodies on youtube. These videos got me interested in this game due to its excellent use of music in fights, fighting mechanics and the story in general was awesome. I purchased the game after watching many more videos about it. Kojima productions have an amazing difficulty selection where the easiest mode would still demand the most out of the player. The fight i’m taking the inspiration from is the jetstream sam fight. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41v3L0zCkNY

With Chris in the single monitor room, I have created a 64,32,16,8,4 and 2 bit concept of the character I will be using in my 2D platformer. My idea of the character would look like a green or cyan hooded being that appears mysterious due to the lack of human recognition. The creation of the concept opened my eyes a bit more to recognise my ability to draw in pixel art.

Today we started the development of our 2D platformer by running through some of the basics of making everything 2D and then adjusting the camera. I started with the third person template on unreal engine. This template was changed from moving about freely to only being able to move left and right. The camera has also been disabled to prevent the player from orientating to move as they wish.

This is before the game starts.

This is when the game begins. At this moment in time there are only a few platforms without any artwork. This is only development.

Later on in the day I have added more colour to the template as well as more platforms. I coded a collectible which acts like a coin. On the top platform there are six of these collectibles with each rewarding five points. Whilst coding these coins I would insert a 'cast' which enabled the collectible blueprint to communicate with the player blueprint which allowed me to link both "score" and "get score"

Before collecting the "coins"

After collecting the "coins"

I finished coding a teleporter. I figured this one out by myself which I'm pleased about because at first I thought it was going to be quite challenging.

The destination variable enabled me to have multiple teleporters active at a time which would send the player to a different location than the others.

Here's the teleporter

Different healing items

syringe from apex legends

terraria healing and stamina potions

Here's the concept of a healing item in my platformer

I started designing a concept of the enemies that will be included in my 2D platformer. The design may change in the near future but this is what the art currently looks like.

The four platformer games I have chosen to research are: Terraria, Sonic, Crash Bandicoot, Rayman legends.

Terraria is one of my most favourite games I own. I haven't played it recently as I have practically made the game become ridiculously easy even on the hardest difficulty.

The sonic games are high speed platformers that haven't really inspired me as much as other games for the development of my 2D platformer.

I haven't played Crash Bandicoot myself but I do find the game rather interesting in terms of level layout/design.

I have briefly played rayman legends when the demo was installed on my old 3DS. For the short period of time the demo was available I did quite enjoy the game and its movement mechanics.

Today I spent quite a lot of time on an area I have now discovered I found difficult, walk cycles. It is a crucial part of the platformer but I shall seek help when needed. Because I struggled on the walking animation I designed the jump/fall animation which is below: