For Strangeview, our current game project, we decided to make the levels based off of parts of a school. Which helps give some interesting design that doesn't rely on being overly interconnected while still having diverse element for each room. We each assigned each other a level and this is currently my level, the school library. I decided to make this different from the usual maze-like levels that the other peeps are working on, making it a more complex puzzle with not that much navigation. I did this as a way to make some difference so the player doesn't get too bored with rooms and a change of pace is just what they needed. Since it's a library it's also going to have a book puzzle, I planned on using the Dewey Decimal system but I thought it would be too difficult for people who don't understand using it. So I wanted it to instead be hints of some sort, mainly coming from the one person there since each level has someone's soul stuck. But, as you try to solve the puzzle there is a monster around you that's silent. Since he's silent you have to constantly look for him between the bookcases. Making a sense of tension as you try to follow it, the level ends when you submit all the books as a door opens... or does it? Afterwards in the same room you can find a library card with the name of the trapped individual, if you were to find this book and return it to her she would give you secret item to put the library's monster down for good. We are planning a whole secret route and this is a part of it, don't tell anybody. But that's my level, so I hope it fits in properly into the rest of the game.
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Wow another touhou themed game, buuuuut this one is a rougelike game where you play multiple characters. Rumia (usually a first boss level) has sunk Gensokyo into darkness, every one of the sorta main cast is stuck and has to light torches to fight Rumia, over and over again. Did I mention it was in beta? Mind that it's a little buggy and incomplete, but there's enough in the game to really review it. First off, characters. It includes the two main heroines Reimu and Marisa, but it also includes many of the other characters with notable abilites. They each have unique bullets and bombs to use, even different types of dashes. Reimu - Easy to use starter character, homing bullets and a special (which requires MP) that kill everything, she also grazes easier due to her smaller hitbox Marisa - Has a start up period for bombs and bullets, but once they start they can lay down some hurt, also big fat laser special, can't argue with that Reisen - A burst character that doesn't have much in the way of personal offense, but her dodge and special can summon clones which can take out whole groups of enemies and have do insane damage to bosses. Youmu - Melee character that has a projectile special, if you upgrade her she can slice projectiles, so she's reeaaaallly easy to abuse, especially since her ability gives her bonus damage if you have extra range alongside half damage from other melee opponents, also really tanky. Suika - Large offense and defense, flamethrower special that melts through health bars but endangers you with it's close range, you're special kinda helps since you turn big and take only one damage from projectiles but you need lots of MP regeneration items if you want to dominate. Sakuya - Pretty much the best character if you want to complete the game as many times as possible, she has a really slow bullet where you have to charge your knives to throw them (at least it does a lot of damage) and her special should rarely be used to deal with weak/large groups of enemies, but it decimates tanky enemies and bosses, also she has the lowest health out of all the characters. My personal favorite. The thing about all of the characters is that they all have their fun moments, but some have niches that are way better for beating the game, which you will be doing over and over again. For instance, Youmu basically never loses health since she slices everything, enemies die quickly and the projectiles that are shot will be sliced anyway. Sakuya has a time stop clone which avoids a hit then gives you lot of time to reposition yourself, AND her insane special (the DIO timestop knife attack thing) really does decimate bosses, literally two phases in the first five second for most bosses, and Rumia herself is easily beaten with enough MP items. But what really brings out the potential is collectibles, random objects that can give you more health, attack, range, and other special effects. There are a really random assortment of items, toothbrushes, jeans, radios, seals, sailor uniforms, hammers, bricks, waterguns, fire swords, baguettes, and all sorts of funny hats. The best part is they all stack, so you have to collect as much items as possible. There is a degree of strategy to this, since some items have really severe downsides, the magic hammer gives you a bigger hitbox (but more health), the vampire fangs make it so you can only consume black tea (in exchange for it dropping regularly instead of chests), and the water gun decreases your damage by 20% (in exchange for an 80% fire rate bonus), it depends on the character but you should capitalize on their strengths, you do not want to use the water gun with Suika's fire breath (common sense I guess) since it already has a high fire rate, you're gimping your damage output that way. This isn't even bringing up the special items which are other items that you can use alongside your bullets and specials but have a cooldown. Most are based off a character who may or may not be in the game, Suika has a gourd that flings fireballs, a super double laser spark, and even a retired train car. They should be used as much as possible. Some of them are also really easy to abuse, like the boundary that makes you invincible, move faster, AND regenerates a bit of health alongside a short cooldown. There are very good items, but there are really meta ones, good thing you can carry four. That's pretty much the main part I wanted to talk about, cool characters with awesome items to obliterate bosses and enemies.
So what did we learn?
The seventh game in the mainline Touhou series, or rather the second game in the more well known Touhou games developed for Windows, it improves upon Embodiment of Scarlet Devil and fine tunes the game's system for a more rewarding system. There are five base levels, an extra level, and the Phantasm level. You play as one of three playable characters shooting enemies which fire danmaku (projectiles, lasers, anything that can kill you) towards you, a mini boss, then a boss fight. You have a limited amount of lives and three continues, you can cancel enemies and projectiles with a limited amount of bombs. Bosses and mini bosses consist of regular projectile patterns, and spell cards, really difficult (and pretty) attacks where you can't die or use a bomb if you want to capture it. You obtain different bonuses when you clear the stage. The main objective is to finish all the stages, but the good ending is when you can beat it without a continue, and also collect the highest score you can. This system is a very solid example of using flow, if you've ever seen the game without playing it, it looks impossible and very visually appealing. But when you actually play the game you see something else, you can see a path to sneak through and the right way to take it, also you have a tiny hit box, you can practically kiss the danmaku and you will live. That is the first part of playing any sort of bullet hell game, getting to understand danmaku patterns and knowing how to lead shots at enemies as you do that. You will die a lot, use a lot of bombs, and eat up your continues just to see what the stage and bosses even look like. But after a lot of repeated attempts, you can practically do whole stages without using any bombs or dying. The impossible eventually becomes possible, then it becomes easy, this is the skill return that makes the series so addictive. The changes in difficulty do have a sorta steep curve once you get to The Prismriver sisters, since their stage's enemies have large chucks of projectiles all flung at you. On the first play through, You would die a lot, the only way around this and to grab all the score items in time is to fly around the edge of the screen, which goes against a lot of schmup thinking. But, that's Touhou for you, so the best thing you can do is go with the flow (ooh pun) and always play with the whole screen. The flow stays intact since there is a practice mode, so you can focus solely on the stage and boss, eventually mastering that one boss that tears you in half without the hassle of the bosses you already mastered just eating up your time. You also tend to find favorite bosses through practice (*cough* Konpaku *cough*), which also keeps you going. With some precarious curiosity, you can eviscerate through some spell cards The flow learning the pattern and shooting the boss until it's become second nature. But what keeps this system going is the difficulty setting before you even start. What makes Touhou difficulty settings so interesting is that each pattern and spell card is revamped with more projectiles, lots of bosses and mini bosses will even have new spell cards that you can't even witness until you play higher difficulties, further rewarding mastery of previous levels. Which leads up to the fact that it's really up to you on how confident you are in your abilities to see what else the game has to offer, self-challenge is what keeps the flow flowing without infuriating the player, since the player is deciding how difficult they want to play. But there is another feature that follows completion and that is score, because this is a traditional arcade game at heart. There are many ways to get waaaaaay more score than playing normally, from shooting unfocused to item grabbing by going to the top to shooting closer to a boss so a spell card can be beaten for a better time score, they are all very dangerous and can only even be considered if you know the original stage/spell card. But this is what throws the flow into the stratosphere, building a new score as you learn projectiles is addictive, supplementing the gameplay further. Cherry is also important since it auto-grabs items so you can focus on dodge projectiles So, the last thing to talk about is the game's main draw, which adds a new score feature called Cherry. You get cherry from grazing, shooting, and cherry items. If you collect 50,000 points worth of cherry, you activate a barrier, which acts as a free bomb that activates when you are hit are you use a bomb. But, you can keep the barrier up for a nice score bonus, which means you can't use a bomb or die when it's active, further reinforcing the skills that is expected of you. You will be cashing out your barrier bonus for a large score during a spell card, which is fun with the sound effects and huge numbers on the screen, really really addictive. There is also the characters and music, what makes Touhou so unique. if you've been on the internet and have even grazed (oh look another pun) anything video game/anime related, you have maybe seen a character (Cirno probably lol) or heard a music track without even realizing it: Bad Apple, Night of Nights, UN Owen Was Her, Hartmann's Youkai Girl, Gensokyo Past and Present, and the millions of popular tracks covering each song. So does Perfect Cherry Blossom's characters and music tracks stack up? Yes, absolutely because of how energetic and powerful they are, the tone and mood is perfectly set by each track. MIDIs fit the Touhou games well from the fact that they are meant for PC games from that era (early 2000s). But really, all the Touhou tracks in every game are actually good, so yes they do stack up. If you want to know more just look them up and see what fan made anything is made on them. Touhou characters are easily recognizable, which is where they're so popular. The interactions in the base game are funny too. It just works, separately or together. So overall, you should play the games, from learning how to be patient and gradually getting better to just being able to love what is arguably one of the most recognizably obscure video game series out there. What did we learn about? No seriously I went off and forgot what I was writing about
Obligatory Score: Chen/10 *All footage was recorded in medium difficulty of practice mode
In the past week I have learned that the various ideas and concepts I've made don't seem right after a while, and that they need a new makeover. The previous game concept I've made seemed a bit overbearing to make in completely 2D, so what's the best thing to do? Draw inspiration to make a similar and more grounded (literally) system. After doing a lot of research, putting off work and playing video games, the one change that speaks to me is making the game into a beat em up. Mostly inspired by River City Ransom and it's spinoffs, an open ended metroidvania beat em up seems the most logical, since it keeps the fighting elements and distinct characters, along with making a simple ground combo based system to keep the game entertaining. Even changing the design can have a big impact, which is helped by feedback from close friends (who have the same interest so they know what they are talking about). Many types of media go through different phases, from books to movies and especially video games. Many of them are made to simplify a system, appeal to different people, or just because what the team saw in their product just seemed better off being different, changes are what can make it much better. It sounds like a weird Frankenstein monster but that's what all games and art styles go through to become interesting. If you don't think whatever you've made feels right, change it!
In progress Redesign Nishiyama, Christine. “Artistic Style Isn't Static-It's Evolving.” Might Could Studios, 24 Apr. 2020, might-could.com/essays/your-artistic-style-should-be-evolving/.
ChristopherKerry. “4 Steps to Your Own Signature Art Style.” Copic Marker Tutorials, 7 Jan. 2017, copicmarkertutorials.com/how-to-find-your-own-personal-drawing-style/. Sketching and planning are very important skills that were learning after a while. This is so because Whenever I draw something, I usually just draw a circle, hair, then draw some bean shapes then put some details on it. Nowadays, I have to sketch a light circle, some lines to direct where it will look, then plan out the body's shape and position before any real work, then I hard line every aspect of it. This takes a lot more work and time (ewww work) but it does make much more good looking people, along with carrying the small characters within it. I always used to draw tiny chibi characters because I was too hard headed to really get into formal drawing, now that I can do both, it allows so much different characteristics that are much less limited than stubby leotard girls. Sketching as helps, as laying down everything in a general aspect before any solid lines makes it much easier to visualize as you go, and less of a pain when changing one part on the whole image. But, they do then to look like really stylized characters, so that's a step in the interesting direction I'm basically just doing what I was taught how to do it throughout high school, sounds a bit like a self problem but it still relates to what I've worked on over the last month. Cheers to that. If you don't plan out what you're drawing, you'll get lost in what idea you were drawing
Character Sketch Staff, Creative Bloq. “20 Sketching Tips to Help You Make Your Mark.” Creative Bloq, Creative Bloq, 24 June 2020, www.creativebloq.com/illustration/sketching-tips-beginners-81516497.
“5 Essential Sketching Tips for Beginner Artists.” Erika Lancaster-Artist, Content Creator & Online Art Tutor, www.erikalancaster.com/art-blog/5-essential-sketching-tips-for-beginner-artists. After actually making the game in Unity, a lot of changes had to be made to better suit what can be done without headaches. A lot of ideas, like the aerial attacks and a lot of aggressive enemy attacks, are too hard to implement in a tiny space. Especially with pitfalls around a small building roof. So, the is not as complex as originally planned, which is most likely for the best as it makes it easier to explain how to play, and can be put into more situations with out feeling weird. But, it also allows me to put in different types of interactions, dialogue is easy enough to implement into anywhere, before fights or just in specific spots, it adds a whole new layer at the cost of designing a text box, some new portraits, along with writing dialogue, but it will be worth it in the end.
That's the changes and realism that I had talked about in the last blog post, with some better or worse, even the basic components are a little different, with the speed a bit slower overall, and wall jumps being stationary acts (especially since it's the only way to really go to another level it needs to give players some time to do that. Wow, I didn't even think about how death would happen. Guess I have to make that too. For the last project of the year, we have to make our own game idea, our own prototype, and our own assets and coding. Seems like the catharsis of the entire course, but having big dreams does come at the price of being realistic. Why do realistic matter? If you were to make a deep combat system with multiple damage types and scaling, that would be difficult enough to plan, but implementing is an even harder job when actually assembling the game. This is usually where many parts of the GDD are revised. Not really during, since a couple good ideas will come just by playing it out in your head. But making them real is where stripping down specific elements comes into play. Aren't you supposed to make your game as complex as possible? Well, I would love it to be but I need a finished prototype, not a fancy one. I can just work on it over the summer if I really did like it. A good example is the transform weapons, I couldn't make twice as much of a move set if I wanted to. So, just making two types of attacks, and only one real type of aerial and ground attack, would make it consistently fun and manageable-ish as possible. Really simple yet enjoyable, that's how a small game should be. I've adopted this idea from different indie games that take a similar approach, particularly Momodora and Luna Nights, both of which are metroid-vania games that take an exploration and combat gameplay style. Inspiration is a good idea for people making their first game, then branch out into different types of ideas their own. So, video games are best done as bite-sized and enjoyable as possible, while having different types of inspiration as possible, to make an impression for your first game. A small look into Machine Girl, taking place before going out and delivering groceries in the Cafe. A simple objective in a simple place, perfect for a game demo. Cheese Quest is a flash game hosted on the Cartoon Network site, it is based on Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends, running from 2004 to 2009 with six seasons. The game itself is about Cheese being Cheese. What makes it different from other flash games is it's sheer simplicity, it's faithful adaption of the series, and it's addictive nature that keeps it fresh.
Play the game and finish it yourself, you'll see why. https://www.cartoonnetwork.com/games/fosters/cheese-quest-3d/index.html (this is a link to the game) The first thing to talk about is the levels, while along the way discussing tips and tricks to getting a higher score from the expert (that's me, I've been interested with this game since fourth grade). First step, always ALWAYS play in 3D. If you don't, you kill bunnies. The first level has platforming, which has simple moving platforms, pitfalls, rolling and bouncing obstacles, and collectibles. It's not demanding at any point in this section. The important parts are the lady power-ups (from that one episode), which is where you get much more points, and the horsey power-up from the dancing monkeys, which is the best part since the platforming is ACTUALLY kinda demanding. The best way to rack up points is to duck under the smiling coconuts with the lay power-up, then immediately jumping to get the points for dodging and kissing the coconuts. The second section has you rocket into space (on the horsey) and shooting weird alien things. This is where you have to use actual thinking. There are several types of aliens, each in increasingly difficult patterns, at first it's completely static ones, with some that shoot back at you. Eventually you have ones that come towards you, that do a weird pattern thing to collide into you, and ones that go up and down while shooting you. This is then used to combine certain enemies to make it much harder, a wall of static enemies with the other shooting enemies is a good example of difficult. If you put down enemies before they shoot they shouldn't be a problem, but there are times where you can't or you're trying to get a no-hit run. Shooting enemies projectiles don't give you too much room when there are more than two in the middle, so moving to either edge at the top or bottom is best. But, if there are projectiles on one or both edges, your best bet is to track what projectiles are there so you can weave in between (if you've played bullet hell games then this should be a cinch with the huge hit box that is Horsey Cheese). Shooting back is as easy as going up and down while spamming space bar, curtain fire kills literally everything, just don't run into any projectiles. Your shots are not at a specific interval when moving (kinda hard to explain but your shots are "placed" in succession instead of following the point where it came from), so you can form a sort of walled shot to clear horizontal rows of enemies, perfect for clearing all enemies and shooting aliens that shoot back. The boss battle, a flying cake (Cheese's mortal enemy), shoots a bunch of projectiles at you while flying around. This section seems hard, but if you use the projectile wall while being diagonal to the cake will make this battle kinda easy to cheese (pun not intended), just don't get cornered, weave out of there. Rinse and repeat to get the water horsey. The third section is where most people would give up and say "I give up, lol." You control the water horsey, but there are torpedoes and nukes (bigger torpedoes) flying towards you. Your horsey can eat the torpedoes but not the nukes, dodging either will still net you points. The worst part is how you take up half the screen, so the only torpedoes you can eat are on the bottom, and if you hang around the middle, you have to constantly watch the top so you can dodge torpedoes at the top. You have to do lots of resourceful procedures to get the most points you can without dying. The last stage is the bonus stage, where you fall into a bowl of cereal and dodge coco pops. it's self explanatory, the best I can say is to hang out where the cereal isn't. But, then you beat the game, Cheese announces his love for cereal, and you are given your score. So, the reason why this game is so highly rated by me is it's pacing, it's three different games that are different yet united. The first play through is one of the best experiences one could have, since the different situations are amazing when you don't know what's happening next, which is why I said you should play it first. At the end, it feels like a big adventure and like some ethereal, other-worldly piece of art, or that's what I feel at least. The other best part is the humor and references it has to the show it's based on, having Cheese as the main character gives it a surprisingly wide roster of material with it's horsies, monkey dances, and a cameo from Bloo making it very unique when it's mixed with it's retro aesthetic. The game play is also interesting, infuriating but that's what the intent was, or I think it was. The third section does feel very suck-y, but can you name a good water level in an NES era video game? This game is one of my most favorite things in the world, it's up there next to Trigun, Late Registration, TR-808 drum beats, and caramelized popcorn, It's that good. If you're interested in more shooter game things, then play Neptunia Shooter, based off the Hyperdemension Neptunia games, it's a fun shooter game that popped into my head while playing. So, what makes this THE flash game?
Obligatory Score: really cool my dude/10 Back at the end of 2019, there were trailers for two games based on Persona 5, the Royal edition, which is a special re-release edition similar to the Golden or FES editions of Persona, and Persona 5 Scramble. A game that, at first, many people thought was a cash grab based on Persona 5. As more trailers were released, with cut scenes, character reveals, special attacks, and changes to the Warriors style that captured the original game's distinct style. Many people were convinced that Scramble would be worthy of being a sequel to what many people consider to be the JRPG of the decade. As of February 5th 2020, a demo was released for Persona 5 Scramble. Which releases on the 20th for PS4 and Nintendo Switch, in Japan only. In order to download the demo, or buy the game if you really want, you need to have a PSN account or Nintendo Account set to Japanese region, it should be easy to find from there. Persona 5 Scramble is designed after a Warriors game, with similar "beat up a bunch of guys" gameplay. ATLUS originally planned to make a whole Warriors series about all the Persona games. They decided to focus more on Persona 5 during development, and now Scramble is a full fledged Persona 5 sequel, with Joker coming back to Shibuya Ward and meeting up with the Phantom Thieves again. Persona 5 is also designed to be much more light-hearted than Persona 5, with it's world-ending plot and stories of corruption, so it's about the Phantom Thieves travelling Japan for summer vacation. The game starts after Joker, Ryuji, and Morgana are given cards by Alice Hiiragi, a popular idol that happened to be in the area. The cards have the keyword "wonderland" on them, and say to use EMMA, the new navigator app. A name, a keyword, and an app enter cause them all to find themselves in another shadow world in their thief outfits, with Hiiragi as it's ruler. Since anybody with the app can enter, and there are innocents having their soul gem things stolen by shadows, it starts with another plot similar to Mementos that the Phantom Thieves have to stop. Gameplay, alongside the 3D beat 'em up environment, has many mechanics from the fist Persona 5 to not only associate the two mechanic-wise, but actually add to fighting and make it truly feel correct. The major ones are skills, with the same elemental weakness format, all out attacks, which you get after you knock out enough enemies, and even attacks that seem very time sensitive, like gun attacks, which slow time and are quick attacks that knock lots of enemies out, and the "1 more" mechanic being a follow up attack after hitting a persona's weakness. It may seem like a lot, but if you've played the Persona games and understand the mechanics, especially in Persona 5, then it feels almost natural. These mechanics are amazing, the same tools for both games are translated well, and even new mechanics like environmental attacks, attacks from certain places that are oddly similar to the Arkham games, and chance attacks, which are basically miniature all out attacks, all fit together to feel like some alternate universe of Persona 5's release as a 3D fighting game, which is good, different is good. Later in the dungeon, you find a persona mask that Joker can equip, Pixie. When you next use your skills, you can now switch between Arsene's and Pixie's skills. Just like the games, you can switch personas and their abilities while you are queuing up an attack. Another genius change that is original to Persona 5, but is re-purposed to suit the game. Dungeons, also known as palaces or in this game Jails, are still the same formula. Except the platforming in previous games are now more fluid and integrated, due to the full 3D control being throughout combat and exploration instead of changing to turn based battles (which is still fun I'm not complaining), and there being new environmental attacks for ambushes. Party members still exist, I guess. Skull beats people up(what else would he do?), Mona occasionally heals the party while he beats people up, and Sophia, a new character that is an AI (not an android like in a certain game) with the Persona Pithos, also beats people up. It's a Warriors game so party members aren't going to be relied on heavily, although they are useful in drawing attention and healing. You can play as them later in the game, just not in the demo.
The demo ends a little after that, with the set up of another new character, Hasegawa Zenkichi, that's investigating the incidents happening and meeting with the Phantom Thieves, and explaining that these are not palaces, but jails, and with kings, not rules. Overall, it's a nice snapshot into what the game will bring, especially with personas being back in the game, which means even fusing can be a thing again, as seen in the dream sequence with Lavenza and a missing Igor. Positives
Obligatory Score: 3D/10 After making a Game Design Document, you can now start building a piece of your game to show how the rest of the game will resemble. This is an extension of what a prototype is, since we are actually making one these last weeks until winter break.
This piece is a prototype, the first true incarnation of your game. It is a essentially board, with pieces to represent items and figures. This is very similar to an actual board game, although it may have rules that aren't bound to a board, like free movement, it's purpose is to represent a concept before any actual "work" is put into what will be the final game. This prototype will be very, very simple, since if you've already had a very clear idea planned out in detail that you know will work, then why make the prototype? But, such a thing doesn't exist, this is the where you can go back to really iron out issues you may or may not have know you have. Simplicity is key to fixing your game's foundation, with a strong foundation you can build anything out of it. The board and pieces aren't too fancy either, basic shapes that represent environments, along with figures (which we 3D model ourselves) that should be simple and to the point, to keep a very clear idea and to prevent it from taking literal days to print out. These pieces are very fun to play with, which is the point (cause it's a game). Next, the concept should be just as simple, not even the length of a full level (or whatever segments gameplay is split into). This helps to give an example of what your figures would do on the board, reinforcing the strong foundation. In the end, it's a landmark in development to have a concept that could work in this stage of pre-development, it's practically development at this point. This is what separates your game from a passing concept to a real project, very fine achievement. |
JamesHe aspires to be a game designer, let's just hope he gets there. He also happens to goes to DSA. Categories
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