100 Orcs [WIP]

Charming little game, keep it up!

 

Thanks! I'm defiantly have a good time with it.

Tonight I worked on the combat system and I think I made some real headway. Enough that I feel like sharing it with you all. Again, comments are always appreciated! Good and bad

Here is an updated webplayer: 100 Orcs Demo

 

It's a good start, although being able to run through the enemies feels a bit odd, especially if you intend for them to take multiple hits to kill.

 

Hey, works really good already! I think its not so bad that you can run through the orks, but you should add some kind of hit-feedback like an enemie animation or a particle effect. Also the sword animation could be a little bit faster I think.
Really cool look so far, I like 2D stuff too, not least because we are also working on a little 2D game.

Do you already have plans for level design? Will there be many small levels oder bigger ones like in super mario for example?

 

WASD would be nice instead of arrows.

 

Hey anszwa, thanks for the feedback. I will definatly work on the player feedback. I am thinking at that hit point will be some sort of pop up graphic and a sound effect for sure.

I've got a few ideas for the level design. I thought I could follow the recipe that quite a few games follow with the Numbered level select scene. I've also kind of toyed with this idea of having the level set up similar to the the last bit of the Subspace Emissary in Super Smash Bros Brawl. I will just have to see how I feel when I get into it.

 

Updated the player again: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/39578945/100%20Orcs%20WIP/100%20Orcs%20Proto.html

This time I've added the bow system. Currently still working on the loading animation. Hold x for about a second to pull back the bow and release x to fire.

Also, I've improved the sword system a bit. You can no longer just run through the enemy. Again, still doing some tweaking but I think its coming along! Hopefully next time you will get to see the bomb stuff!

 

Both the bow and sword attack feel bit slow. Are you going to add blocking ?

 

could you please change the z/x controls for further test builds? We german folk don't have the z and the x key next to each other.
Also the joystick input triggerst the animation but does not move the character.

I like the art style and how fluid the game animates and feels. Looking forward to progress. A cool little game you've got there already.

 

@snorkel Right now I don't plan on adding blocking. I want to keep the game play pretty light in terms of development and adding another action besides the three things I have already would be against my self imposed rules to stop new features creeping into the game. If I get to the end and the game just doesn't feel right, it is defiantly one feature I will give some consideration to.

@the_motionblur Good catch on the joystick triggers. I never thought to look at that input. I'm glad you enjoyed the art style! And thanks for letting me know about the z/x thing. Perhaps I will spend sometime tonight trying to add the wasd and mouse setup.

 

I had an hour or so to kill so I spent sometime making background elements and I wanted to share one with you.





I'm not convinced I like the leaves part of the tree. But I think I will keep on the trunk pieces. I have always like the birch trees so I wanted to put them in there.

Here's the process video:

 

Took another crack at it this afternoon and I think I like this result better. Any thoughts?

 

I like the new tree much better. Looks great!

 

Looks decent. but I like the old tree too - sometimes less is more. Need to see it in the context

 

This is true. Perhaps I will give it another go when I actually get around to adding elements like that in to the game. But I also don't want to be stuck on what my trees look like.

 

I updated the player and did some more tweaking on the sword and bow. Tonight! I will throw a bomb and it will explode!

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/39578945/Proto/Proto.html

 

Nice work, Kelly... I'm a fan!

 

Thank ya! I just checked out your blog! Nice work yourself

 

Really close to getting this bomb explosion to work the way I want it to! Hopefully it will work by the end of the night!

 

Well Bombs are not working out. And in effort to keep my game simple and manageable I've decided to cut out the bomb feature and instead refocus on the two weapon systems that do work at the moment. Bombs may still show up in some form by the end of the game. But right now, I don't think the player will be able to pick up and throw them.

 

Too bad, the screenshot looked amazing already and I could hardly wait to see the explosion in realtime
But as much more admirable that you stick to your decision and cancle that feature to stay in time!
Good luck with your further implementations!

 

Thanks Anszwa. I was kinda bummed too. If I get a few minutes I might render out the 30 frames or so of the animation and stick it in a gif to show. If I find myself with some extra time it might end up somewhere in the game. Maybe a boss or something throws some bombs at the hero. Who knows!

For a quick update: Doing a lot of character drawing. All different types of Orcs and the couple bosses I've got planned. I'm excited to show them with they are complete!

 

Working on a goblin guy! Feeling pretty good about the results. Next step is to add some shading.

 

Been awhile since I've been able to post an updated web player! Some pretty sweet news in my personal and professional life happened this last week; I got a new fancy job as a full-time Motion Graphics Designer! In light of this news, I will continue to try my hardest to stick to the 3 month development rule!

Tomorrow is February which means I am right where I should be in terms of the roadmap I set out for myself. This month is building the levels and putting everything I've learned and made in this month into an actual game. That being said I want to share with you the progress I made with the first level! Not much going on here in terms of actions, but I hope it teaches you how to jump and swing a sword! I've got a few more dangers to add but I think that will be a task for tomorrow!

Webplayer: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/39578945/100%20Orcs%20WIP/100%20Orcs%20Proto.html



Until next time!

Kelly

 

Starting to shape up really nicely - the camera panning to the sword, and the arm raising animation when you collected it, where nice touches. Your goblin concept looks very cool

Also, congrats on the job!

 

Thank you! Hopefully I can provide some production quality that will make up for any lack of innovation.

 

Been a crazy week for me. Not a lot of time to do much with 100 Orcs but I am still aiming for my deadline. What do you all think of this?

 

Love it
It's kinda weird to see all that crazycool artwork in this thread but in the game/webplayer it's all getting lost at the moment by the scope. Can't wait until you put moreMOREMORE stuff in there !

 

It really looks great, I can't wait to see more! I really like the monster design ^^

 

Really nice art work and game play. Keep up the good work and try to publish your game on all possible platforms, not only PC.

 

Thanks all! I do plan on publishing on as many things as I can reasonably. Probably the standard desktop right away but I am building this with mobile in mind.

 

Finally got around to updating the webplayer!

Working on getting some GUI elements to work like the menu in the beginning. Loading levels and such. Also working on fleshing out the levels visual elements. The background is only temporary. I stuck it in there to make sure it worked.

Enjoy! And comments are always welcome!

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/39578945/100 Orcs WIP/100 Orcs Proto.html

Kelly

 

It's unfortunate but February is a bust. I have been away from my work station on business for two weeks and will be again for another full week starting Monday. That being said I am more than likely going to miss my project deadline if I continue at this pace.

So I am pushing it for another month. I don't think the three months was unreasonable, I just think life happened making this particular month a very non productive one. So, when I can settle down into a real routine once more I will pick up again and continue my timer. Two more real months of development starting in March. Or so I hope.

But until then maybe I will post some more art. This is my main bad guy character, Lord Orc Devious, King of the Lame Orcs.



Kelly

 

Nice work. Like your art style, gameplay and that you try to set realistic goals in a realistic timeframe.

Some feedback:
- The camera feels to stiff for my taste. Could use a little easing when the character jumps.
- Visual feedback for getting damage could be more obvious.
- You are on the right track with your art style, but there could be even more differentiation between gameplay and background elements. The stone blocks are good to see but some of the other platforms not as good.
- Small bug: Stone platform gets drawn on top of character when he jumps through it.

Stephan

 

Good catch on the stone platform. Its incredible the small details you over look when you stare at the same thing over and over again and miss things like that. Thanks for the feedback!

 

I would suggest adding a separate animation for when the character is falling after a jump. It's a small thing but it would do a lot for the "feel" of the game.

 

There is one, it is super subtle though. Just a loop of his arms and legs kind of swing a couple degrees back and forth. If you can't see it perhaps I will make it a bit more noticeable.

 

Had an afternoon to knock out some more Orc designs. Let me know what you think!

 

I like the nasty one on the right. The one on the left is OK, but I mistook his jaw and chest muscles as giant upper and lower lip. Maybe bring the chest more inwards? And I think he could do with bigger trousers/belly, but that could just be personal preference.

 

Ha! I can defiantly tell why you thought that. We shall see what I can do to fix it.

 

I was going to make a point here... but I think I lost the plot :/



I found your style very simple, I used the same methods but with more detail.

Anyway the point I was going to make is that the eyes are dead, they need something to make them come alive. But probably not what I did. I also made some of your shadows larger just to add more shape as your characters are very flat.

Hope this was helpful :/ I tried haha

 

Defiantly diggin the eyes. And I appreciate the feedback. I agree, my eyes kind of appear dead on another glance. I do think I will go back and tackle them after looking at yours.

I really have to battle how much time I spend on the real fine details of these guys because when it really gets down to it, you only see them in maybe a 128x64 pixel box if even that! That was my main decision to go with the real cut jaw line. It also allows me to stick a bone on the plane and let's me open these guys mouths when they talk without much work.

I really do like the face, perhaps in another venture we can work together I'd love to see how you made the eyes.

 

Had a three hour car ride to put together another type of enemy. This one will be more intelligent I feel.

 

Nice! The armor scuffs look really cool

 

Nice art and nice build for now , but first of all I would like to say that there is a bug where you can use the sword when you press Z even if you dont get it yet.

And I think you should re-export the character from blender with higher resolution , I dont know if its just me but I feel that the edges of the character in the game are not as good as here , this is usually caused when a low res image rotates .

Nice game and hope you the best .

 

I just updated the web player with a new version of the prototype! I've added the beginning cutscene and did some work on the textures. Hope you enjoy!

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/39578945/100 Orcs WIP/100 Orcs Proto.html

@Okm1123, thanks for pointing out the bug! This only seems to happen if you acquire the sword and play the level over again. When I finish, I will have variables that will check for things like one time events such as getting the sword and such.

 

Wow... Incredible! I love the art style. The game plays really well!

**Warning** The following is my personal opinion and should be taken as such

I really dig the action style combat you've got going on BUT I would love to see some stuff more exaggerated. For instance, the reaction of the orc being hit is minimal and lack luster. The enemies, when they die, seem to just fall straight to the ground. For (what appears to be) a hack and slash style game, that isn't appealing. I want to see bodies flying across the screen (or at least a couple of feet away) when I deliver the killing blow! Seeing a bigger reaction for my action keeps me interested.

I know you are early in development and I have no clue what you have planned! You may have already taken all of my advice into account and are planning to implement it. And if you don't, I won't feel bad because this is all just the opinion of one player! I hope it was helpful.

All that being said I really love what you have going on here. A very eye catching art style coupled with smooth intuitive controls and a kick*** cut scene and event system - I expect that whatever comes out of this will be a big hit and I for one plan on purchasing the finished product!

 

I think you are right! And I appreciate your comments. It goes back to that video someone posted earlier. Action games need bigger bullets. The story premise is going to be ridiculous anyway so why can't I go outlandish on the action too.

Here is what might be holding me back however. I just don't know how yet. Maybe some exploding force at the death strike and a bigger animation. Who knows, but I will work on it! Thanks for the feedback.

 

I'm spending the evening working on finessing the fighting orcs part of the game. This is the largest part of the game so I figure it should be one that I focus more attention on.

Here is a quick demo of what I've got so far. I've changed the way the Orcs behave as well as increased the kickback of the sword impact. Let me know any thoughts or comments you have.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/39578945/100 Orcs Proto/100 Orcs Proto.html

 

Friends,

It's been a long time. 4 weeks according to the post before this one. I've come to continue on with where I left off the last time. I can defiantly say these last two months have been a whirlwind of activity and unfortunately that makes hobby projects like these fall to the wayside.

I made a trello last night and laid out all of the items that need to be done in order to make this project complete. I'm shocked at how far I still have to go. That being said, there is no way I can race to the deadline and make this project what I want it to be so I'm taking the pressure off and I will take this game development one bite at a time.

I've made my Trello board public incase you wanted to see how I've set mine up. I'd highly recommend this. I learned about this just recently on the job and it has made me tremendously more productive.

https://trello.com/b/LZVcXwq4/100-orcs-warboard

Anyway, look forward to some orc killing goodness. I'm very near where I want the combat system to be.