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Retroformer: now in alpha!

Discussion in 'Works In Progress - Archive' started by Paradigm-SW, Jun 25, 2012.

  1. Paradigm-SW

    Paradigm-SW

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    So, you may have been watching over our progress in our prealpha stage over in this thread, but now we're happy to announce that Retroformer is in it's alpha stage of development!

    You can find all the play and download links on our website, here (clicky)

    Webplayer link (v0.1.0e) here (clicky)

    Next 3 planned updates:
    -0.1.1:
    -new editor UI in place
    -systems recode finished

    -0.1.2:
    -in game music loops start to be implemented
    -error messages when import fails
    -0 grav areas

    -0.1.3:
    -Add more blocks
    -Ice
    -bomb + weak areas to blow through
    -Key counter done

    Thanks for looking!











     
    Last edited: Jun 20, 2013
  2. Paradigm-SW

    Paradigm-SW

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    Update: Updated the webplayer to v0.1.0a following some bugs with loading certain files from DropBox. Will update the standalones later today.
     
  3. LucasDaltro

    LucasDaltro

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    Very cool game man:D
    I've started to code a 2d platformer yesterday.But damn yours look so coool!!!!!!
    Congratz man:D
     
  4. Paradigm-SW

    Paradigm-SW

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    Thanks ^^
     
  5. DavidDebnar

    DavidDebnar

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    Thanks! I am the lead (and only) programmer for Retroformer and we REALLY appreciate your comment :).

    - David
     
  6. MattChappUnity

    MattChappUnity

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    Looks Great, keep it up
     
  7. Paradigm-SW

    Paradigm-SW

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    Thanks, means a lot :)
     
  8. TehWut

    TehWut

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    wont let me click anything, both in the webplayer and downloadable version.

    The only button that works is the 'Play' button, and it takes me to a menu of levels, but I can't click any of them either. It registers the 'click'
    but nothing happens
     
  9. Paradigm-SW

    Paradigm-SW

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    The menu of levels is currently blocked - they've yet to be implemented. Try pressing 'click to load' and loading an image link.
     
  10. DavidDebnar

    DavidDebnar

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    That's because the Options and Editor UI weren't yet implemented, I should remove the Exit button from the WebPlayer version though - noted. The grey color under the levels means they are locked, because we didn't yet create them. As already stated, just click the Click To Load button and paste in a link, or play the default link just by pressing Play.

    -David
     
  11. TehWut

    TehWut

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    Alright, I played it, very fun little game, love the style, so I'll get my points out.

    -Not trying to be Mr. Bossy over here, but I think the gameplay mechanics are a little off. The friction is quite a bit low, and the player slides a lot. This is not a bad thing (N+ is one of the greatest platformer ever, definitely not tight controls) but, considering the very grid like nature of the game and the blocky levels, I would appreciate tighter controls and more input-output in my turns and jumps, the player felt a little out of control. This control scheme would fit the 'retro' design well, but then again, I don't want you to have to redesign your whole gameplay mechanic or anything :p

    -There is a glitch in the level "Very hard skill jump". at the beginning, if your going fast enough, you can fly through the wall on the left. I
    suspect this is a universal collision glitch w/ the Unity physics and speed, but I'm not sure

    - The spikes are unforgivable! Ditch the bounding box! The collision is very large, sliding on wall adjacent to a spike can kill you, making wall jumping a pain in the ass, esp. with the slippery controls. tighten up the collisions, smaller mostly, the only way to jump over / around / through is a perfect jump, very dififcult.

    I still think the game is very fun, and the style is spot on, the main character is a blast! Will be playing this more, gotta check out the level editor.
     
  12. Paradigm-SW

    Paradigm-SW

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    Thanks for the feedback! This is all the stuff we want of our players, it helps us make the game more pleasing and accessible.

    Tightening up the controls should be easy enough. I've already proposed tightening them to some degree to make way for a new block in a future patch.

    We'll address the glitch, we're working on the movement system at the moment to find something that's intuitive, easy to control and works well with the game.

    Spikes are unforgivable, yes :) Perhaps we can tweak them.

    Thanks for the feedback, it's much appreciated. I'd point out that the level editor is from v0.0.5 and is very unpolished, though it does work (to an extent, use a standalone build for most features).

    Regards
    ~Ben
     
  13. Paradigm-SW

    Paradigm-SW

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    We've just updated to v0.1.0b.

    In this version we've tightened up the controls, added WASD usage and are working on a more dynamic and neater camera.
    We've got a few more improvements to the camera on the way.

    ~Ben
     
  14. TehWut

    TehWut

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    Alright! The new movement system does seem much better.

    but unfortunately, I still found some issues, especially with walljumping

    - The new speed affects walljumping. Unlike the last version, walljumping was about the same speed as running, now it's so fast you can hardly see him moving.

    - camera jitter when walljumping. The camera tends to skip or jerk when walljumping, assuming it has to do with the speed.

    - quickly walljumping 3 - 4 times in a row, even on the same wall, will cause the player to stop animating and be unable to jump (only sometimes though)

    - on my other computer, https:// links don't load levels, however they work fine here, assumed webplayer glitch (on my part)

    Overall though, I love the new feel, the character animations go great with the controls, I really like the new camera perspective also. Please note that I might seem kind of nagging on the bugs, but I actually really do like this game and want to be a part of it's growth and progression ;)
     
  15. Paradigm-SW

    Paradigm-SW

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    Thanks for the feedback. We've only just really out together the new movement and it does need tuning.

    It's appreciated, the more the better :)
     
  16. Paradigm-SW

    Paradigm-SW

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    Updated to v0.1.0c.

    Finished the dynamic camera and tuned the jump strength.
     
  17. TehWut

    TehWut

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    Beautiful Update! The movement is so much better now. The camera is also much smoother, gotta play this some more.

    one report for now:

    - trampoline on pyramid level shot me straight through the roof and through two layers of spikes almost instantly. Perfect timing or trampoline error? ಠ_ಠ

    I enjoy the decreased fall speed for the character, easier to control. Jump height is perfect IMHO, but is still a little odd because the pre-made levels were built for an older version of the game with different physics. This is not a problem ;). Same with the sideways movement speed, I personally think it is improved in the newer ones, but for some reason they don't fit well with the old levels.

    edit: Player on level "get ALL the keys!" is nowhere to be found ಠ_ಠ

    edit2: the new speed is a bit more hefty than I thought. on the level "Very hard skill" you go through the walls almost every time on the first course, very fast that is.
     
    Last edited: Jun 27, 2012
  18. DavidDebnar

    DavidDebnar

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    Thanks for the feedback! Yes, the default and premade levels were designed for the older version of the controller and they don't quite fit the new scheme. As you mentioned the player somethimes flies trough the walls and I am working on that error. It will require a brand new collision system detection/generating algorithm to work better and we think about limiting the players speed, so he doesn't just launch straight trough a wall. As for the get all the keys level, it's currently impossible to get trough the first row of spikes, and I will have a look at the no player error.

    -David
     
  19. Paradigm-SW

    Paradigm-SW

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    We've just updated to v0.1.0d, which basically is just bugfixes and small tunes to the movement system.

    We're starting work on v0.1.1's feature set now.
     
  20. KheltonHeadley

    KheltonHeadley

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    I played this when it just started, its so much better now. :) I love the game, keep doing it!
     
  21. Paradigm-SW

    Paradigm-SW

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    Thanks ! :)
     
  22. Paradigm-SW

    Paradigm-SW

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    Updated to v0.1.0e. (hopefully the last tweak update before v0.1.1.)

    More features incoming.
     
  23. Paradigm-SW

    Paradigm-SW

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    Just an update: we are still working on this project and progress is coming along.

    However, from now on we'll not be releasing public playable builds until the game hits beta. This is because we want to be able to start selling the game on the beta release and having an almost up-to-date alpha build might take away sales. However, because there will be no more playable updates, we will concentrate on releasing a lot of media, in the form of screenshots, videos and devblogs on our website.

    Of course, the lack of a public playable release means that we need a testing team. With that, we are looking for a team of about 4 testers and level designers to volunteer a tiny amount of their time to play with the game and test out it's features. We've had unofficial testers in the past on these forums from people like MoonQuake and their contributions have been invaluable to us.

    Many thanks
    Ben
     
  24. LucasDaltro

    LucasDaltro

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    For the player physics are you using the standard character controller or you have made your own player physics code?
     
  25. Paradigm-SW

    Paradigm-SW

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    A lot of it is custom, though I'm not sure about the physics code itself. David has recently been putting together a 2D physics engine, though I'm fairly sure he didn't use it in Retroformer.

    All other things such as atlases, 2D framework etc is custom, we've not used any prebuilt systems.
     
  26. LucasDaltro

    LucasDaltro

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    Thanks bro:D
    I think I'll need to write my own physics code too:S
     
  27. Paradigm-SW

    Paradigm-SW

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    No problem :)
    What are you working on?

    We find using our own systems entirely easier since we don't have to learn anything and can completely customise it, so go for it :)
     
  28. TehWut

    TehWut

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    Aw, no more play tests? a little unfortunate, but I know it's for the best.

    Looking forward to the updates!
     
  29. Paradigm-SW

    Paradigm-SW

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    The testing isn't very time consuming, you could always join the team :)
     
  30. JohnnyA

    JohnnyA

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    I tried the first level (one that preloads if you click ok) and I couldn't seem to climb up the ladder? I get half way then slide down it... I've tried holding up and pressing jump (space)...

    Ok got it, W works for up but up arrow doesn't... bit confusing given that the arrows work for left 'n' right.

    But hurray for retro platform games. I'm messing with one myself: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/60620789/SorloByTwo/SorloByTwo-web.html
     
  31. Paradigm-SW

    Paradigm-SW

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    The actual control is hold space, but I know we're playing around with alternate control schemes at the moment (namely WASD). The plan is for one control scheme to be Left Arrow, Right Arrow, Space and the other to be WASD. Once we've added the option features (you'll notice the menu doesn't do anything at the moment) we'll add the ability to be able to swap schemes or custom keybind.

    EDIT: I really like the premise behind that game, good luck :)
     
  32. Paradigm-SW

    Paradigm-SW

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  33. Paradigm-SW

    Paradigm-SW

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  34. Paradigm-SW

    Paradigm-SW

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    A wild bump appears!

    Me and David have been taking a little hiatus from Retroformer over the last couple of months, we're both students and so have been caught up in slightly more pressing matters.

    However, we're back now and have a little news to talk about.

    Since our last proper update in December, we've undertaken a huge code restructure of the majority of our systems behind Retroformer, including the UI rendering, physics and animation/atlasing. All of this is to provide both a better experience to the user and to make it easier for us to plug in new features and port the game to new platforms.

    With this in the final stages of completion, we're beginning work on the next iteration of editor UI (the old one was a bit slapdash and by no means worked well) and will build that as our new v0.1.1. This means we'll push our planned features back one step, but the game will start to get a feel of polish much sooner.

    Be sure to keep an eye out on our DevBlog since we'll hopefully be periodically postiing updates there from now on. Also keep an eye on our Twitter (see signiture) because there might be some sneak peaks of the new UI we're building up.

    As a final thing, we're looking for a little group of people to act as an internal testing team (something we've experimented with but not really done properly since we stopped openly releasing builds) and also anyone experienced in making chiptune (8-bit) music.

    Thanks for reading!

    -Ben