MARA - 2.5d platformer - WIP

Hey eberybody.

Working on a platformer and here it is so far:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkEXPwOPyNU

Lotssss of work to do but there is my start. Will keep posting updates here.

www.defiant-child.com

 

looks really good. the jumping is somewhat slow, and the round bullet seemed off-perhaps a shurikan is more appropriate?

but its really good work with the 3d.
Keep it up!

 

Critiques are noted and appreciated! Yes, the projectiles are not that cool right now but will be polished in the future. Thank you!

 

It looks very good so far! Maybe the animations are the weakest part, anyway it is evident that they are not final. Congratulations!

 

thank you for your feedback! the animation needs work. what about it specifically stands out most to you?

 

After reading the rules, looked like I missed posting screenshots:





www.defiant-child.com

 

I would say the jump animation.

 

noted!

I just made a start screen that takes the player into a specified level when "Start" is pressed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCOOgsR3TNo

The player is immediately put into gameplay at this time. Later on, they will be taken into a level select stage before jumping directly into gameplay.

 

This is coming along really nicely, will be following with interest! Is it just you currently?

 

hi!

cool style, especially the environment looks great
I agree with the previous speakers, the animatios need a lot of tweaking.
Use references for your animtions

To the runcycle:
the upper part of the body is too stiff (needs more bending and sidewise rotation), otherwise the step length has to be smaller
In addition, the shoulders need more motion too. Here 2 links, you could use as reference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWH8_3Gt0MA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2ikyvEJXgk

To the jumpanimation:
You need more motion here as well. Do some exaggerations (one of 12 animation principles) to get a better result.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUvKvjCYbhk

I wish you good luck and keep posting

 

thanks for the feedback! i'll do a pass on the animation and will keep these in mind.

thanks! yup, just myself at the moment.

 

Just an art update:



Don't know why the image doesn't have the option to expant to full res. Here is the link to the full res:

https://static.squarespace.com/stat...e/1390555825753/Down the street.?format=1500w

www.defiant-child.com

 

Updates to dynamic parts of the environment. Applied some Light Probes to the scene.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buQXEe1M63g

 

Setting up the level select stage:

 

Adding some life.

 

Updates

 

Updates!

 

Needless to say, so beautiful, excellent graphics, man, looking forward for the updates

 

thank you! more to come soon. working on getting some sounds in the game at the moment and that should add another dimension to the experience!

 

Playing with some audio

 

looking very cool so far!
What are your target platforms?

 

the problem of made a game with a realistic graphic style is that every else has to be realistic. There is no space for cartoons or spells like fantastic super-powers with a lot of sparks. be care of that. is look fantastic... scene, background... but stay focused on animation and gameplay.. of course (has to be fun)

i see the first video and i fell that the caracter and the first enemy (head with teeths!! i guess) both are off of the rest of the game. you know. just my opinion.. with all respect; but the caracter and the enemy seens not to share the same aspect of the others graphics.

make myself clear? my english is not so good...

but still working.
regards.

 

This will be out for PC and Android!

Thank you for the feedback and I understand your point. I see what you mean! However, I don't think the look is ultra realistic, rather, it's a little bit more of a stylized realism. The characters you've seen so far also do require polish and their detailing/textures/animation do need tweaking. After that, they will match the environment a lot more.

In the meantime here is some progress for gameplay:

 

he shoots his eyeballs out to kill monster? that's awesome

 

More progress on the teleport mechanic. The placement of the portal activators are just nearby for testing purposes. It'll be eventually more challenging to get to them as the level design progresses.

 

Some art progress:

 

An update on level two with music:

 

Some art polish:

 

I love the art style and graphics. The animations and the player model could use some polishing and similar, I agree, but I believe you're on the right track!

Keep pushin'!

 

You are making great progress! The game looks great.
Looking forward to seeing more.

- Alex

 

thank you guys! yes, there is A LOT of work left to do and lots of loose ends to tie up but i'm quite happy about how it's turning out so far.

 

updated level with a dark tunnel area:

 

Wow, environments are coming along really nicely.

Only things I would suggest is taking advantage of fog or even semi-transparent fog cards to separate foreground/midground/background better and almost fade very distant objects to horizon. Good technique for creating feeling of a vast world and improve readability.

 

Thanks! I will have a look and play around with the fog. I`ve also experimented with the Depth of Field but decided not to use it. I`ll give it a go though!

 

Combining gameplay elements to get some variation throughout the level. Also really trying to add vertical level changes to avoid a purely horizontal gameplay experience. Will also add supports to the moving platforms so that they aren't just floating like they are currently.

 

Here's an early update on the character rework. Going with a simpler approach and the aesthetics will rely more on texturing. This should help with the quality and smoothness of the animation. Updates on the texturing soon:

 

Implemented a checkpoint system and the particles/audio that come with it. It's a bit tricky in this level with the teleport system and need to be thoughtfully placed. If placed carelessly, they can be used to skip too much of the obstacle paths and take away from the challenge. I think with careful placement, though, it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

 

Here's an update on level two incorporating some more hazards from the first level. The idea is to use previous elements and add new ones as the game progresses. It'll be interesting to see how it all works out level design-wise. Should provide some more interesting opportunities.

 

Updated with more droppers on platforms that the player will eventually need to step across in order to progress in the level. The dropper ease in and out will also be adjusted to make the droppers feel heavier and more impactful.

 

Here's a gameplay video of all the previous elements coming together. Like mentioned, I'm planning to adjust the ease in and out of the droppers to make it have more impact and more intimidating. An updated character is also in the works with better animation. More on that soon.

 

Felt like showing this portion of the game some love by adding more particles and adding orbs that when selected will send the player to the corresponding level. It's only visuals at the moment and functionality will be added soon.



And here is a video:

 

Selecting the first orb now triggers a transition to a quick intro screen which then loads into first level gameplay. Soon I plan on adding functionality to the other orbs and making them non-selectable until the appropriate levels have been completed and will spawn an animated texture of some sort reading "Complete Appropriate Level".. or something along those lines.

 

Selecting levels to which access has not yet been earned spawns a message that reads "The Journey means more than the Destination". Entering the triggers spawn a single faced polygon with a transparency map with a color interpolation action via PlayMaker. It then destroys itself after fading completely.

 

Wow looks nice and the musique is a mix of eerie and slow style. I noticed that you wanted some feedback and if you are still interested then I have only one thing to add to the game.

A timer of some sort where you can see how long the transformation (Where Mara turns from red to blue) will stay before wearing off from Mara. It could be a counter at the top or a bar that gets smaller and smaller placed on Mara's head...or something else.

Otherwise it looks nice.

 

Hey thanks man! I was thinking kinda like how Mario works when he gets a flower. There is really no indicator, the power just goes away. It might be cool to have an indicator though and it's worth a try!

 

No problem, dude!

Yes, but Mario's flower doesn't go away, I think. The star does wear off but Mario starts flashes as a sign that the effect is stopping soon. So the counter/bar isn't as important as getting a sign that shows the powers are wearing off.

Oh just nitpicking now...
@the stuff he shoots. It looks like he's spitting it out. You could make a movement where he throws it with his arm.
You could also give him other powers. This one drops white balls down, so another could shoot straight...well that depends on where you are going with this game.

I like what you did with most of it, the art, the music and my favorites: the loading screen and start menu. Did you make the loading screen/start menu yourself or use some plugin/assets to get those affects? They look awesome.

 

Oh yeah man, you're absolutely right about the mario flower power winding down like that! Alright, gonna have to do something to signify that the power is wearing off.

And yes, the stuff he's shooting out is pretty much placeholder for now. The character is getting re-done. I took the monk robe off and he'll be just wearing shorts. The animations are also getting re-done so there will definitely be a throw animation to go with that power so that it won't just be coming out of his face.

As for the loading screens, yeah I made those myself. They are just text on a plane with a black background and animated the blinking "play" text and the red signs that come across the screen horizontally.