/agdg/ - Amateur Game Development General

2 more WebMs as promised. The first one shows how the Shell can be used to dig up gems which are a form of currency in the game.

The blue areas are placeholder as an indicator for what land is "diggable", softer earth I guess. I haven't decided on what the actual visual indicators will be, I want it to be very subtle.

Currently the tiles for diggable land, after 10 seconds will reset and generate a new value as to whether a gem will be dug up, as well as generating a new value for what king of gem is dug up.

I guess this is more of a trial and error format, but with the blast radius being around 5x5 tiles, and it being a 1/8 chance of a gem spawning, it leans more towards just being random than punishing in the traditional trial and error sense.

The second WebM just plainly shows opening false walls. There wont be visual indicators near the false walls themselves, like the blue of the diggable earth, but rather there will be a clue somewhere far off. Akin to the Treasure Maps from Red Dead Redemption.

Also, for some reason the ID for my post made on my other game's thread is different, maybe since I havent posted on it in so long? I don't know if people actually care that I am that Dev as well, I did it moreso to say I am still working on it but wont be posting anything for a while. If anyone cares for me to prove that I am who I say I am and has a definitive way of saying so, I will gladly comply.

So i whipped together an environment that would be closer to being finished. These are zoomed out screenshots.

There are 2 screenshots because I have it so my props are randomized. So while there will always be a tree in coords X,Y,Z it wont be the same looking tree on every playthrough. I figured for assets that are built so quick that I mind as well go ahead and do this, as it might add some extra visual flare to additional playthroughs.

I am heavily leaning towards this lowpoly untextured stuff right now. I mean, the whole area is supposed to be crystals, so it even works with the trees, kinda. Probably would work with the trees moreso if i changed the tree trunk colour to match that of the "Head" of the tree.

2 Screenshots.

I haven't changed the camera yet, I just took these screenshots from far away because I thought it looked good.

I do plan on changing it to a more 3rd person, over the shoulder camera. Though Probably still fairly zoomed out. I want the player character to feel small, so that might contribute to that.

In anycase. The first screenshot is of a sleeping dragon. It is guarding something precious in the structure below it. I want to make it so it knocks back the player when they get too close and you distract it with your Shell explosion magic thing.

I think it may be hard to tell what it actually is in this screenshot, so i will post more on it when I have animations and the mechanics of it actually working.

The second screenshot is the entrance to a dungeon-like area. I have it planned to mostly just be a central entrance room, a long hallway, and then a final Vault room. The hallway will be a series of Locks that you have to solve to unlock to progress to the Vault Room.

Both of these are relatively close together, they are in the same "section" of the world.

>>18675

While I do realize it does not conventionally fit into what a dragon is, it is a flying serpent that breaths fire, so I though that the term Dragon was most fitting.

And I do admit, in that first screenshot of it, it is hard to tell what it actually looks like.

The model is also a little abstract and simplified because thats how the rest of game is going to look. I wouldn't say it is definitively a dragon, in that it is a reptile or anything like that, but it is a flying serpent that breathes fire.

Anyways, hopefully this image of it in a different pose helps clarify what it looks like.

>>18674

The camera angel is likely going to change. I just had it the way it was for the purposes of getting something quickly made that was functional. The characters were originally just 1 small cube and 1 big cube, so at the time a better camera wasn't important.

Screenshots of a new area.

This area was a quarry back in the day, the mining facility is being used as a Prison and the chains that littered the quarry and cargo areas are being re-purposed inside the prison.

First screenshot is of a large Gemstone that will have significance in relation to 11 other large gemstones. Not much more to share about that atm.

The second screenshot is of a large piece of machinery left behind. I haven't decided if this is just going to be a piece of the environment or if I will actually have it animate and do something.

The third screenshot is just the entrance to the Mining Facility / Prison.

Once i get more areas finished I will start implementing Enemies, Puzzles, and actual content. I just don't want to get ahead of myself and focus in too much on 1 area. Broad strokes.

>>18780

>>18785

>>18692

>>18691

Thanks! I really appreciate it. Makes me feel like I am doing something right when people actually think my art looks good and elicits a strong response.

Anyways, here is a quick screenshot of some Crystal Villagers. I think these will be some of the few beings made of Crystal. Most of the NPCs will be organics who came to this crystal land looking for riches.

Still need to build a village for these guys, but I wanted to make the villagers first so I could get an idea as to what they could build, if anything. No arms makes that difficult, for them, i guess. lol.

>>18819

Ears? You mean the things that look like large flat arms near its' head? There is a history to the character and it has evolved into a "dragon" from something not dragon-like at all. So its' "Wings" took inspiration from a digimon called Terriermon.

>>18825

>>18860

Thanks! I appreciate the support. I means alot to me.

Another batch of screenshots. Part of me feels some areas look a little barren, but i keep forgetting that I will still be putting hostile/neutral NPCs roaming around.

First screenshot is of part of a forest with a Aquamarine Resonator (The large gems on pedestals are called Resonators as they will pulse the colour and energy of that gemstone).

Second screenshot is of a giant crystal being. Related to the villagers, almost like a diety who watches over them. Being made of crystal people might try to cut up the villagers and such, so this big guy is how they've survived so long.

Third Screenshot is of the village itself. I thought Geodes would make the perfect houses for them. The villagers are fairly primitive, like Crystal Cavemen. I might put few more props down in the village like a Well or something, so i guess I wouldnt consider it finished.

Went forward with semi-new character designs. I wanted something more abstract and alien for the Crab. Something reminiscent of something from metroid, but more cartoony, i guess like the concept art of Metroid 1 on Snes.

Overall I want a semi-cartoony look. Everything was coming out very colourful and geometric, so i took the style of drawing them that way. Admittedly these are pretty rough sketches, the linework is balls, but it is just me working on this, so i don't need to communicate everything in just a picture to someone else.

The Shell is basically the same except much more detail. Since none of the environments or props really have a texture in this I figured it might be best to keep with that design philosophy and just make all the details in the mesh itself. I think it looks pretty nice, especially the "Teeth"

Even though not everything on the shell is faceted, I bumped up the shininess of every material for it just to give it a polished feel. It should be semi-gem like.

Some WebMs with animations to follow.

Just some WebMs detailing the changes in the character models/designs. The quality isn't great because I just use the WebM converter. Maybe one day I will make a nice looking video for it on Youtube.

Some of the colliders are not the correct size because I dramatically increased the size of the Shell.

2 screenshots.

First one is of the Lair/Dungeon/HQ of the game's Final Boss. It is a large crystal structure that is putting physical strain on the structure of this large floating crystal island. Inside dwells a Crystal King who lords over a large treasure hoard.

Second screenshot is of a top down perspective of the whole world of the game. The gray areas are the optional areas. I haven't started working on them yet, the game can be completed without venturing into those areas. They will be unlocked all at once by solving a series of combination lock style puzzles across the world.

The optional areas are planned to be more challenging. But based on time I may drop 1 or 2 of them out. I don't want to spend forever on this like I did on my last project.

Hopefully that second screenshot gives a good indication of the size of the game. Should be noted that most of the large pink areas are mountains and will have labyrinths/tunnels/dungeons beneath them.

>>19239

Thanks! Weird worlds and monstrous characters were all I drew through Highschool and University, so i'd like to think my abilities in that regard are well honed. Though i am continuing to try and abstract my character designs, to stretch the limits of what can be a character for the player to identify with.

>>19356

I am very flattered that you'd want to work with me, but I must decline. I am not currently looking for anyone to work with. Thank you for your offer, I really appreciate it. The fact that anyone, mush less a professional, wants to work with me gives me a great deal of confidence in my work.

I have to say though, I feel as though I am missing out on an opportunity to network, at the very least. Would you care to exchange emails of some sort?

Also here is a WebM showing some GUI stuff that currently looks kinda bad, but it is more of a visual test. I really enjoy games with almost no GUI, total immersion, but I don't think that kind of minimalist GUI fits for this. I think a GUI should be the frame for what the game is going to be. You wouldn't put a Newspaper Clipping in a big frilly baroque frame, unless you were trying to make a statement. In any case this is the first iteration of this GUI. Feedback is most welcome.

There are also 2 types of collectables shown here. The Smaller pink crystals are the base form of currency in the game. You use them to get past toll booths, buy things from merchants, etc etc. The second type is the blue-ish finely cut Jewel. These Jewels describe to other character's your character's Worth in their world.

I also included a screenshot just because.

Sorry for lack of an update. Finally got a Save/Load system working and, seemingly, all the bugs are fixed.

There is also a mechanic that is basically the Ocarina from Ocarina of Time. The Shell can blow air through the gaps in Its teeth to whistle. At the moment the only song in-game is one to make a Save State.

The idea with the saves is that there are specific save points throughout the world, but if you have the Shell equipped you can save anywhere anytime.

Essentially I envision someone playing to go like this...

>Shell Equipped, go out into world looking for something hidden

>Find something hidden

>Play save state song

>Use shell uncover hidden collectable

Now the player can be damaged and can die (they could die before but only from falling into a pit/water

>Player makes the treacherous journey back to the main HUB to get a new Shell.

If the player dies in this scenario they'd go back to their Save state made with the shell before picking up the collectable, unless there was a Save Point on the way back to the HUB.

The videos in question show the Creation of a game file, respawning after dieing, saving at another save point, making a Save State with the Save State Song, and finally loading a file from starting up the game.

Some screenshots.

First is a room semi-full of deadly lazers. This is a giant Vault/Bank that has fallen into disrepair, though all the locks still work, obviously protected by lazers. Haven't decided if the combination to the lock will be a game of Simon Says or if the combination to the lock will be hidden somewhere.

Second is of a totem and a totem gate. I just thought it looked nice so i included it. This is a very early-game side-quest where you go through the gates in a certain order, the totems are the Hint to the order, and you get a big shiny rock for it.

Third is of a large Crystalline Beehive. I don't know if the Screenshot does it justice. It looks pretty cool. Of course i need giant angry crystal bees to fly around it.

Speaking of Giant Angry Bees, I can't decide if I should work on putting in enemies first, or putting in a Day/Night cycle. I want both and I know I want the enemies to have different behavior at night than at day. For example. During the day the Bees will be flying around the forest and will drop rocks(and the occasional Gem) on passerbys. But during the night they return to the Hive and shoot rocks at oncoming intruders. Some will be friendly at night and be hanging around the forest and/or in the hive. It all depends on what is better for workflow.

Some quick screenshots of the day/night cycle. I thought maybe i should do a video of this but it seemed stupid to make people watch the lights slowly change over time.

Also i made a skybox for my game which i think is pretty nice. Still needs some polish, such as making the stars brighter. But other than that I am pleased with it.

This is also the first time showing what this land actually looks like zoomed out. Because I am dumb and don't think about being efficient with my resources in-game I just built what it is. A giant floating hunk of crystal. The world the character lives in is actually the result of mining that has happened over the past century(s).

Those lamps are just placeholders for testing lights turning on and off based on the time of day. Eventually they will be a crystal object that stores light during the day and emits light at nighttime.

>>20137

Thanks! It means alot to me that people really seem to like the art style and quality of the art for my game, considering I came from the art side of things. Like all that time in art school was actually useful lol.

You mean on the GUI? Yea lol. Don't worry the GUI is going to be changing. And the Titlescreen and menus are obvious placeholders at the moment lol. Most of the visuals will receive a slight upgrade before I finish the game, once I get the game 100% functional in terms of playing from 0-100% i will do some polish on certain areas.

I'm glad you think my approach to level design is good. I thought it was amateurish. I find it incredibly difficult to plan things in 3d. I think most of the games I make will play like a 2d game with 3d visuals and less fixed camera.

I'm going to be designing a HUD that is more reminiscent of SNES games, like the pictures I linked. But instead of swirls of gold that have a fantastical feel to them i am going to use triangles to emphasize the aesthetics, and there likely won't even be words on the GUI. The player doesn't need to be told that the green bar is stamina and that the yellow bar is experience, because the visual changes in the bars will communicate that enough.

Right now I am working on designing enemies, npcs and implementing them into the game. So a new GUI might be after that. I worry people will start to think my game is a walking sim if i don't start putting in stuff to interact with.

Here is some concept art for NPCs.

Sorry for the lack of update, been trying to make music for this project and its been a big learning experience.

The NPCs are as follows

1 Gem Smith. It will forge a special Gemstone object for you. Kind of ornery and lonely. Lives on the outskirts of the village Koristahl, which is shown in this post. (Third Image) >>18900

2. These are the most standard enemy of the game. They don't even do damage, they try to sneak up behind you and steal gems from you. They poorly camouflage themselves when the camera is on them.

3. These helicopter creatures fly around the first area of the game during the day dropping rocks, and sometimes the occasional gem. During night time they congregate at the large Beehive structure here. (Third Image) >>19912

4. These are Gem Lumberjacks. During the day they wander around, outside of the Village and chop trees with their metal tails by spinning. Very dangerous, but mostly predictable. At night time they gather around a bonfire and sing songs, not as dangerous(depending on how bad they sing).

5. This is the main Antagonist of the game. It comes into your home when you aren't there and steals your cache of Gems. You then follow clues to find and apprehend it.

6. This is the main antagonist's companion. It guards the antagonist's nest. A big bruiser. Though it gets distracted by shiny things. Which isn't the best guard in a world of gemstones.

7. This is a rather large NPC in an area I haven't shown yet. Kind of like a Sphinx. It was once on display for the Thief Lords who lived in its current location, but the area has since been abandoned, so its all chained up there. It rewards you if you find the mechanism to free it.

Actual models and working mechanics are still in the works. I want to try and get most if not all the NPCs to have different behaviors during Day and Night.

>>20292

Thanks! There's just something so appealing to the look of this stuff. I am really enjoying making this crystal world.

>>20374

Thank you so much. I really appreciate that you like the visuals.

Small update. Just involving one of the NPCs shown here >>20784 number 3, to be specific.

Screenshot of the model, aswell as a WebM of the Day and Night behavior. Things are fairly unpolished at the moment, so i just have an abrupt Day/Night transition to allow for npcs to teleport around as if they moved somewhere normally.

During the day, they fly around, dropping rocks. At night they are around the hive shooting at the player if it's in a certain range.

They also drop gems, but currently the rate at which that happens is too great. Probably needs to be closer to 1 in 50 rather than what i have it at. Thats why there are so many gems everywhere.

Thief NPC Enemy update.

These are the most common enemy in the game. And fairly easy to deal with. The "Goombas" of the game.

When you look at the Thief enemy it will try to disguise itself. Which makes it really to avoid them. Again they are a very basic entry level enemy. And only really a threat when you have Gems in your possession. They steal gems, they don't do damage.

Though they are easy to avoid 1 on 1, if you get swarmed it won't be good. Atleast not for your character's wallet.

I haven't implemented it yet, but you will beable to attack them with a Headbutt.

If you get a certain distance away from them they will teleport back to their home location.

Here's 2 WebMs showcasing the new Thief NPC behaviors.

There are now 2 types of thieves.

Demi Thieves and Dire Thieves.

Demi Thieves are young and in training. So they think flash and excitement is cool, so they use their "Vanish" ability as much as possible. (The particle effect is a placeholder, I know that it looks like they are exploding, and not vanishing in a puff of smoke).

Dire Thieves are older and more jaded. They've been skulking around for a long time and no one really messes with them, so they just take a large amount of Gems and take their time in getting back home.

The Thieves don't like people watching them go into their houses because of secret entrances, so they Vanish when they know you are still in sight, but not worth chasing anymore.

Somewhere in this Crystal island is a Thief Stronghold where all the riches they steal from you are stored. Most inhabitants of this land hoard their riches away in Dens and Lairs. They get one scrap of wealth and they hide it away. So there hasn't been anyone to steal from, or if there is, it has been very rare.

When you have 0 gems, the Thieves will still pop out of their houses to see who is walking by.

Maybe you can talk to a when there's no cash between the player and a thief.

Also, you probably noticed those rotating machines in the background. This are is a run down mining facility, and those are Lazers that cut gems. No one has done maintenance on them in a long time so they freak out and spin around. They will mess you up though.

Been working on building the environments to actually involve some semblance of level design.

Made an actual design for the Save Points. I kinda really like it. Even though it is kinda dumb that it has a Floppy disc image on it.

I think i need to re-make those square trees to better fit the aesthetic of the area.

In the forest area, there are big enemies who are big Bear/Rhino things. This is an enemy you can actually kill, but not untill after you fight the first "boss" of the game. Another hazard in the area comes in the form of those spikey plants, which are inspired by a type of Carnivorous plants known as Sundew. I think they need a small redesign though, to better fit with the area, but they are just a stationary hazard. Touch them and take damage. Early in the game they do more damage than you will have health.

The bear/rhino, sundew, combined with the flying guys who drop rocks on people, and the Gem lava ponds make this pleasant area in fact very hazardous.

Quick update because I spent all that time when i wasnt posting working on these 2 areas concurrently for the purpose of testing visuals and gameplay.

Here are some more WebMs of the second area of the game, somewhat remade. Atleast in regard to how i remade the forest area of the game. I am enjoying the fact that both areas are completely different in feel but have a similar aesthetic.

So for this area I kinda went ham on the tech. Lazer Turrets, Land Mines, and Plasma Line Gem Cutter Mining Machine.

Funnily enough, while this area comes off as more dangerous due to the subject matter within it. There are probably more areas to rest than in the Forest.

Third WebM just to show where to step on a landmine to die.

I think all the props and hazards in this area look good. But I am starting to think i need to rework the controls. Currently W and S are Forward and Backwards respectively, and A and D rotate left and right respectively. I'm not sure the best way to have controls work for a adventure game like this on a Keyboard. (Gamepad support is low priority compared to actually making the game work well.)

So i was looking doing some writing in regards to character movement and camera functionality, and looking at early environment screenshots I posted. And i tested this stationary camera, just to see what it would be like. I gotta be honest, i like this alot more. Visually and mechanically.

>Makes the character seem weaker because they are so small (Which fits with the character's concept)

>Allows me to control what the player sees to better hide secrets

>I could do something interesting in regards to how the GUI is shown depending on the Screen the character is on

>I don't have to worry about camera fucking up like it does in so many videos.

>I don't have to make some weird work around to better hide caverns in case the moveable camera clipped into the wall and the player saw where a cavern was.

>Also the environments look nicer this way

Or atleast I think all of that is positive/true. Maybe i am being stupid. Cause then i could have these screens where nothing happens and everything is nice and cozy to just hang out in. And you wouldnt see any badguys or spinning shit.

Feedback on this would be great. I feel like this is a turning point for what the game, and what my future games will be like.