Like. Design as in what I use to make the objects, or the layout of say, the villages and forest?
If it's the objects, I just: Make it, place it, play, see how it looks, refine, repeat.
If it's the layout, I first draw a map with each ground piece being 1 px, then come up with a "discovery" story.
#indiedev #gamedev #pixelart #Dragimon
Player used ROCK SMASH! :V
No HM slaves here, and no need to have a specific type of Mon in your party!
All special restrictions are Toolbelt-based.
Basically, once you have the tool, you can do the thing.
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One of the closest things that come to wearing a Mon as armor! I've always loved the thought of running around with a mon around you like a big box.
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It's our first NPC with text! :V
And when the camera rotates or they're talked to, they rotate.
Due to the 8-directional sprites though, it'll take a while to make each NPC, especially when I ain't so gewd at 'em.
He really likes saying only one thing too.
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So a quick peek at the underworkings of the combat system.
When you use a move, that move gains exp.
Once it fills, you can then do something special with it! :V
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A little show of the forest area! :V
This is where you'll fight your first mon after a little exploring in the town. (After a tutorial fight of course)
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Performance:
First the village - Fairly minimal.
Then forest - Trees are the big tankers. Still good.
And then empty room - to show the lower end.
Forests wouldn't be this dense though, as trees are removed for actual traversal.
Showing Forest Area soon.
Currently, it causes no issues.
I've even tested the high end, so I have a good feeling on how high the ceiling is. Even filling a whole forest with the trees doesn't cause issues.
Gamemaker can handle quite a few draws, which people have tested with like, thousands, and this is maybe hundreds.
Oh believe me, I am aware.
When I first started sprite stacking, I ran into a few issues with performance.
Over the years though, I've found ways to optimize it using Gamemaker.
I'll make a post showing how little the performance is affected soon.
Not a big fan of the look for pixel art conversion. When I think of using voxels for pixels, I also think, "I'd probably just go full 3D at that point."
But games like Unrailed make it look good, but aren't a conversion for pixel art. Voxel for me is more a 3D style than a pixel art replacement.
I've seen Crocotile3D and it's pretty cool. A while back I had considered trying it out, and I may at some point in the future, but the great thing with this method in Gamemaker is the sprite editor is in the engine, so it's super easy to edit them.
Which is why I never took that jump. The access.
Zooming is also an issue. If you look reeeaaallly closely, at the edges of buildings, you can see jaggies. It's not smooth.
Another issue deals with how much further actual 3D can go- which is related to the 1-trick pony. I recommend going for that, than this. I just sunk deep into it. lol
One issue is actually the angle, in that you can't go up and down.
Another is it's a 1-trick pony. You're stuck at this angle- for the most part. Did some experimenting a while back and you can get some sliiiiight angle changes, but I'm talking like, 10-30 degrees.
(Con't)
Performance isn't at all an issue at this scale.
The size is actually 240x180 blown up. I also do some extra checks to avoid certain draws, which is the pop-in you see when raised.
I've actually gone much harder with it for other stuff from way back then. (con't)
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The method is called "Spritestacking".
It's literally just stacking sprites on top of one another, then offsetting by 1 px upwards. There's some extra math, but it's repeated a lot.
Simple and quick, but has its drawbacks. I recommend NOT using it. lol
This actually reminds me.
Need to make a post about how it works.
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Starting combat! :V
They'll be able to sense when you are near, but only in direct line of sight does the fight start.
Then the shutters slam, and it's on to combat! :V
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Stunned! Shock! AMAZE! :V
Just saw this game and it looks pretty cool!
Loved the art style the moment I saw it, but then I saw the combat system! Das what I'm doing too- as well as Mons communicating with humans and Mon villages! :V
I am really looking forward to seeing more on this game!
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Going in and out of homes! No NPCs yet, but it's going to be fun designing the layouts of the insides for some of that sweet environmental storytelling! :V
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Plants are Physical-Focused but lack Energy support, while Fire is Attack-Focused, but lacks defense.
With these base stats, she'll definitely be a powerhouse. But very susceptible to Energy Attacks.
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Gonna be going through the first gen of Dragimon! :V
That's 100 showcases of mons with their stats and descriptions!
I'll also be sprinkling in some other info about the game with my usual progress updates!
Hope y'all enjoy!
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It was bugging me that it wasn't showing both the Current HP and the Max HP, so with some moving around in tight spaces, I decided to stack them.
I like it, kind of don't, but I am quickly warming up to the HP stacking. Adds something.
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Toolbelt is now functional! Or... Navigating it is functional! :V
You have limited charges during combat, so pick your item-use wisely!
Just need to add some descriptions, but that's basic stuff.
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Now it shows the correct info!
Or, well- the typings are randomized for testing, but 1 line commented out fixes that! :V
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Contextual text is a-go! :V
Can write images into the font now.
No need for fancy text... yet? Maybe? Idk.
Something like "|29 if follows your |14." translates to what "Bite" says in the vid. (Bite won't actually do that)
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Condensed the tooltip in with the name, but now there's the worry of not having more complicated effects, and too much iconography! :V
It also took up more vertical space for the Name and HP.
