FOR PEOPLE FROM SOUNDCLOUD: This is where I'm posting main updates for now; I'll eventually set up a tumblr or something (cancerous site but it's just a means to the end)


I grew up on GBC games, GBA remakes of NES/SNES games. Zelda III had the biggest impact on me -- it was the first game I actually ever played, and while I started it when I was 8 I didn't beat it until I was 10. 8 year olds are pretty stupid.

Anyways, I'm making a game that isn't a zelda-clone, but is a zelda-clone. PC Windows support for now, until development is essentially finished (a while from now.)

I tried making this game when I was 10 or so, but a 10 year old knows jack about anything, so it failed in the design phases (I wonder why) But I made two more serious attempts, one when I was 15ish and another 16ish I think:

http://ourl.ca/8056 -- 1st serious attempt. was going to be a calculator game, but I gave up because calculators are pretty dumb

http://www.cemetech.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6869 -- 2nd real attempt. Moved to PC, but god the graphics were horrendously ugly, the music failed because JustCause got party vanned or something (I dunno what actually happened but he's gone now), and the coding progress was at about 3% at best

So I've been studying games that left a good impression on me when I was younger, as in, actually studying them at a deep level, from a music and graphics standpoint. Gameplay is more straightforward.

Why this project is retro but not cringe:

When I hear "retro", I cringe. Using blocky, 8x8 sprites with a low color count doesn't make something retro; designing your art and music resources with a "retro" line of thinking does. At least to me. With this project I want to study the reasons why Zelda games and others from the SNES/etc. era leave such a strong impression, and mimic them as needed. I don't want to embrace blocky pixels; I want to use them as needed to produce a final product that's light and cartoony at times and grittier at others -- not to make "8 bit", or another modern "xD I'm retro" gimmick my main objective. My main objective is to make charming graphics and music. My secondary objective is to stay within SNES limitations while doing so. Not the other way around.

Of course, everything will be original; I'm not ripping zelda graphics, or music, or anything. They're going to be minimal to mild influences, though. To pretend otherwise would be against the point. The Zelda formula works, why fight it? There will be new, interesting mechanics, but a lot of the basic, core mechanics will remain. Music and everything else will be original but somewhat inspired.

My timeline for this project is long, most of the work will be with the music and graphics. Neither one is a weak point for me anymore, so I'm going to make the most of my abilities. Programming will be straightforward.

No more details for now, I'm just posting as a way to keep myself motivated in the long term, and to just dump my thoughts. Ignore this as you see fit until I have something tangible to show -- hopefully I'll have something music-related in the works by the end of the week.

Once I have something to show I'll replace this first post with that new update, whatever it will be

Started to make a few sound effects, I'll edit them in as I make them today. SNES compatible

Found some royalty free samples of flutes and shit, so edited/reversed/reverbed them, downsampled them, then used OpenMPT to actually make the sounds/music, added some plugin effects and export them to be 32kHz 16-bit stereo

https://soundcloud.com/theashbad/tan-effect-unlocking
https://soundcloud.com/theashbad/tan-eff-shifting-block
https://soundcloud.com/theashbad/tan-eff-magic-pickup
https://soundcloud.com/theashbad/tan-eff-health-pickup

Do you have an idea for what language/tech you want to use for this? If I may make a suggestion, Unity just recently added 2D support to their engine, and it would make it so lots of people could play it right in their browsers, as well as just on their PCs. It's also pretty easy to pick up and use.

Huh, I never have considered Unity because it's primarily used for 3D projects, but with recent 2D support it should make things a lot easier if I use it. I was planning on C + SDL + OpenAL + OpenGL, but honestly, using Unity makes much more sense in the long run. Sounds like I should go that direction instead!

Only problem is if I want to commercialize it, the up front cost to buy the commercial license outright would be pretty expensive ($1500), whereas it would be no worry with SDL/OpenAL/GL. So, I suppose that's something to consider as well. Though that wouldn't be a concern until everything was done, which will take ~ a year or more anyways.

in addition:

updated:

https://soundcloud.com/theashbad/tan-eff-unlocking

new:

https://soundcloud.com/theashbad/tan-eff-water-splash

town theme finished

https://soundcloud.com/theashbad/tan-town-theme

edit:

actually finished now

https://soundcloud.com/theashbad/tan-town-theme-wip-3

Okay, completely finished, asked on /mu/ and they gave it 9/10

https://soundcloud.com/theashbad/tan-town-theme-wip-3

Currently working on some ideas for an "overworld" theme, which takes a lot more work because it needs to be catchy af or else I fail

That sounds great! It has a very vague Zelda undertone to me, but is certainly not a ripoff of any Zelda song. Good luck on the catchiness.

Thanks! I've done some work on the "main" theme, but nothing great yet. Got some nice ideas for some dungeon themes in the meantime, though

Also a friend is working with me in the music department, but he hasn't quite figured out OpenMPT yet, but he's starting on his own ideas: https://soundcloud.com/gorefun/more-wip

far from a finished product but I like the direction he's going

started on some tiles, added some nice dutch soup commercial music in background

http://gifmaker.me/PlayGIFAnimation.php?folder=2014010823hLtLrt1DByiTcMQ3bVfrdS&file=output_Aanhzl.gif&music=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJWI9wq97Bs&start=0



bout 30 mins work, trying hard to emulate ALTTP style, but of course all original. Should get more interesting when I finish more indoor tiles. Right now I just have these tiles, the lamp animations (with different color flame variations -- to be explained much later) some more floor tiles not shown, and some furniture in the works.

I tried going for higher detail tiles multiple times, but that would be very against the zelda-ish style -- plus that means 3x more work in the future when I have to make everything else that detailed. So I scrapped detail and went for low-contrast in the floor

Nice tiles. I really like the stone floor. It all fits really well with a Zelda-style game, I think. Can't wait to see more!

I really enjoyed Tan Town. It did have a very 2005-esque Runescape feel to it though.

A note about the engine, while Unity might be adequate, you will definitely get the most control out of a home-rolled engine, and you can tailor it exactly how you need it. A 3/4 view game is also really easy to write code for.

There's nothing wrong with making early prototypes in Unity though. Heck, you could even write the scripts in C# and the final game engine in C# too. You could then recycle snippets of code from the prototype.

> A 3/4 view game is also really easy to write code for.

Exactly what I'm thinking -- sticking with C and SDL might still be the quickest, even over unity 2D, just because I have so much experience with the combination. Plus, all the points you mentioned.

> I really enjoyed Tan Town. It did have a very 2005-esque Runescape feel to it though.

Thanks! I think the main "RS'05" feel comes more from the quality of instruments I used, since when someone on /mu/ pointed that out last week, that was what I noticed as the biggest contributor. That, and I took a bit of a deviation from the ALTTP theme, since I decided for a more orchestrated feel. Still tried to keep the tone itself similar, though. Though, I wanted to stay in Mixolydian for a happier, slightly mischievous, childish feel. For reference:





Appreciate the feedback, like always! Zelda-style tiles are surprisingly simpler to make -- especially if you stick to a certain style, and hold yourself there. I'm holding myself to roughly 4-6 colors per tile, with an average per tile closer to 4. That way I can ensure I don't give too much detail to some tiles, and not enough to others.

Of course some tiles like water/grass will be closer to 2 colors, since there will be large open areas filled with water/grass and flat colors with variation tiles look 10x better than a repeated high-detail one, imo at least. Especially in a zelda-type game where you need to focus on enemies/interactable objects, not take in the scenery.

Also, small update, working on Resin sprites:

http://gifmaker.me/PlayGIFAnimation.php?folder=2014010917A2M0848289MdNEp2ZXfVMS&file=output_gjTp4p.gif&music=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yp6Fn8Snky8&start=0

(background music is /f/ themesong)



"Resins" in game kind of act like currency, in a way. I'm not doing doing rupees or gil or anything similar -- those are kind of boring in my opinion -- instead, these crystals have more purpose than just money. There are different types. The one above is the most common one, called Amber. There's also a green one called Grassjade, blue called Skyphire, red called Autumnite, Purple called Opal, and black called Lucifer.

You get a "satchel" in game that can hold a limited amount of resin -- basic bag near beginning of game holds 20, bigger one you can buy later can hold 50, enchanted one you get even later holds 99. So, nothing like rupees in the whole "999" or "9999" limit.

You can trade them in for items in shops, with each having a different value (Amber, Grassjade, and Skyphire are more common and are worth only a moderate amount, Autumnite and Opal worth a lot, and Lucifer worth a crapload). Or, you can use them to light torches -- Amber lights torches with orange, natural light, Skyphire lights a blue flame, Lucifer a black flame, etc. Lighting torches colors can be for the cool effect, and for opening portals (for example, one that transports you across the map to a hidden cave in the mountains might take 6 lit Lucifer lamps in a shrine house.)

You have a lamp as well, which takes one resin to start up (once you switch to another weapon, get wet, or switch resins for burning, the one you used is consumed.) Amber just lights things up, Skyphire can help you see through fog/mist, Grassjade lets you see hidden enemies. Dunno what the others might do yet other than cool effect (since different resin in lamp == different lamp light color)

And also, you can create potions with resins. for example, a full health potion might take 8 Autumnite, a full magic potion might take 25 Grassjade, etc. Potions are carried in bottles just like in ALTTP.

There is still magic/health in the game, and those are exactly like in common zelda games. No changes there.

More sprites and stuff to come saturday -- should have enough to recreate a small shop or ritual house, or something, to give a better idea of the art style.

I would say that, as far as orchestral quality, I think Zelda 3 was my favorite game for music. There were some great songs in other games, but there's something about the sound of LTTP that I adore.

Best of luck with capturing that spirit

⋅

EDIT -- started on new song, huge change in pace from previous one https://soundcloud.com/theashbad/trio-southern-wastelands-theme



Thanks! I've actually been studying the scores of all ALTTP songs (and some gameboy-era songs as well, since some of those are fun, and my art style is gravitating between the two) to try to capture things well.


Also, about that earlier post about resins:



All resins (unorganized sprite sheet) and all torches with flames and stuff that correspond

Also a pot, and a pot stand, in case you're feeling stressed and need a quick relief. Just pick it up, smash it, collect the health/magic/resin inside, and feel the munchies later.

EDIT: deleted old versions in this post

final product: https://soundcloud.com/theashbad/trio-march-of-decay

I love that spriting in the post two before mine. Is that original work? Will this game be at what looks like a "low" resolution for the retro feel, or is that just zoomed in?

Thanks! Yep, all original, nothing but.

As for zooming in, I'm thinking about 2x being the default zoom in-game -- might also program in a scanline filter into the actual game, to give a bit more of a "I'm playing this on a TV like in the old days" feel, but I'm still lukewarm on that idea.

If you're going to have a silly shader like that, at least allow it to be toggle-able. It's things like that which make very simple 2D games run at 10 FPS on decent hardware :p

Even better yet, allow the players access to the GLSL or DirectX shader language files. This would open it up for people who would rather play with Super Eagle or some other filter that you didn't implement yourself.

I myself prefer 2x nearest neighbor. It's simple, yet elegant.

Most likely it will be turned off by default, with 2x nearest neighbor scaling. I just think a lot of people would be interested in some sort of scanline filter option. Of course that's in the future when I start actually writing some code for this thing


also, rough sketch of the main title:



EDIT: Cleaned up a little



Spent 2 hours on the text, and felt it needed something to spice it up so I mocked up some clouds in the past 10 minutes. Kind of rough but is good for now while I take suggestions/critique. Sketched an idea for the font during math class yesterday, so I didn't use an already existing font or anything, all original


EDIT: and of course using more social media in order to spread news

Another night, another post



Just a quick tile test