I was working on a depth shader so that I could cast shadows to different layers rather than have this very neat but also very flat shadow layer, but then I realized I have no idea how shaders work, so… now I’m going to work on smashing pots. Should physics pots be my thing instead of candles? Hm
2 Likes
I think the basic shadow layer looks great.
1 Like
Thanks Mr. Mech. Maybe I’ll learn some more shader stuff before the end of this project, but for now I think you’re right and the basic shadow is good enough.
The pots will break eventually. I just want them to be a bit more real feeling. This GIF is mostly because I made some tools to make it easy to change the lighting w/o adjusting the actual tile files over and over again. I kinda like the idea of pots being this game’s version of candles. I never understood candles, so this seems to work out way better.
10 Likes
the candles are such a great, neat, videogamey thing (way better than the food in the walls). they have an aesthetic excuse to be everywhere, impart a sense of depth by allowing interaction with the “background”, with a bit of finesse can mostly be grabbed without breaking your forward stride, and can also encourage you to stop/turn around/line up a specific jump depending on the context
these pots look cool too, the ones in the center look almost like they could work as one-way platforms people were discussing above
4 Likes
Oh yeah that makes sense. And now they’re a thing, so it’s just how Cv is going to be for a while. I guess for anything where you constantly have to attack figuring out ways to reward not losing momentum is a good way to encourage better play, too. I’ll have to think about that for how I’m doing powerups (I have no idea how I’m handling power curves and dynamic items…).
Anyways, I’m testing out some enemy graphics. The last is just a mockup in Aseprite. Seriously what did we do w/o this amazing program? Was Graphics Gale as good or… wow
9 Likes
I just thought this was funny
I’m trying to come up with how to make the world. I’m looking at a composite of all the maps in the original Castlevania, and I really like it. The overall map mimicking it is really cool, too. It’s got this proto Celeste thing going with the clear trajectory but the unknown challenges. It’s just a monster kill quest which I think is enough of an overarching story.
Analyzing the original Cv’s stage progression it goes something like
- Introduction to the castle, a deep detour into danger w/ OHKOs, a big room w/ the easy first boss
- Red Danger climbing and Jumping and Environmental hazards, going up, hallway to scary medusa
- Cool blue outdoors, bridge, you can see the final goal at the end of the bridge, boss
- Drop?
- Wet Cavern
- Green Fields / Ruins
- Sewer
- Imposing, Winding Castle
- Hallway, Bridge, Clocktower, Hallway
- Dracula
There’s a lot of traveling! And it’s not just like, “here’s a place”, but “here’s a place that is bringing you to another place” whether that’s a hallway or a bridge. Projecting the next area is always clear, and if it’s not, you see it in the background. Some of it is more or less effective, but it’s pretty clear from the composite map that these were the goals. I’d really like to see a composite map for Cv2 or 3, but I can’t seem to find them.
Dark Souls does a similar thing w/ verticality matching tension. Being able to see the sky much more clearly as you climb up to the first Gargoyle fight is really empowering. You end up surveying the area after the fight, but it’s all the same. You accomplish something difficult (Taurus) and then you see statues and beuaty (if ruined) on the way to something even harder (Gargoyle). The drop into the depths and blight town are different, but after that it’s another climb.
All of this so that I can decide on the level structure, ha. Flat Climb Boss Climb Climb Climb Boss Drop Boss Drop Boss Drop Drop Boss Climb rinse repeat etc etc
4 Likes
There’s a lot you can add to make this clearer than Castlevania, whose main trick is the map screen. I always thought Castlevania could do a better job using the backgrounds to illustrate connections between zones. Similarly, adding more typical functions like kitchens and some connecting features like plumbing to sell the functional parts of the castle.
ooh, and if you haven’t seen Vampire Hunter D (1985), it’s the source for Castlevania and should be fruitful inspiration
1 Like
Yeah! I totally agree. I guess my big revelation from looking at the Cv map is that it uses verticality for a feeling of change and horizontal for anticipation. Looking forwarrd at what’s to come and looking back at what you’ve accomplished are probably going to be pretty important steps, too.
Btw, I haven’t seen Vampire Hunter D today, so let’s all watch it together
Also I’ve been told Bloodlust rules so I might actually watch that instead
1 Like
On one hand I am not following any rules so I worry that this will end up looking inconsistent or like some kind of pixel art mess, but on the other hand I kinda love the direction this is going
3 Likes
Ehhh I mean it’s pretty cool
It’s very stupid, but gorgeous
Is this idea worth giving away for free? Probably not:
Title screen cliff shot of castle (used for the ending of CV games) then game begins either jumping off cliff or working downwards-forest-village-castle.
1 Like
oooh scary
legitimately this turned out like way better than i imagined when i started
edit:
8 Likes
A mockup intro. I think I’ll be replacing the repeating city blocks with silhouettes of each stage so it’s very much like the original Cv - but more uh ‘diagetic’ lol.
Edit: also for the people who have tried the movement system out — I swapped the “hold down” to run faster on a landing to “hold jump”. It feels a lot better
And since I have 5 minutes before lunch, a few ideas for levels not in a strict order, but kinda in order:
Foggy Canyon
Forest
Hill (constant incline, rolling things, etc)
Barricaded Town
Cathedral
Catacombs (fakeout fall)
Sewers (bigger fall)
Mechanical Castle “Legs”
Chapel
Observatory
Viewing Room
I think I want to give the player an option to pick any of the weapons (or no weapon at all), and then partway through the game rip them away (maybe after the Cathedral?). The next stage is melee and/or running and looking for loot. This’ll let me have a “spectacular magical weapon” which is essentially just the same as one of the starters just… bigger damage multiplier. I’d like to make you feel more powerful as you take on the second ascent into the castle proper – repeat enemies, etc. I kind of love the idea that the second half of the game you might have a different weapon? That kind of seems masochistic, but I really love the concept of embarking on this quest with a whip and then finding a holy axe in the catacombs? Maybe there will be multiple spots to look for special weapons along the way? I just am in love w/ this concept that it’s not perfect along the way…
9 Likes
This is looking great. Is the shield going to be integral to combat/puzzle solving? Seeing it, my mind is immediately going to all these possibilities for multi-directional blocking and even like dash-bashing through weaker enemies/pots.
are you gonna do the Toki Tori 2 thing, where the background of one stage can serve as a preview of the next?
2 Likes
Re: Shield and Weapons in General
I’m not sure what I’m going to do in general (e.g. will there be explicit puzzles or combat that needs the shield? IDK), but I do know this: I have Sword, Axe, Whip, and unarmed ‘weapons’ for the mainhand, and the backhand has Shield, Gun, and ‘unarmed’ as well. Playing through CotM2 and a bit of Dracula X (I need to figure out how to get Rondo in my life), I really like the idea of subweapons. And specifically re: Shield — I really like the idea of a Zelda 2 style shield. Will it be a subweapon? IDK. This is probably why I’m hesitant to move into enemy/level/encounter design. If the shield is a subweapon then I have to balance it so that every encounter can be solved w/ a shield, but also… solved with everything else? IDK how CotM did it other than, you know, doing it, so… that’s where I’m at.
Re: Toki Tori 2
I’ve never seen this game, but it looks real cute. I can’t tell how they show the background of a stage as a preview for the next, so I can’t say I’m doing the exact same thing, but I do like the idea of showing the future in anticipation (or the past in reflection), so… maybe? The visual storytelling via the gameworld is pretty important to me!
1 Like
Yeah you definitely want to nail down exactly how many weapons and what their uses will be before proceeding. Have you thought about throwable weapons? Like each one would be a physics object that you could throw and would have to go retrieve to keep using it. Adds even more potential for puzzles, if you decide to include any, but also probably opens up whole new cans of worms. Like what happens if you throw something and can’t retrieve it for some reason etc.
I guess it all depends on how much in whichever direction you want to go: pure action encounters with monsters vs non-combat activities or uses for items/weapons.
i mainly remember it because it was a detail the devs highlighted as part of their overall design intentions (here, although the site layout seems extremely broken for me now). i think Rain World does a similar thing at parts, though its world is a lot more chaotically organised.
A strong desire we had from the start was to give players a sense of place simply by looking at the graphics. Environments were to flow over into each other seamlessly. Ideally we’d also be able to give players a sense of where they were going by already showing landmarks in the background, which isn’t easy if you only move sideways. We thought about bending the 2D map, so you could see a landmark you’d visit later on in the distance, but again it didn’t feel like an elegant solution.
This desire to foretell what was going to happen brought us the solution to the problem, as we suddenly realized we needed a 3D map in which every level was a 2D slice.
1 Like
That sounds totally adjacent to how I’m feeling. I want to create a coherent world w/ anticipation and connection, so that fits perfectly.
1 Like