64Digits

64DCG Revisited

Posted by Castypher on July 17, 2013, 6:48 p.m.

The presence of this blog officially means I'll be sticking around after the Completition. You guys have shown me exactly what I was trying to prove to myself – that 64Digits can keep the same motivation, productivity, and interest in each other that it always has.

Just so everyone is aware, this is a project I'm establishing now, but will finish after the Completition. I plan on having a prototype ready by this weekend.

So those of you in the IRC and Cyrus's blog may have heard that I've decided to revisit the 64Digits Community Game, which was an attempt to revisit the days of when people could see themselves and other 64Digiters in a game. This project fell out of my priority list due to 64Digits' spiral downward, but I've decided to stop just waiting around for it and do something.

This time around, though, it will be a Castlevania-esque bullet hell platformer rather than the original RPG-shmup hybrid I was trying to use to get you people into my favorite genre.

Additionally, I'm collaborating with Mega, who will be handling things on the graphics end, and by the sound of it, he's not skimping. If any other spriters *cough*MUSH*cough* can assist while keeping the general style, you're welcome aboard.

Additionally, the later iteration should have multiplayer support, including both co-op and versus, which should be very entertaining.

I'm going for the style present in Touhouvania, which was the inspiration behind this rework (skip to halfway through the video to see the gameplay):

This also means I'll be redoing the characters submitted to me in the original 64DCG incarnation. More on that later.

Questions for you:

1) Due to certain constraints, not all characters could be playable in the first release. Instead, the characters will appear as allies and enemies, and you'll play an alternate protagonist. Who do you think this should be and what qualities should I give him/her?

2) At first I didn't take the story very seriously, but I want to see if people prioritize the gameplay and characters over a story, or if I should put effort into writing a dark/quirky/humorous story and which one to focus in on.

3) What characters would you like to see in the initial release?

4) For those familiar with the gameplay style, what revisions would you make?

5) Which do you expect to see more of in-game: the users or their characters?

I've already got quite a few people interested, and if the reception is good, I'll go ahead and ask for character details next time around.

If you do have a preference for a character who will represent you, you can still post it here.

Comments

panzercretin 11 years, 3 months ago

I'll give you complete reign over my character, but I just wanna remind you of the anthrotankroboman I used to have for an avatar (the original Panzermancer character) - that could come in handy for the design.

Astryl 11 years, 3 months ago

I'll be posting them tomorrow, as soon as they're done.

I'm creating one major animation set, for the player. Bosses are going to use completely different animation keys, given that most of them are going to be airborne most of the time.

I've got a standing frame for the main character so far. Need to give him eyes still (When I'm too lazy to draw eyes, I give 'em shiny glasses).

Walking animation is 'in progress', though it's pretty smooth (9 frames). Busy filling it in/painting it.

Seleney 11 years, 3 months ago

This sounds like fun. Is there something I can do to help? maybe with the story or dialogue?

colseed 11 years, 3 months ago

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1) … an alternate protagonist. Who do you think this should be and what qualities should I give him/her?

Some kind of guest? An anonymous outsider? ~~An anonymous insider wait no that's a lurker~~

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2) … or if I should put effort into writing a dark/quirky/humorous story and which one to focus in on.

The quest of [insert main character here] to get 64digiters to start making things again. Preferably by beating them into submission Touhou-style. Full with ~~tea~~ ~~game~~ Teamspeak party afterward, where everyone gets together and humorous readings happen.

In other words, do all three. Hue.

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3) What characters would you like to see in the initial release?

Up to yous.

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4) For those familiar with the gameplay style, what revisions would you make?

I'll have to give Koumajou Densetsu a try sometime (since I actually haven't played it yet), but it looks like it'll work. How were you planning to have spellcard-type stuff work between game modes? (i.e. would single player / coop only allow bosses to use spellcards, or would players be able to use them as well)

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5) Which do you expect to see more of in-game: the users or their characters?

Could have some combination of both - users would be bosses/mid-bosses, their characters would act as minions/underlings/fairies/maids in the stage leading up to user bossfights.

Castypher 11 years, 3 months ago

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Some kind of guest? An anonymous outsider?

I was thinking of just creating a new user who registered at a bad time and got thrown in with all the files somewhere and is trying to find his way to 64Digits. Mega pitched the idea of playing as Precedent who had to put up with the users and ban (KILL) the ones who were causing issues. It's really a matter of whether you want to play as a familiar user or whether I should go Kingdom Hearts mode and make up new characters and put them alongside familiar ones.

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How were you planning to have spellcard-type stuff work between game modes? (i.e. would single player / coop only allow bosses to use spellcards, or would players be able to use them as well)

I'm still working this out, but player "spellcards" could be changed out but take a set number of skill points and go on cooldown. Additionally, melee and ranged weapons could be swapped out between stages. I like the idea of customizing your experience rather than having to play what's handed to you, and I think having awesome items like "Precedent's Sword" and "Ludabadge" could be a lot of fun to think up.

Bosses are the only ones who use spellcards in the traditional sense, however.

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Could have some combination of both - users would be bosses/mid-bosses, their characters would act as minions/underlings/fairies/maids in the stage leading up to user bossfights.

Thing is, not all users can be very well personified, which is why I was originally thinking of fighting the characters and watching the users take part in a storyline. I don't think it would be good to rule out people like JakeX and Desertfox as bosses, of course. They're too integral to the story.

Cyrus has challenged me to have a prototype ready by this weekend, which is entirely doable in the engine department, but whether or not Mega will be able to crank out that many sprites is another matter.

Kunedon 11 years, 3 months ago

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1) … an alternate protagonist. Who do you think this should be and what qualities should I give him/her?

I thought of a lame idea that the 64Digits users/characters have been transported to the protagonist's world somehow and have been brainwashed into attacking the locals, and it's up to the protagonist to knock some sense back into them and ultimately figure out who or what is behind this madness.

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2) At first I didn't take the story very seriously, but I want to see if people prioritize the gameplay and characters over a story, or if I should put effort into writing a dark/quirky/humorous story and which one to focus in on.

With something like this, I think the story should be a little more involved, especially when we have community members in it. I'm slowly leaning towards a quirky storyline, but I think a somewhat dark one with a little humour sprinkled here and there could work too.

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3) What characters would you like to see in the initial release?

No preference. You're the boss.

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5) Which do you expect to see more of in-game: the users or their characters?

Maybe have them as separate characters? If possible, that'd be nice.

colseed 11 years, 3 months ago

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It's really a matter of whether you want to play as a familiar user or whether I should go Kingdom Hearts mode and make up new characters and put them alongside familiar ones.

Yeah, new user who just registered sounds best - that way whoever plays can customize name and such, make the experience their own to some degree. Which can then be further customized with the weapons and spellcard-ish stuffs.

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I like the idea of customizing your experience rather than having to play what's handed to you, and I think having awesome items like "Precedent's Sword" and "Ludabadge" could be a lot of fun to think up.

~~+1 BARRAGE GO~~

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Thing is, not all users can be very well personified, which is why I was originally thinking of fighting the characters and watching the users take part in a storyline.

So the idea is that the new user is fighting through the files where the characters live, while outside the server the users are doing something completely different?…

I guess it could work, but it sounds like it's going to depend on how you connect the users that you meet indirectly to the characters that you fight directly - right now that's not making much sense to me.

JID 11 years, 3 months ago

I hate when I'm most busy with my projects, then cool stuff like this comes along. I would've loved to help, if my hands weren't currently full with my own game.

as for the questions, i would kind of like the kingdom hearts way of things - creating a new character and having him meet up with familiars. but either way sounds good, honestly.

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I'd rather you focus on gameplay and characters than on story. It seems like good characters can make almost any game story seem better than it actually is - at least to me.

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3) What characters would you like to see in the initial release?

doesn't really matter to me. probably someone who'd fit in with the game since it's a platformer. whatever floats your boat, really.

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5) Which do you expect to see more of in-game: the users or their characters?

I'd rather see probably one user character at a time(most of the time), just seeing a buttload of users all at once might make the cameos feel a lot less special and surprising.

Castypher 11 years, 3 months ago

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So the idea is that the new user is fighting through the files where the characters live, while outside the server the users are doing something completely different?…

That was the original idea, which was focused around the characters, not the users. But since people seem to want to fight Rez, Juurian, and FirestormX, I think this needs to be modified, which is why I'm asking.

And no worries to those unable to help. I'm not really looking for additional hands. This is something Mega and I can manage ourselves, though assistance in concept is why I'm here talking about it, and a little help in the graphics department would be more than amazing.

Astryl 11 years, 3 months ago

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but whether or not Mega will be able to crank out that many sprites is another matter.

Not too sure whether I'll be able to churn out that many sprites by the weekend, but I'll at the very least have the base player character finished.

Almost lost some of the animation work last night when GM decided to have a huge memory leak, and lagged to high hell. Using ASEsprite now, like I should've done from the outset.

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Up to yous.

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No preference. You're the boss.

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doesn't really matter to me. probably someone who'd fit in with the game since it's a platformer. whatever floats your boat, really.

First person to complain about their character can redo it themselves :P

EDIT: Here's the walking animation. Still needs a lot of cleaning/detailing, as well as a bit of tweening in some frames, but that's all work for later. Feel free to DIY if anything bothers you too badly.

Gave him eyes, thinking of changing the logo on the shirt to the 64Digits logo, since that'd make sense.

EDIT: This is nearer to what I'm aiming for. Making sure the arms and legs don't turn to jelly, adding the logo, etc.