I've been making my sprites bigger then resizing them smaller so there is still a lot of detail even if you can't "see it" you can still in a way "see it".

Yes games have gotten easier over all, there is a funny video called if "Quake was made today", it pretty much sums it up for you. lol

Except for Sim City 4, I haven't seriously played many games made in the past few years. (And I'm not how "recent" SC4 could be considered). My wife bought me Angry Birds and Bad Piggies to play on her ipad. I do try to stay current with the latest technology, though. Video game graphics is one of the major applications of the kind of math I teach in my upper level courses. But new FPS just don't hold my interest very long, and I think that video you mentioned hits the reason why

I've given my own little game a face-lift, and began incorporating feedback I've received on the 0.0 alpha version.



One thing that would help with the animation would be if I could figure out how to get GIMP to export each layer in an array, like in the image below

merrak: hehe, i couldn't get anywhere on this game (i couldn't manage the climbing), but i liked the look of it - i felt very at home in that setting, looked a lot like some games i played when i was a lot younger .

Games got pretty controlling and hold-my-hand-ish....I like my old games, UT99, Oni, Jedi Knight 2 for the win! lol -I liked to build houses in Sims 2 I couldn't get in to sims city it was kinda boring for me. xD

I'm not sure what you mean but there's a script that allows you to save all layers separately.
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=8313&start=0


Looking good! :3

@Mokonafan ~ Thanks I need all the frames in the same image, just side-by-side.

@AnMal ~ I've scrapped the first level and remade it - and took care of a few bugs that were making controlling the character harder than intended.

New version uploaded! { Link }

I updated the gameplay a bit. The first level is now more doable. There are two levels total in this version. Some of the abilities the player started with in the first version (such as wall-jumping) now have to be gained as you advance.

Hint ~ Generally, the faster you move, the less likely you are to be injured by any traps. The par time for level 1 is 40 seconds, and 45 for level two.

@merrak: Hi. This python script will arrange your layers either horizontally or vertically at a chosen spacing. Maybe this would achieve your goal.

Quick update - Level 1 now connects to level 2 instead of restarting



Thanks! That's what I need. I'll give it a try

I played it a bit, that was much easier!
Am curious of why the up key isn't the jump key? Is it for when you climb?

Nice job so far! :3

Did you get to level 2?

Eventually up will be climb and down will be climb/use. Not having any kind of ladder / elevator / rope, etc. makes level design difficult. For a platformer, the character can't jump very high... about 1 1/2 tiles (although running at full speed, she can jump very far horizontally)

I keeps turning me in to piles of red things I die to easily but I think I need to be more patient.
I'll try and finish a whole level when I'm not half asleep like I am right now.

Okay I'm a noob, I tried again and I keep failing. xD
Those spikes are a killer, framnabbit! D: xD

Edit: I think things that kill the "player" aren't consistent, one time I can hit the spikes (not fall on top, that's a consistent DIE) and get some damage, other times I'm trying to jump over and I die, I don't know if I'm noob or it's the game, though. lol

Spikes are sharp - look out!

The damage depends on the angle you hit the spikes at, and how fast you hit them. Falling on them takes away the most - 20hp, which is all you have until you find some power-ups.

Something that can "randomize" damage - If you're hit by something, you are immune from damage for about half a second. Sometimes you can survive falling on the spikes if something that does minor damage hits you, keeping the spikes from doing any damage. During that half-second, you can't move. It's easier to get through the third room (the pentagon-shaped room with the spikes at the very top) if you start running before you enter it (hold down X). That fireball doesn't do much damage by itself, but if it hits you while you're jumping, you're probably going to land in the spikes.

I may need to play with the collision boxes a bit. I think at the moment if your toes hit the top of the spikes as you're jumping over them, it counts as "hitting" just as much as if you were to run straight into them. Collision boxes can be a bit of a pain for irregularly shaped objects.

Ohhhh it's based by angle, okay, that's interesting actually! That's nice. :O
I've been jumping then getting hit RIGHT OVER THE SPIKES and Poof! xD
I know that feeling with the collision boxes! Because of the snap-grid in Game Maker if you aren't perfectly in between a enemy it'll hit you and poof! lol

In Stencyl you can edit the collision boxes and make just about any regular polygon. But more vertices = lower frame rate, so it's best to keep to simple shapes whenever possible. I'd assume that's possible in Game Maker.

Major update! I made some animated backgrounds and a few more graphics. I've never done any animations before, but I think I'm starting to get the hang of it. I need to get out of the dungeon levels so I can do some forests.

Also, some gameplay updates. I added sound, and three complete levels. I'm still working on the difficulty curve, but level one should be gentler than it was originally. The spikes have a more reasonable collision box.

Trying to make the levels look nicer has been a real challenge. There's only so much art you can add before the frame rate drops. Now that I'm getting the code and game mechanics down, I'm starting to look at the game more as an artist than a programmer. I'd really like to have shadows and flickering lights. I'm not sure yet how to add them without crushing the FPS.



You can't see it from the image, but the torches in the background are animated.



A stare-down. Who will win after the gate opens???



A secret room. Can you find it?