Gats & Craps

[Crappy Blue Luigi]

so me and my buddy kev tried making this game a few years ago. it was a little teeny platformer game starring crappy and his character gatsby. i was a super inexperienced spriter back then, he was a super inexperienced programmer, and we also didn't have that many solid ideas for the game. that said, it didn't really go anywhere, though i made decent-sized sheets for both characters.


the sprites are still somewhat charming today for their goofiness, though they're not very competently made. the understanding of basic anatomy and animation is a little shoddy, and the colors are incredibly desaturated because i thought that looked nice at the time.

but i'm not here to showcase old shit. kev programmed a 2d physics engine from scratch in game maker, and it got our creative juices stirring.



(crappy looks a little different--explanation here)

we're trying the ol' gatscrap schtick again; this time with a better understanding of what we need to make the game... happen.

the new sprites for crappy are in the same dimensions as the old sprites, while gatsby's just been updated as appropriate. the only other limitations i've posed on myself is a max of 7 colors in each character's palette.






outside of this, kev's made a few enemy sprites that are still in the works, and we've tossed around a bunch of concepts. i'm about to enter finals week in my current college semester, so i probably won't be too active on this for a bit, but once that's passed, i plan on working on the two characters' jumping and attacking animations. that's why i'm posting these now, though; it'd be cool if i got a little input on these to make sure i've got good bases before i move forward with the more intricate animations.

criticism welcomed.

[Gors]

i like the new gatscrab! and i like how everything is still loyal to the original old sprites

[Crappy Blue Luigi]

gatsby's main attack: the claw toss. sort of like plok, he can only do this attack in quick succession until he doesn't have anything to attack with--unlike plok, gatsby's claws come back in a timely enough manner that this disadvantage is easy to work around.

i tried to make the actual toss animation much more energetic than the original. according to kev, the claw is going to be spinning when it's implemented in-game, so this animation probably won't reflect the final product.

[Gors]

Additionally i wish it opened and closed like a scissor, it could cut ropes and the likes, adding to the puzzles

[Crappy Blue Luigi]

that's a neat idea, but not one that's really applicable for the game we're making. gats & craps is going to be a straight-up run-'n'-gun platformer, akin to mega man x.


i messed around with gatsby tossing both of his claws. i'm not sure the "claw catching" frame will be used in-game, as i haven't thought about how it'll look when he catches them from behind or in midair, and it might be an extra annoyance for kev to program.

incidentally, i'm going to change all of gatsby's animations later to tone down the shine on his head.

kev recently implemented gatsby's sprites in his engine, and the slight bit of motion blur made his face difficult to distinguish, until i made the shine smaller.