Donkey Kong Country Project K

[TheShyGuy]

Awesome work so far!

[Neweegee]

It's looking even better now, it really shows how much different the Returns series is compared to the original Country series. I would love to help with anything if you want me to.

[GameWatching]

It's looking even better now, it really shows how much different the Returns series is compared to the original Country series. I would love to help with anything if you want me to.

I'm trying to mix DKCR's gameplay with DKC's gameplay.
Both are unique and both play great.
His speed and his rolling are slower, and can't go for an infinite roll with a partner. He can't blow on flowers or pull things off the ground like he does in DKC:TF. Rolling on enemies will make his roll longer and will increase his momentum and speed, like in DKC.
But currently it's heavily based off DKCR so i'm trying to nerf whatever i can.

[Koopaul]

I personally think that DKCR improved a lot of the physics in the DKC series. So I wouldn't change too much.

I'm not really sure why you needed to make DK move slower. He was pretty much the same speed in the original DKC as he was in DKCR.

[HyperSonic92]

I'd be more than happy to help with character designs.

Also not sure if you'll be in need of one, but I'm also a voice actor of sorts

[Koopaul]

Oh and you really should post your sprites here. We'd be happy to work on them with you.

[GameWatching]

Oh and you really should post your sprites here. We'd be happy to work on them with you.

I can PM them to anyone who wants to help out.

[Koopaul]

Absolutely! I can help with whatever you need sprite-wise.

[GameWatching]

Some old concepts, these are like 1 year old :


Pretty much everything has changed.
-The barrel throwing animation is different now.
-Alert for Kritters also was scrapped. It has been replaced by immunity to rolls, because i had to make them different enemies than regular Gnawties.
-Rolling lasts longer but is way slower than it used to be.
-And the barrel cannon that fires a barrel cannon that fires DK is just a silly idea :E

[HyperSonic92]

Nice sketches.

Are you planning on it being mostly returning baddies or will you also have original baddies as well?

EDIT: Check your PM my good sir

[HyperSonic92]

I'm now a member of this project; here's a concept sketch of an enemy for the game, a chameleon called Kahmeleon (have to keep that naming motif lol)


(DK's there for size reference)

ENEMY INFO:
*His attacks are spitting out his tongue, rolling, and of course blending into the enviorment
*His walking speed is slower than an average Kremling but when he rolls, he's as fast as the DKC1 armadillos
*The length of his tongue I'm still tweaking a bit. I had the idea of it being "three Diddys" long but figured that wasn't a reasonable length

[Koopaul]

Remember when designing baddies that their must be conveyance with what they do and how you defeat them. Look at most of the baddies in DKC or Mario games. Their design says a lot.

Horns, spikes, or teeth usually clue the player that he/she cannot attack from that direction. The Klaptrap cannot be attacked from the front due to his chomping mouth, but is vulnerable from above and behind. A Spiny porcupine on the other-hand is covered in spikes on top but is vulnerable from the front. And the Zinger has spikes on it's back and a stinger facing forward meaning it can't be attacked from anywhere.

That chameleon has a horn in front of it, this may confuse the player and make them think they can't role into it. You have to make the design clear and convey an action. Not to mention in a faster paced platformer an enemy can't have too many abilities either. Only one main attribute and attack pattern.

Also I think it's brilliant how GameWatching added the blocking ability for the Kritters. Their muscular outstretched arms would imply that they could defend themselves, while their long flat heads look inviting to be jumped on.

[HyperSonic92]

Thanks for the critique Koopaul. I'll toy with the design a bit more and remove the roll attack and cloaking.

I was just thinking about designing enemies that haven't been in a DKC game before. Probably should have put more thought into it '

EDIT: I removed the horn on his face and lowered the spike on his head. This any better?

[Koopaul]

No problem. Just think about a gameplay mechanic that would be fun and unique and change the design based on that.

You mentioned before you wanted your enemy to roll, if you wished to stick with that idea, you could have redesigned the enemy to look more like it's going to roll around. Even Retro Studio did this. For example, the concept art for Skelly Rex from DKCR shows that they originally had round heads. They were changed to have long flat heads later in the game to show that you have to jump on them an not roll into them. So it's no big deal to have an idea that needs some changing. Even the greatest video game companies do it.

Any other advise I could give? Hm. Well I came up with a DKC enemy once myself. I wanted an enemy that you could throw a barrel at and it would stick to the top of it's head or body. You could safely jump on top of the barrel that's stuck on it's head and ride the enemy across dangerous paths.

Based on what I just said, I came up with a slimy slug that would use the barrel you threw as a shell (becoming a barrel snail)

See before I decided what kind of animal it was I thought about a gameplay mechanic first. Now you don't have to do it in that order, but it makes enemy design much easier.

Now that I'm done blathering, I'll discuss your enemy!

Kahmeleon should probably still blend into it's surroundings. That was a good idea, it makes sense a chameleon should do that. I was advising he shouldn't both attack with his tongue and roll. It should just be one of those things. I'll leave that up to you. If he is to roll around I suggest Kahmeleon be on all fours to imply he'd coil up. If he attacks with his tongue, you should make his head pretty big to imply an attack woulf come from there. (Notice how big a Klaptraps head is?)

[HyperSonic92]

Okay, I think I'll have him shoot out his tongue. I'll probably design a new enemy for rolling.

Speaking of which, here's his third redesign:


Now his head is bigger and I changed his eyes to look more insane.

I do like that barrel snail idea actually. Mind if I steal it XD?