"A Really Retro Game" Early Development (Recruiting)

[golbez22]

Hey everyone my name is Golbez22 I have been working solely as a Minecraft texture artist for a few years now and have become fairly popular on sites such as Planet Minecraft. I have always had these ideas bubbling around in my head for a server, but it would never really go anywhere and the idea would fade. After about a year and a half of programming classes through my school and private research, It dawned on me that I didn't actually like minecraft as the base of my idea, and have always liked trying to break its limitations for my texture packs...I know this is a lot of rambling about minecraft (which this game has nothing to do with), but this is just my way of bringing my journey to you the viewer. I tested some programming languages and applications (Game Maker, C++, Python, etc) and learned good portions of how to use them, but I either had to slow progress, couldn't figure out why certain things happened, or couldn't grasp the language. That is until I started working with java, I found it super easy to use, and could figure out many things just by planning it out (improving whenever I found better code than my own). I immediately started formulating an idea that would blow the norms out of the water, well more like take the best parts of my favorite games and think of how they could all fit in one ever expanding game. This project is the resulting beginning to realizing that Idea.

..Now after that long winded rambling; let us jump into this game!
A.
R.eally
R.etro
G.ame
This title stems from the combining of the initial concept of the game (An open-world pirate game about raiding) and the current concept of bringing back the feel of the original nostalgia inducing masterpieces like (but not limited to) Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy, GoldenSun, Chrono Trigger, to an extent megaman & pokemon, and all of our other favorites, but removing as many limitations to the player as possible. The name is as of now a placeholder, and is subject to change.

I'm betting this is getting old already to most so i'll post an image of some non-final game screenshots...everyone like those right?

I admit that is not the most impressive looking, but then again it was mostly just to re-grab your attention similar to the lack of pictures make me dislike college books.

any way moving on... The game in its most basic ideology is that you will be in a 2D semi-32x32 resolution environment with a view style similar to LoZ where you will be able to explore a large (but limited) randomly generated fantasy world that allows for a degree of player interaction in the form of terraforming, it will play like a button masher, but with the set up of an mmorpg fueled by PvP, PvE, agriculture, crafting, magic, pets, construction, and many other common features, as well as the ability to set up an economy, work alone or with friends, dungeon crawl and go for loot, fight rare creatures, obtain legendary items, gain fame, make quests, add new items to the game (this I think will be the most tough), a real sense of height...and well thats everything off the top of my head I'm sure there's more...remember that term I used up there "basic" yeah games of this magnitude seem to dwarf that term a bit...dwarf...hmmmm...! oh right character customization including gender, race, eye color, skin tone, some other stuff haha *looks back and forth*.

Well this feature I have been working on a little, but haven't put any code toward it, but it has a few basic stuff going for it mostly just the "naked baby" as people have started calling it

this plump little thing has been changed since the point of that image to improve the walking animation and added some stuff like swimming sprites... more on that later.

I was originally going to copy a features list with in depth descriptions on each feature, but the file seems to have been deleted...shame, well you will just have to put up with whatever I list til I get down to rewriting it...here goes
NOTE: these are not in any real order and they are simply listed as they come to mind...

Leveling - up to 99 with a rebirth system that improves base stats

Stats - dexterity, wisdom, luck, strength, defence, that sort of thing ;D

Player interaction - this includes chat, guilds, parties, friends, shops, auctions, trading, mail, and anything else under the sun people do

height scaling - haven't worked it out fully but pretty much things lower than you are smaller.

building - the ability to build buildings walls, towers, fortresses, shacks, bungalow...well a lot

framing - pretty self explanatory, but yeah readying the land, planting, keeping out pests...all those fun things

loot & gear - the quest for the epics

minimap- displays pixel map of the area and some basic info

status bars (health mana stamina power exp blarg)

pets and mounts- some swim, some run, some fly, some will fight for you, some eat carrots...those guys that help you when friends are no where to be seen or you need to go somewhere fast

taming - goes hand and hand with pets or mounts

fishing - it has to be interactive enough so you wanna fish maybe something like animal crossing or dark cloud

jumping - a very requested feature that I think would be smart to add no matter the headache it caused for the programmers

mining/excavation dig up the ore and gems from the hard rock, or find valuables lost in the seas of time

underground - well there has to be a place to dig deep right?

sky level - pretty much the home for the player when using a flying mount, it is a travel oriented height the sights are nice too

rail travel - set these up so you dont have to spend all your time walking in the mines

interactive environment - build a city on a beach, or burn down a forest, plant a garden, or push rocks off cliffs...that sort of thing

Active inventory...now here is something that I put a lot of thought into, it keeps yor inventory open and a static part of the screen so it doesn't get you killed when trying to use it...i'll post a recent concept I drew up

don't be too hard on me there will be look customization, I just showed you my favorite

quest tracker or similar - well this is tricky for a game where you can make quests ;D

Afterlife - well a WoW style ethereal plane after you die sounds good to me, especially if there is ghost combat huh! huh! oh and a reaper. yeah don't worry there will be plenty of time to revive before any baddies will appear it's just for those looking for it

Skills & abilities - you unlock these with skill points from leveling & having the right stats too

More on leveling stats and rebirth - well level cap is 99, but that doesn't mean all powerful, your stats are based on how you use them, and gear, but when you rebirth you get better starting stats based on your previous leveling, yeah ik going from level 99 to level 1 is a punch in the gut, though don't worry you will be able to use your gear still, and the bonus stats will grant you more power than you initially had it's more of an investment towards bettering yourself...oh and you get to keep unlocked skills though they are reset to there least upgraded form, and you have to rework back up to upgrade them, but either way you'll save some skill points so that much more upgrading the next play through...this system is to kind of give players initiative to work on there characters, and to fill the playstyle they want...aka a die hard mage probably wouldn't switch to a warrior too easily, though it CAN be done

well before I move on because I'm not sure what else to add here... I present Bunnypocalypse!
that was a fun day indeed

well time to show you a log of versions so you have a clue where I am

Spoiler

Update log:

PRE-ALPHA:

0.01 = screen creation, and handling raw FPS converting it to UPS

0.02 = the frame work of tiles and the images that corresponded

0.03 = entity/mob framework, entity(player), and user input

0.04 = tiles are called to screen based on pixel color in a png, and render limiter + level designed + tiles grass, flowers, and rocky grass

0.05 = liquid & solid frame works + images that correspond + fix to render limiter + better level design + new tiles dirt and trees

0.06 = collision detection via solids mechanic, spawn point set mechanic (pre-determined ftm), and new stone block + change in test map

0.07 = projectile framework and projectile fireball + update log in jar file + some rendering changes + small "hub" level changes

0.08 = Projectile collision and termination + fixed player collision on corners

0.08_2 = particles created upon collision

0.09 = particle life span + basic particle physics

0.10 = particle physics complete + class that handles animation + correct player walking animation

0.11 = mob AI's added (dummy, chaser) + added mobs (bunny, cat) changes to rendering, and the way the player is called

0.12 = chaser AI given radius restraint + added mobs (grey/brown rats) + method for tracking closest player + added tile "wood planks" + temporarily made water solid

0.13 = water made non- solid again + player swimming animation + liquid detection + character temporarily reverted back to base model

0.14(021113) = Bug Fixes by Benjamin Strasser + differentiated shallow and deep movement animations + spells cannot be cast in deep water
current bugs: collision detection offset, movement anomaly when water meets solid objects, mobs don't detect liquid.

//0.15\\ by Benjamin Strasser
0.14_1 Movement based on constant speed implemented
0.14_2 Teleport for pets implemented
0.14_3 Added Aggro Mechanics
0.14_4 Used Aggro to control the pet
0.14_5 Added Collision with Water if canSwim or canDive is false
0.14_6 Fixed Performance issues caused by constant movement-speed
0.15 created 4 parameters to customize collision (buggy but fine for the start)

//0.16\\
0.15_1 added mechanics to implements the Interface + implemented Frame for Minimap + created several getters to get the Data for the Minimap (TODO: fill the Minimap)
0.15_2 implemented bug free collision(performance issues) fps/2
0.15_3 fixed collision + liquid , shallow , deep calculation + renewed the animation calculation + fixed performance issues
0.15_4 implemented sprinting and simple audio
0.16 implemented AnimatedSoundSheet + GrassPLayerMovementSound + BackgroundMusic

//0.17\\
0.16_1 ++ mechanics to edit Volume of Clips
++ new Sounds to the Spritesheet
++ method, which keeps track off current tile the specific mob is
++ plays right sound for the right tile
-- speed in which AnimatedSounds were played aren't influenced by the runningSpeed
0.16_2 ++ Minimap
++ added Custom Collision for Entities based on Tilesize
++ fixed wrong Tiles were loaded when Entity gets created

Since this is my first post on this sight I really hope this spoiler works haha

in any case there is a very rough outline of this project,
there are currently three Members of the team

Golbez22 - Project head, Artist, Programmer

Benjamin Strasser - Lead Programmer, Co-Project Head

There are also a devote team of bug/play testers at our disposal

sure there is some progress, and we have a small team that could get the job done (at least I'd like to think so), but we are looking for a team of 2-3 Solid Programmers, 1-3 Artists,

so this post aside from being a bringing forth of the project to public view, is also a recruiting for hopefully some individuals who will be interested in pushing this project to the next level.

and I know that you'll want this sort of information

group members are currently working on this just as a project that we think has great potential, there is no time window to complete this we are moving at what pace comes natural, and are very considerate of the fact that conditions change day to day. there is not currently a budget for hiring, but in the future we may seek to be green lighted for steam, we currently are working solely with base java, and are willing to include lwjgl/openGL if it is best for the project. our main source of communication is skype, but all of us have readily available email addresses, and
no the game is not set in stone so any and all input is welcome...we are very hopeful for this projects future

Please leave your C+C below we very much look forward to it, and this page will change as time goes on, so check back every now and again
Thank you for reading and I eagerly await your feedback

here are some more screenshots and such (all things seen are subject to change)

Spoiler

references:
http://www.planetminecraft.com/member/golbez22/

Change Log:
-Added A* pathfinding AI
-Changed aspect ratio from 16:10 to 16:9
-Tile Connection (WIP)
-Fixed many Audio Bugs

[Vipershark]

I got about a quarter to halfway through that post and had to stop reading.

This is REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEALLY ambitious, and the fact that it's your first "real" project only amplifies that.
This is such a broad scope that most full on game developers wouldn't be willing to take it on, much less a tiny team of indpendents.

Everyone's got huge ideas for the dream game they want to make, and I applaud you for actually learning to code so that you can work on it yourself.
But you REALLY need to scale back, here. Start off with something simple instead.

[golbez22]

I got about a quarter to halfway through that post and had to stop reading...

Everyone's got huge ideas for the dream game they want to make, and I applaud you for actually learning to code so that you can work on it yourself.
But you REALLY need to scale back, here. Start off with something simple instead.

Thank you for your input, but when you break it down this is not as ambitious as it may seem, there are no real radical features, they are actually mostly common run of the mill rpg features, as for things like the pay and such for steam, yes that is ambition, but it is more of a far off dream, it may be years before this game is plausible, but i'm not going to abandon the idea, i'm just adding to it feature at a time until it's done, with the team of just three we are actually making good progress surprisingly having worked on it for just over a month, the later features will be slower to come, but I do see a good future for this, if not commercially it will be an awesome journey to make, this games not about making it big it's seeing if we can take some effort to break the convention of today's highly automated game creation from game companies... I really do appreciate the feedback, but just don't disregard this project as a failure from first look.

[golbez22]

This project is still alive and running, we are currently implementing combat, and determining how stats skills and the game will interact, currently we know we want to diverge from the norm where your character is an island and your level and abilities are in no way a change to game play except for yourself... we want to make abilities that will change the game for those around you, such as weather you can interact with certain environmental objects, and ways of travel...things you can build etc...and gear ideas are bubbling in our heads and on our concept sheets

[Kosheh]

This project is still alive and running

was that 6 days later? LOL


i think you're kinda missing what Viper's telling you - things like a quest tracker and afterlife are going to be an absolute bitch to program if this is your first programming endeavor. any type of level design is like that - as a first exercise (maybe to enter a game development competition, brush up your skills etc) you'll want to start small, like a puzzle game. not shooting you down - just saying, this is like a first-
semester computer science student announcing that he's going to write a web browser by himself by the time he graduates with his undergrad.
your idea, while awesome, is about as large and grandeur as minecraft itself. and while that's awesome, it's going to be an absolute pain to program.

also given it's a retro game about pirates (haha ARRG i get it) you'll probably get different responses from me but with retro character styling, it might be a good idea to shoot for simplicity and design a character that's symmetrical - for example, think Link from any of the NES & SNES Zelda titles, or the protagonists from the first two generations of Pokémon. I know it's all about the character customization aspect, but, oh IDK,

try a jolly roger hat or bandana for weird, goofy piratism ;P
besides, you should probably scale back the player character's appearance as the surrounding environment is also simple in comparison


oh and one more thing

if it's a game about pirating can it be like a weird mashup with a goofy little pirate man with a GTA mentality (i need to get te south wharf! i need te put a saddle on this ere whale and ride me way over! all hail pixelbeard, no one rassles with the likes of he! [opens up chocolate coins and eats them])

[golbez22]

i think you're kinda missing what Viper's telling you - things like a quest tracker and afterlife are going to be an absolute bitch to program if this is your first programming endeavor...
also given it's a retro game about pirates (haha ARRG i get it) ...shoot for simplicity and design a character that's symmetrical ...

oh and one more thing

if it's a game about pirating can it be like a weird mashup with a goofy little pirate man with a GTA mentality (i need to get te south wharf! i need te put a saddle on this ere whale and ride me way over! all hail pixelbeard, no one rassles with the likes of he! [opens up chocolate coins and eats them])

I know this is huge, but I plan to take this slowly, I'm not all like hey let me make the most complex game on the market in six months with no experience... the process that I have been using is
1. concept and research
2. critical thinking on how to accomplish what I want
3. code based on the critical thinking design
4. debug
5. simplify the code

I am fully confident that if given enough time Me and my partner Benjamin could make this game, but that doesn't change the fact there are people who have know how, methods, and experience we do not... that is the reason I came here in the first place. This is me asking "Hey, is there are there any java programmers or artists willing to help in a big project" not "hey are there any programmers who will make a game for me" I think this is a noble enough goal, I am just looking for help and maybe partnerships I can add to my team.

I'm glad you get the ARRG joke but the game isn't actually about pirates...not to say you couldn't role a pirate finding camps pvping and looting.

that last part SOUNDS AWESOME hahahaha!

[golbez22]

What i'm trying to figure out is how terraria and starbound make the tile logic so it's always wrapped the right way when random generation occurs

EDIT: done with that for the most part

[golbez22]

the auto tiling is a success still has a few kinks, but will soon be moving onto combat and multiplayer, there is also a start menu and saving/loading

[LunchPolice]

Well, that's a huge graphical improvement. Interesting, I'll keep an eye on ARRG.

[Vipershark]

Those are the same tiles as in the OP image. They just have blending tiles in between.

[golbez22]

Those are the same tiles as in the OP image. They just have blending tiles in between.

that was really hard to figure out without help in my defence...I had to write all my features from scratch...i'm just glad i'm making good progress

[recme]

seems okay i guess, but you should really lend us a demo if you want us to give you more critique about it. other than that, there isnt that much to say.

[golbez22]

seems okay i guess, but you should really lend us a demo if you want us to give you more critique about it. other than that, there isnt that much to say.

There will be a demo when we enter alpha, the engine is too rough for the public in the pre-alpha state

[golbez22]

To see what I'm currently working on artistically *Cough* see my post Here
http://www.vg-resource.com/showthread.php?tid=24353

[golbez22]

Currently working on the games sound effects and OST