Swarm Development: Postmortem

[Jackpumpkinhead]

i didnt think it would happen but i think i have been assimilated
"Resistance is Futile"

i have an idea about the "vampire twins"
i think there should be more female characters so why not the vampire twins be lady vamps
also why not have them be sort of a yin yang type twins, one has blonde/white hair and the other black
a la Kyle & Ken Katayanagi from "Scott Pilgrim"

[Tabata]

Yeah â€" one more We are growing!


„Daculator - Resistance is Futile“ whould be a nice title, too.


I am in favor of Baron selects a Title! 
Since he is the „daddy“ of this project, he should be allowed to choose the name of „his baby“ 
- and suggestions we already have many  8)

[Jackpumpkinhead]

I think I am gonna take a crack at the vampire twins
are these vampire twins also cyborgs?
Also I think it would be a good idea to give our hero the ability to transform into a cyborg bat
Some how integrate that ability into some sort of puzzle

[Hudders]

There should be a puzzle where Merrick is blocked from going through a door because there is a crucifix above it.

The puzzle is solved by altering the sigil in some way so that it no longer resembles a crucifix.

[Tabata]

There should be a puzzle where Merrick is blocked from going through a door because there is a crucifix above it.

The puzzle is solved by altering the sigil in some way so that it no longer resembles a crucifix.

It has do be dark around the crucifix, otherwhise it would be easily solved by using the robot probe because ...

...  his robot enhancement includes a small flying probe or drone or what have you that he can send out and control remotely. It can only do very simple tasks (give things a gentle push, perhaps carry one item). And it runs on solar power!

So you can have a general game mechanic where he has to stay in shadows and dark areas, and must send the probe out to do stuff for him in the light, maybe flip switches, push things so they fall over, pick up or drop items, etc. Maybe draw the curtains or even itself cast shadows for you to stay in. And it will only move in light areas.

... but if you can switch the light on and the light won't reach the crucifix you need do search for liquid and „stuff“ to get a mash (to be thrown at the crucifix) for example.

Maybe Technocrat will spend this little piece from TB3 to the swarm to implement it in here?

If you didn't play Technobabylon III until now, don't read the spoiler!

Spoiler

Do you remember Latha doing something like this?

[close]

... so I thought the coding could be used here (or whatever it is called â€" you know, what I mean for sure)

                                   

[Armageddon]

The Chronicles of Merrick in:

Byte Of the Dead.


This should so be able to have a sequel.

[Baron]

I am in favor of Baron selects a Title! 
Since he is the „daddy“ of this project, he should be allowed to choose the name of „his baby“ 
- and suggestions we already have many  8)

Ha!  I was just thinking today, the thing in life I need most is more parental responsibility!  Thanks.

Of course there's a point, as with the plot and the Merrick sprite, where someone has to put their foot down and make an executive decision so we can move on.  I don't think we've reached that point with the title ideas yet: I'm still getting a kick out of them.  There are several that would make pretty decent titles, but I'm still holding out for that true gem:  a double entendre that is way cool but also cryptically relates to how the game was developed.  Anyway, if we can't find such a title I'll pick the best ten and put it to a vote.

[Crimson Wizard]

Hey, umm, I wondered if I can participate in this
If that wasn't taken yet, can I try drawing GUARDROOM background?
If yes, I have following question: is there any detailed description of what should be in there? I understand that there should be a passage to EXERCISE YARD, a place to put a big hole where robot breaks in. What else? Design document sais "something is happening just beyond, there are flashes of light -gunfire" - where are those flashes coming from (sorry if I missed something), the yard, or elsewhere?

PS. I could find an hour (or more) either today's evening or on weekend.

[Hudders]

There needs to be an exit to the cockroach-infested storeroom Merrick takes refuge in.

[Jackpumpkinhead]

okay here is my Twins
let me know what you think

[Tabata]

Wonderful â€" another one's infected

@Crimson Wizard:
You can use the test background including the references for the colours from Ali (page 2, relpy # 31) to start and you should read the notes of Baron about the guardroom (page 3, relpy # 43) and there has to be the hole in the wall (where the robo smashed, when breaking through).


@ Jackpumpkinhead:
I really like your twins!
The only little thing, I would change, is their hair over the eyes (to become their eyes more evil) and the hands of the right one a bit darker because they are bareley to see. 
I mean something like this:

[Igor Hardy]

With our title I just realized we should really try to milk its possible similarities to the name of the new Amanita Design adventure game Botanicula: http://adventuregamers.com/gameinfo.php?id=1913

Bionicula?

Bot-acula?

RoBotonicula?

Iron Bat-man?

[Scarab]

I made something resembling a down walkcycle, it's the first I've ever done, and I'm not too happy with it, but at worst it can work as a placeholder.



Notes:

• I tried out a lighter shade for the pants, which I think is more readable, but I'm not great with colours, so hopefully they don't look too washed out.
  
• At first I had the shoulders moving up and down by one pixel on each step, but that seemed a bit too far for them to move. Anyone know a more subtle way to portray back and forth shoulder movement? I'd hate for one of the most frequently viewed animations to not be as good as it could if theres a quick fix in there.

[Baron]

There needs to be an exit to the cockroach-infested storeroom Merrick takes refuge in.

Easy there!  Let's not be adding extra rooms.  If he must take refuge it should be behind the debris created when the robot monster bursts through the wall, or some other pre-existing obstacle (the cockroaches can just be on the guardroom floor or swarming around a hole/crack in the wall).  So room requirements for guardroom as I see them are: exit to exercise yard (at left?) and exit to "beyond" where soldiers are fighting robot (never used, at top or right).  The guards might be up against the wall with guns ready (requiring some open wall space) or behind obstacles like tipped tables or in doorways.  There also needs to be a gas main out of reach, with a lever/valve for the probe to use to open (perhaps it is only viable because part of the roof will cave in letting in sunlight in a shaft between the vampire twins/robot and Merrck (the probe is still solar powered, correct?).  The pipe will have to break one side of the valve as a consequence of the robot bursting in, and the valve should appear to be "off" as a clue (maybe warning signs as well?  Although that would be hard at this resolution...)  This is the most complicated room since it will really be two distinct rooms: a guardroom and then a shoddy ruin of a guardroom.

There should be a puzzle where Merrick is blocked from going through a door because there is a crucifix above it.

The puzzle is solved by altering the sigil in some way so that it no longer resembles a crucifix.

Not a bad idea.  This could be in the lab where Merrick starts or in the hallway.  I think the solution would be to use alphabet magnets from the fridge door ("e", "x" & "i") which you can stick up next to the crucifix to make the word exit (once the cross becomes a "T" it is no longer a cross....).

@ SPRITE ARTISTS: The most recent sprites are all very nice!.  I agree that backing the hair off the evil eyebrows is probably a good idea.  I think the downward walkcycle is pretty good: the way he shuffles is kind of mechanical, but that's not necessarily a liability with this particular character.  I say we go with it until/unless someone finds an hour to improve upon it.  I definitely like the lighter pants too -If anyone is dead against this please say so (otherwise I'm going to change all sprites over to conform).

 

[Hudders]

There needs to be an exit to the cockroach-infested storeroom Merrick takes refuge in.

Easy there!  Let's not be adding extra rooms.  If he must take refuge it should be behind the debris created when the robot monster bursts through the wall, or some other pre-existing obstacle

Excellent point. I am glad you're here to rein us all in. 

There should be a puzzle where Merrick is blocked from going through a door because there is a crucifix above it.

The puzzle is solved by altering the sigil in some way so that it no longer resembles a crucifix.

Not a bad idea.  This could be in the lab where Merrick starts or in the hallway.  I think the solution would be to use alphabet magnets from the fridge door ("e", "x" & "i") which you can stick up next to the crucifix to make the word exit (once the cross becomes a "T" it is no longer a cross....).

Awesome idea!

[Baron]

     I wasn't feeling my other project tonight so I put in a couple hours swarming: specifically plugging a couple of our assets into a very very rough game.  All you can do is walk from one room to the other (not even the correct one, at that), but at least you can begin to see an actual game emerging.  Truthfully I spent all of twenty minutes on the AGS part and the rest of the time tweaking Merrick sprites (including the creation of a very slap-dash backwards walkcycle.  It's still 99% Scarab's work, but I changed the leg colours of the side profile and meddled a bit with the cape and shoulder twisting in both the front and side walkcycles.  Comments & ideas appreciated.
     The real motivation for me to do this was to grab two in-game screenshots so that we can start a GIP thread and recruit more labour from there.  Unfortunately I'm too tired to do it this evening but hopefully tomorrow.  Just remember that this is the development thread where we can share and critique assets, discuss plot without spoilers and plan future initiatives, while the GIP thread will be only for promotional and recruitment purposes.
     

[Hudders]

That looks great. The walkcycles, (except "up" - that could use some work), work really well and the idle animation on the scientist is perfect.

Has someone signed up for music yet? We really need some  music. I have a midi version of The Monster Mash that I played in the background while I tested out the game. It amused me greatly.

[Baron]

We've got four musicians at last count, but no one interested in Musical Direction yet.  I think it's important we get a bit of direction first (like Ali's artistic direction), just to keep all the musicians on the same page.

Edit:  On a completely unrelated note, what do people think of the name Fang Drone.  Fangs are the most distinctive bit of a vampire, while drone is one of the few synonyms for cyborg but also refers to the member of a swarm (slipped it in there!).  Sure, it lacks that double entendre element, but I thought I'd throw it out there in case anyone could make that work.

[Hudders]

Fangs for the (read-only) memories.

[Igor Hardy]

New Starcraft II game subtitle that could be ripped off and milked (vampirized): Heart of the Swarm

So it could be something like... Draculator II: Heart of the Swarm