The Art of Dying - Platformer (GAME RELEASED!)

[selmiak]

Looks like the normal double jump to me.

@dkh: the controls and basic moves video is over and out there already but you give indepth info on your thoughts on controls. It looks like it is possible to control movement of the player character in midair. What do you think about games where your motion vector basically determines your landing point when you start jumping. Dunno if there are any games that have realistic jumping in that aspect as I can't name one game that does this from the top of my head atm but I'm always surprised how it is taken for granted that you can change direction in midair in jump n run games.

[Blount]

This game looks absolutely amazing!

[Fitz]

I thought of the same thing that Stupot did a few posts above -- and realized you could also do twisted things like wooden platforms acting as ice, ice platforms acting as lava, etc.

[DoorKnobHandle]

Thanks guys! The primary reason I went with the line-approach for collisions, as opposed to going tile-based, was the flexibility. This way, I can have an elevator in the game, for example, that can move up and down smoothly. It's also faster, at least from my tests (I did start out with tile-based collisions). And yeah, the freedom to do whatever you want in maps, no matter what tiles you use, is another plus!

[Crimson Wizard]

But then I realised it's actually better to keep them separate, because now you can have walk-through walls and secret areas

Also

Spoiler

invisible floors

[close]

[DoorKnobHandle]

Now, invisible floors, that would just be plain mean, Crimson! :p

[arj0n]

Nice vid about the editor!
Can't wait to build some levels.

One minor thing: due to color choice, the ice-line is a bit hard to see after it's been placed over the ice-tiles...

And a question: are you planning to add warp-tiles in order to warp to secret rooms within the level for example?

[bicilotti]

This looks delicious and incredibly smooth! I am impressed!

[DoorKnobHandle]

Arj0n: Would be great to see some levels from you! I've already answered your questions in private, but let me restate what I said, for everybody else: warping/teleporters are not planned, color-coded doors with keys are however! And I'll make the ice line color white instead, good observation!

bicilotti: Thanks!

[miguel]

I'm very interested in this, DKH,
I've PMed you with some questions!

[MiteWiseacreLives!]

Wow! did you actually build a platformer and level editor in a month?! that sounds pretty ags-incredible, or was that editor interface in your back pocket previously?

[DoorKnobHandle]

miguel: I guess I'll repeat what I wrote to you in the PM for everybody to read: I am planning on releasing the source for this project in its entirety!

MiteWiseacreLives!: Thanks! It's more like 2-2.5 months now though (although that is with 6-10 hours of University every weekday)! I did not have anything pre-made or anything.

[DoorKnobHandle]

Okay I'm pretty sure I've got everything in the game that I wanted to...



So now it's just level design, putting in sounds/music, making a main menu and then testing and release!

[arj0n]

Yeey!

[kconan]

...I am planning on releasing the source for this project in its entirety!

Awesome!  Eager to get my hands on this.

[DoorKnobHandle]

Thanks guys! A bit of an update: Despite being a bit more quiet and no new videos coming out (there isn't really anything left to cover I feel), I've been very hard at work in order to get the game finalized. Most importantly, I've implemented a main menu that works with keyboard and gamepad, has a bunch of simple options and - and this is the big deal here - allows you to rebind your controls for both keyboard AND gamepad! This was more complicated to implement than I would've thought and took most of last weekend - but I think it's very important to allow people to, for example, switch the jump/attack buttons around on keyboard/gamepad. The default is jump is A and attack is S but if those keys don't work for you and/or you want to switch them from left/right to right/left (Mario-style for example), you can now do that easily!

Here's a screenshot (it looks much better in motion though, trust me):

Click it for full resolution!

[arj0n]

The option to redefine key's (or gamepad buttons) is a great addition!
For me it's important that a player can customize the key's to his/her personally choice, especially for platformers.

[Khris]

Nicely done, can't wait to try this!

[DoorKnobHandle]

Update time: today I finished the level design for 8 stages on paper! Now I need to put them in the game and make them look pretty with the editor (and draw a couple decorative assets) - then I'll do a quick beta test and then The Art of Dying is going to release! Yay! :p Btw, every new stage will be unique and feature at least one new type of enemy and/or gameplay mechanic! It won't take long to beat the 8 levels, especially if you're good at the game and don't die too many times (which will be very hard however) - but that's where the editor and YOU come in!

[Peder 🚀]

I'd love to play this using a SEGA Master System gamepad