The unprintable MAGENTA - updated Nov. 24

Started by Fitz, Mon 08/09/2014 11:09:03

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Fitz

The game's gone LIVE! You'll find the Completed Games thread
HERE!


When the night falls and evil roams the streets of Some City - she comes to the rescue:

...a girl with the power to turn everything she touches pink (laugh)

Experience the thrill of being a night time crimefigher by playing
(scroll to the end of this post for details on gameplay/GUI)

She will venture boldly into the city's darkest corners!


She will strike fear into the hearts of the evil-doers.


She will meet new super-friends -- and have a super fun time with them:


Every superhero needs a sidekick. Or two! Meet Magenta's new posse!


Vandalism! Praise of anarchy! These are the issues a street-level superhero will have to tackle on a daily -- or nightly -- basis!


The Unprintable MAGENTA was originally meant to participate (and emerge victorious!) in last month's MAGS, whose main theme was sub-par heroes: superheroes with useless powers. I instantly thought of Magenta - a comic I'd made for my girlfriend, with her as the titular superheroine. For the game's sake, I tweaked the original concept significantly, making Magenta more cartoony -- and her adventures more goofy than heroic.

Due to time contraints I wasn't able to make it in time -- and so I decided to continue my work on it as a regular game. Now, unburdened by deadlines I can flesh out certain aspects of the game and add some things I'd previously left out. But the basics remain the same -- and so the game will feature:
- hi-res graphics in astonishing 800x600 resolution and no less amazing 16 colors of the EGA color palette:

- six in-game locations
- six interactive characters - plus two that you cannot really see, one that can't talk at the moment, AND an animal (that can't talk, either -- especially not right now)
- heavy emphasis on dialogue: Magenta's superpower isn't exactly super, so often she will have to talk way out of dangerous situations
- the danger is real, so make friends with the Save button!
- walking around in a skimpy pink dress isn't always dangerous, though. Sometimes it's just funny. Or, if you're the one wearing it, humiliating, frustrating and infuriating (but be aware that you look funny when you're angry)

UPDATE: November 24, 2015:

It this real life? :shocked:

[embed=720,540]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYfFKQA51w8[/embed]

After a year and four months in production, Magenta is nearing completion. Can you believe it?!

It's actually been pretty much done for quite a while now -- just missing a few crucial bits of audio, without which it wouldn't be complete. But everything came together, eventually. And theeen, when I thought I was ready... I stumbled upon a piece of music that I instantly fell in love with. And saw a story in there that needed to be visualized. So I asked the composer if I could use his tune for the game's intro -- and the rest is history :D

And since Magenta's finally got an epic intro sequence, it's only natural to crank up the awesome in the outro, too. So that's what I'm doing now -- and hoping to make it by November 30! Not gonna be easy! I've spent some 12 hours straight last Saturday on a sequence that's not even a minute long 8-0 So wish me luck!

UPDATE: November 29, 2015:

The game's gone LIVE! You'll find the Completed Games thread

HERE!

Gurok

Quote from: Fitz on Mon 08/09/2014 11:09:03
- the current font needs to go -- and I plan to make one of my own

Might I suggest the 8x14 EGA font? http://www.seasip.info/VintagePC/Images/pgcfont.png :D

Good luck with the game. Magenta has an amazing look. Bewildered by her own superpowers. I look forward to playing it!
[img]http://7d4iqnx.gif;rWRLUuw.gi

Stupot

Best of luck man. Maybe being unable to enter it For MAGS was a blessing. Now you can give this project a bit of the TLC it deserves. Magenta with thank you for it :-)

SilverSpook

Fascinating idea!  I envision a French fashionista arch-nemesis named "Alfa Chanel" (Sha-nell).

Good luck to you!

Fitz

Gurok: Yeah, isn't that a great look? ;) Magenta has a whole lot of animations -- and the same expression in all of them. Now that I have the time, I think I'll create an object/character or two, which I can then place over her face to act as her eyes/mouth, so I could animate each of them independently. But the basic expression is still the coolest.

Stupot: Right now all the TLC I have needs to go to the real Magenta -- she's suffered enough neglect over the past month while I was making a game about her ;)

SilverSpook: That is BRILLIANT!!! :shocked: The main theme of the game is superfolks with powers related to colors -- so Alpha Chanel fits perfectly AND might be the coolest of them yet. A supervillain with the power of invisibility -- who can only be seen in infra-pink? He -- the grandson on Coco -- might've turned to the ways of crime after his designer invisibility cloak failed during a pret-a-porter show and, instead of making himinvisible, showed him naked?

Fitz

After some more thought I took a different direction with that second background and made the color palette more consistent with the first one -- and the other four, for that matter:



I like not only the consistency, but the fact that it's darker, too. The crazy toxic green was a bit too much in and of itself -- and didn't looke like anything else in the game. Too bright and crazy.

selmiak

that was the right decision, looks way better and more moody.
Did you paint that dithering in MS Paint with the spraycan? ;-D

Fitz

Nope, in an ancient 2000 version of Photoshop that I use to this day (only because my 1996 Macromedia xRes won't even install on Win7, even in Win XP compatibility mode). This the regular paintbrush set to Diffuse, set to 10-30% opacity depending on what I need at the moment. I think this'd be much harder to achieve in MS Paint - but not impossible. Most of the graphics in Gray was done in WinXP Paint. I don't like the Win7 one, though.

Fitz

I've been quiet for the past five weeks or so -- getting back to my online comic, AND recording voice-overs not for ONE but TWO upcoming AGS detective games (in both of which I play the suspect!), etc... But fear not, the project is not only very much alive -- but also expanding!

Meanwhile, here's a little screenie for you -- a mock news item:



Magenta being mistaken for a prostitute or/and an under-age person is a running joke in the game -- given her pink costume and deceivingly youthful looks. It'll get her into trouble many times throughout the game.

AprilSkies

I see a lot of potential in this game.
The last background is very nice.

I'm looking forward for its release.

www.apemarina.altervista.org

Fitz

Thanks :) Yeah, that last one really brings out the benefits of this style -- but I haven't quite mastered it yet, and most other backgrounds are on the minimalistic side. I admire the art in your games, Donald Dowell and Tales especially -- a really polished, organic style you got there.

AprilSkies

Now that you make me think, in Donald I experienced something you're doing very very well here: Drawing using "pixels" in highest resolution!

www.apemarina.altervista.org

SilverSpook

Fascinating font you have there sir!

The running hooker thing sounds like a riot!

Now if you could just get your flux capacitor working, zip back in time and nab 12 year old Jodie Foster to voice Magenta... ;)

Fitz

I've been quiet over the past month -- but that's because I've been hard at work on the game, putting in crazy hours (up to 12 hours a day in the weekends) to get as much as I can done before I go into surgery. Then they cancelled the day before the date -- so I decided to continue my work. So, I give you a brand new screenie:

Magenta meeting a team of fellow superheroes



Also, this was my first attempt at making a font. Not quite there yet. I like the font itslf, but the thin automatic outline won't do in some cases. I actually created a ttf bold outline font to go with -- but it just won't fit, half of the letters look terribly displaced. It's not kerning, because I created the outline font first and then made the basic font by deleting the outer geometry, without changing any other setting. Oh well, I'll just make a pixel font with it, that should work.

Otherwise, the work's progressing nicely, actually. The first four rooms are pretty much done, the fifth needs some minor cutscene tweaks, and the only things still untouched are Room 6, the short outro/credits sequence and the audio editing.

Also - Silverspook, I don't think I need Jodie Foster. My girlfriend -- and my inspiration for Magenta -- has the same kind of tomboyish voice. So all I need is to do is seat her in front of a mic and CRACK THAT WHIP! (laugh)

Mandle


Tabata

Glad to see that you are still into this one!
Looking really good ... and so ... special!     

Fitz

For all of you wondering -- yes, Magenta is still in the works. Currently alpha-testing the first five levels (of six total). Also, game-related merch is on its way. Marvel at this prototype:



No, this was not made by a five-year-old.

A five-year-old could probably do it way better with those tiny fingers.

NickyNyce

I was able to climb in an open window and steal a sneak peak of this little gem. Beautiful scenes, lovely characters, super powers...what's not to like. Fitz has done it again. He's created another fun and memorable game that adventure game fans will be sure to love.

Fitz

Here's a new screenie -- featuring Magenta's sidekick and his sidekick:



Had SO MUCH fun drawing them! These aren't the only cameos/property thefts I committed under the pretense of fair use, either (laugh) You can expect a whole bunch of familiar faces and/or masks!


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