Messages

[EDIT]

I draw every frame out (on paper) and individually trace them into Flash.

Inside Flash I convert each seperate frame (after tracing them with vectors) into a symbol.  Then I create a 'parent' symbol that sequentially plays each of the individual frame symbols.

This way you can click on the frame (in the parent symbol) where the character 'bounces' out of alignment and line it up in the proper place by using the arrow keys.  (when you create a symbol it groups all elements of the drawing together into one bounding box)

EDIT - This technique can take some trial and error to get it just right but it's the best way I've found to make it all line up properly.  Also, I use a different method when doing pixel art.  

I hope this helps!

dm

[This could be the intro to the game:]

This could be the intro to the game:
February 16, 1976 -  a scientist is working alone in his home basement trying to complete his secret time traveling device.  He is very close to finishing it but there is just one small problem with his formula for making it all work.  He takes another look at his calculations on the chalkboard and sighs in frustration.  There's something wrong with the calculations but he just can't figure it out.  The temperature in the room is hot so he goes up stairs to get something to drink and check the thermostat.  When he returns to the lab he notices the formula is altered slightly and it gives him the insight to the problem which he promptly fixes.  He now has the formula to make the device work properly ...

What you don't realized during the intro is that the reason the room was so hot was because you (the player) turned up the heat so the scientist would leave the room (the puzzle part) to adjust the thermostat ... so you could get to the device ... which is sitting on the desk in plain site.  When the scientist goes upstairs you race into the room and grab the device but in the process you smudge the chalkboard ...

But you don't get to that part until much later ... the intro shows you nothing of this.  You just see the scientist leave, go upstairs, grabs a glass of water, adjust the thermostat, then come back and get his inspiration.  Later on, while actually playing the game, you come across the scenario and actually cause it to happen.

...

Hobbes - Thanks for the encouragement!

I'll post in the Games in Production forum as soon as I have actually started the game and have a good portion to show.  It won't be for some time yet though 'cause I'm moving next month so that's going to be taking up a vast majority of my time in the next couple of weeks.

dm

[DG]

DG - Time Quest sounds a lot like The Time Machine (at least the movie!)  I wonder if they'll ever finish it?  It has/had potential.

I don't want the point of this game to be other than getting home.  He's not going back to change history, he just wants to get home.  In fact, I was even thinking of putting something on the box (when he finds it) that says "Under no circumstances are you to press this red button"  He's an unintentional time traveler.

In fact ... that might be a good name for the game.  The Unintentional Time Traveler (tUTT) ... hmmm ...

*Darth Mandarb ponders ...*

dm

This is pretty good!

I like the shading too.  The face isn't too bad ... I think a little more shading (mabye just one more level) might make a big difference.  2 levels (1 lighter and 1 darker) would be even better!  high light the cheeks and the nose and the chin, etc.  

dm

[Farlander]

Farlander - I'll check out Guybrush, thanks!  That is supposed to be a pike he's holding, not a rifle.  I might need to work on it a bit I guess

Aussie - yes, somebody mentioned the Emp. and I am working on him!  I'll keep you posted

Thanks!

dm

EDIT - Here is the new and (hopefully) improved Royal Guard.

[Possible Names:]

Boyd - Silders sucked.  The only good thing that show ever had was Kari Wuhur ... and even that wasn't enough to keep me watching.

Nellie - the point is, he doesn't realize what's happening.  He doesn't get that he's causing these things to happen.  He's not the sharpest tool in the shed.  When he finally gets back to his time he realizes that the past is the same, so he actually thinks he was successful in not altering history.  He doesn't realize that he's actually the reason why we have the history that we do.

Possible Names:
Conrad C. Quences (consequences)
Conrad C. Quence (consequence)
Evan Chuality (eventuality)
J.P. Destiny
Jeffery Fortune
Robin Tyme (robbing time)

These are just a few I've come up with.  I think I'm more partial to J.P. Destiny or Conrad C. Quence.  What do you guys think?

dm

Trapezoid - I, too, love time travel.  Mostly because it's probably the greatest plot device for sparking discussions and debates.  The movie Frequency is one of my favorites.  My roommates and I used to get into huge arguments about the time line in that movie.

Dmitri - ... Wow.  That's quite a fascinating theory.  I'm still absorbing it all.  I don't want to, as stated above, make the game too scientific but I might steal something or other from what you just said.

dm

Trap - When he gets back everything is the same, so he thinks he was careful and didn't effect (infect) the time line in anyway.  But in reality he's the very reason why it happened the way it did.

So really, the only way the time line would get screwed up would be if he didn't go back in time?  You see?  He's the reason we have the history that we have.

dm

mitar - I didn't notice it until you pointed it out.  But you're right ... he does rather look like he's dancing.  But hey!  Can't an Imperial Royal Guard dance??  

I'll fix that, if I can, as soon as I can!

dm

[Scenario 1]

evil - You've stumbled onto the one problem I've come up with so far.

In the cartoon I'm working on he never gets home ... it just keeps on going and going and going until I decide to end it and get him home.  But, in the game, I'm working on a way for him to know that if he keeps pressing the button he'll eventually get back to where he started from.

Scenario 1
Perhaps, after one jump, is intercepted by a bounty hunter who is hired by the orginization that created the time box thingee to track him (you the character) down and kill him before he can screw up time.  Before killing you he explains that the only way to get home is to keep pressing the button because, after 12 or so jumps you always end up back where you started.  You thank him and go to press the button and he tells you that he can't allow you to do that because each jump you make effects history and he must stop you from doing that.  (so it's kind of a time cop thing but don't worry ... he's not a big part of the story/game ... he just shows up occasionally)

Scenario 2
Or, another possibility, is he jumps into a time period where there are scientists and lab people all together in a lab.  He comes to realize he's jumped into the part of history where the people are creating the very device he's using to time-hop.  Before he can get to the box, the lead scientist sees it first and gets the inspiration he's been lacking ... you see?  By jumping to that point in time he actually caused what he's going through!!  What a paradox that would be huh??  But while there he overhears them talking about the device and how the time-loop thing works.  I'm going to make it silly and very non-scientific.  He'll hear them say that after no more than 12 jumps you end up where you started ...

So then you'd know that soon enough you'll end up back where you started.  You decide at this point to be very careful so as not to effect history greatly.  But, of course, you always do something unintentionally ...

I want the character's name to be something clever like Conrad C. Quences ... his friends call him Con. (get it?  Like consequences?) or something like that.  Something that is meaningful to him effecting history.

dm

[So here's the idea:]

Disclaimer:
I wasn't sure if this is the right forum to post an idea I have for a game.  So if this needs to be moved I apologize for the inconvenience.

I have this idea, which I am already working on (behind the scenes), as an online (Flash designed) cartoon series.  But I was wondering if you all thought it would make a good adventure game.

So here's the idea:
You play a character (who I've actually not come up with a clever name for) who finds a time traveling device.  He doesn't know what it is when he finds it.  It is just a silver box (think remote control size) with 1 single red button on it.  He, being slightly stupid, presses the button and is transported back in time.  Everytime he presses the button he's transported to a different part of history and must keep pressing the button until he gets back to his own time.  

The problem is, everytime he transports in time, he loses the box and must locate it.  It's always close by (in the next room or so) but he must solve a puzzle to get to the box.  Every solution to the puzzle (to get the box) causes something to major to happen at that point in history.

But here's the catch, the result(s) of solving the puzzle are what actually happened in history.

For example:
He teleports back to April 14, 1912 to the deck of the Titanic and he must locate the teleport box.  He over hears EJ Smith talking to Bruce Ismay telling him he found a wierd object with a red button and figured it had to do with the new telegraph system thing so he had it taken to the radio room.  So you must get to the radio room.   You enter the radio room and spy the device sitting on the table next to the telegraph machine.  You must distract the radio men in order to get the box.  After distracting them you grab the box and as you do you knock a telegraph message off the counter and it falls behind the desk.  The message was to alter course and there is an iceburg in their path.  But since you knocked the message off the table it will never be delivered and thus, the Titanic hits the iceburg and the rest is history ...

See what I mean?  And you go through this several times.  Visiting several points in history and causing it to happen the way it's supposed to happen.  Finally you'll get back home and vow to never use the device again ... until the sequel of course.

Let me know what you think!

dm

I'm going to (eventually) put him on his 'seat' thing (like in RotJ) so he'll be leaning up on it.  If I decide to not do that, I'll round him off down there.  (That's how I originally had him actually)


Only the front view so far of the Emporer's Royal Guard.

Here's the corrected version of Jabba.  How do the eyes look now?  I think they look better.


And I took a stab at an Imperial Officer ...

I didn't (yet) up the frame count.  I'm still working on that.

dm

[Mitar the Giant]

I'm 6'4"
... which is 76 inches
... which is 5472 pixels tall!!

mitar - are you really 6'8" tall?
If so, damn .. you should change your name to Mitar the Giant!

dm

Rince - And also with you  
I'll see about getting the emperor up there and the imperial officers too!  I'm definately going to be working on Chewie a little more too!

Vargtass - I have been working on adding a frame of animation to smooth it out a little.  I've been experimenting on the Boba Fett sprite.  I'll post when I have something more to look at!

Thanks guys!

dm

[Dragon]

Dragon - That's hilarious!  I do the same thing ... I wouldn't say I actually talk to them, but I bounce the character around in my head until I feel like I know him/her well enough to do a 'portrait' of them.  I do this mostly for writing the character, but that's just a step away from drawing so I use the technique for both.

Aussie - If you're using flash to create stuff here's how I (sometimes) do it.  I sketch the character/vehical/location/whatever out on paper, scan it into the computer, import it into flash, and using vector lines I trace over the image.  I start with just the line tool and a black line (usually hairline thickness) and work my way around.  Using the great (and flexible) bend feature you can do in flash you can 'trace' any image!  It works great for me and is really helpful with animations.

If you want to see something I created using this method check out this link: Darth Mandarb's Running Mailman
Just the character art in this animation were created using this method, but as you can see, it can be highly effective  The backgrounds were just free-hand created in Flash.

Hope that helps!!

dm

[won't]

gonzalezj - Don't worry ... I definately won't be including anything from the prequels in this game!  I don't want to go too much into it 'cause this isn't the games in production forum, but most of the characters I've developed so far will be almost entirely 'cameo' appearances.

Here's a link to the entry I made a few months ago: Rebel Spy: A Prelude to Hope Please don't post a reply into it though ... I've basically started from scratch and don't want that post showing up right now!  At least not until I have more to show.  The style has completely changed but the story/plot etc is still the same!

I'm definately a much bigger fan of the OT (Original Trilogy).  Though Lucas didn't direct the last 2 films of the OT he did write the stories.  Though Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan co-wrote Empire with him and Kasdan also co-wrote Jedi with him.

- Luke in Tatooine gear probably will show up in the game so that's not a bad idea.
- Fix Vader's eyes (this could be tricky but I'll see what I can do)
- Ben Kenoboi

got it!

Thanks for the advice/crits/encouragment people!  I'm super motivated now

dm

Thanks everybody!

I'm going to be changing Jabba's eyes, lowering Yoda's head, and fixing Chewies walk.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do about the Guard's walk ... we'll see.  

I'm working on a version of Leia, C3-P0, and R2-D2 at present.

Any other suggestions of what you'd like to see?

dm

evil - thanks!  I definately agree about the side views.  They're my weakest spot right now!

I'm working on adding frames of animation to 'smooth it out' a little.

Here are some more:


Gammorian Guard - Return of the Jedi


Jabba the Hutt - Return of the Jedi


Yoda - Empire and Jedi

That's all I have so far.  I'm going to be working on some more today.  I'll post as I have them!

Thanks for all the good words

dm

#1 is the better choice!

rock on,
dm