It is time for last graphics, and also for details and adjustements. It is not the most interesting part, but it gives the feeling that all small details are okay. I am a bit of a perfectionnist, so I have often to stop myself of refining graphics, I should say.
However, last week I did some adjustements on level 2 graphics, because I have new and old graphics – existing before I take part to the project, or that I did at the beginning, 6 months ago.
I had to adapt old graphics a little bit to fit my new graphics. Here is a view of old and new graphics together :
Last week I told you graphics for levels 1 to 5 were finished… my mistake, I forgot one boss!
(no laughs, please, it was written on my planning, but I didn’t read it properly, these things happen on Friday, don’t they?)
It was a pleasure to do this one, as I never really drew dragons until this one. I did sometimes, but didn’t really finished them, if I remember well. I may change it a little bit, I’m still working on it and on its background, but for the big picture, that’s it.
It’s some kind of space dragon. I don’t want to be bitten by it, and it should go to the dentist. So, male or female?
Hi everyone ! It’s time for another dev update…
I’ve been working on level design since the start of the week and had to change the way some things worked in the levels. I also added a way to add an object or enemy at a precise point. That way, calculating the position of the background, i can add a background element in the exact spot it is supposed to be at.
However, while it was working well, i thought that it would be better to have a view of the exact background in the level editor…especially since in this level, there are background enemies (enemies that are on the ground and don’t collide with the ship but fire at it).
So i made those changes as well and i must say it is pretty fun to have a good view of the background as it will be in game. I wish i had the time to put all the graphics into the editor to have a 100% accurate view of the level but i really don’t. I’ll maybe do it in my free time (if i can find some).
I am really looking forward to seeing people use the level editor to create new levels but that will have to wait until after the release! DreadStar’s Level Editor!
So far, i only have started on the overall design of this level, however so i must now hurry and finish the level before working on the Mazinger sector’s enemies.
That’s all for now.
Level 1 to 5 graphics are now created. There will probably be some little changes, but I see the end of drawings slowly pointing the tip of his nose, which is great.
I let some surprise for the game, so I am not going to reveal all from this level, but you are going to face this sorcerer playing with energy :
In this level, I have done some animations with light energy. I find that moving energy renders well, and I guess that it probably is because of the contrast. I would like to do more, as usual, but I have to carry on.
So next week, another sprint, another subject. See you!
Hi !
It’s time for another dev update as i finally finished the 4th level boss. Some gameplay from the boss turned out to be more complicated to program than anticipated and i had to change a few things in the core game engine.
As everything is now complete on that boss, i can start working on changes to the level editor and start the level design (the fun part!).
I need to make those changes because this level’s design is particular. We are using a lot of background elements that need pixel perfect placement, something the current level editor can’t do well except on fixed locations (useful for enemies, but not so much for background elements). It will also be useful for the 5th level (and if/when we release the level editor as well).
I’m hoping i can make those changes and have a good first rough of the level by the end of the week.
I’ll then start working on the 5th level’s enemies and bosses, along with the core mechanics of the level.
The atmosphere of level 5 is dark and shadowed, with a feeling of greatness, to change from level 4. For the depth, I took my inspiration from Carthago, a french comic with very nice big drawings giving a feeling of immensity.
It is a style that I like very much and I would like to do more and more, but I have to carry on, the next bosses are waiting for me!
Don’t tell it to anyone but I think I have more inspiration for this level than for the last one – that I really enjoyed also when I was doing it… it is good news for the following.
I enjoy what I do from the beginning, but I enjoy it more and more, I hope you feel it in the results.
The Betelgeuse sector enemies are done (including mid-boss) and the boss is mostly done. I have also been working on game design as we are working with ClemenC on the Mazinger sector’s general design, enemy design and the overall feel we want to give to that level. ClemenC has finished the background and it is a really interesting one.
The level will be quite different from other levels as you will have the opportunity to speed up or down the movement in that level using booster platforms. Your score will also depend on how much time it took you to beat the level…and there might be a surprise on the final boss as well 🙂 but i’ll keep that a secret for now.
As a side note, we have begun thinking about game conventions and events where we could show the game to more people. We need to get more people to know about the game as we feel it is generally well received so far.
The alpha demo is still out so if you haven’t tried it yet, hop on to GameJolt, Itch.io or Indiexpo and give it a try!
We have a new logo! Augmented Irreality (or nightmare?)
ClemenC has been working on this site (the old one was something i quickly threw together a long time ago and forgot a bit about) and has created us this beautiful new logo which will also be used in a new splash intro to replace the old (ugly) one.
As for myself, I have been working on finalizing the enemies for the Betelgeuse sector (the infested planet one) and ran into some trouble with a simple bezier curve (mainly because i had forgotten how to use the function which is, in fact, fully functional). But the enemies are coming along nicely and should be done shortly.
Next up will be the boss which i know will be a fun one. We want to keep the surprise for the full game but believe me when i say you’ll have fun fighting it !
Things have quieted down a bit after the alpha demo launch but thanks to Gamejolt which put us on the front page, we have had a lot of exposure and, as a result, videos of the demo and the first previews of the game on softpedia, indieretronews and other websites have surfaced. The feedback is very positive and we are glad to see people like the game. We have a lot of areas to improve, obviously, but this means we are not working in vain and our efforts will pay in the end. Can’t wait to finish the game and see people play it on a full release.
With that said, removing new undiscovered bugs (there were only a few, thankfully), launching the demo and marketing it and communicating a lot around the game has taken me more time than i wish and as a result, i am lagging a bit behind schedule. I hope to turn this around by working more this week than usual (i’m probably going to end up working all weekend).
I have been working for more than 2 weeks on level 4 graphics, including background, enemies and bosses. It is nearly finished, at last.
For the background, I wanted to add a little bit more atmosphere, so I decided to add rain to the background. At first, I wanted also to draw a dark background, something in the night, so the atmosphere would have been heavier. But because other backgrounds are rather dark, I prefered to stay on something taking place during the day.
For the boss, because of animations, it took much more time than I planned to. It is long to animate even small parts. But it seems okay now and I am waiting for them to be included in the level (at this time I will have some corrections to do, but that is part of the game…).
On monday, I start drawing level 5. A rather dark, this one.
