Overall it seemed like our presentation went fairly well. Once again it was a bit lacking in the excitement factor, unfortunately, but I think that's because we've never really learned (or at least I haven't) how to sell something.
I was really happy with our prototype. I feel that the amount of work we put into it really showed and that (in a non-bragging way) it was much better then anything else we saw, especially considering we wrote everything from scratch and didn't take any of our code from elsewhere.
We got a lot of good feedback and I think we're well prepared for the actual presentation.
I really hope we make it to the next stage.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Prototype Day 2
We spent 6 hours working on the prototype today. We started off getting the monsters to move a bit smoother across the map. It's better, but still not perfect. The vast majority of time was spent on the equipment screen.
I'm feeling really good about the work we got done with it. We ran into a serious snag when we couldn't figure out how to use C#'s built in drop down menus (if it even has any....) and ended up having to completely build our own from scratch. We actually ended up faking it, but at least we learned how we'd do it for real if we make it past the prototype stage. In particular we focused on spell equipment as we felt it was the most unique part of the window, we also got a combination spell up and working.
Remaining work is to get the battle screen going and some fine tuning on the dungeon delving (the player still can't move around). We likely won't have these done by Tuesday to demo for the class, but we'll have them done for the final presentation for sure.
I'm feeling really good about the work we got done with it. We ran into a serious snag when we couldn't figure out how to use C#'s built in drop down menus (if it even has any....) and ended up having to completely build our own from scratch. We actually ended up faking it, but at least we learned how we'd do it for real if we make it past the prototype stage. In particular we focused on spell equipment as we felt it was the most unique part of the window, we also got a combination spell up and working.
Remaining work is to get the battle screen going and some fine tuning on the dungeon delving (the player still can't move around). We likely won't have these done by Tuesday to demo for the class, but we'll have them done for the final presentation for sure.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Hook Creation
Today in class we got feedback from the teachers saying our hook was pretty weak, which actually wasn't terribly dissapointing as I've been feeling that way for a while. We know we have a fun game (we wouldn't be so excited about making it otherwise), but we just weren't sure what set it apart and really made it fun.
Now we do.
We're going to have fully customizable items. What this means is that items will still be gained from chests as before, however, you'll also have the option to break down any item in your inventory to it's component parts. With parts you'll have the options of Enhancing or Creating. Enhancement will increase the power of whatever item you select, for example an Iron Sword will become a +1 Iron Sword. It will then take twice as many materials to increase it to +2. This allows you to recycle un-needed gear to boost your current best gear. Creation will allow you to take materials and make completely new equipment out of it. For instance if you ended up getting 5 Iron Swords and no armor from the random chests you can break 4 of those swords down and assemble a suit of armor out of the materials. To preserve balance items will only Enhance or Create inside of their tier (You can't break down 100 Copper Daggers and make a Diamond Sword).
This should really enhance the game as it preserves the random nature, but allows the player to customize exactly what gear they want to be using and will prevent "bad luck" from hampering a run down.
If that wasn't enough we're also going to be implementing customizable, character unique spells. Each character will have 9 spell slots broken into 3 groups. A slot for 2 spells, a slot for 3 spells, and a slot for 4 spells. If correct spells are placed into a grouping then a combination spell will be unlocked for that character. For example Level 1 Fire and Level 1 Water combined in the double slot would result in Steam. On top of this, each spell will be completely unique for each character who equips it. Level 1 Fire on the Black Mage would be Fireball, Flame Blade for the Warrior, Cauterize for the Cleric, and something else (lol) for the generic class.
We feel that these elements should really separate it from other games similar to it, as well as making it really fun to play.
Now we do.
We're going to have fully customizable items. What this means is that items will still be gained from chests as before, however, you'll also have the option to break down any item in your inventory to it's component parts. With parts you'll have the options of Enhancing or Creating. Enhancement will increase the power of whatever item you select, for example an Iron Sword will become a +1 Iron Sword. It will then take twice as many materials to increase it to +2. This allows you to recycle un-needed gear to boost your current best gear. Creation will allow you to take materials and make completely new equipment out of it. For instance if you ended up getting 5 Iron Swords and no armor from the random chests you can break 4 of those swords down and assemble a suit of armor out of the materials. To preserve balance items will only Enhance or Create inside of their tier (You can't break down 100 Copper Daggers and make a Diamond Sword).
This should really enhance the game as it preserves the random nature, but allows the player to customize exactly what gear they want to be using and will prevent "bad luck" from hampering a run down.
If that wasn't enough we're also going to be implementing customizable, character unique spells. Each character will have 9 spell slots broken into 3 groups. A slot for 2 spells, a slot for 3 spells, and a slot for 4 spells. If correct spells are placed into a grouping then a combination spell will be unlocked for that character. For example Level 1 Fire and Level 1 Water combined in the double slot would result in Steam. On top of this, each spell will be completely unique for each character who equips it. Level 1 Fire on the Black Mage would be Fireball, Flame Blade for the Warrior, Cauterize for the Cleric, and something else (lol) for the generic class.
We feel that these elements should really separate it from other games similar to it, as well as making it really fun to play.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Prototype Day 1
We spent 9 hours today working on the prototype. Random level creation is up and running great, the stairs, monsters, chests, and player all randomly spawn. We started working on getting the monsters to randomly move around, but ran into a very strange issue where it seemed like monsters were being created and deleted randomly (which is impossible). We're really not sure at all with what is going wrong or why the code we've written isn't working as it should so a lot of time was spent trying to figure it out.
Things left to do:
Player movement
Player interaction with anything
Equipment screen
Combat (may be left out due to time constraint, generic RPG combat regardless)
It was really cool to get the basics up and running.
Things left to do:
Player movement
Player interaction with anything
Equipment screen
Combat (may be left out due to time constraint, generic RPG combat regardless)
It was really cool to get the basics up and running.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Prototype
Wilson and I are going to begin coding the Prototype for Dungeon Descent tomorrow, we're planning to go at it pretty much all day and we hope to make a lot of progress. In class yesterday we brainstormed a lot about what we want the game to be like and I really like where it's heading. We've decided that the special items will be the best items in the game meaning that they'll be incredibly powerful. As a result, "blue" chests will be very rare (we're thinking an average of one every 20 floors) and it will be very exciting when you do find one. A unique idea that popped up is going to be an item combination system. Every 10 floors when you defeat a boss you'll have a chance to combine items you no longer care about into a randomly generated new item. This item will be based off the gear used to create it and even special "blue chest" gear can be made. CP was unable to make it class unfortunately, but he said he would be e-mailing us the artwork he came up with, I'm looking forward to seeing it.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Top Nine!
Found out today that my game pitch managed to make the top nine so it's one step closer towards being created. Really excited! As soon as I found out in class I started sketching out my prototype ideas and I'm confidant we'll be able to make a really awesome looking demo of what this game is. I really think it stands an excellent chance at advancing on to the final stage as well since it is so unique and there's nothing on the 360 remotely like it.
Really glad that Wilson ended up on my team since we've been talking and thinking out the game for weeks. CP has made a great addition as well, coming up with a lot of really unique ideas for it that have helped develop it quite nicely.
We hope to have some basic art assets done by Thursday and a very basic version of the prototype should be ready by next week.
Really glad that Wilson ended up on my team since we've been talking and thinking out the game for weeks. CP has made a great addition as well, coming up with a lot of really unique ideas for it that have helped develop it quite nicely.
We hope to have some basic art assets done by Thursday and a very basic version of the prototype should be ready by next week.
Original Pitch
The original (modified) pitch presented to the class on 8/31 can be found here: Link.
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