Week 17

We've come a long way, haven't we?

This week has been one of those unpleasant 'maintenance weeks' for Shane, who has been cleaning up animation and memory issues within the game -- namely, reducing animation sizes, shifting sprites to align with their shadows, etc. It's a tedious job but it needed to be done.

Meanwhile, I've been working on creating props for the environment and creating the How To Play menu. I also redid the armory for easier initial understanding. I also made the pause menu.

I received feedback from a level designer at Made In Mass who said that the armory had misled her -- she believed she could only pick one weapon or armor. I attempted to alleviate this confusion by adding a small blurb in the armory and changing some background art so show how the weapons and armors are grouped separately. Furthermore, I redid each item description to explain the passives and abilities of each weapon and armor. Hopefully, this will help players hop right into gameplay rather than having to figure out what each weapon and armor does.

I've considered eliminating the armory and replacing it with weapon and armor racks in the spawn room where players could attain new equipment. However, it appears the risk/reward ratio for testing this would be too high at this point in development, and I will probably focus on making the armory as simple as possible for new players.

Here is what the new environment props look like (I haven't converted them for the red base yet):

Meanwhile, JT implemented the pause menu, did other miscellaneous menu implementation work, added our music to the game, and implemented several other sound effects.

Next week, we're planning to add a new weapon and to implement all of the level art I've created into the actual game. I'll be finishing up the environment art and how to play menu, as well as starting to create dialog for the bots.

Week 16

Yo!

This week our team went to Made in Mass. We got both praise and feedback from real industry insiders, which was a real privilege. We're still slaving away to get features into the game, so keep your eyes open for bot voices, new weapons and armors, a fully implemented menu system, and more!

Between PAX and Made in Mass, it's been a tough week to get together and work. I wrote up all of the item descriptions for the game, and JT got them in -- but looking back, I'm thinking that the special abilities need clear descriptions, to help new players. I also set up our final report, which outlines our design and development processes, as well as a post-mortem and references and all those goodies. I've also begun planning the props I'll be adding for the environment to fill it out (empty rooms aren't very exciting).

Shane did this stuff.

He insisted that I also mention that he did "a hundred times as many head animations as that", as well as animation alterations and flaming samurai head stuff". So there you have it.

JT added the functionality for the samurai armor ability, along with a makeshift animation that Shane supplied until he can get the flaming head working correctly (it's some tricky nonsense, I tell ya). JT also fixed a ton of bugs. There are always more bugs. He managed to set up a tech demo for Made In Mass, which was great, because it let people try out all the functionality without any multiplayer. He also added some changes I requested for the bow -- bigger arrow hitboxes, faster draw, stuff like that.

Week 15

Hola!  (French for "Pizza!")

This week, we've been focusing on getting the game trailer-ready. That means getting the game into a beta-state where almost all of the content is in. As such, I have taken the liberty of finishing the level art and passing it on to JT, who worked overtime to get it in for Monday.

Shane has been working vigorously on adding alternate heads to the game. It's a nasty, tedious task that I've forced him to do, as an eternal punishment for his crimes against the Greek Pantheon. You'll be seeing these badboys next week.

In addition to adding the new level art, JT has added pushback to the spear attack, hit effects (sparks and oil), and the peasant armor ability (which I'm calling The Goldfish, because you're fishing... for gold).

It's all available for you to try out right here!

Check out the trailer!



Adios, amigo! (That's French for "get lost, kid!")

Week 13/14

Here's what the team was up to during the week preceding our Senior spring break (which I spent having my wisdom teeth removed - and what a thrilling experience it has been!):

Shane has been doing this stuff:




On JT's end:

• The game now features a Name Entry screen on startup. Killed your best friend with an arrow to the heart? (Admit it, you've thought about it once or twice) Now everybody can laugh about it, as it's clearly displayed in the top-right corner of their screen.

• There's finally Xbox controller support! At last, the mild unpleasantness of playing Bushido Bots on your keyboard has become an un-necessity! (Okay, that's definitely not a word.)

• A finalized credits screen. Credits all around!

• Bug fixing!!! We got all exterminator up in here.

• Armors affect movement speed. No more Samurai in full body armor keeping pace with those pesky ninjas. Sorry, samurai! (Always wanted to say that).

And on MY end, I've been working on creating a new area for the players to perform acts of violence in. Check out this (no longer) serene field of Sakura.

We even made a powerpoint about all this sweet sweet progress, for our Faculty Advisor. Go ahead and check that out if you're vibin' it.

Attachment (1) from wyattgray1

Vibin' out,
-Wyatt

Week 12

JT

Spear Grapple:

Goo Shot:

SHANE

Peasant Armor Ability and New Death Explosion:

WYATT

Barracks:

Wooden Room:

Third Floor Pattern:

Week 11

Want to see some new stuff in action? Check out this video that JT made this morning:

So what's new this week? Shane has been busy getting the peasant armor 100% finished. He also added animations for the bow and spear abilities. Check out these awesome new animations:

I did some HUD work. I redid the HP Gears and replaced them with 'ticks'. These are much easier on the eyes, easier to count, and they compress well. You can see them in JT's video. Note that they will be adjacent for next week. Also note that they change color to yellow / red when the player's HP drops to 1/2 and 1/4, respectively.

I converted the main menu into symbols and uploaded it all into the SVN so that JT could make it usable. It is also available to view in JT's video. You can also see the new HUD layout I've designed as well -- note that everything is compressed at the top of the screen so that nothing will obscure the player's vision of the battlefield. I've also located some more sound effects, this time for the ninja, spear, and bow abilities. I'll be editing these and they'll be in-game for next week.

Lastly, I've been working on creating some finalized level art. It may not look like much, but I think I've nailed down the style I'll be using. Here's a sneak peek:

The room - first pass

Close-up

Mountains of gold

Cobblestones

JT has been working to resolve issues with the school firewall (interfering with network play) as well as a nasty memory issue where all the art we've made is hogging a ton of resources due to an annoying feature built into Ex2D that increases each file's size.

He also managed to add some new UI elements, and shift the UI around towards a finalized version (it's not there yet, but it's getting close!) He added the weapon/armor ability cooldown icons and got the main menu working as well.

Should all go as planned, you'll be seeing peasant armor in-game next week, and maybe a new environment for the bots to battle in.

Week 10

This week has been heavy on behind-the-scenes work. JT has been busy resolving networking and animation bugs. That means no video this week. But it also equates to a smoother experience for you, dear reader!

After a rigorous musical odyssey, I have procured a sweet selection of music for our game. I'll be matching these bumpin' beats with the gameplay, main menu, and victory screen very soon. Here are a few samples:

Shogun
Connecting to Japan
Mist of Battle

I finished up the teleporter, created Ability Cooldown HUD elements, and made Kill Tracker weapon silhouettes as well.

I've also made first-pass menus. Check these out:

Shane started working on the bow's new special ability, the goo-shot, which traps its victim in place for a couple seconds.

And he got a ton of spear animations done as well.
See you next week!