Creating a process game

[blackshirtboy]

Originally Posted by NMe

I think you misunderstood my vague outline of idea 1. My thought was actually having the character transform during the game and having her solve puzzles in this new form in order to revert back to her old form....only to be changed again. Rinse and repeat.[...]

I think this is probably the easiest way to handle the game, and playing with the puzzles and mechanics that each form introduces would probably be really fun. Maybe even make it so that in the later stages the player has to transform themselves to make it through levels.

Also a lot of people have been talking about making the game all 3D models and environments. While I can't speak from a game-making perspective, I know that 3D modeling and rendering is a titanic bitch for animation.
A 2D side scroller would be the easiest way to get the game done and have it looking at least somewhat professional.
Also you have to realize that here on the process we have a bad lack of 3D artists, and an abundance of people who know how to do sprites.

[NMe]

Originally Posted by blackshirtboy

I think this is probably the easiest way to handle the game, and playing with the puzzles and mechanics that each form introduces would probably be really fun. Maybe even make it so that in the later stages the player has to transform themselves to make it through levels.

Agreed. The major difference would be in the setting of the game: with the magic school settings obviously most transformations would be voluntary (gotta catch 'em all ) whereas the mad scientist's lab setting would involve mostly involuntary transformations where trying to revert to human form and escaping would be the end goal of the game.

Also a lot of people have been talking about making the game all 3D models and environments. While I can't speak from a game-making perspective, I know that 3D modeling and rendering is a titanic bitch for animation.
A 2D side scroller would be the easiest way to get the game done and have it looking at least somewhat professional.
Also you have to realize that here on the process we have a bad lack of 3D artists, and an abundance of people who know how to do sprites.

Personally, I don't even like 3D. That would not stop me from making a game with 3D elements if that's somehow helpful and convincing, but games with transformations in it generally are a lot more convincing if they're sprite-based. Animating a 3D model is pretty easy. Making movements look natural is not. And making a 3D model transition from one form into another convincingly is pretty much impossible for non-professionals. Sprites offer more freedom.

Keep in mind that not switching to a 3D view does not mean we couldn't do fun things with the TF animations. At the very least, we could show them using the full window/screen.

[Revan.Prodigal.Knight]

Originally Posted by NMe

Animating a 3D model is pretty easy. Making movements look natural is not. And making a 3D model transition from one form into another convincingly is pretty much impossible for non-professionals.

That's not entirely true, it's just a lot of trial-and-error. And a pain in the ***. And time consuming. And life consuming. And demeaning. *rants about how much positioning 3D models to look natural sucks for another 5 hours*

And that's just for the still images.

[NMe]

Well, the big problem is that in order to make a model transform from a person into an animal, you'd not only have to make a new skin/texture for each step along the way, but you'd have to translate each vertex so that it fits with the new form. For most forms, the amount of vertices will differ between start and end forms, making the TF look unnatural very easily.

Anyway, full 3D is not going to happen for this game, and using it partially for certain scenes does not have my preference. Let's keep it at that for now.

[Revan.Prodigal.Knight]

Originally Posted by NMe

Anyway, full 3D is not going to happen for this game, and using it partially for certain scenes does not have my preference. Let's keep it at that for now.

Ah, thank goodness. I'm only learning 3D stuff this next semester, anyways, and I'm already afraid enough of the prof I'll have for the class.

[NMe]

Just a little update on my progress so far. I've been designing a simple 2D game engine on paper. Luckily I can get that done even before we get a full team together and before we even agree on a story, as anything we decide on later should be supported just fine by whatever I come up with (and if it isn't, I will have failed at my job ). I will semi-finalize my design by Friday, at which point I'll discuss it in detail with my boss and another colleague. Assuming they don't say it's a total piece of crap, I will be spending my weekend building the lion's share of the engine, meaning that we can focus on (the programming of) the actual story later on.

Anyway, we'll need more artists. Is anyone else interested or do you know anyone who would be?

[blackshirtboy]

I could try to drum up some interest with other artists I know. It also might be worth posting in the Artists Hub subforum, though I don't know how active it is anymore.

[NMe]

My guess is that people who read in the Artist's Hub also read this subforum, but if this doesn't work out, I could always try it later on. That being said: it would be great if you could poke around and see if there are people you know that would like to join in.

If worst comes to worst I could dust off my Wacom tablet and at least help out drawing stuff that requires a bit less detail like scenery, but I'd like to prevent that course of action.

[Revan.Prodigal.Knight]

Just add a gaussian blur to all the backgrounds and you should be fine no matter how roughly you sketch it.

[blackshirtboy]

Originally Posted by Revan.Prodigal.Knight

Just add a gaussian blur to all the backgrounds and you should be fine no matter how roughly you sketch it.

Oh... god... I just threw up in my mouth a little.

[NMe]

Made me giggle.

[vincent_richter]

Originally Posted by blackshirtboy

Oh... god... I just threw up in my mouth a little.

Two words. The. Witcher.