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Drakon Isles Game - For competition

Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2010 2:43 pm
by RexHunter99
It fits in here, so I guess it'll be fine for now.

I recently heard about a competition happening over at the Game Maker Community (many of the older members would remember I used GameMaker a lot before 2009) and now that I have the latest version of Game Maker... I thought I might participate for shits and giggles... that was until I saw the prize for winning (it's usually the winner and runner-ups star in a magazine or get mentioned to rising game companies... one guy was even hired into Yoyogames as a prize before.)

http://glog.yoyogames.com/?p=705&cpage=13#comment-8997

Yeah that's right:
1st = $1000 USD
2nd = $500 USD
3rd = $250 USD

So, I figured I'd have a decent chance of atleast scoring runner up, and with the restrictions I was instantly reminded of Trespasser oddly enough. Having only the ability to use the Arrow keys, 'P' and Escape keys as well as 1 other key as an action key, and also being limited to Handheld capabilities is going to be really fun.
First off I realized a lot of people would be attempting games they know they can finish. So with that in mind I began to think about my own plans, with the limitations in place I easily and quite quickly settled for a game idea which I'm still working over now to rid the design sheet of it's ugly wrinkles.

The graphical style will be a 3D 'Toon' environment. The texture resources won't need many colors nor much detail so the 10MB filesize limit isn't much of an issue for me. The 3D part will be interesting however, Game Maker is restricted enough as it is... but I think I can pull off what I want to do.


Anyways on with the game stuff:

The game world takes place in a mythical set of islands known as the Drakon Isles to the creatures that live there. You play as a young Dragon separated from their flock on one of the forbidden isles.
In this RPG you will fight the natural inhabitants to find out why you were stranded and how to get home, zany enemies and environments populate the game world along with dozens of items to collect.
As you level up, you'll gain new combat skills, gain access to special areas and will find more powerful and useful items!

There will be a few 'main' islands you'll be on:
  • Mysterious Isle - Dark and mysterious...
  • Swampy Isle - Thick, mucky and hot. Surely something good is here.
  • Tall Isle - It's so tall!
  • Woodland Isle - Deep woods shroud the isle...
  • Desert Isle - Odd ruins sit at the center of this wasteland, what treasures await?
  • Burning Isle - That Volcano looks dangerous!
I might trim that list down or add more depending on how much I can get done in time.

Hopefully, with the intended corniness of the graphics, the simplicity of the "Jump right in!" gameplay and the zany characters will mesh it all together into an entertaining experience.


Coding-wise I'm writing all the functions I'll need later on to simplify the coding of the game once I need it... if only you could see the list of functions :P so many.

That's all for now, I'll update this topic as decent progress is being made.

Re: Drakon Isles Game - For competition

Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 1:02 am
by RexHunter99
bump.

I'm making steady progress, here's a screenshot of the menu scene:
Image

All that's needed for the rest of the menu are the menu options of course ;) those will be easy.

Re: Drakon Isles Game - For competition

Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 1:41 am
by Draconisaurus
Just read the main post. This actually sounds pretty interesting.. Let me know if there's a way I can help. (No, I won't ask for any share of the rewards, I'm not interested in profit ;))

Re: Drakon Isles Game - For competition

Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2010 6:20 am
by RexHunter99
Got an update that is sizeably interesting ;)
While the game interface is not yet ready, and nor is the combat system or even stat system or item system, I do have basic gameplay up and running as well as a Developer mode so I can edit levels on the fly (thank the gods...)

Image

I finally got that blasted dragon down. It has quite a background story to it... but that's for another time.

To whom cares: I will have restricted access to the internet as of today, what time I do get online, I will use to it's fullest with anything that needs doing.

Re: Drakon Isles Game - For competition

Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2010 5:46 pm
by Anna
Wow, that looks really good! I've noooo idea of how you can do that :D

Re: Drakon Isles Game - For competition

Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2010 6:33 pm
by Draconisaurus
Dude! You have a dragon model now! :| You fraker :lol: I was about to go model your dragon for you, per your request. Damn good thing you posted a pic before I did, I have other business to attend to..

Re: Drakon Isles Game - For competition

Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2010 10:51 pm
by makairu
Wow! that is looking pretty good Rex!

Re: Drakon Isles Game - For competition

Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 12:39 pm
by RexHunter99
The engine is getting closer to an Alpha stage (and possible Alpha release ;) )
Image
I just spent the last 4 hours getting slopes working 100% The level editor is being a pain in the ass with the slope calculations but it's nothing not fixable :P

EDIT:
I'll post up some pre-alpha stage screenshots with the new textures *drools*

Image
Image
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Image

I fixed up my slopes and am very please with how they turned out. Infact they're so easy to add into a level that it's stupid XD

Re: Drakon Isles Game - For competition

Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 3:10 pm
by Draconisaurus
Lol, dude, that's looking mighty fine. Though I almost kinda prefer the Pokemonish textures for some reason :yum: Especially in an unlit environment. I suppose you'll need to figure out what would be most appreciated by the judging for the contest.

Re: Drakon Isles Game - For competition

Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 8:42 pm
by makairu
Draconisaurus wrote:Lol, dude, that's looking mighty fine. Though I almost kinda prefer the Pokemonish textures for some reason :yum: Especially in an unlit environment. I suppose you'll need to figure out what would be most appreciated by the judging for the contest.
Agreed, I like the more simple look, but then again the other one looks nice as well.

I'm surprised you are getting it done so quickly. Instinct hasn't had any progress in weeks (but that could be because of my schedule)

Re: Drakon Isles Game - For competition

Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 11:10 pm
by ErInSaYsRaWr
omg!!! that dragon is adorable!!!! i want it!!! xD lolz

Re: Drakon Isles Game - For competition

Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 4:55 am
by RexHunter99
I honestly dislike the grass texture, but am please with the other ones :)

Re: Drakon Isles Game - For competition

Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 8:11 pm
by Draconisaurus
They're okay xP IM me when you can about it if you want some advice. I'm going to be hiding a lot lately so just IM me and maybe give a sacrifice or two, and I'll think about doing favors ;)