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Windows The N Word

Sammi3

Member

The N Word Banner.png
THE N WORD
The N-Word is a top-down roguelike spaghetti western shooter where you play as a slave taking revenge for the lynching of her husband in the old west. Take control of turrets, take cover and kill everyone in your way.
I threw together this prototype in my spare time in the last two days and was looking to see what the public opinion on this would be and whether it would be viable to continue making it. This is just demonstrating some early mechanics while I try to balance out the difficulty.

SCREENSHOTS




The premise is a bit heavy and I certainly am not trying to make an emotional game. I just want to try something random. Feedback will be much appreciated.

Version Update History
Update Version 0.0.0.6

- Blood effects
- Tweaked level generation
- Tweaked enemy AI
- Tweaked damage to player and enemies
- Added cacti that do nothing yet apart from making good cover




Update Version 0.0.0.5

-Put a deadeye meter and added a few effects. Changed the gun to a Winchester Rifle for testing purposes.

-A few menu changes

-Added pause function

-Updated some sprites including dead enemy sprites
Update Version 0.0.0.4
-Deadeye effect to go into slow motion and take time aiming
Update Version 0.0.0.3
-Gamepad controls (When a Gamepad is connected, it is the default control format. So if you want to use mouse+keyboard, you will have to disconnect the gamepad)
-Improved procedural generation (more corridors, more cover)
-GUI updated
-Tweaked difficulty
-Added SFX for opening chests
~Endeva
 
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Sammi3

Member
If those loading bars are fake, please remove it, nobody likes loading bars and it doesn't make your game look more professional
Sadly, the loading bars aren't fake.The maps are procedural generated so you are waiting for the map to be generated. I wrote about this on my blog ^-^ http://bit.ly/rogue48

Here's a gif of what's going on behind the scenes:


Someone wants to make Nuclear Throne...


^^
Nuclear Throne was also inspired by another game: http://teknopants.com/2011/05/shoot-first/
But I was influenced by Nuclear Throne's proc generation I will admit. I wish I could say more to your comment but it doesn't really discuss my game so I'm limited in what I can say.
 
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N

nvrogers

Guest
I really like the concept for the story and what you have so far feels pretty good (Those sound effects are awesome!). The problem is that what you have right now can't really be balanced in any meaningful way. You've combined the procedural generation of Nuclear Throne with the hit-scan (technically in this it's just very fast bullets) combat of Hotline Miami. The issue with that is that Hotline Miami's combat only works because there is plenty of cover and you can learn the level layouts by dying over and over again. In your game, the level generation frequently creates large, empty spaces and the layout changes every time you die. Combine that with the fact that you start over fresh every time and your chances of getting farther than about level 3 are pretty slim. The design is contradictory at almost every level. The way I see it, there are two ways to fix this: change the moment to moment gameplay, or change the overall design. I'll address both of those below:

Make the Bullets Slower:
One option is to make the enemy bullets slower. This is what Nuclear Throne does, and it works very well for them. It would encourage circle strafing and more player movement in general. I would not recommend this, however. Not only would you lose the (fantastic) feature of enemies using the turrets, but it would also fundamentally change the game's identity. Right now, you get the sense that you are fighting against opponents who are largely your equals, as opposed to Nuclear Throne's monsters. There is some actual tension in hiding behind cover and waiting to jump into the fight. It feels like a cross between a Tarantino film with a lot less blood. Plus , the combat is what distinguishes your game from Nuclear Throne, so changing it would really make this game feel like an imitation (right now it just kinda looks like one.).

Scrap Procedural Generation:
I think that the best way to keep the identity of your game intact and also make it playable is to get rid of the procedural generation. As I mentioned earlier, It doesn't really fit well with the other design elements. It's also the weakest link. The caves it generates are, frankly, rather boring. That wouldn't be a problem if it fit in with the rest of the game, but because it doesn't it makes more sense to scrap it than the entire combat system. Aside from the fighting, what really works about your game is the story. It's a clean and simple revenge story that feels as if it jumped right out of a spaghetti western. So designing the game to support it would be a pretty good idea. If it were my game, I would create one, somewhat long, and very difficult level ending with the final boss, who you are taking revenge on. The level would, of course, start out easy and get increasingly difficult, but it would all be planned out to have plenty of cover and relatively small groups of enemies. Players would also be able to learn the layout. The catch is that when you die, you go all the way back to the beginning. As a player gets better, they might learn shortcuts that allow them to skip some of the boring stuff at the beginning.This approach would lend itself to a very tightly crafted revenge story as well as allowing you to take direct control over the pacing and tension, but death would still matter (as it does in a rogue like).

What you have right now is interesting and kinda fun for a few minutes, but you won't be able to make an actual game out of it unless you are willing to make some pretty sizable changes.
 

Sammi3

Member
I really like the concept for the story and what you have so far feels pretty good (Those sound effects are awesome!). The problem is that what you have right now can't really be balanced in any meaningful way. You've combined the procedural generation of Nuclear Throne with the hit-scan (technically in this it's just very fast bullets) combat of Hotline Miami. The issue with that is that Hotline Miami's combat only works because there is plenty of cover and you can learn the level layouts by dying over and over again. In your game, the level generation frequently creates large, empty spaces and the layout changes every time you die. Combine that with the fact that you start over fresh every time and your chances of getting farther than about level 3 are pretty slim. The design is contradictory at almost every level. The way I see it, there are two ways to fix this: change the moment to moment gameplay, or change the overall design. I'll address both of those below:

Make the Bullets Slower:
One option is to make the enemy bullets slower. This is what Nuclear Throne does, and it works very well for them. It would encourage circle strafing and more player movement in general. I would not recommend this, however. Not only would you lose the (fantastic) feature of enemies using the turrets, but it would also fundamentally change the game's identity. Right now, you get the sense that you are fighting against opponents who are largely your equals, as opposed to Nuclear Throne's monsters. There is some actual tension in hiding behind cover and waiting to jump into the fight. It feels like a cross between a Tarantino film with a lot less blood. Plus , the combat is what distinguishes your game from Nuclear Throne, so changing it would really make this game feel like an imitation (right now it just kinda looks like one.).

Scrap Procedural Generation:
I think that the best way to keep the identity of your game intact and also make it playable is to get rid of the procedural generation. As I mentioned earlier, It doesn't really fit well with the other design elements. It's also the weakest link. The caves it generates are, frankly, rather boring. That wouldn't be a problem if it fit in with the rest of the game, but because it doesn't it makes more sense to scrap it than the entire combat system. Aside from the fighting, what really works about your game is the story. It's a clean and simple revenge story that feels as if it jumped right out of a spaghetti western. So designing the game to support it would be a pretty good idea. If it were my game, I would create one, somewhat long, and very difficult level ending with the final boss, who you are taking revenge on. The level would, of course, start out easy and get increasingly difficult, but it would all be planned out to have plenty of cover and relatively small groups of enemies. Players would also be able to learn the layout. The catch is that when you die, you go all the way back to the beginning. As a player gets better, they might learn shortcuts that allow them to skip some of the boring stuff at the beginning.This approach would lend itself to a very tightly crafted revenge story as well as allowing you to take direct control over the pacing and tension, but death would still matter (as it does in a rogue like).

What you have right now is interesting and kinda fun for a few minutes, but you won't be able to make an actual game out of it unless you are willing to make some pretty sizable changes.
Yeah I was thinking about the second option. I made the procedural generation before I thought of the story or gameplay and it just stuck in the background. Thanks for the really in depth feedback and I can go back and think about this more. Thanks again.
 

Sammi3

Member
Update Version 0.0.0.3
-Gamepad controls (When a Gamepad is connected, it is the default control format. So if you want to use mouse+keyboard, you will have to disconnect the gamepad)
-Improved procedural generation (more corridors, more cover)
-GUI updated
-Tweaked difficulty
-Added SFX for opening chests
 

HighlandCoo

Member
Pros
- Great premise, instantly involving and relatable.
- great setting and core mechanics.

Cons
- needs more permenence - dead bodies, bullet casings, impact marks, foot prints
- needs more feedback, add camera flash, muzzle flashes, screenshake for hits, firing, etc
- camera is mental, slow it down! :)
 

ShaunJS

Just Another Dev
GMC Elder
The premise is a bit heavy and I certainly am not trying to make an emotional game. I just want to try something random.
I'd be careful with the name. Regardless of your intention it might come across like you're trying to include something explicitly political. Which if you are, then fine, but the above sentence implies otherwise. I mean, technically all games are implicitly political, but if you're going for wacky and random I think "The N-word" (which is super emotionally loaded) might give some users the wrong impression off the bat. It makes me expect a game dealing with something nuanced, heavy and very carefully considered at best, something potentially tasteless and crass at worst, or something in between.

I'd avoid emotionally baiting unless you're willing to commit. Otherwise it just feels out of place.

Just 2 cents, just worth being careful.
 

Yal

šŸ§ *penguin noises*
GMC Elder
I second showing the generation process to the player. It'd alleviate the 'can't learn the layout' issues @nvrogers point out somewhat, and make loading feel more engaging. You could even add "pen scrawl" sound effects to make it seem like a *literal*map of the area is being drawn, and let the player press a button to proceed once the map is done (aka they can look at it as much as they want to get an idea of the layout).
 

Sammi3

Member
I'd be careful with the name. Regardless of your intention it might come across like you're trying to include something explicitly political. Which if you are, then fine, but the above sentence implies otherwise. I mean, technically all games are implicitly political, but if you're going for wacky and random I think "The N-word" (which is super emotionally loaded) might give some users the wrong impression off the bat. It makes me expect a game dealing with something nuanced, heavy and very carefully considered at best, something potentially tasteless and crass at worst, or something in between.

I'd avoid emotionally baiting unless you're willing to commit. Otherwise it just feels out of place.

Just 2 cents, just worth being careful.
The storyboard I have for the game involves touching on chattel slavery and race relations during the old west period. I still want the gameplay to take center stage which is why I alluded to not wanting to create an emotional game. I'm not making a political statement rather creating a scenario set in a certain time period and exploring it. I might change the name to something else but as of now it's not a priority. Although I will warn that the language usage in the game is likely to be as liberal as it is in Tarantino films.

@HighlandCoo
Haha, yeah the camera is mad. Will probably try to use some lerping or tweening to keep it stable.
I'm very terrible with pixel art but yes I do plan to add decals (have to have the customary animal skull). What do you mean by camera flash? As in what event to trigger it?

@Yal and @Rivo7014
The generation looks pretty ugly (IMO) but if people like that I guess I could just remove the loading screen or at least put a button for the player to press but then again, the level generation happens pretty quick (and I seem to be making it faster every time I tweak it).

Thanks for the feedback everyone!
 

HighlandCoo

Member
@HighlandCoo
Haha, yeah the camera is mad. Will probably try to use some lerping or tweening to keep it stable.
I'm very terrible with pixel art but yes I do plan to add decals (have to have the customary animal skull). What do you mean by camera flash? As in what event to trigger it?
To me, it is not clear that the player is taking damage. Perhaps add camera flash (like draw a red rectangle over the screen for a single step) or make the player sprite flash to indicate damage, heck just shoot blood and gus everywhere :) Just something to indicate damage, besides the little bar going down?
 

ShaunJS

Just Another Dev
GMC Elder
I'm not making a political statement rather creating a scenario set in a certain time period and exploring it
Actually you will whether you intend to or not, which is sorta my point. =) How you choose to 'explore' that time period will determine what that statement is.

Every game sends a message (or reflects an idea), even the ones that try really hard not to (because that ends up being their message!).

Good video on the subject here.

Anyway, do what you will, obviously. Doesn't seem like a huge problem I'd just advise you to be careful is all!
 

hippyman

Member
I don't really think it's ultimately a terrible name. Although I do feel that it's rather blunt.


I also think that it would be pretty cool to see the generation process while it was loading. It will show impatient players that their wait is not in vain.
 

Sammi3

Member
Actually you will whether you intend to or not, which is sorta my point. =) How you choose to 'explore' that time period will determine what that statement is.

Every game sends a message (or reflects an idea), even the ones that try really hard not to (because that ends up being their message!).

Good video on the subject here.

Anyway, do what you will, obviously. Doesn't seem like a huge problem I'd just advise you to be careful is all!
@ShaunJS That video really put things into perspective. While I knew that I was heavily influenced by the culture I grew up in, I was one of the arrogant to think that I could remove myself from it to give an objective point of view. Thanks for the video!

@hippyman Yeah the name can seem pretty plain. If I develop the storyboard more I could change it to something relating to the story. As of now as I said it's not a priority but it definitely is something I have thought about. I guess I'll have to find a way to make the generation process look less ugly as it seems that people don't mind seeing it.

@HighlandCoo What I'm working on right now is for haptic feedback for game controllers and screen shake when getting hit. Right now there should be screen shake when shooting though but yes I definitely agree that there isn't much feedback to the user that they are being hit. Thank you for the input.
 
G

Greenhawk

Guest
Whoo. I open up the forum to see this title pop up ;p. Kinda threw me off a little bit. I like the plot/story though. I think you should change the name, bot because it's heavy but to suit more of the game. Maybe something like the Widow Slave kr the Tale of the *insert name here* Those might be a tad heavy too, now that i think about it. The game mechanics are alright and i think you should go for the hotline miami feel. Just a little of it though.
 
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Sammi3

Member
@Greenhawk Haha, I think the second name you suggested is heavier than 'The N Word'.

Update Version 0.0.04
-Added a deadeye effect similar to the Red Dead series of games.

-SFX for slow motion
-Screenshake when hit by bullet and haptic feedback on gamepads
 
G

Greenhawk

Guest
Yeah, maybe. Sorry about that. But going back to your game, you should add like a heartbeat sound effect for when your character is red, gradually getting faster the closer to death it gets. And #2 "It's Hiiiiigh Noooon!!!!". Love your deadeye feature!
 

Sammi3

Member
Yeah, maybe. Sorry about that. But going back to your game, you should add like a heartbeat sound effect for when your character is red, gradually getting faster the closer to death it gets. And #2 "It's Hiiiiigh Noooon!!!!". Love your deadeye feature!
Hmm... I'm trying to spend no money on making this game (well until I have to) so I'll see if I can find a free heartbeat sfx. And the deadeye effect was actually inspired by the Red Dead series but yeah :p
 

Yal

šŸ§ *penguin noises*
GMC Elder
The draw_healthbar() healthbars kinda stick out style-wise from the other graphics right now, I'd suggest looking into replacing them next time you do a graphics overhaul. (It's not that hard to make custom ones, I personally love using draw_sprite_part() to draw parts of a snazzy pixelart healthbar sprite).
 

Sammi3

Member
@Yal Definitely. The player health will be shown on the top right as a semi circle and the enemies wont have healthbars in the end. I just put the healthbars their in order to balance the game up in terms of damage.

Here's a test for how I'll have the GUI for the deadeye and health:
 
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Yal

šŸ§ *penguin noises*
GMC Elder
@Yal Definitely. The player health will be shown on the top right as a semi circle and the enemies wont have healthbars in the end. I just put the healthbars their in order to balance the game up in terms of damage.

Here's a test for how I'll have the GUI for the deadeye and health:
Pretty cool! I was worried about the lack of contrast in the health-half-circle-bar, but I tried making it grayscale in GIMP to simulate red-green color blindness and it actually is even easier to distinguish green from red :3
(Not to mention the contrast between characters and level is pretty good as well, so good job on that!)

Also, even if you add in haptic feedback, don't forget there's players that will play with just a keyboard for one reason or another (e.g. play a game on their laptop when they're on a bus or something, they're too lazy to dig out their controllers out of their computer shelf unless they've got friends... or maybe they use a cheap 3rd-party controller without vibrations) or have turned off phone vibration to save battery life, so it's a good idea to have aural/visual feedback for getting hit as well.
 

Sammi3

Member
Pretty cool! I was worried about the lack of contrast in the health-half-circle-bar, but I tried making it grayscale in GIMP to simulate red-green color blindness and it actually is even easier to distinguish green from red :3
(Not to mention the contrast between characters and level is pretty good as well, so good job on that!)

Also, even if you add in haptic feedback, don't forget there's players that will play with just a keyboard for one reason or another (e.g. play a game on their laptop when they're on a bus or something, they're too lazy to dig out their controllers out of their computer shelf unless they've got friends... or maybe they use a cheap 3rd-party controller without vibrations) or have turned off phone vibration to save battery life, so it's a good idea to have aural/visual feedback for getting hit as well.
You know, I never thought about colour blind gamers :/ Feel guilty about that but I'm glad there wasn't an issue. I just used slight variations of one palette for the characters and the background.

I might make the chacter flash white for a second to show that the character got hit and might add a heart beat sound when the hp reached below a certain level.
 

Sammi3

Member
I'm curious, where did you get that font from? is it built in to gamemaker or did you make it yourself? or did you get it from somewhere else... It's pretty cool.

Also, maybe you should make the screen gradually turn black and white when the player is near death. It kinda captures that old western movie type feeling. Although that might be annoying.
I got it from one of those free font websites. It was free to use for commercial and personal purposes.

I might test that out later and see how if it works. Or I might draw a blood overlay on the screen that gets more visible the lower your health goes
 

Sammi3

Member
Update Version 0.0.0.5

-Put a deadeye meter and added a few effects. Changed the gun to a Winchester Rifle for testing purposes.

-A few menu changes

-Added pause function

-Updated some sprites including dead enemy sprites

Tell me what you think and any things you would like to see in the game :)
 
F

FROGANUS

Guest
Yo Sammi/Ndeva-
Glad to see this- it looks cool. I thought for sure at first, but now i'm wondering- is it a rework from 'heroes of pit' ???
User "amusudan" posted on the previous forum something similar but sillier... (After some anguish I did beat that game thru to day 10, FYI).

Anyways, nice style, like the color pallette and characters.
Some random points/comments/suggestions:

-Too hard/not enough ammo. I kept running out of ammo. Didn't need so much health. Could have used a MELEE attack. Maybe I suck at aim?

-What are the jar thing pickups?

-I had a gun turret not work and i got stuck in it. (maybe due to being too close to a wall?)

-What's with the level end? It's like you exit thru underground tunnel that opens?

-Turrets are kinda op, and fun.

-suggest adding some innocents, or maybe random prisoners or slaves you can free and/or join you?

-rattle snakes? cacti? (any other number of obvious western cliches etc)

As for the random generated map debate, I wouldn't abandon the idea so quick. You just need to have some at least 'prefabricated' areas that might be in between the filler, so every now and then you happen to find a town or cave or water or something and these areas can have scripted stuff that might propel the story or who knows. Here I'll throw out another great reference- SPELUNKY. There's filler, but randomly really cool items, shops, bosses, etc.

But anyways, good job,I'll keep an eye out and meantime see how far I can get in this test version!

-FROGANUS
 
F

FROGANUS

Guest
p.s.
i guess its not toooo hard i got to like level 8 after a few more goes.
the screen shake and red effect is a liiiiitle too much imho.
seems the turret glitch is when your back is to a wall when you jump on it, you can get stuck.
 

Sammi3

Member
Yo Sammi/Ndeva-
Glad to see this- it looks cool. I thought for sure at first, but now i'm wondering- is it a rework from 'heroes of pit' ???
User "amusudan" posted on the previous forum something similar but sillier... (After some anguish I did beat that game thru to day 10, FYI).

Anyways, nice style, like the color pallette and characters.
Some random points/comments/suggestions:

-Too hard/not enough ammo. I kept running out of ammo. Didn't need so much health. Could have used a MELEE attack. Maybe I suck at aim?

-What are the jar thing pickups?

-I had a gun turret not work and i got stuck in it. (maybe due to being too close to a wall?)

-What's with the level end? It's like you exit thru underground tunnel that opens?

-Turrets are kinda op, and fun.

-suggest adding some innocents, or maybe random prisoners or slaves you can free and/or join you?

-rattle snakes? cacti? (any other number of obvious western cliches etc)

As for the random generated map debate, I wouldn't abandon the idea so quick. You just need to have some at least 'prefabricated' areas that might be in between the filler, so every now and then you happen to find a town or cave or water or something and these areas can have scripted stuff that might propel the story or who knows. Here I'll throw out another great reference- SPELUNKY. There's filler, but randomly really cool items, shops, bosses, etc.

But anyways, good job,I'll keep an eye out and meantime see how far I can get in this test version!

-FROGANUS
Thanks for the reply :) I did not make heroes of pit haha, wish I would of played it though, I might search it up.

- Yeah I realized that with health, I'd rather have the players health regenerate while having a few health boxes scattered. With the ammo, I was actually planning to change the ammo obtaining system so in the next update you'll probably get to test a new method.

- Yeah that is due to the turret being close to the wall, need to do a check when generating the turrets, as of now it's just random

- The jar pickups were supposed to be chewing tobacco to help refill your deadeye meter faster but I might scrap that method of refilling the deadeye meter altogether. The level end is a placeholder for a horse. You're supposed to ride away on a horse at the end :p

- The turrets (or Gatling gun) are supposed to be very op and in the next update they will be more op. I want bullets to really hurt the player, that way, players will balance caution and aggressiveness.

- I wanted to add slaves you could liberate ( the story is based in a time where the south are reluctant to give up their slaves) but it might be too touch, I might test it out with a few mates and see how they react to it.

- I also wanted to add tumbleweed :p but yeah the game needs more western cliche decals

- Yes the general gist of things is have some prefabricated levels (to what extent I am not sure yet) that advance the story. At the end of the day, I think I have a very interesting background story that I've written that isn't too big that it takes away from the gameplay but still has some small form of complexity. I hope it plays out well.

ALLLLLLLLLLSOOOOOOOO, I made a new banner for the game:

The N Word Banner.png
Just like the game, the banner could do with some decals. Also put the game on GameJolt so make sure you go rate it over there ;)
 

Sammi3

Member
Update Version 0.0.0.6
The N Word 17_07_2016 20_20_04.png
- Blood effects
- Tweaked level generation
- Tweaked enemy AI
- Tweaked damage to player and enemies
- Added cacti that do nothing yet apart from making good cover
The N Word 18_07_2016 20_29_02.png
 
C

ConsolCWBY

Guest
Keep the name for sure it's gonna get your game alot of attention
But is it the 'right' kind of attention?
After all, any flak the dev takes at this point - the dev will have to deal with. For good, for ill, etc. For myself, personally, I'd leave it up to the dev. But all considerations must be taken into account, and I'm sure the dev has done this to their own satisfaction. Just imho - no offense, Sammi.
 

Sammi3

Member
Quick question, how did you do the AI for your game? did you use states? did you use path finding? what kind of movements does your do? I'm just starting to learn more intermediate - advanced 2D AI you see.
I used states, there is this nice example that you can use to learn from: https://www.64digits.com/games/index.php?cmd=view_game&id=3306
It's based on GameMaker 8 but it works in studio and formed the basis of my own finite state system (especially the turret part).

But is it the 'right' kind of attention?
After all, any flak the dev takes at this point - the dev will have to deal with. For good, for ill, etc. For myself, personally, I'd leave it up to the dev. But all considerations must be taken into account, and I'm sure the dev has done this to their own satisfaction. Just imho - no offense, Sammi.
I understand, it will be a title that will divide people but in my regard, it's just exercising my creative freedom and I'll accept both appreciation or criticism for choosing that name. You make a decision and live by it you know.

Anyway, I have been completely reworking the system and I hope to publish an update soon. Internet connection has been shaky recently though since I'm on holiday so I might only be able to upload an update when I am back in the UK.
 
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