BEAST SOCKET (Procedural Monsters)

Let's Clone

Member
I just lost sleep catching up on this thread. I haven't seen it since you made the hats. Where have I been??

I did see your video which was highly entertaining. I'm surprised it hasn't been posted here yet.

So... the water is fantastic, the lizard is wonderful, but my favorite little guys remain to be the copycat penguins and that tough-guy-struttin' frog.

Best of wishes to you and this project! Very inspiring.
I think the last thing I saw was the hats and I just got this notification for your comment. I'm stoked for what I'm about to see!
 

Ninety

Member
Hey I haven't checked this thread in a long time, just dropping in to say this looks MEGA COOL (although I am sad that there apparently aren't sock puppets any more)
 
C

Colin B

Guest
Recently discovered this project and am completely blown away, especially as someone who's been trying to create a pseudo-3D engine for quite some time now.

I remember seeing in your older posts that you stored your terrain information in a 3 dimensional grid using a buffer. Is that still the case?

Also, how is depth sorting managed with the new system as you've moved from 2D to 3D? As in, It appears that all tiles are drawn and billboarded in 3D space, though when the player hops in water, it appears that the player is actually SUBMERGED, rather than clipping through water tiles (as you showed several posts ago).

I'm interested to know how you approached such a hacky method while simultaneously making it look so elegant. This thread is by far the most impressive I've seen on this site and I'm seriously invested in whatever direction you decide to take your game in next. Go ahead and add this to your ego-boost folder lol but I'm actually in awe over not just how polished it all looks, but also how much you managed to complete in such a relatively short period of time.
 

RujiK

Member
REPLIES:
@Bladestorm Games lol thanks. I'll be sure to give you a favorable life when I take over the world with my matrix.

@asollazzo Thanks! And 3 months later it looks like you've succeeded at making your water.

@lolslayer I actually do a lot of my coding at work when it's slow. (Don't tell my employer ;)) Thanks

@CMAllen I actually tried the rotating UV coords thing and it worked, but the seams between different flowing water directions all looked terrible. It could probably be done by some one more experienced though. Thanks for your comment.

@mikix I suppose the politically correct term would be "Exclusively 2d programmers"

@JaimitoEs Thanks a lot! I hope darkspine is going well for you too. 🙌

@HayManMarc Thanks mate, and welcome back to the thread. I like the frogs too :) It was fun to make their goofy animations.

@Let's Clone I hope your still stoked after reading it :)

@Ninety Welcome back to the thread! (Sock puppets were a little too gimmicky IMO) Thanks.

@Colin B Yes, it's still a 3d buffer that holds the tile data. MOST tiles are billboarded, but water is drawn as an actual 3d plane. I'm honored to be the most impressive thing on this site :) Also is three years a short time? It seems like it's taking way too long... But then again, I do have a family and work full time, so I guess I'm doing okay time-wise. Thanks again for your comment.

@Samuel Venable Thanks mate. Anything is possible if your obsessed enough ;)

. . .
DEVELOPMENT:
So I finally was able to make a working IK script:

Unfortunately, the joints still got themselves tied up in knots and would go into completely unnatural positions. After a week of trying all kinds of complex math transformations I realized you could just apply some upward velocity to the joints and they would sort themselves out:

It's literally one line of code but it's 100% effective... Too bad it took me a week to figure it out.

I needed the IK script so I could make 5 bone joints like wings:


So then I could make a dragon:

His idle animation is pretty cool.


And finally, I made some REAL TIME EVOLUTION so he can grow a little every time he levels up.

(Snake > Lizard > Spikey Lizard > Dragon)


YOUTUBE? (Ugh...)

And finally, I "experimented" with video devlogs on youtube. I have about 8,500 followers on twitter and I thought it would be easy to convert twitter guys into youtube followers. But dang, I can't even get 1000 views. Here are the videos for the morbidly curious: (I'm still improving, I swear!)

The 1st video had very poor audience retention and most people quit after 2 minutes. I figured it must have been too boring, so for the 2nd video I tried to "spice it up" and eliminate any dull moments to keep the audience watching, but I took editing too far and several people told me it was unwatchably irritating. I obviously still have a long way to go as a video editor, but I just started a month ago so hopefully I'll improve. I'd appreciate any honest feedback or suggestions for the youtube videos even if they are negative.

I'm not even sure if youtube is worth pursuing though because it takes a lot of extra time. I thought it would be so easy with 8000 followers :mad: (I guess you still need good content first :p)


Thanks for all your comments guys. I do appreciate them and read every one at least twice.
 
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lolslayer

Member
I actually do a lot of my coding at work when it's slow. (Don't tell my employer ;)) Thanks
Calling right now... "Hello, iss this the manager speaking?"
Jks jks, I wish I could do the same 😩

But man, stop flexing for once, those dragon wings are amazing!
 

Ninety

Member
Cool dragon wings - I've never seen IK in GameMaker before.

About your videos... some hopefully constructive criticism...

I think the videos draw a bit too heavily from memey game dev videos which have been recently getting a bit of traction on YouTube (DaniDev for example). If the goal is to make a funny video about fairly generic game development then meme away, but personally I think your videos actually have a lot of more in-depth game dev stuff, and the constant cuts away to video clips distract from the interesting content. Personally I'd tone it down. YouTube channels rarely blow up from one or two videos, and I actually think 1.7k views is pretty solid in less than a week. Viewer retention is always terrible anyway with online content.

I think ThinMatrix and Sebastian Lague are good examples of very successful channels that are more serious in tone, and in their cases I think their high sub/view count comes from gradually building up a community over time.
 
C

Colin B

Guest
Okay. This is officially, as of right now, the sickest thing I've ever seen.

The idea of procedural evolution reminds me of the Chao Gardens from Sonic Adventure 2, and there was something seriously satisfying about that aspect of the game. The clips you've shown somehow capture the same feeling as watching chao's grow and evolve over time and I love it. It made me a little nostalgic. I really can't wait to see what other procedurally generated monsters you create and how they evolve if you decide to add any more.

It would also be cool, in my opinion, if serpents could grow into different things rather than the same kind of dragon. In Sonic Adventure 2, the way you raise a chao affects what it will slowly evolve into. It may be irrelevant to what you're trying to achieve with the game itself, but I think it would be really sick if there was variety in the type of dragon the serpents could evolve into (like maybe some have horns, some don't have wings and are like water dragons/serpents, etc.). Though, you might just want to make a different monster altogether than change the evolution path. Regardless, I don't know how it would be incorporated into your gameplay.

Also, I don't know how you did it, but the way the 3D creatures blend into the pixel art world so seamlessly is really great. I'm assuming it's some kind of shader you wrote to create that black pixel outline? Either way fits really well. I really am in love with how this is looking.
 
Just scrolled through this thread and I was impressed when you pulled out the stacked hats. Now with that evolving creature YOU'VE GONE TOO FAR MAN. That 💩💩💩💩 is unreal. Ever since I saw the game Rain World I've been wanting to do procedural animation and seeing what you can do with it is amazing. I need to learn that 💩💩💩💩.

If anything brings the $$$ it's evolving creatures, you've got yourself a winner. Good luck with further dark arts!

peace
 

hippyman

Member
I was going to comment on the lizard gif in the very first post because it was mesmerizing.

Then I realized how long you've been working on this so I decided to scroll through and holy hell dude!
I'll honestly be blown away if this game doesn't get crazy sales. It's original and the art is amazing.
I usually am not of a fan of pixel art. But this game really does it for me.

You've got a purchase from me already.
 
R

raarc

Guest
this is sick, as far as the youtube video goes you went full memelord without needing to, the way you explain how you developed the monsters is amazing and speaks for itself, the constant meme drops polute the simple beauty of what you have achieved. Nowadays people have had it with memes thats why channels like primitive technology are doing well. Also a slow paced video is easier to edit since you dont have to constantly drop effects and just have to piece together your progress and lightly narrate, no need for sfx or music or explosions hehe
 

RujiK

Member
- REPLIES -

@Ninety Thank you for your comment. I think you have hit the nail on the head with my videos. I have seriously taken your very fair criticism into account and made my next video much more "adult oriented" or less meme-ish and childish. LIke you said, I will focus on the content and not the goofy editing. Thanks again for a smart comment.

@Colin B I'd never heard of the chao garden but I looked it up and they are definately similar. My evolution will (Hopefully) be much more varied though :) There will be definate variation to the evolution end stage. I'm not sure how much, but it will be pretty easy to make a monster no one else has ever had before. I'm glad you think my 3d models blend well with my pixel art. There are some shaders involved. Thanks for your comment.

@Let's Clone @lolslayer Thanks guys!

@stickyfingers Thanks man! I hope the evolution is as lucrative as you say it will be ;)

@hippyman Thanks! I've been doing pixel art forever so I'm glad its attracting even some non-pixel art fans.

@raarc I 100% agree with your post and have significantly changed the style of the video to be much more watchable. Going forward, I'm going to focus on video content and much less on goofy editing. Thank you for your very valid criticism and I hope my new video is much more to your taste.

- BRAGGING -
Since the last post:
Twitter Followers: 8,000 > 11,700 ! (I broke 10k!)
Youtube Followers: 150 > 858

And check out this mad pixel art flex:


- DEVELOPMENT -

I have spent most of the past few months making new monsters. Also, the devlog is available in dev-vlog form. It has more information than this post and is more interesting. I've also made some major changes since the last video in response to viewer feedback. (Thanks Ninety)

SHADOWS have been added. This significantly makes the monster look more "grounded" in the world.


A MONSTER EDITOR makes building monsters much easier:


And I added HATS and weapons for the monsters for a big boost in personality.


An Ant:


And I made an eel by accident while trying to make a fish:


And a bunch more dudes. I posted this monster collection gif on twitter and got 9,900 likes!


- FUTURE -
I am currently working on monster combat and real-time crossbreeding. I plan on having any monster be breed-able with any other monster and giving a reasonable looking hybrid child.

- QUESTION -
I need a new name for my game. BEAST SOCKET is hard to say clearly. (It sounds like beese socket) If you have any suggestions for a monster breeding game title, that would be awesome.

Thanks for your comments everyone.
 

hippyman

Member
This is incredible. I can't help with the game name idea because I'm horrible with names but I do think the "were bear" and the "were wolf" should be renamed to hyena because they look like hyenas to me. I didn't realize this system was THAT customizable. I thought it was for lizards and dragons. You're busting out a freakin' ecosystem!
 
Not related to your game but on your pixelated faces. This tool can automatically do such. but I have to say it's nothing compared to what you do. It looks pretty ugly compared to yours
 
D

Deleted User

Guest
- REPLIES -

@Ninety Thank you for your comment. I think you have hit the nail on the head with my videos. I have seriously taken your very fair criticism into account and made my next video much more "adult oriented" or less meme-ish and childish. LIke you said, I will focus on the content and not the goofy editing. Thanks again for a smart comment.

@Colin B I'd never heard of the chao garden but I looked it up and they are definately similar. My evolution will (Hopefully) be much more varied though :) There will be definate variation to the evolution end stage. I'm not sure how much, but it will be pretty easy to make a monster no one else has ever had before. I'm glad you think my 3d models blend well with my pixel art. There are some shaders involved. Thanks for your comment.

@Let's Clone @lolslayer Thanks guys!

@stickyfingers Thanks man! I hope the evolution is as lucrative as you say it will be ;)

@hippyman Thanks! I've been doing pixel art forever so I'm glad its attracting even some non-pixel art fans.

@raarc I 100% agree with your post and have significantly changed the style of the video to be much more watchable. Going forward, I'm going to focus on video content and much less on goofy editing. Thank you for your very valid criticism and I hope my new video is much more to your taste.

- BRAGGING -
Since the last post:
Twitter Followers: 8,000 > 11,700 ! (I broke 10k!)
Youtube Followers: 150 > 858

And check out this mad pixel art flex:


- DEVELOPMENT -

I have spent most of the past few months making new monsters. Also, the devlog is available in dev-vlog form. It has more information than this post and is more interesting. I've also made some major changes since the last video in response to viewer feedback. (Thanks Ninety)

SHADOWS have been added. This significantly makes the monster look more "grounded" in the world.


A MONSTER EDITOR makes building monsters much easier:


And I added HATS and weapons for the monsters for a big boost in personality.


An Ant:


And I made an eel by accident while trying to make a fish:


And a bunch more dudes. I posted this monster collection gif on twitter and got 9,900 likes!


- FUTURE -
I am currently working on monster combat and real-time crossbreeding. I plan on having any monster be breed-able with any other monster and giving a reasonable looking hybrid child.

- QUESTION -
I need a new name for my game. BEAST SOCKET is hard to say clearly. (It sounds like beese socket) If you have any suggestions for a monster breeding game title, that would be awesome.

Thanks for your comments everyone.
stumbled upon this thread accidentally, but wow.... the graphics and physics look CRAZY... very very nice work :D

is there a demo available for this game? i would love to test it :)
 
I tried to paint the water texture the same way you did, but I can't do those colors. blue to cyan is still painted somehow, but what about the pink color?

in fsh
void main()
{
gl_FragColor = vec4(gl_FragColor.r * 0.4 ,gl_FragColor.g * 0.3,gl_FragColor.b * 0.7, gl_FragColor.a * 0.8);
}
 

Calvert

Member
need a new name for my game. BEAST SOCKET is hard to say clearly. (It sounds like beese socket) If you have any suggestions for a monster breeding game title, that would be awesome.
I read that you read everything here at least twice. I'll make this count.

In this game, we can witness a freaking dragon arising from a lizard before our eyes. Why not capitalize on the growth of the dragon as the hook for your game? You need a mascot. You already have a freaking dragon that you grew roaming before you. What are you waiting for?

DRAGONSEED

"Dragon" speaks of aggressiveness and rigidness. "Seed" speaks of ambitiousness and delicateness. You have a balance in the name. It's a hard punch to the face accompanied by a luring world of possibilities. A beautiful duo. "Seed" gives the name a refreshing "new beginnings" feel to it. "Dragon" is a relatable hook - everybody knows the ambitious familiarity and strength of dragons. No one who doesn't live under a rock is going to hear your name and say, "What?"

That name is bad to the bone. DRAGONSEED is bad to the bone, just like your game. It's obviously the perfect match.

The name isn't claiming that your game is only about dragons. It's just cleverly pointing to the simple fact that this is about harnessing a seed that can turn into anything all the way up to a freakin dragon. Don't shy away from the fact that you made dragons grow from worms. You made something amazing. You are offering this seed to everyone who plays Dragonseed.

...and it's easy to say. DrAGON SEEd. In quick passing, it sounds just like "Dragonsy", which is a cute modification of "dragon", which is a hidden reference to the cute style the game has.

D R A G O N S E E D

Don't fool yourself into thinking your game is too good for the name Dragonseed. Your game was made to be named Dragonseed. It all led up to this moment. If you are worried about what people will think of the title "Dragonseed", then you need to have the confidence you had when you made the game. Own it. Define it. Make it known. The point of the name isn't about how it sounds. It's about what it means. Don't be superficial. Stand by the meaning. "This is my game Dragonseed. Take it or leave it." Raw. Untouched. Dominance. This game is about earth-shattering potential. It is new and here to stay. Dragonseed.

Millions of people in their basements are going to say "Dude, wanna play Minecraft?" and their friends will reply "Nah dude, screw minecraft. We're still playing Dragonseed because it's still blowing our minds."

I promise you that Dragonseed will grow on you so much, that you soon won't be able to believe you ever doubted it. Why would you doubt it? It freaking rocks. It's just patiently waiting for you to wise up and make it shine already. And don't look at me. I didn't make the name dragonseed, I just dusted it off. This game was made to be named DRAGONSEED, and it's dying without it. Do it for the game's sake.

Thanks for showing us your early progression on Dragonseed by the way, it is unique, cutting edge and amazing.

Next time I come here, the title of this thread better be corrected. DRAGONSEED (Procedural Monsters)
 
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RujiK

Member
- REPLIES -

@lolslayer @CMAllen @davebertaud @rIKmAN thanks guys!

@hippyman All of the monster names are placeholders, and I hadn't noticed it before but I agree that they look like hyenas. Thanks mate.

@Ninety lol thanks. Trying to Compete with an AAA game like Spore is quite intimidating though.

@GrizzliusMaximus I've actually seen that tool before, but I don't think there are any auto-pixelart tools that are up to my standards. (Neural network Art might change my mind soon though)

@AlexInCube The pink color isn't actually required for the water. It just happened to be the color of the texture I used.

@HayManMarc That name is cute, but a little too vague in my humble opinion. I appreciate your help though!

@RookTKO Thanks, I hope changing the name won't reduce my chances of cult status :p

@Fredrik I like the name too tbh, but saying out loud as "Beese-ocket" annoys me way more than it should.

@zghaun @9EED I'm still alive, and ready to return to gamedev.

@Calvert Okay, first I have to respect you for typing out 500 words for a new name suggestion. Seriously, I admire your passion and dedication. With that being said, Dragon Seed really sounds like a turn-based medieval jRPG and doesn't convey the idea of the game that I want. Thanks again though. I'm glad you like my game enough to type that all out.

@laguniboy lol, the simplicity and weirdness of your comment made me chuckle. Thanks.

@tsufee thanks for checking my twitter :)

@Xennroth No demo any time soon, but thanks for your repeated check-ups on this thread. It's really encouraging to have a fan still checking up on this thread even a year after my last post. Appreciate it.


First, if you prefer watching instead of reading, here is a video update instead of a post update:

- GROWTH -

If you remember from an earlier video, I already have procedural shape-shifting between forms:


So the next logical development of GROWTH is:
- CROSS BREEDING -
So the first step was to make a UI (All stats are placeholder)


Now using the growth code, I average two monsters and they change like this:


And this is him walking:





Because it's fully procedural, some of the children are really weird looking. Like these two are kind of odd.





AND WITH THE NEW CROSS BREEDING FEATURE, I have decided to change the name. I wanted a name that was cheesy, nostalgic, 90's, and Super Nintendo-ish. So the new placeholder name is... CrossBreeder X (Unless everyone hates it) Edit: Some one suggested "Socket Beast" and I actually quite like that name.



And finally, here is a teaser for the next update. Check out this fat jelly man (WIP)


Thanks for all of your comments guys and still checking this thread. Next update should be much sooner than it took the last one.
 
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D

Deleted User

Guest
- REPLIES -

@lolslayer @CMAllen @davebertaud @rIKmAN thanks guys!

@hippyman All of the monster names are placeholders, and I hadn't noticed it before but I agree that they look like hyenas. Thanks mate.

@Ninety lol thanks. Trying to Compete with an AAA game like Spore is quite intimidating though.

@GrizzliusMaximus I've actually seen that tool before, but I don't think there are any auto-pixelart tools that are up to my standards. (Neural network Art might change my mind soon though)

@AlexInCube The pink color isn't actually required for the water. It just happened to be the color of the texture I used.

@HayManMarc That name is cute, but a little too vague in my humble opinion. I appreciate your help though!

@RookTKO Thanks, I hope changing the name won't reduce my chances of cult status :p

@Fredrik I like the name too tbh, but saying out loud as "Beese-ocket" annoys me way more than it should.

@zghaun @9EED I'm still alive, and ready to return to gamedev.

@Calvert Okay, first I have to respect you for typing out 500 words for a new name suggestion. Seriously, I admire your passion and dedication. With that being said, Dragon Seed really sounds like a turn-based medieval jRPG and doesn't convey the idea of the game that I want. Thanks again though. I'm glad you like my game enough to type that all out.

@laguniboy lol, the simplicity and weirdness of your comment made me chuckle. Thanks.

@tsufee thanks for checking my twitter :)

@Xennroth No demo any time soon, but thanks for your repeated check-ups on this thread. It's really encouraging to have a fan still checking up on this thread even a year after my last post. Appreciate it.


First, if you prefer watching instead of reading, here is a video update instead of a post update:

- GROWTH -

If you remember from an earlier video, I already have procedural shape-shifting between forms:


So the next logical development of GROWTH is:
- CROSS BREEDING -
So the first step was to make a UI (All stats are placeholder)


Now using the growth code, I average two monsters and they change like this:


And this is him walking:





Because it's fully procedural, some of the children are really weird looking. Like these two are kind of odd.





AND WITH THE NEW CROSS BREEDING FEATURE, I have decided to change the name. I wanted a name that was cheesy, nostalgic, 90's, and Super Nintendo-ish. So the new placeholder name is... CrossBreeder X (Unless everyone hates it)



And finally, here is a teaser for the next update. Check out this fat jelly man (WIP)


Thanks for all of your comments guys and still checking this thread. Next update should be much sooner than it took the last one.
Great video! 😂 nice to see how things go on the dev side :D

Keep up the good work! ☺👍
 

hippyman

Member
- REPLIES -

@lolslayer @CMAllen @davebertaud @rIKmAN thanks guys!

@hippyman All of the monster names are placeholders, and I hadn't noticed it before but I agree that they look like hyenas. Thanks mate.

@Ninety lol thanks. Trying to Compete with an AAA game like Spore is quite intimidating though.

@GrizzliusMaximus I've actually seen that tool before, but I don't think there are any auto-pixelart tools that are up to my standards. (Neural network Art might change my mind soon though)

@AlexInCube The pink color isn't actually required for the water. It just happened to be the color of the texture I used.

@HayManMarc That name is cute, but a little too vague in my humble opinion. I appreciate your help though!

@RookTKO Thanks, I hope changing the name won't reduce my chances of cult status :p

@Fredrik I like the name too tbh, but saying out loud as "Beese-ocket" annoys me way more than it should.

@zghaun @9EED I'm still alive, and ready to return to gamedev.

@Calvert Okay, first I have to respect you for typing out 500 words for a new name suggestion. Seriously, I admire your passion and dedication. With that being said, Dragon Seed really sounds like a turn-based medieval jRPG and doesn't convey the idea of the game that I want. Thanks again though. I'm glad you like my game enough to type that all out.

@laguniboy lol, the simplicity and weirdness of your comment made me chuckle. Thanks.

@tsufee thanks for checking my twitter :)

@Xennroth No demo any time soon, but thanks for your repeated check-ups on this thread. It's really encouraging to have a fan still checking up on this thread even a year after my last post. Appreciate it.


First, if you prefer watching instead of reading, here is a video update instead of a post update:

- GROWTH -

If you remember from an earlier video, I already have procedural shape-shifting between forms:


So the next logical development of GROWTH is:
- CROSS BREEDING -
So the first step was to make a UI (All stats are placeholder)


Now using the growth code, I average two monsters and they change like this:


And this is him walking:





Because it's fully procedural, some of the children are really weird looking. Like these two are kind of odd.





AND WITH THE NEW CROSS BREEDING FEATURE, I have decided to change the name. I wanted a name that was cheesy, nostalgic, 90's, and Super Nintendo-ish. So the new placeholder name is... CrossBreeder X (Unless everyone hates it) Edit: Some one suggested "Socket Beast" and I actually quite like that name.



And finally, here is a teaser for the next update. Check out this fat jelly man (WIP)


Thanks for all of your comments guys and still checking this thread. Next update should be much sooner than it took the last one.
Dude no joke, you're going to make so much f***ing money when you release this.
 
Your game looks awesome.

Can I suggest this name: χ-bryd (chi-brid derived from hybrid). The y in there to make it look less like "bird" at a glance.

Keeps close to your theme, incorporates the 90's "x" and sounds kinda cool.

Good luck and great work so far with your development.
 

BeziRoche

Member
Hello! I'm new here.
I see, you do really hard work on this project. I can't believe that someone made this idea in to actual game. If you thinked monsters procedural crossbreeding game is only yours childhood dream, you were little wrong. I dreamed about something like that too and I think, there is a people who dreamed about it too. I can only wish you that your project will be developed in to actuall game. We need people like you.
 

Ciez17

Member
FRICK YES!!!! Finally, the monster breeding game I've been waiting for! I've always hated how crossbreeding monsters would just get a completely different monster that had little to nothing to go with their parents. Cant wait to see more!
 
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