Demo Citadel Stormer 2 | Action Platformer [UPDATED 2/12/22]

pixeltroid

Member
Could you post the original 16 colors avatar? I’d like to try something.
May I ask why? 🤔

Because I'll have to dig up that particular avatar file and I don't even know if I've saved it. I just made it to use as an avatar on GMC and twitter.

But the first 2 screenshots in the top post contain an accurate representation of the avatars original colors. They are print-screened from the game and have all their colors.
 

pixeltroid

Member
Well, I thought I'd give a running animation a try with your current avatar. It's up to you though!
I'll have to look for my current avatar image with it's original colors. But I think I just gave it an outline and saved it as a jpeg to use as an avatar here. But you can take the avatar from the 1st post if you want to try to animate it! Just delete the colors around it. They're high res pngs so all the colors are intact.
 

Zizka

Member
I'll let you find the original avatar 😋.

Something else I wanted to mention:
image_2021-01-13_160939.png
Health Bar.png Less saturation, more contrast.
Health Bar_2.png Bars
Health Bar_3.png Biggers bars, gradient from low health to high health, numbered health. The number looks off and the colors could be better but you get the idea. I also added a darker color for the background of the meter.

Health Bar_4.png You could also go for a 3Dish meter although I'm not happy with this one but figured I'd share it since I did it anyway. I looked at some reference pictures for Assault Rifles ammo but it looks too much like a missile in my take but oh well.

I found the health bar hard on the eyes due to the high saturation and low contrast. I'm generally not very keen on highly saturated colors so take this with a grain of salt.

I also find that a solid bar might leave the player unsure of how much health is left.

In Castlevania: Symphony of the Night the magic bar has both the bar and a number.

Just some suggestions.


You've included numbers for both the amount of bullets and the lives left but no numbers for health.

Have you considered either adding a number or having a way for the player to sort of determine how much health is left? Personally (as a player) I would find the current health bar a bit off putting in the sense that I wouldn't know how many more hits I can take.

Another way is to go Ninja Gaiden with little boxes or bars.
 

pixeltroid

Member
An update after a looong time! (I'll make an "official" devlog later).

So after an unintended break that lasted a few months, I'm back on the project. Over the last 2 weeks, I managed to finalize the world #3 of my game Citadel Stormer 2. That includes the background graphics, tiles, unique enemies and it's boss!

Here are some screenshots showing off world 3's art and design theme:

1.png

2.png

3.png

4.png
 

pixeltroid

Member
Devlog #8 (04/08/21)

Hello. It's my 8th "official" devlog! My last one was seven months ago! I had taken some time off from the project due to some personal reasons. But I'm now back on the project! I'm proud to say I've made considerable progress over the last few weeks. Here's what's new:

1. WORLD #3 FINALIZED!
Everything for world #3 has been finished. That includes the level layout, the background art, tilesets, unique enemies and objects and...yes, even the boss! This futuristic city has flying cars, neon lights and a lot of rain. I know it's clichéd but I still like how it turned out! :)




2. BOSS!
This big green meanie is the end boss of World #3. He shoots heat-seeking missiles and throws things at you! He also uses a force field to defend himself from your attacks. Not to be trifled with!




3. PASSWORDS!

The game auto-saves your progress and lets you continue where you left off anytime. But losing all your lives, meant having to start from the very beginning. I felt that would discourage players and decided that a password system was necessary. I've now created a simple old fashioned password system to make the game a little easier. By going to the password room and punching in the correct numbers, players can now restart from the last level reached. I will design the sprites later once I finalize it's graphics style.




4. NEW MINIBOSS -- SCORPION ROBOT!
This giant robotic scorpion lurks in one of the later levels. Like it's friend, the spider-robot (See devlog #7), it defends itself with a force field and shoots explosive projectiles at you from it's stinger!




5. PLASMA RIFLE!
This high powered gun will reduce most enemies to scrap in a shot or two. It has a very fast rate of fire and has unlimited ammo. BUT there's a catch. It uses up the energy that you use for dashing (indicated by the blue bar on the top left). Once that's depleted you need to wait a while for it to recharge before you can use it again.




6. Currently working on:
- World #4
- New enemies
- New designs for menus and such

Anyway, that's it for now!

BTW, there's a demo available and it includes the first 3 levels (Does not include the updates shown in this post). If you haven't already you can download it at this location:

DOWNLOAD FROM GAMEJOLT.COM
DOWNLOAD FROM ITCH.IO

Thanks for reading!
 
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pixeltroid

Member
Haven't created a formal devlog but here are some updates.

- Tied up a lot of loose-ends. Mostly under-the-hood stuff involving menus, UIs, collisions and other miscellaneous issues. The game feels tighter and more "professional" now. It's really the little things that make the game work!
- Added new sound effects. I can't demonstrate right now, but I feel they really bring the game alive.
- Got rid of the coin collecting system. Earlier if you collected 10 coins you'd get an extra life. But I realized that players could game the system and stock up on lives in a way that was not intended. Now, you need to kill 100 enemies to get an extra life. Will probably also limit the number of lives the player can carry.
- I'm mostly done with the 4 main worlds of the game! So here's a GIF showing the look and feel of the 4 worlds. Each world has 6 levels and 1 boss fight!



All that's left is the final zone and it's bosses!
 

pixeltroid

Member
Devlog #9 (14/10/21)

Hello. Welcome to Devlog #9. There's been LOTS of exciting developments!

1. CHARACTER UPDATE
The Game's hero has been given a make-over. He now has glorious golden hair! The reason for this change is that in older versions he had black hair, which I felt was not clearly visible in areas with dark backgrounds. I've also tweaked his overall posture, jump and walk animations a bit.



2. WORLD #4 FINALIZED!
Everything for world #4 has been finished. That includes the level layout, the background art, tilesets, unique enemies and objects and...yes, even the boss! World #4 is set in an abandoned military base in the desert. It also contains many new objects and enemy types that don't appear anywhere else in the game.



3. NEW BOSS!
This menacing big blue robot guards World #4. Like the others, he shoots projectiles. But he also has a variety of special attacks and can even summon minions to chase after you! This one is very tough to beat!



4. NEW ENEMIES TYPES -- GOOMBA-LIKE ENEMIES
These little goomba like enemies look cute and harmless. But if they touch you they'll explode and cause a lot of damage! If they catch fire, they just become more aggressive! Oh, and there's also a flying variant of the same!



5. NEW MINIBOSS -- FLYING...ONE EYED DEAD FISH LIKE THINGY
This weird dangerous robot follows you around and attacks you with it's exploding orbs!



6. EXPLODING BARRELS !
If a barrel is damaged, it catches fire and will explode after a few seconds. Close-by barrels will explode instantly. Barrels that are a little further away catch fire and after burning for a while will explode! The explosion will damage both the player and any enemies!



7. TITLE SCREEN AND MENU UPDATE
Title screen has been updated with new layout and backgrounds. The Menu design has also been revised. Note that this is still a WIP and the final design might vary.



8. Other tasks completed
- Tied up a lot of loose-ends. Mostly under-the-hood stuff involving menus, UIs, collisions and other miscellaneous issues. The game feels tighter and more "professional" now. It's really the little things that make the game work!
- Added new sound effects. I can't demonstrate right now, but I feel they really bring the game alive.
- Got rid of the coin collecting system. Earlier if you collected 10 coins you'd get an extra life. But I realized that players could game the system and stock up on lives in a way that was not intended. Now, you need to kill 100 enemies to get an extra life. Will probably also limit the number of lives the player can carry.
- Composed a couple of new soundtracks!

9. Currently working on:
-The final world!
- The final boss!!
-Back end work. (There's lots to do)
- A build for a new demo

Anyway, that's it for now!

BTW, there's a demo available and it includes the first 3 levels (Does not include the updates shown in this post). If you haven't already you can download it at this location:

DOWNLOAD FROM GAMEJOLT.COM
DOWNLOAD FROM ITCH.IO

Thanks for reading!
 
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alper41

Member
I played until world 1 level 3, then I will play again. I don't know if there are things like dashing, double jumping in the future, but I think not, I think they should definitely be.

We earn gold in the game and when we collect 10 gold it automatically gives a life, but I think this should not be the case. There should be a store in the game and we should be able to buy things like bullets and lives from there.

I played a small part of the game but I took a look at your devlogs and it looks good on the enemy variety.

But there were some things that I didn't like, for example, dying directly when we fall on a thorn and the distance between checkpoints is too much what I don't like at the moment. Also, I think we should have more adjustment options, for example turning off the sound.

Also, I think there are no hidden places in the game, I think it would be great to have places to explore.

By the way, I would be very happy if you could take a look at my game and give feedback.

Itch.io Link

Forum YoyoGames Thread
 
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scorpafied

Member
Looking over the project a few things i can give as feedback.

So the animations of main character is probably what lets this down the most. There really isnt any it all feels very static.

Bullets imo need to be a bit faster right now i can see em moving and i can get out the way to easy. If u provide a way for the player to visual tell that the enemy is preparing to shoot. Then this would improve that alot i feel like.

I also notoced the sound effects felt a bit off. Like everything was recorded in an empty room and from a distance. That i feel like if improved would really help build this world so mich better.
 

pixeltroid

Member
Devlog #10 (06/02/22)

Hello! Welcome to Devlog #10 of my game "Citadel Stormer 2". I am very pleased to announce that by the grace of God I am nearing the end of development! Here are the highlights of what I've accomplished since my last devlog.

1. WORLD #5 FINALIZED!
World #5 has been finished. It has it's own unique level layouts, background art, tilesets, as well as enemies and traps that don't appear anywhere else in the game. World #5 is set in a dark high tech looking area and leads to the very FINAL area!




2. NEW BOSS!
You will run into this menacing pink robot at some point! Be prepared!




3. NEW ENEMIES TYPES -- HOPPER
This enemy hops around and shoots bullets! It's best not to get too close to it.




4. NEW ENEMIES TYPES -- FIREBOMBER
This dangerous flying enemy shoots bullets and explosive projectiles.




5. NEW ENEMIES TYPES -- ORB FLAME THROWER
This orb-shaped enemy floats towards the player and shoots a blue flame.




6. NEW WEAPON!
This gun launches a hot bouncy projectile that explodes into smaller fragments! If used right, it can deal significant damage to enemies.




7. NEW TRAPS!
These impenetrable "pillars of light" can complicate things while traversing the spike pits! Tread carefully!




8. FINAL WORLD
The final world is complete! Here are some details.

- It has just 2 levels and is visually distinct from other levels, with it's own tileset and backgrounds. It also has it's own special soundtrack!
- It is guarded by a new boss. Once you beat it, you can proceed to the final boss's lair!


9. FINAL BOSS!!!
The final boss object is done! And it functions exactly as I intended! Only the artwork for its sprite is pending!


10. Currently working on:
- Cut scenes for the start and the end of the game.
- Fine tuning and refinement.

That's it for now!

Thanks for reading!
 

pixeltroid

Member
-------------------------------MAJOR UPDATE!!-------------------------------

Hello all! I am extremely excited to present the official Steam trailer for my upcoming 2D platformer game "Citadel Stormer 2" (Coming early 2023). This project has been a HUGE part of my life for the last few years. And I'd also like to add that had it not been for all the help I received from the many fine people on this forum, I would not have reached this milestone.


Also, I have also set up a Steam page here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2224160/Citadel_Stormer_2/

Please wishlist if you are interested!

With love and gratitude,
Pixeltroid
 

pixeltroid

Member
Congrats, i added it to my wish list
Thanks a lot! Appreciate it.

BTW, I just saw your earlier post in this thread (Sorry, I didn't check back on this thread since my last post in February). But I have been making changes, some of which address your points/feedback!

- The gold coins system have been removed a long time ago. In the more recent versions, if you kill a 100 enemies you get 1 extra life.
- Checkpoints were also added. Earlier there was just 1 checkpoint in the middle of the level, but now there are up to 4 checkpoints per level.
- Sound can be muted. I originally added that feature to be able to playtest the game while listening to other stuff on youTube but I have decided to keep it for other players too.
- Dying instantly after falling on spikes, acid and lava will have to remain. It's a standard feature in many platformer games because it makes the game more challenging. But luckily in my game, I have ensured there be checkpoints just before or after a spike section.
- The old version of the game had some hidden areas that contained ammo, health and lives and even shortcuts. But they've all been removed because I want to keep the player immersed in just moving forward, which was the basic formula in games like Contra and Megaman.

I'll surely give your game a try and post some feedback! Apologize for missing it last time!
 

alper41

Member
Thanks a lot! Appreciate it.

BTW, I just saw your earlier post in this thread (Sorry, I didn't check back on this thread since my last post in February). But I have been making changes, some of which address your points/feedback!

- The gold coins system have been removed a long time ago. In the more recent versions, if you kill a 100 enemies you get 1 extra life.
- Checkpoints were also added. Earlier there was just 1 checkpoint in the middle of the level, but now there are up to 4 checkpoints per level.
- Sound can be muted. I originally added that feature to be able to playtest the game while listening to other stuff on youTube but I have decided to keep it for other players too.
- Dying instantly after falling on spikes, acid and lava will have to remain. It's a standard feature in many platformer games because it makes the game more challenging. But luckily in my game, I have ensured there be checkpoints just before or after a spike section.
- The old version of the game had some hidden areas that contained ammo, health and lives and even shortcuts. But they've all been removed because I want to keep the player immersed in just moving forward, which was the basic formula in games like Contra and Megaman.

I'll surely give your game a try and post some feedback! Apologize for missing it last time!
Hi, thanks for considering my feedback, there is a very old version on my itch.io page right now, I only have people who I trust their feedback to test, I will make it public when there is a tidy demo, I am sending the link and password via dm, if you want to try it, you can try it from the link I sent.
 
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