• Hey Guest! Ever feel like entering a Game Jam, but the time limit is always too much pressure? We get it... You lead a hectic life and dedicating 3 whole days to make a game just doesn't work for you! So, why not enter the GMC SLOW JAM? Take your time! Kick back and make your game over 4 months! Interested? Then just click here!

Alpha IzoProject - Isometric Story Driven Boss Battle ARPG

F

Felipe Rybakovas

Guest
Working on some tweeks and balance in the game.

Turning the staff into a machine gun. :D



 
F

Felipe Rybakovas

Guest
And just a quick update on the skills...

I´ve created the first defensive skill for the game... the Ice Spike Wall

What you think about it ??
 
F

Felipe Rybakovas

Guest
RangerX said:
woaa, those new shadows alone make your game all the more interesting!!
Click to expand...
Thanks mate! The game is really going to a different direction now...
The lights makes all the difference for sure, but i´ll try to give it more meaning! Like darker rooms where you'll need use light wisely

But... I made it using surfaces and is really not good for performance. I´m thinking in get the glare engine to help me on it ....
 
F

Felipe Rybakovas

Guest
RangerX said:
Really?
Am talking about those ones:

And not the moving/dynamic ones from your previous images...
Click to expand...
You mean the fake light/shadow effects on the level or on the skills ??
In any case both of then are implemented using surfaces and some particles.

I also removed the shadow casting from the enemies/players because was difficult to see when many enemies was on the screen
 
RangerX

RangerX

Member
Felipe Rybakovas said:
You mean the fake light/shadow effects on the level or on the skills ??
In any case both of then are implemented using surfaces and some particles.

I also removed the shadow casting from the enemies/players because was difficult to see when many enemies was on the screen
Click to expand...
There you go. That's what I didn't like. You game honestly look better now. Keep up. Actually I'll have to play it. I like a Diablo-like from time to time.
 
F

Felipe Rybakovas

Guest
RangerX said:
There you go. That's what I didn't like. You game honestly look better now. Keep up. Actually I'll have to play it. I like a Diablo-like from time to time.
Click to expand...
Yes, that was very bad indeed. The new shadows are way better...

Who doesn't miss a Diablo-like game, right ?
This is the main idea here.... Give a Diablo feeling gameplay without spend hours and hours building a character.

As a roguelike game, the progression will be on the unlocked skills and story(thinking in build a story teller generator), that'll change by the players action on previous gameplay.

For example... in one run you defeated the Skeleton King... then your character dies or retired (you exit the game without died). After 4 playtroughs you receive the message that the Skeleton King arises again and way stronger than before and you need to stop him again as the last hero done.
 
F

Felipe Rybakovas

Guest
Hey,,

I just added a new skill! The piercing arrow! With the bow equiped, this skill is activated.

This works more or less like a sniper rifle where you can see further spots. Also, the arrow pierces trought the enemies. So make a line and kill those bastards.
What you think ?
 
F

Felipe Rybakovas

Guest
So... i Saw that cool book effect assets on the market place and i could really see this inside the game... So I gave it a try to see how it fits...change some parts of the art and code... And until now this is the results



This book will also be used to select and set the skills that you can unlock during the game.

So what you think ??
 
F

Felipe Rybakovas

Guest
[OLDER 09/19/2017]

Hi Folks,

So I´ve been quit some time, but it´s for a good reason. I´m reworking some of playability inside the game, given more skill based than equipment based game.
To that to work properly i´m rewriting many parts of the code, but I´m really confident of the results until now and the game really looks more fluid and fun to play.

So, I´m planning to soon release a playable demo so you guys can help me with some feedback and transform this project into something really great.

For now.... What I have to show are some GIF to sneak a peek on the changes.

[INVENTORY AND GUI UI]


So here it´s the new UI to match the new direction on the game. You can see that i removed some equipments slots and added the spells slots.

Also there´s no more hotkey for items and equipments. Instead will show the current skill set..

Also, here you can see how the attack system will works with limited mana that regenerates on time and also skills cooldown

[DIFFERENT WEAPONS, DIFFERENT SKILLS]


So weapons now will work as the main attack skills. In the example you can see different styles can be played with different weapons.
Combine this with other skills to match your perfect play style.

[THE HAMMER BOMB]

This is the most recent weapon that´ve created. This is a fire ball that you can remotely destroy.

Can you image the destruction??? Well, take a look

 
F

Felipe Rybakovas

Guest
So I´m reworking some of the UI to look even more Diablo II and i reach this.... What you think ? Do you prefer the new or the old one ?


 
CMAllen

CMAllen

Member
The contrast is off. Your darks (most especially for the orbs themselves) need to get darker to match the game's overall contrast (your game has lots of black, so the UI should incorporate that into its overall tone as well). The brightness makes the orbs look like they're glowing, but there's no indication of that glow in the rest of the ui panel, and the lighting on the globes themselves doesn't really work with them glowing either.

Just as important, the lighting direction on the new UI is inconsistent with the mouse cursor and the character (which appears to be pre-lit rather than dynamically lit via normal maps and shaders). If you intend to have the character be lit via shaders, it's probably easier to adjust the cursor. But consistency is king. It's one of the nagging details that people will notice but not really be able to point out why something feels off.

Criticism aside though, it looks much better than the old artwork.
 
F

Felipe Rybakovas

Guest
CMAllen said:
The contrast is off. Your darks (most especially for the orbs themselves) need to get darker to match the game's overall contrast (your game has lots of black, so the UI should incorporate that into its overall tone as well). The brightness makes the orbs look like they're glowing, but there's no indication of that glow in the rest of the ui panel, and the lighting on the globes themselves doesn't really work with them glowing either.

Just as important, the lighting direction on the new UI is inconsistent with the mouse cursor and the character (which appears to be pre-lit rather than dynamically lit via normal maps and shaders). If you intend to have the character be lit via shaders, it's probably easier to adjust the cursor. But consistency is king. It's one of the nagging details that people will notice but not really be able to point out why something feels off.

Criticism aside though, it looks much better than the old artwork.
Click to expand...
Hey, Thanks for the feedback!

This image is edited... is just a concept copy and pasted to see more or less how would fit! But i understood your points and agree!

The final idea is to implement this shader on it : https://www.shadertoy.com/view/llcSRf
But i dont really know much about shaders, so I´ll strive a little probably!

Im thinking in transform the globe into a cylinder to fit better and cut less the GUI. Also I´m thinking when two player playing how would fit...
 
F

Felipe Rybakovas

Guest
CMAllen said:
Could use a little stronger shadowing for the globes. They look a bit flat -- more circles than spheres.
Click to expand...
Yes, agree... I will add the rest of the UI (the back of the globe, circle around, etc) and see how this will fit
Still learning how to implement the other shader that I sent via link. I also saw a way to give it a more "3d feeling", but i dont really know much about shaders yet.
 
CMAllen

CMAllen

Member
Ahh. That's a little more complex than simply a shader effect. They're using a custom-UV'd circle mesh that uses stretching/compression of the UV space to simulate perspective and depth (more compressed towards the outside, stretched and larger towards the center). Of course, you might be able to achieve a similar effect via a shader by getting the uv coordinate relative to the center of the globe and applying the same basic stretching/compression based on how far your sample point is from the center. You'd need to modulate the distance rather than a simple linear interpolation, but the basic idea applies (there was a tutorial somewhere about how to achieve this effect, but I can't recall it offhand -- was based on Five Nights At Freddy's perspective effect, so the same idea applies).

-edit-
Did a quick test on a circle using similar UV warping technique and it does indeed create a pseudo-spherical texture distortion.
 
Last edited:
F

Felipe Rybakovas

Guest
CMAllen said:
Well, I think I worked out the basic idea. It's less shader than I think is really ideal (sort of a multi-step build-up process), but it works. If you want to check it out:
Dropbox Project link
Click to expand...
Hey Thanks a billion!!!
I´ll go back to work today later and take a look on that!!!!

Thanks for the help in advance!!!
 
CMAllen

CMAllen

Member
Wasn't quite satisfied with the shader's warping effect (one, it was rather weak; two, it was square rather than spherical). Went back through and redid some of the math, and the results are better. Not sure if the original link will auto-update, so here's a new one.
Dropbox Link
 
F

Felipe Rybakovas

Guest
CMAllen said:
Wasn't quite satisfied with the shader's warping effect (one, it was rather weak; two, it was square rather than spherical). Went back through and redid some of the math, and the results are better. Not sure if the original link will auto-update, so here's a new one.
Dropbox Link
Click to expand...
Hey I´m trying to port this code to 1.4 since im not using 2.0.... I´ll send you a private msg because i got a different results here on 1.4
 
CMAllen

CMAllen

Member
Felipe Rybakovas said:
So after the great help of CMAllen I was able to conclude the first part of the new UI

So how does it feel??

If you are not able to see the image follow this link : http://rybakovas.me/izoproject/images/newhud.gif

I still reworking the UI for the 2 players COOP mode. For then will be a more minimalistic design, maintaining the Globe effect!
Something more or less like this :
Click to expand...
Your noise textures in the globes don't wrap seamlessly (that's where the visible seams are coming from) but otherwise, I like it! I'd still say the grey backing could use a bit stronger shadowing and highlighting. It still feels a little flat-ish.
 
lolslayer

lolslayer

Member
About your lighitng system, it's a bit off because the top of the walls cast the shadows instead of the bottom, I might be able to help you with letting it cast from the ground WITHOUT making it look off on the wall (So using correct wall llighting)
 
F

Felipe Rybakovas

Guest
lolslayer said:
About your lighitng system, it's a bit off because the top of the walls cast the shadows instead of the bottom, I might be able to help you with letting it cast from the ground WITHOUT making it look off on the wall (So using correct wall llighting)
Click to expand...
Yes, you´re right.... In fact the Mesh is on top of the image instead the botton... I´ve made this in the start of the project to test the mesh and did not has change since then!

I use a point system to do the math of the shadow caster, I´ll change the points to be on the floor!

I´ll do it when rework the level creation... This is something that I need to do before put one demo out.
 
F

Felipe Rybakovas

Guest
CMAllen said:
Your noise textures in the globes don't wrap seamlessly (that's where the visible seams are coming from) but otherwise, I like it! I'd still say the grey backing could use a bit stronger shadowing and highlighting. It still feels a little flat-ish.
Click to expand...
Yeap... I´m working on the origin point of the textures to get it right... also tweeking the velocity to change direction.
About the art work...Still not 100% satisfied too. I´m thinking in change it... Or ask help for a artist that I know to help me on this.

Used paint .NET to achieve this one. lol
 
lolslayer

lolslayer

Member
Felipe Rybakovas said:
Yes, you´re right.... In fact the Mesh is on top of the image instead the botton... I´ve made this in the start of the project to test the mesh and did not has change since then!

I use a point system to do the math of the shadow caster, I´ll change the points to be on the floor!

I´ll do it when rework the level creation... This is something that I need to do before put one demo out.
Click to expand...
Okay :)

If you ever want to have help on making the lighting draw more correctly on walls, just ask ;)
 
RangerX

RangerX

Member
I love the new UI except for one thing: it's big.
I would have made those life and mana orb smaller. As small as those 4 other slots even if that meant to make slots a square so they visually distinguish from the health and mana gauge.
But that's just me :p
 
F

Felipe Rybakovas

Guest
RangerX said:
I love the new UI except for one thing: it's big.
I would have made those life and mana orb smaller. As small as those 4 other slots even if that meant to make slots a square so they visually distinguish from the health and mana gauge.
But that's just me :p
Click to expand...
Hey thanks man! Yeap, i didnt liked it 100%.... So I still working on new concepts!

Like this one :


About the circles, Im having this same feeling... But when i put the squares, i just dont know... Dont feel the same to me and i go back to circle!

I´ll try to build a concept with squares so we can reason about!
 
F

Felipe Rybakovas

Guest
blacklemon said:
am i the only one that noticed that you have both cooldowns and mana cast restrictions? what made you add both?
Click to expand...
Hey, good catch!

So, the reason behind this was because at very ealier prototype the player had a stamina bar, because you could go melee or ranged or magic and etc...

So when I changed the gameplay to have a more skill based game... I wanted to maintain the flexibility to build diverses attack combos but maintaining the spawn restriction . The inspiration behind this was Dark Souls.

So for example:
I have a skill that it´s kind of a piercing bow... You can shoot it fast(because the cool down is low) , it´s very strong and can pierce enemies... but the magic cost is high and you wont be able to spawn that much... So you need to aim properly

And you have the staff skill that works more or less like a submachine gun. You can spawn fast for a low cost but does not do so much damage. But you can aim freely and try to hit most enemies as you can.


Also in this game you have 5 skills slots and you can set any skill that you will unlock inside the game... No restrictions.

How fast and how much of those skills you will spawn will depends on mana and cooldowns


So with this set, the player can try to achieve the best skill combos that is suited for his gameplay....
Or go to a high offesive build, or a super protective build or a fast shooter build.... and so on.

All depends the gameplay style =)
 
Z

zendraw

Guest
i still dont get why u use CD`s, they are usually only for ballance and the worst choise infact, thus theyr mostly used in mobas and mmos whos main feature is social interaction. imo theyr simply a hindrence and meny see CDs as lazyness.
you can make the player end up in a situation where he waits for a cd of a strong spell while roaming around and being bored becouse hes making no progress. or if its mana expensive he wuld simply spam mana potions, and if you want to ballance that you will have to make them more expensive, and if theyr too expensive the player will start farming for gold to buy potions that he can spam, and we know hwo much we love farming. or if you buff low CD spells they will simply make stronger spells obsolete.

this is just an example how you can over complicate things with no positive effect, with too much gameplay defining mechanics and lesser player interaction freedom. i hope my comment is useful to you.
 
F

Felipe Rybakovas

Guest
blacklemon said:
i still dont get why u use CD`s, they are usually only for ballance and the worst choise infact, thus theyr mostly used in mobas and mmos whos main feature is social interaction. imo theyr simply a hindrence and meny see CDs as lazyness.
you can make the player end up in a situation where he waits for a cd of a strong spell while roaming around and being bored becouse hes making no progress. or if its mana expensive he wuld simply spam mana potions, and if you want to ballance that you will have to make them more expensive, and if theyr too expensive the player will start farming for gold to buy potions that he can spam, and we know hwo much we love farming. or if you buff low CD spells they will simply make stronger spells obsolete.

this is just an example how you can over complicate things with no positive effect, with too much gameplay defining mechanics and lesser player interaction freedom. i hope my comment is useful to you.
Click to expand...
Got your point and understand it. I also steped on those situations...

In game the mobs drops potions from time to time to aid you... And the Mana bar regenerate itself after being not used for 1.5 secs.... In that way you will always be able to cast spells and if you got into a danger situation you can start spawn potions (more or less that diablo 2 spawn feeling)

The cooldowns and mana usage is also something that exist on Diablo 3. There you need to combo skills and to "force" the player to do it so they implemented that cooldown, even using mana.... And to regenerate the mana you need to use the basic attack or other that generate some amount so you can start combo again.... So in that way the attack combo looping is created.

My game works more or less in that way.
The final feeling is that you can create OverPower combos... but with lack of speed. Or speedup combos... but with lack of power

This is the target.

But for sure there is much to go on balance inside this game...
 
F

Felipe Rybakovas

Guest
F

Felipe Rybakovas

Guest
CMAllen said:
Is this split-screen co-op?
Click to expand...
No split screen. Local COOP... And when the players get to away from each other the camera zoom out, but has limits and then the player cannot progress more than the view.
 
CMAllen

CMAllen

Member
I'm confused. If it's not split-screen (ie, multiple players at one computer), why would one player need/want to see that much information about the other player's interface? Users have their own screens and systems, so using up that much screen space for another user's HUD doesn't make a lot of sense.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top