Wheels and the Leg Girl!

[nio kasgami]

FInnally up!

I was wonderer when you will make the thread ! 

you know how to make us wait pall!

 

[Bonkers]

@Nio I would have released it sooner, but I need to work extra hours to pay bills and managed to give my mom a decent day out for her birthday.

Spriting continues with Bonkers:  

 I am pleased with how he turned out.

Behaviors are underway, but I am looking at puzzle construction more than trimmings as the puzzles are a big part of the game's enjoyment outside of court.

I have the splash prepared:

I even got an abstract lion to replace the small blocks and changed RPG to Adventure to reflect the project.  Lion graphic by Landyachtz- sadly robotic/sci fi lions all resemble voltron.

A lot of the work and sound effects going into scenes is taking place.  Having so many graphics for faces is making it difficult to select the proper emotion without having

the file viewer opened alongside the editor.  I'm trying to avoid the floating head syndrome and am stopping myself whenever I see the action slow or stop to reevaluate a scene. 

 

[Bonkers]

I've handed off the puzzle materials and master dialogue script to Mundy, and we'll soon be revamping the 3D elements to closer match Makio's style.  Having everything for puzzles done with clip art after working so much to make the rest of the game look pretty doesn't sit well with me.  It made the puzzles seem like a dive in quality.  

Right now I am constructing a custom dialogue window (complete with scan lines I added) to try and help the game look a bit better than the traditional boxed windows.  Should this work out well I will be using this GUI interface construction method for the Galactica's Data Base.  This will also mean a change for the HUD as well.

Comparsion Shot of both windows:

I'll have more on chibis and a few other things this weekend.

Also enjoy a pointless crappy sketch:

Stacy needs to learn not to fraternize with superior officers.  

 

[Simon D. Aelsi]

Oh goodness me. Stacy's in hunka hunka heaven, isn't she?

That reminds me: *adds this to his supports*

 

[Bonkers]

Okay, lots of stuff happened this weekend.  Not only did a lot of custom graphics get made but refinement to the UI as well as a few new things happened.

First up the placeholder clip arts started to get replaced by the previously mentioned constructed GUI.  Here is what they look like with and without scan lines:

 

The gradient text helps give it a better look than a solid color would for sci fi.  Venka was kind enough to lend me her aid in finding new resources, as was Sharm and Avery.  A big thank you to all three of them for their suggestions.  It was certainly a lot to take in, but I managed to make something of it.

Made a more appealing design to the Galatica button, but I may change the colors as blue is working out to be better than green.

Mundy gives us the first look into the puzzle graphics, completely rendered in 3D showcasing some very pleasing lighting effects and realism.  This will test your powers of observation and reasoning better than any clip art could have.  He'll have more to come with the other puzzles as well as court overlays.  I was seriously stunned at how well this came out, and he's shown me so much more of what's coming that I cannot show just yet.  I am really overwhelmed by how much effort he is putting forth.

Yato was kind enough to lend me her aid, and thanks to her I managed to make a pleasant little mouse click graphic with some placeholder royalty free icons for the moment.  The GUI now looks like the following:

Here it is, and there is also a 16x16 counterpart I designed for a regular RMVXACE window pause cursor to go with it.  I may release that for restaff along with some other pause cursor graphics.

 Thanks to her help the game now feels like a real adventure game, rather than a bastardized RPG.

Although Reshacker will let me change the icon and I inputted a 512x512 png for all sizes, the icon only shows up for small and below.  Anything medium and up it reverts to a red dragon head.  I have read every tutorial and video on the subject and am putting the issue aside for now to get other things in order for the demo.

That's quite a lot for one day of work on the game.  Things are literally so different than they were before I barely recognize the project at all now.  Still more updates and revamping the menu to come.

 

[Matseb2611]

Good stuff. I like all the custom graphics. Though that puzzle background with wine glasses, wouldn't it stand out, considering it has a very realistic look whereas the rest of the game is DS style?

 

[Bonkers]

Good stuff. I like all the custom graphics. Though that puzzle background with wine glasses, wouldn't it stand out, considering it has a very realistic look whereas the rest of the game is DS style?

That's part of the intention.  Considering the alternative I am going to give Mundy the materials for the puzzle.  Even if it doesn't feel right at first, once the player gets situated the puzzles themselves are in a world their own and stop the game/flow when they are given over.  It's a bit more absorbing to have this sort of graphic rather than clip art, and I admit at first I thought it wouldn't work out either.  With more practice Mundy can match the style of the artist like with any other media- but it will take time.  Right now if this works out well enough for the game to come to fruition that will mean better things for the high fantasy set in the long run such as custom face sets and original characters from high/low poly models for the newer multi-platform support that is to come.  It may even mean that Jayce and Stacy will one day be 3D themselves like Professor Layton is now compared to his inception.

The other reason is I simply cannot afford the time to have it hand drawn by myself.  This is unfortunate, but the job takes so much time away I barely have time to go shopping once a month.  

EDIT:  I cannot commission Makio to do it either, as her obligations to her own job and Artoris take up a majority of her time.  Also she has other commissioners I must be observant about as I am not the only one paying her.

This could all change, and I'd even consider using a combination of styles for the puzzles.  It's been done before in Layton games as well where some graphics would be entirely 2D and others 3D.  Right now I was intending on designing a slew of chibi characters for the cast and see what Makio and Mundy thought, but time is just not on my side this month while I start to get the final materials together for a demo.  So 2D elements are in the works as well next I get to talk with the other artists involved.  

A very good question, and one I struggled over myself for a few weeks with the options on hand.

(Title Screen is near production this weekend? I am told, and something I am very excited over.  I'll be doing custom buttons for that as well like the GUI/HUD)

 

[Bonkers]

First before I get started, I wanted to say thank you for putting Wheels and the Leg girl in the spotlight over on RMN a week ago.  That was a welcome surprise.

Since people seem to like Bonkers the most I'll be sure to share some behaviors shortly.  Makio was also delighted to see her work featured on the front page for a whole week!

Currently we have the elements and system in place for reputation.  I'm finalizing the bar, and here's a small look into things when you are in court:

Judicar is one tough banana.  Using the Galatica and evidence will help satisfy his questions as well as fend off the defense's claims.  Galv did a superb job with this script.  If you prefer something more slick and narrow rather than thick, I am happy to design a second bar.  

Button redesigns continue and so far I've got a good choice on balloons that match the DS style:

I'm going to give Makio the time she needs to finish her own project "April was a fool" before asking for the title screen and other elements(She has 13 more scenes and it would be unfair to take time away from finishing it).  Be sure to see more work done on the Galatica by tomorrow as well as some very cute things =3  I'll have a template at the very least done by tonight for layout and maybe even the custom Luna Engine splash/bumper.

 

[Makio-Kuta]

Bonkers little sprite is so cute <3 liking the new look for the reputation bar as well~

 

[naruzeldamaster]

Oh wait, nevermind, wrong game xD 

Just avoid any lawyers with blue suits and spiky hair and prosecutors in purple tuxes and you won't get sued XDD

I'm surprised someone is making a AA styled Game though, sounds like fun. ;3

If you need any help coming up with cases, let me know, I'm a huge AA fan and I'm sure I could come up with some~ 

Would you mind linking me to the artists that made the portraits for your characters?

 

[Makio-Kuta]

Oh wait, nevermind, wrong game xD

Just avoid any lawyers with blue suits and spiky hair and prosecutors in purple tuxes and you won't get sued XDD

I'm surprised someone is making a AA styled Game though, sounds like fun. ;3

If you need any help coming up with cases, let me know, I'm a huge AA fan and I'm sure I could come up with some~

Would you mind linking me to the artists that made the portraits for your characters?

I think it's more of a AA and Professor Layton mismatch (which only sweetens the deal )As for the artist that did the portraits - that would be me C: though a lot of the character designs were a collaborative effort between palladinthug and myself

 

[Bonkers]

Oh wait, nevermind, wrong game xD 

Just avoid any lawyers with blue suits and spiky hair and prosecutors in purple tuxes and you won't get sued XDD

I'm surprised someone is making a AA styled Game though, sounds like fun. ;3

If you need any help coming up with cases, let me know, I'm a huge AA fan and I'm sure I could come up with some~ 

Would you mind linking me to the artists that made the portraits for your characters?

Makio is the artist and she is quite talented.  The rough concepts did indeed come from me, but she refined them to a new level.  

Examples (Warning huge images under cut) :

Spoiler

 

Judicar didn't have the gold tooth, or that snazzy blend of tie clasp and scowl she added to him after we discussed details.  There was also no segments to his eye glasses, or purple suit which she choose the colors for past the initial designs.  Since she is also a talented writer it rubs off on her drawings.  

As for your offer of help that is extremely generous of you, thank you.  Could you please tell me what sort of projects and games you've done in the past so I can reference them?  Also what is it you specialize in with game design?  I appreciate all the help I can get, even play testers.  I was about to make a thread for that fairly soon and collect a few people not involved with the project directly.

 

[naruzeldamaster]

I think it's more of a AA and Professor Layton mismatch (which only sweetens the deal )

As for the artist that did the portraits - that would be me C: though a lot of the character designs were a collaborative effort between palladinthug and myself

Ah, thanks for pointing that out, and yes, it does sweeten the deal X3 Prof Layton VS Phoenix Wright was awesome :3 

As for why I was asking I really need to find someone who can make battler images and maybe some profile images (of the characters) and maybe some things for a website/video trailer. Nothing complex, just the characters themselves and/or landscapes, unfortunately I don't have the $$ to really hire anyone so ._. Even my usual guy on deviantart would be a bit costly to do all of the important characters in Rpg maker's face portrait style. (the style that the face portraits are in)

I'm pretty much using RTP characters and DLC content from the steam store anyway, so it's not like creating concepts for their appearances would be too hard?

@palladinthug:

 

I could certainly help as a beta tester. I love to tinker, pretty much played the crap out of The Stanley Parable for that reason xD

 

My current project is a parody of Final Fantasy, The Sacred Stones (The game on gameboy that everyone hates to death, look it up on youtube and you'll see why) is called Void Quest, which I'll be happy to send you the demo as soon as it's finished. At this pace I'll have it done in a few days. If you enjoy the Marvel character Deadpooll, I'm sure you'll enjoy the game. There's so much of the 'hi tom' style fourth wall humor that even the characters and scrolling text get annoyed by it.(The first scrolling text actually goes off on a tangent about RPGs in general) After the first major turning point in the plot it slows down quite a bit with the fourth wall humor though, the first few minutes of the game is just reminding the player to be ready for anything and everything. If anything I would compare it to a game called Hyperdimentional Neptuna, which according to my skype friend has pretty much the same style of humor.

 

The Goal of Void Quest is to create a fun story with endearing characters using mostly RTP data (except most music, I get that from incompetech royalty free!) and hardly any scripting involved. I can use some of Yanflay's stuff but that's about it. I know only the basics. And so far I'm content with my results, it is my first game and the story isn't too ambitious, though if I can help in any way I'll do what I can. Though you might be surprised what I can pull off even with the basic stuff. Remember the classic lost woods puzzles from old school Zelda? Yeah I figured how to reproduce that in Ace with basic eventing (I had a friend help me get it working but I did have the concept right.) My plan for it is to be a nice, simple entry level RPG that anyone can pick up and play. Much like Final Fantasy The Sacred Stones was intended to be, without the butchering of the RPG elements for a 'western' audience.

 

I'm mostly a writer (as a hobbyist, I'm by no means a professional...) and I love the AA games and PL is okay in my book, so I could help with bug testing and coming up with cases for the characters to solve. As for puzzles, well probably best to have someone else do that. Although if I do think of something I'll let you know XP 

 

The demo for Void Quest alone has been through several revisions, but now that I've finalized the story (and sense of humor) the demo itself should be done within the next few days if I work on it quite a bit each day. Barring procrastination I'm pretty sure you and your partner will probably be one of the first to try the demo once it's complete. Believe me when I say this, I'm determined to finish this project of mine before the end of the year, I will be taking my time on it though since it's just me and my mapper working on it at the moment.

 

The person who is helping me with my map making is a friend on steam, so I don't know if they'd be able to help either but still, I could chat them up about it if you like. ^+^ They've done some pretty impressive work with the RTP alone. I can't imagine what they'd be able to do with the proper resources.

 

The slogan for Void Quest: "The Fourth Wall Was Made To Be Broken!" ^+^

I will make a thread for it as soon as the demo is 100% finished and bug tested. However early project feedback on steam community has been rather positive.

 

[Bonkers]

I think you misunderstood what I asked you and turned this thread into a self promotion for your own game.  I was asking you for what you had completed already, not what you were working on now.  I wasn't asking for a synopsis of your game either, that is for your own thread down the line.  I consider it somewhat rude you derailed my thread.

My Partner?  If you mean Makio she is a paid artist.  She is not a partner, nor is she directly involved with anything but the artwork.

The cases are all done as is the story.  I really think you misunderstood what I was asking from you.

 

[C-C-C-Cashmere (old)]

Ouch I'm so envious right now. The developer kind of envy. Looks super gooooooood.

 

[naruzeldamaster]

I think you misunderstood what I asked you and turned this thread into a self promotion for your own game.  I was asking you for what you had completed already, not what you were working on now.  I wasn't asking for a synopsis of your game either, that is for your own thread down the line.  I consider it somewhat rude you derailed my thread.

My Partner?  If you mean Makio she is a paid artist.  She is not a partner, nor is she directly involved with anything but the artwork.

The cases are all done as is the story.  I really think you misunderstood what I was asking from you.

Assumptions assumptions r_r just because I'm a new member to the community, you think I'm not serious is that it?

My current project that I'm working on right now IS the only project I have done. That's why I don't have anything to show you until the demo itself is complete, which if all goes well I should finish it today or tomorrow.

You asked me about what I'm working on and I explained it to you in detail, if I was 'advertizing' I would have posted links and pics etc. It's not derailing if it's only one post, derailing would be encouraging others to look into my game and should go to x thread for y reason. The only thing remotely close to advertizing is that I said I would be making a thread for it as soon as the demo was complete.

I think you are the one who misunderstood what I was saying, you asked me what I was working on/had finished, so I told you, I also stated clearly that Void Quest was my first game and then went on to describe it since the demo was not yet finished. That is not advertizing, that was answering the question you gave me.

I will admit that second paragraph might have been unneeded, but this is what happens when you only have a story synopsis and two thirds of a demo finished for your only game..

 

[Makio-Kuta]

When you're applying for a job in the real world you don't stand in the business and shout out your credentials for all to see. You hand a resume in to the person in charge. Maybe go for a PM next time and links to examples of your skills, not a game synopsis. More professional. The Internet and real life are oddly similar in a lot of ways.

More on topic, I only just realized that the Queen ant's bust was added to the first post~!! She was super fun to design.

 

[Susan]

Looking better and better everytime I check this thread out! Excellent job to all the people involved in this game's development! ^^

This game is going to be fantastic!

Congratulations to Makio for having Bonkers being featured as Picture of the the Moment in RMN! ^^

 

[naruzeldamaster]

When you're applying for a job in the real world you don't stand in the business and shout out your credentials for all to see. You hand a resume in to the person in charge. Maybe go for a PM next time and links to examples of your skills, not a game synopsis. More professional. The Internet and real life are oddly similar in a lot of ways.

More on topic, I only just realized that the Queen ant's bust was added to the first post~!! She was super fun to design.

I'll have to pm a link to what I'm working on when the demo is complete then, as far as being professional, not all things are quite as similar. If either of you are interested in my help as a beta tester/bug finder after playing the demo then feel free to contact me back.

As I said, what I have 'done' isn't exactly 'complete' so even as a resume it's not as professional to show a demo that's only 89% finished now is it?(Using your analogy it'd be like me turning in a half-finished resume on the second interview...not so professional is it?) I'd much rather have your impression of my work after seeing a completed product with as few bugs as possible. That being said I'm still interested in this game either way, I wouldn't have offered to help in the first place if I wasn't. Keep in mind my skills are rather limited, but I'll do what I can.

 

[??????]

I have to say, I really dislike the idea of not having battles and such, but that artwork is just to die for <3
Good job