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[Devlog] The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath

A topic by tibone created Jul 25, 2017 Views: 480 Replies: 11
Viewing posts 1 to 8
(1 edit) (+1)

Concept:

Horizontal shmup, based on the novella by H.P Lovecraft.
You play as a version of R. Carter, in his quest to find the sunset city of Kadath.
You will have to fight Zoogs, Goos and moon-beasts in order to reach the destination of the gods.

Engine:
HTML5 w/ some framework: I want the game to be playable in a browser. And this is the quickest way to do so nowdays,
also, this is a good opportunity for me to test drive different frameworks.

Graphics:
160x120 resolution;
8x8 tiles;
16x16 sprites;
C64 based palette.
(The entire output will be scaled up to the browser window size, but this will allow me to draw stuff quicker).
Tool: jpixel:  I'm really liking the ability to preview animations inside the drawing program and also to be able to export spritesheet and tilesets.

Sounds and Music:
TBD. I plan on using at least one 8bit chip for music.
I would like to venture into FM, but only if time allows, otherwise, i'll most likely stick to the PSG (SN76489) chip for everything.

Scope:
- At least 2 levels with 2:00~ minutes of gameplay each.
- Min. number of enemies: 3.
- 1 boss.
- 2 songs.
- 3 SFX (shooting, and 2 explosions).

Bonus (only if the scope is met):
- upgrade-able shots. / power-up system
- more enemies.
- more bosses.
- more levels.
- decent scoring system
- more stuff.

Levels:
Stage 1: Enchanted Woods
Cavern with logs and trees.
Enemies: Zoogs, plants and something else.

Stage 2: The town of Ultar
City-like.
Enemies: plants, turrets? and something else.
Boss: Atal, the patriarch.

(+1)

Main Ship:
Some sort of bio-mechanical/organic submarine to navigate the dream-land.


Some tiles:
These are place-holders and will be substituted in time.

What i have so far:
- Horizontal scrolling scene, with a controlable ship.
- A shoot button that works.
- Some tiles.

Next steps:
- Implement one enemy.
- Draw some bullets (shots)

(+1)

I needed some enemy sprites in order to test enemy placement and movement, so here they are:

Some sort of abstract, lovecraftian creature, with multiple disjointed eyeballs:


A very low-res rendering of a moon-beast:


These are place-holder, but will most likely be in the submitted game, i think their weird aesthetic matches what i'm going for with the game.

Submitted

Love the theme!

Thanks man. Lovecraft is my favorite author. And i love to try and turn his stories into games. Back in 2010 i did a game based on "In the walls of Eryx." - i really need to remake that game.

Submitted

I have to try that as well. I often have trouble coming up with cool ideas to motivate me.

Did some more work last night. My player ship can now shoot. And the 1 type of enemy can be killed.

I hope to work some more tonight or on my lunch break. But in the current pace, i should be able to finish the entities and basic mechanics by the weekend.
Then it's just graphic and level design.

Anyone has any idea of a cool gimmick to implement? 
I was thinking about adding something different. I thinking either a "enemy grabbing" weapon or a secondary weapon with limited use.
Still planning that, but aside from the main work.

Submitted

Introduce some graphical glitches to simulate going insane? :) How about some non-Euclidean geometry?

(+1)

That would be cool. An insane  meter screwing up the game. It would fit the theme perfectly. I'll see if i can implement something like this.

I'm still working on entities. I added 2 types of enemies similar to each other, but they are mirrored in their behaviour.
I need to draw some explosions to make the killing of the enemies more satisfying.
Next step is adding enemies that can shoot back at the player.

Overall, i think i can make a fun little game. I want to get started on songs/sfx during the weekend. We'll see.

(+1)

Entities pretty much done.

I have 3 types of enemies configured.  I have the first level layout ready.

Now, i need to finish something playable (at least 1 level), add sfx and music, and then polish/add if i can.
If people enjoy this little game, i might try to fully flesh it out.

Level 1 is pretty much done.

I'll focus on finishing that, to release something before the deadline.

So, it will be one level only. I need to activate player death, and i need to create some sort of explosion sprite today.
SFX are pretty much done (white-noise ftw).
But i still need at least 1 music track.

After that, is just adding some text/score and simple stuff.
I think i can finish and package 1 level before the deadline.