Creating a Roguelite Map for My Gladiator Combat Game | Playdate Devlog 3
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- Опубліковано 24 лип 2022
- I'm continuing development on my Gladiator roguelite game for the Playdate. This week, I started work on the map system for the game! Watch this devlog to see my progress! Subscribe to follow along with the game - I upload every single Monday!
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Previous episode: • Physically Cranking to...
First episode: • I'm Making a Gladiator...
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#Playdate #PlaydateDev #PlaydateConsole - Наука та технологія
Where is the art coming from? The skulls and bag look good. You didn't ask, but a little bit of extra feedback on what's selected (some kind of outline or box behind the icon that is bobbing) could really help it pop! Also, I know we see what levels are unlocked by the path, but it would be cool if those icons were faded (dithered) to look like they're part of the paper, and then they become fully visible like shown in the video, as if they're "coming to life". Ooo man this is ramping up!!
The skull and bag are both real pictures of a skull/bag that I ran through a dithering algorithm and manually cleaned up. And great ideas! I'll work to add those things. Thanks for the suggestions!
@@SquidGodDev wow you're really clever (at least in my eyes 😆)
Back to say, just received my unit today! I'll be on the road all day tomorrow but when I settle in at my destination I can kick my feet up and finally enjoy my console. And of course try out the week 4 implementation.
@@andrewhamel1 Exciting!!
"Name two of the Best Game Developers I'll wait"
Me: Gregory kogos and SquidGodDev
Looking great! Boss rooms are a must. Gives the player something to look forward too. Maybe think about a simple text story between levels. Boss dialog?
Some dialog could be cool. I'll take that into consideration!
@@SquidGodDev i think a story would be nice in this game, right now it just feels like you're doing this without any purpose
PLEASE CONTINUE
I will!
Does the crank being put away act as an input? If so, you should make it so putting away the crank charges up some sort of super (maybe a more powerful spin) and when the crank is taken back out the super is used. Good luck on implementing a shop!
Ohh interesting idea! Haven't considered utilizing that input. Thanks for the suggestion!
Love following this development!
Glad to hear!
It's the best I have to get a playdate so soon I can play your games. For some items they could be potions like invisibility and speed
that’s so awesome i love the progress of this game!
Thank you!
Cool game
Thanks!
JesusChrist you are doing the job of two developers and a game designer... The one manband!
Haha yup that's the classic solo dev experience!
Excited to see what’s coming in the shop! As you mentioned in your replies, I think the gray out of inaccessible levels is the right next step. Also agree that levels/characters in the top left like melee will fill out the map a bit more (may have to make the icons smaller but looking forward to seeing how you put it together)
Thanks Mori!
Looking great!
Thanks!
The art assets for this game make it pop, but your continued effort and smart design choices are a joy to watch, as well. I will gladly drop money for this game when it releases! Keep up the great work!
Thanks - I will!!
Some ideas:
#1 Angel Wings (ability):
You can press a button, then your character flies up into the air, and slams down damaging enemies in the area
#2 Ghost pendant (consumable item):
You press a button, and your character turns into a ghost unable to take damage, and your HP regenerates even while you're moving
#3 Sharpener (consumable item):
You can press a button and it makes your sword sharper / stronger for that room
Thanks for the great ideas! Consumable ideas are something interesting that I might explore.
@@SquidGodDev Yeah!
This is making me want to make games for the playdate even though I don’t have one. The only thing holding me back from getting one is that the screen isn’t lit
Thanks! It's honestly not that bad. As long as I have a lamp it's ok, and I also see it as somewhat complimentary to my phone. I can use it in broad daylight conditions that is hard to use a phone in, and in any normal light conditions as long as you angle it correctly it's still very clear. But, might be biased since I don't really play games late at night when it's really dark.
I feel like some fanfare or a small victory animation at the end of the stage could give the player a signal to breathe and relax instead of just an abrupt transition back to the map.
Yeah I'm planning on having a results screen to show how much gold/currency you earned at the end of the room, which should make it better.
Wow looks great!
Thanks!
@@SquidGodDev :)
In case it might make your day a tiny bit better, after watching various videos, I just think your channel is all-around great! 👍
Thanks Sergio! That's very nice of you to say that!
amazing.
Thank you!
Basic map is responsive and looks brilliant!
-The paper background adds a TON when the map scrolls.
-The animated dots add a really good sense of progression.
-The highlighted icon bobbing looks great too, but maybe you could add an arrow or border it somehow to increase readability. Maybe have the dots animating towards the selected icon diagonally or just darken the outline of the icon. My brain can see a thicker outline or symbol faster than it can notice a bobbing motion even if it's just by a split second.
-I like the icons, but skull vs skull&crossbones doesn't read well to me. Slay the spire does it by adding horns, which I think says "these enemies are physically larger, more demonic, complicated" (reading as difficult). Adding crossbones doesn't signal to me that the encounter is more difficult. Now maybe if that skull was on fire...
-I agree that the wave system isn't working, though it was cool as an early demo. Enemies spawning in waves could still make sense, but I think only if they all spawned at once and had to all be defeated before the second wave of enemies spawned, sort of like traditional Isaac-likes. Your enemy icon idea sounds pretty interesting and would probably look rad on screen. Otherwise, "Get to the goal" could work and would add more importance to enemy engagement distances and patterns. You could have some enemies spawn behind at trigger points in attempts to flank so you're not always attacking the same direction. You could have exits out of the level that only appear at a certain level of kills, so not only would you have to fight, but you'd have to find the escape as well (you could have an arrow on screen pointing to the last enemy or the end portal or whatever).
This whole weekly,
Thanks for the awesome feedback! Yeah I'll definitely do some work improving the readability, and the ideas you have on improving the level stuff is good I'll try and think of the best way to rework it.
the spin attack with the crank is sick!! Something that might be cool is some kind of finisher move? Like maybe a second meter that fills slowly the quicker you spin the crank, and if you max that meter out before the other meter is empty, the spin attack finishes with something like slamming the sword into the ground to make a shockwave, or something else similar to that? It could also be cool if the basic attacks can be used more fluidly coming out of the spin attack, but that might be something already in there that I just missed :P
Yeah a finisher move sounds interesting! Maybe it can be an upgrade you buy from the shop. Yeah, you can definitely fluidly switch from spin to a basic attack, but it's just the ergonomics of using your right hand to crank and then switching to pressing the A button is just not easy to make a quick movement.
Personally, I would make the stamina bar larger and put it up next to the health. It seems off down where the character is
it might be nice to make the camera move slightly in the direction the player is moving or lag behind a bit when the player switches directions, so its not just fully locked to the player.
Yeah I've definitely thought about that but was feeling lazy to implement it because of the math 😅 I'll see where my motivation is but I'd say it's a slightly lower priority change
maybe make the spin attack charge up on attacking enemies and taking damage (maybe this is too simular to other games idk), since you could probably run away till it charges and then use it, anyways i would definitely buy this, really foward to what you make!
Yup gotten a lot of comments about that - I'll probably implement that change. Thanks!
Interested to see how you’ll fill up the shop screen. I always like the shop to be a character trading you items, I feel like it adds a lot of ...character, but I don’t know how you’d tie that into your gladiator theme. “Gifts from the gods” works with the Greek time period but unfortunately Hades feels like it’s called dibs on that for the next year or two.
Yeah I'm going with a character as a shopkeeper, and my solution to the theme is that I'm just not really going to stick to the theme it's already very loosely tied to the idea of a gladiator 😅
Yeah dude, get rid of the wave system, that icon like melee system seems fine, but maybe just enemies in your path and you just defeat as you encounter would be fine, getting from point a to point b
Thanks for the feedback!
I also think this is the way to go, left to right just feels like progress, that’s why so many games do it. And it ties into the map that already does the same. This is shaping up really impressively quickly.
The map looks so good! Maybe have the option to use the scroll wheel to look ahead at the rest of the map before entering the level?
Thanks! Yeah that's already possible I mentioned it somewhere in the video
Your videos are great and I love see them but how do you have the playdate?
Looks very neat! I'm just a little bit confused... when can you like jump to the next level?... it kinda feels like you can jump at every point from anywhere like skipping them, and if I'm getting it wrong maybe make the following levels (after the "next" one) all blacked out silhouettes. (This would help if you make a more diverse map).
May I mention, instead of making e very branched map, use doors to further "branch" the map. Avoiding a very maze like map.
I know it's early for this concept but I imagined the final level boss as a shadow gladiator, looks and fights like the player (in inverted colors).
Yeah great points - someone else left a comment about how I should fade or grey out the inaccessible levels so I'll do that. Currently I have a temporary thing where if you beat wave 2, you'll move on to the next level, but I'll be changing that. The shadow gladiator is an idea I had as well, so I might implement that into the game.
Maybe add some sort of character for the shop (i guess kinda like in cuphead) and maybe in the waves you could have one or two checkpoints oh also make some sort of animation for when you get into the level menu like opening a map or scroll
I did make a character for the shop! He's not finished yet so I didn't have a chance to put it in this week, but hopefully you'll see him next week.
It feels off that there's no winning animation, you just end the level, add some kind of portal that appears when you finish the level, and 2 chests along containing items that will change some gameplay mechanic that the player can choose wich chest they will pick
I added a level end popup in devlog 5, but I like your idea of chests popping up. I might add that
E M C G
EMCG!!
Yo I love the game so far, but I feel like it needs another mechanic to deepen the game. So far the combat looks very flat, swing until they wind up their attack, then doge, repeat. Adding something like a parry or like a ghost dash would help it feel less repetitive when in combat.
Yeah for sure. The items I'll be adding to purchase in the shop will give you additional abilities that should hopefully give some more depth to the combat.
Soo...the spin is the only special? Since its controllled by the crank only? Thats sad. I was hoping u would like my suggestion of skill/item selection for the crank and use a skill via button combo up atk or down atk or sumthin
Work in progress! Didn't have time to implement any of the items/skills, but I'm getting started on that this week, and will incrementally add more in the coming weeks.
@@SquidGodDev yieee...thats nice
*comment for the algorithm.*
ONG
With which tool/program you do the dithering effect?
OneBitDitherTool by Tim Hei github.com/timheigames/onebitdithertool
@@SquidGodDev Nice thank you :D
how was this video only three minutes long