Game Graphics

[Databits]

Updated Sep 28, 2005

Currently I'm working on a small tileset for a maze game for a class. It's kinda my first time doing tilesets, so I'd like a little feedback on the tiles I have so far. I also compiled the animation for the bomb to look how it would be rendered in the game. This is by far not a complete tileset. But I'll explain the game in a bit more detail at the end of the post. For now, here is the current images:

Tileset:


Animation:






The game will be a turn based maze game. You start out at a certain point in a map and must solve the puzzle within a set amount of time and moves. There will be pickups within the maze to help you along the way as well as items to increase your score. The object of the game is to complete the puzzle within the set amount of turns while obtaining the highest score you can under the time limit.

Within the maze are doors that will be locked that require a key of their color to unlock and open them. When you unlock a door it consumes 1 key of the doors color and opens the door. You no longer need to unlock doors after the first time. There are also cracked walls in which you can use bombs to break open (basically like a key except bombs carry over to other stages and keys do not). Inside hidden rooms (behind cracked walls) could be any number of power ups and traps.

Last but not least there are traps within the mazes which cause damage to your HP. Most traps are not visible to a player unless a pickup provides them the location or they trigger it. There are pickups that will allow you to replenish lost HP, and your HP resets between stages (I may add a difficulty setting which will cause HP to not regen between stages).

Pickups within the game can range from any number of things. Some pickups are instant use on pick up, while others you can hold on to. Pickups will exist that increase the number of movements you have remaining, replenish time, replenish HP, detect nearby traps when used, etc...

Also, even though I don't want to... This game's gonna be written in Java, so I'll probably (eventually) have test Applets for people to play.

[Lei]

hey those looks really good! ^_^ Cept it took me a little while to figure out what the keys were (I got it eventually, obviously)

 Also, in the words of my... exceptionally special teacher, "use the power of the Java, but beware the power of the applets."

 Then again he suggested Flash as an alternative >_>

[Databits]

You know, I would much rather write this stuff in another language, but the instructor requires ALL projects to be written in Java. :/

[thefemnazi]

Soooo odd.  If I were teaching something like programming, I would want my students to know all possible languages, and would therefore require each assignment to be written in something new and different.  Of course, I'm evil and would also require a program written in BASIC and then, maybe COBAL.  Me=Evil.

[Databits]

Something like that would never work. Requiring a student to learn multiple languages in a single class would prove useless in the long run because they wouldn't gain a firm grasp of any single language. It's better to focus on one language and stick with it. When it's time for them to learn another language, they can take another class.

The fact that my class is full of students that know C/C++ very well and only like 2% that know or have any experience with Java (because it wasn't written anywhere in the course description that the Java was a prereq) means that the class should have focused on developing the games in C/C++ instead. It is after all a Game Development course, not a Introduction to Java/C++/VB/etc... course.

In a game programming course I believe that the fundamentals of game development are far more important than the language. This class that I'm in isn't teaching anything usefull in terms of game design so far. It's simply showing the students how to draw to the screen and whatnot using Java. All good game developers know that the programming is the LAST step in the development of any game, not the first.

Thus, this class dissappoints me greatly. It should have started out in spliting the class into teams to brainstorm and idea of a game, then the students should be taught the importance of a design document, selecting target audience, evaluating and selecting what to use and what not to use of their ideas, HOW TO WORK AS A TEAM, etc... Then the students should be able to choose (within reason) the language of choice to develop their game in. That would be a more sensible solution for a Game Development course, take the students through a virtual production simulation of real life game development, not "Here's how you draw a bitmap to the screen in Java".

Ok... I'm done.

[Lei]

.. WOW. I'm in a  grade ten course and I'm learning the same thing as you right now. It's suitable cause no one cept me and the teacher have done any real programming before (well... if you count PHP?)

 but yeah... I feel very sorry for you.

[Databits]

I'm not worried about it. I've been doing study of game design for many years, it's obvious that this is a blow off class for me. I would just like to see it taught correctly is all.

Design > Programming Language

[Databits]

I made a character sprite change. I think this new one looks better than the old one, but like I said before, I'm no artist.

Whatchya think?

NEW:
or or ?


OLD:


May I note, also take into account the orientation of the tile images above. Once this character sprite is completely done it should match in geometry a little better than the previous one did. I'm also working on teh HUD images as well as a few followup changes to the original tiles. Things like enlarging the doorways and adding a few more wall tiles for allowing more than simple square and rectangular rooms.

[Gwyn]

Floppy hat guy (either or, but I favor the one the flops only to one side).

I haven't learned Java yet I think that's a course next semester.

[thefemnazi]

I like the guy who's hat flops to the side.  The one that just flops looks like a metronome.

[Databits]

Ok well I drew and compiled the entire animation, what ya think of it now:

[AcidGlow]

Very cool work man.

[dragyn]

Hey, better than my pixelated works to date.  (see current avatar for examples)

Also, no real animation on my part to date.

Good work, Data

[ren_pii]

I think they look awesome.
What program do you use to do this?