The NEW Style

The new style of the Pretend is based on the art style of John Bauer. John Bauer is a storybook artist from the early 20th century whose art is based in trolls and overall norse mythology. Its awesome:

The mood and Autumn-afternoon lighting is what I feel would give this game a nice, fantasy look.

A Revival

This is the Revival of the Pretend Project. This revival is going to take on  a new artist direction and level design. This will be a much more percise and orderly project than before and we will be updating more frequently than before. Currently the team members are Tessa Liddington and myself so ww will be finding people along the way to help us in this journey of....VIDEOGAMTRY.

Handed Over to the Arts

Now that most of the mechanics are working in Pretend, I've handed the game and all of it's files to my friend and team member, Osei, for some art direction.

With my other projects in motion, this particular one has been placed on the back-burner of my priorities list.  I leave it to him for now to make the world of Pretend a beautiful one!  Thanks, Osei!

How Do Artists Do It?

I must say, making Pretend pretty is quite a chore.  Because I'm a programmer, all of the animations are going to be two or three key frames for now.  I'll find someone to inbetween them or actually redo them entirely (because you know my digital art skill sets aren't quite there yet).

Err... that's a Nerf gun.

This is my sorry piece of work for the first idle frame for the boy.  Even though I've got a wacom tablet, I still suck at this sort of thing.  They're just too small to make brush strokes pretty!

The Alpha test that is currently posted will be the last Alpha test.  The next version to be released will be the first of the Beta tests.

Testing in Mobile

So we're almost ready to actually making it look pretty!  I've got the PC controls and mobile controls working, a lot of bugs pertaining to winning the game still remain, but the mechanics have been hashed through and are decent enough to enjoy the game.

 

A screen shot of the Pretend being tested in Device Central.

The mobile controls obviously won't be available for testing here, only the PC controls will be published.  But as you can see in the image above, there are two "input zones" as I've been calling them.  The zone on the left is always jump (except it goes inactive when you become the bird) while the right adapts to be the special move (also becomes inactive when you become the bird).  To move forward and backward, you tilt the phone in that direction.

For what it's worth, I was super proud in getting the accelerometer working properly!

It's a Mobile Game?

Why yes, yes it is!  Pretend will become a mobile game for the iOS in about two weeks when I finish up the new controls, but I'll be having this game available to be played on my personal iPhone at the Portfolio Review on September 13th, 2012.

After the new controls are made available (there will still be the testing versions for the PC here), I'll be fixing the collision issues.  I've known what they were for a while, I just need to find the time to getting them.  Lots of projects!  Also, the issue with the back buttons were solved.

Apparently the movie clips on the main timeline didn't like having simple buttons in them.  All is well though, I solved the issue by turning the simple buttons into movie clips and then just programmed the hover states myself.

Unfortunately, I don't have anything pretty to show just yet.  Come back in a week or two, I may have something updated then!

[Resolved] Hosting Issues.

While relaxing on vacation, I made the astonishing discovery that my computer has nothing fun to do on it.  It has all of the necessary programs to do my work, but nothing fun to play.  Not a single game.  So I played around on designing some graphically pleasing images for the main menu (if the main character is a six year old kid, I'm sure I can draw like one).

So my point is that I've got alpha version 1.7 available, but my website host is having issues and I cannot upload any new files.  So you and I will just have to wait to play the new version.  Sorry everyone!  Here's an enticing picture, instead!

I enjoy the font very much.

Update

I talked with a customer service representative today regarding my hosting issue.  The issue is actually unrelated to the hosting service.  Something must have bugged when my desktop updated to the most recent version of Java.  My laptop, a school computer, and the representative all had no trouble accessing the account.

To solve the problem, I downloaded an FTP program to avoid working with Java applications and successfully uploaded alpha version 1.7 to my server.  There's new bugs in my menus now, but ... LOOK AT THE PRETTY BIRDY!

NaGaDeMo 2012 Result... AND BEYOND!

Participating in this event made for a good start on a potential portfolio piece for the team members.  Now that we're no longer constrained to this crunching deadline of the National Game Development Month, we can pursue other goals we had set for this project.

Unfortunately, this game won't be considered a "winner" in the event because we never got to the Beta tests since the artists didn't make their deadlines, and I still had tweaks needing to be tweaked and there was a large hole where the testers ought to be (we could definitely use more feedback on the game).

However, next week is the first week of July, so everyone can take a more official vacation without having to worry about the game.  I'd like to resume the production of Pretend on July 9th; we'll all be back in school for the summer session and it'll be a lot easier to get together for the meetings.  The fact that all of our meetings were online and half of the team on summer vacation definitely made things a bit more difficult.

Thank you, everyone for your hard work.  I'll see you in a week!

This Is a level concept (A Really LATE One)

Well this is probably late but here's what I had so I had something to show. I don't know where the others are but here's a level outline. Its a panorama of the entire level without the platforms and stuff. The blocks that Tessa made will be the platforms and stuff, instead of just sitting there in left side of the level.

Of course you will be going from the left part to the right. The left hill representing your bedroom and the right hill representing your kitchen in the real world of the game.

This is late but at least I had something before it was  too late and also i got backed up with a lot of work this week and last week so, sorry.

Beta Delayed, but...

The Beta Tests will be delayed until further noticed due to the art and audio assets not being finished. The scope may have to be cut again if these deadlines are missed by a long shot.




In which case, I'll still be running Alpha tests anyway since you can see that not all of the programming is finished either. We're on the last week of the National Game Development Month, so the members of the team who are still with us are nailing down their assignments.




It also just happens to be Summer break from our school, so that sort of killed the motivation from some of the team members.




However, we're lucky to still have a 2D artist, Dylan, who has come up with these sprites as character concepts based on our earlier discussions.

         

You also may have noticed some changes in the level, such as the addition to blocks. There are four kinds of blocks you'll see in the game, and only these three have been implemented so far:

         

The red block is a special block that can only be destroyed by ramming it with the bear's special move, fire fists.




The green block is a special block that can only be destroyed by the boy's special move, shooting it with a Nerf dart.




The black block is a special block that can be destroyed by any special move.




The blue block is a special block that can only be affected (not actually destroyed) by the dog's special move. I've been thinking of changing the dog's ability to be able to walk through things (phasing), like Kitten from X-Men or D.L. Hawkins from Heroes.




Also, I believe those horizontal platforms are working much better now! Here comes the wind-down!

Let the Alpha Tests Begin!

To begin testing the game right away, click here!

Otherwise, continue reading what I have to say about it :P

Every time I feel like I've made a significant change in the code (like one that fixes a glitch or bug), I'll re-upload the file and release it as the next version.  They'll still be in the Alpha Test page.  This can result to 1 upload per day or as many as 15, whatever makes this game work.  This will keep up until the Beta Test is released next weekend.

If you have any suggestions, questions, or valuable critiques, please leave them in the comments section on the Alpha Test page.  I'd rather not have my cell phone, email, or any of the social applications blowing up with ideas.  At least this way, I can find them all in one place.  Thank you!

Also, please keep in mind the 'known bugs' section before you point something out.  Thank you!

Character Movement

So I've been spending the day prototyping for this game to get the Alpha test ready for Sunday.  I've got the menu functionality working as well as character movement (finally).  There's still some bugs with the jumping (expected), but it looks nice anyway.  I tried really hard for this smooth movement instead of my usual straight-cut start-and-stop movements.

You can also switch among the states, and if you're a bird, you can fly like you're supposed to.  Actually, take a look here, the bird is actually defying gravity!!!

Haha... Okay, I didn't expect you to get it.  I know I'm not that funny.  I rarely try to be.

Anyway, just a few more tweaks and most of the mechanics for regular game play is finished.  Instead of boss fights or enemies, I just make it a time trial instead.  That'll help cut the scope down a bit more to better fit the time allowed for this project, and it'll take out the hit points system also (since it'll be pointless if nothing can kill you).

However, those ideas are still doable for if or when this project gets expanded beyond the NaGaDeMo event.

Silhouette are FuN!

 

Ah, Silhouettes are really fun because I don't have to draw up detail and it gives you a sort

of "feel" for the character or "something" like that.

Game Flow Chart & U.I. Wire-frames

Are you looking forward to Sunday?  If not, you should be!  Our first play-test will be available.

So before I start programming anything, I made up this game flow chart to better understand the possible decisions.

To make sense of it all, when you first look at the game, you'll be seeing the Main Menu with five buttons: Play Pretend, How To Play, Extras, Credits, and Controls.

Pretend has two playable levels and a final boss level.  There will also be three cinematic cut-scenes (animatics, or storyboards with sound, rather).

After understanding what I should be viewing, I made some wireframes of the menus I'd be looking at.

Main Menu   

  Controls Screen   

  Paused Menu

Game-play U.I. 

Credits Screen   

Extras Screen   

I've also thought out some game mechanics that you may notice is in the Controls Screen, as well as some hints to it in the Game-play U.I.  I'll be releasing more information regarding these mechanics when I get more documentation down.  Keep an eye out!

Assets Unite!

I've got some news regarding team members.  Unfortunately, Travis won't be able to participate due to prior obligations.  However, I've picked up a dedicated 2D artist, Dylan Rinker.  If you've got a concept that needs finalized, send it to him and he'll make it pretty for you (:

Speaking of assets, I've organized a little board on Trello.  Trello is an online organizer that we can use to keep track of the assets (as well as store their files on there for easy transfer) and who's working on them.  You can log onto Trello using your google account.  For those who are already authors of this blog, I've invited you to the Trello page.  We'll discuss Trello more in depth at our next meeting this weekend.  I know a little bit about how it works from using it for the previous Global Game Jam.

Go, Team!

Early Character Concepts

We've established a target audience for our game.  They are casual gamers who like cute things (:

The scope of the project has been halved to suit the production schedule; we cut out the idea of a bottom screen altogether and you only play the game in the Pretend world.

Other than that, here are a few concept ideas drawn by the programmer, moi!  The artists and concept designers will take these ideas from here and mold them to their will.

The Main Character

Panda Bear: 1st & 2nd Ideation

Ninja Bird

Dog

My goal here was to find out what these characters looked like, what colors are they, and how unique are they from each other.

From this point, Oliver was tasked with defining the mechanics of obstacles, and concepting what they may look like.  Andrew will be scripting the cut-scenes and drawing up some low-comp story boards to match.

When I get in contact with the rest of the team, I'll ask Alexis and Osei to make some better concepts of the environment, remaining characters, and props.  I'll ask Travis to start working on a level layout.

As for me, I'll think of some game play mechanics and U.I. designs for both during play and game menus.

The team meets again tomorrow after 6pm to discuss any first thoughts on these assignments, and then we're set loose to develop these assets for the remainder of the week.

Pretend is Underway!

The working title for our upcoming game is Pretend.  This game is a 2D side-scrolling, web-based, flash game about a little kid who's playing pretend.  You get to play as the kid in the real world on one screen, while watching what is going on in his head on the other.  But beware, for the things that show up in the pretend world can most definitely affect you!

As the kid, you can choose to pretend to be a bird, dog, bear, or yourself to get through the obstacles in your mind.  Is the floor lava? Is that chair really a brick wall? Choose between speed, flight, and strength to get through the entire house and defeat the final boss.

Okay, so that's our high game concept that we came up with in the meeting today.  And here is a terrible concept drawing that I made during the meeting.

So yeah, I'm a programmer, not a 2D artist, but it made sense at the time.  We'll be meeting again on Sunday around 11am to discuss the art style and some concepts.  That's the homework for the weekend.

Beholding the Keyboard

Alright! So the team is forming and the members are thus far:

• Oliver Austin: 2D Artist
• Travis Kehler: Level Designer
• Tessa Liddington: Programmer / Tech Artist
• Osei Mcmillan: Concept Artist / Tech Artist
• Andrew Richards: Scripter / Concept Designer
• Alexis Stinson: 2D Artist / Concept Artist

Not all members and positions are finalized, some may vary depending on schedules and skills available.

I documented a general pipeline production.  This document describes the three phases of our pipeline: pre-production, production, and post-production.  It also provides general aspects to think about when in that phase as well as a few descriptions.  This document will serve as talking points to keep the team focused during our first meeting when discusses ideas for the game.

Click image to view larger

I also created a basic production schedule that outlines when the team ought to meet, when we'll be testing the game, important deadlines, and little reminders to the members that they should be updating this blog as well.

Click image to view larger

The first meeting was changed from Saturday to Friday (at 4:00pm) to accommodate some members' schedules.  The physical meeting will be held at my apartment, while some members would prefer online meetings (we all know each other in person, so it's not a big deal).

For those who are meeting online, we'll be using Google hangout.  To go there, simply log onto your Google account (yes, you must have one), and view your profile (click on your name on the top right for a drop down, and the "View Profile" - it's a big blue button).  From there, you should have navigational options on the left, down the side, and choose "Hangouts".  Osei will be in charge of hosting a the hangout.  He'll send you the invitation to join in.  When he does, you'll see the invite on the top left.  See you there!

Hello, World!

Today is the day that I first learned of the National Game Development Month.  Yeah, it started five days ago, but it isn't too late!  I've already started getting my team together and creating some documentation depicting a production schedule and pipeline description.  The world will be seeing our stuff soon enough!

Go amateurs!