Scratch

I posted the musician request.

MKR wrote:

Okay, looking at my current schedule I will be able to help very minimally.  Sorry about that... but I start practicing everyday from 7am-4pm starting next week for the next three weeks.  Just to let you know.  I may be able to help sometime but I wouldn't be dependent on that, haha. I will let you know if I do anything on the graphics list though!

No problem at all, don't let this interfere with other things! We'll let you know if there's something that we really need your help with.

silvershine wrote:

LiquidMetal wrote:

silvershine, in a comment on my "graphics 1.0" test project, wrote:

I agree, they should be the minions, and they look fine for now.    I've been working on a newer version of the boss battle, and I'll upload it soon.

What did you mean by that then?

Yikes, I really did make this confusing. 
I guess I thought you meant that as a name for them instead of "bullets," I never imaged them as having health bars. I want to make the battle engaging, but not too confusing.

"A minion is an unimportant person who follows or serves someone more important." ~ yourdictionary.com

Anyway, they'll be bullets.  I'm still not quite sure how you want them to work at the moment.  Also, how does Leo attack the shadow monster?

silvershine wrote:

The butterflies look great! I'm leaning towards the shadow monster that you made, it's much more interesting to look at.

Which shadow did you mean again? The one in the middle? (I'm confused because of something you said later on.)

silvershine wrote:

LiquidMetal wrote:

Wait, so you knew about the black and red "thing" in the draft before I found it just now? That was the shadow boss, wasn't it?

I was talking about the orbs that I drew in five seconds in the current draft.    That other shadow thing you found was the shadow monster a while ago.

Oh, ok.  I'll have to look at the draft again and remind myself.

silvershine wrote:

LiquidMetal wrote:

Maybe we should use the all black version as the boss,

I'm assuming you mean the one that you made...

LiquidMetal wrote:

and then scale the flashing red one for the orbs?

Yes, sounds like a plan.

silvershine wrote:

LiquidMetal wrote:

Where are the dead butterflies and the fog going to go? I might try to make the fog differently depending on what will be done with it.

I was thinking that the butterflies could circle around the main boss becoming slightly visible briefly, and then the fog could roll in and out at the sides of the screen.

@butterflies - maybe they should fade back into their color form once the battle is over?  What would the storyline be behind that?

@fog - I'm still not quite sure what you mean by that, but I'll try to do it anyway, and you can tell me if I got it right.

LiquidMetal wrote:

Also, how does Leo attack the shadow monster?

I'm not sure that I've made my vision for this boss battle clear. Of course, I'm completely open to criticism and the idea for this part of the game is still in the early stages, so think about ways this could be better:

The shadow monster will shoot bullets (or minions...) at Leo. By using the left and right arrow keys only, you dodge them. If you dodge a certain number of bullets, some form of force field (maybe it's made of dead butterflies that are now freed?) surrounds Leo and the next bullet that hits the shield will bounce back and damage the monster. To kill the monster, you need to keep dodging bullets to get the shield again, but it will of course become harder to dodge the bullets as they speed up, and multiply. I'm about to upload a revised version of the game where you should be able to clearly see what I'm talking about.

LiquidMetal wrote:

Which shadow did you mean again?

The one with the "BossHealth" variable on the top left side.

LiquidMetal wrote:

@butterflies - maybe they should fade back into their color form once the battle is over?  What would the storyline be behind that?

That's a great idea! We should actually start writing the script for this... I'll get to that. 

LiquidMetal wrote:

@fog - I'm still not quite sure what you mean by that, but I'll try to do it anyway, and you can tell me if I got it right.

I was thinking that these fog tendrils would roll in and out from the sides of the screen. I made a quick demo (which is horrible) that shows what I mean.

Last edited by silvershine (2012-07-01 12:21:57)

LiquidMetal wrote:

@which shadow; Really? I liked the black one better!  Maybe I can do something to it to make it better?  (To either one)

I like the shape of the black one, but I also like the movement and ghost-ness of the one you made. Maybe there's a way to create the best of both?

LiquidMetal wrote:

I submitted the Butterfly Tree Graphics Pack v1.3.  The main thing for you to get in it is the re-sized. orb sprite.

Great, thanks! These are looking really good. 

Define: sporadic.  Also, that is a good start.  Maybe the ghost effect should change from each one closer and then farther from the other? so that it looks more natural, instead of like a pile of shadows?

LiquidMetal wrote:

Define: sporadic.

Occurring at irregular intervals or only in a few places; scattered or isolated.

LiquidMetal wrote:

Also, that is a good start.  Maybe the ghost effect should change from each one closer and then farther from the other? so that it looks more natural, instead of like a pile of shadows?

I'm not sure I understand what you mean...

LiquidMetal wrote:

I tweaked it a little bit, the results can be found here.  I'm not sure if this is any better - it is just slightly more like my 3-sprite boss's scripts.  It still isn't perfect, and I am not sure what to do about it.  One problem is that when it is re-sized, it doesn't quite have the same costume center.  Do you see what I mean?

Looks good! I was having that same problem, but since the shape of the sprite is so irregular, I'm not sure that there's too much we can do about it.

LiquidMetal wrote:

The ghost effects are set at 60 and 70 or so.  Maybe they should slowly change from 65-65 and 70-65 and then back, so that they blend in with each other temporarily.

Maybe we should get MKR's help with a completely new boss sprite instead, but if we do that, we should get a good Idea of what we want before we ask her.

That sounds pretty cool! I think no matter what, we should modify the shadow monster sprite to make the movement more fluid. Right now, each costume is completely different, so everything is really choppy.

I say that we continue to experiment with the shadow monster for now. Who knows, we might end up with something that we really like!

LiquidMetal wrote:

I'd agree, but I don't know in which direction to experiment  .

Well, I guess we should first confirm what we want the shadow monster to look like. Feel free to edit and critique:

• Dramatic
• Dark
• Shadowy
• Powered/kept alive by haunted butterflies
• Ominous

Whenever I think about the shadow monster, those weird things from the Harry Potter movies always come to mind.

Last edited by silvershine (2012-07-03 10:39:27)

LiquidMetal wrote:

Ok, I guess I'll try to work from the ground up.  Thing is, I'm better in the pixel department then at this complex "shady" stuff.

Hmm, yeah. You don't seem like a very shady character to me... 

LiquidMetal wrote:

On the other hand, you can tell that to MKR instead  ?

Huh? Should I ask MKR to make this?

LiquidMetal wrote:

And by the way, someone replied to your musician request.

Thanks!

LiquidMetal wrote:

Please, ask MKR.  Even if she just makes a first draft, I can still edit shady stuff better then I can start it  .

OK, will do!

It looks much better with the graphics!
Maybe we should allow a small amount of vertical movement as well?
The shadow sprite should start switch costumes before you ok the dialogues.  Speaking of the shadow, did you ask MKR about a new shadow sprite yet?