Phantasmaburbia

This website is no longer updating!
You can find me at Dumb and Fat dot com!

Monday, May 18, 2009

It's My Birthday! (And some Dubloon updates)

Today's my birthday! Hooray! Despite that, I'm not really doing anything special tonight and instead right now am still working on Dubloon. I can get really obsessive/dedicated to my work; one particularly fond memory was our family Christmas dinner this past winter, where I brought my laptop to and ended up spending the whole night finishing up the programming for Assassin Blue's final boss. "Vacation?" I know not the meaning of the word.

...ANYway, I've been working on Dubloon following comments from the first engine release. Got some cool stuff going right now. The HUD has more effects and some more usability (you can now drag and drop equipped items from one party member to the other, those types of things) and the SPEC menu is now up and running-- items in the SPEC menu are dragged and dropped onto the main screen to interact with the overworld. Right now the only items I have programmed in there are keys (to use on locks, naturally), but I plan to extend it with items like bombs, or ladders, or what have you...

I also made a basic NPC system, and a merchant system. When you're in range, a small prompt appears above characters' heads telling you to click them; clicking on an NPC initiates dialog. Merchants stand in front of a row of items, and you just drag and drop the items from the ground into your inventory to purchase them. To sell an item, just drag it over the merchant. Simple and virtually menuless. I'm rather fond of how the entirely mouse-controlled interface works.

But all that stuff is boring to screenshot, so instead I'll show you some of the nifty attack effects I've been making...





Of course they look much better in full animation, but you hopefully get the gist. I might put out another release once I'm totally satisfied with the engine at this stage, and then I'll get to work actually designing cutscenes and levels and the like. There'll be a big gap before I put out parts of the game with actual plot included.

As usual, working on the game and thinking of ideas for it is seriously exciting for me and I tend to just drift off on intense brainstorms. And then I suddenly remember again-- it's my birthday!

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Dubloon: My Next Game?


Dubloon
A point-n-click pirate RPG adventure game in the making. Right now this is just a simple engine demo.


File Size: 2.6 MB
GM Version: GM7
Changes Screen Resolution: No


Download Links:
Mirror One:
WillHostForFood
http://willhostforfood.com/access.php?fileid=66209

Screenshots: (Click to enlarge)



Credits:
-Banov for just about everything
-Prophecy for composing the soundtrack

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Controls and other notes...
-Use WASD or the arrow keys to move
-SPACE to spawn enemies
-The mouse controls all the interface. Drag and drop item onto the little HUD spots to use/equip/unequip items.
-If you right click on a HUD spot to open up attack info, you can drag and drop to alter each character's moveset.
-Battle works the same. Click to pick your attack and target; right click to go back.
-Sound effects are all TEMP, taken from Earthbound

Ideas for the future:
-SPEC is going to be a special inventory with items you drag and drop onto the screen to use; you could use a key to unlock a door, bombs to clear an obstacle, etc.
-The mouse will also be used to take items from merchant tables and purchase them, or to give items to NPCs.
-You'll be able to name each character, and for the main character ("Captain") you'll be able to allot his stats at the game's start.
-Obviously there's going to be many more attacks with different elements (Fire, Ice Electric)...
--------

I'd like to know if players are interested in seeing this as a full game with a narrative, quest structure, etc. Does this kind of gameplay appeal to you?

Thursday, May 07, 2009

Crazy Over Goo

It's finally here! Formerly known as "Yellow Goo Love..."



A fun, simple mouse-controlled platformer with 50 short, gimmicky levels. Also featuring a level editor and tons of unlockables to keep you playing.


Information
Title: Crazy Over Goo
File Size: 3.4 MB
GM Version: GM7
Changes Screen Resolution: No


Download Links:
Mirror One:
YoYoGames
http://www.yoyogames.com/games/show/80900

Mirror Two:
WillHostForFood
http://willhostforfood.com/?Action=download&fileid=65457

HIGH QUALITY SOUNDTRACK:
(Save in the same directory as the game exe)
http://tiny.cc/YI4Yf



Screenshots: (Click to enlarge)




Credits:
-Banov, as in, me, for ALL sprites, animations, programming, etc
-Prophecy for composing the soundtrack