Progress: 5/30/13 (ACT I COMPLETED WHOO!)

It's been a long road, but I finally have 15 levels down pat and the first third of the story wrapped up.  It's a good feeling, making progress like this.  There's still a bunch more to go, but damn it, I'm going to enjoy this moment.

Progress: 5/29/13

Made yet another level, and it was utter poo poo.  So I re-did it.  Now it's a little more higher quality now.

My next step is to set up my climactic level to finish of Act I.  Wow, I can't believe I'm already here.  I honestly feel like I've come a long way from trying to get squares to glide...

Progress: 5/28/13

Made another level.  Two more to go until Act I is completed!

Progress: 5/27/13

Made another level (which took WAY  longer than anticipated...).  Also did my final cutscene animation for Act I.  Just a few more levels to go until I'm 1/3 of the way completed!  It's a great feeling when you know that everything is going according to plan...

Progress: 5/26/13

Took it a little easy today.  Made a few more elements that are key to story development that I'm not gonna be talking about here. ;P

Act I of the game is almost finished, though!

Progress: 5/25/13

Finished another little animated cutscene!  At 350+ frames, it took quite a while to animate (I won't post it here, per spoilers).

Also managed to pull level 11 out of my ass, but it actually turned out better than expected.  Whoo, progress!

Progress: 5/24/13

Did quite a bit today!  My eyes kinda hurt from staring at the screen for so long.  Let's see, what did I accomplish...

- Added a zoom feature to the camera system, which allows for easier scrolling through the levels.

- Made two more levels, bringing the grand total to 10.  Story's just starting to get rolling now.

- Attempted to record sound effects, but I dun' screwed up and accidentally recorded them in stereo.  Whoops.  I'll have another try at that another day.

Jesus Christ, this game is eating up ALL of my time.  At least I'm making progress though.  August 20th isn't getting any further away...

Progress: 5/23/13

Made two more levels, up to 8 now.  I don't really like how level 8 turned out, though.  So that might change a bit (moving platforms aren't as versatile as I had hoped...)

Also made some more character sprites.  Hoping they help with the storytelling later on.

Progress: 5/22/13

Tinkered around with recording sound effects.  Things look like they're gonna work out the way I want with those.  Yippie!

Progress: 5/21/13

Made another level (up to 6 now).

Also made a new gesture/cutscene thingy.  Here's the two of them playing some kinda leapfrog (really, though.  I can't say I really know what the hell they're doing...).

Oh so glorious.

Progress: 5/20/13

Had a few friends playtest the game.  I noticed a few common hang-ups that I decided to fix.

Did a bit of editing to the levels I had, to make the objectives more clear and the platforms a tad easier to traverse.  Also made it easier for the player to figure out where he/she needs to go.

Also decided to add a checkpoint system, in order to ease some of the frustration.

Progress: 5/19/13

Added text at the end of levels that show the player how the camera works.

Progress: 5/18/13

Made two more levels.  Also fixed a glitch in the moving platforms that would cause them to slowly veer off their designated path.

Forgot to update this yesterday.  Whoops!

Progress: 5/17/13

Did a lot of story brainstorming.  Some of it was kinda painful, but I got a lot of ideas down now.

Progress: 5/16/13

Made another level.  Also spent a lot of time tightening up the functionality of the moving platforms.  They're still fairly limited in their use, but at least they're a lot less buggy...

Also implemented a new respawning mechanic so that the gesture animations don't repeat if the player dies, and question mark boxes don't have to be collected again.

Progress: 5/15/13

Toying around with some level design.  Got the second level completed.  Made another tutorial sign for gliding.

Progress: 5/14/13 (Main mechanics are FINISHED! Yaay!)

Finally got around to learning how to draw text in game.  Now, whenever the player collects a "?" block, a small snippet of text will fade in above the player (this text will remain above the player as he/she moves the character).  After a few seconds, the text will fade away.  Here's what it will look like:

"Hm, what's this little box of magical-ness?"

"Oh dearest me!  I've been granted exposition!"

At this point I've reached a landmark in my game design cycle.  All of the main mechanics I want in the game are now fully implemented (save for a few minor things).  Nothing is stopping me from just designing levels now!  With some more art assets and music/sound effects to create, I'd say I'm well on my way to completing this game by August 20th.  Whoo!

Progress: 5/13/13

Did some tinkering with the song I made yesterday.  Got it to loop pretty well.  Also got the file on my computer (it was originally made on my DS).  Thinkin' it sounds pretty good!

Progress: 5/12/13

I've discovered that I'm no music composer.  However, after fiddling around for a little bit, I've discovered that I'm capable of composing ambiance, at least.  So I'll be focusing on that instead of melodies.  I feel as though this would suit the slower paced nature of the game.

In other news, happy Mother's Day!

Progress: 5/11/13

Did quite a bit today, let's see...

- Added a dynamic camera system that lets the player roam the level after it has been completed, to get a good look at the Baudot code.

- Implemented moving platforms that the players can traverse across.  They're a tad buggy, but otherwise mostly functional.

- Have the first level layout completely finished.

- Implemented my idea for tutorial signs in the level that tell the player how the controls work.  Here's the one for double jump:

Snazzy

- Established a control system that designates how particles will be generated uniquely on every level.  The control system will also dictate moving platform paths as well as roaming camera placement after the level is completed.

- Decided that gestures will be used as short little cutscenes that play at the beginning of select levels.  I found the process of opening doors to be too time consuming to program.  I also felt it would break the flow of the game, and would come off a bit forced.  Nonetheless, the gestures are an attempt to personify the squares, so their inclusion is necessary.

Progress: 5/10/13

Experimented with some level designing.  Starting to get a feel for how much work this game is going to take...Wind mechanics seem versatile enough to get some entertaining things out of.

Progress: 5/9/13

Added horizontal wind mechanics.

Moving in the opposite direction of either wind results in slowed down movement.  This is more prominent when walking in the wind than it is jumping in the wind.  However, gliding in the opposite direction of the wind results in a more extreme slow down.

Moving with the wind results in drastically sped up movements.  The degree of speed up is uniform whether the player is walking, jumping, or gliding.

All mechanics are almost finished!  Now I just gotta do the door opening mechanic and I should have everything I need to start putting together some levels.  Then the real work begins...

Progress: 5/8/13

Got a handle on GameMaker's particle system and added vertical wind mechanics.  When wind is blowing upwards, the player's vertical descent is slowed down.  Players can jump higher with wind blowing upward as well.  Finally while gliding, the player can slowly make themselves float up indefinitely.

When wind is blowing downward, the player's vertical descent is sped up.  Gliding still slows the descent, but the speed up is still significant.  Jumping in downward blowing wind isn't as effective as jumping without wind.

Quick screenshot, to show how things are looking:

With a hint at what the gliding mechanic will look like.

Things are starting to come together.  I have a few level designs in mind, but I'm definitely going to have to brainstorm more.  With all the mechanics I'm adding, ideas just keep flooding in, and I need to start getting them down on paper.

Progress 5/7/13

Lessee, what did I get done today?

I made it possible to use gestures repeatedly, and whenever the player wants, by pressing a single key.  The top character jumps off, the couple does its thing, and then the blue character jumps back on and they continue on their way.  The whole process will look something like this:

All its glory

I plan to add a few more gestures into the mix.  Each one will represent a different aspect of the relationship (and the gestures will change accordingly when things start to go sour).  In other words, there are still lotsa art assets I need to make, and if it's not already painfully obvious, I'm no animator.

On the more technical side of things, I've added a gliding mechanic and animation as well.  I can't say it looks the most natural, but at least it seems to work well.

HAYAH Art (5/7/2013)

Did a basic animation for the couple in HAYAH.  They jump around, talk, then get all snuggly wuggly.

Actions like this can be used to create hearts which open doors to hidden areas.

Default jump off animation

Talkin' and snugglin'

The animation speeds will look more natural in the game, but this is what I have for now.

"How Are You and Her?" in a Nutshell

"How are You and Her?" (tentative title) is a game in which you play as a couple that, at first, seems inseparable.  They are two peas in a pod.  Perfect for each other.

Or so it seems...

As the game progresses, the story takes several dark turns, and raises questions about what truly makes a person happy in life.

The story is told through collectible snippets of text scattered throughout the levels.  It is also conveyed through the interactions between the two characters, the level design, and the music.

This is going to be my first game that I'm making completely from scratch.  All assets will be original content, from the art to the sound effects.

Being my first original game (and going at it solo), I realize this is a pretty ambitious goal.  Hopefully the minimalist art style (inspired by Baudot code) will ease the pain a little bit, but it does add some work in terms of personifying the characters and making them people the player actually cares about.

So far I have tiles made for easy level design, and a few basic animations for the characters.

I'm looking forward to working on this project throughout the summer.  It will be made in GameMaker.

Planned release date is August 20th.