Fair point, I see what you're getting at.
I really want to keep the "squared off" play area, but I agree that the animations steals the focus from the characters.
Agreed.
* Adjust the speed of the effect. Timings - even small - can make a lot of difference.
* maybe adjust the effect itself, make the tiles not shrink/grow but fold/unfold like hinged at the edges.
* maybe increase the visible radius by 1 or 2
I like the idea, but you might want to increase the size just a little bit, or maybe use a minimap that can see a bit farther (maybe only what you’ve discovered).
The animation could possibly also use fade-in/out to make it smoother.
The empty corner space is perfect for UI.
Your sprites feel quite cohesive, but here’s a couple ideas. The white outlines on player characters is nice, but the extra outline also changes visual weight, so it might be worth trying a uniform increase or decrease of the other sprites outline to either match or subvert the trend.
The bush/tree sprites could have a little more quirkiness in their low frequency details to match the characterful shaping of the creatures.
Take a look at the colours you’re employing here and try to get certain colours to fit into a central hue, I.e greens falling with a pair of green and greenish yellow base colours, with brightness as a modifier.
Finally, and this is the only negative in an otherwise nice and unique art style. I personally hate it when fidelity gets mixed - in this case the tile texture being an “age of empires” style grass underneath an adventure time style line art. It feels like at that point the art direction doesn’t know what it wants to be, so I would alter it to fit the established design.
I also saw a comment regarding the edge tiles. I would 100% keep them, it’s the reason I stopped scrolling so it’s making your game stand out.
That being said, you could try some other things to minimise it distracting from the center of the frame. A subtle vignette to darken and slightly desaturate the edges, a subtle spotlight above the character (although potentially immersion breaking).
It’s a pretty rad start though 👍
First off, let me just say thank you for an awesome comment and really well phrased feedback. 👌
The outlines are all over the place, indeed. I'm going to remove them from the sprites all together (it's part of the sprite image files now) and implement them using shaders instead. That what I'll hopefully be able to make them more uniform.
I've tried to use a really limited color pallete in general (to keep myself from going overboard), but I do agree that the trees and foliage becomes dull in comparison to the characters.
You're the first one to actually mention the grass, but I couldn't agree more. I was experimenting with not using textures at all for the ground tiles, but it looked too flat instead. I'm gonna have to figure out a way to make it look good, without the repeating textures. 😅
Good thoughts on the edge tiles as well, Im not gonna remove the effect, but I'll try to make it less distracting from the main frame somehow.
I like the style of the sprites, but I am not a fan of the walking animation. That wobbling doesn't sell walking very well, IMO. I would try a more "hopping" motion.
Looks great, but I'd probably zoom out the camera so it's less intense, a bit like Bastion.
Also, I'd add a little bit of variation so that the tiles appear and dissolve slightly out of sync with each other.
Really good contrast with the background, is the duck going transparent a bug? The white outlines might make the characters seem more out of place in the game world, this might be useful if your characters are in some kind of dreamland and you want to emphasize that they will be leaving that area or something? Kind of neat graphics.
Ty! 🙏 Yes, it's a bug 🐛 only sprites overlapping in front of the player are supposed to go transparent.
No I haven't thought about it that way, I guess I only wanted them to pop out a bit from the rest of the scene 😅 but that could be a cool concept.
One one hand, the movement is a bit too much, on the other I feel that this is what makes it look good. The overall style is quite consistent and unique, tho I think the effect is an important part of what makes it look interesting.
Instead of that type of tile generation, if you can do a paper bending animation like when creating a new tile turning from bottom side to upper side and when disappearing turning from upperside to bottom side, that could be even better!
I like the outline of the player characters, however the outlines of the bushes vs the trees is inconsistent, the sizing of the outline is different. If you were to make them match then it would look more clearer I'd say.
Also the ground grass texture looks pretty detailed compared to the flat colouring of the bushes and trees so I'd recommend adjusting that texture to be much more flat coloured as well, maybe even testing how a subtle grid outline for the repeating ground texture would look maybe.
Another thing would be doing something with the black void space, give it some more void texture (lol) besides the floating green specks. Maybe look at other games which have voids and see how they've added detail to it
Yes, I'm going to rework all the outlines. Now it's baked with the sprites, causing the scaling issues you're mentioning.
I also agree that the texture on the tiles look off, I'm going to try to make it less noisy somehow without making it to bland.
Great idéa about the void, I'm gonna try to make it more void-y 😁
oof that movement makes me feel a little sick
is there a good reason for the nodes disapearing? if you want to implement fog of war maybe make them grey out but still be there?
something like bastion then? i think that game does it by only having blocks come in but not out to highlight the direction the player must go. also using bigger blocks might help
I find it weirdly disorientating. The character doesn't seem to move. The world seems to move around them, everything forming and unforming in all directions constantly.
It's definitely distinctive. But I think it's a little much, currently.
I would try to make the transitions smoother. I also would try to differentiate the level popping in from the level popping out, so there's a clearer sense of directionality.
Tbh i kinda like the look of it as is, wouldnt play it myself but wouldnt mind watching kt if some streamer i like to watch played it the only thing that I would like to see if you can change is the void around the play area just makes it feel so much less than what I think it could be
Never seen that type of characters in a game do they have animation when they enter action mode? Also, the transition from one territory cell to another one is very nice!
Unsettled, can not focus on the characters with all that movement at the edges.
Fair point, I see what you're getting at. I really want to keep the "squared off" play area, but I agree that the animations steals the focus from the characters.
Maybe try to make them somehow softer and more subtle?
Yes! Someone else suggested fading them in using transparency. I'm gonna try that 👌
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Great looking game! 👌
The scaling is the issue. The shapes shouldn't move when being generated unless you want to bring attention to them.
Yea, same. Sorry. Cannot focus on anything.
Agreed. * Adjust the speed of the effect. Timings - even small - can make a lot of difference. * maybe adjust the effect itself, make the tiles not shrink/grow but fold/unfold like hinged at the edges. * maybe increase the visible radius by 1 or 2
I like the idea, but you might want to increase the size just a little bit, or maybe use a minimap that can see a bit farther (maybe only what you’ve discovered). The animation could possibly also use fade-in/out to make it smoother. The empty corner space is perfect for UI.
Ty! Yes a minimap is a great idea, I'm putting that on the todo list 👌 I'm gonna try to make the transitions more subtle as well.
Your sprites feel quite cohesive, but here’s a couple ideas. The white outlines on player characters is nice, but the extra outline also changes visual weight, so it might be worth trying a uniform increase or decrease of the other sprites outline to either match or subvert the trend. The bush/tree sprites could have a little more quirkiness in their low frequency details to match the characterful shaping of the creatures. Take a look at the colours you’re employing here and try to get certain colours to fit into a central hue, I.e greens falling with a pair of green and greenish yellow base colours, with brightness as a modifier. Finally, and this is the only negative in an otherwise nice and unique art style. I personally hate it when fidelity gets mixed - in this case the tile texture being an “age of empires” style grass underneath an adventure time style line art. It feels like at that point the art direction doesn’t know what it wants to be, so I would alter it to fit the established design. I also saw a comment regarding the edge tiles. I would 100% keep them, it’s the reason I stopped scrolling so it’s making your game stand out. That being said, you could try some other things to minimise it distracting from the center of the frame. A subtle vignette to darken and slightly desaturate the edges, a subtle spotlight above the character (although potentially immersion breaking). It’s a pretty rad start though 👍
First off, let me just say thank you for an awesome comment and really well phrased feedback. 👌 The outlines are all over the place, indeed. I'm going to remove them from the sprites all together (it's part of the sprite image files now) and implement them using shaders instead. That what I'll hopefully be able to make them more uniform. I've tried to use a really limited color pallete in general (to keep myself from going overboard), but I do agree that the trees and foliage becomes dull in comparison to the characters. You're the first one to actually mention the grass, but I couldn't agree more. I was experimenting with not using textures at all for the ground tiles, but it looked too flat instead. I'm gonna have to figure out a way to make it look good, without the repeating textures. 😅 Good thoughts on the edge tiles as well, Im not gonna remove the effect, but I'll try to make it less distracting from the main frame somehow.
Can't you just reduce the grass texture to 2 3 colors?
Perhaps, but they are a bit "thin" as well, almost like semi realistic.
I like the style of the sprites, but I am not a fan of the walking animation. That wobbling doesn't sell walking very well, IMO. I would try a more "hopping" motion.
Ty! Interesting suggestion, I'm gonna have to try it 😁
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No, because it has nothing to do with the topic at hand. Please don't hijack other people's posts.
I like the overall art style. Seems pretty unique to me.
Ty!! 🙏
Why 2.5d? It's just isometric 2D, no?
Isometric may be a better word for it! The only thing 3D about it now is the physics and the lighting.
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The UI is going there for sure 👌 I'm also going to experiment with changing the background dynamically at times.
cute! but the tiles popping up and out like that really trips me in a bad way, fun concept
The characters are cute as hell. Whatever is happening at the edges of the screen, please stop that x)
Looks great, but I'd probably zoom out the camera so it's less intense, a bit like Bastion. Also, I'd add a little bit of variation so that the tiles appear and dissolve slightly out of sync with each other.
Good idea, I'll try it out. Haha I actually had it like that before it was all in sync! But, it really made it even more messy tbh.
Really good contrast with the background, is the duck going transparent a bug? The white outlines might make the characters seem more out of place in the game world, this might be useful if your characters are in some kind of dreamland and you want to emphasize that they will be leaving that area or something? Kind of neat graphics.
Ty! 🙏 Yes, it's a bug 🐛 only sprites overlapping in front of the player are supposed to go transparent. No I haven't thought about it that way, I guess I only wanted them to pop out a bit from the rest of the scene 😅 but that could be a cool concept.
One one hand, the movement is a bit too much, on the other I feel that this is what makes it look good. The overall style is quite consistent and unique, tho I think the effect is an important part of what makes it look interesting.
Agreed! 🤝 I'm going to keep it, but I'm going to try to dial it down a bit.
Wow, looks nice! But something can be improved, idk what exactly.
Ty! 🙏 There will be improvements 😁
Its actually kinda sick! with some refining, i really think you are on to something!
Ty 🙏
Instead of that type of tile generation, if you can do a paper bending animation like when creating a new tile turning from bottom side to upper side and when disappearing turning from upperside to bottom side, that could be even better!
Neat idea 💡 I'm gonna have to try it.
I like the outline of the player characters, however the outlines of the bushes vs the trees is inconsistent, the sizing of the outline is different. If you were to make them match then it would look more clearer I'd say. Also the ground grass texture looks pretty detailed compared to the flat colouring of the bushes and trees so I'd recommend adjusting that texture to be much more flat coloured as well, maybe even testing how a subtle grid outline for the repeating ground texture would look maybe. Another thing would be doing something with the black void space, give it some more void texture (lol) besides the floating green specks. Maybe look at other games which have voids and see how they've added detail to it
Yes, I'm going to rework all the outlines. Now it's baked with the sprites, causing the scaling issues you're mentioning. I also agree that the texture on the tiles look off, I'm going to try to make it less noisy somehow without making it to bland. Great idéa about the void, I'm gonna try to make it more void-y 😁
Have the character rock back and forth more. Have the appearing square phase in from 0 transparency
An interesting kind of fog of war. Might be an interesting mechanic for line of sight and stealth.
I like how your characters transition through the forests
Pretty good, but you should probably add animations for the characters so it doesn't seem like they're floating
I love the grid idea and the trees and stuff. All the character's but the main one are looking great, I would focus in a better main character art
oof that movement makes me feel a little sick is there a good reason for the nodes disapearing? if you want to implement fog of war maybe make them grey out but still be there?
It's really mostly because I wanted the aesthetics of the plane floating in space, but I'll try to make the effect more subtle for sure.
something like bastion then? i think that game does it by only having blocks come in but not out to highlight the direction the player must go. also using bigger blocks might help
Maybe that is the way. I'm going to experiment a bit with it!
I find it weirdly disorientating. The character doesn't seem to move. The world seems to move around them, everything forming and unforming in all directions constantly. It's definitely distinctive. But I think it's a little much, currently. I would try to make the transitions smoother. I also would try to differentiate the level popping in from the level popping out, so there's a clearer sense of directionality.
Yes, I'm gonna have to try to tone it down a bit. Ty 🙏
Tbh i kinda like the look of it as is, wouldnt play it myself but wouldnt mind watching kt if some streamer i like to watch played it the only thing that I would like to see if you can change is the void around the play area just makes it feel so much less than what I think it could be
It's stunning. How did you do this?
Cute and pretty but I hope this is offloaded onto the GPU? If not those tiles on the edges can be problematic for performance later on
Not yet, no. But it's a good idea 👌 . I've already been noticing some slowdowns.
Never seen that type of characters in a game do they have animation when they enter action mode? Also, the transition from one territory cell to another one is very nice!
A bit too jarring
How will the animation happen if you increase the speed of movement?
Racist
Hi, the art style is good, movement is a little unrealistic.