Train Tile Sets and Breakable Doors

We decided that we would use tilesets to create the trains instead of full images. This allows us to have lots of different types of carts without having to add many more images. I've also rolled out my good old trusty Chainsaw Level Editor to take care of things once again:

The carts look similar at the moment, since we only have one basic tileset complete so far.

We also added in the final graphics for the breakable windows and doors. I copied the same tile breaking system I used for City of Doom:

Development is moving along very quickly! Leave a comment and check back for updates!

City of Doom Update

It's been a while since the last update, mostly because I wanted to wait until the release of City of Doom, but it is taking far longer than expected. The good news is that the reason for taking so long is that the game has expanded to be a lot bigger than the original project. We are finially putting a cap on it though and finishing up the last parts of the game. I recorded a timelapse video of me working on the game a few nights ago that shows a lot of the level designing of the second section.



The game should be completed very soon, so make sure you check back for the release!

The Law is Against Us

So we got locked out of the building that we have our studio in one day when we were trying to work on the game. Apparently it was Thanksgiving and people don't go in to work that day or something stupid like that (but apparently the guy who walks around with the key and locks people out of buildings was there bright and early that morning.) It wouldn't have been that big of a deal but we were working late the night before and left our computers and all of our stuff there that we needed. And even that wouldn' t have been that bad but we also accidentally left a space heater, which was very very old and not-safe looking, on the night before, and didn't realize it till we got home. And I mean, that heater was old, it looked like it may have been the same space heater Abraham Lincoln used to heat up his room when he was writing the Gettysburg Address, and the power cable gets so hot that we usually have to wear gloves to unplug it. So we were kinda scared that the place might burn down and tried to get in there early the next morning in order to save the studio from burning down, and more importantly, the harddrives which contain all our work on the game. So we had to get a police officer to let us in the building, to take armfuls of computer equipment. He was suspicious of us 'long-hair hippies' the whole time, he kept his one hand on his batton.

Ok so back to the game. I've been working on the next section of the Grasslands, which is going to be a lot longer than the first part, with a lot more variety of enemies and landscape. We also decided to add an optional 'Slime Cave' which will be infested with slime monsters and even a giant slime boss:

He's some sort of big bear creature covered in slime with a fish, birds, and some other creatures stuck inside of him too. We want to make him have sort of a split personality with the fish, being wild and only wanting to kill, and the bear, being more calm.

I also recorded a timelapse video of me making some of the grasslands sections with my level editor:


There is also a section in the middle where Nate and I take a break to play Block Towers, the awesome game by JLJac.

Also, added in the ability for Elkwood:

He has a spins around the player like a shield and can defend against the attack. There will be a better animation soon, the current one is a place holder.

Another Grasslands Tileset Change and Background Update

Well, this is about the 4th time we've changed up the looks of the Grasslands tilesets, this time the ground fades to black. We are pretty happy with the looks of it and will probably keep this one, at least for awhile. The background layers have also been updated with more detail, but they are not 100% finished yet. Here's a shot:



All of our screenshots for a while now have all been relatively the same with the same tiles, but hopefully we are about finished with this zone and will move back to some fresh new interesting locations that we haven't worked on for a while.

The new tiles make the tiling system a bit more complicated when making the levels with the editor. We have to select the correct tile so that each ground tile transitions smoothly now instead of just having one ground tile that we can just paint over everywhere. There are also a lot of different situations that a different tile is needed and it is difficult to create every single tile needed. I'm debating whether it would be worth the time to edit the level editor so it will auto-tile the ground, select the correct tile for each situation based on the tile types around it, or just continue to do it manually each time.


Another big thing we are working on right now, still, is the main story. We are coming up with different backstories for the locations and different characters and trying to put together a complete, well thought out, story for the game. We've been brainstorming and pushing around different ideas for awhile now and I think its starting to finally come together nicely. Who knows, we may even come up with a name for the game soon!

Level Editor Finished

The level editor is finished (for now). Still planning on adding some stuff in later though.

Back to working on the real game now, finally.

Level Editor!

Not bad for 2 days worth of work!

-HCR

Level Editor Underway

Well, I have the basics of the level editor done. Saving/Loading levels of different sizes, opening different tile sets, and drawing the tiles to the map. Here is a screenshot of the level editor, as of right now, along with Caliber9's sweet looking cave tile set:

Next I have to add in the actual tile types for each slope. Then I'll have to add in support for adding in enemies, powerups, triggers, and those kinds of things. Keep checking for updates.

-HandCraftedRadio