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TooMuchAbstraction posted:Memory and CPU speed are going to be your primary concerns. You really want enough memory to hold your entire project in memory, especially if you're working with Unreal Engine. When I dropped from 64GB to 32GB of RAM, my compilation times in UE went up by something like a factor of 3. Even in other engines, you want to minimize your iteration time. While working on Waves of Steel (in Unity, with 32GB of RAM), it typically took me 30-45 seconds to recompile the game and then get back into play mode, and that was really tedious. I was never really able to bring that number down to my satisfaction; Unity just took a long time to link and to get into play mode. Thanks! That's good context. Looks like I'll be trying to find something with expandable memory since  at 64GB laptop prices.
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Jan 17, 2024 16:07
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Seconding that CPU and memory are your primary concerns. For your usage you can get by with a cheap e-gpu and not have to get a GPU-equipped laptop at all if you're doing to be doing all the game work from the same place but carrying the laptop around for internet and email.
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Jan 17, 2024 16:25
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I've been making a lot of good progress on this prototype, and recorded a new video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0bFXDxBtag I renamed it Canticle, and put a build up on itch.io if anyone wants to try it out and give me any thoughts. Should have full m/kb and gamepad support. It's not really a "game" yet, but it's got all the verbs of an RPG, and now I need to hammer out the specifics for the character progression and story content. The timer doesn't do anything yet, but the basic idea is that you'll have 10 minutes to figure out how to stop/delay a bad guy coming at you who is really just a minion of the true antagonist, of course. I'm still just sorta throwing poo poo at the wall and seeing what sticks, so any feedback is welcome.
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Jan 18, 2024 22:11
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Any of y’all in the Indie game hall at Magfest? So far my favorite has been Sloppy Forgeries
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Jan 19, 2024 06:20
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Made a bit longer video showing more of my game's internet and gameplay/interactions with the overworld... check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEm4VgX6YiY
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Jan 19, 2024 06:29
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Bronze Fonz posted:Made a bit longer video showing more of my game's internet and gameplay/interactions with the overworld... check it out: this is absolutely dripping with style. love it.
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Jan 19, 2024 08:02
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It looks absolutely amazing, although I'll have to crunch through a few visual issues with you before I'd be able to safely play it.
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Jan 19, 2024 08:36
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Thanks a lot! Yeah, we'll need to talk because as much as it's still early I do need to really tone down some stuff, there's a LOT of flashing in this thing. I should've been more careful with that for a public video. 
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Jan 19, 2024 14:44
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bredfrown posted:I've been working on this game for about 3 years now and I just BIRTHED it yesterday. Congratulations! This looks amazing! I love the art style That last shot reminded me of one of the unused assets from Mother 3's ending. Was it inspired by it? Bronze Fonz posted:Made a bit longer video showing more of my game's internet and gameplay/interactions with the overworld... check it out: Seeing retro OS interfaces and web pages reminds me how much fun just messing around with computers was. Even without any programs it was fun to discover all of the weird screensavers or design your own mouse cursors and icons.
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Jan 19, 2024 16:29
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TW0 posted:Seeing retro OS interfaces and web pages reminds me how much fun just messing around with computers was. Even without any programs it was fun to discover all of the weird screensavers or design your own mouse cursors and icons. Then you might enjoy POS98's weird screensavers and games you can find on netservers and warez sites! Sorry, no custom cursor though... yet? You already can customize POS' theme so why the hell not? Hmmmm...
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Jan 19, 2024 17:07
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I just got done working on this asset pack I started putting together while I was waiting on people to show up for appointments in work. Some repurposed old stuff and some/alot of newer stuff for people to check out  https://shoehead.itch.io/shoes-action-adventure-tiles
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Jan 19, 2024 20:36
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Those are gorgeous 
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Jan 19, 2024 22:02
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Does anyone know of a good program for editing sound effects using multiple tracks? Like something that lets you have multiple different wav files, etc, to layer on top of each other, and would keeps track of changes made to each file/track?
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Jan 21, 2024 09:59
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Faxanadus posted:Does anyone know of a good program for editing sound effects using multiple tracks? Like something that lets you have multiple different wav files, etc, to layer on top of each other, and would keeps track of changes made to each file/track? Basically any multi-track audio file editor. Audacity is free and open source, so you could start there and if you bounce off it for any reason, I (and others) can help triangulate you from there. What OS/platform(s) are you on?
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Jan 21, 2024 11:11
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Chaos option: DaVinci Resolve, staying in the Fairlight view (the integrated audio editor) and exporting just the audio track. The free version of Resolve has limits on exporting video, but no limit on hi-res audio so it's a solid multitrack editor with good built-in effects and VST/AU support, arguably easier to start with than Reaper. Reaper is unambiguously better for situations like "gah I need to remove the low end from all these punches" where, if you set up your project right, the region matrix lets you do one change to an effects track and batch update all the different categorized folders in place. But if sfx isn't all you do you probably don't want to get that involved 
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Jan 21, 2024 11:53
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Wasn't there some controversy with Audacity's telemetry and privacy policy? I remember people scrambling for alternatives one or two years ago.
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Jan 21, 2024 11:54
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I needed to pick up my laptop from work so despite the massive storm about to hit I opened the shop for the day. Of course no one has been stupid enough to come in so I was messing with my zombies again https://x.com/Shoehead_art/status/1749081115812299017?s=20 They really aren't going to be the only enemy I promise, I just kind of want to sort out all the AI stuff at once instead of, for eg, sorting out burning or something like that and then having to add that to every enemy.. which I have done before...
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Jan 21, 2024 15:52
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Hi! Longtime reader first time poster. Trying to get back in the habit of publicly sharing things that I've worked on instead of tinkering forever and never finishing anything.  Started on a CYOA style game in Godot 4 with some tactical combat - the idea is something like World of Horror but with gridded D&D style encounters.https://twitter.com/emu_developer/status/1749118025779810726 Just realized that the turn order at the top hides the dead skeleton before their token actually gets killed off... still some work to do in terms of separating animations from the resolution of actions in the turn system.
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Jan 21, 2024 18:18
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Chev posted:Wasn't there some controversy with Audacity's telemetry and privacy policy? I remember people scrambling for alternatives one or two years ago. There was, and IIRC they rolled it all back.
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Jan 21, 2024 19:32
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1q1tXsqkMQ Published the trailer for Goblin Camp, finally! It's a lot of effort to get the footage for a trailer, really hard to get clips that are "perfect". Always some pixel somewhere that ought to be changed. But it's out, now I can get back to coding. I'm particularly happy with the music, we've been really lucky to get to work with a professional composer.
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Jan 22, 2024 10:41
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Aryoc posted:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1q1tXsqkMQ Weird question, maybe, but does this have anything to do with Generic Container's Goblin Camp from like... uh.. 2010? I modded some flowers into it, it was the first bit of modding I ever did
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Jan 22, 2024 11:04
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Shoehead posted:Weird question, maybe, but does this have anything to do with Generic Container's Goblin Camp from like... uh.. 2010? I modded some flowers into it, it was the first bit of modding I ever did It does! I'm the same person. I considered naming this Goblin Camp 2, but I landed on the same name since I never finished the original and for me this is just the continuation of the original idea. Just this time with graphics and sound.
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Jan 22, 2024 11:59
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Aryoc posted:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1q1tXsqkMQ Looks like a good time! You have my wishlist. For the next trailer I'd consider way tighter edits. I started skipping ahead during the fire and tornado (and firetornado!) parts. For a lot of the shots I got what was going on in 2 or 3 seconds but then they lingered on without adding much value. The game itself does look intriguing which is the most important bit though! The Järnefelt homage in the key art was fun too. More management/sim games should highlight the grueling physical labor of the worker drones who make it all happen.
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Jan 22, 2024 12:35
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bredfrown posted:I've been working on this game for about 3 years now and I just BIRTHED it yesterday. Since you don't have PMs or haven't turned them on, I'll just write out my feedback here. 00:23 the screen shake is far too much for me to handle. An ability to turn it off or turn it down massively would be very appreciated. 00:25 ...ow... screen shake, white flash, background color combination and the way the background is moving. All of them are a problem in and of themselves (except the color combination, that one would be fine if the rest are fixed), but together they just end up punching me in the brain. 00:30 the fireball flashing is less than great. 00:32 again with the flashing and the screen shake at the same time. Or even just either of them. 00:39 oh god the moving background. light and dark contrast is also a wee bit too much, but not too bad. 00:41 the final part of that explosion is very unhealthy for me. 00:49 same with the screen wide flash and the localized flashes. 00:58 same issue again. I'm starting to think that I basically only have two or so issues all the way through, well except for that one at the 25 second mark anyways. 01:14 nyargh too many colors, too much simultaneous movement. And that's it! Great looking game, couple of color, flashing and shaking related issues, but that's not too bad really. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll go sit quietly over here while the dancing lights clear out of my sight again and I'm not feeling lightheaded.
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Jan 22, 2024 14:32
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SerthVarnee posted:Since you don't have PMs or haven't turned them on, I'll just write out my feedback here. I think I'll be able to get the flashing handled in the first big update I'll be releasing - I've been working on it!  The shaking thing might take me a bit longer, but I'll get this handled too. I just upgraded my account, let me go find out how to get PM's turned on, haha But for the rest of this month, I'm going to try and take it easy.  EDIT: PM's are on now, if any folks need me!
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Jan 22, 2024 15:47
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I'm cross posting with the puzzle thread, I hope that's cool. Yall were very supportive and had great advice for me last year, and I followed through - the results are pretty awesome! Quoting myself... So I got a lot of press this last week I want to share with the thread, since I had some happy players here! This great article touting the game: https://www.droidgamers.com/news/solquence/ This youtuber played it for 2 hours! She enjoyed it, but was skeptical about how much she'd want to replay it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acqe3YKKy40 I def have two kinds of players. Helpless addicts, or people who are just kinda like 'hey cool game' I got a recommendation as one of the 5 new mobile games to get this week which was awesome https://www.pocketgamer.com/new-weekly-mobile-games/january-18th-2024/ or in video form, which was wild to find https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zj_ieD5I2c4 And I got a full review today! 3 stars... Not really anything negative aside from 'its repetitive' but then again, I was absolutely going for that. I love this quote though: "Solquence will appeal to puzzle game fans seeking an easy-to-learn game that challenges players while managing to uphold a calming, almost zen atmosphere." https://www.pocketgamer.com/solquence/review/ I've caught references to Solquence in a few spots, other forums, and multiple various sites from all over. Been an exciting week here as an indie dev! 
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Jan 22, 2024 15:56
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bredfrown posted:
Oh not to worry. I just wanted to get my feedback out there while I still remembered.
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Jan 22, 2024 15:59
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minidracula posted:REAPER will do that, for sure, but might be intimidating and diving in at the deep end. Audacity will also let you do that and... I'm not sure if that's any less intimidating, but in a different way. It certainly is less of a packed swiss army knife for that task than REAPER, but that's not saying much given how jam packed REAPER is. Thanks! Using Windows (10) , I've been using this program called Goldwave forever, it's pretty basic and it looks like it does actually have support for multiple tracks, but it's very clunky. I've used Audacity before and it seemed even more clunky so maybe I'll give Reaper a try.
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Jan 22, 2024 16:17
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Faxanadus posted:Thanks! Using Windows (10) , I've been using this program called Goldwave forever, it's pretty basic and it looks like it does actually have support for multiple tracks, but it's very clunky. I've used Audacity before and it seemed even more clunky so maybe I'll give Reaper a try. Golwave is a name I haven't seen in decades! Blast from a shareware past, I didn't know it was still around. I still use Sound Forge version whatever from ages ago for basic stuff and when I need multi-track I just go into Premiere as Premiere is 2nd nature to me now. Whatever works for you and gets you where you need to be!
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Jan 22, 2024 17:21
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Contentato posted:
Awesome to see, congrats!
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Jan 22, 2024 17:24
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i'm learning how to build a game, and i'm working on a top down rpg i'm stuck in the asset building phase right now because i'm working with pixel studio and while it does what i want, exporting images means it won't let me load them to gm2 without resizing it to 512px (??), and i can never work on the same asset twice because it won't let me load back into pixel studio on a 32px grid. i can't automate lines, i can't flip images. basically the only thing it has going for it right now is the colour palette wheel. i spent like 2.5 hours making my little character into a walking sprite and i'm not 100% happy with it but trying to replicate it makes me want to walk into the ocean. what programs are people using to animate pixel art? i don't want to animate directly in gm2 because i want to be able to back up the assets.
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Jan 22, 2024 18:47
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Faxanadus posted:Thanks! Using Windows (10) , I've been using this program called Goldwave forever, it's pretty basic and it looks like it does actually have support for multiple tracks, but it's very clunky. I've used Audacity before and it seemed even more clunky so maybe I'll give Reaper a try.
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Jan 22, 2024 19:14
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cash crab posted:i'm learning how to build a game, and i'm working on a top down rpg
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Jan 22, 2024 19:15
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cash crab posted:i'm learning how to build a game, and i'm working on a top down rpg Assuming gm2 is GameMaker, something is wrong here because there's no reason it should limit you to 512 or anything else. The image editor in GM has a "Convert to frames" menu option that gives you a spritesheet-to-animation tool that should be more than excellent for this purpose. Check your Game Options in GM and see if your texture pages aren't set to 512x512 though I'm not sure GM cares about the size of your sprites even then. How exactly is it limiting you to 512, are your imported sprites getting resized on import?
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Jan 22, 2024 19:27
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For what it's worth, during early development, you should really be leaning hard on off the shelf assets. It's hard to know in advance what exactly you will need, and you don't want to spend a lot of time/money on making sprites that won't be in the final product.
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Jan 22, 2024 19:43
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Bronze Fonz posted:Assuming gm2 is GameMaker, something is wrong here because there's no reason it should limit you to 512 or anything else. to be clear, it's not limiting me to 512. i want the sprites to be a max of 32. it's forcing me to resize 32px sprites to 512, which i have to resize in the image editor, and if i want to rework the same sprite in pixel studio. gamemaker isn't the issue in this process, it's the actual program i'm using to design sprites. if i export 32px sprites as their original size, pixel studio straight up refuses to do it. minidracula posted:I'm unqualified as a pixel artist of any stripe really, but I'm using some mix of GrafX2, GraphicsGale, and Aseprite, FWIW. i will check these out!
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Jan 22, 2024 21:21
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Since I haven't posted in a bit, what I'm working on is a roguelike with a spy theme. Turn based combat, top-down movement, etc. (It's not fully Roguelike since I plan to have XP retained on death, so you can gradually advance a character, but you get the idea.) So anyway I'm planning the "dungeon" as a series of tiles and working on one potential tile- I've got a rough layout and have now put enemy spawners in. (Enemy spawners activate when they become visible to the player- so to them it's like a guy was always there, but you only go into strict combat turns once one appears.) After putting out some fires regarding the "patrol" function, I'm now thinking- a given tile isn't always going to have the same enemies. Or is it? And this now has me thinking, well, how do other roguelikes handle enemy spawns in particular? Like, for the tile system I'm drawing on Spelunky and its overall algorithm for building levels- there's a number of set configurations of objects in tiles, it places an "entrance" tile, draws a series of "open" tiles until it places an exit tile, and fills the rest of the level with tiles that aren't necessarily open (may need bombs/etc. to access.) In that game- if I'm recalling correctly- enemy spawns are actually kinda fixed per-tile, like a certain tile will always have a spider there and a bat there. Hades has a bit more variation but every single room (that isn't a special room) is designed as a single combat encounter. Nethack, which is closer to the kind of RPG I'm emulating, has more randomness and seems to draw more on the level of the dungeon and what monsters are found there (i.e. you just naturally find tougher monsters the further down you go.) There are other roguelike games I've played and they all have their own approaches and I'm just thinking out loud. But if there are any good resources on how roguelike designers have handled this particular problem I'd be interested in seeing them. (I do have a thing on Cyclic Dungeon Design that I need to hunker down and read even if that doesn't end up being the option I go with.)
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Jan 23, 2024 08:05
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Maxwell Lord posted:Since I haven't posted in a bit, what I'm working on is a roguelike with a spy theme. Turn based combat, top-down movement, etc. (It's not fully Roguelike since I plan to have XP retained on death, so you can gradually advance a character, but you get the idea.) I did some content for Noita for a good while as a freelancer. Its level generation was also largely tile-based like Spelunky's but Noita uses Herringbone-Wang tiles instead of squares which makes the tiles a bit more difficult to spot.  Besides the walls and various liquids and other materials the tiles also contain color coded pixels that are used for spawning objects. Each color has an associated list of possible spawns and their weights for the random selection. Usually there also was an empty item too so that if that was picked nothing would be spawned there so that every spawn pixel is not always occupied. So when a tile is placed on a level its spawner pixels look up a list of possible spawns and picks a result from there using a weighted random. It was pretty simple to control and fairly flexible for placing enemies and resources for the player as well as decorating the levels somewhat randomly with various props, exploding barrels, ceiling lanterns, vines etc. Enemy spawns were typically divided into at least two different colors where one would spawn "normal" enemies and a more rarely used color would spawn more challenging ones.
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Jan 23, 2024 08:46
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Herringbone-Wang is a good name
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Jan 23, 2024 09:39
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Oh yeah I've heard of that game! Interesting, I was sort of thinking in terms of probabilities but building that into the spawner object itself could be useful. I've already started divvying up enemies into types and that might also be a factor. I'll work on that. Thanks.
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Jan 23, 2024 10:14
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