An Update, and a Demo!
So for a while I’ve been fiddling and changing the visibility, trying to find a situation that meets my requirements for dark and moody and also remaining visible enough to be fun. It’s been pretty hard to find a good balance, with some areas looking like its daytime, and other areas being impossibly dark to see, to the point that you lose sight of your character during a battle. It’s been a pain to deal with and I think I’ve finally found a solution.
I’ve noticed that the player takes up a very small percentage of the screen, and with a full party of 4, it’s hard to figure out who is who. I initially chose this because I wanted the player to have as much sight as possible, being able to see and react to things coming from the edge of the screen. But it just doesn’t seem like as much fun as it could be. So to fix these problems, I’ve increased the zoom, going from 50x38 tiles on screen to 40x30, roughly a 25% decrease in zoom.
The results are exactly what I had hoped for. The player takes up a much larger portion of the screen, enough to remain visible in dark areas. It also increases the number of pixels I have at my disposal for each character model, meaning I don’t have to take my artists amazing work and scale it down so you can barely tell. And while you can’t see as far as you could before, you can still see far enough to react to incoming enemies. I think it also adds a little excitement to the game in that you never know whats lurking around the next corner.
anyways, here’s some screenshots comparing the two different zooms, the top being the old zoom and the bottom the newer, closer zoom:
While there’s not a huge difference, I think it makes the game much more enjoyable, and it was a pain to do, so expect another post possibly tomorrow about it! Also, you can probably see a few changes to the HUD and character models, so I might as well make a post about those too.
Oh, and I mentioned a demo didn’t I? As I only recently got an artist, a lot of the art is still missing for the full demo, and while the demo includes levels up to about Chapter 3-2, much of the art is either temporarily copied from other models (eg every male and female character looking alike) or still giant magenta cubes (which you find in increasing numbers the longer you play). I should also note that while I believe the majority of bugs have been fixed, I haven’t been able to extensively play test it. Anyways, at the very least I can show you guys what the game will be like.
Edit: Changed a few graphical glitches/added an error log. Also added a feedback form!
Edit 2: If you get to a level and the entire world is black, try turning on Simple Lighting in the Options menu. For some reason the lighting shaders break on select video cards.
Here’s the download link: www.altqq.org/games/RedMetropolis_Demov1.rar
Here’s the feedback form: www.altqq.org/games/RedMetropolis_Feedback_Form.docx
If you guys find any bugs or have any suggestions email me or write a comment. Feedback like that is what indie dev’s desperately need, and it will result in the best possible game for you guys when I finish, so don’t be shy!
