Eltrotraw's Works - pictures, movies, games(05/23/13 - Neo Wolf update)

This is titled as such due to myself doing a variety of works, including 3d models, animated GIFs, paint quickies, games, and whatnot. Better to have one simplified topic rather than separate ones for everything else, right?

The index will be in reverse chronological order, that is, latest works are up at top.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

LATEST UPDATES (past 3)

(05/23/13)

Unity version 4 has been out. I'm getting reacquainted with the UI changes and the new things it provides to the engine, but with that I've split my work quite a bit for several reasons. I've got my reasons as to why, but regardless, let's split this into several sections once more.

---

NEO WOLF MODELS


Because of how the old wolves were set up, they had several problems to them. Let me outline a few of them, shall we?

• Extremely high polycount for a basic enemy* (9.7k!) which has been reduced to 5.7k, retaining most of the shape.
• No definable feet. This bothered a lot of people.
• Limited animations. Consider that the wolves had ambitious goals set for them, but only 5 animations to their name - idle, walk, slash, jump, fall - excluding the two variations of being hurt.
• A UV map that wrapped poorly. This didn't help when I wanted to texture on swim trunks for the wolves or other plans for later stages.

^{*Carter's polycount was extremely high (5.8k) but this has been cut down with a new skeleton, with new animations. He's now 3.3k.}

So, the NEO WOLF is set to accomplish that. He has a climb animation, but the climbing needs a different routine since the wolves are meant to climb walls differently than Carter does.

---

DAM DANGER



As I think I've mentioned, I've redone the intro level. The tutorials felt too clunky and despite me handholding players, this assumes that all players were too stupid to realize how to move around. I've scrapped the tutorial texts despite the amusing idea of Carter talking back to the tutorial, because a well designed level appeals to me more than a tutorial altogether. The ONLY part that I think that really deserves a bit of a tutorial is knowing how to aim the pot in different directions, which has also been adjusted somewhat.

I've included a small tour via screenshots through the level itself, so if you wish to look over them and look through the stage, feel free.

---

MONDALE & BAYOU BOLT


First off, I've been told that Mondale the Unicorn actually looks better as being pink or some form of pink color. I don't quite agree. What are your thoughts and why?


These screenshots show the development of the unicorn "bonus" stages. I have my own reasons for including this along the way, but basically this'll be a neat little extra thing for players to look out for in each stage. To access this, you must find Mondale who's been trapped in some part of the stage, and rescue him. Once you get to the end of the stage, you'll be able to hop on top of him as he's waiting for you at the exit.

The controls of the bonus stages are a little different - you're stuck on rails, being confined to moving merely left or right on the rail, while you're able to jump and barf projectile rainbow vomit. The vomit is useful to destroy barricades and enemies in the way, but otherwise you've got to weave out of the way or jump over obstacles.

The unicorn stages shouldn't be that lengthy or difficult, but I do want to make them interesting, especially if they'll hold some nifty "secrets", if you will.

(04/24/13)

So I've finally made another update, in an imgur gallery this time.



This features a more "completed" Sir Bearington, but let me reiterate what he does with a small gallery if you don't want to click the link.


This is Sir Bearington! He is simply an overglorified platform for Carter to interact with. Carter can (attempt) to push him, climb on him, and stand on him.
Bearington will not care that Carter is standing or climbing all over him while the bear has his hat on.


However, if Bearington is hit (currently only by Carter), he becomes rather... angry as his hat flies off from the hit.


Now the kid gloves are off. If Carter or any other enemy (currently only wolves) get into his range, he will attempt to grab them. If he grabs his victim, he will perform a spinning piledriver on them to slam them onto the ground, doing damage. Carter and the wolves can currently be grabbed by the bear.


The only way to appease the angry bear is to find his hat, collect it, and bring it back to the bear, where he will grab it and return back to normal.

(03/23/13)

So because of distractions I've been trying to be productive by working ahead with other things. Let's take a look at what I'd accomplished.

For one thing, I've written up drafts for several bosses. I outlined the general idea for "Doyle the Dragon" above, but I also wrote some for other future bosses and levels because I didn't have much time on the computer to work on other things.

Oh and I got a little present.


On the time that I did have on the computer, I worked ahead and got a few other characters/bosses ready to go.
^{Remember, once again, all these thumbnails have extra descriptions that can be seen by hovering your mouse over them}

The Wolf Lord
^{He needs to look more menacing}


The main thing I'm wondering here for the Wolf Lord is how elaborate the armor should even be.


(Honey) Badger
^{honey badger don't care}


What I want to ask about the badger, though, is what do people think of his design? Would he work better with a sassy, lazy, or angry "theme" for his animations?


Sir Bearington
^{He should've actually taken greater priority considering he's introduced along with the ducks}


The main thing to note with Bearington is that his whole thing revolves around his hat. When he doesn't have his hat, he'll be angry until he has it returned to him. When he's angry, he'll want to hurt you really bad - and possibly any enemies nearby.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

INDEX
(dates will be in mm/dd/yy format)

3D Models

Spoiler: 3D Models 

(polygon counts will be done in amount of triangles)

• Crocodile (07/24/12) - 4592 polygons
  
  
• Gnawesome, the Gnarly Shark (06/02/12) - 2798 polygons
  
  
• Sir Bearington (04/20/12) - 3644 polygons
  
  
• Derpbat (03/25/12) - 5624 polygons
  
  
• Skiploom (03/18/12) - 2064 polygons
  
  
• Snivy (03/12/12) - 2892 polygons
  
  
• Minccino (02/19/12) - 5880 polygons
  
  
• Zubat (02/19/12) - 3224 polygons
  
  
• Hornet (02/09/12) - 11880 polygons
  
  
• Lazy Lagoon (09/18/11) - 9534 polygons
  ^{The texture for this area was worked on much later, during the span of 01/05/12 to 01/18/12}
  
  
• Wolf (09/02/11) - 9368 polygons
  ^{The texture for this character was worked on much later, during the span of 12/05/11 to 12/06/11}
  
  
• Nomnom Ship (02/20/10) - 2506 polygons
  
  
• Pirate Hat
  
  ^{A submission for Team Fortress 2's Contribution thing. I'd have done more than this hat(I titled it the "Scottish Corsair") if I weren't called back to do some busywork again... otherwise I think I would've done a lot more with it, and even more additions.}
  
• Arena(WIP) (12/28/09) - 21776 polygons
  
  ^{A favorite of mine so far, this one was an experiment in several things, including a full interior, future lighting, structural design, an arena among other things. The basic shape was done over the course of a few days, but it took several other weeks(on/off work) to finish the interior. It's still lacking a proper texture and proper lights. Planning on using this for an animated short.}
  
• Dragon ()
  
  ^{A short little extra I planned on using for a game project but was never implemented. I never really took full pictures of renders of this thing, but rather used this one to use for several animated .gifs, which I then used on the forums for a bit.}
  
• Snake (05/13/09) - 1832 polygons
  ^{The texture for this character was worked on much later, during the span of 02/07/12 to 02/08/12}
  
  
• Carter (03/26/09) - 4872 polygons
  
  ^{Part of the "Beavers" game project I worked on with several others for Senior Project. Out of all the characters in the game, I think I like this one the most - a close second to Filmore(who doesn't have pictures uploaded on PB [save one]).}
  
• Lynx (02/07/09) - 2992 polygons
  
  ^{A boss character for the "Beavers" game project, the idea for this guy was to jump around like Dedede and swing at you with his giant fish. He'd also call in enemies to fight you, but that didn't really see full implementation when it was due... so we improvised a bit.}
  
• Moose (02/06/09) - 3048 polygons
  
  ^{Another character for the "Beavers" game project, this one was a possible transformation for your character to turn into. Yes, it looks like Bullwinkle, that's the point.}
  
• Starman[Mother] ()
  
  ^{One day I decided "ah, let's try doing the Starman pose from Earthbound!"... So I did. It turned out decently, though looking at it NOW I can see that the arms can easily have been done better, and of course I remember the initial remarks to the feet being so huge.}
  
• Star ()
  
  ^{I did a star before this one, but didn't upload it. I attempted this one later - to try and imitate a Mario-style star again but this time trying to make it look more like those stars and not a weird amalgamated mess.}
  
• Animal Thing ()
  
  ^{The last picture shows the UV map, the skin used to give the texture some life rather than a bland boring flat surface of a blob. This was an experiment to making a UV map work, though admittedly my technique was lazy. This was also an experiment to see if I could get certain animations to work and if I could do a beaver from scratch. This turned out to be something that's definitely not a beaver.}
  
• Lava Castle (3/19/08) - 1974 polygons
  
  ^{I had Diablo II on the mind when I did this, I'm not sure how much showed(I also had Ridley's Lair playing in my head the whole time). My idea was to have some sort of fortress in the middle of a pool of lava. This was also an experiment in tessellating and extruding, in which I learned valuable lessons in rendering with both.}
  
• Koffing (09/29/07)
  
  ^{So one day with a sphere, I decided, "Let's turn this into Koffing!" So I did in a very crude way. I think I could do this much better now, if I felt like it.}
  
• Ring Saucer (9/22/07)
  
  ^{A real primitive one. This was animated as well, but it was really short and just playing around with animating techniques. Nothing too real noteworthy with this one.}

Videos

Spoiler: Videos 

• Carter's Misadventures - Shark Boss Demo (06/15/12)
  
  ^{Playtime - 8:30}
  
• Skiploom Adventures (03/24/12)
  
  ^{Playtime = 4:12}
  
• Minccino's Destiny with Karma (02/19/12 - 03/06/12)
  
  ^{Runtime = 1:11}
  
  An animated short involving a Minccino, a shiny Minccino, and a bunch of Zubat. There are errors in this that I'm aware of, but I feel they'll be extremely time-consuming to fix.

Animated GIFs

Spoiler: Animated GIFs 

Link to PB album
I might or might not organize this. There're a lot of them in here and I just add them on as I see fit.

Paint Quickies

Spoiler: Paint lol 

• Mewtwo Quickie (fill in later)
  I did this as a self-imposed challenge, to do a "5 minute Mewtwo". I took 3 minutes longer than I expected, without a reference picture - I might've needed it, considering I forgot how exactly Mewtwo looked like anyway. I actually think I would've gotten it done in less than 5 minutes if I didn't spend so much time cleaning up my lines.
  
• MS Paint Comic example vs. (fill in later)
  This was done as an example to show that the excuse "but i used mspaint" to cover for clearly rushed artwork isn't exactly... plausible most of the time. It's more of a "case in point" thing where you can clearly make your artwork look good no matter what you use - as long as you spend enough time and effort on it to do so.
  
  That's not to say I do promote using MS Paint for grand scale art projects, just that it's not a plausible excuse to reply with when you're confronted about your questionable art.

Games

Spoiler: Games 

• Skiploom Adventures (the fangame) - Unity (03/20/11)
  
  An intended gift for the forum topic of the same name and the two people behind it - this is a very basic game that follows the same premise of the old popular "Helicopter Game": You fall down as the game goes, so you have to go click and hold down the left mouse button to rise up. Avoid obstacles as you continue on, and survive as long as you can!
  
  
  
  .
• Whipping Snivy - Unity (03/17/11)
  
  A quick game made with a self-imposed deadline. The goal is a game that has inspiration from both Pokemon and Castlevania.
  Controls:
  - arrow keys or wasd = move
  - z = whip
  - x = jump
  - c = subweapon
  
  
  
  .
• FIREWORKS! - Unity (07/09/11)
  
  A basic game. Use WASD or arrow keys to move around, and the left mouse button or left control to attack. Your attack is a melee attack, and your goal is to beat up all the saboteurs before they launch all your fireworks. The main goal here was to accomplish firework effects.
  
  .
• Richochet - Unity (02/26/11)
  
  
  
  This is what I call "turn-based tanks". Currently the link goes to a youtube video detailing how the game works, and what changes I've done since the January 31, 2011 version of the game. I can give a link to that if it's really desirable, but that version had clear problems that I spent most of February trying to work over.
  
  .
• Last Bastion - GM6 (07/18/06)
  
  
  
  Controls...
  • W - drive forward
  • S - drive backward
  • A - turn left
  • D - turn right
  • mouse - aim
  • left click - fire
  
  There's a funny story to go with this one:
  
  For Highschool, I needed to do a senior project in order to graduate. We all had a choice of what teacher we could choose as our mentor, but they could only take so many students. Being lazy, I decided to take one of the most "chill"(lenient, I guess) teachers to be my mentor.
  
  I waited until the week it was due to start the Senior Project. This was it.
  
  ANYWAY ON TO THE GAME
  
  Inspired by Geometry Wars on the XBox Live Arcade, this game has you play as a tank defending a "base"(i say this because it's one building) from a constant stream of enemy attackers. The game only ends when you or the base is destroyed, usually yourself.
  
  .
• Ikaradius X - GM5 (06/18/06)
  
  
  
  Controls...
  • Arrow Keys - move
  • Spacebar - fire (hold to autofire)
  • Ctrl - select powerup (assuming you have the appropriate amount of energy collected)
  • Alt - fire missiles (assuming you have enough energy to)
  • Shift - change color (you're unprotected for a brief moment when you ARE changing though)
  
  
  Wow, this is OLD. But ah, I'm feeling nostalgic already!
  
  The title is supposed to show that this game is an amalgamation of both Ikaruga and Gradius(at least, I tried to do so). It incorporates the powerup system of Gradius with the shielding and color system(s) of Ikaruga into one, er, interesting experience. I do feel that this game was still in an unfinished stage, even with it having 5 complete levels. Most of my playtesters never made it past level 3, and none as I recall made it past level 4(the boss totally destroyed the few who did as I recall).
  
  5 stages, with a boss at the end of each stage - the last stage, if I recall is a bit of a boss rush. Sadly, I don't have the original file with me anymore(got lost with a random computer wipe), so I can't even check to modify or change things at this point.
  
  Try it out if you're a fan of shoot-em-ups(shmups) at least.

the rest of the games I have right now are demos and/or in progress. There are a handful of smaller games like Last Bastion, but I think only about two are worth showing, and only if it's absolutely wanted.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tools used...

For 3D, I use 3DS Max to create the models, and either Paint or GIMP to do some of the textures, depending on how complex I want it. The dragon for instance used a simple texture done in Paint, while a more complex one like for the arena would require something more advanced, like GIMP.

For the GIFs, I use a combination of Game Maker and GIF Animator.

For the Paint Quickies, well, what else do I have to say aside from "they're done in paint"?

For the Games, right now the ones I feel comfortable with publishing are done mainly through Game Maker 7(or earlier). Yes, there's a more recent version, but I don't really care right now.

As of recent, however, I've been delving into the Unity Game Engine which is also free and there are several tutorials out there on Youtube that let you step right into making your own game.

What I find great about Unity over Game Maker is that Unity allows you to market your work, unlike Game Maker(unless that's changed - I doubt it somehow).

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Constructive criticism welcomed. I have a standard of quality that I'd like to achieve and I'd like to see it done with good criticism in mind, not just mindless "oh it's good" or whatever.

Argh, sorry, deleting this post to give me some room for a double post filler space(It's possible, just erring on the side of caution for now).

However, answering Cardgage's question...

HOLY BAJEBUS Ikaradius X is hard.
Either that, or I just suck at it.

Ikaradius X gave me an experiment to learn a few things:

• Difficulty balance
• Level design

I usually got the same first few impressions when I had people try out Ikaradius, usually in this order:
"Wow this is cool!"
"Oh my god I died!"
"This is too hard"

I tried to take from the Ikaruga formula here, in that enemies are designed to appear in a way in that you can kill 3 of them of the same color(chaining) and still be able to eliminate every enemy that appears in the level, usually utilizing a method of using your homing shots and systematically eliminating certain enemies at certain times.

In reality I think I took from Ikaruga more than I did Gradius while making it, but it's cool.

[jdaster64]

[*]Jdaster's request, which remains unfinished since posting it last time

Link mistake? This links to the TF2 Pirate Hats.

Link mistake? This links to the TF2 Pirate Hats.

WHOOPS perhaps it is let me go to fix that.

I've been pretty busy/lazy with other things so I've been taking my time on finishing that thing for you

BUT IT WILL BE DONE

eventually

[jdaster64]

S'all right, you've got no obligation to finish it or anything...

HEY if you've been paying attention recently i did something out of a little slump i've been having, once again using an existing model, this time playing around with the idea of "Rainbow Puke".

That's a bit of an in-joke within itself as well, but I did do two versions of this, the second which I am now currently employing as my sig.

04/06/10



(It's the same unicorn from before - 2872 polygons.)

Of course with the Carter tag team combo with the unicorn(see current avatar avatar and Carter entry in the archive) this leaves lots of other potential for silly animations. After all, Carter was originally intended to ride the unicorn(even had animations for both) but that wasn't really implemented.

Though I can try!

...If I'm still bored.

[Eraser]

omg sorry I forgot to ask you for permission :O

that seems like a very likely no to if i allow something i have set up as a sig/avatar to be used by someone else

yes that's also answering your question mk4e very late i might add

HEY I remember this topic, but I haven't updated it in almost an entire year.

I've been juggling tons of things, but recently I've regained focus and have something presentable out for the populace here(though it's not optimally complete), a "progess report" of sorts regarding my current project at the moment, a game called Richochet, done using the Unity Game Engine.



You can view the whole thing here, as I explain how the game works and go through changes from a previous version I've done.

The big milestone I want to tackle here(which I wanted to dedicate most of February to figure out) was getting network play to work, so that players can go up against each other over the interwebs.

[Rebel Vanguard]

I watched the entire video of the Richochet February progress and I like the improvements so far. but can you give us a demo to try? (I know you linked it on the chat, my computer crashed and I lost the demo. Not to mention I couldn't find the demo in the first post)

I watched the entire video of the Richochet February progress and I like the improvements so far. but can you give us a demo to try? (I know you linked it on the chat, my computer crashed and I lost the demo. Not to mention I couldn't find the demo in the first post)

Oh am I a little late here?

I should have mentioned that I'm not alone in working on the project, as I have someone else who inspired me to "revive this project from the ashes", so to speak - I did mention this in the video briefly, and also the fact that for February I did most of the work on the project myself.

Although I'm conceptualizing and designing a good chunk of this, I suppose you can say, he's more proficient with optimizing the game so it runs more smoothly. He's more the type of person to clean up the issues I addressed near the end of the video.

What I'm getting at here is that although I'd love to have a presentable demo of this recent version, there are a few things that I do want completed before releasing it:

• Playing online against other opponents.
• Ensuring that the game speed is optimized and regulated(to some extent) among levels.
• Guaranteeing that the shots are completely fine and nothing else is wrong with them.

There are other things that I'd like to incorporate

(more stages, tutorial, "break the targets" - or rather "challenges"/"events", AI, customizing your tank's attributes, new/revised menu system)

, but those three are the primary ones that I want to incorporate here.

I mean if I see enough interest for a new demo, sure, I can release it as I see fit, but at this point, I'm hesitant. Not satisfied with the version as of yet.

...Looking back at this topic, it looks pretty boring with all the text. I'll spice it up with a few more pictures here and there, see how that changes things.

[Agent Gold]

I looked at your Richochet video, and I'm pretty impressed with how it's looking. It looks like it has everything it needs to be successful--it's original, it looks addicting, I can imagine the strategy involved, and it looks professionally-done.

How does the game determine when a shot stops, other than hitting a gray wall or a player? Is it based on a number of bounces or distance or something?

Actually, I'm thinking about something I read once. It was about what makes a good SourceForge project and signs that distinguish between the good ones and the ones that will probably never get anywhere, but the biggest thing I took away from it would apply to this game really nicely. And just so you can't miss it, here it is in fancy big letters.

Get a version of this out there as soon as you are reasonably able to.

Seriously, the game looks like it's in good enough condition for people to start playing with it. You'll get more feedback and uncover more issues and get more ideas from a general audience than your testers will ever figure out on their own. It will also give them a chance to spread the buzz about it, and word-of-mouth advertising is your best friend. (And, yeah, I guess it would let you start cashing in right away if you put a price tag on it.)

Even if it doesn't have all the features you want, you can always add to it later. And don't call the first version "0.6 beta" or anything like that, call it version "1.0". Those zero-level version numbers are deceptive, giving it the appearance that it's not in playable condition, when in all honesty it is.

It looks to me like if you get online play worked out, you could release it immediately without any other additions or fixes. You can always go back and add or fix things later, but you wouldn't even need an AI yet (and in fact, players might be able to make recommendations about it). The speed might not be optimal, but as long as your frame rate doesn't drop below 30 frames per second, it will be acceptable and can be tuned up later.

The other thing I'd recommend is--even if you can't do it right away--plan to release a version of it for the iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch. If the game can be played with nothing but a mouse, it can be done with nothing but touches. Releasing it for the iOS gives you a huge potential audience and makes it easy to discover and access. You're using Unity, and if I recall correctly, that means it's a little pricey to do that, but it's definitely worth considering for when it's closer to where you want it.

One last thing: if/when you decide to release a version to the public at large, don't call it a demo of the final version or anything like that. If you can play it, it's a game. It might not be as polished as you want it to be, but that doesn't change the fact that it's a playable game.

I am looking forward to seeing where you go with this. Your promo video was certainly enough to get my attention.

Spoiler: Previous reply to Agent Gold done on 03/05/11 

I looked at your Richochet video, and I'm pretty impressed with how it's looking. It looks like it has everything it needs to be successful--it's original, it looks addicting, I can imagine the strategy involved, and it looks professionally-done.

How does the game determine when a shot stops, other than hitting a gray wall or a player? Is it based on a number of bounces or distance or something?

you basically detailed it right there, a shot will be destroyed when:

• it hits a gray wall or player
• it reaches the maximum limit of bounces
• its "life" goes to 0, life decrementing each frame it moves

the original version i set up in game maker was actually well received with the people that tried it out, and i have to say that i wasn't inspired to "revive" this on my own - it was the guy who i'm working with who inspired me.



this is how the same map, Zone Control, previewed in the screenshot looked like in the Game Maker version. Everything works the same.

Actually, I'm thinking about something I read once. It was about what makes a good SourceForge project and signs that distinguish between the good ones and the ones that will probably never get anywhere, but the biggest thing I took away from it would apply to this game really nicely. And just so you can't miss it, here it is in fancy big letters.

Get a version of this out there as soon as you are reasonably able to.

it's my prime focus for more than one reason - as mentioned, Unity does allow you to market your game, and several game sites like Kongregate can host the game for you as well.

Seriously, the game looks like it's in good enough condition for people to start playing with it. You'll get more feedback and uncover more issues and get more ideas from a general audience than your testers will ever figure out on their own. It will also give them a chance to spread the buzz about it, and word-of-mouth advertising is your best friend. (And, yeah, I guess it would let you start cashing in right away if you put a price tag on it.)

it is, but the main thing holding me back here is netplay.

which is why it's such a huge focus for me. once you're able to play with other people online, that's a huge burden off my shoulders and i can dedicate resources to other mechanics about the game.

so i already know this.

Even if it doesn't have all the features you want, you can always add to it later. And don't call the first version "0.6 beta" or anything like that, call it version "1.0". Those zero-level version numbers are deceptive, giving it the appearance that it's not in playable condition, when in all honesty it is.

It looks to me like if you get online play worked out, you could release it immediately without any other additions or fixes. You can always go back and add or fix things later, but you wouldn't even need an AI yet (and in fact, players might be able to make recommendations about it). The speed might not be optimal, but as long as your frame rate doesn't drop below 30 frames per second, it will be acceptable and can be tuned up later.

more of the same, but

the issue about the framerate is consistency.

all the areas in the game save Warzone and Confrontation all have roughly 60(sometimes 70) FPS.

those two areas have the FPS drop to 40-50 - and that's on THIS computer. I've yet to know if it stays consistent with different computers, processing power considered, which is why I mentioned what I did.

The other thing I'd recommend is--even if you can't do it right away--plan to release a version of it for the iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch. If the game can be played with nothing but a mouse, it can be done with nothing but touches. Releasing it for the iOS gives you a huge potential audience and makes it easy to discover and access. You're using Unity, and if I recall correctly, that means it's a little pricey to do that, but it's definitely worth considering for when it's closer to where you want it.

already planned

i seem to recall this being mentioned as well, but i need some safe revenue first to do so

One last thing: if/when you decide to release a version to the public at large, don't call it a demo of the final version or anything like that. If you can play it, it's a game. It might not be as polished as you want it to be, but that doesn't change the fact that it's a playable game.

I would have called it a "presentable version", not a "presentable demo".

what i have so far is a "presentable demo" that you can play with at the moment, which is why i'm very hesitant to release it just yet.

---------------

UPDATE 3/09/11

As mentioned, I'm currently figuring out a way to get online play onto the main Richochet project itself. Despite going against my better judgment*(will explain at the end), I've started a small side project made for the sole purpose of online play. Considering that prior to this I had no experience in network programming, I really had two choices here, either:

• I fumble around in Richochet's files to try and establish netplay from there. This logically sounds like the better choice, except for the fact that again I've no experience in network programming especially regarding Unity.
• I make a new (simple) project from scratch made for the sole purpose of online play. Although I have a tutorial with example files that I've found, there's still quite a bit I need to figure out regarding it.

Either way, the whole thing was meant to be a learning experience. I chose the second option, and the simple concept was what I would refer to as "Asteroids", just that instead of shooting asteroids, you're shooting at other players.


^{Courtesy of flibby and my partner in crime for helping me out here}

I believe I spent about a week or two on this(including distractions), but now, I think I'm ready to report that netplay will soon be coming to Richochet.

Soon. This was meant to be a status report, anyway.

You can play the incomplete version of this... SPACE WARFARE or whatever via this link. Let me reiterate that it's incomplete, so obvious features will be missing from it, among other things.

Spoiler: * 

Let's answer that earlier question about "against my better judgment". Why is starting a new project bad?

Focus.

That's simply it. The lack of focus on a singular project(or at the very worst small subsection of them) is a common error that many novice game developers commit(or just many novice anything, up to and including art, music, stories and other things), and I've been on both ends of this spectrum so I'm speaking from experience and history. I've SEEN people do this as well as being guilty of doing this myself.

What do I mean, specifically? Let's think about it for a bit on a game developer's point of view.

When you're trying to make a game, most tutorials point you toward making a Pong game or a top down shooter game for simplicity and to grasp the basics of game programming. Okay, that's nice and all, but plenty of budding game programmers have very unrealistic goals and high hopes. Best to start small and simple, but many of these said novice game developers immediately start dreaming big(this occurs on this forum as well) and have unrealistic goals with their current level of knowledge.

An example?

The thought process can easily go like this once you start making your pong/shooter/whatever game(condensed):
Oh, this is getting boring.
Let's make an RPG! Yeah! It'll be cool, and epic, and better than Final Fantasy!
And then we can make a racing game! Yeah! It'll be just like Mario Kart!
Ooh! Then we can try to make a fighting game like Smash Brothers! We can add [character x] and [character y] to it too!

...and so on, and so forth. This actually happened to me multiple times to me including but not limited to:

• Around the time after I finished that version of Ikaradius.
• Working with the Starcraft Map Editor for the entirety I had the game - and I had the game since it was released in 1998. I never finished a single map(there IS one that could be "finished", but my friend took the reins for that so I can't completely say I did it on my own, and besides, that's not exactly "finished" either).
• Warcraft 3 World Editor - again, I've had the game since it was released in 2002. I never finished a single map.
• Around the time I was working on that Game Maker version of Richochet, I had two shmups(a kirby themed sidescrolling one and a topdown colorful one), a "bullet hell" platformer, the "unfortunate cookie game", and a few others I'm forgetting. Simply put, it's a mess. I still have it on storage, too, just as a testament to show how one's lack of focus and heavy enthusiasm can easily get carried away.

The problem that arises from this comes to that word again: Focus, or rather, the lack of. You're only human, and you can only do so much at a time. Do it carefully, one step at a time. You don't want to overstep your boundaries, and you don't want to pressure yourself by having yourself "work" on multiple projects at once. You'll hardly get anything done that way - or what you will churn out will be rushed and I'm sure you realize, as the reader, that rushed products generally tend to be terrible.

I can double post to bump the thread from the deepest abyss, right?

I'm just raising this to say that working with the networking in Unity is more of a headache than I anticipated. The methods I've found and utilized work well for FPS and other similar action games, but Richochet requires different methods and that causes complications and problems.

It's a roadblock but if that roadblock is overcome, then that can snowball to actual progress on that front. Otherwise, frustration. I do have a small graphic update, I suppose, but nothing too notable.

RICHOCHET GRAPHIC UPDATE


The other reasons I have to post here are to update regarding Carter's new accessories and my new name tag. Surely you've noticed by now if you've noticed me post.

--------------------------

CARTER
^{and his new toys}



This one's simple, though it's "incomplete" because of his new hat isn't exactly how I'd like it to be. Here are two pictures of the render and what the "hat" is supposed to look like. I think I'll update with that "not Metagross" later. It was intended to be based off of Metagross, yes, but it was to have a sort of volcano off the top of its head, which may or may not be noticeable.

Call it my own personal Fakemon of sorts. It was inspired by a mixture of Metagross and Heatran_{(I called it "Tercano", I forget what "Ter" was supposed to be - "Terra"? - but "Cano" was derived from "Volcano")}. I had a concept for this thing to fight another creature I was in the middle of doing a complex rig for, but complications arose and I never got back to that.

The fight was supposed to take place in the Arena - the very same Arena I now have in my 3D models gallery.

Regardless, this is supposed to show the full view of what I was working with here. Carter is supposed to be petting the unicorn, not having it grow out of his chest, and though you can't see it in the avatar, the unicorn is twitching madly as Carter pets it.

The "not Metagross" was supposed to be flung around as Carter twitched his head, though it barely manages to keep a grip on Carter's head as he does so. I plan on revising this one later, regardless - I needed to resize the thing to fit on Carter's head, since it was roughly 300 times the size of Carter... not exactly the best fit for a hat. Somewhere along the line, sizing it down screwed up the texture, as it should appear as shown on the second picture.

--------------------------

NAMETAG









Isn't it pretty? I tried to make it follow the limit(I believe it was 150x30, the other mods utilized this limit as well though it looks from a glance that I'm stretching it), but at the same time make it animated and reasonably small in terms of filesize.

My only issue is that I'm not sure which one to take in regards to if filesize is an issue or not. Anyone have any thoughts in regards to this? Suggestions? Changes?

[Tigerman]

The Second to last one is the one that I prefer the most for name tag. Fast, and small lettering.

Any news on next Richochet release?

The earliest prediction I had was by the end of the month, but clearly that's not the case so all I can say is "not yet".

EDIT: Let me quickly recap the problem/issue I'm having here.

When you join a game, you're supposed to have a list of players that are currently in the game. This list is essential, especially considering how the levels and players are spawned in the game. So why is this a problem?

Remember that the order of the players are essential to how the game plays. Let's take an example to show what I mean.

For the sake of example, let's say we have 3 users here. "Eltrotraw", "Rozics", and "Arretrot". Eltrotraw will be hosting the game, and Rozics and Arretrot will join the game one after the other.

From the host's view(Eltrotraw), the player list will look like this

• Eltrotraw
• Rozics
• Arretrot

Which is normal.

From Rozics' view, it looks like this.

• Rozics
• Eltrotraw
• Arretrot

From Arretrot's view, it looks like this.

• Arretrot
• Eltrotraw
• Rozics

Why is this a problem? When the game starts, it takes the order of the players on the list and applies them to each player. By default, it should be that Eltrotraw is assigned as player 1, Rozics is assigned to player 2, and Arretrot is assigned to player 3.

Except the list isn't normalized among each client. What this means is that although it appears "proper" on Eltrotraw's view...

On Rozics' view, Rozics is player 1, Eltrotraw is player 2, and Arretrot is player 3.

On Arretrot's view, Arretrot is player 1, Eltrotraw is player 2, and Rozics is player 3.

It's inconsistent. If I can figure a way to force the list to stay consistent among each client, then I'm positive I can get it done within 1-2 weeks.

I will elaborate more if necessary, but I know WHY it's doing this. I don't know HOW to fix it.

[Agent Gold]

When I first logged on earlier, one of the first things I noticed was a big, neon-flashing name glaring at me. It was great. It did look a little bigger than the ones the others use, but maybe it's an illusion or my imagination? I dunno. It's worth experimenting with to get it where you like it. I like the soft glowing, so I'd vote for the first or third one.

I'm using my iPad right now with its ever-so-limited RAM, and I wasn't getting any problems or slow-down because of it. On a thread like this, I can't see the pictures until I click them individually, but while you were using the neon name, it showed up just fine. If that tells you anything about file size.

Good luck with the networking for Richochet. It's never been one of my strong suits, so more power to ya.

When I first logged on earlier, one of the first things I noticed was a big, neon-flashing name glaring at me. It was great. It did look a little bigger than the ones the others use, but maybe it's an illusion or my imagination? I dunno. It's worth experimenting with to get it where you like it. I like the soft glowing, so I'd vote for the first or third one.

I'm using my iPad right now with its ever-so-limited RAM, and I wasn't getting any problems or slow-down because of it. On a thread like this, I can't see the pictures until I click them individually, but while you were using the neon name, it showed up just fine. If that tells you anything about file size.

The thing with gifs that I think I may or may not have gotten carried away in regards with the rainbow puke and Carter is that the longer the animation is, the more space it takes up. That's why I have two versions of each name "flash" thing.

I've settled on this version of the name, regardless, after talking with jryanm about it.

For those that are curious, I did the name thing using a combination of programs...

• 3DS Max. This was to render the text and animate it. The text is meant to "pop out" and enlarge itself as it does so, as well as change color. This was to emphasize the name -
  El - tro - traw.
  
  Some of you may remember I had that as my old "status message" or what have you under my name a year or so ago.
• Game Maker. When I saved each rendered frame of the animation from Max, they were saved under .png format. Due to this, I needed way to take all the frames of the animation, take them together, and save them as a .gif. Game Maker is able to do this, and I can make last minute cropping/resizing changes to do so with it as well.
• GIFAnimator. It's a free program to download with the sole purpose of animating .gif files. This is used to apply a transparency to the animation's background, and to make it loop.
  
  There are actually only 14 frames in this name animation. What I did utilizing GIFAnimator was to add a delay before the animation changes frames. This is most notable when the animation's "still", but if you've a good enough eye you can notice it pops up when each syllable of the name lights up as well.

Good luck with the networking for Richochet. It's never been one of my strong suits, so more power to ya.

"Good luck" is kinda cutting it short here. I edited the last post to detail what exactly the problem is, but that's not exactly helping matters any, I think.

I know why it's doing it, but not how to fix it, which is the aggravating part. I've been told I should move to something else in the meantime.

[Agent Gold]

"Good luck" is kinda cutting it short here. I edited the last post to detail what exactly the problem is, but that's not exactly helping matters any, I think.

I know why it's doing it, but not how to fix it, which is the aggravating part. I've been told I should move to something else in the meantime.

*reads edited post*
Does the mix-up affect gameplay, or is it just cosmetic? I've seen some online games where you always appear to be Player 1 to yourself, but not to others. Is it, like, actually screwing up turn order? If it's not, then I don't really think it's all that necessary to fix...

EDIT: *reads it again*
... Oh. Never mind.

If you'd like, go ahead and explain why it's doing it. Maybe I'll see something that triggers a guess about how to fix it.

If you appear as the red tank on your end but the other player sees you as the blue tank... see, this is where there's a problem.

If you'd like, go ahead and explain why it's doing it. Maybe I'll see something that triggers a guess about how to fix it.

As far as flow goes, when a user enters the room, a list is updated. This list stores all the players that've joined the game, in order, mind you(at the moment. Once this problem's figured out I can get to other things like giving players the choice of which player slot they want).

The problem regarding this list is how it's updating for users that join. It always seems that the client itself places its name on top rather than ordering it properly from there. As shown with the example I provided, the list also becomes screwy when someone else joins the game aside from the server's end.

The list itself isn't exactly the problem, though it's the easiest solution that comes to mind in regards to fixing it. What really is the issue here is that I have a global variable(more like an array) that stores all the names for all the players in the game. If the client's name matches with the stored name for each player, then they can operate the tank, otherwise they're left to watch.

The problem with this approach is that it goes back to the inconsistency between the lists. I've tried a few ways to pass(or "transfer", rather?) the values from this global array from the server to the other clients, as the server should have the last say on these things, but to no avail.

It's actually caused me a few headaches recently. I'm feeling another one coming up as I'm thinking about it again, but I don't want to take a super extended break from this.

I got bored today and it's hot so I didn't want to do too much. After some discussion with Metaknight4ever(and watching Riot's "League of Legends Art Spotlights") I came up with an idea for her, so I took a render and posed it.



You can take it or leave it, your choice :3

[Mkan]

I know this is over a month late, but I decided to check in on this thread and as soon as I saw this picture I burst out laughing due to it's sheer silliness

[Villerar]

Eltrotraw, did you consider asking about your issue with the inconsistent priority in lists on a dev forum or do you have some reasons not to?

This is from a programming noob's perspective, but do you have any idea why it is not possible to check the priority in the client's lists by judging from the server's priority? What you have tried, transferring the array from the server to the clients and then checking whether the clients have the right order to remedy it if it is inconsistent, would sound like the most logical solution indeed.

Eltrotraw, did you consider asking about your issue with the inconsistent priority in lists on a dev forum or do you have some reasons not to?

This is from a programming noob's perspective, but do you have any idea why it is not possible to check the priority in the client's lists by judging from the server's priority? What you have tried, transferring the array from the server to the clients and then checking whether the clients have the right order to remedy it if it is inconsistent, would sound like the most logical solution indeed.

Not entirely, I was considering it but never really got around to it. The Unity forums would have been my first obvious stop to begin with anyway, but that's really pretty much the only question I needed answered from any source or whatever.

I do, however, need a bit of a break from the game as it was causing me a few headaches when I was trying to figure this out on my own. So that's on hiatus right now, but I refuse to let it rot.

The transferring had been attempted, and I discussed this with my partner as well, the method you were going over. He said he found something that could have worked, but then we got busy with our own other things and haven't heard from him about that since. I have a vague idea of how it works, though, so whenever that happens again I'll be sure to see what I can do - ho ho ho.

Explosions, how do they work
^{It's a short ~30 second clip of a shmup boss death explosion}

As I may or may not have mentioned in the last update(think I did), Richochet's currently on a hiatus for previously mentioned issues. So, in the meantime, I'm spending time working on something much simpler - a shoot-em-up!

I'm putting this up here because I want to see the viewer's input on it. I want to know what should be changed, if anything, about this boss' death sequence.

Is the explosion too big? Too small?
Is the slowdown when the boss explodes disrupting?
Are the sound effects fine?
Should I add anything else?

A playable demo is not available right now, but let me throw together a "first level" and I can put it on some webspace in a few days.

If people are interested, anyway.