Author Topic: Project Survival - A Game Development Project (Read 10769 times)

Lunerfox · « **on:** December 24, 2007, 10:04:32 pm »

Project Survival
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Hello everyone:
First, a little bit about myself and what I'm doing. I'm an engineering student from California and have been working on programming a 2D computer game with the aid of the HGE Engine (http://hge.relishgames.com/) in C++ for the past few weeks. I've made significant headway in creating the game, implementing a good amount of functionality and making the game into a playable form. After getting the basis of the game setup, I feel that it is time to recruit artists and musicans to work on the game.
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Game Concept:
The game that I've been working on is, in many ways, similiar to many old classics such as Tempest, Smash TV, and newer versions such as Geometry Wars and Crimsonland. It's a top down 2D shooter that emphasises on the sheer number of enemies as one of the greater points of the game. However, in this game, I hope to explore the concepts of multiplayer cooperative play in these types of games, a feature that has been lacking from mainstream games for some time, as well as implementing the concepts of an RTS game into this highly Action based game. Players would have the ability to construct a number of defenses and structures that can be constructed as a base, and working together to achieve their goals.
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Request:
I'm looking for artists and musicans that are dedicated to their work, has the mentality to work in a team (The willingness to make revisions on artwork and music is a must), and can create art and music that is inspired from directions given by the project lead (me) and others. Artists will need to have mastery of sprites and sprite sheet (animation) creation, while musicians would need to have knowledge of creating music and sound effects digitally. I will be working closely with the team to make sure that a constructive enviroment is maintained during the progression of the project. I will be holding an audition to find the artist and musican that best suits the graphical and musical vision that I have for the game. To do so, I'm looking for some concept art and music given some directions in text. Entries will be evaluated based on how closely the work resembles the descriptions, the creativity of the work, and the quality and skill employed. The types of descriptions below would be similar to the type of directions that would be given during development.

Artists:
1) Create a 64x64 rendering (This is the scale of 1 player) of a circular shaped power station. The view should be strictly top down, and must include the following: a console panel, visible wiring, and a visible method of power generation (Solar, Methane, Tesla...etc). The theme should portray futuristic technologies, but with slightly outdated stylings (Ex: 1960s renditions of how machines would look today IE: Machines from BIOSHOCK is a close match.).
2) Create a 6 to 12 frame sprite sheet of a walking lizard type critter. the creature can be on all fours, or bipedal, and should move as fluidly as possible. the first frame and last frame should show one complete movement. (From stepping left, then stepping right, and finishing as the lizard steps left again).

Musicians:
*POSITIONS FILLED*
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Details:
I understand that many of you would be interested in participating in a game development project, but are cynical about the success and completion of these projects. Therefore, let it be known that I have every intention of completing the game to it's fruition, and must, as I will need to present my Independment Game Development Project to other students at the annual Stanford Research Symposium during April 2008. Recognition would be given for any artists and musicans that will be working with me, and the project would be a great entry into anyone's portfolio or resume, for any future employment opportunties. Also, in accordance to my research project, the game should be
developed using minimal costs, and distributed as freeware at the end of development. However, personal compensations will be given from myself if the project goes well as a thank you.
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A very rough version of the game can be downloaded below for evalutation. Please note that this is in no way representative of the acceptable quality that I hope to complete this game in. This is only as a proof of concept that I have begun the project significantly.
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Link: http://elephanthunter.us/Lunerfox/Project%20Survival/Public_Release_Alpha_0.1.rar
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Submissions can be sent to my Email Address at Lunerfox@gmail.com. And any questions about the project or details about the requirements of the audition can be posted on the topic, emailed, or sent to AIM: Lunerfox. The deadline for the submissions will be posted in a couple of days. Meanwhile, I hope to be seeing your submissions!

Doc · « **Reply #1 on:** December 25, 2007, 01:53:50 am »

ok first the link to you first version did not work for me, broken link.

and second, why not ask the creator of soldat him self to help you?

Lunerfox · « **Reply #2 on:** December 25, 2007, 04:44:59 am »

Sorry about the mix-up, the Alpha link has been fixed.

Doc: MM already has quite a few duties that he must attend to, what with his own game development project and all. Also, I'm not in dire need of extra programmers, but instead need artists and musicians, so MM wouldn't be the best choice to ask. (Thanks for telling me about the broken link, btw)

Will · « **Reply #3 on:** December 25, 2007, 06:26:17 am »

Well your project really does look interesting. I always wanted to make a game similiar to crimsonland, but maybe with more depth and multiplayer options.

I have some knowledge about sound effect editing, and some basic graphic editing.
Me and Slayer DZ want to see if we'd be of any help to you.
He on the other hand is very good with graphics and you can see some of his mods around these forums. The latest project is WarZone and he has doen most of the graphics and effects in the mod, while I was in charge of sfx and balancing the weapons+some minor gfx stuff. Hope you'll like our work and be interested in us providing you help with your project.

I added you to MSN messenger so guess we'll talk later then

Doc · « **Reply #4 on:** December 25, 2007, 04:24:14 pm »

very nice game indeed.
some pointers:
- teh cursor is not visible when hovering over the holes for the spiders. so maybe set the z a bit back for those circle things.
- the cursor is some what hard to see on the back ground
- is there a reset for the amount of those things spawn?

Lunerfox · « **Reply #5 on:** December 25, 2007, 08:20:01 pm »

Doc: Yeah, those problem should be addressed pretty quickly, shouldn't take too long to do, thanks for your concern, though. The resets on the spawns and the visual z-order simply has to do with reordering the rendering statements.

To anyone still interested: If any one is still interested in the project I'd love to hear from you! Simply email me or reach me at AIM: Lunerfox. Thanks.

Snake · « **Reply #6 on:** December 28, 2007, 07:30:17 pm »

I sceptical CZ before I tried it I was like omg an other stupid crappy game but I tried it just for fun CZ I had nothing to do and I like it its cool

Kagesha · « **Reply #7 on:** December 29, 2007, 12:34:54 am »

I dont like top down shooters :\

Doc · « **Reply #8 on:** December 29, 2007, 12:46:57 am »

Quote

I dont like top down shooters :\

does that mean you are an easy target if I am just hoovering some where above you or below you lol.

Lunerfox · « **Reply #9 on:** December 29, 2007, 01:20:52 am »

Kagesha: Any particular reasons why top down shooters don't work for you? I'd like to know to get an understanding of the weaknesses of using this perspective and perhaps try to avoid those pitfalls.

Updated the Main Topic. I still need artists (ironically enough, the position that I thought would be the easiest to fill) to collaborate with me on icon work and in-game graphics. Please contact me via Lunerfox2000@hotmail.com (MSN) or Lunerfox (AIM), or Email at Lunerfox@gmail.com .

Kagesha · « **Reply #10 on:** December 29, 2007, 03:50:14 am »

Quote from: Lunerfox on December 29, 2007, 01:20:52 am

Kagesha: Any particular reasons why top down shooters don't work for you? I'd like to know to get an understanding of the weaknesses of using this perspective and perhaps try to avoid those pitfalls.

Well i dont like top down shooters cause of the limits of things...you cant really jump and if you could its kinda dodgy. Top-down shooters takes place on only two planes of movement so action is limited..and it's really the type of catergory that isnt popular.

Lord Frunkamunch · « **Reply #11 on:** December 29, 2007, 08:23:30 am »

You don't need jumping to have a great game, and how popular a genre type is really depends on who you talk to...I personally love top down shooters, and would help with the project if I was any good at that sort of thing.

Which I'm not.

After playing the game a bit, I'd suggest having a limit to the amount of monsters each base can spawn. Like, each one will stop at 7 and if you kill some it'll spawn more until there are 7 again. Or just balance the speed of spawning/power of monsters.

Lunerfox · « **Reply #12 on:** December 29, 2007, 03:33:27 pm »

Thank you for your comment, Kagesha. I do realize that it's really limited on 2 planes of movement, but isn't all 2D games, as well? The only difference between this game and soldat in terms of how the game plays out is simply that there is no gravity pulling everyone down to the bottom of the screen. Otherwise, you still get to shoot in any direction you like.

These problems would probably be fixed later on in development as they come; (The balancing would actually be the easiest part right now, it'd just be changing some values here and there, really). However, limit to spawns/hive idea actually sounds pretty neat, I'll definitely look into that and see how it goes.

On another note, I've uploaded a new build for the game that includes weapon selection (Including a shotgun). Check it out!

Kagesha · « **Reply #13 on:** December 29, 2007, 08:32:43 pm »

I will try this game out see how it goes never know i might like it

Edit: The game is pretty cool but it doesnt give me that "Wow" feel i know its still in devolpment heres some suggestions.

Blood Anyone?
Fix his feet. It looks wierd
What about bullets for each weapon?

Yea thats about it.

Lunerfox · « **Reply #14 on:** December 29, 2007, 09:56:54 pm »

Kagesha: That's true, I've been working with a limited graphics set for a while since I've just recently got some artists (I'm not an artist at all). So the effects are not fleshed out completely. I'll probably use a particle emitter for the effects, and then a static sprite effect to have the blood stay on the floor for a certain time period.

The feet does need fixing, however. The bullet sprite should be added later in development, as well, as those are minor details compared to the other things.

Krack · « **Reply #15 on:** December 30, 2007, 01:08:09 am »

Whoa. I just downloaded that engine a few days ago but then I realized, I had no idea what I what doing. So I just play with the particle tool.

[I made some sweet effects for magic too]

Hm... Your idea is okay but not my type. Sorry.

I have no experience but all I wanted to do was make a physics simulator but I don't even know how to start so maybe you can help? How do I make a .exe that opens up the engine while using sprites and particles I made?

Here is a GREAT game made from Haaf's engine: Hammerfall
[It's a work in progress (version 0.21) so expect quite a few flaws and glitches but overall it is fully playable]

Kagesha · « **Reply #16 on:** December 31, 2007, 12:16:57 am »

Quote from: Krack on December 30, 2007, 01:08:09 am

Here is a GREAT game made from Haaf's engine: Hammerfall
[It's a work in progress (version 0.21) so expect quite a few flaws and glitches but overall it is fully playable]

This game is AWESOME! Love that hammerfall game really amazing.

Svirin Kerath · « **Reply #17 on:** December 31, 2007, 03:08:44 pm »

Uh, I went offscreen and kept holding down left, and in this manner i didn't get hit unless I stopped. I did this until about 330 seconds when I got bored and quit.

I'd suggest keeping the player from going off-screen. =)

Lunerfox · « **Reply #18 on:** January 03, 2008, 04:05:07 am »

News: The game is coming along quite nicely. A team has been assembled and we're moving at a pretty good pace. However, we are looking into getting one or two testers to help round out the manpower needs. If anyone is interested, post here or PM me. Thanks!

Lord Frunkamunch · « **Reply #19 on:** January 03, 2008, 12:16:37 pm »

I'd be glad to help if it doesn't involve any coding :O