Our own production pipeline

[EduardoGaray]

i see, yeah so we were basically saying the same hehe. I suggested something like that earlier.
Its actually what happens in baldurs gate 2, you are one of the sons of baal, the god of murder.
So you have the option of transforming into an overpowered demon from time to time, but every time you do, your reputation goes down, and if i remember well when it was low enough your companions would abandon you and people would simply attack you on sight.

[horse1313]

Eduardo: I will have to check out Unity then. I like the idea of being able to put up test levels for others to try easily. Do they have already set up POV? As in third person, first person, side scrolling or do you have to add additional code to get those to work?

I like the idea about psyching the player out a little with cute graphics dark story but either version I would suggest having it feel slightly "off" at the beginning so that the player is not disappointed that it suddenly changes 1/4 or 1/2 into the game.

As for retro I feel that has been done a lot over the years. What about a game that has 8 bit roots say if this is a side scroller but is totally modern in action and story telling. I would love to see Ghouls and Ghost meets Shadow Complex. Depending on how dark it is it could look like one of the Souls games but with a humorous side. Remember Conkur's Bad Fur Day?? Maybe the player was sucked into this horror realm. Where he mocks how over done the horror is but as the game progresses he gets more afraid. Maybe a terror meter or this might be a stretch and a pain to do but I loved how Eternal Darkness messed with the player when their sanity was getting low.

That's my first idea, but I like where everyone's going with this.

[EduardoGaray]

I'm still pretty new to Unity so i could be wrong but, i know it has by default a first person controller (but no models or animations so you just use a cilinder or a sphere) However, you can just go to the unity store and download various 1 and 3 person controllers and models for free, some of them come with their own animations and controllers, so in the beginning there is no need to code anything.

I havent played Eternal darkness, but all that stuff reminds me of Metal gear solid 2, not going to make spoilers but towards the end of the game things get really freaky.

[NinoKitteN]

Alright , so , what mood exactly does this game has ?
Where is it set?
Where did this tower came from ?
Who is the character and why is he going into this tower ?
How did he get his arm ?
Why should he use it or not ?
What conflicts him ?

I was thinking about something like the Durotan lords of war premise https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7VT7NG7e38 ( you can see it here ) This character could get into a killing frenzy when he uses his arm , making his close partners in danger in case he couldn't control it.

[Amit Dutta]

Hey guys, I can't be involved due to time restrictions,but just as a thought, why don't you build in something to do with the name crimson daggers in there? Nothing major but an in joke. Seems apt. Keep up the enthusiasm :)

[NinoKitteN]

I think I'm just gonna start sketching while looking at chrono trigger , as for that idea , I'l keep it and see how it turns out , I think I'm just gonna dive in and start materializing it... sort of.

[Adam Lina]

I like that idea Amit :)

So the setting starts in a dark medieval fantasy world. Think Diablo 1 and Game of Thrones. Also I want to use design inspiration from Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together to which I own the art book for and I highly recommend.



As I've said I cant really draw anime so Im conflicted if it'll be in that style. Im still in my early development as an artist so who knows.

Angus and other characters are in a mountain valley for their own reason to which I will work out later. The valley is filled with a swirling hurricane with a massive ominous stone tower at the center. The tower has a bottomless pit surrounding it and can only be entered from a bridge. The top and bottom of the tower cant be seen due to clouds that envelope it. As the characters cross the bridge they exit their own reality and enter limbo where the whole of the tower exists. Behind them on the bridge will remain a blue portal and the landscape can no longer be seen. The swirling storm clouds surround everything within limbo.

Ok, to better explain how the tower works I did a little diagram. Basically its a giant conveyor belt where at the bottom the tower is ripped apart piece by piece. The pieces then float up to be added on to the top. There are various exit points that lead out to similar bridges with portals. The portals, Im thinking either lead to another time period or another universe altogether. So the tower is a central hub of the games progression. Players battle guardians of the tower to unlock access to new areas.




And since the tower is a conveyor belt access to the portals will eventually be lost as the tower is destroyed from the bottom. New areas will be accessible as the top is built upwards. At the top and bottom are deities. The destroyer at the bottom and the creator at the top. Neither are necessarily "good" or "evil", they are simply mechanisms in a machine. Now Im thinking that the game itself is a fantasy world at the surface but as the players progress they uncover the tower to be the creation of highly evolved extra dimensional beings. They're technology and understanding of reality is so advanced that it appears as magical.

One of the characters is a ethereal floating cloaked wizard who accompanies the other characters. He knows things about the tower and has special abilities to unlock new areas. Later it becomes apparent that he too is a mechanism of the tower. Like a maintenance robot disguised as something the characters from a medieval fantasy world would understand.

Briefly describing the characters...

Angus-heavy melee attack with close ranged aoe specials, he can destroy certain parts of the environment and can lift and throw large objects

Priestess character- healer, has spells to shield party members from damage and prevent fall damage

Thief- Im not sure yet, maybe primarily bow and arrow or dagger attacks, he can climb areas of the evironment as well

Wizard- He can crowd control enemies and use mostly aoe elemental spells

The game is a tactical role playing style game like Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Ogre. I also want to include combination moves like in Chrono Trigger. Characters when in certain formations can combine their attacks for bigger affects. Its way too ambitious of a game, I know.

[NinoKitteN]

Aight so , just a question , isometric viewpoint/perspective , like diablo or path of exile ?

[EduardoGaray]

For a turn based tactical rpg? isometric or aerial view is the best. There are alternatives (check out Valkyria Chronicles) but for what you want yeah.
Also, its ambitious, but still doable if you are willing to cut down the size of the game (quality over quantity?) The gameplay you describe is actually pretty similar to Fire emblem awakening.
Pairing characters improved their stats and gave them other bonuses, so similar to the group attacks in Chrono.
Also, i will share this. When i was looking for a way to make a game like that i found this development kit for unity:

https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/10686

You would still have to code stuff, there is no other way. xD But with this framework you would only have to code minor details instead of a whole game.

[Adam Lina]

Im not sure about devoting the time to learning coding honestly since Im trying to learn painting. Im really slow at learning that kind of stuff too. Ideally Id want to get better at art and then team up with someone whos an experienced programmer. Its still too early to tell where I'll go with any of this.

The gameplay you describe is actually pretty similar to Fire emblem awakening.

I watched some game play of that after you said that and it does look pretty similar. Originally I imagined the tower game as more of a Zelda type game. The 2D Zeldas that is. But I wanted there to be a group of characters so tactical RPG seemed like a cool idea. I really want to make a game that combines the controls of Zelda with a tactical game. Azure Dreams is pretty close to the controls Id like though. There were almost no menus to select attacks just direct controls like Zelda. Yet it was a turn based game at the same time which gave it a tactical feel. I guess thats a Roguelike trait? But since I want to have 4 characters in order to keep the Zelda-esque controls the other characters would have to be AI controlled which I feel takes away too much control from the player. I just want to have my cake and eat it too I suppose XD

Maybe I should break my ideas up into separate game ideas altogether? Not try and reinvent game genres when I havnt even made a game before... But I really want to!

[NinoKitteN]

I don't know about the anime look tho , it feels like a boundary that isn't needed , however , we could go for a sort of whimsical style. I do like the style of that artbook you've shown I just think the manga side of it is , perhaps, unnecessary . Maybe we could decide on an histoy art movement like art noveau or something like that.

Alright I hope u can sort of understand these 2 small thumbnails.

[Adam Lina]

Art nouveau sounds cool. Those are a good start. The bottom one seems to be sideways though :P
I might have some character thumbs for the priestess next week. Got a lot of stuff on my plate at the moment. I definitely want to keep developing this idea and see what we can come up with.

[NinoKitteN]

yeah I dunno why sometimes when I upload pictures they turn out sideways... Anyways, we could go for stuff like alphonse mucha

[KurtJeremy]

hey guys im interested in contributing on this one. im in a process of learning Unity as a game development tool so if you guys are using that it would be awesome to learn it with you guys. ill dive into the previous threads i just dont have the time right now. cheers guys

[EduardoGaray]

Same here, i just dont have time right now, but i will contribute something as soon as i have a bit more of free time. We could also exchange resources/tutorials/info about Unity Fox. :)

Actually, those pictures Nino posted arent that different from the artwork the artist (forgot his name) of Tactics Ogre and Final fantasy Tactics does. I've seen a couple illustrations from him that looked almost like that, just with the manga look. So maybe you guys can think a way to mix both and create something more unique for this project.

[NinoKitteN]

Let's just , whenever we poop out something that could , somehow, fit in the game post it here. No deadlines , no pressures. So yeah , move along with ur stuff , we are all trying to get better , whenever u have time to take a break from studies and sketch a bit see if u can put something here.
Peace :D

[Adam Lina]

It took me a long time but I've got some presentable ideas for the priestess's design. I've based her design on catholic nuns. I mainly focused on her hat because I think its what will define her character as a priestess and create a unique silhouette. I still want to work out the robe and staff to unify her whole design. I was trying to design her shape language to convey stability. I want her character to double as a tank and a healer so she is capable of casting shield spells to absorb damage but has minuscule damage output. Also I havnt thought of a good name for her...




I imagine her as a very repressed religiously devote young woman in her late teens or early twenties. Shes lead a sheltered life living in a monastery from the time she was born and recent events have caused her to go on a journey. Her relationship with Angus would be very abrasive with her being an naive idealist and him being a vulgar bitter realist. She's only been around other women in the monastery so she knows nothing about men or sex. She finds her self conflicted with her unexplored sexuality and the fact that shes sworn to a life of celibacy.

I have in mind a few side characters like a paladin called Sir Lance. The priestess has a crush on Lance who is a chivalrous pretty boy. Fransisco, Lance's flamboyant effeminate squire, is very jealous and possessive of him. They have an obvious gay relationship in which Fransisco as the squire and smaller, physically weaker of the two ironically wears the pants. The priestess being inexperienced in male/female relationships is oblivious to this and many comedic situations ensue.

Heres some design inspiration I used as well.

[KurtJeremy]

thats looks cool adam!
totally digging the side story , as much as the variety you came up with.

can anyone provide a brief summary of what the game is going to be? i thought you have already talked about it , but its good to keep revising stuff until we get to the final agreement of what the game is going to be.

story and genre is what im asking for, im a newbie as to how a game pipeline works , so it would be cool if someone would be able to organize all of it on one document , so we can visualize how the whole thing works.

@ed what do you exactly mean about sharing tutorials ? :P

[Adam Lina]

Thanks! I made a realtimeboard for it.
https://realtimeboard.com/app/board/86564690

Im not sure if you guys can view it. Im still figuring out how realtimeboard works. Its a site for collaborations, where you can type out an outline and load images. If you guys give me your email you can view it and write notes and edit stuff.

[appleseed00]

UE4 is free for commercial applications too. Its awesome



Here are some production pipelines, they can be very useful to understand the best practice of how to make games.



A More general overview of the areas.



A more detailed look.