5 replies to this topic

[makaveddie81]

http://www.4shared.c...rified=c2d3cbcc

ITS A 15MB FILE DUE TO MUSIC AND SOUND EFFECTS

I know its been awhile since I updated my game (that's what school, work and a girlfriend can do to a guy haha), but I really put a lot of work into it this christmas break. Keep in mind that this is just a temporary level to make sure that everything is functional. Once everything is functional, real levels will follow.

A lot of things have been added and tweaked in this version. First, the control scheme has changed for the best, here are the new controls:

Nights follows the red diamond cursor (mindsight haha) whenever the right mouse button is pressed
Drill dash is done by scrolling down with the mouse wheel
Tricks are done by clicking the left mouse button. Currently, Nights executes random tricks, however, this will change in the coming months.

Second, though it is far from finished, a-life has been added to the game. Nightopians can be seen flying around the level, and eggs can be hatched by simply touching them.

Third, various particle effects have been added to spice up the graphics.

Fourth, spiked rings have been sprinkled throughout the level. Make sure to drill dash through them!

Before playing the game, keep in mind that I changed some of the original game's mechanics to add variety to the franchise. Heres a brief summary of the game mechanics:

There is no time and no kids. A level will be complete once Nights gets to the end of the level.
Link system, trick system and scoring are exactly the same as NID.
NIGHTMAREN CAN ONLY BE KILLED BY LOOPING AROUND THEM OR DASHING THEM.
Nights will lose all his stars if contact is made with a Nightmaren. Nights will restart level if he is touched by a Nightmaren and has no stars in his possession.

Here's some of the things Im working on for the next version:

REALA WILL BE A PLAYABLE CHARACTER.
Stars will be used to "feed" Nightopians (ala super mario galaxy). In fact, if Nights is not moving, clicking the left mouse button will shoot a star in the direction of the mindsight. However, the Nightopians havent been programmed to eat yet.
A-life will be developed as far as my capabilities will allow.
The main reason why the completion of the game is taking so long is the tediousness of ripping every animation frame from each character in NID. Please bear with me!

I'm open to any suggestions. By the way, if someone can come up with a good story that doesnt involve any kids (and allows me to use it), it will be the official story to the game (credit will be given).

[Kato]

I could probably come up with a story and possibly some unique boss designs if you like.

[Crazynightfan]

Finally!I have wanted to play this for a while.

[makaveddie81]

So do you guys like the game? Is there anything that I should add or change?

[Murder's Last Crow]

I used to think of doing something like this. One suggestion and one congratulation.

First, the suggestion- The directional controls are great, but it would be a good idea to create two different 'objects' or animation sets, so that when NiGHTS is going in one direction for a few seconds, he flips over to be oriented correctly, just like in the original. A stopped animation that brings him to an upright position would be good, too.

Now, one thing in this whole system that surprised me was that you somehow got the paraloop to work and effect the objects inside of it. I've tried making a system like that forever and never got my head around it, despite the fact that I'm a serious game developer.

Fill me in on how you did that part. XD If you would.

P.S. Good controls- very nice how you only have to use the mouse. Can't wait to see some levels.

[makaveddie81]

I used to think of doing something like this. One suggestion and one congratulation.

First, the suggestion- The directional controls are great, but it would be a good idea to create two different 'objects' or animation sets, so that when NiGHTS is going in one direction for a few seconds, he flips over to be oriented correctly, just like in the original. A stopped animation that brings him to an upright position would be good, too.

Now, one thing in this whole system that surprised me was that you somehow got the paraloop to work and effect the objects inside of it. I've tried making a system like that forever and never got my head around it, despite the fact that I'm a serious game developer.

Fill me in on how you did that part. XD If you would.

P.S. Good controls- very nice how you only have to use the mouse. Can't wait to see some levels.

Thanks for the comments and suggestion. It is something that I am working on but can get it to work...

The paraloop sytem is indeed a comlplicated task. I found the solution to it after many many frustrating failed attempts. Given that you are a serious game developer, the solution will make you say "why didnt I think of that before?". Im going to try to explain the mechanics to the best of my abilities, as it is a pretty complicated explanation. Here goes: Nights is always followed by four invisible lines. Imagine a clock with Nights is in the middle of it. Now, there are four lines around him at :00, :15, ;30 and :45. Each line has a variable which indicates if it has touched an object or not with 1 being yes 0 being no. There is also a variable that keeps track of what line touched an object first and another variable that keeps track of the current line touching an object (if the first line that touched an object is equal to the current line, then Nights has gone completely around said object). When a line touches an object, its variable is set to 1 indicating that it has touched the object, the firstline variable is set to the line that touched the object first, and the currentline is set to the line that currently touched the object. Also, as each line touches the object, a timer is set and if it runs out before another line touches the object, all the variables are reset to 0 and firstline and lastline are reset as well. To find out if Nights paralooped around an object, an expression tests if each line's variable equals 1 AND currentline=firstline... if this is all true then the object is programmed to move towards nights. I hope the lenghty explanation helps!