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Please note that more up-to-date information on this level can be found starting at my really big post further down this page.
"I have lived all my life in Muen Village, between Knytt Castle in the west, where the King lives, and the grey mountains in the east... Where the dragon lives.
My mother told me that the dragon used to attack the village; it would come in the night and destroy houses, kill livestock and carry away people to devour them in its lair. The last time it came I was a little girl, barely old enough to remember hiding under the bed in my mother's arms, weeping in terror and praying it wouldn't come for us.
After that night, it went back to its lair and slept for more than a decade.
Then, last night, it woke up."
Not content with cowering in her house, waiting for the dragon to come for her, Juni sets out to go to its lair and meet it face to face. Unfortunately, nothing is ever easy and on her quest to face the dragon, Juni will first have to overcome an unyielding king, rescue a princess, discover a mythical city and face down a less-than-sociable witch.
Inspired in part by classic fantasy console games and partly by Nifflas' KS level, 'Gustav's Daughter', 'Dragon Myth' follows the tradition of my previous level, 'Eurydice (http://nifflas.lpchip.nl/index.php?topic=3556.0)', in focussing on telling a good story as much as being a fun level. The level has a large, seven-screen map that allows quick travel between areas and a large number of my own custom tilesets, plus a number of cutscenes to tell parts of the story.
It's currently about half-finished and it's getting worked on a few days each week.
The level's world map (linked because it's very wide, and slightly spoiler-y) (http://postimg.org/image/3va2vhxw7/full/)
Also, screenshots!
1. Knytt Castle Dungeon
2. Darksome Woods
3. Witch Jotunn's Cave
4. Setna Village (Trust the guy to turn around just as I take the photo *grumble*)
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Sounds/looks like something I'll want to play. I wonder why more levels don't use a map. I just played Eurydice last week. It had a great story and a great look, but the game play suffered from requiring the player to constantly travel back to the opposite side of the world. Obviously that won't be an issue here.
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Yeah, I'm trying to avoid as much backtracking as possible in this. You have to pass through some 'locations' to get across the map, but most 'bridging locations' are quite small, like one, two or three screens. Right now there's one 'action location' you have to revisit, but only a small section of it.
I just noticed I got the layers of the bushes messed up on the Darksome Woods screen; I'll sort that out when I get home.
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I noticed that some bushes have grass in front of them and some don't. I just figured it was an early screenshot, something that would be fixed in the final version.
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Looks pretty great. Shame it's hard (though sometimes I do manage hard levels; really depends on what the level creator really meant by 'hard'.) I'll definitely give this a try.
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I too felt a bit frustrated by all the backtracking in Eurydice, so I'm happy to hear you're trying to avoid that effect ;) This level looks very interesting.
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I used a flag! 8D (Flag 1 to be precise) Now I've worked out how they work, I can see just how useful they are! Hopefully I'll find room to use them more, if not in 'Dragon Myth' then in any levels I make in the distant future. Now if I can just work out a CO (even a very simple one) I'll be satisfied with the technical advancements I've made for 'Dragon Myth'.
I've decided that when I've finished designing the level (I'd say it's about two thirds through now, though I've had a bit of a slump in interest in this recently) I'm going to ask for beta-testers to try it out; I can see this removing a lot of the problems from 'Eurydice', as well as hopefully letting people who might have different iterations of KS test out a clever little thing I've found which I hope will work for lots of computers other than mine!
One of the things I tried in 'Eurydice' was to first depict the valley where the game starts (that waaaaay too long valley) on a rainy night, then later show it in the daytime(ish). 'Dragon Myth' has given me a chance to expand upon that, as the story takes place over several days with areas being occasionally revisited, either optionally or as part of the story. There are a couple of screenshots exampling this below. I've been able to expand the thing I did in 'Eurydice' to a wider selection of weathers and terrains, so I'm happy with that :P
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Don'tcha think the houses should get darker at night too?
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I had thought about it, but I think they look ok when the screens aren't right next to each other; It's something I'm still debating with myself (one of many little things). The trees and grass don't really get that much darker, just turn bluer.
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Well, it's been nearly two years since I stopped working on this. Not sure anyone really noticed at the time, however.
Still, I've made a lot of levels since then, developed a tasty reputation of a sorts, and have extended my skills considerably. This died for a few reasons; because my skills shifted quite a lot as I was working on it and I realised that a lot of the early screens were pretty bad and were gonna require major changes to graphics and challenges; because moving into and out of the map screen is irreparably buggy; because this thread got no attention; because I lost faith in the high ratio of story to game-play; because I came up with 'I Dreamed' and it didn't have any of the above problems; because programming all the shifts and warps in this and copy and pasting so many screens because of the complex story and use of the map screen was painfully dull... really, I could keep thinking of and adding things to this list all evening.
But I'd rather announce that I'm gonna try and put this back in development and try and address some of the biggest problems.
Any screens/tilesets that desperately need fixing will be fixed; others may be left as they are because I don't want stressing about such things to stop me making this; as long as it's playable, I'm fairly content.
I will also not make too much effort to fix the bugs in the map, but warn people that it's potentially buggy and if they want to break it then that's their problem. You can only really bug if you force it and, again, I don't want finding solutions and rerouting dozens of shifts to put me off working on this. Break the game if you will but don't come crying to me about it.
And I'm letting people know now that this level is story-heavy and there are sequences where story heavily outweighs challenges. So Ortolson will hate it. But I'm happy despite not being a fan of scenic levels, and hopefully other people will be, too. The plot of 'I Dreamed' went down well with those with a taste for such things, so I'm not so worried about it now.
I made a lot of this level before stopping, and there are some really brilliant screens, and some moments of story that take my breath away - I'm really proud of some of it, and I can't let them gather dust forever. Some of the areas may not be up to my more recent standards but I'm smoothing out the challenges throughout and scrubbing up the tilesets where necessary. Everything will be playable and hopefully it'll all work out well. Need to relearn how all the shifts work, dig out all my graphics and work out what fonts I was using and so on. I might also ask later for some artistic assistance as certain sequences in this level are going to be beyond my normal practice of making cutscenes from screenshots, and sadly I can't draw to save my life (my great weakness!). I might also choose to adapt this to Ego's mod; I'd quite like to change Juni's sprite slightly near the end and I'm just considering if it's worth it or not - see if I can spot any other excuses to use it; tints might be nice, and titles could be fun, if not particularly necessary (I downloaded for the first time today and little motes of inspiration are bouncing around inside my head).
Mostly I hope reviving this topic will give me some motivation, and get people interested. I'd tentatively say that this is already half to two thirds done, not counting things I have to change, though I need to come up with some creative ideas for later areas and challenges. And work out what the plot was for the secret ending 'cus I've completely forgotten and didn't ever have the presence of mind to write it down.
Tentatively I'd say I'd like to release this before the end of the epic competition, which I think closes next February. Well, it won't be easy but it's good to have something to aim for anyway.
I'll post some screenshots when I have more new screens.
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Great news! 8D
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There is not enough levels that use maps, though I personally haven't had a level idea that would work well with one. Perhaps all epic sized levels would be better off to eventually grant you access to a map/warp like effect. That is the main reason I don't play epic: epic back tracks.
I like the day/night screen shots a lot. I can't believe it never occurred to me that those two tilesets could be day/night reversals of each other.
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I've really enjoyed all your levels that I've played. I will look forward with great anticipation to this next one!!
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Well, I may have fallen a little short of the epic competition deadline...
Actually over the last couple of days I've seriously worked on continuing this for the first time in over 2 years, largely with the design of new tilesets (see screenshot for what I've been up to). The area I've picked up work on is now nearly finished, apart from a few bits of eye-candy. Then I've gotta make two cutscenes to link things together. But all in all, I'm just happy to be working on this again! I played through it last week and just felt I have to finish it; I like it too much to let it rot!
Thinking about it, there are only a few areas left to make for this; apart from some action sequences, most of the infrastructure of the level exists already. Barring major block, I can see this being ready for testing some time in the next few months.
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Nice houses. And I finally know how to use Dark mountain lake tileset. :)
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I probably wouldn't choose Mountain Lake now, but it was woven into the plot by this point. It does look a lot better with a foreground. Problem is it takes up layers 0 and 1, and as I'm using Overlay on a couple of those village screens (taking up layer 2), I ended up having to convert the Mountain Lake backgrounds into gradients. Still, got there in the end.
Today I have tackled the issue of recolouring one of the old areas that really needed to be made lighter. It's not perfect, but it's better. Not sure if I'll settle with it as it now is or change it more at another time. See the screenshot in this post and one the one in the opening post for contrast (if you have any suggestions for background colour/patterns that might work, I'd love to hear them). There's a really cool wardrobe in the screen to the right of this one (if I do say so myself).
(Yay, after all this time this topic finally makes 2 pages!)
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I'm glad to see that this has been revived! Especially I've been on a Medieval kick myself, lately, due to Game of Thrones Season 3.
I REALLY like what you did in that last screenshot... I may steal some inspiration for a Medieval level I've started working on myself.
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I'm so chuffed with this, I had to post it; Juni is now armed and dangerous!
(It's a sword, I hope, and no; she's not about to stab that fairy.) Custom characters rock!
Also showing off one of the awesome fairy COs egomassive very kindly made me, on the left there. Cheers, dude!
And thanks for posting, Polana and pfangrip; it's great to hear people are interested. I've always been into fairy tales, even as an adult; even tried my hand at writing a few.
Making this, I started with the map tileset used in 'Gustav's Daughter' and had a long look at what it included and what I could use from it. The story grew out of that, though I like to think that that tileset has as much in common with the whole level as a seed has with a tree.
I was reading through my old posts in this thread a while ago; can't believe how inordinately proud I was over using a flag! (This from a guy squeeing over giving Juni a sword.)
EDIT: Two years ago I wrote the script for a cutscene. Two minutes ago, I finished making that cutscene! :D
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Nice. So happy to see KS+ being utilized.
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When was the last time I used the hologram? I think it was way back in 'Petals of a Dying Flower'. I've made about seven challenge screens since introducing it and I'm already recalling all the reasons I don't like it. It completely neutralises too many enemies, so you end up using things it doesn't effect, so it ends up being completely pointless! On top of that, you can't rely on the player to remember they have it, so there's potential for players getting stuck trying to find a way of getting past an area that requires it 'cus they've forgotten about it.
Outside of a level like 'The Machine', where the player has to pass through challenge areas multiple times so it's nice for making them simpler in later runs, it's value is questionable. One thing I tried hard to achieve in 'Dragon Myth', after how much some parts of 'Eurydice' annoyed people, was trying to largely avoid having the player run through challenge areas multiple times - something the map is a big help with.
If the hologram wasn't already worked into the infrastructure of the level, I'd probably cut it out. I meant to introduce it in the last area of 'I Dreamed of the Sky' but dropped it 'cus it wouldn't have been compatible with the challenges I wanted to make; that's why there's that combination lock in the last area instead. I've outgrown my impulse to put every upgrade in every big level I make.
So I guess I need to experiment with creative uses for it before I press on with the next area. Does anyone know any levels that use the hologram particularly cleverly?
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Under a Black Sky (http://nifflas.lpchip.nl/index.php?topic=4063.msg45391#msg45391) has a section combining appearing blocks and seeking projectiles. When the hologram is on you can't see your path.
You may be able to assist players in remembering to use their hologram with clues. Place an image of a hologram on a sign board before a hologram related challenge. Place an obvious hologram obstacle like the elementals, 2:18 and 2:19, before your clever challenge.
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How much further have you got with this, Talps? I really want to play it!
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How much further have you got with this, Talps? I really want to play it!
I second this.
I'm really looking forward to this one.
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It's great to hear of your interest guys! Thanks! :D
I've gotten a little stuck on a a particular part of this where I need to come up with some clever uses for the hologram (or indeed any use for the hologram at all - it's not my favourite upgrade as a designer) while keeping the challenges within the context of the story and characters.
If that sounded complicated then good! :P
I've come up with a few ideas for solving the problem but in the meantime I've started work a smaller level which I'm currently calling 'Remember Me', which will have its own thread once I have all of the basic infrastructure completed; I'm low on free time now but hopefully it'll be done in a few months. Once it is finished and released I'll come back to working on 'Dragon Myth'.
I'd like to reiterate my previous request that if anyone can think of a level that they think makes good use of the hologram, feel free to tell me about it.
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My favourite hologram-centric level is The Oubliette by dessgeega, but more for the ending than for the challenges included.
I am of a similar opinion regarding the hologram. Introducing it comes with a number of downfalls, and sometimes it's more trouble than it's worth. Furthermore, for a fantasy setting such as this level, the hologram doesn't feel all that appropriate.
Depending on the structure of your level and the hologram-based material you've already built, another solution may be possible (though requiring effort, and even then maybe you won't be interested). Knytt Stories allows for shift denial based on whether or not the hologram is active, yet this feature remains woefully unused by the vast majority of levels. A more scripting-based approach to the hologram is definitely possible, with shift-based puzzles or challenges relying on hologram state. Given that you're working with KS+ you could also give it a visual makeover (in both item bar and custom character sheet) to be more thematically appropriate. Something related to the witches, maybe?
Just to provide an example, the hologram could be repurposed as fire resistance. Juni glows blue or something, and can walk through walls of fire that are otherwise harmful. The hologram sprite typically left behind is simply removed from the spritesheet. Of course, this exact idea is probably unusable in this level since you mentioned the hologram affecting the level's enemies (and a lack of hologram sprite would make their altered behaviour seem weird), so you'll have to come up with something else if you're interested in this approach!
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That is a very interesting idea and I will give it some thought. Unless it's changed, you can't change one upgrade's image without having to change them all, which is a great shame and why I won't be changing the hologram's appearance to something less sci-fi-y. But I'll think about if there is a way of using shifts to make the hologram interesting.
Point of note: I did use a hologram-proof shift for the stone eyes at the end of 'Eurydice'.
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... Unless it's changed, you can't change one upgrade's image without having to change them all, which is a great shame and why I won't be changing the hologram's appearance to something less sci-fi-y. ...
Actually you have Raicuparta to thank for this. At his behest I made it so you can replace the in-game power graphics the same way you replace graphics for most objects.
Bank 0 System:
Objects 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 21, 22, 23, 24, 35
See "Custom Powers" section below to change them all at once.
Object 3
Frames 0-11 looping animation
Objects 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 21, 22, 23, 24, 35
Frames 0-7 looping animation
Note: Powers 9, 21, 22, 23, 24 do not have animations originally.
Object 5
Frames 0-6 looping animation
Object 6
Frames 0-5 looping animation
All other objects not implemented.
Note: OCO powers are not affected by "Custom Powers"
As for the icons in the item bar, these insert themselves independently. So if you drop a 24x24 image named "PowerIcon7.png" in the Custom Objects folder of any level, then the hologram icon will be replaced in the item bar. This has the side effect of removing the animation the hologram power icon normally has.
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My 2 cents is that a hologram can fit nicely into a fantasy setting if your willing to think of it along the lines of "ancient tech" that you get in stories like the original final fantasy. Hell Boy and the the original Clash of the Titans does this too.
As for puzzles... yeah, I dunno either. It's really just a gate keeper item that also lets you get through certain types of enemies easier.
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My hologram was made by a magic metalsmith.
He's the one standing behind Juni in the screenshot with the sword.
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Ah! Well there ya go! :D
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I have an idea for you. Create puzzle-challenges where the player will have to reposition the hologram several times to get through a screen. In the image below, Juni will have to appear before the eye to clear the orange block. A Trigger with deny-hologram deletes the block on touch. (It could also be done with Shifts, but not as well.) On the right side is a selection of enemies that would work well with this kind of challenge. Having entrances in vertical shafts limits the player's hologram deployment options.
You could have an explanation of the eye happen shortly after receiving the hologram, so later on the eye can serve as a hint to use the hologram.
Edit: I updated the image to show an actual challenge instead of something that looked like one. Here's the script I used:
TrigVisible(A)=False
TrigEffect(A)=False
TrigSound(A)=Electronic
TrigTouch(A)=True
TrigDenyHologram(A)=True
TrigType(A)=2
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Cunning plan: using the hologram in conjunction with KS+'s 'W' key item to forcibly switch off your hologram... with due warning.
So today (and with some highly appreciated help) I've been building some custom objects to make that dream a reality (aka. the 'due warning' part).
Nice to be knytting again. Juni ought to be wearing her sword in the screenshot below... I guess she left it off for rehearsals.
Still need to find someone who can draw me a dragon...
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Things done today:
Turn all my knyghts into animated COs based on the parka-guy (which I've wanted to do since the moment I drew them) apart from a couple which I want to be a little more complex.
Turned the knytt king into an animated CO based on the beardy old man.
Designed and animated an enemy character (based on nothing!) and built several screens for the in-game cutscene where you first meet her (not quite finished her but she's looking awesome).
Ego, changing the graphics of objects is the coolest thing in the history of everything, ever! Thanks so much for your mod and for putting up with my bombardments of questions and requests!
I really want to show off what I've done today, but... I guess you'll all have to wait for the release.
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To die, to suffer the mind to say we end their currents turn awry, and the whips and by opposing end the dread of something after death what dread of something after death, the mind to say we end them? To die, to grunt and by opposing end the mind to sleep; to say we end thus the heart-ache and arrows of great pith and by opposing end the oppressor's wrong, the mind to sleep; to sleep to sleep: perchance to dreams may come when he himself might his quietus makes calamity of something after death.
(Context) (http://nifflas.lpchip.nl/index.php?topic=2207.msg67256#msg67256)
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Dragon Myth is being worked on!
:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
Why is there no dancing smiley?
The world is changing, by toenail , has a section with dragons, so you might be able to use those images. They're kind of small and basic, but there is an animated one (Juni gets turned into a dragon if you're masochistic enough to attempt the dragon area). Dragon Cave has many dragons sprites, which can be viewed here: http://dragcave.wikia.com/wiki/Dragon_Types (http://dragcave.wikia.com/wiki/Dragon_Types) and may be used with the relevant sprite-maker's permission. You might be able to find more through looking at wikis for other games that involve hatching dragons (search Google for dragon pet, dragon hatch and so on, there are loads).
Do you require an animated dragon? How big do you want it to be? Would putting a dragon's shadow across part of relevant screens work?
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Yay, finally a reply! :D
Actually a friend at work has said she might be interested in drawing some stuff for me. Need to email her about it...
Thanks for showing interest. :)
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Hey, Talps, how's this level going? Have you found dragon art you like yet?
It looks really exciting. I'm especially looking forward to the CO re-skins! That should be super-awesome.
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I actually added some screens to this over the last couple of days - first time in a while, I admit, but at least it's something. Only thing is, it took a couple of hours to add about 4 screens. Maybe I'm just really out of practice, or maybe it's a combination of a complex tileset, convoluted use of overlays and shifts, trying to use the hologram (ugh, why did you do this to me 2010-self?!) and making effective use another feature that really changes gameplay that I discovered for KS+ and
stole plagiarised made homage of from someone else's sections of 'For Egomassive'. So I've not made things easy for myself! But hopefully it'll provide some fun gameplay to make my efforts worthwhile.
As for the dragon, I really need to have something drawn specifically for my use - using someone else's art isn't really feasible. I had a friend who said she'd give it a go but I don't think she'll be able to now, so I don't know what I'm gonna do. If anyone can draw and would be willing'n'able to make a few-panels-long cutscene for me, I would be extemely grateful and would look for opportunities to repay them (such as a big mention woven into the plot of this level or a short level made in their honour, or something...)
Otherwise I'll have to think of another idea. I guess I could do it showing the barest minimum of the dragon maybe (make the cutscene from its perspective, à la Jaws?), but I'd be disappointed not to put a picture of a dragon in my level called 'Dragon Myth' which is about slaying a dragon.
In other news...
I have a thing about secret hunting - I really don't like games that depend on it over-much. Fubaka's 'Cosmic Meltdown' being an example - no offence to him and I'm sure it's fantastic (everyone else says so) but it's not for me. The amount of bonus hidden stuff in 'Knytt Underground' is also an irritant.
On the other hand, I really like how 'Night Sky' handles secrets as easy to find and with clear rewards for doing so (aka. access to the bonus level). It maybe made the locations of the secrets more apparent than was entirely necessary but none-the-less it worked for me.
Two factors have come together in this level - one is that, ages ago, I spontaneously added a secret area into one of the earlier locations simply because the way I had designed the screen made it look like there may be a secret area where I hadn't planned on putting one, so I stuck in a hidden room with a couple of guys chatting about the plot. Second is that, intending to put in a bonus ending, I introduced a subplot early into the level intending that a sufficiently determined player who remembered this plot would be able to access the area much later in the story. Since coming back to this and converting it to KS+, I've struck upon the idea of adding in a few other secret areas throughout the level and sticking a golden creature in each. Introducing the treasure hunt besides making the subplot more memorable should give a satisfying objective and reward for the lovers of secret-hunting.
A bonus challenge, a subplot, and a finite and quantifyable supply of secrets makes me happy and hopefully will make secret hunting enjoyable and not onerous.
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Is the dragon only going to be seen in cutscenes? Because while I don't think my pixel-art skills are up to making a good dragon that would work in a tileset, I could probably do you a dragon in another style. (Possibly something you could use as a gradient and/or CO, depending on the look of the tileset(s) it would share screen-space with.) Are there any other cutscenes done for the level yet?
Feel free to PM me details if you don't want to spoil the dragon's look / traits / etc. here in the preview thread.
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It will only appear in cutscenes, over a few panels; if you'd be willing to consider drawing said art for me let me know and I'll send you a draconically huge PM and be very grateful!
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Custom music!
Most of this level uses default music, because there's a lot of level and I could spend days searching the internet for appropriate music when most of the level is built around the default music already.
So.
I decided that I wanted to include some custom music. In 'I Dreamed of the Sky' I shoved one custom track in at the end (one I'd previously used in two other levels, which bodes ill) but felt rather silly about it as the rest of the level relied on the default tracks.
So I'm trying to filter custom music throughout this one, in odd places. On my last playthrough I identified three areas I wanted to populate with custom music. Yesterday I found tracks for two of them (one of which didn't feel like it should work, though I liked it when I played through it. Still, maybe I'll change it in future) and also found a track I liked so much that I replaced a default music track with it just because I could! (I also invented a new game! Identify the KS level by the music track from Freesound.org!)
So yeah, I'm feeling good about this, though I still need to find a sweet-but-slightly melancholic piece of music to play below a waterfall (suggestions welcome, or if anyone knows a good site for finding music... Something like the music that Polana picked for 'Calm River Valley' in 'For Egomassive', only less chipper, would be good).
In other news, I've added a lot of screens recently and they're making the most technically complex sequence I've ever produced. Ingame cutscenes using various KS+ features, my most-complex-ever original COs, tints and tint-like techniques, cunning use of sounds, sarcasm, understatement...
My greatest flagging exploit to follow...
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I recommend trawling Free Music Archive (http://freemusicarchive.org/genre/Instrumental/) if you haven't already!
EDIT: I found this track (https://violetapaivankakkara.bandcamp.com/track/tuuli-ulvoo-y-ll) through FMA for example, which sounds a little like the sort of thing you're after? I'm not sure if this specific track's license would allow you to use it though, you might have to contact the artist if you were interested.
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There's a track called Touch to the Clouds by Kinetic Law (http://www.jamendo.com/en/track/1057821/touch-to-the-clouds) that might fit for the place below the waterfall. I'm using it for a level right now, though (if that affects your judgment any).
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Healy, I really like that track, but I want to avoid 8bit music in this - doesn't fit the level well. Still, it sounds great so I look forward to hearing it in your level; a good contribution to the KS soundscape. :P
Sergio, that's the best track I've discovered so far - thanks (and it's license is agreeable, for non-profit and without editing). I'll have a look through that site for what else it offers but that's made me feel positive again.
Thanks guys!
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Sergio, that's the best track I've discovered so far - thanks (and it's license is agreeable, for non-profit and without editing). I'll have a look through that site for what else it offers but that's made me feel positive again.
The license disallows derivative works, including it in a level arguably qualifies? I think it's a grey area, which is why I suggested reaching out.
Here are a few more free tracks I found via FMA that explicitly allow for adaptation:
Twinklebox / Old Dreams by Emphemetry (https://emphemetry.bandcamp.com/album/twinklebox-old-dreams)
A Lullaby Hum For Tired Streets by Emphemetry (https://emphemetry.bandcamp.com/album/a-lullaby-hum-for-tired-streets)
The Metamorphosis EP by Gluid (https://escrec.bandcamp.com/album/the-metamorphosis-ep)
Uncle Frederick Soundtrack by Krowne (http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Krowne/Uncle_Frederick_Soundtrack/)
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If you're still looking for music after all that, I found this collection of piano music (http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lee_Rosevere/All_These_Simple_Things/), which may be a good fit for a laid-back scene.
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It's been a good week for 'Dragon Myth'. :)
It began when I finally came up with some ideas for a couple of screens that have been holding me back for a long time and, having completed those screens, I have gone on to...
- Puzzle out and implement my most complex piece of flag-work ever! And it works - even more surprising! My solution may horrify some of the super-flag-workers here on the forums like Ego and Plural but it does the job I need it to. :)
- Create some of my most challenging COs for some ingame cutscenes - really excited by what I produced!
- Best of all, I've gone on to (barring the production of a small cutscene) finish the area I've been working on in drips and drabs for about a year. And it's looking great, if I may say so. It has lotsa OCO enemies, some nice challenges, and great bit of story. Hopefully people will love it as much as I do!
- Plus various other bits and pieces, adding characters and dialogue to various areas and prettying up the world.
- Oh, and in between listening to Ben Howard songs on Youtube, I found a violin-track that I like for my finale.
Completing this section effectively finishes Act Two of the level, which feels like a huge step. In fact, precisely what remains to be done before I can call for testers are two bonus levels and the two sections leading to the Proper Ending. Plus some cutscenes.
Of course, at least one of those cutscenes should feature images of a raging dragon which I still don't have...
Oh, and while I have a mystery for the bonus end, I don't actually have a resolution for it (2010-Talps never wrote down his ideas, apparently), so I have to work out what it's all about...
But looking on the bright side, I'm feeling rather triumphant with the last few days' work. :) I've done a lot of work, and hopefully I'll be motivated to keep it up for a while. I don't want to post screenshots as I don't want to ruin the surprise for the exciting bits of the story, but here's a spritesheet for you to admire. (This is a small section of her complete animation which I isolated for use in specific sequences.)
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Haha, nice!
Re: the dragon: Have you considered commissioning someone to draw it for you? It'll probably cost you about 20-40 bucks, times however many cutscenes the dragon is in. (20 dollars is the average going rate I've seen for a black-and-white drawing, 40 for color.)
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It's something I've thought about but it would definitely be a last resort when all other possibilities had been exhausted.
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When everything else is more or less complete, I'm happy to look at the level and see if dragon-drawing is within my abilities.
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That would be awesome Sergio, thanks. Judging by rate of progress, it might be a long wait, however. :P
I'll get there!
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:crazy: It is now possible to play through 'Dragon Myth' and reach an ending!
Not the proper ending, or even the Super Awesome Bonus EndingTM ...but the other ending. The third ending. I suppose you could call it the ending for people with terminal curiosity.
Ok, so there's a big cutscene missing en route, and the ending technically doesn't exist yet since the exit shifts aren't programmed and there's no cutscene (note I said you can reach it, not necessarily experience it) but I hope you can appreciate what a milestone this is to me. After five years it's finally possible to reach an ending screen! 8D
I need to put a lot of knytts in the final iteration of Knytt Castle and give them things to say pertaining to dragons and heroes and witches, and there are three two areas I need to create for the main and secret endings,one two one of which will require me to manufacture another tileset. And there are... three four five three four three is one cutscenes I need to make, one being the infamous one I keep going on about.
But exciting times!
Here's a suitably celebratory screenshot (sibilance! C)p)
EDIT: Got a lot of jobs done today. Two cutscenes, lotsa dialogue and a lovely (if very sad) CO, as well as a fair number of odd jobs and corrections I've had hanging around for a while. Today has been a good day.
EDIT2: I fear this post is getting increasingly illegible. Still, if you can follow it you'll at least get a fairly accurate record of my progress. C)
EDIT3: Ok, that's the last time I'm going to edit this post!
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You can count me in for beta testing.
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Today I have... completed the penultimate area, made an OCO I've had sitting around not being done since I first started making OCOs for this level, and added the last secret collectible to the game.
I need to make two more areas (the final area for the main ending and the bonus level for those who find all the secrets), a tileset (which might prove a nasty one to design; I shall have to search for references and start trying things out) and a handful of cutscenes.
Exciting times!
No more screenshots; don't want to give away too much of the final areas.
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So, you finally have a dragon in your Dragon Myth?
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Thanks for the update, can't wait to play this! :)
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Um, well what I'll probably have when I release the level for testing is a cutscene where every panel contains the description of the picture of a dragon that it ought to contain. :oops:
Beyond that I'll wing it.
Today my train was cancelled, which was annoying as it made me miss half an hour of work and, consequently, half an hour of income. But on a lighter note, that extra half an hour gave me time to work out an idea I really like for the ending, which I then scripted on the bus. So not all bad.
EDIT:
Hey hey, as the minutely observant among you may have noticed, I've been struggling with ideas for my Secret Collectors' Reward Bonus Level Ending. Well, I'm happy to report that I have come up with an idea to end the secret path and look forward to writing it. I'm also planning to put in a very shiny bonus for those who complete the secret level, but I'll keep the details to myself for now.
Some people say a secret ending is its own reward. I say not so!
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Could you change the worldmap to being an imgur link and not an imageshack link.
imageshack is completely unusable in this era.
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Sorry I've not replied sooner; I wanted to have some progress to report before I did.
My drive has slackened off a bit since my last post. After the last time I played through I set myself the task of bringing all of the cutscenes up to a standard I'm happy with; I've got some very clunky writing in the level at the moment: 2010-Talps didn't believe in second drafts.
So of the twelve cutscenes currently in the game, eight are in need of changes; with some it's simply a case of fixing a few small punctuation or grammatical errors, or rewording the odd paragraph. With others it's a case of scrap the lot and remake every panel with new text and images.
Tedious, but important, especially as some of what I wrote in 2010 contradicts the ending of the game I've written in 2015.
In other news, I also made a really awesome OCO of a certain monster. Its only needed in one screen but I've contrived to find a second home for it, too, because I love it and I want to hug it (only it's covered in big horrible spikes and shoots fire out of its head).
So, happy days. I think that clears my backlog of OCOs that needed to be made to make the game beautiful.
As for the map, I noticed it was down a while ago but didn't feel motivated to reupload it. Since you've asked, however, sure. ;) I've updated the link in the opening post.
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Keep at it!
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As of about 10 seconds ago, the secret area is finished. The reward for finding and completing the secret area isn't implemented yet, but I don't plan on making that until the first beta is out for testing.
I have one area to make from scratch and then a kind of epilogue section which will mostly be copy-pasting with a few set pieces to build and stick into the relevant spaces.
Plus a few more cutscenes to remake and a couple of new ones to build.
Still, the end is rapidly approaching and I can't wait to get this done and released. :D Exciting times!
I don't want to post any screenshots of what I've been working on recently as I want to keep the latter areas of the level as a surprise for the release.
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DEFINITELY EXCITED!
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I'm still here! Don't forget to add me for beta testing. :)
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Calm down dear, I haven't forgotten. ;)
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Based on what I'm seeing in this thread and Talps' previous works, this seems like it'll be an outstanding level. I've recently discovered egomassive's KS+ mod, but I haven't yet tried any big level made specially for it. Looks like this will be the perfect chance for me :D
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I do believe 'Dragon Myth' is going to become my favourite of all my levels. I'm so glad I didn't give up on it years ago!
I got the last two old cutscenes brought up to date over the last two days (one involves a surprisingly successful picture of two knytts hugging), and I just finished the tileset for the final area. Got a lot of screens to make and program but I have all the tools I need now. Also played through the level yesterday and made a lot of small graphical fixes and made a number of nasty screens a little easier - trying to do away with any obstacle that irritates or frustrates me, because odds are if I don't like it you won't like it either.
Oh, and I made another OCO to appear in just one screen. 8)
Um, I also have the script for the ending sorted, though I'm not sure how the final screen with play out exactly. That's a thing to work on. My ending is like a jigsaw puzzle; I have the edges sorted and now I just have to fill in the middle.
Filling in the middle involves making lots of screens. The big finale is a little complex and I have to work out how I'm going to spoon-feed all the elements to the player so they understand what they're trying to do and why. Plus it's going to be a fairly involved sequence with lots of shifts throwing you around; need to make sure that doesn't become too confusing.
This is starting to feel tantalisingly close to completion...
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Quick poll: red dragon or green dragon?
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If it's a matter of blind opinion, I gotta say red. I don't know why, but red dragons just look so much cooler to me :P
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Green dragons just seem eviller to me. If that's what you're going for, then great!
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For unknown reasons, I've been picturing a red dragon when ever you talk about a dragon for this level.
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Hmm... I'm still not decided.
In other news, 9 3 1 new screens, 8 copy/pasted screens with minor edits, two bits of tilesetting, 1 cutscene, an ingame cutscene to write and program and a playthrough or two and then I'll be ready for beta-testing...
The tense music of my finale is really building the pressure. :P
Edit: So close... Stupid having to go to work every day!
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Green dragons are more traditional, more organic and natural. They're creatures, not necessarily magical, but if they are, they're "one with the magical world." Most medieval tales or stories I would picture Green Dragons, like Beowulf. Earthsea I picture Green Dragons.
With the exception of Orm Embar, who I pictured as red. Red is either like a royal Dragon, or an explicitly fire Dragon, or an evil dragon. Maybe a mystical magical Dragon would be red. Smaug was red since he's, regal, magical, and evil.
My preference, based on what little I know about your level, would be green.
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Ladies and gents...
'Tis done.
I'm gonna leave it to sit for a few days and then play through it a time or two. Once that's done I'll be chasing down beta-testers, possibly (though probably not, if I'm honest) with an elephant gun (though actually that may prove a good incentive to get people testing... I think that the brackets in this sentence say a lot about the link between creativity and not getting enough sleep). There are a few people who have already offered or who I deliberately intend to ask. If any of those refuse I may open the way to volunteers here. So if you fancy helping feel free to post here or PM me to offer. Please bear in mind:
- I reserve the right to be choosy about beta-testers. If you offer to test and I turn you down please don't take it personally; it may be there's someone I know a little better, have had test for me before, has helped with or contributed to the level in some way, or has a skill or knowledge that I'm interested in exploiting.
- Offering to beta-test is offering to do me a favour but it's one I take seriously. It's not just a chance for you to preview the level. I'll be expecting you to play through the level on two separate occasions (with me making edits between the two) and to provide really good feedback about what you like and dislike in the level.
- If you have the means to record your playthrough and upload the video somewhere relatively private it'd definitely be a big help to me!
Phew! I need sleep!
(Oh, and I chose green. Thanks all for helping me decide!)
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...possibly (though probably not, if I'm honest) with an elephant gun
Just in case, I'd like to remind everybody here that elephants are protected species. Especially white ones. Especially the ones that are (somehow) wearing a hawaiian shirt. Especially me. Please don't shoot.
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Ladies and gents...
'Tis done.
I'm gonna leave it to sit for a few days and then play through it a time or two. Once that's done I'll be chasing down beta-testers, possibly (though probably not, if I'm honest) with an elephant gun (though actually that may prove a good incentive to get people testing... I think that the brackets in this sentence say a lot about the link between creativity and not getting enough sleep). There are a few people who have already offered or who I deliberately intend to ask. If any of those refuse I may open the way to volunteers here. So if you fancy helping feel free to post here or PM me to offer. Please bear in mind:
- I reserve the right to be choosy about beta-testers. If you offer to test and I turn you down please don't take it personally; it may be there's someone I know a little better, have had test for me before, has helped with or contributed to the level in some way, or has a skill or knowledge that I'm interested in exploiting.
- Offering to beta-test is offering to do me a favour but it's one I take seriously. It's not just a chance for you to preview the level. I'll be expecting you to play through the level on two separate occasions (with me making edits between the two) and to provide really good feedback about what you like and dislike in the level.
- If you have the means to record your playthrough and upload the video somewhere relatively private it'd definitely be a big help to me!
Phew! I need sleep!
(Oh, and I chose green. Thanks all for helping me decide!)
Excellent news!!! I can't wait to see the final product!! This is big! :D :D
Time to ride through the forum on horseback proclaiming it!
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Oh man, I LEGIT CAN'T WAIT FOR THIS. :D
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Can't wait for this. How much longer until it's going to be released? I mean, seriously. How long can beta-testers take on an epic level of this calibre? A long time to get it right, that's what.
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Been struggling to find time to watch through the hours of footage my betatesters sent me and to contemplate some of the bigger changes they've prompted (new graphics and a full redesign of one area are on the cards). I've been pretty busy with work, learning to drive, commitments to friends and church...
However, (this isn't exactly a good thing) I lost my job this week (see?) which is pretty lame, but I was warned it was a possibility a few weeks ago and I've been making some plans. It does mean I've suddenly got a lot more free time on my hands, which bodes well for this (though hopefully this won't be the case for too long). So I should be able to make time to blow off the dust, shake out the spiders and watch the last 4 hours of people bumping their heads against the overly-hard bits of this (shortly before making those bits harder easier).
I do want to complete the final level of 'Theme Hospital' first, however.
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Good luck Talps, and thanks for the heads up. I too was wondering about how things're going.
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Sucks to hear that, Talps. I'll get cracking on my contributions.
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Hope everything works out for you. I'm sure you'll find a new job in no time! :)
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Thanks all. :)
Yesterday Bulbapuck and I recorded him playing through one of my older levels together; 'Dragon Myth' was mentioned a few times so if you're the kind of person who likes to scrabble for scraps of information, you might enjoy watching the video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMJsiEq57bU&index=38&list=PLEem6SKeUgpVxj3sdNlVJ4VAvfmj5oPlk).
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Sorry to hear that, Talps. Hopefully things get better for you soon.
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Sorry to hear about your job, Talps but I CAN'T WAIT to play this when you release it!!!
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Just played through the level. Taking time to edit a few screens (one of which really needed prettifying) and fumble over fixing a small typo in one cutscene, it took me a few hours. Hoping to get on with watching my testers' footage this weekend (finally! Sorry guys) and make a play for this.
I don't promise it's too close. In addition to watching and reacting my testers' videos, I've gotta ease the pain of the silly ending for silly people, and I want to completely rebuild the final area. And tweak the ending, though I don't know exactly how I want it to be. And I have the challenge of programming in a very large flagging exploit.
But one step at a time, I'll get there.
(Also, Happy 2016!)
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Whatever it takes, Talps!
If it makes you feel better, you are still practically infinitely closer to your release than I am to my next big level's release. If I were diligent, it'd still take me a year to complete from my current position.
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So where I stand...
There are five things left to do before I send my second beta out for testing.
1. I need to completely redesign and build the final area. I wasn't happy with my first attempt. My testers really weren't happy. So, take 2. I have a map of sorts that's given me a framework for the area that I'm happier with. I just need to get on with turning it into screens.
2. A forumite who will remain anonymous agreed to make the infamous cutscene for me; I'm waiting on that.
3. Another forumite was kind enough to agree to help me redesign one of the earlier areas which ought to be a lot lovelier. I'd like to get this implemented before the second beta.
4. I'm arguing with myself over whether I feel like putting in time to improve one of the other earlier areas that's kinda ugly. But it has like three iterations so it'd be an annoying number of screens to change.
5. Once everything else is ready I've set myself a rather daunting challenge that I want to keep secret; basically it will involve a lot of flagging and duplicating a lot of screens and I'm ever so slightly wondering if it's worth it and considering scrapping the idea. But I'd like to at least give it a go... maybe. And I think the few people who know about the idea are as excited about it as I was before I started thinking about how much work it would be.
I'm actually at the stage now where I'm getting really excited about my next epic-sized project (which will be a near-total remake of 'Eurydice'); it's been on the cards for a while (since around here (http://nifflas.lpchip.nl/index.php?topic=3556.msg57683#msg57683)). I've redrawn the Overworld map twice looking to reduce tedious backtracking, improve flow and guidance, and strengthen the plot. Then this week I've been putting a lot of thought in and yesterday had an epiphany regarding a great idea for the ending (the vague, non-committal ending of the original has always bugged me; this new idea is fantastic and I'm really looking forward to getting to it). I'm now really buzzing to get on with it, but of course 'Dragon Myth' needs finishing first. I've firmly told myself that I won't make any screens for it until 'Dragon Myth' is out for second beta, but that hasn't stopped me working on the story and writing scripts for events, scenes and information dumps. There are going to be elements of horror I've never written anything like before, and hopefully some powerful emotional moments; it's heavy subject matter, obviously.
Anyway, that is far too much about 'Eurydice'. But sitting on that feels a bit like sitting on a jet engine which I hope will power me to bang out the new finale for 'Dragon Myth' swiftly, especially now I have a plan I'm happier with. Then just waiting on others before I put in finishing touches. Hopefully the time between releasing second beta and final release will be brief. Then I'll see if Bulba wants to do a Let's Play/commentary together, and all will be wonderful!
Then village, valley, lighthouse, temple, caves, Land of the Dead... (I'm talking about 'Eurydice' again here. Sorry.)
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Great news! Hope you can push on through and get this beast finished up. :)
A new Eurydice would be super cool.
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Also 6. Battle Fubaka to decide once and for all who has the better spherical head.
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Also 6. Battle Fubaka to decide once and for all who has the better spherical head.
I concede that fight to you Talps. You don't know what my head looks like under the mask.
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Don't be so sure; I have so many eyes, at least some of them must see in nth dimensions.
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Don't be so sure; I have so many eyes, at least some of them must see in nth dimensions.
Take a crack at it, then. What do you see? :shifty:
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Well, I would say Fubaka, but I don't want to embarrass you by revealing the truth to everyone. :shifty:
Yup, it's been a looong time since I've posted any progress. I finished going through my testers' feedback a few months back and have made a lot of changes in response to their feedback. Challenges have been tweaked and areas have been prettified. Fubaka kindly helped me redecorate one of the most important areas of the game that had been made in 2010 and was looking rather dull. Thanks to his input, it's now looking great (only my testers will get the benefit of seeing the change but all the rest of you will see the improved version at any rate - I'd like to show off some before and after screenshots, but I don't have any 'before' screenshots :/).
Vegetal Gibber has also done me a great favour in adding much beauty to one of the tilesets I've made for this level. I can't begin to say how gorgeous his help has made the area in question look, and I think it'll take your breath away. I've added another music track to the game and added some more OCOs (and I want to design another knytt character to make a little subplot more prominent).
All in all, the level is rocking a great deal thanks to all my testers. I'm still waiting on a bit of assistance from someone and I want to completely remake the final area - it didn't have the atmosphere I wanted and I've had to go over the scripted parts of the area to make them make sense (basically I've resolved every scientific anomaly with the words 'but magic!'). I've written scripts and started building new screens for that today and hopefully I'll make some more progress over the rest of the weekend. Once it's done I'll be good and let it sit for a week or two before giving it a proper playthrough, before I even think of throwing it back to the testers for round two.
So back on track, for a while at least. Can't wait to release this.
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Glad to see you're still on track with this. I'm also curious to see how the final area will change.
In the meantime, if you are looking for some inspiration, we've had a rather large influx of new levels due to sergio's Knytt Swapsies event. Not to mention that Purple Ink finally released Advena. It's been a good week.
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So back on track, for a while at least. Can't wait to release this.
Great to hear! Can't wait for the release either.
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As of just a moment ago, I have built layers 2+ of every final area screen. I left off layers 0 and 1 as the backgrounds are all interconnected, so now I have to go back and do all that.
Then I have to C'n'P about three quarters of the screens into a different iteration of the area. Then I have to edit a few of the screens as they should be slightly different if'n'when Juni passes through them a second time, and make the IGCs that'll tell the story of the area.
Then I'mma let the final area sit a bit, maybe work on prettifying some other areas before I playtest it again in a week or two. Then beta-testing round two.
Nearly there!
Edit: Final area done. Gimme a week and hopefully this'll be back with my testers. Waiting on someone for some cutscene help though - that's the biggest obstacle remaining now.
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To do list for this evening:
- Shower
- Make packed lunch for work tomorrow
- Send second beta out to testers
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Done! (http://nifflas.lpchip.nl/index.php?topic=6769.0)