Nifflas' Support Forum

Level Editing Support => Knytt Stories Level Previews => Topic started by: egomassive on September 05, 2010, 02:21:44

Title: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: egomassive on September 05, 2010, 02:21:44
The Dying Core is a level I started making for the Sections KS level competition (http://nifflas.lpchip.nl/index.php?topic=1992.msg43524#msg43524). It revolves around a new character, June. She gets keys from a main machine in order to restore power to sub-machines. It's going to be a very simple level when completed.

I only finished 25% of the work on the level by the competition's deadline, so I submitted it as a demo. The demo is available on my website, egomassive.com (http://egomassive.com/2010/09/the-dying-core-demo/). I recommend waiting for the finished project. Your comments and critiques are welcome.

The tilesets are all mine. I created a yellow submarine set based on Nifflas' An Underwater Adventure sets for forum member Bioshock. I expanded on the set for this level. I intend to include 8-bit creative commons music throughout and 3 fully realized cutscenes -like those in A Knytt in Time.

In the pictures below you can see, the main machine, the yellow key section, and the blue key section.
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: Zydragazum on September 05, 2010, 02:43:57
Looks good. The initial dialog was great and its mechanics reminded me of Shipwrecked. I'm not that comfortable with the circuitry because it's rather blurred and not pixelated, so it kind of doesn't fit the rooms it's in, but otherwise, the level's a good start. I also noticed that you may have taken quite a good bit of influence from Submachine 6. If my assumption is right, you could have at least stated that to avoid being butchered for lack of originality by people who've played it. :/

After playing this, I wish I had entered the competition. :(
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: PeppyHare4000 on September 05, 2010, 03:41:07
It seemed like i setup a good competition.
Anyways, Keep up the good work. I would like to see the full version.
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: egomassive on September 05, 2010, 07:08:14
@ Zydragazum: I never played Submachine 6. Isn't that a point-and-click, escape-the-room series? I don't see how that could be similar. The inspirations are as follows:
Graphics: Nifflas - An Underwater Adventure
Graphics: Markham Caroll - Ancient Technology tileset
Gameplay: Fredulom - Chamber of Trials
Settings and Dialogue: A mesh of too many experiences to pinpoint specific influences.
Elemental Themes: Various philosophies predating atomic theory (and jrpgs)

As far as a lack of originality goes, I don't claim this to be original in the least. It's a rehashing of old ideas. Once I put the story elements in, it should feel a little less been-there-done-that, but even those are just a spin on a story that's been told time and time again. So, why did I even make it? To add some competition to the competition. That's all.
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: Grookie on September 05, 2010, 08:50:37
AWESOME!!!
But i think, it is too large to demo (1/2 of "chambers" with keys), but I will LIKE to play the full version!

(and I am very curious for your level, about which you said, that it will be finished by the end of the year (with the forest, dark brown underground, some kind of city and sewers))
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: Purple Pineapple on September 05, 2010, 16:24:03
Dude! That is just awesome beyond words.
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: Enavesca on September 06, 2010, 18:05:05
Played it yesterday evening and...Wow !
The way the level is designed with the colored areas, the strange machine, the puzzles are perfect ! Not too complicated or not too easy, just right !

Awesome work, keep it up !  :D
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: egomassive on September 10, 2010, 02:08:03
Spoiler: Update (click to show/hide)

Glad the demo is going over so well. I wasn't enthusiastic about this level to begin with. When I started making The Dying Core, it looked as though Antikythera was the only one participating in the competition. I don't think anyone wants to win by default, so I endeavored to make a level that was somewhat refined and good for a single play-through -not good enough to win. It's hard for me to aim for mediocrity though, which impeded it's creation. Your interest is spurring me onward. Thank you all.
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: sergiocornaga on September 10, 2010, 13:27:52
I was incredibly impressed by how well the enemies work in this. I love the hiding spaces you've put everywhere, it makes the turrets work in a way that they rarely do in other levels. However, I found x982y1006 to be virtually impossible... is there some trick I'm missing, or do you think it should be altered?

I don't share Zydragazum's problems with the graphics. For me, they are fine. In fact, I really dig the resemblance to An Underwater Adventure.
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: egomassive on September 10, 2010, 16:09:18
^: There's no trick to it. The demo lacks fine tuning. I have slightly altered that room and others for the official release. Each section only has a few enemy types, so it's challenging to come up with clever ways to use them. On top of that, I've restricted my enemy choices to robots and mechanical traps.
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: Talps on September 11, 2010, 23:46:55
This is very exciting.

But posting a demo and telling us not to play it?! That's so cruel! :P
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: egomassive on September 12, 2010, 03:47:46
@^: Sorry, I don't like showing my work half finished. If it weren't for the competition's deadline there wouldn't be a demo. However, if it weren't for the competition there wouldn't be a level.

I couldn't bring myself to post the demo in the level release thread, since it's truly just a preview of the level. We're not allowed to post links to playable levels here, so I was hoping that linking to an article about it on my gaming blog which contains a link to the demo, and then telling you not to play it is enough of a loophole for the moderators to let it slide. ... hmm... Maybe I should report myself. :)
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: Purple Pineapple on September 12, 2010, 08:09:57
Maybe I should report myself. :)
It's impossible.
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: Talps on September 15, 2010, 01:43:59
That's ok egomassive; I'll report you for you ;)
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: Headgrinder on September 24, 2010, 00:17:39
Apparently I downloaded this demo a while back and just now installed and played it.  I really like it!  This really has some great atmosphere, and aligning the key colors with area colors worked really well in this instant.  The tilesets are looking fantastic and I'm intrigued by the story thus far.  I'm looking forward to seeing the end product.  

And I'm SOOOOO GLAAAAD I can play this level without cursing, frustrating, dying 100 times!  I died a few times, but it was far from the agony of a hard stage, most of which I've given up ever attempting.  Good job on a decent challenge!  

Chances are you know, but there is a purple screen above screen x982y1005.

Just a note on the tilesets, the lamps look fantastic in the blue and gray area as they have a real feel of illuminating the area.  However the yellow, and I'm thinking maybe the red too, doesn't feel like it really illuminates anything because the whole tileset is so bright.  Meh... probably doesn't matter. 

And another note, it isn't like submachine at all, but not because it is a side scroller.  Way too mundane and normal to be like a submachine.  ;)  No matter your game style preference, if you like dark mysteries I highly recommend them.  

Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: egomassive on September 24, 2010, 03:25:54
^: I didn't know about the void. Probably due to using Lookie's level editor mod --must always remember to reload the level after editing the World.ini externally. As to the difficulty, it's supposed to get harder as you progress. I think it will be somewhere between normal and hard when finished. It's better to just say hard, than to torture players expecting a middle-to-easy normal.

I should have finished this by now, but my KS time has been dominated by tinkering with the KS source. Don't worry my MMF2 demo runs out in 2 weeks.

Edit October 17, 2010: My MMF2 demo ran out, and I'm back on this. Big news, Ultigonio has volunteered to do the sound track. He's already made a lot of progress. Thanks Ultigonio. The gameplay part is nearly finished, I'm on the last key section. Cutscenes have yet to be started. I have decided to aim for a more polished look than I've done in the past. We'll see how it goes.
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: Widget on October 17, 2010, 19:02:41
More polished?  O_o

All your previous levels have been amazingly well-finished so I'm curious to see what you'll be trying to push the boat even further  :^^:
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: Talps on October 18, 2010, 00:06:13
It's great that you do put so much care into your level making. As always I look forward to the final product.

(I got weak and played the demo. Twice.)
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: Headgrinder on October 18, 2010, 00:51:35
Really looking forward to this.  :D
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: dave.germain on October 21, 2010, 23:12:22
I just finished your "Shipwrecked" game. It has a great storyline and, as Widget said, it was really polished.
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: AClockworkLemon on October 23, 2010, 04:30:11
looking good. Might play it (which is something, im not playing KS as much any more :D)
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: egomassive on October 25, 2010, 00:14:43
Thanks for the compliments. By "more polished" I was only referring to the cutscene images. In A Knytt in Time, I'd never attempted cartoon style figure drawing before and the quality varied. With Shipwrecked I experimented with markers and simple shading to make them fast and sloppy. For The Dying Core, I intend to draw them fully with pencil and paper. I'll add color digitally. There are only three short scenes planned.

Edit November 10 2010: Ultigonio has completed 2 of 5 tracks for the level. I've been dragging my feet on making the cutscenes, but the gameplay is complete. This means I'm ready for beta testers! If you're interested let me know here and I'll PM you. Anyone can apply. I warn you that the last section is certainly hard, so you may not want to do it if normal difficulty is your limit.

Edit November 17 2010: In the last week I added animated doors. It's a small change, but it makes a big difference. I have no beta testers yet, so I'm going to try asking with my signature. I wont be posting screens from the final areas, but here's the info screen as teaser.
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: sergiocornaga on November 30, 2010, 10:56:31
I'll test your game. Test it good! And maybe bumping this topic will draw in a few more!
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: egomassive on November 30, 2010, 11:36:09
Actually, SergioCornaga makes the third tester. Talps and Chath (a new guy) are the others. Thanks for volunteering. I will still welcome new testers.

I can't predict an accurate release date at the moment. Ultigonio is still working on music (I hope), and I'm still working on cutscenes. However, DJ Gopher is anxious to get the tilesets I promised him for his level (http://nifflas.lpchip.nl/index.php?topic=3682.0), so I will finish them before finishing this. Guesstimated release date = 1 month from now.
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: GrayFace on December 01, 2010, 16:24:37
I'd also like to test it.
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: oskop on December 07, 2010, 11:06:12
The screens are so! Freaking! Lovely! You always do great stuff.
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: egomassive on December 09, 2010, 08:54:36
Thanks oskop, and welcome to the forum.

I have enough beta testers now. The rest of you will have to wait for the full release.
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: Pie_Sniper on January 02, 2011, 20:21:10
I'm really looking forward to this. The preview is good, but suffers from the lack of music, a void which will be filled by Ultigonio's soundtrack.

You estimated it would be completed about this time, thus I am curious about how it has progressed. Could you provide a revised time frame now?
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: egomassive on January 08, 2011, 04:33:53
Ultigonio had finished more than half of the music tracks before Christmas. I haven't heard from him since. They sound pretty nice though.

I have drawn one frame of one cutscene. I know it doesn't sound like much, but I've nailed down a method which gives good results quickly. These will definitely be my best cutscenes yet.

I was using the fact that Ultigonio hadn't finished his part as an excuse to avoid completing my tasks. The truth is I like to raise the bar for myself, but it's so high now that I was intimidated by it. Fear not, with the first frame done I now know I can overcome it.

On a side note: now that Nifflas has revealed a little more of his idea of what Knytt look like (http://nifflas.lpchip.nl/index.php?topic=4296.msg49125#msg49125). I intend to make my cutscenes more cartoonish in my big Knytt Stories project.

Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: Headgrinder on January 09, 2011, 20:33:24
Ego, you amaze me with your systematizing of pixel art.  I suppose that the best way to do it, but I've always just shot from the hip so to speak.  Your way is much more clean and consistent
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: PeppyHare4000 on January 10, 2011, 13:35:00
Wow, Who knew hosting a KS Level Competition can lead to this. Based on the information you have been giving us lately, I am thinking this level will be awesome. Keep up the hard work :)
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: egomassive on January 10, 2011, 15:30:22
@Headgrinder: I'm not doing pixel art cutscenes yet, maybe someday. The canvas is too big, I'd never finish. But, you're right about me being systematic. Sometimes I use a calculator to draw pictures.

@PeppyHare4000: Thanks. To think I thought I'd finish this by the competition's deadline. I do get carried away sometimes.

Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: sergiocornaga on February 27, 2011, 13:15:13
I'm surprised this hasn't been released yet, given how close to completion it seemed. May I ask if anything specific is delaying it?
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: egomassive on February 27, 2011, 17:01:07
Sorry, I keep getting distracted. I've been putting most of my KS effort into tilesets for DJ Gopher. I don't want to hold him back by not getting my part done. It's nearly done.
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: powderj on April 30, 2011, 08:43:28
BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

EM- How's this going?  You're one of the best left in the KS world!!
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: egomassive on April 30, 2011, 23:42:26
Well, 1 of 3 cutscenes are finished. Once they're all complete, I have to track down Ultigonio, my musician. I have decided to cut some corners with the cutscenes. Otherwise, I'm afraid I'd never be done.

Here's a little update on my Knytt Stories (KS) activity. Since finishing the tilesets I was making for DJ Gopher's level, I've spent most of my time quietly working on a KS mod. I've been borrowing Multimedia Fusion, the software KS was made on, and my access to that is coming to a close with the school year. I have also worked on tilesets for my big forthcoming level, code name: TToK. TToK will now be made for my KS mod. The Dying Core recived some attention in March, when I completed the 1st cutscene. Though, I've been tempted, I have not begun work on any other levels. Meaning, The Dying Core will soon have my undivided attention when I'm Knytting. Afterwards, I plan to take a turn on the round robin level, Tundra Trek, which I made tilesets for.
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: Headgrinder on May 01, 2011, 21:13:52
Thanks for the total ks update, ego.  I'd really like to know, is ks your main game making hobby or do you have activity in other areas too?
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: powderj on May 01, 2011, 22:18:13
Thanks for the update!  Hope I didn't seem pushy by asking, I'm a big fan of your levels.
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: egomassive on May 02, 2011, 01:32:03
@ Headgrinder: I am working on my own game, but I'm not willing to talk about it yet.

@ powderj: A little pushiness would be understandable. I should have completed this level a long time ago. I must warn you not to expect too much. It isn't meant to be as good as my other levels.
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: Talps on May 02, 2011, 10:31:38
Having tested it, I would say that for what it is, it's more or less as good as his other levels.
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: sergiocornaga on May 02, 2011, 17:21:30
TToK

Let the wild guesses begin! Twelve Tales of Knytt?
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: jetio4 on May 02, 2011, 18:22:14
The Town of Knyttville!
The Tower of K!
Tiny Talk of Kyntt!
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: egomassive on May 03, 2011, 02:45:39
Good news! Ultigonio said he's been working on the music and should finish soon.

Let the wild guesses begin! ...
We've been getting a little off topic here. It would be fun to see what you guys think TToK means, but that could get out of control. I know I haven't made a preview topic for TToK, so there is no proper place to discuss it. Therefore, I'll create a preview thread for TToK right after I release The Dying Core. Until then, ponder this: the last word isn't Knytt.
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: Talps on May 04, 2011, 23:32:24
The Tower of Kings!
The Tragedy of Khazakhstan!
Toasted Tuba on Ketchup!
Television, Tractors or Kindling!

Also, hooray! Glad the music is happening and this level is able to progress with some vague certainty again!
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: Ultigonio on May 07, 2011, 06:47:41
The Theory of Knowledge?

I actually have a class CALLED Theory of Knowledge; everyone just calls it ToK, though.
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: sergiocornaga on May 07, 2011, 17:27:33
I'm thinking this should be split off into a separate thread.
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: Ultigonio on May 15, 2011, 04:54:12
Quote from: egomassive
I was using the fact that Ultigonio hadn't finished his part as an excuse to avoid completing my tasks. The truth is I like to raise the bar for myself, but it's so high now that I was intimidated by it. Fear not, with the first frame done I now know I can overcome it.
Eeeeeh...  Admittedly, I had been doing almost EXACTLY the same thing myself, to a degree.  I really had to push myself to get back to it, so it's a good thing you messaged me when you did, since that probably helped give me an extra push.
I was just going through the thread to see what had been said thus far, and I felt like I should mention that.
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: Healy on May 30, 2011, 03:55:42
So, is this any closer to getting completed?
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: egomassive on May 31, 2011, 01:29:36
Yes. Ultigonio has finished the music. I have one cutscene left to make. I spent two weeks doing RL stuff which brought Knytting to a halt. I intend to work on it a bit today.
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: egomassive on July 30, 2011, 04:27:25
Update. I have one cutscene left till completion. I know I said that before and I'm not sure why because I had 2 left. Anyway, I ended up remaking the first cutscene because I can't leave well enough alone. I was inspired by some student levels to make this more of a dialogue free game. There's still dialogue, but it's greatly reduced. I certainly think less is more in this case. However, I have been adding things too, hidden rooms and a new ambiance track.

I don't think it's any secret that I haven't had much enthusiasm for making this level since the beginning. It's spent far too long in non-development. But, I've had an inexplicable interest in working on it lately. Hopefully, this wave will carry me through the final, and hardest, cutscene. I'm finally starting to feel the same pride I have in my other levels for this one. As an early present to those who have been waiting for me to finish this, I have attached a preview from the opening cutscene. Thank you for your patience.
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: Talps on July 31, 2011, 00:51:19
Yes! It's great to hear this is getting close! The screen looks good. Hope you get there this time!
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: Headgrinder on July 31, 2011, 16:45:59
Wow, I'm liking it!  That is about 100x the effort I put in to cut scenes.  Did you just assemble that by distorting flat images, or did you actually use a 3d rendering?
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: egomassive on August 02, 2011, 04:49:55
The scene above is all Gimp. I looked into a vector drawing tool, but I quickly lost the patience to learn the software. Plus, using Gimp for everything keeps the graphics consistent. I drew everything flat, then distorted it. It could have been better. You can see how some of the bolts on the floor are stretched more than others, and the domed glass looks flat. I'm learning Blender for another project, so in the future my 3D images may be 3D rendered. This, however, will stay as it is in the interest of releasing this level soon.

Edit: 21Sept2011: Wow, almost two months since my last update! Spent 4 hours today making a single cutscene image. I've been drawing Juni figures based on photos my sister modeled for. I'm considering cheating for the rest and just using filters on the photos themselves. We'll see. I can't seem to allow myself to lower the bar I've set, but I really want to publish the final product.
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: Talps on November 09, 2011, 02:13:26
Bump.

What's going on, Mr Ego?
I'm still desperately curious to find out what this level is all about...
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: egomassive on November 09, 2011, 09:34:09
I'm still struggling with the last cutscene, or at least I was. I haven't worked on this for over a month. I've been distracted by my KS mod and RL. Also, I'm a little discouraged by my first attempts at creating the final scene. It's just not turning out the way I want it to. I'm certainly learning a lesson with this level: In the future I will either make simple cutscenes or recruit an artist. Anyway, I apologize for the wait. I know I've said this before but, I think I may have to churn something out and release the level whether I'm happy with it or not.

I've been wanting to get back into level designing. Namely, I want to map out TToK. However, I think I really need to finish The Dying Core first.
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: Talps on November 09, 2011, 11:07:51
Yeah, I know the feeling when you really want to start a new project, but won't let yourself until you've finished another that you're feeling uninspired about.

Recruiting an artist is maybe something I should consider from time to time as well. I'm always thinking I want to buff up my cutscenes but I know I don't have much skill. I can barely manage tilesets.  X)

It's good to hear you are close to finishing; hope you can find the inspiration to bridge the last hurdle. (My metaphors: I am mixing them!)
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: Ultigonio on November 13, 2011, 14:02:29
Best of luck with finishing up The Dying Core.  It's been a while since I've even touched Pouring....  I've managed to conquer some areas of school, so I might actually get back to it really soon, which would be nice....
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: egomassive on November 14, 2011, 23:37:28
I have made some progress since last I posted about this. Getting good results finally. Thanks for the encouragement.
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: PeppyHare4000 on November 15, 2011, 19:15:17
Don't quit now, you are almost there...
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: Pumpkinbot on November 16, 2011, 05:41:21
Ooooh, can't wait for this! =D LOOKS SO EPIC!!
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: Talps on December 30, 2011, 18:01:48
*Encouragement*
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: egomassive on December 30, 2011, 19:12:54
I have been working on it, but very slowly. Thanks for the encouragement.

Edit: And, suddenly I've had a burst of diligence. One image until completion and 70% of that is done. It's 1:30 am here, but I'm going to keep working. I'm excited to be almost finished.
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: Widget on January 04, 2012, 09:06:31
Oh, that's really exciting news!  :^^: Best of luck with your wrapping up. It's really exciting to think of a new level just round the corner, especially from one of the "old-guard".
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: egomassive on January 04, 2012, 09:16:28
It is finished! I'm uploading now and will write up a release as soon as I'm done writing this. I took way too long making this level. Apologies and thanks to all who've waited patiently.
Title: Re: [challenge/hard/medium]The Dying Core
Post by: Ultigonio on January 04, 2012, 09:51:10
Oh man, I couldn't have picked a better day to stop by to check out the forum.  Awesome, awesome, awesome!  I've been wanting to see this level finished, so good job with pulling it all together! :)

(...Now I just have to get off of my own hiatus!!)