[Easy][Scenic][Challenge] The Dream Stones, or Shattered Foundations

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Offline egomassive

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Re: [Easy][Scenic][Challenge] The Dream Stones, or Shattered Foundations
« Reply #15 on: September 29, 2010, 04:49:40 »
Apparently you dream in color. I've never believed in that we dream in monochrome as studies have supposedly shown. Knytt Stories could lend itself to dream telling very well. I hadn't thought of it before, but the structure of my dreams would fit the KS framework quite well. Only issue is my dreams are about myself, not a dark-haired girl.

Good luck in this endeavor. As for putting your tilesets up for scrutiny. I would post screen shots made to show how they're meant to be used and the problems you're having with them. That way some things can be kept secret. However, to anyone reading this: The Nifforum will demand perfection. Non-perfectionist and those who can't take criticism be warned.

Re: [Easy][Scenic][Challenge] The Dream Stones, or Shattered Foundations
« Reply #16 on: September 29, 2010, 05:26:54 »
Perfectionism is sometimes a good thing, as when all things are said and done, the end result will be premium quality. These tilesets already impress me, and I can't wait to see how the project will turn out.

Also, if you're going to forfeit the black outlines, at least make solids have something to make them stand out from the background objects. (Darkened colors on the edge of the ground tiles perhaps?) It's VERY detracting to a level in my opinion when it's hard to establish foreground objects from background objects.
SG's difficult KS levels:
Very Hard: Dark Sea, Industral Trap.
Lunatic: Dark Sea 2, Going Left.
Very Lunatic: Safety 1, 2, and 3.
Misc: AdvancedAmidst the Clouds, Candy Town.

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Offline Headgrinder

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Re: [Easy][Scenic][Challenge] The Dream Stones, or Shattered Foundations
« Reply #17 on: October 19, 2010, 13:08:39 »
Yeah... updates... kinda.  I haven't been working on this hardly at all; I've been sick and that has robbed me of my ambitions.  However, I'm also stuck in tileset development land, and I hope you will join the discussion of that here:

http://nifflas.lpchip.nl/index.php?topic=4227.msg47143#msg47143

Oh, and thanks Ego and Glitch for the comments.  I agree, I'm just taking a lot longer than I would like.  :/  And yeah Ego, it would be nice to be able to make "Stories" instead of "Juni the Knytt Stories," but hey, don't look a gift horse in the mouth and all that stuff, right?  And I'm more or less expanding on the plot of various dreams rather than telling the story of the dream itself.  Yes, I've definitely always dreamed in color.  Some people, I think, do dream in color simply because they've told me they have.  But that is not my experience.

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Offline yohji

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Re: [Easy][Scenic][Challenge] The Dream Stones, or Shattered Foundations
« Reply #18 on: October 19, 2010, 15:26:09 »
Yeah... updates... kinda.  I haven't been working on this hardly at all; I've been sick and that has robbed me of my ambitions.  

I hope you're feeling better now! I wish I could help with tileset advice, but my tileset skills are horrible. Anyway, the new screenshots look very good, not just the forest but the rest too; I like where this level is going visually. Much more inspiring to me than the earlier screens!

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Offline Headgrinder

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Re: [Easy][Scenic][Challenge] The Dream Stones, or Shattered Foundations
« Reply #19 on: November 08, 2010, 04:21:04 »
Still totally stuck on tilesets.  (Please check the tileset thread I link above if you don't mind giving me some suggestions)

I'm starting a small-medium sized level using a few tilesets I made for this level, but which I was never sure would totally fit.  I'll make a preview thread for that soon.  Point of me bringing it up here, is that is yet another delay, plus the trend may be to go ahead and break this MASSIVE project up into its various parts.  Almost every part of this project is based off of dreams i've had, and I do think they can all be stand alone.  I just thought it would be amazing to have them all under one plot.  I'm beginning to think that even my hard core self has not the ability to put up with so little head way (and player comments) for so long.

Re: [Easy][Scenic][Challenge] The Dream Stones, or Shattered Foundations
« Reply #20 on: November 08, 2010, 10:08:52 »
Wait...
"I'm beginning to think that even my hard core self has not the ability to put up with so little head way (and player comments) for so long."
is that a comment that is saying.. that this might not get done, that you could give up?
so what if you have little headway... as long as something is happening is a-okay..  just keep working and stuff! (yeah im not that great at being an optimist or supporter)
anyway the morale of the story is that there will be people cheering you on, that will be patiently waiting and etc.. (as i said, not great at this thing)
you'll eventually get past this tileset creation block and be back on your feet. (i pressume you have two feet and have not lost one in a fishing accident)
and yeah...  X-P thats my ..umm ..yeah ... im gonna stop typing...  :crazy:

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Offline yohji

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Re: [Easy][Scenic][Challenge] The Dream Stones, or Shattered Foundations
« Reply #21 on: November 08, 2010, 13:07:41 »
I can understand the frustration of working without too much reaction from the public, I've worked on countless projects in similar circumstances. For one thing, like Strange Darkness said, there are people here who're waiting for this. And furthermore, there are many more people who will check out the level. Look at the releases board, even for levels that received one or two comments there are dozens of views. Not a lot of people commented on most of my levels, but from my website stats I know dozens have downloaded them and played them. It's just the way people are, most are too lazy to give any sort of feedback, even if they like the level very much.

My point is, even with little reaction from the public you can still work on your projects and finish them. Doing something you enjoy and feeling the sense of accomplishment once its done is terrific by itself, no? As for players, like I outlined in the above paragraph, don't doubt for a second that a lot of people are going to check the level out. And I'm sure your level will get reactions once its finished, since people tend to like larger levels with interesting storylines ;)

upd: Also, look at the current KS competition! Right now there are some really ridiculous, difficult rules to comply with, and yet there already are four entries... some of which are quite original in concept. I don't think a dying community would've produced something like that, hmm? :)
« Last Edit: November 08, 2010, 13:09:12 by yohji »

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Offline Pie_Sniper

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Re: [Easy][Scenic][Challenge] The Dream Stones, or Shattered Foundations
« Reply #22 on: November 09, 2010, 03:50:12 »
yohji is exactly right here. I keep tabs on a lot of projects around here, though I seldom make posts -- though not because I am lazy, just because I'm afraid I'll start posting too much and it will take up too much of my increasingly limited time. This level is very beautiful, and I am fascinated by its origins in dream, which is quite a fascinating subject in itself. I am highly anticipating its completion, as I am sure many of us less vocal people are. I hope you find the motivation and inspiration to finish it, as it will likely find itself welcomed among the great classics if you do. Best of luck! :)

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Offline Headgrinder

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Re: [Easy][Scenic][Challenge] The Dream Stones, or Shattered Foundations
« Reply #23 on: November 09, 2010, 04:10:28 »
Thank you both for your responses.  (Edit: 3 of you... yeah pie_sniper, I can relate to posting too much.  I probably in fact do that.)  I can't disagree with anything you guys said, but it has been a weird several weeks on the forums and I've been getting discouraged.  I'm here because I love the interaction, the mutual feedback system of give and take, encourage and return encouragement.  I find that environment very invigorating.  And it was like that for quite a while, but lately every comment I leave and every thread I start just lies around dead.   :sick:

At any rate, I haven't decided to abandon anything yet, but if the trend of dead threads continues i just might give up on a project of this size and complexity.  It would be much easier and rewarding to do the various stories individually... unless of course I've got people who encourage and help me when I'm stuck.  Perhaps, after I make my next level, and perhaps after a few others from stories that don't fit as well into the whole, I'll pick this back up.

One thing is for certain, I will be needing help getting my tilesets in order.  Egomassive gave me some insight, but it was not enough to get the ball rolling again.  So here is that link again!  :crazy:

http://nifflas.lpchip.nl/index.php?topic=4227.msg47143#msg47143

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Offline SiamJai

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Re: [Easy][Scenic][Challenge] The Dream Stones, or Shattered Foundations
« Reply #24 on: November 09, 2010, 08:26:07 »
At any rate, I haven't decided to abandon anything yet, but if the trend of dead threads continues i just might give up on a project of this size and complexity.  It would be much easier and rewarding to do the various stories individually... unless of course I've got people who encourage and help me when I'm stuck. 

It would be understandable if you gave up because of that; it would be neither the first, nor the last case. Not everyone can keep working on a huge project while public feedback and encouragement is lacking. But for those who persist, the effort always pays off at the end.

I hope you too can find inspiration outside public feedback, get through the drought and finish your project, so we can all enjoy another epic story. :)
« Last Edit: November 09, 2010, 09:01:29 by SiamJai »

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Offline egomassive

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Re: [Easy][Scenic][Challenge] The Dream Stones, or Shattered Foundations
« Reply #25 on: November 09, 2010, 15:20:14 »
One thing you have to take into consideration about preview threads, is a lot of them never lead to finished levels. The community knows this. I for one try not to get excited about prospective releases, but I do try to encourage promising previews.

Personally, I don't want to create hype for my levels. I do enjoy the encouragement I get from preview threads, but I make levels because I like to. My greatest motivation comes from within. When I'm in a slump, I re-read the old comments people have left me. Even if the posters are not around anymore their impressions are still valid.

If you want to generate some buzz, I suggest releasing some screen shots. Just restrain yourself from revealing what you want to keep hidden.

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Offline Headgrinder

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Re: [Easy][Scenic][Challenge] The Dream Stones, or Shattered Foundations
« Reply #26 on: October 30, 2013, 02:02:42 »
So Sergio recently reminded me of this thread, so I thought I would update it.  This particular version of this idea died when my old lap top died.  I am working on a similar project now in a similar world but a different story.  I DID re-discover all the lost work though, which is basically just tileset work.