[LakeFeperd]

https://www.youtube....h?v=Yj20tfZdeuQ

Download the most recent demo: LINK

Spark the electric jester is an indie game developed by Me. It's an action platformer mostly based on games like Megaman X, Kirby and Sonic the hedgehog.

And here's a screenshot: http://I.imgur.com/uCuYX1d.png
Also check this page for more updates: http://sparktej.tumblr.com/

It's on the fangaming discussion, but this is an original title.

This post has been edited by LakeFeperd: 15 July 2015 - 02:49 PM

[Felik]

Looks really promising! But as I see it's very early in development. Let me propose a few things.

First of all your character is jester. A JESTER. You can make so many creative cool things with that concept! At the moment he looks so generic and boring and his moveset consist of only kicks and charged attack.
Level art and music are very good and atmospheric, that a great thing to have from beginning. But again the level lacks gimmicks. You only have enemies and platforms. That's ok for the few 5-10 minutes of gameplay but it becomes stale really fast.

Well and ofc you need to get rid of sonic sounds but you probably know that.

[360]

Extremely promising. I also think it's fantastic your transitioning way from Sonic fangames into true indie game development. You're practically a God in the Sonic fangaming scene; a God with the work ethic of a machine. Seriously you've done enough there. Now is the perfect time to dedicate that astounding work ethic and obvious talent into a project like this. So I think what you're doing is amazing. Perfect decision at the perfect time. As for "Spark" it looks good. Early but good. I would definitely echo Felik. The game looks good with great music and effects (particularly his attack move) but the lack of variation in that level really hurts the game. You definitely need to transition the character into more "interesting" level variations or gimmicks. I'm not saying you should use loops because that's obviously Sonic and you're trying to get away from that but something like that would seriously make this level that much better. Just something that as Felik said goes beyond basic platforms and enemies.

So yeah you have my interest. This looks very promising. All the best of luck. I'll be following your progress.

EDIT: Just one more thing: I clicked the linked screenshot and those graphics in that second level look fantastic. Seriously good work there.

This post has been edited by 360: 08 March 2014 - 03:27 AM

[Tiller]

Just going to reiterate that your weakest areas are consistently filling out your levels with interesting bits, enemy design, and boss design.

That boss is a step up from your previous works, but the level design does seem a bit barren though it is a test level.

[Falk]

I think Tiller may be on to something. Pretty much every zone in Sonic has moving parts or flashies of some sort, from the spinning flowers in GHZ (lol) to lava in MZ and blinking lights in every casino zone ever. Cyan City's traffic and Redhot Ride's flashy cavern shows you're well aware of the general concept, and I think it will really help bring each location to life, even if it's as simple as pixel-sized insects landing on flowers to overexaggerated machinery.

Environment 101 regardless of genre - just because it doesn't have any gameplay interaction doesn't mean it has to be static

[pablodrago]

Looking great so far, assuming that the story and future levels are in development I would like to suggest ideas and as everyone said your main issue is the content on your level which whould be a huge problem in a sonic level because you are bound to existing gimmicks and concepts from previous games, but now "Spark" doesn't have this problem and in addition it has a very cool concept like the electricity. When I read the title of the topic so much gimmicks came to my mind, such as using magnetism to move metallic objects or walk on metallic walls, (just Silver a espio abilities but is a nice concept). Another idea is a dark factory/laboratory theme for a level with generators that restore the light when Spark shoot at them (I think I this is something from Megaman games, IIRC from X8 or zero series). Also for a final fight (AKA Doomsday Zone) Spark could fly on a stormy sky using lightnings to attack.
And finally the best source for ideas: Pulseman (mainly the whole thing of not work electricity underwater).
I hope this help and keep the good work.

[LakeFeperd]

I uderstand, the reason my stages don't always have moving stuff on the foreground is because of MMF2.
The only thing that can be animated are actives and having quite a lot of those around can cause some massive problems on lower pcs. But I'll see what I can do to minimise that.

Making animated backgrounds seems to do the trick though, and that's used a lot in this game.

Actually, that is a problem I had since the original BTS.

Edit: oh, but when it comes to just regular setpeices, that's something the game itself will demand so there will be quite a lot of those.

This post has been edited by LakeFeperd: 09 March 2014 - 12:20 AM

[Strife]

This is some seriously awesome news! I'm really glad you're applying your signature style into an indie game, and it looks like you already have the right seeds planted. Colorful graphics, cool special effects, and an imaginative main character. Like Felik said, I hope Spark gets some cool jester-themed moves later on.

I'm also really glad you tightened up the controls and make him move more like Mario instead of Sonic. I think you'll be able to do more with your stages, enemies and bosses that you wouldn't be able to get away with if you were using Sonic physics. Classic Sonic is sluggish at slow speeds, and at high speeds players have very little time to react to hazards up ahead. I don't think you'll have to worry about either of those problems with Spark.

Best of luck, buddy!

p.s.: If you want my opinion, I think the game should just be called Electric Jester. But it's your call.

This post has been edited by Strife: 09 March 2014 - 12:23 AM

[KingofHarts]

You could always call it Sparky Jester. LOL :D

In all seriousness, I'm looking forward to this. As a fan of both Sonic BTS and ATS I can't wait to see what you do with an original entity.

[Jayextee]

I can't wait to see this in action without the Sonic placeholders. Looks funky enough, but with them there I can't shake my current associations with the Sonic fangames you've made, and that's a little unfair.

As an aside, I just scoped out your Twitter -- not active. I think you should seriously think about getting onto networking (either via Twitter's cool indie game scene, via Facebook groups or even sign up to forums and pages such as IndieDB and/or TIGsource) to promote this.

[MarkeyJester]

I was a bit skeptical at first, given the similarities to Sonic. But generally speaking, I found it to be rather unique in that video. You're definately onto something with this one!

KingofHarts, on 09 March 2014 - 07:59 AM, said:

You could always call it Sparky Jester. LOL :D

I approve of this notion... Let us celebrate! :{D

[tokumaru]

Pretty cool! I don't have anything to say that hasn't already been said, so I'll just wish you good luck with this project!

BTW, your signature has a link to "SONIC CHONO ADVENTURE", you may want to fix that. =)

[LakeFeperd]

Thanks for the support guys.
Anyway, I still don't see how I can make spark have some jester themed moves but the game so far has 3 power ups and I'm looking into making a lot more to increase variety so, some jester themed power ups should show up at some point. Like a circus ball that you ride on after charging your shot and more.
Now the current power ups have nothing to do with a jester but have something to do with the advertisement that is placed all over the game's levels.

@Jayextee
Yeah I should, I just completly forgot about twitter.
And also I'm going to stick around the sonic comunity until I can get the sonic placehoders out of the game.
Once that's done, it's time to try to conquer the world.... or the itnernet... whatever.

@ tokumaru
OOOOPS, never noticed it.

[DinnerSonic]

I figured given the hat, the quick electric slash type move, and the previous Kirby nods you've had in your games, that the jester aspect would be played into via Mirror Kirby style illusion moves. You know, the kind of "Haha, missed me! I'm over here! Sent your move back at ya!" style? Perhaps that's more of a trickster or some kinda trolling character, but magical illusion tactics seem like they would fit the entertainer type somewhat, on top of things like the ball idea.

If I may make a suggestion to help move it a touch more away from Sonic(and, I guess, more to Kirby style) what if you made it so when standing on milder angles the character stands straight up and slants his feet at the angle, like in Kirby games?

Oh, and of course, I should say that I'm excited to see this, though I was almost expecting you to just outright make a Kirby game before doing an original one given things like Beam Sonic and Mirror Tails. =P

[.Luke]

Spark has Ristar levels of cute going on here, I think I could enjoy playing as him. Especially if he has more abilities in store for later levels.

This has a lot of potential as a platformer, regardless of the test level's appearance. After all the lively scenery I've seen you pull off in Sonic fan games, Lake, I know you'll find a way to give each level its own lively charm.