[Jayextee]

LakeFeperd, on 22 February 2015 - 01:29 AM, said:

Oh yeah, and about revisiting sonic fan games:

Make original content. You create quality work and deserve to be reimbursed so for it. There is nothing more to it than that.

Actually kinda like an early demo of Spark. Wall-jumping (I know people have complained about it) although tricky, was consistent and satisfying and the game looked and sounded great. Only complaint from my end (and you're welcome to dismiss it as this is one area in which 99% of this community and I generally disagree) is that the levels were too long and dragged on too much.

I hope you can continue Spark in some capacity.

[LakeFeperd]

Jayextee, on 22 February 2015 - 01:20 PM, said:

LakeFeperd, on 22 February 2015 - 01:29 AM, said:

Oh yeah, and about revisiting sonic fan games:

Only complaint from my end (and you're welcome to dismiss it as this is one area in which 99% of this community and I generally disagree) is that the levels were too long and dragged on too much.

It's one of my bad habits, I've this idea that I need to show and experiment with all possible outcomes and ways to arrange the level's gimmicks/terrain. I do this so much that the level ends up getting quite long.
It's also the fact that I usually need space in order to set up those gimmicks, which adds to the emptiness and lenght.

[.Luke]

Development hell is a sad thing. I've been through that for years with one game project of mine; got stuck on the story alone that hard. (Only recently got it figured out and restarted planning.) I know exactly what it's like.

So I hope that when you decide to return to the project, you'll have a fresh perspective on what you want for the game, and take it to greater heights. It's clear from your fan games that you understand how to build fun experiences. It's less a lack of skill, and more you don't know what you want for Sparks yet. You'll get there after you've explored other projects.

[Falk]

As someone closer at hand on the music side, lemme say that there's some stuff some people who threw their lot in have to sort out. It'll get done eventually.

Spark going commercial has been a bit of a catch 22 situation in that regard.

Any more than that I'd best not say anything for now lol.

[360]

All I have to add is that Spark is extremely promising and the demo I played a while back was amazing. It's too good of a project and game to be abandoned. I know you said you'll return to it eventually but I wouldn't want to see such a promising and enjoyable game become sidelined because of certain obstacles coming up. It's worth it to fight through them and see the game to completion. Quality sells and Spark is of exceptional quality. Your talent deserves to shine through in an original game that can become successful and support you. The only way that's happening is if Spark is completed and released.

It sounds like you took some of the constructive criticism to heart (like going back over the levels and redesigning them) so maybe not enough praise was given to you on just how good Spark actually is. It's amazing and an outstanding effort from just one developer. If you want more feedback Lake I'd be happy to post your latest demo on NeoGAF if you'd like to see what more people think of it. You'd probably get more replies on there just because the forum has more users than here. I think that might provide you with the encouragement you'd need to resume work on the game.

If you want me to post the demo on there I will. Only with your permission of course. Keep going with the game. I loved it when I played it.

[Falk]

(At this point it's not Lake that's holding development back)

[Tiller]

Demo link is broken for V3, FYI. Wanted to give it a shot again.

[LakeFeperd]

Here's a new link for the NCFC demo (the most recent build): http://www.mediafire...CFC+DEMO+v1.rar

As you guys can se, there is a lot of content in this demo that is not mine and was added in for free thanks to the rest of the team. It would be awful of me to move on withought them, there is no way to push trough this problem and solve it with my own hands. However, that's why I'm working on XF racing institute. One of that game's purposes is to get spark moving again.
In a way, spark is now on a halt because of XF, thankfull, XF is a shorter game and it's almost halfway done.

I actually went back into it to see how the other stages (from stage 6 to stage 12 hold up) Some do, some don't. But I was really surprised when I noticed a firefly flying around in stage 7 (this picture is almost a year old), when I touched it, it flew alway. I can't belive I actually added that.

Anyway, in a tumblr post, I posted this picutre along with it the link to the NCFC demo:

This is a stage very late into the game, the last stage I got to work on before I went back to remake the earlier stages. I think it's stage 12, out of 16 planned stages.

@360
Go fot it! Only reason I didn't post anything there is that I lost my internet provider's e-mail, since it was never needed for anything, I ended up not using it for years.

This post has been edited by LakeFeperd: 28 February 2015 - 08:38 PM

[Kharen]

Quote

It's one of my bad habits, I've this idea that I need to show and experiment with all possible outcomes and ways to arrange the level's gimmicks/terrain. I do this so much that the level ends up getting quite long.

It's a bit late for this game, but for your next project, you may want to consider planning out the levels more along the lines of Super Mario World. Each world was designed with up to ten levels in mind, along with different secret worlds without a strict theme and a super-secret world where anything goes.

If you're determined to show off every possible variation and permutation of a level gimmick, plan for more levels so that you don't have to cram them all into a single area that stretches out for more than what's necessary. You can even add in hidden exits and secret worlds like SMW so that you can play with mixing different gimmicks together without having to worry about a cohesive level theme or where it would be laid out in the game world.

Of course, I haven't played this one myself. I've been waiting for the finished version before trying it out. The XP racing game was one that I played because each race track is a fully separate experience. I hate getting way into a game and then suddenly hitting the end-of-content point when things are just getting good.

[Retroman]

Beta link is not working

[Falk]

Latest link is two posts above yours.

[360]

LakeFeperd, on 28 February 2015 - 08:34 PM, said:

@360
Go for it! Only reason I didn't post anything there is that I lost my internet provider's e-mail, since it was never needed for anything, I ended up not using it for years.

I'd be happy to Lake! If you can hit me up with some screenshots I can use for the thread and a solid Mediafire link for the demo I'll post a thread over there for you. Do you want me to post the NCFC demo? If so I'll just use your current Mediafire link. I think this could be really positive for you because you can follow the thread and see the feedback which will be invaluable for your production efforts. As I said if you can PM me some screenshots I'll upload those to my own Imgur account and post the thread on NeoGAF.

I'll also send you a link to the thread when I'm done. I love the game so NeoGAF theoretically should be all over it.

[LakeFeperd]

Hey, look at that, a new trailer:

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

Anyway, guys, we actually got to replace all copyrighted sounds with originals and now spark is ready to move on to somewhere "big".
If only I had more time...
In a few months, I will, so, it's likely for you guys to expect something by then.

The sounds that sound good were made by Andy tunstall, the not so good ones were made by me.
Music in the first stage is also his and the boss themes were made by Falk. Smog Sewer's theme was composed by DJ Max-E (MaxieDaMan).

Edit: oh, yeah, all of the content on the trailer was finished about 6 months ago, but I think you guys already know that. I only changed a few things in the demo, such as the health bar now being able to take 6 hits instead of 3.

This post has been edited by LakeFeperd: 29 March 2015 - 08:54 AM

[Jayextee]

Nom nom nom.

I'm liking the new trailer contents, but am personally holding off trying any new demos because I'm waiting for the final. Hell yes. <3

[LakeFeperd]

I've been looking into posting this on /r/Games but after reading the rules, it turns out that's self promotion and I shouldn't be doing it. So, just like with XF, can anyone post it there for me? That would be awesome!
Hopefully people will think this is an indie game now.

@Jayextee
The demo is that same thing as before (NCFC) , but the health bar is bigger. That's mostly it.
But oh well, I can see why, I'm glad people are actually looking forward for the final game, even though, a few months ago, I felt like there would be no final game. Oh boy, I'm glad that's over.