[Falk]

When I think Jester I think playing cards.

[W.A.C.]

I see a lot of potential with this game, but one of the biggest problems I have with it is the main character's design. Spark is not very imaginative looking. However, I checked out your Tumblr and noticed this fanart.



This looks way better. If he looked way more like this, I'd have a much better opinion of your character. Perhaps you could ask Gear_The_Hedgehog if you could use some of his ideas for your character? All my other biggest criticisms of the game have been expressed by other people. Despite my criticisms, I'm looking forward to seeing how this turns out. And yeah, I'd get rid of the copywriten place holder graphics and sounds before trying to get the general public more interested in this game. Also:



The art in this screenshot are fantastic except for the design of Spark. If anyone wanted to edit your sprite of him with their own mockup design, are you okay with that? If you are, I wouldn't mind giving it a try.

This post has been edited by W.A.C.: 11 March 2014 - 07:33 AM

[Falk]

edit: less obnoxious size

This post has been edited by Falk: 11 March 2014 - 11:17 AM

[P3DR0]

Go falk yourself, Falk. Don't post this shit in high resolution, for Arceus' sake. Almost made me jump out of my chair.

[360]

P3DR0, on 11 March 2014 - 11:19 AM, said:

Go falk yourself, Falk. Don't post this shit in high resolution, for Arceus' sake. Almost made me jump out of my chair.

Holy shit. This made me laugh out loud. Yeah what Sega has done to Sonic is quite the abomination. However just keep telling yourself "it's a side project" and "they're not replacing the original series" and you'll feel much better. At least that's what I hope is happening. I'm still holding out for Sega's next real Sonic game that is rumoured to be for the Xbox One and PS4. Hopefully that game should have the quality of Generations and be amazing. Sega always makes incredible engines (Hedgehog Engine anyone?) so I can't wait to see if the game is visually spectacular like last generation. Just breathe P3DR0 and you'll be fine.

As for Spark I think W.A.C. touched upon something incredibly important. The design of Spark in the fan art is vastly superior to the current sprite. The fan art electrocutes his body for example giving him static all over his frame which is a really cool effect that could be translated well into a redesigned sprite. I'd seriously consider giving W.A.C's suggestion some thought. The sprite is adequate as is but there is definitely room for improvement. Think of how cool and iconic Sonic's sprites were on the Genesis/Megadrive. Spark should have a sprite that looks like that. W.A.C's idea is fantastic. Give it some thought.

Outside of that I look forward to following this thread and seeing how you progress. Your work is great so far.

[Jayextee]

Agreed on points about the character sprite. LakeFeperd, it's clear that your talents are better suited to environment art than character art - have you thought about collaborating with someone who can do the latter?

[Strife]

I concur - I really like that fan design of Spark. ^_^

On the other hand, I know firsthand how painful it can be to redraw an entire spriteset, so I wouldn't blame you if you decided to stick with the current design (and there isn't anything wrong with it, really). But if you're willing to, I'd say it's worth it. I put up with it for Lilac and I'm definitely glad I shifted her design to something more dragon-like before Freedom Planet started getting more exposure.

[Sparks]

I like the fan art a lot too; it gives me a Ristar and Dynamite Headdy vibe (but so did the original design, this one just even more).

Either way, after several fan games, it's good to see you finally going indie Lake.

[TheKazeblade]

I love what I'm seeing so far. And really, at this point I'll support pretty much any project you do do, Lake! you've won my customer loyalty a thousand fold

But I am in agreement with the other posts here; both the sprites and the design of Spark himself needs significant finessing. The animations are very stiff and don't have a lot of life or personality to them.

Environmental visuals are very nice, lush, and colorful, but things like the fire in the background during the boss needs to be given a little more detail, and places like the rocky tunnels after the mini boss feel bland and repetitive visually.

Gameplay-wise, I need to re-iterate, looks super fun. But I feel the art in general needs an additional layer of work to really make it stand out.

No intention whatsoever of sounding disparaging. Like I said, I'm already a fan! Looking forward to seeing it completed.

[LakeFeperd]

Oh god I too quite a lot of time to actually GET some time to write this, so...

Anyway, while I do like that spark redesign, it does't fit the universe and the story I'm writting for spark.
While he(spark) thinks he is something else, he is no sonic and not very special, and his electric power COME from the product that he owns(power ups around the stages being trial versions of other products), although a lot of experience is required to use it the way he does.
His story isn't going to be very happy for him and an event later down the story should change his whole character making he more like a crazy psychopathic jester. Well, sort of.

His universe is our universe, but of course, in the future and not on earth, I don't wanna say too much about it but I'm trying to make it seem as realistic as possile, of couse, in a "how things work and what does what" way. A big exanple of this is the advertisement that are palced everywhere in the levels.

I know, that was wierd and that only means the game will be much more of a challange to me and to that I say: Challange accepted.
So far I've developed 2 cutscenes and the story is quite happy and sonic-y until the middle-ish point of the game.

Oh, and if you have been cheching the tumbler page, I've been updating a lot, although, I think I should proabably also post those over here.

Here is the links for one update that shows both the advertisment and a power up:
http://sparktej.tumb...up-its-a-simple

This post has been edited by LakeFeperd: 14 March 2014 - 12:51 AM

[Crappy Blue Luigi]

the powerup could use some distinction from the regular sprite

the goggles/glasses help, but the scarf is not going to be a super noticeable change mid-gameplay. you want the player to know at all times "oh, I'm in that state." have the signifier be something bigger, like a larger accessory or a major change in color scheme.

[LakeFeperd]

@Crappy Blue Luigi
I see what you mean but there is a wind effect that happens every time you land on the ground, which will be hard not to notice, with this power up and spark is slightly "faster" with it.
I was actually going to show it in the gameplay video, but I forgot for some reason.

[LakeFeperd]

Sorry for double post but here's a in-dev screenshot of a stage. what do you guys think.
Actually, it's not even close to done yet and that's just the upper half of the BG.

Edit: just noticed the lighting is all wrong, all the trees should be flipped at some point.

This post has been edited by LakeFeperd: 26 March 2014 - 10:11 PM

[Jayextee]

I am not sure that starry sky works with the rest of the aesthetic. As an aside, have you thought about brightening it just a touch to bring out those silhouetted sci-fi buildings a bit? They're cool.

[Jassbec]

LakeFeperd, on 14 March 2014 - 12:48 AM, said:

His story isn't going to be very happy for him and an event later down the story should change his whole character making he more like a crazy psychopathic jester. Well, sort of.

Hey, that's pretty interesting, I wonder how you're going to execute that idea. I'm sure you're going to pull it off well since you're good at writing characters most of the time.

THE HYPE MAN.