And so another week has passed. I'm proud to say I've been able to accomplish all the goals I stated last week. Without further ado, here's what happened in the past week.
THIS PAST WEEK
The prototype is now complete and released! You can play it here, and feel free to leave any feedback you may have. It came out pretty well. Sure it might not look like much, but I think it demonstrates the gameplay pretty well, which is its purpose all along. I did give it a silly little storyline, so you might even get a few laughs out of it. Hope you like it!
Now, onto the other goals I stated last time. I looked up some tutorials on how to make sprites... and it was just completely beyond me. Maybe it's just something I'm not cut out for. Unfortunate, but it was expected so I'm not too concerned.
That leads to me getting the quotes from a few artists I've worked with before. While the game (the full game, not the prototype) is still in its planning stages, I've estimated that I'd need at least 60 animated sprites for 24 different characters/enemies. Based on this estimate, the quotes I've gotten are... well, quite pricey to say the least. I'll have to look into other options. Maybe I can get sprites from asset stores (yes I'm aware of the stigma that entails), or keep looking for other artists. I honestly don't think I'll be able to get a cheaper price though, at least not for the quality I want. The other alternative is to scale down the game to have a fewer variety of characters, which brings me to what I want to do next week.
THE NEXT WEEK
The main thing I want to focus on is planning the plot/story. I had a script written out a long time ago when I made the old Neo Edda demo, but that one is heavily focused on story designed for RPG Maker and isn't particularly suited for an action RPG that's more focused on gameplay. As such I'll be seeing what aspects of the old script I can adapt to fit the new gameplay, and if necessary rewrite it. I also think that if I knew GameMaker Studio 2 better I'd be able to incorporate more story into the game, but that's a lot more programming I'd have to look into.
Who knows. Maybe I'd be better off just focusing on and refining the gameplay.
Either way I'd still be working on a plot/general storyline in the coming week. It should also give me a better estimate for the number/types of sprites I need. At the same time I'll be looking into scripts on the GMS marketplace to see if I can incorporate more story elements. Maybe I'll find some assets that'll fit well into the game there too.
SUMMARY/TL;DR
Completed this week:
- Prototype of the game released (play it here! https://shentzu.itch.io/neo-edda-prototype)
- Got quotes for the sprites I need for the game
To Do next week:
- Rewrite the script/general plot of the game
- Look through GMS marketplace for scripts and assets
Thanks for reading! See you guys again next week.