Saturday, May 19, 2012

Status Update

For those of you who are wondering why I haven't posted an update in a while, I actually did write a few posts. One about piracy and poor commercial software practices, one about the story of my next game, and one about a Castlevania game I played recently and how games have changed over the years. I just didn't publish any of them, because I'm a perfectionist and couldn't put what I wanted to say into words. (I probably only publish 60% of the posts I write, seems like a lot of them just turn into me talking to myself and convincing myself of what to do.)

Oh, and and I went to the hospital to get some symptoms checked out that are often indicative of cancer. I don't have cancer, though, so that's good.

Now, to give you an update on my next game. I'm not going to go into it too much, but I will say that it involves ghosts who possess people and creatures, and a lantern that can capture them, represented by the flame it burns. Make of that what you will, and feel free to guess what the hell the game will be like.



The character design for the player won't be either of the earlier concepts. Originally, I came up with a plot for the knight (something with a different setting and gameplay), but decided that it's not something I want to tackle just yet, for various reasons. I've yet to come up with the final character design.

That aside, I'll be starting the game in the next few days. Not just thinking about what I want to make, or working on the template, but starting to work full time. Break's over. Within a week after starting I'll have everything planned out, in terms of enemies, locations, etc. It's gonna be...a lot of sketching. In between being burnt out from drawing, I'll also be making some music, since it also helps me brainstorm and get a better idea of the tone I want to go for. 

The planned development time for this game will be 4 months from the time I start, unlike Kurovadis, which could have been completed in two months, if I had been doing it full time, like I will be from here on out.

Anyhow, that's it for now.

61 comments:

  1. Oh, I'd love to see what you had to say in the cancelled posts.

    ReplyDelete
  2. First off, I'm quite glad you don't have cancer. That would be mighty unfortunate. I hope your symptoms clear up if they are particularly serious.

    Secondly, ridiculously happy that you posted something new, and look forward to you working on the game full-time now.

    While I obviously have no idea what the game is gonna be like, I'll just give it a go and get this speculation-train rolling:

    -Action oriented gameplay where you have to capture spirits that are held in enemies by hitting them with your lantern.

    -Captured spirits are retained until you get hit, upon where some of them will be released into the air and/or nearby defeated enemies. These must be recaptured, and the mechanic works like losing rings in Sonic games where ones released into the air will disappear after a short time.

    -You can safely turn in the spirits at graveyards/shrines(Checkpoints) as well as at the end of the level (Temple?).

    -After each level is complete, you get to spend your spirit points on upgrades such as:
    *Jump Height* *Weapon Length* *Health* *Spirit Capacity*
    *Spirit Retention* (How many spirits escape when you get hit)
    *Mass Exorcism* (Single-use Bomb Item) *Hair/Clothes/Weapon Dyes*
    *H-Gallery Unlocks* (Costs max spirits for each level, rewards careful players)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I Second your second!

      Delete
    2. And I am against it, or at least one part of it:
      Max spirit numbers at the end of some levels needed to buy stuff.

      Not only open world a'la Kurovadis or regular Metroidvania is far, far superior than dividing it in levels, damn perfectionist-collectible thing element would make a HORRIBLE addition for casual players who like to explore, don't mind grinding a bit but may lack skill and will to perfectly complete the game just because they want what some would consider a nice, casual-game feature.

      Generally, non-compulsory, additional quests and areas? Great. Retrying some parts of the game over and over to get access to basic features? Very, very bad.

      Delete
    3. Those are definitely interesting ideas. How come you're not develping one, Kepler?

      Delete
    4. Becuz I can no codes. I also loses grammar, so is no speak good Englosh anymore (Too much time on IRC...)

      But seriously, I would but I'm too lazy to learn to program and to finish a project in general. I can't even draw the same thing for over and hour without getting bored. I'm far from ADD in general, but I don't like spending too much time on a single project. My personal files are filled with gigabytes of half-completed game and story concepts. I'd just be another halfway completed H-game in the morass that there already is. I don't like to disappoint people who have faith in me, as it makes me feel bad.

      Delete
    5. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    6. Perhaps it is you who is expecting too much from yourself. Try something way smaller where completion is the objective instead :D

      Delete
    7. You silly, but I appreciate the thought. I may attempt something lager scale later on when I don't have school and a job to worry about (Hopefully just a job, and one that isn't a crappy part-time one).

      Delete
    8. If there is any secret collection going on, I'd prefer Donkey Kong Country 2-style 'one major secret per level' stuff. Collecting 100 things every level isn't fun so much as tedious, and hiding one thing really well takes less effort for the game designer and feels more rewarding for the player. Each unlocking a bonus scene (or concept art, teasers, short comedy skits, even just a line of dialogue) would be cool.

      -NightShade7989 of ulmf

      Delete
    9. Interesting idea, a more modern example of this would be giant coins in Mario and Kirby games that can be applied towards special areas and unlocks. These guys are usually hidden in really hard-to-reach areas or simply hidden behind foreground tiles that one wouldn't normally think of walking behind. Another common example is the "Choose 1 of 3 paths and put the coin in one of them". Yeah, the whole everything-collection mechanic would be hard to control to the point of being fair to the average player while not letting an expert get too much of an edge.

      Delete
  3. If there's one thing I can tell you, it's that your music was PERFECT in kurovadis. Stick to your guns, dude. =)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Absolutely cannot wait - good luck and keep us updated!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Your skills are impressive, not everyday you find a talented one-man-army like that. Game design, graphics, music AND main programming ?
    Sweet tits you're good.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I can't find the post about the 'Vania game. Which one was it that you played?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Unknown Food SubstanceMay 20, 2012 at 10:07 AM

    Oh man i cant wait i have no idea about the game but it still sounds Epic, you're like my hero in terms of game development.

    I can only wish you the best of luck for the future and let you know you have a guaranteed sale in me.
    Love,
    Unknown Food Substance

    ReplyDelete
  8. Very glad to hear that you're okay and your checkup didn't show cancer!

    I really like the character design you drew up top with the lantern pole. Can't wait to see your new game mate!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Perfectionism is a blessing and a curse, I'm afraid. Thankfully, inspiration has a way of curbing it's influence.

    I'm glad to hear that things are progressing..and that you managed to dodge the Big C bullet. I like the new direction you're taking, a departure from simple hack and slash is a welcome one. And the clothes loss mechanic will likely lend it itself more easily to the new concept.

    BTW, random idea for a title: Zeitgeist. It's simple yet sophisticated.

    ReplyDelete
  10. NO HARPY!?

    WHA...!?

    I...!

    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The knight and the Harpy are no longer used for the game?

      Delete
    2. They were never actually in it in the first place - merely concept sketches. I do believe he said in this post that they'd not work for the game idea he came up with anyways, so...

      There's always the fact that they could be used in the next idea, which may very well be a game that they're workable in.

      Delete
  11. Ah, I like the idea. This would allow you to obtain "friendly" ghosts for you to be willingly possessed by. Depending on the ghost, you could be susceptible to certain things. Definitely allows for a breadth of ero ero modes. Do I sense a "got to catch them all" vibe? I liked the "YOU MUST FIND THE SPIRITS SOMA" from Castlevania, even if the spirit drop rates were exceedingly low. If you made a game which had different conditions based on the time of day, intensity of the spiritual flux of the world around you, or twilight zone sort of scenario, you could reuse existing areas to great benefit. A few cosmetic and obstacle changes... and you have an entirely new zone. You could even do simple stuff like invert a map and make it upside down. Why? Because ghosts, man! Hunting ghosts, perverted ghosts, making allies out of perverted ghosts. Hopefully female ghosts.

    I like it. This is interesting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah, even allows for a sort of "hyper mode" system, in which you expend available ghost power to gain enhanced abilities for a duration. Sort of like a "summoning all available ghosts" thing. And a lantern as a weapon is just awesome. Will you be keeping us titillated with tidbits of your development thoughts?

      Delete
    2. If we have random ideas, would you be interested in all with hearing them? I have ideas for the game, but it would seem rather presumptive to post them in your comments without even knowing how you feel on the subject.

      Delete
    3. I certainly don't think it would be a problem if you put your ideas out in the open here. Good suggestions are probably welcome at this point, since Kyri is still in the planning stages of the game. If you feel apprehensive about posting them still, you can always send them directly to the Email address provided above.

      Delete
    4. Well, to be honest, I tend not to take ideas into consideration when it comes to actually deciding on a game's mechanics, mostly because I like creating everything from the ground up myself, but for other reasons as well.

      For instance, mechanics like a day-night system with variable enemies, status effects, H oriented attacks, or any other number of mechanics aren't so much ideas that need to be thought up, but rather options that are always there, and need to be mixed and matched based on what the focus of the game will be, what will fit, and what is feasible to do with the amount of time I have. It's sort of like how the individual building blocks of a story are simple to conceive (character's, concepts, events), but the challenge is making everything work together.

      If that makes any sense.

      Delete
    5. Ideas are cheap; implementation is hard.

      I understand. I just have a bad habit of taking people's ideas and running wild with them. I have a much harder time doing the work that you describe. Good luck!

      Delete
    6. While I understand that implementation of the whole idea from above may be a bit hard indeed I would certainly humbly request you to consider adding at least some scenes/animations of possession making character horny (not too many and even if it would be 'character has a slutty face expression and buckles hips on her own' - it would be very much enough), some twitchy orgasms etc. Kurovadis was quite lacking this and I dare say scenes of such kind in paranormal-themed H-games slowly become a standard valued by many.

      Delete
  12. I've always wondered what are required for making music. Is some music making program enough or is an electric piano or some such essential?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You just need the software. FL Studio, for example. Aside from that, you also need Vsts, which are essentially digital instruments. Either that, or record real ones.

      Delete
    2. Vsts? Where do I find those? Where do I find more about this stuff in general anyway? A forum or something?

      Delete
    3. http://freemusicsoftware.org/category/vsti
      http://www.techradar.com/news/computing/10-easy-guides-to-making-music-on-your-pc-526962

      Dunno if either of these will help, but feel free to try them out.

      Delete
  13. Quite a scare involving those symptoms, glad to hear your okay! As for this shift from the Knight/Harpy concept to this ghost catching game, it sounds promising. I'm figuring that you sorta realized the previous concept would probably be more adventure or more RP-esque than you were originally thinking.
    As for this new idea, the whole ghost hunting idea interests me in how your going to do this. I can kinda see it that depending on the power of the ghosts, the main character would have to weaken a powerful spirit first in order to fully capture it, which in itself can maybe have some kind of QTE in order to cast the seal.
    While I know you probably wouldn't accept outside ideas, but the concept makes me think of a scenario where there's a ghost hiding out in a village and is possessing someone so the main character would have to try and investigate if anyone has been acting strange lately.

    ReplyDelete
  14. First off, as I'm sure many others will say as well, glad you don't have cancer.

    Apart from that, do what you want. You sure surprised, well, the internet with Kurovadis. You know what you are doing, and you've proven that you are very good at it. You're a person of quality, and as long as you keep that up, then you can bet that your games will be big hits. It's going to be fun watching what you come up with from here on out.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Nice idea, ghosts can lead to some interesting gameplay / H-scenes. So, it will be a Luigi's Mansion/Castlevania game of some sort ?
    Also, the character only needs a hat and she is ready for Gensokyo.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Ah, this is a pretty good surprise ^^
    You've choosen a character and a weapon that's normally not used in games.
    (at least I never heard of such a game)

    So you can implement a lot of stuff that's never seen before.
    I'm really looking forward to play this game once it's done.
    (I know this might be a bit early to say... but after what I've seen in Kurovadis, and by just reading your post up there, I'm reaaally curious right now)

    Implementing new ideas, character designs, game mechanics etc. is always a good thing.
    Keep the good work up and good luck!
    And of course, keep well and fit.



    ~Wolfenstahl~

    ReplyDelete
  17. i'm glad you don't have cancer dood *gives you a giant cookie* lol

    just to ask tho, your not going to use the harpy and/or knight? or are they going to be used another way? and i am sad from only one thing, she is flat as a board T^T

    but lol i agree with the last guy post, time for some touhou fun with this new girl XD do you have a name for her so far?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A plank is also fine, though like Kyri said, the character design is by no means finalized. ("I've yet to come up with the final character design.")

      (And technically something about not having loli-esque characters because of legislation in old Canada-land restricting such things)

      It could be that her shawl-like thing just makes her look more board-ish though. I for one am not a fan of excessively large breasts, and Kurovadis was quite tastefully done in that capacity.

      Also, like the poster below, I am looking forward to sprite H-animations in the larger-sized sprites eagerly.

      Delete
    2. i'm not saying she has to have giant breast but at least something like kurovadis but i do know what you mean kepler dood lol

      Delete
    3. While I am not grat fan of totally breast-less girls (and breasts in general aren't that important part of the looks for me), I do prefer small, shapely breasts - just something one would be able to put a hand on.

      Delete
    4. Groping a basketball is hard...

      Delete
  18. More sprite H-animations
    That's what I enjoyed the most in Kurovadis
    I would've loved to help you in the illust department, but you already got that covered.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Take your time and take it easy. I loved Kurovadis, not because it was hentai, but because it was an all-together great game. I still play it and I've beaten it multiple times. Even found the little kinda secret area in the high gravity zone that can only be gotten to with the help of a Metroid. Too bad there was nothing in there. XD

    Looking forward to the next one. Hopefully next time I'll buy it directly from you instead of DLSite.

    ReplyDelete
  20. To be honest, I like the current idea of the game, including the story more than what seemed very, very generic thing with earlier player character's designs (yes, including the harpy). I wonder if the screen provided is the final version of what I presume is the main character or there will be more changes.

    Also, I should make you know that I probably wouldn't mind other posts you're making as long as they wouldn't be horribly long when not related to the current project overly. Sometimes even a random bit of a thought is a nice thing as it shows that you are still there and in contact with playerbase. Plus, you know, satisfaction of sharing said thought. Worst come to worst, you can always add some quick H sketch which should make it up to the people who expected some other kind of update :P

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Updates are always good. I'll check back here regardless, but it makes me a thousand times happier to come here and see a new post. It certainly doesn't need to be a twitter feed with posts every five seconds like Sil-co's (Kindof excessive, and the screenshots of him playing Minecraft always make me rage a bit, xD), but every week or so would be awesome.

      Delete
  21. Hey, so any thoughts to make clothing destructible? Shredding leading to the protagonist wearing tatters, and then... just panties and then nothing?

    That would interest me, above and beyond the platformy-action. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I kinda liked the look of the under-boob "shirts", and not just because I'm a pervert.

      Delete
    2. The problem with such kind of system was already mentioned in some comment about Kurovadis - it would either require a lot, lot more sprites or or some clothes layering on a sprite which usually doesn't look that great and is kinda clunky.

      Personally, I'd rather have the work which would be used on adding such sprites put in making more and varied sprite h-animations or more non-compulsory locations to the game to give one real Metroidvania feeling. In Kurovadis it was very minimal, with additional room here or there where one could grab some power up, but nothing really that special.

      Actually, I wouldn't actually mind it if the whole thing would be H-Castlevania, a'la Aria of Sorrow.

      Delete
    3. It seems as though Kyri already has clothing destruction in mind for this game.("I've begun doing some concepts for the main character, keeping in mind that there will be clothing loss based on damage in the next game.")

      Clothing destruction would be just awesome, though certainly time-consuming to implement. You might have to go Dungeon Fighter style and make the nude bases for all of the animations beforehand and make different levels of destroyed clothes to apply on top of the base sprites.

      Delete
  22. Two quick questions out of sheer curiosity:

    1. Are you still planning on making the new game linear since moving to the apparition theme?

    2. Will you be retaining the RPG-style level progression or adopting a more action/adventure-style character progression?

    ReplyDelete
  23. The question I'd like answered (I can as well jump the bandwagon) would be whether it will be another metroidvania with open levels, ability to grind when skill of the player fails them etc not much unlike Kurovadis?

    Don't get me wrong, I would like another Metroidvania far more than regular h-platformer. Additional boon would be also (I presume) possibility to work with already made Kurovadis engine, you'd just need to upgrade it a bit so it can handle new features - but it still would be better than making a new engine from scratch and would make you closer to that grand uber-engine for future games mentioned by you in your earlier posts, Kyrieru.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Hello Mr. Kyrieru,

    Just wanted to let you know that I'm glad you turned up negative for cancer, and I'm looking very much forward to your next game. Take it slow, and do what you do best.

    Sincerely,
    Ren

    ReplyDelete
  25. Hey Kyrieru,

    You're well! Thank the maker~
    What inspired you to think of this ghost/spirit-hunter heroine?

    Also, what advice do you have for a fellow H-platformer developer?
    Armed with the basics of GML, I think I'm ready to start sketching concepts. Which software do you use to sketch digitally?

    Damn hospital visits are always daunting.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Hi Mr.Kyrieru

    I just wanted to tell you that I really enjoyed your previous work and I'm excited to see what comes next. Also I would like to ask how to purchase English versions of your games as I speak nothing in Japanese.

    Best regards

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Have you tried Kyrieru's other website where you can purchase the game? It's in English. Link should be in one of his earlier posts on this blog.

      Delete
  27. Nice to see you don't have cancer. I got scared once because I started getting moles with fluid in them and when I looked online it said it might be cancerous. Fortunately it was nothing major so yeah. This ghost stuff seems quite interesting can't wait to see what you come up with.

    ReplyDelete
  28. You inspire me, dude!

    ReplyDelete
  29. I look forward to your new game~!

    ReplyDelete