April 14, 2016

New Blog

Hi there,

This will be the last article on this blog. Don't worry, I still work on the game, but I set up a whole new blog at this address:


I also translated it in French (I still have to translate a few very old posts):


If you had subscribed to mail delivery, your email adress has been automatically registered to the new mailing list. You have nothing to do, except if you want to switch to the French newsletter. In which case... feel free to do so on the new French blog.

 I hope you'll like this visual update :)

        

Support me on Patreon
Game Demo & Info: www.oneiricworlds.com
Follow me: Facebook, Twitter, Google+, IndieDB, Steam Greenlight, Mail, RSS


January 29, 2016

Working on the fighting system

Hi there,

I'm still working on the game! Crazy isn't it?

Recently, and after many feedbacks I had, I've been trying to rework the fighting system to make it more fun  and "punchy" (more effects, more feedback), and I also changed a few controls.

Among other things:

1 - The character "slides" much less than before when attacking

2 - Hits trigger a micro-freeze and some kind of vibration feel on the enemy, resulting in a much more convincing power strike. I got this by carefully watching ultra slow-motion videos of Street Fighter. They achieve to convey so much energy to each character move that I spent hours carefully studying how it was done. This was super instructive.

3 - The super attack now has more visual effects



A new effect for the super attack


4 - Enemies now have a super attack too, and it can't be blocked. You can only run away from it. It's not that difficult when fighting a single enemy, but it gets much more complicated when there are many of them. You'll have to adapt your strategies!


Get away...


Boom

5 - I tried to balanced the fighting by giving each attack a possible counter. I learnt a lot about fight system designs on David Sirling website (http://www.sirlin.net/articles/designing-yomi). This guy worked on re-balancing of the old Street Fighter II game. Crazy good work to learn from!

6 - Blocking now uses some magnetic energy, and you can't block for ever without moving/escaping to recover energy. This changes a lot the way to tackle fights.



Sadly, trying to improve the fighting system broke a few things, and I'll have to balance again attack power, speed and other parameters. Plus, I'll have to adapt the tutorials in the Bo Dojo one day or the other.

But anyways! I hope the game keeps getting better and better.

Peace!

        

Support me on Patreon
Game Demo & Info: www.oneiricworlds.com
Follow me: Facebook, Twitter, Google+, IndieDB, Steam Greenlight, Mail, RSS


December 16, 2015

The Child Spirit Demo

Hello there,

This week-end I took part in the Ludum Dare contest, a video game creation challenge that lasts 72 hours. I haven't been able to work for the whole duration, but I found some time to create a little game for the contest: "The Child Spirit". The theme was "Growing, two button controls". I made everything from scratch (except the soundscape) in more or less 25h.




Goal

The "Child Spirit" is a simple non linear runner game where you play a fox. You must find animals and get back the Forest Spirit who is leaving. The goal is more or less in line with the "growing" theme, as you're supposed to grow a herd of the forest animals.

Controls

  • Space or S : jump
  • Return or D : switch direction
        

Game Demo & Info: www.oneiricworlds.com
Follow me: Facebook, Twitter, Google+, IndieDB, Steam Greenlight, Mail, RSS


December 1, 2015

(Toulouse Game Show) November Demo

And here is the last demo of A Thief's Melody, a 3D cartoon adventure/stealth game with a contemplative atmosphere, somewhere between "Zelda" and "Beyond Good and Evil". Don't hesitate to test/share/reblog/comment/like if you want to help me!







Beware: This is the alpha (=NOT FINAL) demo of November 2015. If you want to get the latest demo for sure, just check the official website.
Feedback & bug hunt: As usual, if you want to tell me what you think about the game, or if you find bugs, contact me at contact at oneiricworlds dot com
Get all the news: if you don't want to miss anything, subscribe, or follow me on facebook, twitter, or google+


Install Notes

  • Linux

Under Linux, you have to change the execution rights on the game file:
chmod +x aThiefsMelody.*

  • Mac OS

Haha... I didn't test on Mac, because I don't have a Mac. But the beauty of Unity is that I can release on Mac from a Windows system anyway.
So, if Mac users out there want to give it a try and tell me what's wrong (or what's right, hopefully ;) ), you're most welcome!


What's new since the last demo?

You have to know the demo quests are more or less final at the moment. The next official demos (including this one) will only provide bug fixes and graphics/sound/music enhancement. I now focus my work on adding levels and quests for the final release, which won't be visible in this demo (especially new content).

The main new things I've done since October 2015 are:

Content
  • 1 new Boss : the Wind Guardian
  • Prototype of the new Boss arena
  • Upgrade of the hero design: now the character has a face and you can see the wind moving his hair and clothes. And his eyes blink too.
  • Master Josh now tells you to look in the 1st tutorial
  • More dialog lines for Tal and Iris
  • Upgrade of the Bo Dojo graphics: water stains with moving plants behind, lights, lanterns, light rays and fireflies
  • Update of the link messages HUD, now showing avatars and enabling a better browsing among messages.
  • Graphical update of the Eagle level: texture variations and adding an eagle-shaped rock on top of the level.
  • Adding small secret coves in the demo levels

Code & optimisation
  • Fix of the mouse wheel controls on the map
  • Fog issue fixes for various shaders
  • Fix of the bug where the character jumps on the edge of a cliff and stays blocked in the walking animation preventing him to climb
  • Lots of minor bug fixes
... And a lot of work for the Toulouse Game show too (banners/kakemono design, tee shirt, booth preparation, visit cards, ...)


What's broken ?


You didn't expect everything to work perfectly, did you? I'm aware of a few bugs/regressions/problems:
  • You can't change the default controls (because of the newly supported joypads). I plan to add a configuration screen later. If you try to change the controls in the popup screen appearing at the start of the game, you might totally break joypad support.
  • Joypads work, but the UI help is still designed for keyboard/mouse. So... just test buttons if you want to play on the joypad!
  • Some shaders don't work correctly on Linux and MacOS, among which the tree rendering.
  • Environments are still a bit empty
  • Some sounds must be re-designed  
  • The game lacks some music/sounds 
  • Some camera moves are a bit harsh/weird

 

Controls




Have fun! Peace!

        

Game Demo & Info: www.oneiricworlds.com
Follow me: Facebook, Twitter, Google+, IndieDB, Steam Greenlight, Mail, RSS



November 13, 2015

Next events

Hi!

This November month is extremely busy! For people who want to know more about the game or how I create it, you can find me at the following Events:

Toulouse Game Dev meeting 


November 18th at 19h at Etincelle Coworking (Toulouse)
https://www.facebook.com/events/156203508066244/
Free Entrance!

I'll talk about the challenge of creating a video game, the ups and downs, the tools I use and how I tackle all the issues I encounter.


Capitole du Libre

November 21st & 22nd at ENSEEIHT (Toulouse)
https://2015.capitoledulibre.org/
Free Entrance!

I'll make a conference on using Blender for video game creation (on Saturday) and a workshop/demo on creating simple cartoon assets for video game with Blender and Krita (on Sunday)

There are LOTS of other cool conferences on libre/free/open source softwares, so check them out on the link above.


Toulouse Game Show

November 28th & 29th at Parc des Expos (Toulouse)
http://www.toulouse-game-show.fr/

I'll have a booth in the Indie Game Zone with lots of my friends and colleagues of Toulouse Game Dev. You can test the game, talk with me and meet awesome indie game developers! And of course there are tons of other things to discover.



See you there!
        

Game Demo & Info: www.oneiricworlds.com
Follow me: Facebook, Twitter, Google+, IndieDB, Steam Greenlight, Mail, RSS


November 5, 2015

Patreon!

Here a quick post, but an important one!

For those of you who want to financially support me, I can now say that it is possible through my brand new patreon page:
https://www.patreon.com/oneiricworlds?ty=h

For those of you who don't know, Patreon is a website where you can support many creators (youtubers, musicians, artists, comics authors...) by giving them money regularly. There is absolutely no obligation, and you can stop at any moment. Depending on how much you give, you get various and cool rewards. Check it out, everything is described on the page!

It took me quite some time to set up, but I'm happy with the result. Oh! And don't hesitate to share it around you! I'm sure you all have geek friends and family who could be interested :) The more support I get, the more time I can spend on the game!

Thanks a lot folks!
        

Game Demo & Info: www.oneiricworlds.com
Follow me: Facebook, Twitter, Google+, IndieDB, Steam Greenlight, Mail, RSS


November 1, 2015

October 2015 Demo

And here is the last demo of A Thief's Melody, a 3D cartoon adventure/stealth game with a contemplative atmosphere, somewhere between "Zelda" and "Beyond Good and Evil". Don't hesitate to test/share/reblog/comment/like if you want to help me!







Beware: This is the alpha (=NOT FINAL) demo of October 2015. If you want to get the latest demo for sure, just check the official website.
Feedback & bug hunt: As usual, if you want to tell me what you think about the game, or if you find bugs, contact me at contact at oneiricworlds dot com
Get all the news: if you don't want to miss anything, subscribe, or follow me on facebook, twitter, or google+


Install Notes

  • Linux

Under Linux, you have to change the execution rights on the game file:
chmod +x aThiefsMelody.*

  • Mac OS

Haha... I didn't test on Mac, because I don't have a Mac. But the beauty of Unity is that I can release on Mac from a Windows system anyway.
So, if Mac users out there want to give it a try and tell me what's wrong (or what's right, hopefully ;) ), you're most welcome!


What's new since the last demo?

You have to know the demo quests are more or less final at the moment. The next official demos (including this one) will only provide bug fixes and graphics/sound/music enhancement. I now focus my work on adding levels and quests for the final release, which won't be visible in this demo (especially new content).

The main new things I've done since July 2015 are:

Content
  • 1 new boss: the Robot Kraken
  • Chapter 2 is now fully playable, including 2 dojos, 2 missions and 1 additional quest. Not everything is perfect yet, but at least, it's playable! It's more or less 1h30 of gameplay.
  • New chapter title screens
  • More ill animals on Zephyr Island and Eagle Island
  • Enemy state (KO) is now saved
  • Finally a trailer for the game! Check it out on the official website.
  • More cutscenes are skippable
  • The map now has a legend
  • 1 new level: the Governor's villa, fully playable, but still lacks lot of graphics.
  • Lots of new assets: spider webs, marble pilars, windows, carpets, furniture, cardboard boxes, shelves, chairs, tables, maple trees ... and as usual, wood crates of course.
  • The mouse is more sensitive now
  • Shorter delay before magnetic gauntlet reloads
  • Full new official website for the game with a clearer information display, in English and in French + updated portfolio
  • The game should now be compatible with 20+ classical joypads, including Xbox 360 pads. Sadly, this new update removes the possibility to change controls, at least for this release. I'll add a configuration screen later.
  • New screenshot feature capturing images up to 12000 x 9000 px (just for me ;) ). I use it to get graphical material for huge posters (yes I'm preparing for the Toulouse Game Show...)
  • New option to invert the camera Y axis
  • "New game" available from the in-game menu
  • "A Thief Melody" becomes "A Thief's Melody", because it was a mistake from me... Thanks to everybody who notified me.
Code & optimisation
    • Fix calling turtle in closed water zones
    • Optimisation of the mines level
    • Lots of bug fixes on the climbing system 
    • Bug fix of the hero walking on jars when attacking
    • Better fog rendering in the main menu
    • Fixes on available action during tutorials
    • Lots lots lots of various bug fixes


    What's broken ?


    You didn't expect everything to work perfectly, did you? I'm aware of a few bugs/regressions/problems:
    • You can't change the default controls (because of the newly supported joypads). I plan to add a configuration screen later. If you try to change the controls in the popup screen appearing at the start of the game, you might totally break joypad support.
    • Joypads work, but the UI help is still designed for keyboard/mouse. So... just test buttons if you want to play on the joypad!
    • The mouse wheel behaves weirdly in the map. Prefer the keyboard or joypad for zoom.
    • Some shaders don't work correctly on Linux and MacOS, among which the tree rendering.
    • Environments are still a bit empty
    • Some sounds must be re-designed  
    • The game lacks some music/sounds 
    • Some camera moves are a bit harsh/weird

     


    Controls




      Have fun! Peace!

              

      Game Demo & Info: www.oneiricworlds.com
      Follow me: Facebook, Twitter, Google+, IndieDB, Steam Greenlight, Mail, RSS