Global Game Jam 2018 - FLU AWAY

This was my first time I entered in Game Jam and it was the Global Game Jam 2018.<
The theme was TRANSMISSION.

At the beginning, the adversities started, everyone has a team and only one who doesn't have one.... Don't need anyone, he's making the game alone. So, I have to start a game by myself. How the hell will I make a game alone!? That was my first thought but after the theme was announced, I start to think in a idea that I could manage to know how to do and finish in 48 hours. So I've come up with this idea.This year the Flu is more powerful then ever. There's a lot of people with the symptoms and the transmission is very easy.Avoid contact with people carrying it, they will slow you down and you have to catch the Subway train.After all, we still have to go to our job, right??Manage to catch the Subway train before time expires.Some screenshots from the home menu and the game play.

Online version here: 

https://gamejolt.com/games/fluaway/315663

pixel art family portraits

Started as a gift for my sister's family, it turned out to be a good way to train my Pixel Art technic and to make some money.

MONEY LORDS - Logo and studies

MONEY LORDS was the name chosen for the game, so now it's time to make the Logo.
Let's start for the name and logo studies.

To get some ideas for the Game name I've made a post in this Facebook Group, for people to help me after writing a short game story of the game. The most voted was CASH ONLY.

Player Death Animations

Hello, I'll show to you more stuff I added to the game.

Player Death animations, here's the first sketch animations and the finals in 2D pixelart.
The challenge was to make the animations showing the Player getting hit from the back as also from the front.

As you can see, in the final animations I've changed the first animation a bit, the Player now falls to the other side, just to make it different.

Character design for Enemies and NPC's

Some 2D Pixel Art characters Design for the game.

Enemies:

The Dollar - The Boss

 The Analyst

The Banker

Time for a new game

Now that's ACE of SPACE is finished and the worst part of the Game Development process continues (the game promotion), between this I'm starting to develop a game idea I had before ACE of SPACE.

The game is a platform game where you play as a Secret Agent. Is from the Old School, charming, middle age, but don't trust in his appearance, he still's a deadly weapon.

The story goes around this, you have been assigned to a mission where you have to neutralize the Market guys, the one's who controls the Global Market, the Brokers, Bankers, Analyst, rating Agencies, and the list goes on and on til the BOSS the DOLLAR.
Here's some of them already made with the last style.

The BOSSES from the ACE of SPACE

This were the ones I really loved to make, the BOSSES SpaceShips.

Some of them are the same ( in the first and last Boss Stages). Here you can see the sketches and the final 3D models, also see them in some gameplay.

Whit no more to say, I'll let the images speak for them self.

After my first sketches, went to Blender to start modelling them.

ACE of SPACE Desktop version

That's right, Desktop versions of ACE of SPACE already published in two major gaming sites, GameJolt and Itch.io!!

The first thing was to put all the graphics arranged for a new platform, in the Mobile it is Portrait in the Desktops it's better if is Landscape. Resizing everything from the UI, moving UI assets from the top to the side, and doing that in all the levels.

ACE of SPACE Release!

Hello everyone!!

Finally the most anticipated game was released, it's on the Google Play.

Been in production for about a year, with some projects in the middle, the game is published! It's hard when we have to make that decision "is it ready?" For us, Game Developers, it seems is never ready, we saw flaws where most people don't see, but I have to set it free, I spent more time than I was expected, but I think the final product is good, I like to play it and play it a lot.

ACE of SPACE more improvements.

Hello,

As soon has i got the time to put my hands again on the Ace of Space, i've notice that many things has to be changed for a better gameplay and feeling. After seeing this tutorial about following a path using Waypoints I've managed to create some paths (using Arrays) and put the enemies follow them. Unfortunately it was not perfect, as I'm using Pooling Objects on Unity, after the second round became active they start to use only one path, this was (and still is) a major problem. After reviewing the code over and over again, managed to put the enemies random choosing the paths available in the array every time they became active on the Scene, with a minor error that is, if they start on path one and another enemy enters on path two, the path one enemy goes the path two also. DAMN IT!!! almost done.

ACE of SPACE more levels Design

Hello,

ACE of SPACE has the V8ORS-Flying Rat base code on it and was thought on a Endless gameplay. As I implement more enemies to the game, the first Alpha test was launched and the feedbacks start to eat me. The one I consider the most important was the game lag, this was worst in the old phones.

This was caused for the increment of more Enemies to the game. The solution was to make it by levels, increasing the workload more than I was expecting, with that, more time to develop the game,
but it had to be done and quickly.

The hard work of promoting a game

When we first approach to making a game we think "doing a game will be a huge project!!". If making a Site sometimes all the UX studies we made, where to put the content, what is more relevant and so on take time and work, making a game is that elevated by two hundred times!!

In a game you have the Story, the Game Document, Game Art, Ui Design, User Experience, Sound and the coding and this is not as simple and in a small scale like a webpage.

Besides this, the most part of the time it's all done by one person, like my case.

ACE of SPACE - UI Design

After creating the logo, it's time to change al the UI to the new image.
The first screenshot is from the Main Menu. The first approach is to keep it simple and straightforward.

Main Menu

The name and logo

After selecting from a huge list of possible names, ACE of SPACE was the name chosen for the game.

The next step was to make the logo. Of course it wasn't at first, after making some sketches, it was time to make it on the computer.

The main idea was to create a badge, like the one's used by the WW II pilots and appealing to use it on a t-shirt. I think that the goal was achieved.

Programming learning curve - Creating a SHMUP

My adventure in the programming world has been improving step by step.

It's very rewarded to being able to implement improvements, understand the code and what it does.

The new improvements made were:

- Different squad formation

- New path flight from the enemies

- Health Manager, now you get the chance to being hit 5 times and if catch the Energy Box it will increase to the max.

- A Bomb, to use when is your last resource, or not! It works by points, after using the Bomb it starts active after x points.

     

Some SpaceShips concepts

Meanwhile, I've made some SpaceShips concepts for another Shoot'Em Up game, that's the kind of game I really like.

The lowpoly style is still present, it's a matter of taste, i really like this kind of 3D!
The game happens in the deep space, there's no name for it yet, but yesterday one came in a brainstorm and in the next post it's possible that I reveal it.

Shoot'Em Up Concepts

I'll be using the V8ORS-Flying Rat base code and work from there. Already disable the Facebook login he has, put more movement on the enemies but the most important was the starting of understanding the code.

More features like a Health Bar, a Energy Box that you can pick up and restore some of the Health lost.

Shoot'Em Up Concepts

previous features will be:
- A bomb that will destroy everything in the screen.
- Big bosses to destroy.

Hope you guys like the first concepts.
Cheers!!

Programming learning

It's time to step to another level, it's not enough to have a simple knowledge of programming, my goal is to learn C# to use it in Unity3D.
 As a Illustrator/Designer my way to approach to programming is not the best, I have to had a better understanding of the programming concepts, knowing what to use to solve a problem or achieve my objectives.

I've made a personal objective to create a side scroller shooter, the main reason to this approach and not the previous one, the Spy game, is because I've already have all the V8ORS 3D assets needed to the project, so I can spent my time on programming and not on creating assets and animations, the other reason is that I really love this kind of games, they are the one's that makes me playing when I have some spare time.
In this version I'll try to make levels, final bosses, upgrading the airplane and make more models for the player to choose. Squads formations, more enemies and levels. In time and with knowledge perhaps more features will be added.

Stay tuned for more news!!

More Platform game ideas

In the previous post i started the Platform project with a  idea that soon turns out not so good. Like many things in live, start over again.

Character, scenario sketchs

This time the story is about a Secret Agent, who see's himself in a mission that went wrong and put's him a long sleep for decades.
Inspired by the everyday news about the Market and the "importance" of the Economics, i had the idea, "why not take all these guys and put them in a game?".
That's what i have done, the main story is about this Secret Agent sent to eliminate the "Dolar" a well know criminal that has been operating in the Financial Markets. Every one knows that who controls the Market controls the Governments, therefore controls everything.
We saw what happened when the FMI entered in Greece, Ireland and in Portugal, the place where i live, It's very hard for us, the people, who had to pay the Banks mistakes, the politics corruption and anything else they have made it wrong and we have to pay.

With this i asked myself, "Who really are the real criminals?". The one's who are in the streets and the news talks about! Or the one's who "creates" this street thugs, because they created the Economic to collapse and therefore have all the right to avoid this collapse?
Based on this i've created several criminals inspired by the the people who works in the financial world.

Game Characters

Our Hero is on the right, a talented Secret Agent trained by the best. From left to right we have " Suit", "Investor", "Analist", "Banker"and finally the Boss, "Dolar".

The main characters were created, now is time to the scenarios. Based on the main idea i started to sketch images that support the story, but unfortunately my sketch book was stolen with all my things and at this moment i don't have nothing else to show besides the stuff i had in my computer.

Scenario study whit actions and annotations

Scenario ambient and colours studies

The basic gameplay studies, interactions and "to do's" in the game, also game objects ideas, moving platforms start to take shape, next the approach to the scenario colours, light and ambiance.

Stay tuned for more news!!

Platform game ideas

After seeing on Youtube a tutorial about creating a Platform game, i though to myself "can i do this?" When i finish all the videos (i strongly recommend, see it here) and all the possibilities i could do, it was time to start sketching the story, characters, scenarios and gameplay, all based on what i've learned in the tutorials and with my basic programming knowledge.

Overall scenario sutdy

Things start to shape, the first story was about a ship crashed in a "trash" planet, a place where all the trash is sent, and the gravity made the rest, a giant junkyard that is orbiting around a sun.

details about the path the players has to do

Incredible as it looks, the planet manages to have some life on it, cyborg animals and plants mutated there. So, the ships crashes and there's only one thing that can save our wounded human pilot, is trusty Robot, he has the mission to go out and get all the parts the ship needs, avoiding the various hazards he may find in his mission.

Sketches

When doing this i felt that this is not the way, it lacks something and i didn't know what it is, meanwhile my Hard Disk broke and, like most of us, the backup i've made didn't had this process yet, "I TOLD YOU SO!!" everyone said to me :(

The time i spent in getting a new disk gave me the opportunity to clarify the idea, the concepts and realize that perhaps this was not a good idea, i'm not attempting to make the best game ever, probably in the future, for now, i just want to make games and learn about it.

The V8ORS-Flying Rat Saga

This was my first game project i've made, do all the artwork, the design, game document, sound, almost everything apart the real coding of it, but i'm learning and my next project will be a game all made by me.

The main goal of this game was to create a game like the good old arcade type of feeling. A game where you have to train your Shoot'Em Up skills to avoid enemy fire and the ability to shoot' them down, a straight forward game but with the "Easy to learn, hard to master" concept apply to it.

it all started as a V8 Engine on airplanes, the love for the WW II aviation made the rest as a base idea. The game started to have some shape, the first prototype were tested and after a while it was launched in the Google Play Store.

Did he went well? Not really! Did i learn with it? A LOT!
I didn't expected to have success at first, like most of the people think when a game is launched, i knew that when it was released almost a hundred games, or more, were released at the same time to the stores around the world.
But i had to!! Instead of writing a book, i've made a game, some saying that in life everyone must plant a tree, have a child and write a book, the first ones i already made, a proud Dad, a Bonsai enthusiast, it misses writing a book, as you noticed i'm very poor at writing, so this is the reason why i've made the game.

The learning i've taken from this experienced was the most important. Know how to deal with the Ads campaigns, knowing how much do we have to had to invest in it (i had and still had none to invest on this part of the process), the small things that i never had though.

My next one i'll try to avoid the errors, apply what i learned in the process and do it in my free times, it's not possibly for now to live as a game developer and most of all with only one game of course!!