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

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!!