Dungeon Fantasy Adventure (dungeon crawl)
Community Forums/Showcase/Dungeon Fantasy Adventure (dungeon crawl)
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| This week I changed the code I was working on for a fantasy game into a dungeon crawl game for mobile (Android). It is available on the play store soon (once it is approved..should be a few hours). Here are some screenshots taken from the store page.....      |
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| Title screen looks inconsistent when compared to the rest. It should be similarily pixelated as the hero figures. But then...it does no longer fit to the gameplay graphics. They are classic-console-like and not retro-pixelstyle. The gameplay gfx alone looks good and fitting. So to unify things ..you need to overhaul the title screen graphics and the hero selection. Might play it when finding some spare time. Bye Rkn |
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| I agree with Derron, try to keep a consistent graphics style, in this case this means same (approximately) pixel/texel size and no blurry effect around the shapes (some image editors allow to do that, some don't) |
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| Ok, watching the screens now on my desktop (24") compared to my smartphone (~5"): - the arrows to control movement are not "centered". This is especially obvious on the "arrow up" - the units are "fine/detailled" while the tiles and walls somehow look as if they got scaled 2x, so they miss details - border of the "white round rectangles" is not anti-aliased but pixelated-white Suggestion: - to make it look a bit like "watching as god on your dungeon", add a inset-shadow (left side and top side) of the dungeon. The shadow should be "retro style" so a semitransparent black 2-3px border, no "fade out" needed - the inventory (right sided white-rounded-rectangle) just looks not like an inventory. Or is it some kind of "chest, weapon, shield, spell"-thingy (normally with a "body-shape" in the background) ? In all cases: make it occupy less space, make it look more "self describing", so eg. place a light rectangle on each spot, so people know: ahh you could place something there (or collect it somewhen) - make the text on the "control rectangle" look a bit more fitting: better font choice, text align and especially MORE GRAPHICAL. So instead of "HP 10/10" you should have it Health [xxxxxx] 10/10 Mana [xxx ] 8/16 ... The enemies could get additional "markers" to see how strong they are (eg.small shields indicating how "hard" they are to kill, or if they are "Champions"). There is surely potential in your game but it needs to distinguish a lot from existing ones (play "Pixel dungeons" if you want). If you need help on graphics/gui/ ... I am pretty sure we as community might help a bit here and there. bye Ron |
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| gratz for finishing a game (thats not easy to do). As some have said the graphic style is inconsistent which is a little jarring but might look okay when rendered on a 5" screen. good luck it's neigh on impossible to get any exposure on Android, I know this from experience, three games on the platform and prob got <1000 download between them. ;.( |
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| Yeah....I recognise the graphics style is inconsistent...there's not a lot I can do about that unless I hire an artist - I'm not very good at artwork....I also recognise there are a few issues with polish but a part of me is beyond caring at this stage - if I put the extra effort in, and funds in to get these things changed it is not going to translate into any extra downloads....I've spent enough time on the android google play store over the last couple of years to know that nothing I do..not even advertising...will 'acquire quality users' for any of my games...similar to coffeedotbean - I've got about 5 apps on the play store with the biggest one having about a 1000-2000 downloads but all the others are a couple of hundred at best and 0-5 at worst....I've kind of given up expecting to find any users on the google play store I just put my stuff up there in case anyone comes across it and wants to play a fun little game...which I do believe they are fun. |
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| You do not need to hire an artist for many things I noted above....you just need time and patience. Doing some artwork like arrows will improve your skills (a slight bit) but also sharpens your view for little mistakes. Bye Ron |
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| my graphics are all consistant in my games, there all bad :) this looks great. |
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| @Matty>>have you made the characters shapes/colors yourself ? They are nice. The characters and the doors have the same "perspective", but the walls seem to have a different "perspective" which looks weird. But other than the inconsistencies of the pixels/texels size and of the sharp/blurry edges, i like the looks of the characters and of the tiles. There is a some potential here. Maybe try to create a character customization system where you use always the same body pose for each character but you add different equipement (armors, weapons) on it. |
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| i would think the graphics are oryx 8-bit for the map and oryx 16-bit for the characters. |
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| you would be right Adam. |
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| my suggestion would be to keep the style of graphics consistent. the main figure doesn't look sorta right in terms of scale. doubling him 'looks/feels' right :  next up is the health/stats. for the sake of simplicity. lets drop one of them. so we can focus os just the important stuff (could be health, or magic, or shield) <- simplify they are too small and distracting to make the bigger. monsters usually have more of a vertical alignment, so why no go with a vertical arrangement. and show full from empty so you have a visual cue that something is going down:  So to recap: match, enlarge, simplify, color. You would then need to apply this to any effects (they should feel right and not get in the way) and fonts: they must match. and lastly and other screens. If you don't have the graphics chops - DONT ADD SOMETHING YOU RAN UP WITH A LAWNMOWER! Enlage the main figure and just use a darkened gradient Here's the best tip. I'm a customer. I've seen loads of crap all day. and I'm going to look at your stuff for about 3 seconds and not read anything apart from a few words that take my interest. If it looks like crap or things don't sit well (scifi font for a dungeon crawler for example) you've just lost me and I've moved on... ;) look how it sits with the tiles - nicely positioned and sized Also note that the new background is faded black - it's much better to have black as a null background not other colors. black look visually better and finally:  this is now bigger, simpler and more phone friendly. you have the ability to move in half jumps which is more interesting in terms of game mechanics. next up would be to twerk the color of the walls to be more harmonious. and we would need to stretch the door over 2 cells:  you could then have your items as single cells and they look right too... Maybe slightly desaturate the background tiles and darken slightly. to make things on top of them pop a bit more and i'm done:  |
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| Good ideas. Question on mechanical gameplay issues: with doubling size / halfstep you need to allow diagonal attacks as units might come from one side and the level layout does not allow for a perfect up/down/left/right meeting spot. Also level design must make sure there is enough place to be able to move...so no narrow paths of "tile+tileWithBlockingObject"-paths. @hp bar A shields could still be placed on the other side. Alternatively extra hard enemies could get a yellowish-orange healthbar to show their unordinary and inhuman will to life. Bye Ron |
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| yup - what Derron said |
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| I don't like the idea of the health bar on the side. Maybe put it on top like command and conquer ? (This is a detail and a matter of personal tastes) However the consistency of the pixel/texel size, and of the sharp/blurry edges, and of the perspective, and of the scale of each thing related to the others things, is not a matter of personal tastes but a matter of making things look consistent/coherent so that they fit in the world. |
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| Another thing: if you make your tiles/sprites look "pixelated", do not forget to use a bitmap font for drawing the texts too - and this then scaled 2x of course. "Retro games" of today tend to have "smooth shadows" while their "made art" is pixelated. Same for light/effects. @ RemiD a left-handed healthbar is a good thing, if the units using that healthbar are mostly "taller" than "thick". So a 15x30px unit needs a left handed one, while a 30x15 would most likely cover the HP bar. The units in Mattys game seem to have the "taller than thick" option choosen. So a left-right-positioned health bar is a "free space"-optimization. @ weapons in pixel art While animation of pixel art is harder (you have to redraw many portions instead of just moving some bones and render the automatically tweened frames) it is easier to replace weapons and armor, just because there are less details (only if pixelart is "scaled" and not also in "4k" ;-)). @ sorcerer you know a "typical" sorcerer cannot wear shields but wears magic bulbs, lanterns or whatever. So you might introduce class-specific weapons/armor. If you are interested we ("community") could surely help creating some assets or ideas. Thinking of "spikes out of the ground"-spell-effects, Frozen cones, ... As I did not play it yet: hope you introduced traps already, or holes in a level (first hit on a ground: breaking more and more, second move over it, first holes and last move: hole and dead). Introduce different doors: wooden ones could be opened with enough attacks (warrior) or spells like "fire" (mage). Introduce lighting: torches and fire places in levels (which you can light up). Light removes some power / harmfullness of the "dark powers coming from hell". (while I of course also like the opposite dungeon way: you have to defend the invading knights who want to steal treasures for their kingdom - and this "view to dungeons" allows for really filthy and dirty traps, jokes and gameplay options). bye Ron |
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| a left-handed healthbar is a good thing, if the units using that healthbar are mostly "taller" than "thick". So a 15x30px unit needs a left handed one, while a 30x15 would most likely cover the HP bar. The units in Mattys game seem to have the "taller than thick" option choosen. So a left-right-positioned health bar is a "free space"-optimization. @Derron>>blahblah your opinion ;) |
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| @Matty>>what is the name of this game ? Is it finished or wip ? I would be curious to try a demo when it is ready... |
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| Hi RemiD - it is called 'Dungeon Fantasy Adventure' by 'mattiesgames' on the Android Google Play store. As far as I'm concerned it is finished. You can play it of course, but I'm not likely to implement any further changes and I'm a little tired of hearing criticisms (seems it is all I get when I post anything I create on here - it drains you after a while) It's had 0 downloads and according to Google '2' people visit the store page so it would be nice to have at least 1 download. Thanks. Matt |
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| My play store entries |
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| I would like to get critics for my game. Critics show that people "look into" the project. If you want to get "ohh cool game. applause"-replies, you should not write in a programmers forum :-) But as you wanted it: cool, you finished a game (happens not that often). @ 0 downloads 2 visits As said the screenshots already stop one from even trying. There is a mixture of "good looking pixel art" and "hand drawn style-background". It just looks as if someone took whatever he found (regardless of whether both arts/graphics came from the same origin). People will judge your game _without_ playing it. I know 100% critics and no nice words will _disencourage_ people to do things. but 100 "nice words" without critics will not help yourself to develop further / improve. _Imho_ I would ask the community for help to improve the game graphics to look more consistent. And hey, even if it does not lead to new downloads - you surely attracted some players from _here_ to look into your game. I assume you saw how AdamStrange got attached to Mainsworthies game - maybe try a collaboration there (even if it does _not_ look visually like _you_ imagined at the begin). He already wrote in your thread, so the awareness is already there. Instead of sticking your head into the ground now, it is time to take the next step: try a collaboration (I assume you - like me - did not do that here, so it is at least a try). You seem to be able to code something "useful". So I think the "artists" (or collaborateurs) are trusting you to fulfill a common goal/project. bye Ron |
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| No Derron..I don't mind criticism most of the time...I'm in a prickly mood when it comes to software development at the moment....could be that Christmas is around the corner...stressful time....or it could just be that I'm tired of making things and not getting anywhere with them....most of the time I don't mind criticism but right now I'm in a sour mood that is making me less amenable to constructive criticism.. |
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| Maybe you should mention if you are open for a collaboration on this game. I assume we (in the sense of "you + community users") could improve the game somehow. I think you are a capable programmer - and yes, I always think too: why are you coding your game for years now - and then only 1-2.000 people download your current release (nearly 15 yrs development - 2.000 downloads "a month"). But then you receive these "Thanks for the wonderful game" reviews and you know: THIS is why you are doing it. bye Ron |
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| Hmm...collaboration....maybe not this game...maybe another one that I write...It would be good to work with people who have a better eye for visuals...but I want to come up with a design for something that I will really enjoy playing myself....that's hard...and then to share the idea here maybe and see if anyone is interested in working alongside me on it. The thing to consider though is this - in my opinion it is next to impossible to make any money or get anywhere significant as a solo developer or small team - so there would be zero financial incentive - it would have to simply be for the love of the type of game we would be making. |
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| I am here "for the love of the type of game". I do not see any financial incentive in my blitzmax-works (except the ones I do for my "dayjob"-work :-)). I still have some game-prototypes lying around for which I am just not finding the time to finish coding - while I think they would make up "okay" casual games. If you interested in doing the code, while I am doing the GFX: a Frozen Bite remake and a "whack a mole with a twist" are still awaiting their finish :-) Ok, regardless of this self-advertising: I am open to help on jump'n'runs (never did a "Super Hyario Sisters" :-), doing economic simulations, to do an r-type clone ... There are so many ideas which could be poured into products: it just needs enough motivation and a bit of skill coding-wise, I think the coding skill is existing on your side. But as you recognized already: it wont generare income yet. But is that so bad? Some of these games might generate a _bit_ of buzz somewhen, and _this_ is then the time to bring a cash cow to the users. (it is like fuel for a starting rocket - with chances for an accidental explosion). bye Ron |
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| No...income is fine if it doesn't generate any....I'm thinking at the moment about 'what I can make'...not sure on that front....I want to make something that I would enjoy playing myself - but that is actually quite a difficult thing to come up with....need to contemplate some ideas....give me some time to think up something and we can speak again about this.... |
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| @Matty>>i have tried your game, and while the graphics are nice enough, the gameplay is too primitive imo... I did not understand how to pick up an item (found in a chest), or how to equip/unequip the armor/weapon. I suggest to add a help screen with instructions (maybe it already exists) The combat system is ok but too primitive imo, maybe add a way for the user to increase its attack value (critical hit) or defense value (dodge) by pressing a key at the right time ? The blood animation is rather cool but i suggest to make the blood spreads only on the cell where the character is. A big improvement would be to create different bodies/armors/weapons and to build each character shape/colors depending on that. (since your characters are not animated, it would be easy to do that) The screens where you mix your own drawings and scaled up "pixelated" characters are not consistent with the graphics style of the game. I suggest to modify them in order to keep the same graphics style. These are just some critics/suggestion after a quick play, do what you want with it... |
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| Thanks RemiD for at least playing it. You are the first and only person aside from myself to play the game...well done.... Yeah...I'm probably not going to change all the suggestions....I could spend hours and hours revamping it and making it better but for what purpose...so maybe one other person could download it...? There's just no point - it's invisible on the play store. I'm just a bit flattened by the lack of presence any of my games I've made this year have had...even last year's one which was a 10 month effort - quite a lot for a mobile game - resulted in an invisible app.... Regarding the combat system being too primitive though - I like it...and I don't think it is too simple considering it is on mobile. Thanks for playing it though.... |
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| You might at least put the playstore link here... To pave the way for easy installs. Bye Ron |
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| I'm just a bit flattened by the lack of presence any of my games I've made this year have had...even last year's one which was a 10 month effort - quite a lot for a mobile game - resulted in an invisible app.... "Invisible app" tell me about it, I created three mobile games (see sig.), games I spent a good amount of time and some money creating only for them to disappear into the void. That's why I moved back to BMAX and desktop games and posting on itchi.io. Sure I still don't get all the downloads and feedback i'd like but I don't feel like my effort just evaporated as it did with mobile. I'll admit I've not played D.F.A as it's just not my cuppa tea. You really need to catch lighting in bottle nowadays to gain any real success with game development because there are so many doing it. |
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| Like said somewhere some days ago: you need to arouse a certain amount of interest with _one_ product - afterwards the successors will benefit from it. So this might mean you need to make a game which is not "your cup of tea" but good/"in" enough to get promoted by some letsplayers. Also surely attracting: games looking as if they are playable by children but get harder to master in later stages (requirement for walkthroughs or even youtube-walkthroughs). But it does not matter what we write: if one would have the perfect "success formula" he wouldn't tell it to us - would he? bye Ron |
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