Metroid: Space Complex

[Flower]

when i see how far we have come im waiting for someone to turn nestroid 1 into strategy game.
I mean at this moment we have almost turn this game into a metroid zm.

Sudokutroid!

... yepp Metroid has gotten some facelift :)

[Flower]

So now i want to introduce you to the development of Parallax Wood.




more objects / test screen

[dewhi100]

That's looking super good Flower. Had no idea that Nestroid could handle that many layers.

[Steel Sparkle]

That is pretty good! Like the look and the scrolling. Didn't know the NES could do that.

[Flower]

Today i just polished the torch and flames graphics / animation





this is latest, opted many things some users mentioned. work in progress and still i'm trial 'n erroring till it all looks fine.
but alas, this is it for today i'm done. taking a break, continue soon ;)

[altoiddealer]

Would be interesting if the ice beam could destroy the flames  :?:

[Flower]

Would be interesting if the ice beam could destroy the flames  :?:

Hmm interesting, as of now I could design the flames destructable, but this would include normal shots as well.
on the other hand they are hurting tiles, and then they cannot be destructable at the same time.

When destructable the flames would resemble castlevania's candles in that they could theoretically hold upgrades ;] but they wouldn't hurt anymore, totally different use case. Now you got me thinking!

[Flower]

Feel the Heat!




added some tiles and made the animation a tad slower.

[grynold]

This looks really good! Haven't been as excited for a new Metroid hack since Rogue Dawn. Take your time and make it great =)

[Flower]

This looks really good! Haven't been as excited for a new Metroid hack since Rogue Dawn. Take your time and make it great =)

Thanks & I will! :)

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I changed the heat animation from 8 frames per animation frame to 10 after a user on RHDN suggested it:


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This is my latest Desert WIP test screen. It's not finished, but i want to go in a different direction here, with the absence of black, different palettes and style.

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Regarding the Wood's palette:
Yes, i took the opportuniy to split the discussed palette into a fore- and background palette.
This does also mean, i have one palette less for use in that screen.
But, here is how that turned out:


I am working on more, coherent tiles for the woods, in which the surface blends with dirt hills. It's an unfinished draft.


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All in all i was inactive the last few weeks, but will continue whenever i feel so. It's a Game i only like to work with dictated by mood and motivation. I can't force myself to do it.

Cheers.

[Steel Sparkle]

Looking really nice so far.

[Flower]

Hi folks,

i think it's about time to inform you that i'm working on Space Complex' Tilesets eagerly.
I changed to PyxelEdit in favor of Photoshop, which pushed my workflow in Tileset creation by tons. It's great!

I was working on the starting area the last two days, this is the outcome so far:










Cheers! =)

[Flower]

and there's more to this area, the environment grows, details show up.
Tileset Status Quo

[Flower]

Due to my new full time job i will have less time for hacking. Despite that i will go and continue working on it whenever i can and feel like doing so.

Here are some examples of what i've done recently:

Some little companion
[spoiler][/spoiler]

The slow emergence of Cave Rock
I began with the shapes first, and then layers of shading and highlights. itsa long work, but it's good.


First Level Design test screens in Brinstar /w the new Tileset


Cheers.

[dewhi100]

Congrats on the job! And good update

[Steel Sparkle]

good job on landing a full time job :)
Like those screen caps.

[Aclectico]

This is great - I'm excited to try it out someday.

Looking through the progress, I was impressed with the heat animation. I see your latest efforts have been in Photoshop. Did you use Free Transform to try a few things until the distortion looked correct? Or, did you try some other method? I've created a heat animation in the by painstakingly distorting and moving multiple layers to use as frames with Free Transform. But, I'm sure there are more efficient strategies out there.

[Flower]

This is great - I'm excited to try it out someday.

Looking through the progress, I was impressed with the heat animation. I see your latest efforts have been in Photoshop. Did you use Free Transform to try a few things until the distortion looked correct? Or, did you try some other method? I've created a heat animation in the by painstakingly distorting and moving multiple layers to use as frames with Free Transform. But, I'm sure there are more efficient strategies out there.

Hey Aclectico,
if i were you i would take a deep look into the background animations of Lower Norfair. That's what i did, too. You can learn a lot from those talented guys. :) I took what was there and "translated" their animation efforts to NES restrictions (first and foremost less palettes and colours).
The actual creation process within Photoshop was hand drawn / pixelled. I didn't use any dedicated tools like this transform thing. Painstaking is a good word, sure.
In the meantime i switched to PyxelEdit for Tileset Creation in general, and Aseprite whenever sprites or animations are involved.
My personal workflow has advanced immensely since.
Photoshop is great for what it can do but in my opinion it's not tailored enough for Pixel Works. Just a side note.

[Aclectico]

Thanks for your thoughts. And yeah, I've found Photoshop to be great for general purpose. But, more and more I've been thinking about trying something new and more dedicated when it comes to pixel art (especially for animation purposes). Aseprite sounds interesting - I'll check it out.

[dewhi100]

I just saw the Norfair effect. NEStreoid shouldn't be allowed to look so good.

[Flower]

atm i'm playing through a lot of metroidvanias on steam. kind of the reason why i'm not that actively hacking, though i'm getting lots of inspiration in doing so, which is good in the long run. greets to y'all and stay safe!

[Flower]

Hello!

And this hot area is meant to be accompanied by this track i composed late summer.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/519241262029602826/697088037334548550/Leitton_2.0.mp3

I did break the long time hacking hiatus. Trying to organize my works more to make more progress. This actual quarantine situation is quite well suited for hacking, so i took the opportunity. Hope you're all doing great and stay healthy! Cheers

[altoiddealer]

Just some feedback:
It looks kind of odd to me, that the bottom left corner of that stone seems to be the roundest corner, yet the critter makes a 90 degree turn on it.
Also how it clips into the top left/right corners.  Given your remarkable eye for detail, I'm willing to bet that you are already working on doing something about this?

[Flower]

Getting the physics right especially with that additional slope detection is everything but easy. I have an eye on that, that's sure.
EDIT Oh and the critters can only turn 90° wise by the way

[Flower]

Just some feedback:
It looks kind of odd to me, that the bottom left corner of that stone seems to be the roundest corner, yet the critter makes a 90 degree turn on it.
Also how it clips into the top left/right corners.  Given your remarkable eye for detail, I'm willing to bet that you are already working on doing something about this?

As the Critter movement is restrained to 90° angles, i made it solid tiles all around the meteorite / stone. I think that's a better compromise, especially visually, what do you think @altoiddealer?
Furthermore you see some design splashes from Surface Level = Brinstar.
Happy Easter everyone.