November 13th weekly update! Full swing Usagi Star!

Hello everyone!

So recently I think my biggest problems with my game projects has been that I usually start out by making a character, then making some vague game play and H ideas around them, and get started with making sprites/ art for the game. I make enemies, environments, and think up main set pieces I want in the game, but I never really establish the exact numbers of enemies I want or specifically what mechanics I want in the game and what it should revolve around. Due to this, I think when I get to the middle of the project, it tends to stall out and since I don't really have any direction with the project, I end up dropping it, which has already happened to some of the games I've announced.

To combat this I've started mapping out exactly what levels I want, what those levels should contain, the game's narrative, set pieces, number of animations I'll need, needed scripts, characters, enemies, you name it, BEFORE I start development. I think doing all this helps on those days where I feel like the project has stalled out since I can look at the schedule and see what needs to be done. It also allows me to not have to rely on pure passion for the project and instead can look at it as individual tasks I need to complete that leads to something bigger.

So I managed to set aside some time for work last week and worked on some of the sprites for Usagi Star. Kyrieru was kind enough to give me some feedback on the HUD sprite I made and it was a big help and helped me isolate some of the problems I was having while also giving me some new tricks to implement.

Original HUD

Updated HUD

Kyrieru's edit and tips for metal and lines

Kyrieru really helped me understand lighting and metal reflection. He also gave me a good tip about lining sprites in that you should try to minimize black lines inside the sprite and instead just use them for the outline and very dark places. The eyes and overall face shape we also changed as the colors allowed for a smoother "blend" and made them pop more. I also edited the helmet shape and the star to look more appealing.

I'll probably still tinker with it a bit, maybe changing the eyes a bit more or some of the reflected light, but once it's finished I'll do some other expressions and add in animations to it.

I'm also going to have little dialogue parts during game play that happen between Usagi and other characters. It'll be like the dialogue from Star Fox. The girl on the right is the contact for Caturn that called for Usagi's help and will be  navigator throughout the game.

I think this will spice up the game a bit and add a bit more to each character and boss.

Other than that I have a good idea what I want the first level to be so I will be making background assets for that for the next demo. So instead f the next demo just being a touch up based on the feedback I got last time, I'll be trying to incorporate more things that I want to be in the game. So instead of just a space level, the background will be a bit more interesting.

I'm still in the middle of a move, but I'm hoping to have the first level fleshed out by the end of the year. I still have some other projects I need to finish too so it's gonna be busy haha

Until next time!