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ADDING VISUAL UPGRADES.
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Radnen
1806
Radnen
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CloseSo, I am making a space game called StarFront (interested go to my user page). Anyways, I'm on the fence with one issue:
There will be upgrades purchasable in the game.
1. Should upgrades be visible on the ship, but make less ships purchasable. (So, not many varieties of ships, but major upgrades can be seen on your ship graphically).
2. Major upgrades are equipped like normal, but your ship doesn't change appearance. Yet, there are more to choose from. (Many varieties, but no visuals).
The benefit of point 1 is that you can make your ship look however you want. In Sphere this is easier to manage, unlike RM I don't have to swap out spritesets/charsets or employ tricks to do this. You become a 'paper doll' of upgrades.
The benefit of point 2 is more and interesting looking ships.
So what do you guys think. I'd like to do both, but I'm ls trying to limit the art because I don't have a crack team of artists.
There will be upgrades purchasable in the game.
1. Should upgrades be visible on the ship, but make less ships purchasable. (So, not many varieties of ships, but major upgrades can be seen on your ship graphically).
2. Major upgrades are equipped like normal, but your ship doesn't change appearance. Yet, there are more to choose from. (Many varieties, but no visuals).
The benefit of point 1 is that you can make your ship look however you want. In Sphere this is easier to manage, unlike RM I don't have to swap out spritesets/charsets or employ tricks to do this. You become a 'paper doll' of upgrades.
The benefit of point 2 is more and interesting looking ships.
So what do you guys think. I'd like to do both, but I'm ls trying to limit the art because I don't have a crack team of artists.
Radnen
1806
I guess if I add the ability for players to draw their own upgrades under point 1, then I'm sure it'd be a no brainer.
Would you guys care if you can draw your own upgrades (wings, body, bullets, etc)? Or do you guys fear that poor drawing skills can make the experience detrimental? Also, know that you would be modifying a base image, so you wouldn't be left with a blank slate to make your ship from.
Would you guys care if you can draw your own upgrades (wings, body, bullets, etc)? Or do you guys fear that poor drawing skills can make the experience detrimental? Also, know that you would be modifying a base image, so you wouldn't be left with a blank slate to make your ship from.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
Squiggly penis ships for everyone
merrill
0
Visual upgrades are very nice. I wouldn't implement it at the expense of gameplay, though, assuming customization is a big part of it. While it's very nice to be able to see your character (or, in this case, ship) gradually look coolor as they get stronger, well-rounded options and gameplay should come before visuals.
Drawing your own upgrades would be neat if it makes sense in the context of the game, but from the way you describe your game it seems like it would feel rather out of place.
Drawing your own upgrades would be neat if it makes sense in the context of the game, but from the way you describe your game it seems like it would feel rather out of place.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
Yeah, penis-bullets and penis-wings aside, what merrill said is absolutely undeniably true. Gameplay comes first, graphics come second. Every time, no matter what, no excuses.
Shinan
4314
I say visuals over upgrades any day. Usually 500 upgrades are too many anyway. Making each graphical will limit the amount and make you think more about what kind of upgrades you put in. (and thus strengthening the gameplay in the long run!)
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
If you think a lower number will actually strengthen the gameplay then do that. But from the OP it sounded like you thought more upgrades would be a good idea and the only reason not to do them was the extra graphics work needed. Do whatever you think is best for the gameplay.
Even the handful of people who care about graphics aren't going to even look at the graphics after the first hour or so anyway. They're going to be concentrating on strategizing and winning by that point, and they're going to keep playing as long as it's fun. Graphics are all about the first impression.
Even the handful of people who care about graphics aren't going to even look at the graphics after the first hour or so anyway. They're going to be concentrating on strategizing and winning by that point, and they're going to keep playing as long as it's fun. Graphics are all about the first impression.
Radnen
1806
Well, both ideas will have the same amount of graphics work. Neither of them saves me time in that department. Doing both however is not what I want, because its either or, but not both because both would take too much work.
Anyways, having users draw their own in-game graphics would indeed seem out of place... But maybe not necessarily. Its about how its done. If I gave free drawing reign then it'd be more of a scribble game. But if there are presets that you can pick and choose and make "stamps" from then it'd feel like you're designing your own space ship, which could very well work into the game as planned.
By doing the stamp method I think I'll be saving time on drawing graphics while adding numerous customization options, all while not looking like penis shaped wings or bullets. :) The idea is you could select from preset wings, bodies, thrusters, cockpits, etc, and stamp them into a final ship image - perhaps based on the components you find from exploring.
Also I know gameplay must come before graphics, but that is strictly not what I'm talking about. Save that for another topic, but thanks for the reminder.
Anyways, having users draw their own in-game graphics would indeed seem out of place... But maybe not necessarily. Its about how its done. If I gave free drawing reign then it'd be more of a scribble game. But if there are presets that you can pick and choose and make "stamps" from then it'd feel like you're designing your own space ship, which could very well work into the game as planned.
By doing the stamp method I think I'll be saving time on drawing graphics while adding numerous customization options, all while not looking like penis shaped wings or bullets. :) The idea is you could select from preset wings, bodies, thrusters, cockpits, etc, and stamp them into a final ship image - perhaps based on the components you find from exploring.
Also I know gameplay must come before graphics, but that is strictly not what I'm talking about. Save that for another topic, but thanks for the reminder.
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
author=Radnen
Also I know gameplay must come before graphics, but that is strictly not what I'm talking about. Save that for another topic, but thanks for the reminder.
Ah, I misunderstood the original post then.
I still think not changing appearance is a fine option, though. As long as the ship looks good to begin with, it might as well stay that way. Like I said, graphics are all about first appearance. What you do after that doesn't matter. Once people get into the gameplay, they stop noticing the graphics. You only have to keep it pretty long enough for them to start having fun.
As an aside, even though this is probably not what you're doing, if you make this into Gummi Ships I will never forgive you. I actually really enjoyed the minigame where you used them in Kingdom Hearts 2, but I hated designing them. It took forever and you couldn't play the minigame without doing it and they universally ended up looking awful, plus it was probably hard to learn for a lot of people.
Drakonais
2787
All the bubble tanks games featured branching upgrade paths, which was pretty cool, but the latest one (Bubble Tanks 3) did something really enjoyable. There is a custom mode where your ship is put on a grid and you can spend accumulated upgrade points on armor and guns. You are allowed to freely attach them anywhere on the ship (provided you meet the weight/energy requirements).
Positioning and upgrade freedom allows the player to choose whether they want spread or concentrated fire, several weak guns or one really devastating one, etc.
Check it out here if you like:
http://armorgames.com/play/10015/bubble-tanks-3
I'm not saying you should copy the idea exactly, but it is a clever way to give the player almost endless customization options while having to draw significantly fewer pieces of weaponry. Whether it's easy to pull off in Sphere is a different matter altogether, I'm sure you would know best.
I apologize if this is what I just suggested, I've never played Kingdom Hearts 2.
Positioning and upgrade freedom allows the player to choose whether they want spread or concentrated fire, several weak guns or one really devastating one, etc.
Check it out here if you like:
http://armorgames.com/play/10015/bubble-tanks-3
I'm not saying you should copy the idea exactly, but it is a clever way to give the player almost endless customization options while having to draw significantly fewer pieces of weaponry. Whether it's easy to pull off in Sphere is a different matter altogether, I'm sure you would know best.
if you make this into Gummi Ships I will never forgive you
I apologize if this is what I just suggested, I've never played Kingdom Hearts 2.
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