AUS Project Discussion

[Petzi]

Yo. So the tools are mostly ready for this project to start moving, and it's time for people to start hopping in and to discuss what the project is actually going to be like. Like I said in the other thread, we should make something very small, but of high quality. Only a few areas and hearts, possibly one or two abilities.

I have a couple of models in mind we can decide on:
1. Keep the old map and add new areas to it, so it will be an expansion.
2. Make the player start over in a tiny new map.
4. Something completely different, like a linear set of levels.

I'd like to hear your opinion and whether or not you want to actually work on this!

[Clamestarebla]

I'm gonna go ahead and shake this thread up a bit.

Well, it looks like there is a winner: totally different. So I guess that means we make a totally new game with the engine. So are we gonna change the graphics like the bird, the townsfolk and everything?

Also when are we gonna start working on the project?

[Petzi]

Well, the next step will be to decide exactly what we'll do with the engine. I think a linear level-based game might work, since that way we can use the old SMW-hack method of doing collaborations. It would be cool to have some power-ups, either permanent or temporary, that could be used across levels, but I'll leave the up for discussion.

I think changing the graphics would be really good, especially the main character. But most of the game's graphics are found the backgrounds, which are can't be re-used, so we'll probably have to have new graphics by force.

We can start working on it as soon as we have a few people willing to participate and decided on the stuff I mentioned in the first paragraph. Any thoughts on the level-based model? Should it have a SMW-like overworld? Permanent power-ups, like the traditional AUS?

[Clamestarebla]

SMW-like overworld and permanent power-ups could work really well if the levels were made so you're expected to go back to them later on when you have a certain upgrade. That would mean making the levels considerably bigger than the average SMW level for it to make sense. It's an idea I really like and I think that's what we should go for.

I'll make a demo level to explain my point

[Petzi]

That sounds like a good plan. We'll need to carefully consider what power-ups to use and how obligatory they'll be. It wouldn't be fun for the player to be forced to go back to levels they've already beaten to painstakingly search for secrets. And too many power-ups will make it really hard to coordinate, since individual levels lose some independence.

I'm really eager to look at your demo level :)

[Clamestarebla]

Question: will we still be using the screen transition thing from the engine or no?

[Petzi]

Yeah, let's keep the screen system.

[Clamestarebla]

I just thought of something cool whilst working on my test level; could you test if it's possible to have several maps? Like the World Map, but different for each level?

[Petzi]

The engine doesn't currently support it, but it should be fairly easy to implement.

[Fidget]

Having witnessed first-hand the collapse of more than one AUS extension (for which I supplied a single music track), I really want to discourage a big project!
Programming new bosses, powerups, items, obstacles... It seriously takes A LOT of time, skill, patience, effort, and energy. It's sooo tempting, I know! But... I think it's a bad idea.
Simply drawing the rooms is hard enough, so here is my proposition:

I think the simplest thing for a project, just to start out, is to make simple room replacements and move preexisting items around. The map would be the same shape with the same boundries and types of hazards and powerups,
but the powerups could be in different places, the rooms could be connected in new ways, and the areas could be redrawn to be totally different places, redesigned to accomodate different difficulty and, well, it would be replaced!
You could still get a good sense of adventure that way, since you'd only have a vague idea as to where things used to be, but there would be all these new areas and obstacle courses in their place.

Having not taken a close look at the source, this is going by my assumptions that the game would be easier to change in this way. Honestly, the more I think about it, the more I'm thinking of ways this could make it interesting without any new code.

[Petzi]

Your suggestion is interesting, but I'm not sure it's such a good idea. I've messed around a bit with the source and I don't think the biggest threat is the programming bits, but rather the huge amount of dedication necessary to coordinate a big, open-world sort of project.

I do agree with the "don't plan to have a lot of new bosses/abilities", we're never going to hear that enough. I think I understand the advantages you're setting forth, but it doesn't eliminate the risk. I might be misunderstanding your whole idea, though. Are the rooms themselves going to be remade?

And thanks for reminding me that I'd better fix that damn Windows 8 audio-crash, or I'm going to be swallowing those words (about the programming not being a big deal) very very soon.

[Fidget]

I think I got the idea across! It was mainly an example that seemed to me like the simplest place to start (especially if a large number of the community was participating).

But you're right, the coordinated content creation would still be a huge hurdle. I thought that doing that and programming would raise the likelihood-of-abandonment to extreme amounts, but eh. You sound confident and you've played with the source more than I, so I'm not too worried.