Game
Hensen Hopper
11 months ago

I'm going to set myself a goal to release the first beta/demo of Hensen Hopper by the end of this year. I'm going to try to use static backdrop images rather than tiles for the backgrounds in this game, which presents a bit of a challenge in one aspect...


Tile-based design worked really well for Deathly Descent because the levels themselves are large and varied. In that case, I needed the kind of modularity that comes with a tile-based workflow.

This is unnecessary for Hensen Hopper because the player moves in a very limited space, the camera focuses at one point in the scene, and I don't plan for there to be many unique maps. For this reason, it's probably optimal to use a backdrop image for the level, this will also allow me greater control over what is placed where in the scene.

The only hiccup I can foresee will be the fact I can't simply slap this backdrop into the GUI as a panel, I'll need to place it below Hensen and the enemies in the scene which means I'll ALSO need to figure out a way to scale the image according to the display resolution so, no matter what resolution and aspect ratio the player is using, the backdrop is placed optimally.

Figuring out how I'll do this might actually be worth the time I have left before I need to get ready for work. I DO have a backdrop script already that handles the backdrop change between the profile selection menu and other menus in the main menu scene. I suppose re-analyzing that script and seeing whether I could adapt that to handle backdrop scaling iff the backdrop isn't under the GUI canvas would be a good start.

To Do Before The Demo/Beta:

  • Figure out how I'll handle backdrop scaling (on it!)

  • Draw a backdrop for the main scene

  • Create button art for the main menu buttons

  • Search for a good font for the main menu buttons and in-game text

  • Add collision animation and sound effects for enemy bullets

  • Enemy and player defeat animation

  • Build interactive pause and death screen menus

Game Dev
Game Dev General
3D-2D games 2dgames
Indie Game general
2


0 comments

Loading...

Next up

I've been working on the sprite for the beetle shell power-up drop! I'm thinking when you collect this one, it will kind of poof away similarly to the enemies when they're defeated and play an "equip" sound.

Okay so fast forward ~2 and a half hours of work and I've gotten an effect to play when the shield breaks! There is a sound effect too but for some reason it sometimes doesn't play... Need to figure THAT out now... v0.2.1 is on the way today!

This is a much larger (in terms of resolution) video than I've shared here before!!!

This is a full round of Hensen Hopper in it's current state! I mainly recorded this to showcase the new wave difficulty curve algorithm I've been working on!

Doki Doki Literature Club is celebrating Monika's birthday and the 8th anniversary of DDLC with exclusive stickers, avatar frames and backgrounds on Game Jolt! 

Head over to the shop to collect yours 👉 https://gamejolt.com/#shop

The beetle shell is now fully VISUALLY implemented! Next thing on my list is a unique sound for Hensen equipping it.

Dive into the cozy post-apocalyptic open world of Critter Cove!

Gentleman Rat Studios (@GR-Rob ) describe it as “a little bit Animal Crossing, a little bit Stardew Valley. Maybe even a little bit Windwaker, too."

Wishlist the game: https://bit.ly/CritterCove

FIRST ACTUAL EDIT USING DAVINCI RESOLVE!!! Also, FINALLY, here's that clip of the beetle's idle animation I promised a while ago.

I've more or less finished off the beetle enemy's animations now. Here's a short video showing the defeat animation as well as how it currently looks in-game. I still need to work on an effect for when the shield breaks, though.

Mae Borowski is the main character of Night in the Woods! It's an adventure game that tells the story of her return to her hometown of Possum Springs. She was confirmed as canonically pan in a social media post by the game's creator Scott Benson.

Here's a short demonstration of the beetle shell power-up in-action! It's not very obvious what it does at the moment because I still need to work on a lot of the effects for it, but the functionality is there if you pay attention to the health bar!