[Forum Project #1] Steam Run Design Document

[master0500]

is there any art you want me to do next?

[skydereign]

is there any art you want me to do next?

Well we are still in the early stages, so really just concept art. I've been doing some weapon concepts, and will post after my finals. Perhaps enemy steam bots?

@Skydereign: Should the dialog engine support external files for the dialogs?

Yes and no... I don't think we should rely on external files for the actual game dialog. But it is good for getting the engine setup, as well as for sharing text in a group project. So, support it, but only to the degree that it makes things easier for the creation of the game. Ultimately we will probably have the dialog contained within the game.

been gone for the past 2 days..

but im working on making the map editor's loading and saving scheme work better, if anyone has any suggestions on how they want the map editor to look or work then just drop it on here!

I'll take a look at your new version, and post some suggestions, and a concept layout.

Perhaps the hub that is created can be something cool and creative like this.

Creative is what we are going for. I'm thinking there will be multiple underground cities, and eventually will all be connected. That way the hub gains some diversity, and we can still make it home base. Another thing we could do is have the opening of the game (the starting cutscene) change to include the story that happened last. That way it can segue directly into the underground city, therefore acting as the menu. It might be a tad too different though.

[AliceXIII]

I'll take a look at your new version, and post some suggestions, and a concept layout.

i need to make a control manual some features you cant find out how to access unless you browsed through the code.

quick manual:

right clicking tiles or objects will allow you to access the nudge option

pressing 'c' will open array creation

pressing 'd' while left clicking the mouse on an tile or object will delete the tile or object

pressing 't' or 'o' will switch the block tile between tile and object mode

[master0500]

steam_bot:
has the ability to fire hot steam from its right arm or slash opponents with the other

and also my first attempt at animation with photoshop

[Jagmaster]

This is progressing nicely. It's nice seeing so much happening on this thread and seeing more and more people getting involved!

Very promising. I look forward to seeing it with more intense textures. Depending on how the art styles mesh, we might need to do a 3d modeled player.

Thank you! Working on it as we speak.

Sounds pretty good. The story my brother and I came up with got a little heavy for this game, and didn't fit the gameplay mechanics quite as nicely. Though robot ai controlling the masses is a bit futuristic, so perhaps there are some people with all of the robot steam technology running the show. Still act in the same way though.

Yes indeed, people would definitely be running the show. Some of them cyborgs.
The regular citizens would make a problem for the player too, as it would be their patriotic duty to report the likes of you to the authorities.

I'm thinking about actual recording devices we could put on these bots though, like some kind of antenna that would record audio and relay it to a central location as morse? Even though that might be difficult to actually pull off in real life, it might be believable. As for an ai, it might be fun to try and design an analog computer station of some kind, all the data would be received via radio, then processed via punched cards or something. As long as it looked like a huge Rube-Goldberg machine it could just work (as well as make anyone who programmed in the late 70's chuckle a bit).

Perhaps the hub that is created can be something cool and creative like this.

Creative is what we are going for. I'm thinking there will be multiple underground cities, and eventually will all be connected. That way the hub gains some diversity, and we can still make it home base.

I really like this hub idea hjb (with it having the menu options within it). And that video was crazy. I like the idea of other connected underground cities as well. Big brother could be building an empire above ground, as different principalities join BB's empire (this would be triggered by something the player did or didn't do of course), different cities could unlock.

If there is an actual "Big Brother" character, that'd be a fun character to develop. I actually think it would be very interesting if that character was female. The player wouldn't know who this character was until the end. It could be someone very close to the protagonist.

Another thing we could do is have the opening of the game (the starting cutscene) change to include the story that happened last. That way it can segue directly into the underground city, therefore acting as the menu. It might be a tad too different though.

You mean like, when you open the game, or start a new level? It might be abrupt to have it right at the opening of the game, although I could see it work if there was a title screen with your "Press any key" prompt, which would then play the clip.

steam_bot:
has the ability to fire hot steam from its right arm or slash opponents with the other
and also my first attempt at animation with photoshop

Very good for a first animation! I like the steam gun idea.

Since analog CPU's are very bulky, there should be different bots for different tasks. Some for spying, and others for enforcement (brute force). Others for hiding fictional cake.

A data related question, would it be very difficult to make multiple save slots? I guess it really would depend on how much data we'd actually need to store (a lot with the inventory and such). On your mobile devices this isn't much of a concern really. Just something I thought of.

[GEuser]

A very quick suggestion/donation (didn't spend too much time on specifics).

Expanding on what Jagmaster was saying about rebels underground den. You could have various rebel NPC's that provide different crafting services. I'm thinking a blacksmithy type character could produce stuff from enemy kill drops (various nuts, bolts, gears, etc...) obtained by player. I know this is probably a bit too RGPish but it would add an extra level of game play.

Here's a simpe design idea for a a low level melee weapon (Nut and Bolt Mace).

The player would pick up mechanical component drops from enemy kills and have a NPC rebel character produce something from it. I've used the built in GEARS and BOLTS plugins in BLENDER (version 2.6).



This was just a quick set-up. I'm not very good at 3D graphics stuff so have added the blender file as an attachment for more skilled peeps to use (no materials or textures, just the models).

DAMN: Blender file upload not allowed

Will try to work on other simple melee weaponry as suggestions/donations...

[lcl]

Yes and no... I don't think we should rely on external files for the actual game dialog. But it is good for getting the engine setup, as well as for sharing text in a group project. So, support it, but only to the degree that it makes things easier for the creation of the game. Ultimately we will probably have the dialog contained within the game.

You mean like that I should make the dialog editor to have export for just text and other export that exports with the formatting? I'd like to know exactly what I have to do.

[AliceXIII]

well the map editor now uses 2 arrays of structures to retain the tiles and objects x, y, and animpos alot more efficent than the previous model, although im not going to release it yet because the saving isn't completely right yet some tiles positioning and animations dont save correctly once this is figured out then i'll release a testable version!

[skydereign]

I'm thinking about actual recording devices we could put on these bots though, like some kind of antenna that would record audio and relay it to a central location as morse? Even though that might be difficult to actually pull off in real life, it might be believable. As for an ai, it might be fun to try and design an analog computer station of some kind, all the data would be received via radio, then processed via punched cards or something. As long as it looked like a huge Rube-Goldberg machine it could just work (as well as make anyone who programmed in the late 70's chuckle a bit).

I'm not sure I fully follow this. Do you mean the enemies actually record your actions, and send it to the factory to react?

If there is an actual "Big Brother" character, that'd be a fun character to develop. I actually think it would be very interesting if that character was female. The player wouldn't know who this character was until the end. It could be someone very close to the protagonist.

I feel like that switch is done a lot though, at least, I would expect it. Big Brother could be a group of people, perhaps lead by a women. What does Big Brother actually do that makes the player his enemy? I was thinking Big Brother is slowly taking over every city from above, forcing those deemed unfit by the perfect society to flee underground. The main character is one of the people forced under, or perhaps we could have it where the main character simply disagreed with the public policy, and hid with the other refugees. This could be used to his advantage when trying for more covert activities.

You mean like, when you open the game, or start a new level? It might be abrupt to have it right at the opening of the game, although I could see it work if there was a title screen with your "Press any key" prompt, which would then play the clip.

Well, the opening cut scene of games is usually displayed if you let the menu sit, or don't press anything at the start of the game. Instead, we can insert the aspects of the story as the cutscene, that way it isn't mandatory, but reminds the player which part of the game they are at. I believe a form of this is done in pokemon (at least after you beat the elite) as well as ffxiii-2. It is always skipable, and doesn't add extra story, but it would make the game feel more well put together.

Since analog CPU's are very bulky, there should be different bots for different tasks. Some for spying, and others for enforcement (brute force). Others for hiding fictional cake.

Yeah, there can be quite a lot of different robot types. And last time I checked, there was some cake around here somewhere.

A data related question, would it be very difficult to make multiple save slots? I guess it really would depend on how much data we'd actually need to store (a lot with the inventory and such). On your mobile devices this isn't much of a concern really. Just something I thought of.

Multiple save files won't take up much space, and nothing near the size of the actual game.

Expanding on what Jagmaster was saying about rebels underground den. You could have various rebel NPC's that provide different crafting services. I'm thinking a blacksmithy type character could produce stuff from enemy kill drops (various nuts, bolts, gears, etc...) obtained by player. I know this is probably a bit too RGPish but it would add an extra level of game play.

Well, that was the idea. The hub serves as the place for customization and similar things. And I like the rpg influences on the game, nothing to deviate gameplay too much, but it definitely expands the play value. I also mentioned previously about rare drops from enemies and the like.

DAMN: Blender file upload not allowed

You can zip the file up, and post that.

Will try to work on other simple melee weaponry as suggestions/donations...

We probably don't want to have too much in the way of melee weapons, as the idea was a run 'n gun. Melee weapons get a little too into precision fighting in my opinion (whereas a giant chainsaw sword is still large scale attacks). But we'll see. I like the schematic style, hopefully when we start moving to promo art, we can have one of those for each weapon.

Yes and no... I don't think we should rely on external files for the actual game dialog. But it is good for getting the engine setup, as well as for sharing text in a group project. So, support it, but only to the degree that it makes things easier for the creation of the game. Ultimately we will probably have the dialog contained within the game.

You mean like that I should make the dialog editor to have export for just text and other export that exports with the formatting? I'd like to know exactly what I have to do.

Well, we shouldn't have text files for the final product, so your dialog editor should be able to export the formatted strings into a file. That way we can copy it into the game's code. The main reason for this is to prevent the manipulation of the file, though perhaps we don't really need to be concerned about that. Essentially it should work like a map editor. It should be able to build text and export it as formatted strings, as well as render the actual text with timing and similar.

That means it does need to save/load the text into a file, as well as render the text from a string within the game. That was kind of roundabout, but I think I got the point across.

well the map editor now uses 2 arrays of structures to retain the tiles and objects x, y, and animpos alot more efficent than the previous model, although im not going to release it yet because the saving isn't completely right yet some tiles positioning and animations dont save correctly once this is figured out then i'll release a testable version!

Ok, I'll be creating more topics to expand the document tomorrow. It's getting a bit cluttered right now.

[AliceXIII]

Ok, I'll be creating more topics to expand the document tomorrow. It's getting a bit cluttered right now.

nice! this project is growing everyday.

also thanks to everyone contributing on this project! im glad to be using GE again

[Jagmaster]

Do you mean the enemies actually record your actions, and send it to the factory to react?

Yeah, that's pretty much what I meant. Thinking of the slogan "Big brother is watching you", I was imagining a way for BB to actually be physically watching (or listening to) people. Might be unnecessary.

I feel like that switch is done a lot though, at least, I would expect it. Big Brother could be a group of people, perhaps lead by a women. What does Big Brother actually do that makes the player his enemy? I was thinking Big Brother is slowly taking over every city from above, forcing those deemed unfit by the perfect society to flee underground. The main character is one of the people forced under, or perhaps we could have it where the main character simply disagreed with the public policy, and hid with the other refugees. This could be used to his advantage when trying for more covert activities.

It does seem rather cliche now that you mention it. Big brother as a group of people is far more interesting. Eventually It'd be good to think of an actual name for the Big brother organization (that sort of goes without saying I guess).

Sort of combining the two ideas you had, BB is trying to make make a perfect society and people "deemed unfit" are fleeing underground. The protagonist is not one of these people, but he sees what the other people are going through and is disturbed by it. Then something would happen that would cause the protagonist and start a rebellion (or get involved in an existing one). Perhaps someone close to the player has disappeared or was killed, and the protagonist is avenging and/or looking for him/her. That may be a little generic, but something emotional to draw the player in would be good.

Well, the opening cut scene of games is usually displayed if you let the menu sit, or don't press anything at the start of the game. Instead, we can insert the aspects of the story as the cutscene, that way it isn't mandatory, but reminds the player which part of the game they are at. I believe a form of this is done in pokemon (at least after you beat the elite) as well as ffxiii-2. It is always skipable, and doesn't add extra story, but it would make the game feel more well put together.

Ahh... I get it now.

...last time I checked, there was some cake around here somewhere.

There is no cake.

Multiple save files won't take up much space, and nothing near the size of the actual game.

I figured. I was wondering if it was even worth the hassle.

[skydereign]

Yeah, that's pretty much what I meant. Thinking of the slogan "Big brother is watching you", I was imagining a way for BB to actually be physically watching (or listening to) people. Might be unnecessary.

That sounds like a good idea. One thing my brother and I were discussing, is to use newspaper articles to depict the story and state of affairs above and below ground. For this, there'd probably be some camera systems, which can add to the covert aspect of the game. Setting up a camera type system though could be a bit tedious, but I think it would be really cool to see implemented.

Big brother as a group of people is far more interesting. Eventually It'd be good to think of an actual name for the Big brother organization (that sort of goes without saying I guess).

Indeed. I'm currently leaning towards the big brother character running this organization from the headquarters type city, and his siblings running the other ones (the group could therefore be connected together by family titles). Depending on the type of characters this organization is, we could call them "The Family" though that orients itself more with gangsters.

Sort of combining the two ideas you had, BB is trying to make make a perfect society and people "deemed unfit" are fleeing underground. The protagonist is not one of these people, but he sees what the other people are going through and is disturbed by it. Then something would happen that would cause the protagonist and start a rebellion (or get involved in an existing one). Perhaps someone close to the player has disappeared or was killed, and the protagonist is avenging and/or looking for him/her. That may be a little generic, but something emotional to draw the player in would be good.

Eventually we'll need to rely on some form of cliche. I like the disappeared angle, since you can use that character for parts of the story. The player shouldn't start the rebellion, but he does join in when he flees underground. I feel it would be somewhat more climactic if your home city ends up being Big Brother's headquarters, though I originally thought of that to make it more understandable why you are revolting.

I figured. I was wondering if it was even worth the hassle.

I'd go for it. Since we are aiming to target anything gE can export to, having multiple saves is a good idea.

[GEuser]

Made some wave recordings for sound effects use. Created 81 .wav files (Audio_Clips.zip). They were originally created from stuff like a wind up torch, steam iron, boiling kettle, canister spray, hole punch, etc...

Audio_Clips.zip

WAVE FILES

(4.08 MiB) Downloaded 169 times

I've also included the raw recordings (Raw_Recording.zip) and the cleaned up versions using Audacity (Cleaned_up.zip). I've done this so that audio wizards amongst the gE community can do a better job with cleaning them up then me.

Cleaned_Up.zip

(2.37 MiB) Downloaded 156 times

Raw_Recording.zip

(9.71 MiB) Downloaded 138 times

Hope they are useful.

[gamemakerdude]

Ive been watching the progress on this project, and i must say it is looking very awesome! Keep up the good work guys!

[Hblade]

Coool animation