Greetings all. So we've been working non stop on a new game recently. But after you've looked at something so many times every day it becomes harder to evaluate. So can you offer some feedback on this stage of development. In particular, the animation and overall presentation. And no I'm not looking for a pat on the back but constructive criticism Our aim is that when the game is finished it can stand shoulder to shoulder with mobile games made by the bigger studios. Cheers UPDATE: JULY 2012 We had a lot of feedback on the run animation. So we changed it to make the main character more upright. Subscribe to the TouchArcade YouTube channel
Hello, I write only some short notes. I hope it doesn't come across unfriendly. There should be the logo of the game right at the start Typo instead looks like a bad power point presentation The moving of the camera in the intro animation seems overall wrong no use of depth of field. Everthing is in focus. no sense of size and distance the motion of the camera zooming out is really weird and jumpy the boss is painted too crooked and unsymetrical to look big and impressive the surface of the boss looks dull. this is increasing the impression that he is rather small though there is the woman standing in the foreground, she is obscured by the background there is no ground shown giving a sence of depth and size The eyes and mouth of the girl staring up should be animated her shoulders are wrong overall the colours are too grey and unattractive the following 60 seconds ingame scenes are too long it is all the same scene. At some point I'm starting to think this one screen is the whole game and getting bored. I have seen it all so why play the game? 30 sec should be more than enough the ending is bad for the same reasons as the start. those clouds are ugly overall it makes an amateurish impression
The thing that straight out doesn't look right to me is her stance when running forward ... seems too extreme (the forward lean)
Hi Markus - no don't worry your feedback doesn't come across as unfriendly. I actually prefer it when people give me their feedback in a straightforward and honest way, as you have. There's a lot to think about there so thanks for taking the time to list what you'd change about the game so far. As we develop the game more I'm sure we'll be adjusting and refining many things. Cheers.
Hi, - I would change the running animation too. The blur effect looks nice, but either she should run faster or not lean forward that much. - I think the sprites are a bit offset, because when she changes direction, she seems to teleport a little bit and not turn around her own center. - The graphics are a bit strange. I'm nor sure why. I think you should either make it clear that all of the game looks like it was hand drawn, or try to hide it some more (maybe by adding some more color), because tbh. especially the very first image of the character looks like it's a concept drawing rather then a final product (around 0:06 it's much better). - The sound effects are fine. Consider adding some fighting screams and combo effects.
Ah yeah, you're right about the offset - well observed But not quite sure what you mean by either making the hand drawn graphics more clear or hiding them. Thanks for the feedback.
The biggest problem with hand drawn art is that it often tends to look half finished. Especially if the edges are not properly clean. Biggest beef i would have with the game so faar are the animations and the physics. The females movement looks wrong, somehow too floaty, like she weights nothing. So how she moves and what it looks like is oddly off imho.
Hmm, seems quite a few people think the look of the movement doesn't feel right. I'm glad I posted the video here - all the opinions given will be be useful so we can make the game better. Cheers EDIT: Do the same general criticisms apply to the first vid too? (see above in first post)
the first video was the boss fight? or you mean your running video.. and yes there it applies aswell but of course the is not doing as much acrobatics.. but for example she floats again.. if you check her leg movement and then see how slow the floor scroll you see she is either running to slow animation wise or moonwalks on half of her moves.. the question is where you want to be headed.. realism or over the top action animation.. but no matter the "weight" of things must be right.. for example if you look at cartoon action series whatever manga stuff.. there is usually good weight in the animations.. especially if they do over the top stuff.. so if you make a mega jump and jump physicall 10 metres ingame, but use a generic "hop" animation it feels off.. you need to show the "power" that goes into the move.. bending your knees, stiffening your muscles and then boom.. jump upwards like an japanese manga kid on steroids.. the same can be said about the forward lean.. this much forward lean can work optically.. but hell she must be alot quicker running that on the videos.. more like this guy and he is very fast..
All good points there - thanks for the detailed feedback. And yes by first video I meant the runner video. Yeah, anime is a big influence on this game so that kind of exaggerated physical prowess is what we're going for. It's an ambitious game for us but I'm confident that we can go back to our desks, think about what we need to do to improve it, and then implement some changes so it reached the level of quality we are going for.
new vid Ok so we have a new video. I took on board some of the advice you all gave and made everything faster. As well as making the gameplay more fun it looks better. So the rate at which the character moves across the screen is faster. And the frame rate for her animation cycles is quicker too. I adjusted the jumping a bit too. There are also some new environments with different colour schemes. Also we just launched it on IndieGoGo. Which is similar to kickstarter but is easier to set up for someone based in the UK. Subscribe to the TouchArcade YouTube channel
While I never saw the original video, I do have some feedback for the new video: - The first thing is that when she is running normally her feet move faster than she is actually moving in the level. This may be why others have said that the movement doesn't feel right. Compare this to when she moves very fast (not sure what else to call it but it's when she leaves a trail behind her when running) because that movement looks right to me. - The second thing is that I am not the biggest fan of the intro to the video. While the art is well done, I don't get the feeling I'm watching a trailer until the gameplay parts start. My suggestion would be to start the video with just the title of the game and nothing else on screen. Overall though it's looking good!
Thanks for the feedback! Hmm, I'll have to take another look at her animation vs scrolling speed. Be interested to hear if other peeps agree with you.
new run animation So a lot of people thought the main character was leaning over too much for her standard run. Here's the new adjusted version where she is more upright when running at normal speed. Any thoughts? Subscribe to the TouchArcade YouTube channel
The art looks splendid overall, and I feel a bit bad for picking the run cycle apart, but it's still a bit off... What you have is a figure with pretty much realistic humanoid proportions. Fun neuroscience fact: the human brain isn't so great at differentiating between things that are "real" and "not real" on a visual level. When you see a human silhouette, with roughly the right proportions, your brain assumes that it's a real person. That's why walk/run cycles can be so darn tricky with a realistic figure. The second you see something like this, you are subconsciously comparing it to a typical person walking, because it gives you a wealth of clues about that person's health and state of mind. In your case, your character is arching her back in a way that's not conductive to moving quickly or comfortably. Just try it: bend your back in that position and attempt to move at a fast pace. A bit difficult, because it puts additional strain on your lower back, right? My advice would be, since you're working with a correctly proportioned human figure, look up a lot of reference of real people running. You will notice the natural posture that a runner assumes and be able to incorporate it into the cycle with ease. Don't be afraid to snap pictures of a friend going through running movements for reference! And in general, any time something looks off art or animation-wise, seek good reference; it will help you more often than not. Here's a thing: http://keetsa.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/runner.jpg Good work so far, and good luck!
Definitely moving in the right direction! It's come a long way in the last few weeks! Revolving Door provided some great feedback and explained it a lot better than I ever could. I can't wait to see what the final game will look like!
Hey, thanks for such a detailed explanation of how/why you think it needs to improve more. Don't feel bad for it, I appreciate the help I'm doing the design, programming and music but art is not my realm so it's good to get the opinion of other artists on what we have so far. Cheers, yeah it feels like we're making progress. Still a lot to do but it's gradually coming together. Been in contact with a couple of electronic musicians too. So we may end up having a soundtrack with contributions from a bunch of cool indie outfits.
I think you guys need an animator, pretty much all the motion she does looks unnatural. Especially her posture, her back is too stiff, with only the arms moving. Also the parallax scrolling backgrounds, you need to adjust the speed of them, cause it doesn't look natural either.
hey as a lay man if i will say i cant find anything wrong in this and as animator it is already described by others.. Showboat Entertainment Delhi Animation Studios
