The little crane that could [FREE]

[bram]

Originally Posted by polimerjones

I have played most of your games and they are all great. Wondering if your working on anything new? Also is there a LCTC update coming soon?

Currently, there is nothing planned: I am waiting for a spark of inspiration.

I may draw upon some inspiration from games that I admire.
I always liked Bluebyte's settlers, and I think that the indie game BlockHeroes is absolute genius. Maybe I will make something like that. I'm also intrigued by vector CRTs like Vectrex used to have in the 1980s. I think vector art can look absolutely smashing on a retina display like iPad3/4, especially if MSAA is used. So that may end up being the art style for the next game.

Bram

[bram]

Originally Posted by bram

Currently, there is nothing planned: I am waiting for a spark of inspiration.

Maybe something around this:
https://plus.google.com/photos/11007...34529105462177

[polimerjones]

I have never played the settlers game but watched a video of it and it reminded me of an old stronghold game.I have not heard of block heroes before either and took a look at it and it looks amazing. I am downloading it right now. I think a game like lost in blue would be awesome for the iphone/ipad. There aren't very many survival games that aren't survival horror. good luck on finding that spark. i will be waiting.

[bram]

This is just a heads up to the iOS gamers that happen to own a Raspberry Pi computer. You can now play Little Crane on a $35 computer. Get it for free at the Pi Store.

[schwertfisch]

Originally Posted by uru

looks quite like what i do in Maya...need more texture polishment.

I second that. Although this games' basic asset is it's puzzles and mechanics (which work really really good here), the graphics (at least for me) are much too simple. I cannot oversee this.

[MidianGTX]

Originally Posted by schwertfisch

I second that. Although this games' basic asset is it's puzzles and mechanics (which work really really good here), the graphics (at least for me) are much too simple. I cannot oversee this.

Woah, woah, ignore this! Bram, your perfectly clean and smart art style is what makes your games playable for me. I'm guessing you choose it because you're more of a programmer and having badly-done textures would make the games look cheap, so stick to your strengths! Probably helps a ton in terms of performance too, which is essential in TLCTC. These guys just don't know art

[oooooomonkey]

^ I agree, I really like the crisp clean graphics that this has already.

[drelbs]

Originally Posted by schwertfisch

I second that. Although this games' basic asset is it's puzzles and mechanics (which work really really good here), the graphics (at least for me) are much too simple. I cannot oversee this.

Pshaw, the graphics are lovely!

[bram]

Originally Posted by MidianGTX

Woah, woah, ignore this! Bram, your perfectly clean and smart art style is what makes your games playable for me. I'm guessing you choose it because you're more of a programmer and having badly-done textures would make the games look cheap, so stick to your strengths! Probably helps a ton in terms of performance too, which is essential in TLCTC. These guys just don't know art

Don't worry. My trademark visuals are here to stay :-)

Schwertfisch, the graphics are simple for a reason.
The simpler the graphics, the more convincing the simulation.
If I would add all sorts of details, bumpers, side mirrors, hydraulic parts, etc, they would have to be modeled in physics as well, or immersion would break down.

Most games take short cuts, and treat a vehicle as a single box, and a soldier as a capsule or worse, a sphere.
In my case, the graphics are simple, because they need to match the physics shapes. I call this 'What you see is what you collide.'

About textures: they tend to look good only at a certain magnification level.
In little crane, the user controlled zoom means they can be really up close, or really far away.
Currently, the lines and shapes are always crisp due to their vector nature.
This would not be the case with texture images.

Last: sorry for the long period of drought, but I am finally making a new level for iOS little crane.

Bram

[bram]

Hi,


I'm looking for some help on beta testing the next iOS release.
If you have some time available, consider joining at:
http://tflig.ht/YpqgBZ
Limited nr of spots available.

Thx,

bram