LOWREZJAM 2022

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LOWREZJAM 2022 community » Devlogs

Auburn Devlog

A topic by Little Martian created Aug 02, 2022 Views: 512 Replies: 29

Viewing posts 1 to 15

Little Martian2 years ago (1 edit) (+21)

To try and drag myself out of a rut that I’ve found myself in, I thought it might be a good idea to take part in a game jam. #LOWREZJAM seemed like the perfect choice, since I enjoy working at low resolutions, and as it takes place over 2 weeks it’s the perfect length for me.

So, Auburn is (or, will be) a platform adventure game where you play as a fox who is all alone in the world, unable to understand those around her. It’s a tale of friendship, of exploration, and of discovering that often our inner strength is far more powerful that we ever realised it could be.

I started off day one by drawing out some of the world that the game will take place in, and putting together a tile-map that can be used to build out the world over the next couple of weeks.

Original: https://little-martian.itch.io/auburn/devlog/411561/day-1-artwork

Eli Haun2 years ago

I love the style already! Easy to read what everything is, but lowrez. the bridge and rocks kind of remind me of old-school Oregon trail (which I remember playing as a wee lad, so nostalgia points). I may not play every game, but I will keep my eyes on this one!

Little Martian2 years ago

Hey, thanks Eli. I’m glad it gave you a bit of a nostalgia hit, because that’s definitely what I’m trying to achieve. I played ZX Spectrum games a lot as a kid, especially the Dizzy series, so the art style is heavily influenced by those games! :-D

fortythreesam2 years ago

Your art looks incredible. Really love the style! I’m excited to see the game at the end of the jam :)

Little Martian2 years ago

Thank you so much! ☺️

theioti2 years ago

That artwork is gorgeous and the concept sounds excellent! I can't wait to see how this develops because I'm already excited to get to play in that world.

Little Martian2 years ago

Hey, thank you so much! :-)

Little Martian2 years ago

Day 2

Now that I’ve draw a decent chunk of the map, it’s time to begin implementing some gameplay! I’ve got the basic platformer mechanics in place, and a simple camera that smoothly pans between screens when the player reaches the edges of it. We decided to go for this approach rather than constant scrolling, because scrolling felt kind of janky with such low resolution. I think this works nicely.

I’ve also started working on interactions, with items in the world, and other animals, including a dialogue system, but that’s not ready to show just yet, so have some rather satisfying water particles instead:

Original: https://little-martian.itch.io/auburn/devlog/411723/day-2-basic-mechanics

rsvp asap2 years ago

Love that water effect! Honestly this game is looking super good overall!

Little Martian2 years ago (1 edit)

Day 3: Dialogue and character switching

Now that I have the basic platforming mechanisms in place I can focus on the fun stuff! So, today I put together a simple dialogue system, which was quite a challenge with just 64 pixels to play with in each dimension. Especially since it’s necessary to show avatars to make it clear which animal is speaking!

But more exciting than that… is the core mechanic of the whole game: character switching. Once unlocked (more on that in tomorrow’s post) you can switch places with another animal in the world, and play as them instead of Auburn the fox!

Each animal has unique movement and unique abilities, allowing them to reach areas of the world that Auburn cannot!

And if you don’t want to wait until the jam is over to try it out, you can play the current dev version in the browser, just head over to the project page: https://little-martian.itch.io/auburn

Radar2 years ago(+1)

Very cool mechanic! Reminds me of the Fireboy & Watergirl games where you have to use different characters to unlock different areas.

Little Martian2 years ago

Thank you so much! I’ve not heard of that one before, so I’ll have to check it out.

Darenn Keller2 years ago

The switch mechanic is a great idea ! You made some impressive progress in only a few days.

Little Martian2 years ago

Thanks Darenn. I expect progress will slow a bit next week, because I’ll be writing all the dialogue and tweaking things to get the story flowing nicely, so I’m hoping to have all the main mechanics finished by this weekend. Fingers crossed! :-D

Darenn Keller2 years ago(+1)

Good luck !

Little Martian2 years ago

Thank you! ☺️

Little Martian2 years ago (1 edit)

Day 4: Foliage and the earthworm!

Ok, so I caved-in to my inner pressure and made some of the foliage reactive to the player’s presence. Especially the vines and lanterns. I was going to add this as a last-minute bit of polish at the end of the jam, but I’m quite a bit ahead of schedule so I decided to do it today! :-)

I’ve also been working on the movement mechanics for another playable character: the earthworm, which can crawl up walls and across ceilings, though he’s not very quick about it! I’ve still got to animate it, but the movement seems pretty robust. Props to Antoine (aka SleepingPanda) for some hints on how to implement the wall-climbing mechanic.

So that just leaves the chicken to implement, then all 5 of the animals will be done! I might get chance to add some more and expand the world a bit more. :-)

Sparky9d2 years ago

I absolutely love the reactive plants! It adds so much to the feel of the world.

You're making incredible progress, wich I could develop at that pace. Earthworm is a great character, lots of possibilities for getting places other animals can't. Really enjoying watching this come together, keep up the good work!

Little Martian2 years ago

Thank you so much! Yeah, it’s fun thinking about how the design the world so that items are out of reach for one animal, but can be reached by another.

Little Martian2 years ago (1 edit)

Day 5: Menus

Today, since I have almost all of the core gameplay mechanics in place, I decided I should cobble together a simple menu system. And it is very simple for now, but at least it’s functional, and if there’s time at the end of the jam, I might improve upon it.

That’s all for now! :-)

Little Martian2 years ago

Day 7: It’s a chicken!

After taking the day off on Saturday to recharge, on Sunday I implemented the movement for the chicken, which has a smaller jump than the fox, but can ‘glide’ by flapping its wings, so it can reach areas that the fox can’t!

I’ve also been adding a whole load of extra sound effects to liven the world up, and I tweaked the water splash effects to feel more natural…

Little Martian2 years ago

Day 8: Beach, ruins, and an underwater cave

Now that all five of the animals are implemented, I thought I’d turn my attention to adding some more variety to the world, with more areas to explore, with some different types.

So here’s an overview of what’s on offer in Auburn!

Darenn Keller2 years ago

It looks great, we can really recognize your style from your game Little Martian.
As if you're style was made for 64x64 !
Great work, keep it up, I think you have until tomorrow to finish ? Good luck !

Little Martian2 years ago

Day 9: Finished!!!

Phew! It’s been a jam-packed 9 days, but today is the last day of the jam for me, since I’m going on holiday tomorrow! :-D

I’ve really enjoyed taking part in the jam, it’s been an interesting experience, and it’s given me an opportunity to experiment with some ideas I’ve had bubbling around in my head for a while!

Best of luck to everyone else who’s taking part in the jam. I’m looking forward to seeing your creations, playing some of them, and voting next week.

Sparky9d2 years ago

Congratulations! This game looks absolutely amazing, I can't wait to rate it. I'm impressed how much detail and amazing art you managed to make and fit in the 64x64 resolution. Have a good holiday!

Little Martian2 years ago

Hey, thank you so much! After a hectic few months and then a wild 9 days working on the jam, I’m definitely really for a nice holiday! :-)

Darenn Keller2 years ago

Congratulations !
I'm really impressed by your pixel art skills. This bee is just 4 pixels... but it works ! 🐝
It was very interesting to follow your progress, I can't wait to play the game.

Have a nice vacation !

Little Martian2 years ago

Thanks Darenn, I’m really glad you like the bee, because a lot of iterations went into that little bee! I just couldn’t find a design I liked, it just didn’t fell right at first, then i realised it was the movement that was missing… the jittery way that they fly around, so I added some code that nudges the bee 1px in a random direction every 0.2 seconds and suddenly if felt just right. :-D

Darenn Keller2 years ago

Your welcome.
Yes it really is this jittery pixel that makes it work. It's a great idea !

Little Martian2 years ago

Day 10: A quick “bug” fix!

Typical, isn’t it? You test and test and test your game and everything seems fine, then 30 seconds after releasing it… all the bugs come out of the woodwork! In this case, that happened quite literally. You see, the wall climbing worm (found deep in the mines) would sometimes get detached from the ceiling and just float in midair as though the laws of gravity don’t apply to it!

Well, I’m happy to report that’s now fixed. Phew!