- [PC Game] Trio -- already 1.1% done
- 27 Dec 2013 07:45:57 pm
- Last edited by Ashbad on 16 Jan 2014 03:04:25 pm; edited 5 times in total
FOR PEOPLE FROM SOUNDCLOUD: This is where I'm posting main updates for now; I'll eventually set up a tumblr or something (cancerous site but it's just a means to the end)
I grew up on GBC games, GBA remakes of NES/SNES games. Zelda III had the biggest impact on me -- it was the first game I actually ever played, and while I started it when I was 8 I didn't beat it until I was 10. 8 year olds are pretty stupid.
Anyways, I'm making a game that isn't a zelda-clone, but is a zelda-clone. PC Windows support for now, until development is essentially finished (a while from now.)
I tried making this game when I was 10 or so, but a 10 year old knows jack about anything, so it failed in the design phases (I wonder why) But I made two more serious attempts, one when I was 15ish and another 16ish I think:
http://ourl.ca/8056 -- 1st serious attempt. was going to be a calculator game, but I gave up because calculators are pretty dumb
http://www.cemetech.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6869 -- 2nd real attempt. Moved to PC, but god the graphics were horrendously ugly, the music failed because JustCause got party vanned or something (I dunno what actually happened but he's gone now), and the coding progress was at about 3% at best
So I've been studying games that left a good impression on me when I was younger, as in, actually studying them at a deep level, from a music and graphics standpoint. Gameplay is more straightforward.
Why this project is retro but not cringe:
When I hear "retro", I cringe. Using blocky, 8x8 sprites with a low color count doesn't make something retro; designing your art and music resources with a "retro" line of thinking does. At least to me. With this project I want to study the reasons why Zelda games and others from the SNES/etc. era leave such a strong impression, and mimic them as needed. I don't want to embrace blocky pixels; I want to use them as needed to produce a final product that's light and cartoony at times and grittier at others -- not to make "8 bit", or another modern "xD I'm retro" gimmick my main objective. My main objective is to make charming graphics and music. My secondary objective is to stay within SNES limitations while doing so. Not the other way around.
Of course, everything will be original; I'm not ripping zelda graphics, or music, or anything. They're going to be minimal to mild influences, though. To pretend otherwise would be against the point. The Zelda formula works, why fight it? There will be new, interesting mechanics, but a lot of the basic, core mechanics will remain. Music and everything else will be original but somewhat inspired.
My timeline for this project is long, most of the work will be with the music and graphics. Neither one is a weak point for me anymore, so I'm going to make the most of my abilities. Programming will be straightforward.
No more details for now, I'm just posting as a way to keep myself motivated in the long term, and to just dump my thoughts. Ignore this as you see fit until I have something tangible to show -- hopefully I'll have something music-related in the works by the end of the week.
Once I have something to show I'll replace this first post with that new update, whatever it will be