In a comment to an earlier post, Callan kindly suggested a timesaving tip to speedup animation process.  This gave me idea to show a timeline snapshot, so you can get idea of the animation level I am aiming for:

Animating characters is fun ... but takes time

Yes, it is getting quite complicated… and to add some more complexity, one needs to consider framerate issues  with different computer setups…

Making monster graphics is fun, but I need to cut corners here too. Animating walk sequences for legged monsters takes time, so I try to make as many legless mosters as possible. Here are some fast monster designs I have made lately:

As you can see, all kind of floating ghostly monsters are ideal…  Naturally there needs to be large variety of monsters, all can’t be just floating balls and disks. But these simple designs will give me something to work with when setting up the combat system.

I have been on summer vacation, and travelling, so i haven’t had much time to code. But now I’m back =)

I’ve been working on area loading and saving. Saving is not complete yet,  but I probably get it ready quite soon. All collectibles (items that can be picket to inventory) and npc’s will be saved, so when you return to area, it will be as you left it.

I made the container looting “easy way” – items are just placed on the ground near the container. Works well enough, so I can proceed with other stuff:

Pick up what you need...

I’m also making the player weapon switchable, so once you loot a weapon you can actually use it. Weapons will have 3 different “modes” in the ui: lying on the ground (as loot), being in inventory and being used by player/npc.  I’ll try to use single image for each purpose, so graphics production load remains as small as possible at this point.

Also Shields will be switchable in similar manner.

Well, sometimes the code just writes itself, nearly. I have made good progress, and now all collectibles (potions, etc), npc’s and containers (like chests) all come from area data, which can easily be manipulated, and will be easy to create from editor mode of the game also.

There is is also basic alertbox that can be evoked when needed.

You see a chest on the ground. You carefully approach it, and since there apparently are no hidden traps or lurking monsters, you decide to open the chest. Then…

I found a chest, and there seems to be no danger exploring it...

(more…)

Creating a professional level (well, nearly so anyway..) rpg alone is quite a big task, so my plan is to make a limited featured game first, and then proceed with more features. (more…)

Just a fast post with latest screenshot from engine…

Run to safety or fight back?

Looking fairly good, considering everything is pretty much in wip state…

The plot thickens and you find yourself in a dense forest and pack of wolves surrond you…

And if you are a neophyte Flash coder you are in middle of depth sorting nightmare. How does one make wolves and trees look correct so that when a wolf moves behind a tree, it disappears, and when a wolf is in front of tree, the tree is not seen over the wolf? (more…)

I’ve been working with game inventory system lately. Nothing groundbreaking, just typical rpg inventory.  Here are the specs:

(more…)

Naturally it’s possible to create a rpg game engine with no graphics, just some “stand-in boxes” for monsters, loot, environments, but I find using proper graphics from the beginning inspirational. Here are some drafts for item & monster graphics:

Potions, skeleton monster, bugs...

For enviroment graphics, like ground textures I will use Lost Garden’s splendid free game graphics. Initial character, monster and item graphics will be done by me.

Here is a concept rendering with water, and reflections, and female character:

concept image with water reflections