BYOND Canadians

Note: My blog would overlap the text for some reason, if anyone can examine my CSS and fix it for me it'd be greatly appreciated.
For screen-shots of the game, click here:
http://www.byond.com/members/ FlameGuardian?command=view_post&post=73091
Since I'm trying to think of a name for my new game to the XI series. And since not many people got to play Crisis XI(before it got destroyed) which pretty much explained everything... I wrote up a brief description of the XI series, there is a lot more information to show but this should explain some of it. I'd like to see some people help me think of names for my current title, so if you do actually read this... Help me think up a title?(The game is a fighter).

Story Line The solar system in which you take place in is known as "Xiedus", it consists of 12 planets. Planet XI is the most populated planet throughout the solar system.

When humans first traveled to this solar system, they found a new race which was much alike them, known as the "Zetons". This being the first new race Humans came by, they learned a lot about some other alien races from the Zetons. They taught them of the other races, cultures and architecture on different planets throughout this system. Since this was the only system after hundreds of years of searching that humans could live on, they set up camp on a planet that the Zetons allowed them to live on. The Zetons spoke of a virus that killed their ancestors that lived there. The humans set up camp on this planet "XI" and found many ruins of the ancient culture that lived there.

After a couple thousand years, the humans became adapted to this system and between the entire system developed different Factions. Although, they struggled a lot in the start. Around the first 400 years or so, there was only one grand alliance. All the groups in the alliance possessed their own grand techniques and powers. There were two groups of Zetons, some used magic abilities and were very religious known as the Protectors. There was also the Hunters, the other Zeton group which were masters of the blade.

The race known as the "Garions" did not possess as much human features as the Zetons did, they were like a cross of a human and multiple prehistoric birds. They were said to be able to command the wind, and being in all different shapes and sizes, they all fight very differently. The other groups were the "Polaxie", a group of human-like beings which were cold-blooded killers. They believed in purifying the universe to only those who could use the great powers that they can, which is to conjure/manipulate ice which was their own race of Polaxie.

There was also the "Zauls" who were a group of human expert scientists and mechanics which designed their own robotic creatures, they believed they could make their own Artificial Intelligence someday. Now, this great alliance had 3 small groups to worry about which was the "Sayaxe" who were a group of humans thieves, murders and other criminals. The "Finale" which was another human group, but were masters of combat in every way, it'd take 5 average soldiers to add up into one member of Finale. Finally, the "Exiles" that were beings that were not accepted anywhere. They believed in a greater justice, but mainly kept to themselves.

Well, after another 600 years there was many tragedies and things that happened. The great alliance died off, 99% of the Zeton population died in a major tragedy that was unknown. Their host planet somehow errupted with thousands of explosions and than it's inner core blew up itself. Also, a disease spread through Planet XI that made many people go insane. It was a parasite found in one of the ancient ruins that can influence it's host to do whatever it desires, although it makes the host much more powerful over how much of the parasite he consumes. Although if you consume too much, you'll have no control over your own body. The last tragedy was that the new A.I made by the Zauls finally was finished. Unfortunately, this A.I believed that the Zauls were using them for their own wars, so the A.I retaliated and killed off the Zauls.

After all these horrible events... There were now two factions. One consists of the Finale, Polaxie and remaining Zetons and the humans who wanted to learn their ways. The other faction consisted of the Sayaxe, the Zaul A.I and the "Exileons" which is a group formed mainly by the Exiles. The Exileons created their own human-size Mecha Suits so anyone no matter how disabled can become a warrior for them. Now, these two factions are not only fighting off each-other, but trying to protect themselves from the virus taking control of people and it's corrupt humans that it has taken control of. Also, if you're wondering what happened to the Garions, they've set up temples around the system and only want peace for one another. So, that's it. It's complete chaos and war throughout the system, how will it be resolved?

Note: My blog would overlap the text for some reason, if anyone can examine my CSS and fix it for me it'd be greatly appreciated.
Well, after having a tie. I talked with some people, and officially decided to have no pixel movement to my new project. No pixel movement opens up more to the game allowing me to have all the pros I mentioned in my last post.
Pros
•The player limit would not limited
•A.I would be possible to add for team games or even different game-types like killing off enemies or bosses
•Changes can still be applied to differ the movement from other Gravity/Movement systems
Anyway, I felt like showing off some pictures of my first stage. It's not great, and the character base is still not done, but it's a start!
So, back to the new game. I am looking for some good ideas for a name. It's of the XI series, so I'm going to put "XI" somewhere in it. I already had the storyline of the XI series is pretty much plotted out, if you're interested in some of it I got it in this blog post I posted a little bit after this one:
http://www.byond.com/members/ FlameGuardian?command=view_post&post=73160

I also am looking for a team! If you're a pixel artist and want to do some work for me, I'm looking for a team. For more information you can check out my ad here:
http://www.byond.com/members/BYONDAction/forum?id=809

Read:The pros and cons before you vote.
I've been conjuring up a new Pixel Movement for my new platform fighter, and I've come across some problems. The game could be much greater if the implantation of pixel movement wasn't there, but it could make the game-play experience not as new and engaging as players would like it to be.

The problem is that perfectionism of pixel movement is a long dark road. I have fixed up a playable version, but it does crash the server if you "abuse" it. By abuse, I mean not just walking like you would in a game, but just smash random directions or if you feel like switching/pressing multiple direction keys at a time. This leads me to either making the game-play more difficult by not allowing you to do certain movement patterns that crash the server. Or to just create a new pixel movement system that doesn't work the same as this version does. Now don't get me wrong, it's smooth and nice. But a polished game could never have random crashing.

Now I wish for my game to be a unique fighter, and not having pixel movement would get rid of a lot of the uniqueness. Although if you look at my previous post, I have many ideas planned which will make it differ from all other platform fighters. I will list the pros and cons of having and not having pixel movement and let you guys decide what should be done.

Pixel Movement
Pros -A more smooth and versatile game-play
-To have a completely new movement system from other platform fighters.
Cons -I may know the cause of most server crashes, but the only way to fix it is creating a totally new pixel movement in another variety
-Player limits would be very low, 4~6 maximum

General Movement
Pros -The player limit would not limited
-A.I would be possible to add for team games or even different game-types like killing off enemies or bosses
-Changes can still be applied to differ the movement from other Gravity/Movement systems
Cons -One of the main differences from my new fighter is thrown out the window
-The ability of being at any X or Y on the screen would very much decrease the versatility of cover and other mechanics

And as I promised, here is a screenshot of the "Test Version" of the project. This screenshot incorporates the pixel movement system. It just shows off the test projectile system(not like I want to it be later on), usage of cover.. Just some general things. The mobs wouldn't look like that in the full version and this is just a very alpha version.


As you can see, the actual player base is not done. I am trying to think of what exactly it'd look like. If any pixel artists would like to help me with a base, it'd be greatly appreciated. I want a approach that is smaller than my Crisis XI base since I want a very large amount of states. So nice looking like Crisis XI, smaller like Sabre XI, but with a "Mega Man Zero" look to the character(maybe).

Well, after looking at my poll that lasted pretty much all of may, I realized that the results show that people want to see an PvP Platform battle game, that's not just another Mega Man game. Now, there is some idea I'd like to discuss which I may change, also I'd like to explain the basic idea of my game. If you don't like my ideas, please express how you feel!

Movement Well, my intentions are to have it pixel-based and very fast paced. I had a well working pixel based system with my Crisis XI project, but I decided to not use it since there were so many A.I inside the game(Lag). Although, I think pixel movement with 6-8~ players, would hopefully work smoothly. I'm currently working on my own pixel movement with the help of Calus CoRPS whom has created his own pixel library. So far my version works smoothly, although there are some choppy moments which I'm clearing up.

Projectile Combat Well, one problem I'm having is how the projectiles will be used. I could use so you can click on the screen since you don't see that in platform fighters. Now that would be something new, but different in a way in which I don't think would work out. I really want to make the usage of cover, vital. Somewhat like a "Gears of War" approach to a platform game. The idea I am thinking is using a "pixel based" angle system. And expanding on that adding different sorts of guns that would help the player using things like a "Laser Site" that would be only for you to see, not other players. I'd also like to make every gun have it's own different feel. So if you have a long ranged gun, you'd be able to zoom in(see areas beyond you), and that would be a time that a "Laser Dot" or cross hair would come in handy to see where you're aiming at. Finally, I personally think the "Pixel Angle" projectile system would take more skill and be more unique than like other fighters where you simply spam left, right, and maybe other directions on occasions 24/7.

Melee Combat The melee combat is not so complex in most fighters, different buttons = different attacks which all normally are alike. Now, the hard part is how can you make a unique melee combat. My current idea is to take a "Fable 2" approach to combat! Yes, I like taking ideas from other games. In Fable 2 combat, you use the same melee button to block/large strike/strike. I took that idea and added/expanded it to be fast, fun and fluent. Here are the 5 basic concepts:

•Normal Strikes: Now, I don't want it to be just like normal combat where you just keep doing the same one attack. I'm thinking of going outside the "one melee button" idea, but the same concept. The different melee "Classes" would all have access to 3 different melee keys, which all consist of different attack styles. The styles would vary from being fast, have more length, making yourself less vulnerable or your opponent less vulnerable, being strong but slow, etc.

•Combos: The important part of normal strikes is that you can add them up into combos with your 3 different buttons using the direction pad + your melee buttons. So you can figure out the best combos that work against different players. Maybe slash him up fast, than expose him and throw him up in the air and finish him off with a large smash back into the ground.

•Blocking: You hold in the melee button to block, if someone hits you when you are blocking, they will recoil and be stunned for 1 second so you have your chance to attack.

•Clashes: Now, if you and another player BOTH strike within the same 0.25 seconds or so, you'll both end up in a clash. My idea for the clash is that once you are clashed, you must rapidly hit random directions which pop-up within 3 seconds. The player who hit the directions the fastest wins, if you hit the wrong direction, you lose. After the clash, the loser player recoils and is stunned for 1.5 seconds.

•Large Strikes: If you point in a direction WHILE holding down the melee key, you charge for a large strike. A half charged large strike will do more damage, and auto wins any clashes. A fully charged large strike does the same BUT can stun players for 1.5 seconds and can break a block attack. To make it more fair, a large strike would take 2 seconds to charge, and a full large strike would take 4 seconds.

Characters Every fighter, has characters. Characters in which you unlock or buy, and maybe buy some skills but that's all you'll normally upgrade with them. YOUR characters in all fighters I seen on BYOND, all are the same. Example: You unlock sonic, your unlocked sonic is just the same as every other player's sonic. Now this is where I come in... The characters in my games, are like an outline. You mold your character into what you want him to be. Here is the basic ideas I have:

•Basics: When you start off, you'll pick two(maybe three) starter characters of your choice. Now, each character would have many different ways to be played! It'd be some-what like leveling, but not exactly.

•Process of Character: You play throughout the game and depending on how you use your character is how you'll be able to progress with him. Although, you can choose not to take the opportunity to make him the way you're playing and try to make him another style. I'll make an example for it to be easier to understand. You have a fast and nimble character, you use daggers with him ALL the time, but don't use anything else. When you rank up(Like from private to corporal), it will analyze all your statistics and than you can choose what skills, equipment and weapons to purchase with your experience towards that "Rogue-Like" style.

•The Actual Level-Up: Now there would be a lot of in-game medals that add up to the "BYOND Medals", and you'd get a lot of medals each rank up mattering to how you played, these medals earn you the extra experience towards your new equipment, weapons and sometimes characters. Basically, each medal gives different levels of experience for the different styles you can rank up your character. So a head shot medal will give you extra projectile experience, maybe 100 will give you a character. Sneaking up and backstabbing players will add to your rogue experience.

•Skills: Most skills in fighters consist of dashing, invisibility, flying. Very basic, and when I enter a fighter with unbalanced character I think to myself "Ok, so everyone is just going to go invisible, spam their super quck over-powered skills". Now there will be not only none of that, but there will not be ONE genre of each character that would be the best. I would ensure you that you won't just see the same 3 characters that are the BEST". You may ask "Why?", the simple answer is that I hate unbalanced games. You'd start off with skills JUST as good as what you gain. Your starting character can do multiple things and will be very good, but than you just mold him into a better character. Skills will vary from high jump techniques, special melee attacks, burst projectiles, invisibility, speed increases, etc. I'm not certain with the numbers right now, but I'm thinking 3 use-able skills and 3 trait skills that you can equip yourself with.

Well, I rambled on A LOT. Also, I don't want to make people "think" that all I said is finished. I got some of it done, and have touched on other things, . Like all games in the making, there's a lot of pixel art to do and a good amount of programming as well! Now there may be more information on the game, but that's the basics that I'd like the community to be informed on and critique. I am working on this project as much as I can with my busy schedule and I hope you guys liked the basic idea. Next post you'll be able to see of the screen-shots from my test version of the game, thanks for reading!

Please leave suggestions and critics to my plans, I want this fighter as unique and fun as possible!

Well. I haven't been on BYOND a lot lately, although I was working on a mini-project. The game was a top view shooter, much like my second/third XI projects. I had a basic system with shooting, a decent amount of graphics(all custom), and some cool mechanics. Such as the grenade system where you hold the button with the meter going up and down to choose the impact speed/height(go over objects). Also the in-progress melee system which I was planning on being very unique, and other things as well.

Anyway, I'll get back on to what I was saying. While working on this project(not that much) I thought for a second. When you look at BYOND, what kind of games does it need. It has many Anime, Survival/Horror, different shooters, lots of fan games differing from Final Fantasy to Mega Man, etc. Although, I thought back to when I had Crisis XI ready for the early beta test. I made that game since I thought BYOND NEEDED some sort of Side-Scrolling RPG, since it has not been done. Being unique is always good since you stand out, but not always enjoyed by the community. So I'm thinking of asking YOU(The community) on what style of game I should start to work on. Feel free to suggest anything, I'd prefer a Action or RPG-style game. I'll give some ideas here, post any "others" you would like to see.

1. I was mainly thinking of re-creating Sabre XI with a style that Crisis XI sort of had. So a 100% custom graphics RPG/action platform game having many things to do in an open world like the main story-line, extra missions to destroy you opposing side(there are 2 factions), PvP.. etc.

2. A real life simulator, sort of like my old-school "Real Life" game but with a better approach. Games like Grand Theft Auto you can only live life the hard way, but this game you'd most likely live by owning a business, farm, etc.(Or become a criminal or cop, etc.)

3. My shooter I mentioned earlier. Many different game-types, and maybe a built-in story mode eventually. Basically what you see in most BYOND shooters except tweaked to perfection.

4. A space game! Much like my old(fail) space game, Mission XI. Maybe on planets it could be like a platform game, or just generally normal. Go around making your ship better, getting a crew, fighting, etc..

5. A 100% PvP platform game. If I made this, I would like to put it in the XI series since It'd be nice to make everything have an animation, most fan-game genres would limit you to sprites of their game. It'd be mainly a "Team Fighter", like Team Deathmatch, CTF, with vehicles and such.

6. A space-station horror survival. Somewhat like Murder Mansion or Mafia. Everyone has a job, like a scientist, engineer, guard, etc. Than you place some bad things, like an infection(disease, or a virus that makes people turn into zombie-like creatures), an assault on the space station, and more. Anyway, pretty much a group of players work together to try to beat whatever is trying to kill them all!

7. If all that is garbage, why not a fan game. I wouldn't accept doing a Castlevania game since I would never go threw the hassle of working on that again. BUT I'd most likely work on a decent Mega Man X, Sonic, Halo, FF Plat former, etc. Mostly any sort of game that's not Anime, but it would be nice to have someone assisting me with the sprites.

8. Suggest whatever you think would be a good idea for me to make :)