Strife

I happen to be working on RPG myself, and I can tell you that the kind of formula you use relies heavily on how your game is played. For example, since my game is more of an action/beatemup hybrid, I don't rely on exponentials very much when calculating damage. It's definitely something to consider if you're going turn-based, though. The following post is quite long, but hopefully you find something of use in here. xD; Also bear in mind that I'm citing examples from my game, and this isn't the only (or best) way to go about it. It might give you some ideas, though. In my game, I simplify things by separating the attack power from defense so that they're both in different equations. In other words, I calculate how much damage a monster would do if the player had 0 defense, and I transfer this number to a variable stored in the player object. From here, I plug it into a separate defense equation before finally subtracting it from the player's health. Another thing you should ask yourself is how quickly you want your characters to grow as far as damage, HP, etc go. If you're going for something like Final Fantasy where you start off with 200 HP and end up with hundreds of thousands of HP's by the end, then you should use exponentials. That way, the amount of HP/attack/whatever you gain with each level will increase over time. For example, I use this equation to determine the player character's max HP: HP = -208+Level+(Exp((Defense+Level)*0.025)*300) This gives her a starting HP of 100 that starts increasing very slowly at first, but as the player gains levels and/or increases their Defense stat, it starts to skyrocket near the end of the game. Of course, I find that you shouldn't use exponents (in most cases) with attack power, especially if you plan of having the player collect different weapons and equipment throughout the course of the game. Here's the equation I use to determine the damage of the player's normal sword swing: BaseDamage = (Strength*(EquippedSword*1.5)) This, of course, is the base damage. If you use something like this, you should try adding randomness to it by adding Random(BaseDamage / 2) once the blow connects. Also, take note of the EquippedSword*1.5. What this means is that each sword the player collects in the game will increase her attack power by 150% (1.5). She only gets two different swords in my game, though, so if you plan on having more dakka, you should lower this multiple to something like 1.2. Aaand of course if you use this, you need to make sure that the swords are sorted in order from weakest (EquippedSword=1) to strongest (EquippedSword=9001). If you wanna add elemental damage, what you could do is if the blow connects, set a variable in the monster (say, AttackedWith) to a particular number. For example, in my game, when the player attacks with fire, I set AttackedWith in the monster to 1. Then you run a check to see if this number is ever anything other than 0 (which is non-elemental damage), and if it is, multiply BaseDamage by 2 for double damage. Hope that makes sense. xD;

Wow! I hope you were aiming for a sinister look, because the screenshots of this level creep me out for some reason. xD I think it's easily intimidating enough to be a Bad Future remix of a different zone. I don't really mind the Sonic sprite myself. As for the tiles, it's definitely better now that you have a combo of small/large squares going.

Wait, so posting an idea in the banter thread automatically gets you a topic? xD;Guess I'll see if I can elaborate at some point. I suppose it depends on how restrictive your color pallette is, but I don't see why you wouldn't be able to add more colorful buildings to the background. Take Route 99 from Sonic Advance 3, for example - definitely has some nice colors going on in the background without getting in the way of the foreground. I do, of course, think that it would be pretty difficult to have an animated background during the day. At night, you're free to have all kinds of blinking signs and lights, but for day scenes, you're probably limited to cloud movement, aircraft, or the obligatory construction crane. Unless of course you do what they do in most of the Mega Man X intro stages and make the city get attacked by squadrons of baddies - then you have all sorts of options to play around with, including warning lights, smoke, bombs falling from the sky and whatnot. That might be a little dark for a Sonic game, though. xD;

Exactly. xD You can never go wrong with lasers.

To be expanded upon by Strife

To me, the time of day plays an enormous factor in a city-themed level. I tend to notice that as the time of day shifts from morning to midnight, so does the amount of focus on the background - night settings are usually accomplished by lots of blinking lights and neon signs (i.e. Casino Night, Carnival Night, Night Carnival, etc). Though that's not to say that daytime settings aren't interesting - they just give off an atmosphere that's noticeably different. As for actual gimmicks, I think traffic lights have a lot of potential. Stuff can change or move around depending on whether the light is green, yellow, or red. Heck, one of the badniks could even be a levitating traffic light that fires a lazar when it turns red, kinda like this (middle screenshot, of course).

To me, the time of day plays an enormous factor in a city-themed level. I tend to notice that as the time of day shifts from morning to midnight, so does the amount of focus on the background - night settings are usually accomplished by lots of blinking lights and neon signs (i.e. Casino Night, Carnival Night, Night Carnival, etc). Though that's not to say that daytime settings aren't interesting - they just give off an atmosphere that's noticeably different. As for actual gimmicks, I think traffic lights have a lot of potential. Stuff can change or move around depending on whether the light is green, yellow, or red. Heck, one of the badniks could even be a levitating traffic light that fires a lazar when it turns red, kinda like this (middle screenshot, of course).

Thanks, Ironrind. Wow, Sonic SHMUP looks sweet! =O Can you play as Tails? He was totally made for airplane combat. xD And I feel your pain as far as HUDs go. It's the reason why I chose a minimalist style for my game (i.e. information only comes up when it's relevant, such as a heart appearing when your health is low or a counter appearing when you pick up collectible stardust pieces).

For all practical purposes, I'm what you would call a relatively new member since I only just started posting around here recently. I haven't had any problems with being trolled or bashed.

Thankies! Funny you should mention that, Asuma. While the male character is more Zero-esque, the female character is the one who gets the beam sabre. (Well, sortof. It's a special attack you acquire from one of the bosses.) Thanks for the tips, LarkSS. :3 There's an indoor area in the good future of Amber Hills Stage 3, and I make it so that the rain stops when the player's inside, but other than that, I haven't made anything block it. xD; I would like to put up videos at some point, and I'm actually pretty close to finishing enough stuff for a demo. I'm mostly impeded by graphics work for the menus and interfaces - including the pause menu which I'm not particularly happy with. If I still have trouble with it after a while, I could probably make a thread for the game or something and ask for more detailed advice. xD; In the meantime, here's another pile of screenies. This one's from Alchemist Works, and it shows a little more of what each character can do. The girl plays like a Mega Man hybrid - she can wall jump and slide under narrow tunnels, though unlike MM, she can still shoot while sliding. The male is harder to describe, but he kinda plays like one of the twins from Gunstar Heroes - he shoots insanely fast and has a dashing ability. The girl does best in vertical areas, and the guy does best in horizontal ones.

All of these gorgeous screenshots are making me want to post something. o_o Ah, what the heck. xD One of two projects I'm currently working on. This one's a platformer that plays like Mega Man X, but has a time traveling system similar to Sonic CD. The screenshots above are from Amber Hills (Present, Past, Bad Future and Good Future, from top to bottom). If anyone here remembers playing Sonic Strife, I basically took the art style from that and expanded upon it. A few people have told me that the graphics look like cutouts. xD

I don't think Leon was aware of the download limit, so I went ahead and uploaded the beta to my MediaFire account for you guys: http://www.mediafire.com/?dzdjmdc02wm Just let me know when it's outdated or otherwise needs to be taken down.

Gotcha. ^^ I noticed a few more things this morning: - After collecting a 1-up in the Extra Stages, the music reverts to Star Light Zone. - After completing the game with Tails, I was surprised to find out that I had all of the emblems, even though I didn't complete any of the extra missions. Although i'm not sure if you intentionally left them all unlocked so we could bug-test the extra stages. - Will there be special stages/chaos emeralds implemented in the final version? If so, that would explain the inclusion of Super Sonic. Also, if you clear the stage as Super Sonic, your ring count keeps draining while your score is being tallied. - Completing a stage via Stage Select, then picking another stage right afterwards, results in the level being completed immediately after it's loaded. I know it happens with the Find the Lost Chao missions, but I'm not sure about the others. - Though not necessarily a bug, Eggman's Engrish amuses me greatly. xD This land is my now! Also, I'm curious - did you make the Sonic and Tails sprites, or did you have someone else draw them for you?

Actually, Tails does have a victory pose. The only place I didn't notice him using it is in Scrap Brain Zone. Odd... Also, i'm not sure if this was intentional, but it's possible to play the unlockable zones as Tails if you've just left a game as him. When playing as Tails in the secret zones, his tails disappear while jumping, and instead of a flying animation, he just hovers in ball form. The sign at the end of the level also displays Sonic's portrait. Though again, i'm not sure if you wanted people to end up using Tails in those levels. xD;

I'm up to Labyrinth Zone, and I've only found one actual bug so far. In some of the Green Hill Zone acts, the timer kept running for me even during the results screen. I'm also kinda wondering how much of a game breaker Tails' flying is, since his vertical flight speed in this game is noticeably faster and he can fly longer than in other games. I managed to skip over half of Spring Yard Zone Act 2 just by flying over everything. xD Also, shouldn't his flying animation be faster? Aside from that, this is my first time playing SR, and I gotta say, this is a really fantastic remake of the original Sonic the Hedgehog. The graphics are lovely, especially with Sonic and Tails' sprites. It's like a hybrid between the Genesis and Advance styles.

You know it's gonna play well because it's using the Sonic Worlds engine. I've already booked my reservations on this one. Very nice use of recycled graphics! If I were to make a suggestion, I would recommend getting rid of those debug counters on the right side. Aside from that, looks ace. =D

See, that's precisely the reason why I often hide my own projects from the public eye until I need beta testers. xD Don't want to get things overhyped and all. I kinda did that with Sonic Strife. But yeah, I played the demo of Sonic Nexus, and the engine is very polished and the graphics are asfkjdslfjingly good. Best of luck on completing it to its rightful end. Also, quick question... I'm not sure if this has been answered yet since I only became aware of this game very recently, but seeing how the website has images of Tails, will he be a playable character in the final version? :3

I gotta say, i'm wholeheartedly impressed with the work that's gone into this engine. I'm in love with the additive-blending special effects, such as the ring sparkles and Super transformations. xD I can't wait to see what kinds of full-fledged Sonic games that are made with it. I'd play around with the engine myself, but i'm a bit intimidated by the amount of graphic work that would be required for original levels and bosses. xD Still, it's mighty tempting.

Lark - I can kinda see what you mean about the background of Zone 3 blending into the foreground. xD In any case, it shouldn't be too hard to smooth that out. Aero - Ah, I see now! I got confused because the instruction manual of Sonic 2 refers to them as Shellcrackers. Yes, they're tough little buggers, especially if you're on their left side. Their claws are much easier to dodge if you can jump over them and attack from the right.

If I were to release the source, I would only share it with one person who is a trusted and dedicated game developer and whom I am confident will help me complete the game to its rightful end. The thought did occur to be in the past, but I don't think this is a lost cause for me just yet. xD And thanks for mentioning that bug, MCK. I've made a note of it.

Thanks again, folks! To answer your question, Aero, that "glitch" was actually intentional. If you press A while in the spin dash at any point, you can jump. By Kani Punch, do you mean Sonic and Tails' melee attacks? Ah, rats, I forgot about the CNCS232 thing. ^^; But good thing you had no problems finding a copy of it. If I were to continue working on this, I would probably scrap my original plans for the next zone and make a grand total of 7 Zones... which means that I would need to finish Act 2 of Zones 5 and 6, build the 7th Zone along with the final boss, build 4 more Chaos Emerald stages, and tidy up some of the bugs and such. It wouldn't be too bad if I didn't already have two other projects going along with 19 credit hours of school. xD; But we'll see. Nothing is ever certain.

Thanks, Rael! Glad you like it! The backgrounds are 100% custom. A large majority of the foreground graphics and scenery are also custom, though I did borrow some scenery pieces from other Sonic games and stripped down the shading to fit with the rest of the level. Sonic's Spin Dash is indeed pretty slow. I think the main reason for that is that he doesn't uncurl until he comes to a complete stop. In any case, if I were to go back and edit the game, making it faster should be a simple matter of increasing a speed variable. Glad you like the element system! As a matter of fact, I drew inspiration for it from the Kirby's Dreamland series in which you could get different abilities by swallowing enemies of different types. I really like how the bosses turned out too. ^^ I had originally intended for the carnival boss fight to be in Act 1, but I couldn't think of anything for Act 2, so I moved it there instead. Zones should always end with boss fights. xD As far as SAGE goes, I could take a shot at it. I've actually been thinking about making a portfolio site recently anyway where I could put all of my past and current projects. Thanks again! =D There are definitely some really nice games here, so i'll still pop in every now and then to see what's up.

A few years back, I was working on a fangame called Sonic Strife that focused more on exploration and fighting badniks than pure speed. It's hard to believe that I started working on it when I was only a junior in high school. xD Anyway, it's been collecting dust on my computer for three years now, and aside from a few screenshots I posted here back in day, nobody else has really gotten a chance to enjoy it. I've stopped working on it, and I don't think i'll have time to go back and finish it with all of the stuff going on in my life right now... but the least I can do is dig it back up and share it. At least then, all of the effort I put into it won't be a complete waste. Sonic Strife follows the latest adventures of Sonic and Tails, both of which are playable characters with their own unique attacks. Once you've picked a character, you should know the drill by now: jump, dash, and smash your way through a variety of unique worlds in order to stop Dr. Roboteggmanik's latest Chaos Emerald heist. Despite its incompletedness, a large portion of the game is still playable, and I have to say that i'm quite happy the way it turned out. Here are some screenshots of the game: Here is the link to the playable EXE: http://jadephoenix.org/jpgame/SonicStrife.zip There is a readme file included that explains all of the controls and features. The same information is also displayed when you first launch the game. Here is an open-source MFA file, for those of you who are interested in seeing how the game was built: http://www.mediafire.com/?ueaq8qu8qefbfjn Feel free to dissect it to your liking. Hopefully you find some use out of it for your own Sonic fangame. There are four noticeable issues with the game, which I shall list below: - Zone 5 Act 2 is incomplete. There is a dead end in the middle of the level, and at that point, i'm afraid you'll have to restart the game. The only way to get to Zone 6 is through the portals in the main menu. - Likewise, Zone 6 Act 2 is also incomplete. There is just a bottomless chasm after the second checkpoint. ^^; - When all of your lives have been lost, the Game Over music will play, but the level will appear to restart. At this point, the music will play again, and then you'll return to the main menu like you should. - In Zone 3, sometimes when you smash two large blocks at once, the screen will get flooded with particles and cause major slowdown. This is a known bug with the way MMF create new objects. To avoid it, try to aim your attacks so that only one block at a time is smashed. Since they're so big, it shouldn't be too hard. That being said, enjoy playing around in all of the levels!