They are all testers

A minicomic I drew this morning, didn't upload before because I didn't have the chance before haha.

Click to see it.

Some interface for the BCB dating sim

So... I'm finally posting again! The project isn't dead people.

Anyways, I started working on the interface design for Ubertoast's BCB dating sim.

Here is what I have so far. (Click the images to see them in full resolution)

Title screen

Ubertoast practically told me to keep that background image, so I basically designed the title menu to match it. The BCB logo clashes a bit with the BG, but nevertheless, I think it looks good. Added CG as an option, so that the players can enter a gallery where they can see all the CG's they have encountered.

Continue

That little heart thing is the cursor, assuming the game is controller by keyboard. The selected options are highlighted pink, and the spaces with data in them are green. If the game is controlled by mouse, we can just make the cursor select the option the mouse is on, or remove it altogether.

Preferences

Just put the important stuff there. If there is something else this menu needs, tell me. Note that this time, the 'Back' option at the top is highlighted, and the enabled options are green.

In-game

The left panel isn't always there, don't worry. I suggest that it should pop up when Esc key is pressed, and go away when it's pressed again (or perhaps, right click). The 'Hide interface' option hides all windows and text on the screen, allowing the player to fully see the background image.

Merging teams

So, I talked with this Ubertoast dude today (that guy from Concerned-ish), and decided to merge with him.

So, I will now be working in his project as a Composer and Interface designer, as the game's design in general he is already doing it. But just so you know, Project Sugar isn't dead, and not only that, but Ubertoast will also now be helping me with this project as well as an artist. It is kind of a "You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" situation, but I think that this will help both of us to make a better game, respectively.

The wikia is open now!

So, finally I'm posting all the design details over at the wikia.

So far I'm only transferring what I already had to there, but I have some new material (Stats) that I have not yet posted here.

So, the final stats that will be used are:

• Offense:Your character's offensive power. The higher this stat is, the higher the damage you deal.
• Defense: Your character's defensive power. It helps diminish the damage taken. This also makes your guard stronger.
• Endurance: Dictates how much damage your character can take. Increasing this gives you more maximum health, and also makes your guard stronger.
• Speed: Your character's agility. This helps you move and attack faster, and increases the odds of enemy attacks missing.
• Skill: This dictates your character's accuracy. It makes it more likely that your attacks will hit the target. This also slightly increases the chance to land a critical attack, and avoid being stunned after being dodged.
• Will: This is the character's will to achieve his/her goals. This decreases the rate at which the will meter depletes, allowing you to stand in battle longer and avoid instant KO's. This also increases the chance of landing a critical attack, more so than Skill, and slightly decreases the chance of being hit with a critical attack.

Also, keep in mind that each character has some base factors. Do not mistake those with the stats; these factors represent how much more (or less) each stat helps a character.

What is Project Sugar?

Well, I kind of promised all of you people I would reveal more information regarding this game so here it is.

Project Sugar is a game based on the webcomic "Bittersweet Candy Bowl". The name of the game and its tentative storyline were stated in the previous post, so I won't repeat that; I will instead tell you now what the game consists of.

Bittersweet Candy Brawl is a side-scrolling beat 'em up game, aimed for players between 12 and 20 years old mainly (but it might appeal to people over or under those ages), with an intended rating of T for teen.

In this game, players will play as one of the characters from the BCB series (up to 4 players at a time), and will need to defeat waves of enemies in order to make progress in the levels and the storyline. At the end of each level, the player will face a stronger enemy, in a battle known as a 'Boss fight'.

Every once in a while, the player will meet a branching path, and will have to pick one. The decision taken will affect which level will be tackled next, as well as the storyline and which ending the player will get.

Between levels, the players will be able to spend 'Experience points', in order to upgrade their stats and make their current character stronger. Upgrading stats will also unlock new abilities for that character, including but not limited to parrying, rolling, etc.

To complement the experience of story mode, a few versus modes will be available, where human players will be able to compete against each other. The modes that will be available are yet to be decided.

When story mode has been completed, a higher tier of difficulties will be unlocked, to give the players a chance to go through the game again and explore different possibilities, without making the game too easy due to the character upgrades.

And well... that's pretty much the game's outline.

It's time for a story

So... the game's story framework is pretty much done (what the story will be about, but dialogues and stuff like that haven't been made).

This is all thanks to Nicholas "Maverik" Court, a friend of mine and the story writer in this project. Also, I would like to mention I altered the text to omit any spoilerific parts. The original framework, however, will be uploaded to a project wiki (which is yet to be made). Once it is up, be careful when reading it as it will spoil not only the story, but also the paths the player should take in order to achieve the best ending (I'll tell you... there are paths to be chosen as you play).

So here is the overview:
---------
Bittersweet Candy Brawl(Title is also Maverik's idea)

It is a happy day like any other day in Roseville, except… today is Daisy’s birthday! The group is gathered in her house, having fun and playing games, with the usual tension between some of the guests. However, suddenly a group of thugs break inside and attack! The kids manage to fight them off and call the police. Shortly after, the phone rings… it’s Augustus!

“You have 24 hours to find me, or the kid's a goner.” Molly must have been kidnapped!

The group chases after him. What could he possibly want? Will they be able to rescue Molly?
---------
So yep, it's going to be a game about Bittersweet Candy Bowl! (If you don't know what that is, check the previous post)

Further details will be revealed in the next post. See you later!

Companions in game design

Some friends of mine are working on a game of their own.

Check out their blogs!

Concerned-ish
The blog of a kid artist

It's a dating-sim based on an awesome webcomic we've been reading lately, Bittersweet Candy Bowl. If you're interested in the source comic click the banner below.

I design games

This is a lot funnier when you have it happen to you.

This was taken from "Level up!", that book about game design written by Scott Rogers. It's an awesome book and I suggest you read it sometime.

Some interface!

Not really screenshots, but a little taste of how things will be arranged on-screen, hopefully.

Some things will change though. There will be no SPE stat for instance, and instead will be changed to SKL. Also, ultimate skills won't be in the game after all. I'll be sure to replace that with something else.

And now... the images.

Character upgrade screen:

In-game screen:

And now... I intend to show how the other menus will be navigated.

From main menu

     Story mode

o   Difficulty selection

§  Character selection

·         =Game start=

·         Extra mode*

o   Difficulty selection

§  Character selection**

·         =Game start=

·         V.S. Mode

o   Minigame selection

§  Character selection

·         =Game start=

·         Preferences

o   Controls

o   Friendly fire (On/Off)

o   Display

§  (PC options)

·         Resolution

·         Windowed/Fullscreen

§  (PS3 options)

·         Adjust size

·         Display position

o   Sound

§  Music

§  Effects

§  Voice***

o   Profile

§  Change profile****

·         Profile selection

§  New profile****

§  Clear data

·         Story mode

·         Character

o   Character selection

·         Ranking scores

·         Ranking

*              Visible after it is unlocked

**            Different characters will be available

***          Voices may not be included in the final version of the game

****        These options will not be available on the PS3 release. PS3 profiles will be used instead.

From pause menu

·         Status

·         Movelist

·         Progress map

·         Preferences

o   Controls

o   Friendly fire (On/Off)

o   Display

§  (PC options)

·         Resolution

·         Windowed/Fullscreen

§  (PS3 options)

·         Adjust size

·         Display position

o   Sound

§  Music

§  Effects

§  Voice

·         Return to title screen

·         Return to game

"I think that Link from the Legend of Zelda games is about the worst person around. This adorable little elf (or whatever the hell he is) runs around chopping everyone's gardens to bits, breaks into their houses, steals anything that isn't nailed down and breaks all of their valuable crockery! And yet everyone is so happy to see him!"

-Scott Rogers

Project Sugar game controls

Here are the tentative game controls for Project Sugar.

	Normal	Guarding	While grabbing	With weapon
Pad/Left stick	Move	Turn	Turn	Move
Right stick	-	-	-	-
□	Light attack	Light attack	Strike	Weapon attack
Χ	Jump	Roll	-	Jump
Ο	Special skill	Charge energy	-	Weapon special*
Δ	Strong attack	Grab/Catch	Throw	Throw weapon
L1	Guard	Guard	-	Drop weapon
L2	-	-	-	-
L3	-	-	-	-
R1	Ultimate skill 1**	Ultimate skill 2	Ultimate skill 1**	Ultimate skill 1**
R2	-	-	-	-
R3	-	-	-	-
Select	-	-	-	-
Start	Pause menu	Pause menu	Pause menu	Pause menu

*              Some weapons might not have a special move

**            Ultimate skill 1 depends on the character and the situation