Transcending progress

Hello everyone, time for another update!

I can official say the game is 49% done now and should be 50% done by tonight! This good because all the extra features I wanted to add have been implemented and all that is left is to design the remaining levels, make cut scenes, and add menus. The forest levels I was working on are complete and you can view some of it here: https://youtu.be/lkogf_gofVY

Character update:

This is Ember Phixie!

The phixie clan is a clan of Phoenix and Pixie hybrids. The entire clan is somewhat immortal thanks to their Phoenix blood flowing inside them, however the phixie cannot live more than a 20 year lifespan. Once they perish they return to being a baby and lose all their memories of their previous life. Fearing the unknown, Ember wishes to achieve transcendence and live solely as a Pixie.

Honestly I was expecting to have a lot more done by now but I'll keep you up to date with my progress with my next post on Monday!

Transcending nature into being

Hey there, thanks again for taking the time to read my posts

 I really appreciate it. This is another short one today, but I guarantee Friday's post will be thrilling 

with another gameplay sneak peak video.  

In other news....

2 Weeks have gone by and I'd have to say I;m about 40% done with the game. 

I'm going to have to really pick up the pace if I want to finish it by August 7th. All of the main character's actions and abilities have been full fleshed out and implemented. 1 enemy and 1 boss have been fully designed and implemented. Thankfully, the way I wrote the code, I'll be able to re-use a lot of the code for future enemies and bosses. As I already stated  in earlier posts, I did all my character artwork the first week of the contest so all I need to do is program the enemies. I have finished the mountain area and have started working on the forest area.

Well, as I said, this is just a short one for today, keep up to date and look for my next post Friday.

Oh and tell me what you think of this music for the forest area. 

https://soundcloud.com/tj-cargle/transcendence-jungle-beat-v2-by-tjay-cargle

Transcending sparks into flame.

Hey bloggers, it's that time again!

I must admit it was a slow weekend for me but I finally was able to produce a fully functioning AI working. I also added some more visual detail to the background and skill slots. All of the visuals is subject to change so don't be surprised if what you see here is different from when you play the game.  Minor bugs here and there still need to be fixed but the progress of the game is going well. As some of you saw in my fourth blog post, skills have an upgrade system in which they either grow in size, strength, range, or length.  Three screenshots below show off that growth for those of you who missed the video.

Fire 1

Fire 2

Fire 3

In addition to the growth of the skills enemies have health, can choose to attack if they want and can be hurt by the player's attack. Enemy programing is still basic in nature as of right now but by the time the game is finished I hope to make a more advanced AI. 

Enemy hurt by fire

A little more on Zyion......

So by now I'm sure you all have plenty of ideas of what Zyion is, and I'm here to tell you straight that Zyion is a hybrid of a Dragon and a Witch. The Drix tribe in which Zyion belongs to is comprised of several dragon hybrid species each with their own unique abilities and weaknesses. This unity between Dragons and non-Dragons was formed due to Dragons being hunted down to the brink of extinction. In order to help keep the Dragon bloodline alive the Drix are forced to go the Kytera mountains for Transcendence upon the age of 18 and transcend into a pure Dragon. However, it is the Drix's choice as to which creature to Transcend into but those who do not choose to become a dragon are highly looked down upon. Zyion himself is torn upon which path he should take into Transcendence and hopes that by the end of his journey he can become who he should become and not what people would like him to become.

Look out for my next post on Wednesday and goodnight! 

Transcending growth through experience

Hey bloggers! 

Sorry for the late post, things just did not go as planned today.

Regardless, I promised a gameplay video, so here is a gameplay video showing off one of the ways I'm implementing the theme of growth in my game.

Comment down below if you think you know what Zyion is a hybrid of. 

Sorry thats all for today.

Transcending essence into reality

Hi, thanks for taking the time to read my blog, enjoy today's  update.

Transcendence as it stands now

So far I have done 3 days of programming and the game is coming along nicely! 

The basics for platforming have been implemented and animations for the other characters have been coming along nicely. I have even started a mock health bar that seems to work perfectly as well as I have started coding in the special mechanics for my game. To help out with some of the animations I started to test around with Game Maker Studio's particle system which really added some cool effects that I'll show off in my next post in which I hope to include a gameplay video. Remember the full game isn't finished yet, but if things keep up at this rate I should definitely have a polished game before the contest ends August 7th. To hold you over until then this is another character in the game: 

"Delieghla"

Deleighla's background

Deleighla is a product of two creatures who hated each other, one of which you could have guessed was a mermaid. Neither of her parents wanted her and actually considered Delieghla "a mistake" and treated her as such. Growing up abused an isolated drove Delieghla into insanity and she came close to murdering her parents in their sleep but she was caught in the middle of the act and was banished from the sea. Fearing the type of person she might become, Delieghla is headed to the Kytera mountains to achieve transcendence and no longer be looked at as an abomination.

A little more about me:

Among other things, I am currently  a college Computer Science major whose looking to go into the video game industry later on in life. I started working in Game Maker 8.1 3 years ago and started to make the transition over to Game Maker Studio just a little over a year ago. Since then I have completed over 7 different projects (all of which vary in size) won 2nd place in a local game design competition, and I even entered the 2014 Indie Game Maker Contest. Even though I didn't win the grand prize last year I did manage to pick p a lot more skills and this time around I am planning on going big with "Transcendence" for the 2015 Game Maker Contest. I got a lot of feedback that was good and bad, while my game had a few bugs here and there people thoroughly enjoyed it. The main problem people had was with my choice of graphics. This time around I have been working my butt off improving my pixel art skills and I plan to improve my gameplay abilities too.

 So far I think I'm doing a good job, but you can be the judge of that. Tell me what do you think about Delieghla down below. If you have any feedback or suggestions, don't hesitate to announce them. That's all for today and you can look out for my next post on Friday! 

Transcending goals and progress into the second week of the IGMC

Hey everyone!

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and I hope you're as excited as I am for the development of this game. Since the game is still being developed some of you might be thinking what is done? You want to play it as soon as possible, I understand, but I won't be releasing any version of the game until I feel it is polished enough. You don't want to play an unfinished/broken game right? So I'll keep you up to date so that you know exactly when the game is ready. So......

What is done?

Artwork

Currently about 85% of the artwork is done and I will be releasing sneak peaks every two days to keep your interest. Starting off small but the closer it gets to the finish date the more assets you'll see.

This for example is the face of our hero Zyion:

As more things get done, I might come back and edit Zyion some more but as it stands right now this is him. 

Programming

Today was day 1 of programming for me and I have basic movement done and have started on collision checking. As stated in my other post I am using Game Maker Studio to program this game and as a 3 year GML user I can honestly say I learned a lot of new things today. For instance: I figured out that when using the draw function, the screen may draw your desired sprite but as far as Game Maker is concerned the sprite name/number/ect is still the main sprite that you assigned to that object. This took me a while to figure out as my animation end was going based off the index number of my assigned sprite for obj_zyion, even though I was using different animations for running/attacking.

Story update for readers:

Zyion is a member of the Drix tribe. The Drix live in an area known as Melsa, which is about 5 kilometers south of the Kytera Mountains. As a right of passage, when a Drix reaches the age of 18 they are sent to the Kytera Mountains to achieve transcendence and return home to help guard the safety of their village. The success rate of a Drix obtaining transcendence is about 50/50. Those who don't return within two weeks are assumed to be dead and the village mourns their loss. Zyion's brother never returned from the Kytera mountains two years ago. While Zyion expresses it differently, he wonders if he will be able to complete the task that his brother could not.

That's all for today! Await for the next post Wednesday. Also don't be afraid to comment down below, I'll answer any questions you have and also I am looking for feedback as well. Anyway, till Wednesday! 

   

Transcending into life through the form of a game.

Hello All,Transcendence is the game I am creating for the 2015 Indie Game Maker Contest in which I have  a month to transcend this game from idea into a playable award winner. This blog has been created to give you detailed updates on the games progress and witness yourself the growth of this game. 

So you're probably wondering:

"What kind of game is Transcendence?"

"What is the story of Transcendence?"

"Why would I want to play Transcendence?"

Well keep reading.......

"What kind of game is Transcendence?"

Well Transcendence is going to be an action platformer with RPG elements that uses a unique leveling/growth system that is being developed by yours truly in Game Maker Studo that hopefully will force people to think about their actions as they progress through the game,

"What is the story of Transcendence?"

Transcendence takes place in the Kytera mountains; which are a strange and wonderful collection on mountain ranges that encompasses nearly every type of ecosystem and landscape known to man. It is also where hybrid creatures go to achieve transcendence or rebirth into one pure creature. One such hybrid creature by the name of Zyion Drix is on his path of enlightenment just when someone has plans to destroy the Kytera mountains and stop the hybrids from achieving Transcendence.  He then takes it upon himself to stop whomever the culprit is and transcend into the creature he is supposed to be,

Want to know more? Keep a lookout for future posts on in depth bios of the characters and the unveiling of more of the storyline.

"Why would I want to play Transcendence?"


Because you will get the chance to find your own path to transcendence and understand the meaning of your own life. 
All games impact a persons life in some way/shape/form. Using this game as a medium I hope to draw in every player and help transcend them into the person they were designed to be. 

Whether this game achieves that catharsism or not, will be decided by you. Play the game yourself and see if you can transcend into a higher being.



Thats all for tonight, look out for my next post late at night on Monday 7-13-15