My Little Pony: The Game

[HereComesTom 2,232]

2 hours ago, Fluttershyponygal said:

Point is, work at your own pace and don't feel as though everyone's hype is like Rarity telling you:

(S)he's right!  It's the exact same story with me and Weather Factory Meltdown; move at your own pace, and it'll be done when it's done

[Rikifive 23,469]

7 hours ago, Fluttershyponygal said:

Dude/gal... I have been working on TBOF for 3yrs now in fact as of october it will be 4yrs! The key thing is that you make a mlp fan game becuase YOU WANT TO, I know how hype for your game can make you feel like YOU MUST WORK ON IT but if you overdo it, you not only burn yourself out but you could potentially rush something that if you took your time with, would have come out so much better if you had paced yourself. You are(as far as I know) a one person dev team making a FULL GAME, we don't have an entire team working on code, storyline eventing, or extra features, we are doing this all by ourselves!(Well, I have hired help but its not cheep!)

Point is, work at your own pace and don't feel as though everyone's hype is like Rarity telling you:

Spoiler

 

That's true- I perfectly know what you mean and thanks.  
Though it's not even about promises or rushing things - I'm just worried about that project myself, as job successfully blocks me there. While I know it's not dead, it's not really active either.  Ah, I just wish I could work on the game on daily basis, just like when I was jobless back then.  I keep thinking of things I could make (literally that's what I'm often doing when I'm at work), but can't really get into them (when I finally have some free time). Having free time divided into parts makes it harder to stay motivated, but I'm looking forward for that to change.

 

Thank you for your kind words and support.  I really want to make it real and I'll do my best to find a solution.

 

5 hours ago, HereComesTom said:

(S)he's right!  It's the exact same story with me and Weather Factory Meltdown; move at your own pace, and it'll be done when it's done

Hopefully it will not be 1000 years.

Thank you.  

[TVAPotato 85]

Looking Forward with the game!, i wanna already Play it! :3.

Good Luck.

 

[Rikifive 23,469]

Glad to hear that!   

Thank you!  

[Rikifive 23,469]

Okay, finally I could get back to this project!  

I got back to sprites and... I've managed to notice, that it will take ages! 

Currently I'm working on Twilight Sparkle and .. oh it will really take ages.
Today I was working on the [ ↓ ]| Down ] sprite (the one to the very right) and it took me hours and hours.. I'm terrible at this, I know.

Firstly, I blindly drew the shape to somewhat get the correct proportions relative to the other sprites; Then, I've used Twilight Sparkle figurine I have as a reference to get the correct perspective and adjust things properly, though it didn't give perfect results in the pixel environment.  -So, I've did some changes by myself to make it look correct. Finally, I admit I've looked up for some references to see how it should look like and what could be improved in my sprite- then moved pixels here and there doing SCIENCE.  -err- trying things by trial and error, that is. 

 

So.. this is what I have so far:

By the way, I can't imagine animating all of this. .. and then doing the same for all those ponies... Considering how long it took me to complete the MCM gifts, I'm reeeeeeaaaally worried about this. What I've got myself into... I honestly don't think I'll be able to handle this.  Welp, small steps, small steps. Gotta be patient. Hopefully I'll get this done before 2025.  Aww I wish I was jobless! 

 

I hope it looks acceptable so far!

Now I need to make the rest two and then start animating this... Heh, it can't be that bad, can it? 

[StrawCherry 1,673]

Oh, so you're the one with this game! Seeing your first post, I've seen your work around when I was looking for My Little Pony RPG maker stuff. I might actually have used your sprites... Don't worry, though. I'm not someone that actually finishes a game, so I'm purely using stuff for my own entertainment.  I have looked at your work though for inspiration, but I'm very impressed with what you managed to create on the RPG Maker engine. I could never do that. Super excited to see what you're working on and how it's going to go!

[Rikifive 23,469]

Yep! Blame everything on me! Just kidding!   Hmm, now that's interesting- no worries anyway!  ~Though I think, that what you saw or used was probably not mine, as I didn't post many things.  Either way, I'm really happy to hear, that you found that inspiring!

Why, thank you! But, oh, don't say that; With time, patience and practice you totally could do the same.  At the beginning I also thought, that it's too complicated and I'll not achieve anything, but after hundreds of failures I got somewhere. So.. if I can do something, everybody can.  

I'm really glad to hear that, thank you for your kind words.  

[Rikifive 23,469]

To this day I'm wondering on the sprites- because of the game resolution--- and I'm kind of stuck..

The pixel sprites I have so far are simply tiny, so in order to make them look right, the game resolution would have to be 640x360, which is.. not much.  

So I decided to do some SCIENCE!~ and check what size of sprites I'd need to go for HD resolution (1920x1080). Pixel art in HD isn't the best choice I believe, so I've tried re-doing the sprite as typical digital art and I ended up with that silly sketch:

Probably the outlines are too thick (I've noticed that when I colored everything), but that's just a 'prototype'.

In game in the HD resolution it looks acceptable I think.

 

Why 640x360 isn't enough for me? I can't complain when it comes to gameplay-screen, but it may bring problems in menus, where there may be numbers and text to read, which in smaller resolutions may look not nice. I actually had troubles with HUDs and interface in the past because of small resolution, so that's why I'm considering going with a higher one. Besides, that would look more accurate to the source material, where there are vectors used.

 

But I sincerely have no idea what would be worse to draw&animate- pixel sprites with smaller dimensions to cover, yet easy-to-harm details (sometimes a single misplaced pixel can wreck your eyes  ) ; or digital art, where there's more effort required, but the details aren't that visible- besides some not-perfectly drawn lines and such..

Oooh- system-related preparation is the worst... I'm really not sure what to do...  I know one thing- I keep wasting time on trying many things.  

[Ginger Ale 722]

5 minutes ago, Rikifive said:

To this day I'm wondering on the sprites- because of the game resolution--- and I'm kind of stuck..

The pixel sprites I have so far are simply tiny, so in order to make them look right, the game resolution would have to be 640x360, which is.. not much.  

So I decided to do some SCIENCE!~ and check what size of sprites I'd need to go for HD resolution (1920x1080). Pixel art in HD isn't the best choice I believe, so I've tried re-doing the sprite as typical digital art and I ended up with that silly sketch:

Probably the outlines are too thick (I've noticed that when I colored everything), but that's just a 'prototype'.

In game in the HD resolution it looks acceptable I think.

 

Why 640x360 isn't enough for me? I can't complain when it comes to gameplay-screen, but it may bring problems in menus, where there may be numbers and text to read, which in smaller resolutions may look not nice. I actually had troubles with HUDs and interface in the past because of small resolution, so that's why I'm considering going with a higher one. Besides, that would look more accurate to the source material, where there are vectors used.

 

But I sincerely have no idea what would be worse to draw&animate- pixel sprites with smaller dimensions to cover, yet easy-to-harm details (sometimes a single misplaced pixel can wreck your eyes  ) ; or digital art, where there's more effort required, but the details aren't that visible- besides some not-perfectly drawn lines and such..

Oooh- system-related preparation is the worst... I'm really not sure what to do...  I know one thing- I keep wasting time on trying many things.  

I can't wait to play the game, when do you think it will be downloadable @Rikifive ? You are making an amazing project.

[Fluttershy Friend 25,445]

Quote

Okay, finally I could get back to this project!  

Yay! Good luck!

Quote

Heh, it can't be that bad, can it? 

All will be good!

 

Edited March 25, 2021 by Fluttershy Friend

[Compeador 101]

12 hours ago, Rikifive said:

To this day I'm wondering on the sprites- because of the game resolution--- and I'm kind of stuck..

The pixel sprites I have so far are simply tiny, so in order to make them look right, the game resolution would have to be 640x360, which is.. not much.  

So I decided to do some SCIENCE!~ and check what size of sprites I'd need to go for HD resolution (1920x1080). Pixel art in HD isn't the best choice I believe, so I've tried re-doing the sprite as typical digital art and I ended up with that silly sketch:

Probably the outlines are too thick (I've noticed that when I colored everything), but that's just a 'prototype'.

In game in the HD resolution it looks acceptable I think.

 

Why 640x360 isn't enough for me? I can't complain when it comes to gameplay-screen, but it may bring problems in menus, where there may be numbers and text to read, which in smaller resolutions may look not nice. I actually had troubles with HUDs and interface in the past because of small resolution, so that's why I'm considering going with a higher one. Besides, that would look more accurate to the source material, where there are vectors used.

 

But I sincerely have no idea what would be worse to draw&animate- pixel sprites with smaller dimensions to cover, yet easy-to-harm details (sometimes a single misplaced pixel can wreck your eyes  ) ; or digital art, where there's more effort required, but the details aren't that visible- besides some not-perfectly drawn lines and such..

Oooh- system-related preparation is the worst... I'm really not sure what to do...  I know one thing- I keep wasting time on trying many things.  

You may want to try vector art for HD resolution, but IMO it's ok even if it's in pixel, though 

 

12 hours ago, Ginger Ale said:

I can't wait to play the game, when do you think it will be downloadable @Rikifive ? You are making an amazing project.

 shh, never ask the release date of an indie game, it'll only bring pressure to the developers

[Rikifive 23,469]

18 hours ago, Ginger Ale said:

I can't wait to play the game, when do you think it will be downloadable @Rikifive ? You are making an amazing project.

Me neither.  

On 20.08.2017 at 7:30 PM, Rikifive said:

Hopefully I'll get this done before 2025.

Just kidding!
Peeeeeeerhaps the demo, that would contain prologue, that covers the first and the second episode revealing game features would be ready in ~6 months (then the updates would be coming much faster from there), if not the sprites. Preparing the sprites itself will take months (tons of drawing and animating), so at this point the game production (system-wise and such) is stuck. To not lie, I'm afraid it will take at least a year to get to the point, where the game will actually have something. Hopefully...  

I think there are special programs designed to help make animated sprites, but sadly I don't have any, nor have any experience to use them. I'm planning to draw each frame one-by-one, in the veeery simple and lame way.

Thank you. I really hope it won't end up as a disaster.  

14 hours ago, Fluttershy Friend said:

Yay! Good luck!

Thank you!  

14 hours ago, Fluttershy Friend said:

All will be good!

Uh. So many technical aspects in English. Może lepiej pisz po polsku proszę !

I sure hope so. 

Uh, yeah, that may seem confusing.  I was thinking of this, but that would be against the rules.  

 

7 hours ago, Compeador said:

You may want to try vector art for HD resolution, but IMO it's ok even if it's in pixel, though 

I was considering this, but I'm afraid that would slow down the process even more. ...And I'd have even bigger problems with animating it.  Sprites probably aren't my strong point.  

It kinda feels bad for trying to leave pixel environment, but... oooh what to do...

[Guest]

7 minutes ago, Rikifive said:

Me neither.  

Just kidding!
Peeeeeeerhaps the demo, that would contain prologue, that covers the first and the second episode revealing game features would be ready in ~6 months (then the updates would be coming much faster from there), if not the sprites. Preparing the sprites itself will take months (tons of drawing and animating), so at this point the game production (system-wise and such) is stuck. To not lie, I'm afraid it will take at least a year to get to the point, where the game will actually have something. Hopefully...  

I think there are special programs designed to help make animated sprites, but sadly I don't have any, nor have any experience to use them. I'm planning to draw each frame one-by-one, in the veeery simple and lame way.

Thank you. I really hope it won't end up as a disaster.  

Thank you!  

I sure hope so. 

Uh, yeah, that may seem confusing.  I was thinking of this, but that would be against the rules.  

 

I was considering this, but I'm afraid that would slow down the process even more. ...And I'd have even bigger problems with animating it.  Sprites probably aren't my strong point.  

It kinda feels bad for trying to leave pixel environment, but... oooh what to do...

Pixels are fine. In fact, some well done pixel art can be absolutely godly.

[Rikifive 23,469]

17 minutes ago, Niko said:

Pixels are fine. In fact, some well done pixel art can be absolutely godly.

That's true. I'll try both styles and see how they'll look like..

[Guest]

Just now, Rikifive said:

That's true. I'll try both styles and see how they'll look like..

Yeah look at Dead Cells or even Sonic games for example.

[HereComesTom 2,232]

Weird thought:  what if you had higher resolution and then used scaled-up pixelart anyway?  It might work, stylistically, and it might save you some time.

For the sprites, you're probably a bit too worried:  if you can build a base animation, then all you need to do is recolor, flip horizontally as needed, and add in some extras like tails and manes (and even those could be recolored for different background characters) in order to get your animations.  All you'd need if you had an all-mare cast is about five base animations:  one for up, one for diagonally up, one for the side, one for diagonally down, and one for down.

...Probably this is stuff you know already.

[Rikifive 23,469]

12 hours ago, HereComesTom said:

Weird thought:  what if you had higher resolution and then used scaled-up pixelart anyway?  It might work, stylistically, and it might save you some time.

For the sprites, you're probably a bit too worried:  if you can build a base animation, then all you need to do is recolor, flip horizontally as needed, and add in some extras like tails and manes (and even those could be recolored for different background characters) in order to get your animations.  All you'd need if you had an all-mare cast is about five base animations:  one for up, one for diagonally up, one for the side, one for diagonally down, and one for down.

...Probably this is stuff you know already.

-and that works, because I was doing that for some of my other games.

And that itself takes some time.  The sprites themselves aren't really an issue, but animations, where you basically have to do the same thing multiple times may get problematic. I know what you mean and that's what I was doing- making a base sprite, then giving them the design. That's what I did for the MCM gifts, yet it still took a while to configure each frame correctly.
Yep- 5 directions for idle, walking and running - that makes 15 animations already, for each character. There'll be even more for battles.  Does that sound fun?  

 

I'll give a try to make typical digital sprites and see how it goes. Both styles have their pros and cons, so I'll see what will be better for me.

One of the cons of pixel art is, that a single pixel can break the image, where in digital art it may be a little bit sketchy without actually ruining the effect.

Edited August 23, 2017 by Rikifive

[StrawCherry 1,673]

I want to see moooooore screenshots of what you're doing.

[EclipseNightshade 26]

I honestly really like the pixel art you drew of Twilight. Some of the best sprite work I've seen, actually. It's akin to some of the AAA sprites I've seen, and they look 3D!

Great to see you back man. Looking forward to possibly being able to help out!

[Rikifive 23,469]

30 minutes ago, StrawCherry said:

I want to see moooooore screenshots of what you're doing.

Whenever I'll get something to show, I'll be sure to post it here.  

12 minutes ago, EclipseNightshade said:

I honestly really like the pixel art you drew of Twilight. Some of the best sprite work I've seen, actually. It's akin to some of the AAA sprites I've seen, and they look 3D!

Great to see you back man. Looking forward to possibly being able to help out!

Why thank you.

Happy to hear that.  We'll see when I'll finally get into coding.  

 

---

I'll try something and then post a comparison of both styles.  I hope I'll get the results this weekend, but there may be delays dependable on difficulties.

 

[Rikifive 23,469]

I'm not sure if I'll get the comparison done today as planned, but it all is almost ready, so the delays shouldn't be that long... I was going to try something out, but I guess I'll simplify the results a little by making them look slightly sketchy - and eventually improve later.

The pixel style screenshot is ready, but I'll wait with posting it until I'll get the one with HD resolution.

 

For now, I'll post the little things I'm working on, so that you'll have a tiny preview of the works behind the scenes.

Here's how more or less the pony sprites will look like:

(Scaled down version for game - original is 2500x2500)
No too thick outlines this time.   The mane, tail, eye and cutie mark are work in progress, due to being hand-drawn. The body is the only thing, where there are proper lines, thanks to paths (tool). Either way it will be good enough for a preview- I wanted to see if that will look at least acceptable in-game first. I think everything went well there.
To animate it- I want to give 'Spriter' a try. No idea how it will go, I have never used software like this, but I won't know if I'll not try. Heh, probably animating pixel art would be simpler, at least recoloring there is super easy.  

 

Currently I'm working on the Sweet Apple Acres map (fragment), to have something to screenshot in the game. Map is almost ready, but I thought of adding some details for better preview. With that being said, at the moment I'm working on the well (the one near the entrance).

Well, it took me three tries to get the shape to work with.  Well, I hope it will go Well.

 

But I'm still working, so there is a tiny chance, that I'll get this done today. . .

 

On a side note, when I opened my game project I realized, that I got 'dumber'.  It's been a while since I was coding something last time and it will take a while to get back on track.  It's not that bad though- I need to take a look at what I was working on before.

 

To this day I'm still not sure what style to pick - more details soon, along with comparison.

Thank you for visiting and have a nice day!  

 

---

...Or it took four tries. Now I think I can polish the shape and color it.

Edited August 27, 2017 by Rikifive

[Magic_Spark 154]

What game engine are you using. Read a lot of posts and didn't see it.

I went to college for games.

What most do is use 3d models and render out the sprites from there. Makes animation much easier in some cases. 

Other than that what your doing is good.

Keep it up. 

[EclipseNightshade 26]

The game engine is Game Maker Studio professional edition, if I'm not mistaken. Not as good as GMS2, but still perfect for what this project entails.

[Rikifive 23,469]

21 hours ago, Magic_Spark said:

What game engine are you using. Read a lot of posts and didn't see it.

Yep, as @EclipseNightshade said, I'm using Game Maker Studio Professional. Actually I'd love to jump into GMS2, but ... that means additional costs ... in $, which is less fun for my currency. I'll wait with it a little, probably for a some kind of discount.

21 hours ago, Magic_Spark said:

I went to college for games.

Oh, that's nice! I regret I didn't do that (or at least something similar) back when I was going to school...  I wasted my life because of what I have chosen. Going for something you don't like? That's what I did...  Can I just make a new character?
I hope you've chosen the right path, good luck!!!

 

21 hours ago, Magic_Spark said:

What most do is use 3d models and render out the sprites from there. Makes animation much easier in some cases. 

I can imagine that would be pretty effective, though I don't think I'd be able to handle 3D models.  

 

21 hours ago, Magic_Spark said:

Other than that what your doing is good.

Keep it up. 

Thank you! I will.  

[Magic_Spark 154]

Just looked at the engine. Very nice but it looks like it costs. Now if you already payed for it then your good. (I also have experience with Unreal engine as well. Its what the taught us in college)

The engine I use is great as it has a large community support, its free, and you can develop for the iphone/ipad/android and I believe it does do Xbox. (Not sure about PS4)

I am in no way suggesting you change. Just thought I would let you know of its existence as its free of charge. Source code included.

Also I know how to develop for this engine as I have had a license since 2001. Just have not been able to get people to develop games with. :/ Last couple of game groups I was with were too much into wanting to do state of the art. I tried to get them to start off slow and do things gradually but no one bothered to listen. 

I use a game engine that is free. They have a 2d and 3d version. 

Here is a link to the 2d version of the game engine site. http://www.garagegames.com/products/torque-2d

 

 

Creating sprites by hand is very tedious and its why I said that most go with 3d models and then animate them and render the frames needed.

I have all the pony's geometry and can texture them any way you want. Rendering them out would be simple for me as I have all  the tools. 

I must have spent about 10k for the stuff I have. Not all at once but over a period of the past 5 years. 

I have a license for Maya, 3ds Max, Motion builder, Zbrush, 3d-Coat, Mudbox, Torque3d (I payed for the version that allows web publising) and several other applictions for programming and digital painting. Too many to list.

Hope your game gets going well and it looks like your off to a good start.

Edited September 1, 2017 by Magic_Spark