The OWF Game!

[Gretin]

Hi everyone!

As I mentioned in Mitsur's Untold Legend thread, I have ideas (inspired from said thread ) to make a game involving OWF members in the style the original two games were made in. So basically, this is a thread to find out how much interest there would be in such an idea, and to outline what would be required - I can't make it on my own, I've made that mistake once too many

So I might as well get on with it, mightn't I?


PROGRAMMING

This is a pretty important part for making a game - it doesn't matter how much resources you have if you can't stick them together! The game, if it gets made, will be programmed in Game Maker Registered Version 6.1. I'm pretty sure I can handle this part on my own, but if any of you budding Game Maker programmers out there would like to lend a hand, I'd be happy to give you work to do

The game would be programmed to be similar to Abe's Oddysee and Abe's Exoddus, i.e. 2D, set steps for walking and running, hoisting, doors, wells, etc. But of course, we'd add our own stuff too (I've got some ideas and I'm sure everyone else will have plenty too)



GRAPHICS:

This is pretty important too; although there's no way we'll be able to make it on par with Oddworld's graphics, we don't want it to look like some 6 year old drew it up with MS Paint (not saying that you can't do good things with MS Paint, but I kinda think a 6 year old might not ). I could always make the sprites be renders of 3D models, as I have the necessary software, but this would use up a lot of time and if I'm going to be programming it I'd rather not have to do that. So if possible it would be good if I can get someone who can make up decent looking 2D sprites. They don't need to be flash, but we WOULD need to set a style so everything matched. So yeah, anyone up for spriting?

Also on the matter of graphics, backgrounds that match would be needed. So if you think you could contribute graphics-wise to this project but you don't really feel like making up dozens of little sprites for a sprite-sheet, this is always on option I'll leave the matter of deciding on a style up to the spriters, IF anyone wants to sprite.

There's also movies to consider, but I think that might be getting a bit ambitious. If need be, we can always make in-game movies, though, with some special sprites for poses in the movies and such. We could also put in still frames for important scenes; e.g. a high(er) quality picture to show a key moment for a few seconds. We shall see...



SOUNDS:

Now, this is something I feel is often overlooked when people are planning on making a game. The game will feel quite empty without sounds, so I'll probably be getting sounds from the Oddworld games for the most part (like explosions, doors opening, etc) if possible. I might also do that for a GameSpeak sort of thing, but I'll leave that up for conjecture (If that's the right word to use). If anyone can make new, appropriate sound effects without any static or other big problems that would be great too.

The music, if there's no objections, will be made in midi format, but because midi can quite often be quite ugly sounding, I'll be converting the music to midi files in Synthfont version 1.062 using my own custom SoundFont files. If there's any music composers out there who would like to contribute, you're most welcome to, but I'd prefer if music could be given to me in midi format to be converted, just for consistency. If that's not possible (like, for instance, if you don't compose your music in midi in the first place ) feel free to send music in anyway, though, it might just suit



STORY

While the story for a game like this is going to be pretty comical, it would be good to have a semi-serious plot running through it all the same. I was thinking something along the lines of a take-off of certain elements of Abe's Oddysee/Exoddus and of some of the things we have at the forums (similar to how Mitsur portrayed it in his story, though I hope we won't just completely rip off it ). E.G. replacing the industrial with the "n00bs" - the type who come here and spam everything up, of course - there's nothing wrong with being a newbie And replacing the enslaved mudokons with regular members here, so the player has to rescue them from the n00bs. Of course, this is just an idea to try to get us started, so I don't want to say much more so as to leave plenty of room for development. A title would be decided after a storyline had been decided on, so the title can actually relate to the story








So yeah, that's probably about it. Besides, if I make it too long you'll all lose interest before we even start! So whether this game becomes a reality or stays in the pool of unused ideas is really up to all the members of OWF. As I said, there's no way I can make this game on my own, but with even a little bit of help we should be able to make a good start. IF we can get a team together, we'll need to sort out a way of keeping in touch, but that will have to wait until we found out just who it will be anyway. So yeah, discuss!



(Oh, and just a note, please don't simply post things like "Cool!" or "Nice idea" etc. It's nice to know, but it really doesn't help much and trust me, I've seen so many threads about games in production that get so filled with useless posts that finding anything useful in them is just not funny. Also, the other extreme isn't terribly helpful either - if you think it's a bad idea, say why, and let me know how it could be better! )

[Jordan]

This sounds real good. So would the sprites be of the actual members? If so, I could try.

[Zerox]

How would we do the sprites? Would we all be Mudokons, or what...?

Background music=here?
http://www.oddworldforums.net/showth...ighlight=music

[Munch's Master]

I could chip in with the spritework, but I don't know how much I'd be able to put towards it, since I'm in a busy part of my school time. I'd give it a go though.
And I'd always be up for helping with story ideas, but I think mitsur alone could probably do a good enough one.
I'm no music composer, but I can do a few voices and accents. If I get a microphone for my PC (like I've been wanting to for a little while) I could help with the GameSpeak idea if that goes ahead.

I suggest 2 split topics:
1) A Progress Thread, involving a list of members working on the project, sreenshots, sprites, soundfiles, and so on, up to the finished game.
2) An Ideas Thread, for people to just come in and throw stuff into the pile.

[Gretin]

Yeah, I was going to start a new thread for the development once we got a team together to make it (if that happens ).

But anyway, to answer the questions asked:

This sounds real good. So would the sprites be of the actual members? If so, I could try.

Depends on what the spriters want, really. I mean, I highly doubt there's going to be an excess of people wanting to sprite for it, so I don't want to make all these high and mighty decisions on how the sprites are going to be and put everyone off.
However, I think the main thing to decide on first would be a sprite style. Preferably something that's simple, so it doesn't take for ages to make, but looks ok too. But I'm not a spriter, so... yeah

How would we do the sprites? Would we all be Mudokons, or what...?

Background music=here?

Again, that will mainly be up to the spriters. The two options I see at the moment are:
1) that we make everything based off Oddworld, in which case the "bad guys" will be sligs and such and the "good guys" mudokons, etc
2) that we make entirely new things for the enemies and friends to look like.

But as I'm not a spriter, again, I haven't decided that for myself

As for the background music there, I'll have a look at it all when I have more time, but I'm going to try to make it have dynamic music similar to the original games (I'm working on getting the engine for it right), and it will be a lot harder to do that with a mp3 file than with a midi (which is the other reason I actually meant to mention why I'd prefer music to be given to me in midi format). The reason is that each music file will have to be split into a lot of segments, and getting the timing right would be a bit of a nightmare in an mp3, whereas in a midi file I can simply cut it off at a certain note.
I might use some of that original music anyway, though, so thanks for the link to it.

[Zerox]

I was mainly worried about there being alot of different sprites for different members and all. Slightly different Muds ain't so bad.

If it's necassary, I might be able to do a voice for a Gamespeak (assuming something like that will be inserted in).

[WaterMelody]

This is really ambicious! i hope this gets completed someday!

anywhoo, we could just have a male/female member sprite with say, different coloured hair. Or alteritavely, each member could record their own gamespeak for their sprite (as the mudokons have different-pitched voices) if possibe of course.

[mitsur]

I can throw in a plot if this gets off the ground, but unfortunately I think I'm horrible with spriting, but then again, I've never tried.

Sounds like a good idea, and I hope it can come to fruitition.

And gretin, if you want to talk 1-on-1 on this, download MSN messenger and put me on your list. I'm usually on, and we can get this sorted out.

[E'l Scrabino]

Excellent idea and shtuff!
I'm pretty sure Arxryl could sprite some stuff, if he's up to it.
I might try backgrounds, like a scrolling bar thingy saying OWF instead of those things that say how to jump mebbe? But that's not really a background thing, is it? It's more of an object... Ahwell.

[Jordan]

Or alteritavely, each member could record their own gamespeak for their sprite (as the mudokons have different-pitched voices) if possibe of course.

That sounds cool! I'd be happy to do the voice of my character, I just need to know what to say.

[Gretin]

I think something along the lines of what WaterMelody said is the way to go with sprites, just have two main base sprites and small additions for the individuals. If it was done like that, we'd really just need two basic sprite sheet for "member characters" and then just sheets of all the added parts (Ultima Online is one game I know of that uses sprites in this way, though for a game like that it's a must to have parts that can be added and removed ). The only trouble with that is making the added parts fit well, you'd probably either need to make them over the top of the base sprites and then remove the base, or use software that has layers and put the base sprites in a lower layer and draw the additions on the top layer. But the finer details like that can wait.

As for GameSpeak, while it's a nice thought to have each member having their own voice, it's not really feasible because some members won't have microphones or anything It wouldn't be much trouble to program it in, so I'd probably have each character have some variation to others, but yeah... we can't really give every member their own voice, so it may be better to not do that at all. We shall see!


But, just because I don't think I made it too clear, this thread is mainly for the sake of finding out how much interest there is in a game like this, and who is willing to help. Once I have that information, I'll probably open up a forum on a free site (e.g. invisionfree) that is only for development purposes, and thus only those who are working on the game will be allowed in. (mainly to avoid clutter) And I'll probably get two threads here, like Munch's Master suggested, one for the development team to post updates for everyone else to see, and one for everyone to put ideas forward.

But these details like story, sprite style, sound effects and everything can really be decided on the development forum once a team is actually put together - which is the main point of this thread.

Confused?

[WaterMelody]

I can work with spriting. Ive done some rudamentary spriting in my sprite-comic-animation faze, where i made several sheets. i have no idea about programming, but i could do voices/sound effects for the game. I can also do plot, mainly because i'm very flexible with storylines (ie, wont fight someone if they dont like my idea xD).

Also, i think the idea of a site is very practical, then the whole thing could be kept under wraps, without any n00bs poking their noses in (excluding me of course)

[E'l Scrabino]

Does this mean i can make a scrolling bar ?
lol

EDIT: I did it

Curtesy to Arxryl for the gold outliney thing.

[Jordan]

Will there be spells in the game? I love magic.

[Laser]

i'd love to help!
We're doing game making useing game maker at school so once i have finnished my game i'll help!

[Venks]

First off this is a awesome idea.
I'd love to help, but I really don't know what I can add. I don't have the skills for most of that stuff. I guess I can help with plot, but it sounds like your already covered in that department. Well if I can help in any way I'll be happy too.
Stay Odd.

Edit: Is there any particular reason your using Game Maker version 6.1 rather then 7.0?

[Jordan]

i'd love to help!
We're doing game making useing game maker at school so once i have finnished my game i'll help!

You're actually making games at school? What a lucky boy you are.

[moxco]

I help, but I have got bassicly no computer skills.

I've got a favour. I don't care if you make me one of the enemy because everyone hates me anyway.... But don't make my sprite make me look ugly.

I could try.

Great. Since Jordans doing it I'll probaly look like the biggest retard....

[Jordan]

Great. Since Jordans doing it I'll probaly look like the biggest retard....

Dontcha mean... Even more of a retard?
Nah, I'm kiddin' ya. I probably won't be able to do it anyway.

[Arxryl]

Excellent idea and shtuff!
I'm pretty sure Arxryl could sprite some stuff, if he's up to it.

It's nice to know people like my sprites!

Anyways, this sounds like a grand idea! I'd love to make some sprites. Perhaps some special ones for the actual people here, like special Cameos, and then the base character as said before that could either be a boy or a girl. I'll try experimenting with different styles of sprites to see if I can get the right one for the game!

But please, if someone else wishes to give it a shot (God bless you for that) by all means do! But please don't depend on me too much, as I might not finish it, as is with all the things I do...

But I'm going to put forth a good strong effort towards it!

[Howoriginal]

may i help?

and i do have game maker

[Chubfish]

I would love to chip in, but I'm not sure how. I will probably record my friend David as he does really good voices for muds and stuff(by stuff I mean...wierd... stuff and the such)...so yeah, I will try and help.

[Howoriginal]

Does this mean i can make a scrolling bar ?
lol

EDIT: I did it

Curtesy to Arxryl for the gold outliney thing.

may i edit that? like for the diffrent areas

[E'l Scrabino]

Yeah, edit away! Or you could jus' ask me what you want it to say and i'll put it into scrolling-bar form... Yes, that's right, it's a form now .

It's nice to know people like my sprites!

Anyways, this sounds like a grand idea! I'd love to make some sprites. Perhaps some special ones for the actual people here, like special Cameos, and then the base character as said before that could either be a boy or a girl. I'll try experimenting with different styles of sprites to see if I can get the right one for the game!

Kin... Kin i be a Cameo thingy O.o? Lol.

Well, prolly not, seeing as i haven't posted any pictures of me so no-one knows what i looks like XD

[Howoriginal]

i would like to see the thing not have those things on the top and bottom and replace them with glucken heads

[Gretin]

Well, this has been a lot better recieved than what I thought it might!

Edit: Is there any particular reason your using Game Maker version 6.1 rather then 7.0?

Not really, except that I... didn't know a later version existed But I think I'll stick with 6.1 anyway, as it covers everything I think we'd ever need in a game like this and I'm familiar with how it works and everything. I've found often with later versions of software (maybe not this, I don't know) that you basically have to re-learn how to use it. Or if it's no different except for added features, I'd probably end up only using the things that were in the old version anyway

Will there be spells in the game? I love magic.

It's definately a possibility, though I'd like to keep them true to the theme of the Abe games (meaning, they wouldn't be like you'd see in most magic games, they'd be more like the ones Oddworld uses such as possession, invisibility, etc. And like Oddworld you'd be restricted in where you could use them.)

Does this mean i can make a scrolling bar ?
lol

EDIT: I did it

Curtesy to Arxryl for the gold outliney thing.

That looks pretty neat, El' Scrabino! But to be realistic, although scroll bar things will almost definately be in it, there's no need to actually make an animation for every one. I could easily put scrolling text into a box like that just with programming. But we'll still need the boxes for them to go into!



Now, seeing as there's been plenty of interest, I've decided that I might as well have an "official" application for jobs you want to do. So, firstly, here's a list of positions available:

Programming - mainly handled by myself, but if others want to help I will undoubtedly be able to find work for them

Spriting -> Main sprites
-> Backgrounds
-> Misc (e.g. menu buttons etc)

Sound -> Effects
-> Music composition
-> Voice
-> Other (I don't really know what else there is, but if you feel you can contribute soundwise to the project but it doesn't really fit under any of the other three, you're still welcome to help )

And of course:

Story




Now, I want this game to be the best it can, so I'm sorry, but the team won't just be made up of whoever wants to help What I'd like is for anyone who wants to apply to do any of the above in the game to either post that they want to do it, or PM me, and include a sample of your work. Alternatively, if you have work here on OWF you can simply provide a link to it, no need to plonk it here too! I'll probably leave it for two weeks for anyone who wants to apply to do so, so if you don't have any work suitable to send in, that should give you enough time to throw something together

For some of these positions, I'll be limiting the number of people just because it's easier for a small group to cooperate than a dozen people all with different ideas. Spriters will probably be as many as we can get, but things like programming and story will probably be limited. Although an initial team will be decided at the end of the two weeks (or sooner, if there's enough "applications"), if any of the limits aren't met or if you want to join somewhere where there is no limit, feel free to apply even after the initial team has been decided.
Also, for the positions that will be limited, if I get more than enough acceptable entries I will probably make up some sort of test to narrow it down, e.g. for programmers I might give them a "problem" (that I made deliberately XD) to fix.

So, any objections?

[mitsur]

Will send a sample plot asap. I'm a bit busy (IE trying to catch up lvls in WoW :P), so maybe I'll send you the rough draft of OWF 3 chapter 1.

I'ma gettin excited. This could get gooooood.

[Gretin]

That's cool, Mitsur, but there's really no need. I've read some of your work (Untold Legend and others) and that's enough to say it's acceptable I mean, the fact that I linked to your story at the start of my post sort of says it all, doesn't it?

I've made some additions to the "applying" part of my post too.

Also, note that I'm only taking note of applications after that post, so if you've already offered, sorry, you'll have to properly apply as well. I'm pedantic like that XD

[Jordan]

Could I do something with the menu buttons?

[Munch's Master]

Put me down mainly for Story, and secondary for Spriting Main Sprites and Misc. I'd been making some Oddworld sprites a while back for what I intended to be comics for Fan Corner, but never finished it. They're still crude at the moment, but there's quite a few. Backgrounds I'm not so good with, but scenery and miscellaneous stuff I'm fine with.