Topic: New 100% fresh artwork for Castlevania: The Rise of Nosferatu.. Need programmer!

[Corpsecrank]

Yea or that spiked area in sotn that you needed the echo of bat to navigate.

But hey to add to the effect you could make stuff crumbling down all over and larger objects falling in front of the character redirecting them to make it feels as if they are going to be buried alive any second.

[Belmontoya]

Yeah I like both of those ideas. I'm working on some of the cavern level tiles now. I want to have some areas where you have to crouch walk to get through, while fighting off hordes of rats, bats, and other vermin.

The game is also going to play off the Nosferatu thing by having the plague of rats that was so famous from the Nosferatu films.
I want to make the rat as common as the bat in my Castlevania. I've always though that the german take on Dracula was way scarier than the Bela Lugosi style Count.

Jeez... I feel like I'm giving away too many of my ideas on here.. It's whatever though, I like the feedback you guys give me.

[Corpsecrank]

I am actually losing time at the moment lol. I installed win8 consumer preview last night and spent the entire night just fighting with display drivers. I had about 7 hours into that alone and only now this morning have a working set in. It still has a few issues nothing major.

From what I can tell all of the important things I use still function. Once I get a few more things worked out in 8 I will be able to continue my projects. I like to get in on things early and adapt quickly it's important to me I guess. Not really for the feint of heart though I will say that.

So far I have had a mostly enjoyable experience with 8 as an OS and with bleeding edge tech issues aside. This OS is going to completely change the way we use technology for the foreseeable future. There is a lot to say about all of it which I am going to save for another topic but this is a big step forward.

[Belmontoya]

Yeah.. I'll be moving on to 8 when I get a new computer. I really want to get a new pc for Planetside 2.. Unless they port it to PS3.

[Belmontoya]

Here's an early look at what I am working on for inside Peonari Castle. This would be the level after the Death battle scene.

[Corpsecrank]

That background is looking fantastic. A lot better than earlier stuff I saw. The palate looks a lot more definitive than before.

[uzo]

I'll have to apologize to my adoring fans for the delay here. It's hard to write up something like this after a stay at the hospital.

Uzo's dimondsoft CV game looks like the programming is smooth and sound. But it's the same old stuff again, re-hashed sprites.

I guess you don't pay attention much.

I did read a comment that you were using the SOTN art as "place holder." I hope that was true.

Oh hey look you finally did. Try and keep up this trend.

I am interested in working with programmers who are enthused about creating something new, not remaking SOTN. This is why I have no interest in Uzo.

Or not... Make up your mind already.

I didn't see one original thing in that game. I'm sure there was plenty of time to focus on programming with that project as it was completely unoriginal visually (and no, editing konami sprites does not count as original work).

Nothing you saw was edited sprite work. Meaning, everything from past CV games was indeed from past CV games, and anything that wasn't, was completely hand drawn from scratch. Oh yes, that's right, there was actually new pixel art in there. And I'm not counting the frog in the window, that's actually a smiley from an old forum (inside joke). The fact that you didn't notice anything new says two things. One you don't have much of a keen eye. The other is, our work is so pro you couldn't tell the difference. I'll take it as a compliment.

Here is also the key difference from you and me. An understanding of the development cycle. A prototype comes before any hard visual work is to be realistically done. If your industry buddies didn't teach you this already, I question their knowledge and experience. This is basic level stuff.

Especially in this case it makes a lot of sense. Get the engine going and you'll have not only a head start but also have a better outlook on what will be needed visually and can prepare for things in advance. Use what you have to help build that foundation first.

Uzo: You may be a talented programmer. But it takes more than solid programming to make a good game. It takes a good concept.

Here's the part you seem to be misunderstanding, and the real kicker of all this. I hope you've payed attention so far because this rolls back to the concept of prototypes and 'displaying talent to attract talent' concepts mentioned earlier by me. OK, ready for this?

I was never a programmer. I'm a producer/creative director/game designer/writer/character designer/manager. I learned programming as a necessity. Why? Because ideas and scribbles don't mean SHIT. Everyone has ideas, and yours are no more important or worthy to anyone else than the millions of others floating around. No one cares about just ideas. People want to see something real. I learned coding out of a necessity for this very reason. A programmer isn't going to drop into your lap over a few place holder scribbles like this. You need to display true talent to attract someone who is going to spend this much time on your ideas. In the gaming business, that's almost always needing a prototype. That is what I did, and now I'm swimming in talented people (including industry workers), developing the best fan game that will probably ever grace the community, if not for a long time to come.

We're holding out on showing much of anything at this point because of the utter shock and awe that will be bestowed upon the fanbase when we hand out a true look at what they're going to get. It's not just because of totally new graphics music and story, but because it's a completely revamped game design and evolving it in the way it should have years ago. Taking the best of the series and pushing it all that much further.

Of course someone like you isn't going to change my plans and cause an early reveal with some petty egging like you have been doing. At this point I have what I need from the old demo video, and there hasn't been any reason for me to show such incomplete work since. You're not special; You'll have to wait just like everyone else.

Man, didn't D9 tell you not to go down this road?

[Dracula9]

The utter entirety of Uzo's post.

Man, didn't D9 tell you not to go down this road?

I would like to vouch for my intial warning so that I don't get complaints against me down the road.

We're holding out on showing much of anything at this point because of the utter shock and awe that will be bestowed upon the fanbase when we hand out a true look at what they're going to get. It's not just because of totally new graphics music and story, but because it's a completely revamped game design and evolving it in the way it should have years ago. Taking the best of the series and pushing it all that much further.

You know he's going to gripe that you have "no proof," right? Not that that's going to faze you or anything, just giving a very probable heads-up.

Montoya, at this point, I'd just swallow your pride on this one, because it's like I told you; you won't beat Uzo in this area. Personal justifications have no substance here anymore, and Uzo's given irrefutable fact after fact and that alone makes his case outshine yours. Just let your personal vex with him go, and get back to discussing your game. There's no point in fighting on your feedback thread because you won't get anything of value, except maybe a headache. :/

EDIT: I hadn't caught this particular bit before, and I feel the need to address it.

Castlevania has a split fandom. There are those who want to see SOTN over and over again, and there are those of us who want, and welcome something new. Lords of Shadow is a godsend in my opinion, and of course the whole community backlashed at Mercury Steam because their game was different. I am trying to appeal to those who want something new in the 2D genre as well, and trust me, while they may not be the fans that nerd it up on these forums; they are out there and there are plenty of them.

So you really think that CV's fandom is THAT black-and-white?

[Insert "Bitch, please" meme here]

If that's what you think, I may have to seriously consider ceasing my involvement in your aspiring project. Not that you'd care. I'm sorry, but that kind of ignorant statement drives me just plain bonkers. YES, there are SotN-nerds who obsess over it and its similarities, and there are "old CV is too mainstream" people who wait for new-style games.

But there are those of us who are TRULY open minded enough to be both. And I consider my self just that. I love, love, LOVE SotN, and DoS, and PoRk, and OoE. But I like it when CV, or any series I like, takes a new twist and turn. Why? Because seeing a new game style that I hadn't even expected throws me off the linear path I have come to expect, and leaves me guessing for future installments in aforementioned series.

That being said, Lords of Shadow, as far as gameplay, and even parts of the plotline, were involved, it's hardly as "nothing-to-something" original as you say it is.

Lords of Shadow gameplay: Full-on explorer with heavy platforming and terrain maneuvering (see also; Devil May Cry, God of War, Dante's Inferno, etc., etc.)
Lords of Shadow plotline: Go on a bigass legendary epic quest, slaying legendary beast and demons galore, in search of personal purification and to be reunited with your loved one. Oh, and the final boss is Satan. (see also; Dante's Inferno)

That's not to say I hate LoS, I actually quite enjoyed it. It was refreshing to play a Castlevania-titled game and not say "oh, boy, giant bat boss, where's my axe/stopwatch," or "last stage, big staircase, Dracky in a chair, giant bat form, dead). And I don't hate those elements, either. But Lords was a nice blend, in my opinion, of Uncharted, Dante's Inferno, and God of War, but still managed to maintain that melancholy, dark Gothic feel that it uniquely Castlevania.

So your point kind of falls apart in my eyes. It's too black-and-white and makes no effort to acknowledge the grey area in the middle, and that really bothers me. Fandoms are unique, spontaneous, and eccentric as a whole, and are subject to any and all constant shifts based on the object of their fandom's growth, or lack thereof. Why on earth would you say that that's not the case? It's just baffling to me.

[Esco]

Wow, Montoya this thread really has turned to shit in the last few days. I'm surprised Jorge hasn't popped in and given a few people in it a quick smack by now. 

A word of advice: don't waste your time arguing with people. Whether they are worthwhile contributors, or just forum trolls, it is your game. Do what you want to do, put it out there, and then you can improve on it as needed. But if you have something tangible out there that can actually be played, and is NOT just videos/pics/concept info, etc. people will be much more motivated to want to contribute. This is because the majority of projects out there become nothing other than a dream. I for one don't buy into hype at all, and don't believe someone intends to finish their project until i actually see some kind of release being done. Other than that, it's just BS to me. 

On that note, game maker should work fine for your needs. I had countless people tell me when I first started that I would never be able to get 3d working right in my game with a 2d engine, or that the sound system was trash, or controller support was lousy, etc. etc. blah blah. The bottom line is the majority of people who say that just didn't know what they were doing, or were too proud to ask for help with the issue. So they never solved it. It is not perfect, but unless you plan on spending AGES coding the whole engine from the ground up in some language (which most people never finish), game maker (or a similar game creation program) is a good way to do it. 

Also, don't waste time arguing with Uzo: just use the ignore feature. Believe me when I say I did, and this place became much more pleasant after.  If he continues to troll in a thread of yours even after that, just report it to one of the mods or admins. He has been warned already several times about how he behaves.

I'm not quite sure what the heck has come over Dracula9 that he is acting the way he is, but honestly if he ever acted in this manner when addressing me, he would instantly get dropped on the block list too. He knows better, and I am honestly a bit surprised to see him acting like this.

All in all I think you have been very gracious, and shown way more patience that I would have in this thread. But if you really plan to actually make this project a reality, I recommend you focus mostly on doing what has to be done for it, and not so much on posting on a forum. Otherwise, it's just more talk to me, and that's it. 

P.S. If you need a place to put up progress pics, videos, and updates I recommend just making a simple blog (I use wordpress).

[Las]

@ Montoya. Hey it is great to see you are still very adament about your project. That is good. Like most people  i'm realizing the sad truth, "if you want something done gotta do it yourself". It is not a phrase i like to put out their, it is not a fair phrase at all. People could help, maybe they should, but most times they don't. I'd suggest like ESCO and just trying getting game maker pro 8 or 8.1 and try learning how to code in stuff. I am on the same page right now. Start small and work your way up. Maybe just ask around too if you don't know how to code stuff in. THe game maker forum i'm sure will help. Unless you are very lucky and find someon with teh same dedication as you(but is a coder) your game will not get very far. If you take the initiative to learn how to code you control the field and now do as you please. Plus then others are more likely to help you. Don't give up though i see you really want this. I would sit down and try some tutorials, but find ones that explain how to do and not ones that just show code. I also recommend code not drag and drop which imo seems half assed and simple. Ok well i hope this helps and ESCO makes a pretty good point. We are both trying to help, but i would just ignore negative critisim by others and take it one step further, do for you what othesr won't. Watch how quickly your bandwagon followers show up. On one other note.....their used to be someone( i don't remembre the name) that made a super mario bros 3 engine(fully loaded with every player,baddy, and boss you could think of in all the marios',plus all the suits) This would help you big time if you did mario stuff. But what i'm wondering is if they could build a CV,metroid, or zelda fully loaded engine to help out other coders who may have a hard time figuring out how to code in certain aspects of the game. It may be worth the time to ask. That would be nice huh? Well i for one would tell you to look at code from example in some of those engines if you find them. Just google them i'm sure something will come up. This is a good startp perhaps but learn from tutorials as you go. I am not really a true coder yet so i'd advice taking advice from one like ESCO mainly. I'm just trying to help here, that's all.

[Dracula9]

I'm not quite sure what the heck has come over Dracula9 that he is acting the way he is, but honestly if he ever acted in this manner when addressing me, he would instantly get dropped on the block list too. He knows better, and I am honestly a bit surprised to see him acting like this.

Is it really that much of a surprise?

To be brutally honest, I take a bit of offense to "He knows better," but getting mad over something so trivial wouldn't do anyone any good. But I do want to make note that it does bother me.

I'm just a little peeved that I've been almost exactly in Montoya's current position(in regards to Uzo, anyway), and I remember losing every battle with Uzo and being a tad paranoid on other forums and wary on the Chapel. It bothers me to see someone with potential in an area where my own potential had largely failed squandering their possibility with the same meaningless arguments I got into.

That said, I'm still going to point out one's follies if they are in need of notice. If I sounded like a dick (and I'm sure I did), it was only as an even-toned response to Montoya's occasional snide tone. Snide by my interpretations, at least.

But you needn't worry, Esco, because I highly doubt I'd ever address you like that unless you said something extravagently stupid, like "Belmont should be in Twilight," or something. Which I don't think you'd likely ever post to begin with. I'm just textwalling Montoya because he HAS made a few ignorant posts. That's all.

[Las]

NOt that its any of my business. But i'll prod for the hell of it by saying that people don't need to be pissing off others for no reason irregardless of who is talking to who. It is a direct line of bs that shouldn't be tolerated. I'm pretty sure the reason people join a forum is too have fun,make games, talk about the latest games coming out etc. Not to down the hell out of someone or their hopes and dreams. Honeslty, @ Montoya if i knew how to code well enough i'd help you. At least put out a base engine with a ton of enemies,bosses etc so you can make your own game,plus a tutorial on how to change what code to get diffrernt results. But either way people here should be supporting one another with their projects(not really enough of that), so on an so forth. It is somewhat implied that whoever is coding a game should by all means have the final results at least mostly their way. But to make light of the topic, if someone else's ideas should be better than theirs then their ideas should go in, in so far as they are part of the topic. The final decision should ultimetely lie with the coder however on that one. Either way Montoya i seriously wish your project the best of luck. But take it from someone who knows,(me), take initiative to learn what you can and then ask for help after. Things may come easier that way. Unfortunelty we are living in a very me,me,me based society. It is not what others can do for someone,but what they can do or gain for themselves. This is the wrong approach ultimetly at looking at things,but unfortuently you can't change others minds's. People loose respect for others in those regards.Not that it outta come down to it,but you may have to do the bulk of the work yourself,sad to say. Even though your an artist. YOu may need to learn code effeciently if you are to be succesful with your project becoming finalized. I honestly wish i could say otherwise.

[Corpsecrank]

Right I mean shit the only reason I am even putting any time or effort into a game built with construct is so that others who come here and want to make a game without coding it all can use construct and my example game as a base. I have no interest in using construct beyond that but I think it could help others around here. I don't see certain others who shall remain unnamed attempting to contribute anything useful like that.

[Belmontoya]

It's kind of pathetic Uzo that you feel it necessary to come on this thread and relentlessly bash my work. Anyone who reads this thread can see that clearly no one agrees with your criticism. While I have had constructive critiques, the over-all reception of what I am trying to do here has been very positive. I think the truth of the matter is that you really are a forum troll who lurks around bashing on other people's games that show potential because you can't stand the thought of someone's game bringing something new to the table that you have failed to come up with on your own. It's obvious you had been watching my thread as you waited until a made an oversight on a comment about game programming software to chime in. You're like a disease that shows up when you least expect it. Gross. Go back under your bridge you pretentious troll.

And the fact that I didn't notice any of your so called "original" work in your demo does not reflect positively on it, genius. It only goes to show that what little bits of originality you do have are conformed and may as well be plagiarized. I am working on a new art style, not just new sprites made in the SOTN style.

And trust me Uzo, no one is sitting at home right now counting the days until they get to see a glimpse of your game (ok maybe Dracula 9 is, haha). I had never heard of you before you stunk up my thread, and once you stop wasting your time here I'll have forgotten you just as quickly. Going around on other people's forums and bashing their games is not going to make yours any better, which from the looks of it lacks any sense of identity, so how about you stop wasting your time and go work on that? Oh and don't worry, I won't try to egg you on to show any of it because I know it's a super top secret project and you can't afford any of it to be leaked... LOL. It's a fan game, get over yourself. I am willing to bet that it looks just like SOTN, original or not, and you know it. Using SOTN sprites for your place holders would certainly lay the foundation down for that outcome.

Thanks again for the laughs Uzo. Don't bother posting on here again because you will not be acknowledged.

Dracula 9: Seriously dude, you need just get it over with and confess your love for this Uzo person. You're embarrassing yourself. And by the way, don't worry about my Axe Knight, I'll finish him up on my own. And "Destroyed" Dracula 9, really?? I think not. You sound like the wimpy kid in a 2nd grade playground that follows around the bully talking smack so he can act tough. It's a little sad. It seems to me that the only person Uzo has really destroyed here is you D9.

Corpsecrank: Thanks for being cool man! If it weren't for your contributions on this thread I would probably pack up and move on. Which I will probably be doing soon anyways, but I would like to keep in contact with you though. I think the look of my game has improved thanks to your input. Thanks again.

Esco and Las, thanks for your advice too. I have been programming this game in gamemaker. I am almost to the point where I can start adding in enemies. So the advice you game is luckily what I have already been doing. My brother is a programmer and will be joining me on the project, I've just been impatient waiting for him to graduate so he has time (just a couple more months). Meanwhile I'm trying to build the engine in gamemaker. I also belong to a game production company, and I am planning on pitching this to the team when we finish the project we're currently on. I'm not sure how keen they would be on doing a fan game, or if CV is really their style, but we'll see. I have a feeling that when they see the daunting amount of work I have done for this, they may want to go forward with it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for that. But meanwhile, I totally agree with the "do it yourself" motto.

I am well aware of the me, me, me thing Las. Your totally right that everyone wants to make their own game. I just knew that most people here make fan games with SOTN art or art contrived from other games. I thought I might luck out and find some partners here who would rather work with me to make something with a fresh look. Trust me, I've been working on this game for a long time, there is now way in hell I will ever let the project die.

Thanks again to all of you who have given me constructive input!

[uzo]

I suppose the show's over since you completely copped out and didn't bother reading anything I said there, missing the point entirely. Nice display of inflated and unwarranted self importance there though. It was a good run.