Well, I've decided to stop sitting around on my butt thinking about what I WOULD do if I were to try and make an indie game, and actually try to make an indie game. Most sites I've read up on for information agree that you can really never start looking for an audience too early, so I decided to start sharing a bit of concept art and discussing some features and mechanics. [size=150]So, what IS KotMS, anyway?[/size] It's a semi-open-world, Metroidvania-style 2D action/adventure/platformer game with a heavy emphasis on finding collectibles. And adorableness. And eating stuff. Yes, there's a good deal of Kirby and Yoshi influence, but don't worry, there's also a wealth of original concepts in all fields, from character design to gameplay to game structure. While it's going for the same overall feel of charm and whimsy, it takes a slightly deeper, more challenging, and more stat-oriented approach. That's not to say it's exactly an action-RPG, either. It's something unique, I hope. [size=150]So who's Kiku?[/size] She's this little spunky sparkly ball of softness and friendship. Beyond that, I...don't actually really know what she's supposed to be, but let's just call her a Nova Jelly for convenience's sake. [img]http://img05.deviantart.net/ad0c/i/2016/294/9/8/project_k__kiku_design_sheet_by_soopaderpcat-dalrnuj.png[/img] Oh yeah, and she was also born in the heart of a dying star. She can swallow things four times her own size, and her stomach is a bit...quantum physics-y. For now, we'll just say that it's bigger on the inside than the outside. Instead of poop, it produces a much more useful byproduct; Nova Dust! She can shoot it out of her tail and wings to zoom around like a jet plane, but be careful as ONLY the Nova Dust in the tail can actually be used, and its overall capacity is much lower than her stomach. Her tail will refill when she's on the ground, but just...be careful. Also, though this might sound pretty obvious, you should generally try to avoid flying directly into walls. So, you might be wondering "Ey! Soops! What's with the little Visible Kiku with all of the organs, lines and words?" Well, that's concept art for the stats system (and potentially the design for the stat screen.) In this game, character progression and collectible-hunting are closely connected; instead of levelling up your abilities through experience points, you instead need to find some...well...parts that Kiku kinda lost, being launched out of an exploding star and all. The rest is pretty much explained in the character sheet. [size=150]How's the game structured?[/size] To try and describe it as concisely as possible, there are three major units of area; Regions, Zones, Town Zones, and Dungeon Zones. A Region basically represents a difficulty tier, and each Region contains multiple large Zones, all of which are close in challenge level. The Zones within a Region are all interconnected with each other and Town Zones at various points, and you can tackle them in any order you want, but in order to reach the next Region, you must beat every Zone boss in a region to unlock that region's Dungeon Zone; a much more linear, "level" like area that culminates in the Region Boss. Beating the Region Boss opens up one or more options to proceed to the next zone. I'll just give an example using the scenario I have planned for the first Region. Every time you beat one of the three Zone Boss monsters of the region, you obtain a piece of the Palace Gate Key. Collect all three and you can journey to the castle right outside the Region's Town Zone, enter the region's Dungeon Zone, and knock some sense into the king, who is under the true villain's control. After that, he'll open the gate to Region 2's swamp Zone (Reluctantly. He...STILL doesn't really like you that much.) but if you don't want to take on the swamp Zone right away, you can buy some dynamite at the shop that opens up in town, go to the forest Zone of Region 1, blow up a big boulder, and enter Region 2's cave Zone. Overall, I'm going for ambitious but sober; I'm going to do a lot of things with this game, but they're all pretty much things that I already know how to do. [size=150]But when will we be getting footage/a playable demo/the finished game?[/size] Like heck if I know! Things will be ready when they're ready; don't worry, I'll be MORE than excited to let you know! :thumbsup: Until then, I'll just discuss the concept with you guys here, maybe show off a bit more concept art and spritework.

Concept art doesn't exactly do the best at showcasing what a game will actually look like, so here are a few early prototype sprites I made today. They're not perfect, but I'm pretty happy with them overall. [img]http://orig07.deviantart.net/72fc/f/2016/295/c/3/kotms__prototype_kiku_sprites_by_soopaderpcat-dalvm43.png[/img]

This character looks really cool! :O

Thanks! I was actually afraid that I might have gone a bit too far with the "cute" look. What do you think of the overall game concepts, though? Anything that seems a bit iffy?

Well, here's the last major concept dump before I start getting into development proper. It's a system inspired by Kirby's copy abilities, but reworked drastically to fit in with KoTM's emphasis on collecting stuff, character progression, and the overall theme that Kiku is sort of starting her adventure "incomplete" and growing on the journey. [img]http://img04.deviantart.net/eeb8/i/2016/296/9/a/kotms__dna_absorption_and_biomodes_by_soopaderpcat-dam1auc.png[/img] As for how you'd switch modes, you'd simply hit shift, which would pause the game and allow you to scroll through your currently-unlocked biomodes with the arrow keys and select the one that you want with X. One cool perk is that you'll be able to initiate a switch on literally any frame that you have control, which will allow you to chain together some nifty multi-mode combos.

Your sprites remind me of Jazz Jackrabbit 2. This game is looking pretty good so far.

Interesting. In addition to the obvious, I'm also getting some Starfy vibes from this game. Maybe it's your colors? Also, I didn't know you could make pixel art that well! I'll be interested to see how that comes along. I'm a bit confused about the combination of somewhat linear levels and RPG elements. Wouldn't those two be kinda at odds with each other? I think an even more open-ended approach like Zelda 2 would suit your concept, but that's just me. The DNA transformations are a cool idea. What if every transformation consumed some sort of resource, but chaining together combos with different powers gave you back that resource (and then some). It would create an interesting risk-and-reward dynamic like the Rally mechanic from Bloodborne. :D

Honestly, I'm probably making it out to sound more linear than it really is. To put it very, VERY briefly, the game world is essentially divided into multiple open worlds, each of which is separated by a few bottlenecks that open up after you complete all of the objectives in the current world. I'm striving to make every area only as linear as it needs to be to feel like a cohesive 2D platformer with an acceptable amount of atmosphere and (implied but literal) world depth. We'll use a hypothetical volcano Zone as an example. Though the inside, the outside and the peak would be three separate rooms, all three would be interconnected in various ways, and you'd have a lot of options on how to get to the boss. 1) Climb all the way up the outside of the mountain, facing flying monsters, falling rocks, and, as you get closer to the peak, powerful winds. go into the huge cloud at the top, and you'll warp to the peak and face the boss. 2) Enter at the base of the mountain and start climbing the molten interior, avoiding a ton of lava and fire related hazards and fighting numerous powerful fire and rock monsters. Fly up through the open crater to reach the peak and face the boss. 3) Use the multiple doorways and side-tunnels along the way to alternate between the inside and outside of the mountain, in case you get tired of one or the other of the options. 4) Enter at the base, ignore the Volcano area entirely and go downwards into the caves instead. 5) Climb over the volcano, ignore the boss, and see what Zone is on the other side.

Something I've noticed in most of your character designs is they usually look very off-balance. Most have small, oval-shaped heads (in comparison to) the oversized, pear-shaped bodies that end up usually having pretty big feet as well. You also tend to exaggerate facial features such as hair, eyes, and... overbites. This generally ends up creating an unbalanced or (at the extreme) unlikeable design. Things generally don't seem to line up either, as Kiku looks like she's tilting her head back a bit.

In addition to what David Byrne said, Kiku has a busy design, which is more noticeable in her sprite. This might be a problem as it makes it a little bit harder to make her iconic.

[quote="David Byrne"]Something I've noticed in most of your character designs is they usually look very off-balance. Most have small, oval-shaped heads (in comparison to) the oversized, pear-shaped bodies that end up usually having pretty big feet as well. You also tend to exaggerate facial features such as hair, eyes, and... overbites. This generally ends up creating an unbalanced or (at the extreme) unlikeable design. Things generally don't seem to line up either, as Kiku looks like she's tilting her head back a bit.[/quote] I...take it you mean [i]large[/i] heads? I mean, her head is, like, the size of her entire torso. I'm not trying to brush you off on that point, but I literally can't see how her head could possibly be considered "small" by any measure. As for it being an oval...yeah, yeah, I don't practice different head shapes enough, but come on, would a strong blocky forehead or a pointy chin really fit with her overall look? As for her head looking like it's tilted back a bit, that's probably because her muzzle is a bit upturned. Yes, it's a muzzle, not an overbite. While I STILL don't really get why big eyes and feet are considered an abject failure by so many people, especially when they're intentionally large, I will admit that I definitely have a bit of a problem with hair, and almost every character I design either has spiky bangs that stick up or.....spiky bangs that stick up. I'll give you that one. I mean I know you're trying to give me advice, but considering the fact that I'm pretty happy with her design and that I've gotten a fair amount of positive feedback on it, I don't think I'm going to make any major changes. I guess her eyes could do with being a bit smaller in future artwork, but beyond that I like how she looks. Still, I respect your opinion. That's not to say that I won't be trying to improve her design in small ways, though; I generally get my characters just a little bit better every time I draw them, and within a year from now she'll definitely look better than she currently does. I'm just saying I like her overall look. [quote="Enchlore"]In addition to what David Byrne said, Kiku has a busy design, which is more noticeable in her sprite. This might be a problem as it makes it a little bit harder to make her iconic.[/quote] Okay, I suppose I can't really deny that, especially when it comes to the fluffy parts on her sprites. I'll definitely try to work on them a bit. As for the concept art, I dunno, I just have a bit of an obsession with trying to convey fluffiness.

It's not an issue to toy around with unrealistic anatomy in art. Look at Adventure Time or Regular Show, two very popular animated shows (that are actually nearing their rather impressive 6+ year runs by the time of this post, unfortunately) that both make use of deliberately stubby hands and rubber hose limbs [i]yet[/i] it's all very stylistically appreciative and bouncy and... well, fun. Now let's compare something like that in essence (not in actual art style, obviously) and you'll notice a stark difference: your characters, while technically impressive in polish and palette choice, seem to be rather stiff and almost... [i]caricatures[/i] in a way. You've crossed into the uncanny valley, I'm afraid; the whole of your art relies on exaggerated design aspects that can make it look unappealing even if technically there isn't anything wrong with it. Things like big feet are a bit weird, but are passable. Big [b]eyes[/b] on the other hand are a very different matter. Exaggerating any one aspect of a face is a big no-no in drawing, since humans are naturally drawn to a character's face and thus it can make an almost hilarious amount of difference in how your artwork is perceived. You don't have to check every box out when it comes to focusing on realism, but do try to keep things consistent. You may have found some people who aren't super bothered by it, but I can assure you a lot of people are.

I suppose I could try and make the eyes smaller. Eh, I suppose now would be as good a time as any to do a redesign, before I really get into the sprite work.

Well, after taking a bit of a look current design and thinking for a bit, I've come up with a...not terribly radical redesign, but I still think it's a decent improvement. On the topic of big eyes looking uncanny and unappealing in general...I'm just going to have to politely disagree with you on that, although I [i]will[/i] admit that the eyes were way too big in her initial design, and I shrunk them down to a slightly more reasonable size here. They're probably not going to get much smaller than this overall, but I might adjust their shape a bit at some point since they're still not [i]quiiiite[/i] how I want them to look. I also reworked her body a bit, making her look a little more small, compact and pudgy. I subtracted a lot of busy details from the pink areas, made her "pants" both longer and wider, shortened her legs a bit, and enlarged her tail to make it look a bit more like an insect abdomen, which is technically what it's sort of supposed to be. I also made her wings (slightly) more like moth wings and replaced her three spiky bangs with sort of...feeler bangs, I guess? Thoughts? [b][EDIT]: Changed the eye shape slightly, made them a little bit wider and rounder.[/b] [img]http://pre03.deviantart.net/1fb4/th/pre/i/2016/298/7/7/major_design_overhaul__1_by_soopaderpcat-dam7lla.png[/img]

While the game's concept sounds pretty promising, but there's a little problem that I have with the MC's design. The whole design, despite the redesign still looks too complex to me, especially if you are trying to get a iconic look and if you are trying to aiming for an everyone audiences. The use of complex fur kinda makes the character look kinda uncanny (Sorta resembles these western 90's cuddly characters), I would recommend that you should at least make the fur much more simpler. The specific combination of colours being used, are commonly used for "products" that are aimed at very young girls. I could suggest that you should at least try different combinations of colours to retract that feeling. The whole design is just feels girly and "catered for young audiences" in short. I did couple of designs, but I'm not too happy about it. But really, it's up to your choice. But, I could suggest that you should take a look at japanese mascot character designs. They're generally quite good looking and appeals to most people. I did have a moon bunny inspiration in my designs, since that yours did look similar to a bunny. Maybe you could take that as a inspiration in future designs? [spoiler][img]http://i.imgur.com/zCexLpb.png[/img][/spoiler]

Wow, that's a really great redesign! Reminds me of a lot of Japanese mascots like SMT's Jack Frost or Puzzle and Dragon's Syrup. If it were up to me, I would use that redesign. But...I don't really think that design fits Soopa's original vision. From what I see, he's going for somewhat of a Yoshi-esque design. Something likeable, but a very different kind of likeable than you're going for. Soopa, maybe you should tone down the details a bit like Yoshi? You don't need to render out every tuft of fur and all of that shading. Take a subtractive approach to your design and keep removing details until you've boiled your character down to its essence. It'll also make your character a heck of a lot easier to animate when you get around to that. The design of a character is only half the package, after all. How you animate them is really what brings them to life. :D Lastly, I'd suggest trying some of Psid's color schemes.

[quote="Psid"]While the game's concept sounds pretty promising, but there's a little problem that I have with the MC's design. The whole design, despite the redesign still looks too complex to me, especially if you are trying to get a iconic look and if you are trying to aiming for an everyone audiences. The use of complex fur kinda makes the character look kinda uncanny (Sorta resembles these western 90's cuddly characters), I would recommend that you should at least make the fur much more simpler. The specific combination of colours being used, are commonly used for "products" that are aimed at very young girls. I could suggest that you should at least try different combinations of colours to retract that feeling. The whole design is just feels girly and "catered for young audiences" in short. I did couple of designs, but I'm not too happy about it. But really, it's up to your choice. But, I could suggest that you should take a look at japanese mascot character designs. They're generally quite good looking and appeals to most people. I did have a moon bunny inspiration in my designs, since that yours did look similar to a bunny. Maybe you could take that as a inspiration in future designs? [spoiler][img]http://i.imgur.com/zCexLpb.png[/img][/spoiler][/quote] While your redesigns are pretty neat, they're, as Dragon De Platino said, nowhere close to the kind of look that I'm going for. They look less like "Space moth rocket dinosaur" and more like...well, the top two look kind of like a Kermit the Frog-inspired Digimon. They're just a bit..."TOO perfect," in a way. Too short, too simple, too geometrically perfect. Kiku is intentionally designed to look like an awkward little girl at an awkward phase in her life. She's supposed to look kind of loose and "floppy," like her whole body would physically bounce up and down slightly when she walks. In my head, she's hyperactive, hates standing still, and always refers to herself in the third person ("Kiku is hungry! Kiku wants hamburgers!") While your designs are pretty good, they're just not quite Kiku. In other words, while I'm not aiming to make her completely offputting, she's supposed to look a [i]little[/i] bit uncanny; I mean, she IS a tween space bug who swallows monsters larger than her entire body alive and whole and has a Tardis stomach that absorbs the DNA of her prey, after all. While the characters that she's inspired by, namely Kirby and Yoshi, already have a slight comically and ironically creepy edge to them that fans always joke about, it generally feels like Nintendo is kind of trying to downplay or at least ignore how scary they are in a way. Me? I see quite a bit of potential for funny writing in acknowledging it. As for her color scheme looking a bit too "girly and childish," Kirby is literally a ball of pink with sparkly eyes. And your first design's color scheme is...almost exactly the same as Kiku's current color scheme, so I don't exactly know what to say about that.

Could you at least tone down on the detail some more? It's a bit distracting, especially since it looks like it'll show up a lot in the sprites going by some early ones you posted.

[quote="Vimimin"]Could you at least tone down on the detail some more? It's a bit distracting, especially since it looks like it'll show up a lot in the sprites going by some early ones you posted.[/quote] Yes, in fact I've already ditched the old prototype sprites and started working on some slightly more simplified ones.

Here're a few early animations. [img]https://s3.postimg.org/tjvw6sgvn/Animation.gif[/img]