Aug 1, 2021

Ghost Song - twotimingpete

Some have lamented the lack of updates on the Steam page, and while I've been trying to quietly work until I had more concrete news (particularly about timeline), I do feel we're overdue for some kind of update -- So, here we are.

Below is a video that shows about the first 15 minutes of the game. Please also check the description of the video for some individual thoughts from me about things that are in it. Long story short, this is still a fairly hardcore game that avoids holding your hand, it's still quite open, and it's still meant to be a challenge. None of that has changed from the very start.

This video comes from a recent demo that was made available to supporters and members of the Discord community and other friends. It's about an hour long, and, so far, I'm pleased that it's been pretty well received!

So -- The game is still being made. It's just slow going because doing anything decent by yourself gamedev wise is just really time consuming. And while I *still* can't provide a concrete timeline about release, I do want to give you all my assurances that the game is still being made, and that it's getting pretty far along now.

I may be a poor communicator at times -- but I've never stopped working on the game.

Thank you all for your support, and if what you've seen here interests you, please add Ghost Song to your wishlist if you haven't already! That specific act helps developers a lot!

Matt
@mattwhitedev

Jun 13, 2020

Quick Update; Abilities Showcase Video

Ghost Song - twotimingpete

Just checking in. Making a game is a long road and there are only so many times I can type "I'm still working on it, trust" before it gets old, but I'm still working on it, trust. :)

Here's a video I recorded a few months ago for internal purposes that I think would be fun to actually share publicly. The purpose of the video is to showcase some of the weapons and items in the game to get a feel for how all of that looks. Nothing is really spoiled location wise, but a few items are obviously spoiled.

WIth this game I've done my best to balance typical action shooting (as seen in games like Metroid and Mega Man) with legit melee combat (more in line with something like Castlevania) and allow the player to lean on one or the other more just depending on their tastes!

Hope everyone's been doing well! I can't announce a date yet, but once I'm able to announce stuff like that I will do it here obviously!

Matt

Sep 12, 2019

Quick Update: Water & Fish in Ghost Song

Ghost Song - twotimingpete

On occasion I will be posting Quick Updates, which are intended to be bite sized looks at particular aspects of the game.

Today we're going to look at water and fish. If you are able, please turn up your volume so you can listen to the ambient sound design and get a feel for the atmosphere I'm going for!

Video Link (Streamable)

When deciding how water would work in this game -- Both visually and gameplay-wise -- I decided to use retro games like Mega Man and Metroid as a starting point. I don't think that special swimming mechanics would be particularly fun in this game, so the player can still run and jump while underwater -- Just with significantly alterered physics and gravity. Since this can be challenging and limit your progress in certain sections, there exists items you can get that help you move more freely (or even jump super high!) while submerged.

The reason I felt like water was an important part of the game design is because of its oppressive nature and its mystery. Any time you're exploring something deep, dark, and murky you feel as though you're somewhere you't not meant to be, and it really -- at least in my mind -- Contributes to a sense of adventure. This is a game very much about openness, exploration, mystery, and overcoming the odds. Those are some of the most important pillars of the game.

With respect to how water works beyond movement, it's all very systems driven. My overall approach to the game is to make things work in (whenever it's possible or realistic) the way it seems most natural that they should work. So, in this case, that means that water cools off your gun barrel (gun barrel heat being a key and consequential mechanic in this game). As a bit of flavor, it also means that if you are dirty or bloody (both things that happen) water will wash you off. There are also fish that will move out of your way - Just like Call Of Duty: Ghosts! -- But if you're clever it may also be possible to sneak up on them and find means of capturing them!

What are some of your favorite and least favorite examples of water sections in sidescrollers? How do you feel about water generally? Let me know, I'm very curious!

Thank you very much for your time, and there will be more Quick Updates, as well as a playable demo, to come!

Matt

Aug 12, 2019

Let's look at old and new (GIF heavy post)

Ghost Song - twotimingpete

As I mentioned before, Ghost Song's development was completely rebooted in early 2018 using a new engine. The new engine I was alluding to is Unity. The reason for the change wasn't mere impulse -- Unity does have powerful features, but I wouldn't have restarted everything just because the grass was greener. I was facing serious technical issues and I realized the game would never be stable or bug free as it was.

With this reboot came the opportunity to re-evaluate everything, and incorporate some new design ideas that weren't possible before.

(Note: Here's a direct link to an imgur album containing all of the gifs from this post in a compressed web video format. If you are having trouble loading the animations, try this)

Generational change

From the new version of the game

Before we look at a couple of direct comparisons, there are many mechanics and features in the new game that just didn't exist at all in the old. The combat in the current game is truly a hybrid system - A hybrid of shooting and melee. You can use various melee weapons you may find along the way, or just club enemies with your gun barrel!

Your gun barrel has its own heat level, and it becomes more red as it fires. This causes some weapons to underperform, but in certain situations it can actually be useful -- As one example, meleeing while unarmed - using the barrel to club the enemy - If it's red hot, you get added heat damage. Heat level rises and falls based on what you're doing with the gun and the context of your surroundings.

Shooting as a system has also been enhanced, though, and while you can still run and gun as you would expect in this type of game, you can also lock yourself into an aim mode and aim freely with the analog stick.

From the new version of the game

New and Old

One thing I want to preface with is I understand that aesthetics and enjoyment of features are subjective, and I understand there may be people who enjoy particular aspects of one version or the other more. That's inevitable, and -- in my opinion -- It's also hard to appreciate just how much more smooth and responsive the new game feels compared to the old until you just play it for yourself. It's also noteworthy that the character is larger on screen compared to before, which I feel makes the experience a bit more immersive.

So -- regardless of your preferences, the versions do look different, so here's a few new vs. old comparisons.

Running:

NEW:

OLD:

Dashing:

NEW:

OLD:

Air flipping:

NEW:

OLD:

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Again, if you like certain aspects of the old version, I do understand, because there was a slight stylistic departure that was intentional and it's something I enjoy very much.

What's less subjective, though, is what the new technology allows that wasn't possible before. In the previous version of the game, the character was rendered and animated in a completely traditional way. The character was animated from individually drawn frames of animation, played in sequence, just like old school SNES games. With the new game, we're actually rendering the character in real time using 2D skeletal rigs. This is not unlike something you'd see from Vanillaware.

The advantages of using this system are numerous, and they actually allow for game mechanics that either weren't possible or simply weren't practical the old way. For example, free aiming -- You can aim in any direction. This is highly impractical with traditional animation.

We can also make real time changes to the model in-game. Examples of this are visor colors, accessories, clothes -- All things that can change in the game, and to some extent the player has the ability to make choices about these things. We can also make other changes to the character in real time, such as when we make the character get splashed in an enemy's blood or slime on its boots (which are things that happen).

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Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this sneak peek at the game, and I really hope you like the direction I've taken it in. There is a demo coming in 2019 that members of the public will have the opportunity to play, but I don't have a final release window yet.

Matt

Jul 29, 2019

New KS update, recent progress, and new demo soon

Ghost Song - twotimingpete

I'll briefly recap what has happened to those who are unaware -- The game, for a multitude of reasons, completely rebooted its development in early 2018. With this reboot I adopted modern tools and a slightly tweaked art style, but the core philosophy of the game remained intact.

It took me a while to get up to speed and figure out exactly what I was going to do -- What features from the old game to fix or remove, what to add -- But here we are, in summer 2019, with a functioning game that is really starting to come into its own and almost ready to be played and tested.

New Update

This is the most recent update to Kickstarter, which I posted this morning. Here I discuss some of the recent additions to interface and melee combat (yea, melee combat) and if you scroll back to previous updates you can see some other things. You can also see some stuff on my twitter.

I haven't posted an actual news item here in a while, and I feel that may have been a mistake since some people have been left with the impression that the game was not being worked on.

To those who have stuck around, thank you so much, and there's much more to come.

Matt

Mar 21, 2017

Fun with ragdolls (gif heavy post)

Ghost Song - twotimingpete

The other day I got the idea in my head that I should try adding gored ragdoll corpses into my game -- I've always been fascinated with this and loved it in games like Fallout 3. They could be a little silly looking at times, sure, but the satisfaction they added I always felt made it more than worth it (plus the silliness can be part of the charm and part of the fun). I'd never done anything like this, but since my game engine uses Box2D I knew it must be possible.

After a little research, a new stencyl extension, and some tinkering, I had a functioning ragdoll.

It was simpler than I thought to get a basic ragdoll working -- Box2D already has features that are well suited to it. Just took a bit of trial and error to figure out what type of joints to use and how to set them up.

Here's what I got when I just swapped the ragdoll in on enemy death and nothing else:

This is a promising starting point, but we really need to start adding forces and playing with joint destruction to make it more fun.

Shotgun blasts can send them flying!

Physics can also cause some interesting bugs. I reluctantly fixed this after discovering it. :)

Mar 21, 2017

Fun with ragdolls (gif heavy post)

Ghost Song - twotimingpete

This is a promising starting point, but we really need to start adding forces and playing with joint destruction to make it more fun.

Shotgun blasts can send them flying!

Physics can also cause some interesting bugs. I reluctantly fixed this after discovering it. :)