SirGru

Hi, my name is Gru and I am the head of Ennoble Studios (2 Steam games, http://www.ennoble-studios.com/). I am currently between projects and looking to complete a core team. Currently there's me (programmer, 3+ years in Unity, 5+ years in IT/software employed, asset store developer) and also an experienced 3D artist (several steam games, art lead and consultation on big projects). We are looking for a game designer that is reliable and willing to help with the project from ground up. The game will go on Desktop platforms and will be published on Steam (I have the publisher ready). If you are free and willing to commit seriously to something (~6 months scale) then I believe this is a great opportunity for any designer to start with a capable team working on the project from the start. We have a few ideas that we're brainstorming currently, but nothing is set in stone. We are looking both for a Designer and Promoter. Game Designer Tasks: - Conceptual game design - Design documentation, creation of GDD and similar documents - Level design - Prototype development - Quality Assurance testing - Collaborative group work - Creation of game mechanics and systems - Developing and balancing game mechanics - Creation of additional gameplay elements, such as achievements, upgrades, perks etc. - Interface conceptual design and testing, both in game and in the menus - Creative/narrative writing - Creation of game characters, backstory, dialogue, plot - Campaign level design with focus on pacing and introduction of gameplay elements Game Designer Skills: - Be imaginative and creative. - Ability to communicate the vision clearly, on paper or verbally. Ability to articulate it both in terms of crucial game mechanics and tasks required to complete the working. Have good written and verbal communication skills. - Be able to work in collaboration with multi-disciplinary teams, in different time zones. - Be able to accept constructive feedback on the work. Be able to adjust the vision and iterate based on circumstances. - Have good basic visual design and drawing skills. - Be fluent in Unity engine. Understand the basics of scripting. - Possess a thorough understanding of game play theory. - Have storytelling and narrative development skills. - Be skilled in information design and user interface design. - Be able to think systematically and strategically. Game Promoter Tasks: - Promoter: talking to the public, presenting the game, answering questions etc. - Making up and posting news, screenshots and stories on the channels, Twitter and Facebook. - Editing gameplay screenshots and videos. Game Promoter Skills: - Be talkative and enthusiastic. Have good people skills. Ability to be polite and patient. - Optional: Have other languages fluent in besides English. - Ability to communicate the cool and unique features to gamers. - Be able to stay current with development of the game and able to present the new features constantly. We are looking for serious people willing to commit at least 20 hrs/week to the game. I'm not often on this forum, let me know if you're interested on pcbastion[at]gmail[dot]com You can find a bit more data about us on my site. Regards, - Gru

Hi Developers,my new dialogue system for Unity has just been approved by the Asset Store.http://u3d.as/kY0Here is a short synopsis of what it is:Purpose:Dialogical was created to be best-in-class, lightweight, intuitive, extensible, applicable to any kind of project - dialogue management solution for your game. Modern looking, polished and fast, this extension was just what you need if your game features complex branching dialogue between characters. From a visual novel to a complex RPG, we got you covered.It wasn’t designed to create the GUI for you, but to allow you to integrate it with any kind of GUI solution out there. It also wasn’t designed to provide any kind of visual coding support, but to allow your code to plug in at the right places. This is in line with the general philosophy of extensibility and adaptability, and thus allows you to use any kind of complex logic or variable type. This dialogue system is totally abstracted from the UI implementation and your variables and logic - it just feeds data through events.Features:+ Intuitive Node System: quick, slick and polished.+ Nodes have their text, audio, a set of responses and series of events that call your code in a specific way.+ Native Multilanguage Support (no automatic translation).+ “Choice Node” that lets your code (or random choice) decide which node should go next.+ Unique “Minimap“ node view for maximum convenience with large number of nodes.+ Ability to hide options (your runtime code decides).+ Specially designed Event System that allows you to not only call events on Dialogue steps, but call unique node-specific events for every option on every node. Those events allow you to do these things from your code side: - Access and set any type of variable, and not just base types. - Create any kind of logic, and later act on that logic with a Choice Node. - Not clutter the canvas with visual scripting or variables management. - Integrate Dialogical with any kind of Inventory and Quest System.+ Ability to display your variables in dialogue text or options.+ Timed Events to allow Automatic choosing of a certain option at a certain time.+ Ability to go back in dialogue; multiple nodes can to lead to the same node.+ Provided working Examples with detailed comments of: - Implementation of Old Unity GUI* Basic Scene: how it all works. * Basic Scene with events: where and how to call events. * Basic Scene Multilanguage * Choice Node Example * Portrait Switching Example for dialogue with multiple NPCs * Example showing Parameters from code. * Example with timed option auto-choice. * Example with choosing a random node with random delay (e.g. for ambient sounds).- Implementation with New Unity GUI* Basic Example.+ Saves to Scriptable Object format, which is a standard “Unity way” and allows editing even in Play mode. Small asset footprint.+ Automatic node resize for maximum visibility.+ Dialogue Tree validation.+ Unity Rich text support.+ Automatic and manual Saving.+ Works with all platforms, and both Unity Personal and Professional.+ Full Source. Code is tidy and well commented (C#).+ A detailed and comprehensive manual/tutorial.How is it different and unique:- You can do anything you could do in any other kind of dialogue system, and more.- Native Multi-language interface (no auto translations).- Minimap view for super-quick navigation with large number of nodes. - Performs well.- Event based, and not variable based system your code plugs into. No visual scripting or variable management on the canvas. All logic is in your methods that plug in specific places.- GUI is provided only as examples. It is meant to plug into your unique GUI and not cookie-cutter anything. Examples with legacy GUI and New Unity GUI, and it would be possible to integrate it with any kind of GUI.http://u3d.as/kY0If you have any questions or issues, email me at dialogical[dot]help{at}ennoble-studios.com

Hi shmup fans and friends, Psichodelya now has Steam Trading Cards! Thanks for your continued support. We hope you enjoy the cards. http://store.steampowered.com/app/301680/

Hey, you may have noticed the game Psichodelya in the development thread. Well, finally we have realeased it on Steam. http://store.steampowered.com/app/301680 It's a vertical scrolling shmup that pays homage to shmups of old like DoDonPachi, Ikaruga and Espgaluda. Players control one of 3 playable ships – dodging bullets and destroying wave after wave of enemies for points in either single or 2 player local coop modes. There are 5 manic levels, each with an epic boss and 5 difficulty levels. Set in futuristic environment, two races of mechanized alien species wage air-warfare over Earth-like pieces of land. Each ship has a coloured shield that protects the player from bullets that are the same colour. Enemy ships are also colour coded, making them more vulnerable to the same coloured bullets the player is firing. More information is available on http://ennoble-studios.com/games/psichodelya/ and a few videos on the channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/EnnobleStudios Again, it's: http://store.steampowered.com/app/301680 Be vigilant, - Gru

We have released the Demo version out there. Follow this link. There is a YouTube challenge if you think you're up for it, described on the download page. Overall I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. It's challenging, fast but not brutal. The controls are smooth and there's the whole feeling of how the ship is a bit heavy, but still controllable. I'd say it's nicely varied. There's not too many 'popcorn' enemies. Actually, let me show you how it really looks, there's a play online, but watching is very different from playing: Here Anyway, we also have a new team member. He'll make a great addition to our team, so you can expect even shinier backgrounds ------------------------------ More info about the game: ------------------------------ Psichodelya is a relatively small project - a game which would be a fast, old-school style top-down shmup (shoot-em-up) in the likes of Aero Fighters, Giga Wing, Espgaluda, R-Type Delta, Raiden, more recent Jamestown and mostly DoDonPachi. Controls are very simple - there is fire to shoot, hold fire to activate the laser stream, bomb, and the color switch (more below). Firing the stream also slows the player down (which is customary in games of this sort) so there is a tactical component there. Bombs damage everything on screen and clear all the bullets, but are limited in supply. The main twist with this shmup is two polarities of the main ship. All bullets in the game have 2 basic colors: red and blue. Each enemy can also be red and blue. Player can switch between two colors (polarities) of the main ship at any time, by switching the color of the shield. Shield can protect from a certain number of bullets of the same color, but getting touched by the opposite color kills the player. Once the polarity is activated, players shots and streaming are in that color. Enemies are also more vulnerable to one color of player's shots - making the player choose his color in consideration to enemies' color and current bullet color density on screen. At the end of each level there is a huge boss: multiple stages, many attack patterns, requiring quick thinking and good reflexes, but it's also the most rewarding. Ships: The gameplay mechanics are based on three different playable ships, each with different shot types. On the start screen, the player can choose between them based on fire type. Each ship has 5 fire-ing sources, and 3 always point forward. The other 2 are ship-specific: Ship #1: Has two circling alt fire hovers, that shoot forward, and rotate around the axis of the ship. This gives the player maximum power forward. Ship #2: Tricky shooter turns its shots to the side you are going to, meaning: if you turn left the fire position on the left turns left with you and allows for some damage to the side, and also some tactical options in avoiding enemy bullet patterns. Ship #3: Fires simultaneously to both sides - giving maximum flexibility in avoiding enemy bullet patterns. All ships can in addition, do "streaming". It means as you hold the fire button, the ship starts to fire a huge laser forward, that slows you down a bit, and does more damage. Shooting vs streaming on one ship: There is also something known as shot type. Player chooses either one based on preference to firing bullets or stream. One shot type makes the player stronger when firing bullets, while the other makes the streaming stronger. The game can be enjoyed in both single and multiplayer, which means local coop only. There is support for both Keyboard/Mouse and Gamepads, so two players can play both on one keyboard, on a keyboard and gamepad, or using two gamepads. All controls are completely customizable. Our take on game profiles is simple: every game should have them. That's why we have the in Psichodelya. It means each player chooses his ship type and preferred shot type on the profile creation screen, and continues to unlock stages from there. If the player desires to change the ship, or to start from the beginning, he creates another profile. There are unlimited profiles per machine. There are separate profiles for single and multiplayer. Pickups exist in Psichodelya, but are relatively rare. Shields, Bombs, Powerups, Lives can all be picked up, but they are there for help from time to time, rather then liability. There are also 5 difficulty levels. All difficulties play the same stages in the same way, but the number of shields added on level start is different. Enemies: Psichodelya's gameplay is also characterized by extensive usage of bullet patterns. While some other shmups keep the levels a destruction - fest, here every enemy killed is a bit of a challenge. Most big enemies fire specific patterns, and aren't killed just in in a blink. With big enemies, we combine smaller enemies (aka Popcorn) that are also present on each level, combing the dynamics of easily killed popcorn with patterns of challenging enemies. With this, we achieve a unique variation of both dynamism and challenge. Most of the mentioned patterns have random seeds. That means it incorporates a variation that is different every time, which makes it hard for players to learn the level by heart. The bullets in Psichodelya are not super-fast, but there is always a good amount of them on the screen. Speaking of randomness, the stages are carefully designed to offer optimal challenge. That being said, there is a secret sauce in the ways and timing enemies appear on screen. Even after two playthroughs of one level, you will be certain that the level is not exactly the same. That is just a bit of variation for good measure. Careful design means we combine parts of stage of high effort with parts of stage with lower effort, culminating with a boss at the end of every level. Some levels incorporate mid-bosses, which are stronger then usual enemies appearing during the level. Each level is just long enough to provide a healthy level of challenge. And at the topic of length - there are no continues in the game. There is, however, automatic saving of each unlocked level, so players don't have to start from the beginning every time. Scoring system is really important to us as most advanced players like to compete - beating their own score, or the score of somebody else. Getting high score in Psichodelya is highly dependent on 3 factors: length of time since that enemy appeared, and the current string of enemies of the same color (shown as "chains" in the HUD), and the chosen difficulty level. The game awards quick destructions and tactical thinking. For more details on how scoring works, take a look here. Achieving the highscore is not all that fun if nobody else can see it. We have implemented online and local leaderboards that are connected with profiles. More details are also on the link above, but in short each profile remembers the highest score for any stage (as noted above, stages are unlocked and can be chosen). It then calculates the maximum score for that profile, and it gets stored locally. These scores are displayed at local leaderboards screen, from where the player can "push" the score online at the cumulative leaderboard. These scores can also be removed at any time, and each game installation is identified with a unique machine ID, so that you know which profiles are yours. We have tested our system with a huge number of profiles. Rankings are visible from both our webpage and the game's global leaderboards screen. With the later, you can filter to show only profiles that came from your machine, showing your spot at a quick glance. Final Words: The goal is to create a game which will be really fun to play, challenging, but at the same time in a modern package that is sure to impress with art style. Games like this aren't seen often these days, and this game is aimed to be quick, fun, full-on visual & audio art coupled with great gameplay. Target platforms are Windows, Mac & Linux. ----------------------- Any feedback is appreciated.