Adventure: Gameplay and Sprite Ideas

[EarthQuake]

As far back as I can remember, I've always thought of the dragons in Adventure as looking like birds (most call them ducks). I can recall as a child, maybe 3 or 4 years old, referring to Yorgle, Grundle, and Rhindle as the chicken, the duck, and the goose, respectively. Yeah, silly I know.

 

Well, take a look at my attachment (O means "old", and N means "new"). I decided to make them seem more menacing and look more streamline. Those old dragons were just too fat

I'd like to get some comments about which version I should use in my Adventure hack, Odyssey. The first dragon sprite is the old one of course, the 2nd being the new version, which I'll ovbiously use, but the next 3 are variations of the 2nd. The first and second variation are just different tails as where the 3rd variant has a rounder stomach cavity. Personally, I like the 2nd tail variant and the one on the original new sprite, can't really decide on which... also, I like the new rounder belly.

What do you guys think? (You're probably laughing at me for asking about such minor things, but then again, I'm a perfectionist )

 

Btw, I have yet to start on death and biting sprites.

EDIT: I tagged the death and biting sprites on at the end of the first line.

 

The sprite below the dragons is the old and new portculis'. I didn't change it because I could, but because I didn't feel like it was actually moving, just sorta warping open, like a curtain or window blinds.

 

Below those are the sprites for the new sword. In the past, it always look more like an arrow, or spear perhaps. And until I finally read the manual, I never knew it was a sword! Anyways, now I think it looks like one, although it's been reversed with the hilt being on the right side.

 

Now, you're probably wondering what all those other sprites are in that image. I have plans to change the dot into some sort of item that wards off dragons. I'm not sure if this had been done in other Adventure hacks, but it should make the game interesting especially on randomized games where dragons can be all over the place. I have been comptemplating over what type of an item it should be. Originally I thought about some sort of shield, but I haven't been able to come up with something that looks good and feels like it belongs in the game. You can see my shield attempt and its variations on the 2nd row after the portculis'.

The things below the shield are different variations of my "disc of repulsion" (idea taken from hexen).

And then finally, I read somewhere "to ward off a dragon, you need a dragon", so I thought, "well what if I had some sort of dragon icon or relic?" so that's where the little dragon sprite comes into play (under the dragon death and biting sprites).

 

You guys got any ideas? Not for just warding off dragons, but anything creative that might seem possible for Adventure.

 

Thanks.

Edited May 6, 2005 by EarthQuake

[EarthQuake]

So 40 views and no one wants to talk about anything?

[+SpiceWare]

I like the new dragon. You could probably cycle through the 3 different tail positions to add a little animation as they move.

 

Neat touch on the gate.

 

The sword should point the other way. I've always found it easier to kill the dragons if the sword was held on the lower-right side of the adventurer - the dragon's line themselves up to hit the sword when they go to bite him.

[EarthQuake]

I like the new dragon.  You could probably cycle through the 3 different tail positions to add a little animation as they move.

 

Neat touch on the gate. 

 

The sword should point the other way.  I've always found it easier to kill the dragons if the sword was held on the lower-right side of the adventurer - the dragon's line themselves up to hit the sword when they go to bite him.

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Thanks for your reply.

 

Seeing as I have much more space than anticipated, I really was starting to think along the lines of adding an animation as the dragons move. It's strange that you mentioned that.

 

About the sword, in contrast to what you said, I always found it easiest holding it on the lower left side (like a spear), so I guess it has to do with personal preference. However, since the hilt was on the left side of the sprite in the original game, I think I will flip it for the sake of not breaking everyone's habits.

 

Oh, and just a little update on my hack:

 

There is now a fourth difficulty level where the dragons bite faster. You have only a split second to get away before you're eaten. Also, the black dragon always fears the sword, as to make her much harder than Rhindle.

 

And then there's the dot. It's now a crucifix that all dragons fear, that the bat can take, and that doesn't appear on difficulty 4.

 

Neat stuff this is turning out to be

Edited May 8, 2005 by EarthQuake