Nova the Squirrel 2 (WIP)

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NovaSquirrel
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Nova the Squirrel 2 (WIP)

Post by NovaSquirrel »

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It's finally happening! Or rather, has been happening for a few months as I've been working on this alongside my job. The first game released over a year ago and all the inspiration is coming back, and I have tons of ideas for things I want to do.

I'm writing a sequel to Nova the Squirrel on the SNES. It's open source like the previous game, and I intend on making it a lot more polished and making the graphics much fancier, taking advantage of the SNES's hardware. I also intend on having a much stronger story and making the engine more similar in capability to SMW, including slopes.

There is also a new level editor to go with it, backwards compatible with (and reusing most code from) the original game's editor, except this time supporting things like slopes and selecting multiple things at once.
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NovaSquirrel
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Re: Nova the Squirrel 2 (WIP)

Post by NovaSquirrel »

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I wanted to show off my progress on a Mode 7 minigame I intend to have! I actually don't really know what sorts of things are being done in other SNES homebrew, but I got the impression that this sort of stuff wasn't too common.

I'm planning for something like Blue Sphere (and will have a character running forwards as soon as I get a walk animation drawn for her), but I feel like I also want to have more puzzley sections where you aren't always running forward, and you can take your time to interact with things. As long as that doesn't push me into a trap of taking a long time to do level design because puzzles are hard to make, I suppose. It could be really cool to have like, different missions where different rules are in place for each one, and I think I could do a lot with this.
calima
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Re: Nova the Squirrel 2 (WIP)

Post by calima »

Very Sonicy.
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Re: Nova the Squirrel 2 (WIP)

Post by Rahsennor »

I loathed Blue Spheres, but without the claustrophobic horizon effect that always had me lost within the first ten seconds, it actually looks like fun.

...and an awful lot like a certain something else. I'd suggest a racing minigame, but that rabbit hole might be a bit too deep. :lol:
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Re: Nova the Squirrel 2 (WIP)

Post by TmEE »

Very awesome ~
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NovaSquirrel
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Re: Nova the Squirrel 2 (WIP)

Post by NovaSquirrel »

Rahsennor wrote:I'd suggest a racing minigame, but that rabbit hole might be a bit too deep. :lol:
I say racing deserves its own full game, rather than just a minigame! That's definitely something I want to get around to eventually, though it'd have to be sometime after this game, which itself will take at least a few years. Doubt the things I'd want to put in (car building!!) would make it suitable for the SNES, though.
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Re: Nova the Squirrel 2 (WIP)

Post by Erockbrox »

If you can provide the SNES homebrew community with a tool which has a similar functionality and interface to Lunar Magic you might create a whole new community to boot.

I will check out the level editor and such. I really want to create my own SNES games as I'm sure many people are.
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Re: Nova the Squirrel 2 (WIP)

Post by NovaSquirrel »

I'm really not too interested in making a community as much as I am just making my own games.

People are free to use my engine if they like, and I have been trying to make the codebase a lot friendlier than the first game's (a lot of tasks are a lot easier!) but you still need to learn 65816 assembly for it to be useful. They'll also have to do their own assets because I'm not making those freely usable.

Honestly, SNES development isn't anywhere near as hard as people make it out to sound, if you're not intentionally making it difficult with complex engine features. In many ways it's actually much easier than NES development! I'd encourage anyone who wants to make SNES games to give it a try, and take advantage of all of the information and tutorials on SMW Central, which are aimed at beginners.
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Re: Nova the Squirrel 2 (WIP)

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Drew Sebastino
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Re: Nova the Squirrel 2 (WIP)

Post by Drew Sebastino »

Did you make your profile picture, because it's really good. I prefer it to the character seen in the screenshot, even if the icon looks like it's meant for the NES or GBC.

And I really like the concept of the Mode 7 minigame. About puzzles, probably the most obvious thing you could do is implement tiles that you need to walk over a certain number of times to completely convert them. That's also about the cleanest Mode 7 floor I've seen (it doesn't clip into the horizon as it does in most SNES games).
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Re: Nova the Squirrel 2 (WIP)

Post by NovaSquirrel »

Drew Sebastino wrote:Did you make your profile picture, because it's really good.
It was a commission!

Yeah, my own pixel art and animation skills aren't quite up to the same level, but I'm trying to make up for it with lots of cute animations, like the rolling I added:
Image
This is going to be the replacement for sliding down a hill on your butt, and I have a lot of ideas.

I do intend to go back and touch up the shading and improve the animations and art as I get better at it, as well as drawing my own idle animation, but for now everything you see in the game is what I've declared good enough to serve as a placeholder while I work on the game logic.
Drew Sebastino wrote:About puzzles, probably the most obvious thing you could do is implement tiles that you need to walk over a certain number of times to completely convert them
I actually hadn't thought of that, but I really should do that. And have tiles that, when stepped on, maybe affect other tiles in the surrounding area? Ha, watch as this turns into a weird mix of Blue Sphere, Chip's Challenge, and Gruniożerca 3.
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Drew Sebastino
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Re: Nova the Squirrel 2 (WIP)

Post by Drew Sebastino »

I was going to do the whole thing, but I forgot how much I loathe drawing. As you can see, I didn't get very far, lol.
squirel.gif
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I was experimenting if that animation could be transformed to look more like something you'd find on the SNES. It's just too adorable, and that's not a word I use lightly. :lol:
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Re: Nova the Squirrel 2 (WIP)

Post by creaothceann »

Or a palette swap of Mr Nutz? :)
My current setup:
Super Famicom ("2/1/3" SNS-CPU-GPM-02) → SCART → OSSC → StarTech USB3HDCAP → AmaRecTV 3.10
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Re: Nova the Squirrel 2 (WIP)

Post by Alp »

Drew Sebastino wrote:I was going to do the whole thing, but I forgot how much I loathe drawing. As you can see, I didn't get very far, lol.
squirel.gif
I was experimenting if that animation could be transformed to look more like something you'd find on the SNES. It's just too adorable, and that's not a word I use lightly. :lol:
I'm more than capable of managing that sprite style, myself!

In fact, I was going for something similar, for "Cotton & Candy II"
(Because of some issues with getting the first game published, the sequel is on hiatus, for now.)

Image

Image

This game is looking quite good, so far!
I'd offer to help out with sprites, but I'm rather busy, with a large-scale RPG project... >.>
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NovaSquirrel
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Re: Nova the Squirrel 2 (WIP)

Post by NovaSquirrel »

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I'm finally adding in attacking! I'm really proud of the twirl I drew and how smooth it is. I'll probably have a few different attack animations this time for different abilities, especially since I can easily afford to. Honestly I think main character animations are important enough that it's completely reasonable to dedicate a few banks to it.

Edit: Here's a build so I can get feedback on a control scheme I'm trying out. I do not want the same button to be used for both attacking and running, and I feel like Kirby-style running may feel out of place in a game that has more Mario-style platforming. So instead, how about moving the attack button to R? I made it available with X and A too because why not.
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