A Shooter Friendly Interface

    I never mentioned how the HUD shown in the mock up isn't what the screen will look like at any given time. They way it's show in the mock-up is too cluttered. The real game screen only has your hearts, magic meter, pause button, and D-pad visible at all times. I just added all the things that could pop-up during gameplay to get an idea of size and placement for the GUI components.

     The spell switcher, pixie teleport icons, and wallet only pop-up or slide out when you're using something related to them. The wallet slides out when you collect a gem, the pixies appear when you're teleporting, and the colorful spell switcher bar appears when one of the buttons below it gets pressed. The D-pad and spell switch buttons will be transparent in the actual game and the big spell cast button will be transparent when pressed or when you're unable to attack.

     The D-pad isn't actually 4 separate buttons, but just a reference image. It will function much like the one for the "My Boy!" Gameboy emulator on Android. That D-Pad feels the most like a comfortable virtual joystick that actually works. I played the Legacy of Goku 2 on that emulator and the controls felt perfect. I want Unicorn Quest to have that kind of movement fluidity so I'll be coding the walking controls to work just like the emulator did.

    There needs to be plenty of room on screen to see incoming threats and spot vulnerable targets. That's why essential HUD components are at the top and bottom of the screen which centers on Clover. I also made the spell cast button big enough for comfortable tapping because it's going to be used almost as much as the D-pad. Both of those frequently used components are on opposite sides of the bottom half of the screen so player hold the device like any controller and have room to see more action (and not their fingers).

Gushing About: The Coolest Villains

   Antagonists are often just serving as an opposing force. Something to create trouble for the protagonist to overcome. But some stories have antagonists act as vital and interesting characters. Sometimes even stealing the show from the hero. Villains are the characters we love to hate. When thinking about the kinds of villains I want to design for my games I look back to my favorites. There are a multitude of types to choose from too. Some villains are chaotic, some are calculating, some are both. Villains can be sympathetic and relatable, a combination of reasonable justification and giving into primal human desires.

Unicorn Quest Concept Art

     Concept art is a good place to start when explaining Unicorn Quest because it's all I have done at this point in development as far as "showable" things go. I have the basic idea of the game and it's mechanics in a word document, but I'm trying to do this organically and just add things as I go. My goal for the first few weeks is getting some basic art going. I want to have base sprites for everything I'd need to make a vertical slice demonstration.

     The first thing I did for this project was design the main character. After that I experimented with art styles until I came up with what was shown yesterday. Find the full story of how these pixels came to be beyond the page break.

Next Project: Unicorn Quest (Top-Down Shooter RPG)

Concept Art / Mock-up for Unicorn Quest

     This is the game I always wanted to make. I couldn't picture it before, but now I have something to go by. Adventures in Equica: Unicorn Quest is a game that takes the sense of adventure from Zelda and mixes it with a top-down shooter combat system that's unlike anything I've seen before. You solve puzzles, roam gigantic maps filled with secrets, and battle enemies in randomized arenas. The game uses a pop-out pixel-art style that enables me to draw sprites that look great as apposed to vector drawings that may be lackluster. The combat features complex enemy behaviors, spell combinations, and makes players utilize fast reflexes and pattern recognition. It's the kind of game I never could have managed two years ago and am eager to try now.

Find out more about this passion project beyond the page break.