Mimiga Story (Extremely early demos)

Okay first things first. I've been away for a while, but now i'm back and i want to make something of this little project i started.

There are a few reasons i am submitting these:

1: I've never actually gotten any feedback on these from the community, aside from the facepics/sprites.
2: Feedback would be sweet because i'm feeling a little lost right now.
3: Noone actually knew if i progressed beyond the facepics/sprites and i want to assure Noxid and everyone else i am actually making an effort.
4: I have a dilemma about what ideas to run with and which version to develope.

Next up, the file descriptions. These files are the most recent versions of my old attempts. They are almost untouched since then.

Mimiga Story Version Zero

So called because i'm not even sure if this will have any bearing on the finished product. Its by far the most developed of the two. Uses controller so if you dont have one, reconfigure. Running time is about maybe 10 minutes. Speek to characters multiple times and in multiple contexts and they will say something else!
Features:

• All new areas built from scratch
• Expressive characters with multiple facepics
• Multiple dialogues for characters depending on context
• Monetary system (Early days)
• Custom objects, backgrounds and textures.

http://img560.imageshack.us/i/11485369.jpg/
http://img23.imageshack.us/i/63203286.jpg/
Mimiga Story Dolls House Demo

One small area used as a demo for my "dolls house" effect that i find really really cool. Basically when you enter the house, you remain on the same map and can see both the exterior and interior. Its a feature i got very excited about, but it also makes the entire first release uselessbecause to incorporate it fully i'd have to start from scratch. This problem may have been what stopped me in my tracks before.
http://img222.imageshack.us/i/51403522.jpg/
Get both here:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=O4V00G7H

So yeah, what i want is feedback. Do you like my character art? Could my script be optimised better? Is my dolls house effect as cool as i think it is?

In any case, i'd like to start this back up again, certainly in the high level sense anyway. It'll take me alot longer to relearn low level. Any support would be greatly appreciated.

 

Screenshots would be nice. Anyway, I'll edit this post when I'm done playing...

Edit 1: The character sprite seems to be too big or something. It just looks kinda awkward. The "Doll House" idea thing is really neat, and I like the sprites for the inside. But I'm still playing, I stopped because I lagged.

 

Ok i just updated with screenshots. Theres a bit of an issue with the main character, he is too big and his walking has a jetpack frame in it... It was the only way to get the jetpacking the way i wanted.

 

Alright, I think I'm at the end. I got the blade thing, and I don't know where to do next. So, the custom graphics are nice, especially the face pics. The thing about the face pics is that they seem to be kinda messy. And, the tile set in the dolls house demo thing seems to be messed up. Also, the designs seem to be a little bugged and unnatural. You see, the Cave Story engine has a glitch in that when you jump under a slope, it pushes you on top of it. This occurs frequently in this mod, but it's not that big of a problem. Also, the facepic of the Mimiga who runs the grocery store has an ear that's like "WHOAHOOAAAAHHHHHAOOOOOAOOOOA", meaning it looks odd. There was also slight glitches in the text, like how when it switches characters, the ones who didn't have a face pic (At least not yet), had the main characters face pic. This made it difficult to tell who's talking. One last flaw, the doors should be deleted (Or <CNP'd to entity 0) from the map when you go through them. This makes it more realistic. But everything else seems to be pretty cool. I like how the story is. Is this mod taking place in the CS universe? Anyway, good work with it, and all of those flaws should be easily fixable. Before I forget, I say you did a good job on figuring out how to make a picture on the title screen.

 

Yeah thats definetly the end for now. At some point i'll add a warp to the east which leads to the mother mimigas partner, our first action sequence along the way. But yeah i need to iron out this areas kinks first of all. Thanks very much for the feedback :3

Edit: Oh yeah, as for where thsi is taking place... Well these are mimigas, so we are on the same island, just in a different area at a different time. I'm beign vague because i need to work on the story.

Edit2: The doors have been fixed. In the script i was trying to identify the doors with thier ID, when i should have used the event number they are associated with. And i also noticed that yeah, the grocery shop mimigas ear loosk like its been starched when being held away from her! I'll update all her facepics with a new ear when i make new facepics for the "faceless characters"

 

Can you upload it on mediafire? Megaupload hates me.

 

My preemptive criticism is over the facepics.
I would recommend mimicking Pixel-san's style with the facepics, since you plan on mimicking his style with the little sprites.
If you don't switch to the cartoony look, then at least try to blend the eyes, mouth, and eyebrows to the fur.
They stick out and it's bleh. Otherwise it looks like drawing cartoon eyes on a jpeg of a real image, and that is not a good style imho.

EDIT: Heheh I forgot I said the same thing on your album...

 

I agree, mediafire is in my experience a much better hosting service.

It's good to see that you haven't given up, but to be frank I must say that there are a number of things you need to work on.
1) Tile placement: Some of the background/foreground tiles (specifically the ones that look like rocks) seem to be strewn somewhat haphazardly. They have a specific way they're supposed to "fit together", and it will look much cleaner and more professional if you follow that. Also, don't forget to use boundary tiles (those little bits of trim for the rocks), I noticed that the far right wall in the village didn't use any. Your custom tiles looked alright if I recall.

2) The MyChar guy looks like he tries to be a scosh too big for his hitbox and loses the top bit of his head when he walks. I don't usually imagine Mimiga to be so bandy-legged anyway, so maybe you could remove some height from the legs

3) The facepics, well, I'm not overly fond of them. It almost seems like you're trying to do too much with such a small resolution; 48x48 is not much to work with so you have to simplify things. Use only a few colors (3 shades of white is I think what Pixel had) and try to keep lines smooth. For boundaries between two very different colors, an intermediate color or two makes things blend much better. The eyes in particular stand out as being somewhat.. scary >.>
I recommend simplifying those somehow. Anyway, in general you just need more practice with Pixel Art methinks. I did some god-awful sprite edits when my first demo went out, but now I've improved so much that if somebody was sufficiently inebriated I might be able to convince them that it's almost competent.

4) There are a few slight issues with the textboxes not being cleared at the proper time, and a few instances of making a new line when the text would have fit on the rest of the existing one. Also, I think I somehow had the coin purse and the sword without doing anything for them..?


That is all the time I have for now because I have to go to class. Good luck.

 

Wooden Rat:

Here you are:
http://www.mediafire.com/?gkg9gita5gmj5gl

Cultr1:

Yeah the general opinion on those facepics are that they dont really suit the game. It's going to be painful to axe them and start again, but i'll have a go at it. It'll break up the more technical stuff.

Noxid:

1:I'll bear in mind for the new version to try to make things flow a little better with the rock formations and stuff. I was tryign to avoid the textures looking blatantly obviously 4 blocks repeated again and again in the same way. I'll need to think of a way of making a texture that looks natural, but has a random feel...liek actual rock. And i'm glad you liek the custom stuff. My favourite part aesthetically is the castle. All of this is getting scrapped though, these files are like brainstorming sessions.

2: Yeah i'll look into that. The fact that the jetpack frame shows up in his walk doesnt help either.

3: What can i say, in the face of Pixels art i was a bit intimidated. And i fell back on my habit of squeesing as much tone as i can into everything. I am pleased though of how they look in terms of expression and character, i just need to bring that into a more suitable look.

4: Yeah text is admittedly nto as tight as it should be, nor is the script. For the actual versions(0.1, 0.2 etc) i'll be mroe careful. And no, thats not rigth at all. The coin purse should have been given to you by the female mimiga above Mados house. Then she should have recommended seeing the king, who should have let you into the armoury, to get the weapon.

But yeah i'm essentially extracting art and scripts from both of these to make it into an actual game, whose script will be more carefully written. I also intend to make liberal use of my dolls house mechanic.

It feels great to be back, Noxid. And it feels great to be puzzling through script again. Your help is, as it always was, invaluable. :3

 

I was about to write pretty much the same thing as Noxid.

The maps need a lot of polishing, graphics wise. Though I'll assume this was just a rough draft, or a "sketch" of the maps made to show which parts of the map are filled with what. Even so, the castle's interior looked too...symmetrical? Then again, it can be regarded as mimiga architecture. Make sure you add a lot of nuances for tiles. For example make three copies of the same block, one is normal, the other is cracked and the third has a holes in it. As for the dialogue, it was alright. I'd say the vocabulary was poor in some parts but who am I to judge? There were a few minor errors, but nothing that couldn't be solved with cleverly placed <NODs.

What I really liked though, was the edited dirt (was it dirt?) tile which had a shade of blue from the water.

 

Wooden Rat:

Yeah i hope i can make some more custom tiles. Yeah the script is definately going to get tightened up a bit, hopefully making the player feel informed, raising a smile and make them root for the good guys! And yeah, the water was looking a little on the boring side, so i was trying to make some little rock formations down there too.

As an aside, its not actually my goal to emulate Pixels art style. It's more of a game where there are characters, who happen to be Mimigas, than it is Cave Story lore. I do think its a good idea to make new facepics though, so that it feels more fresh to me and looks a little bit better.

 

Alright guys, so i had a go at making a more "toony" version of our protagonist "Mado". This really is just a mockup. Basically its a very similar looking frown from my usual facepics, but for each colour there are no more than 3 shades. I really dont know what to make of the new look, so any feedback is appreciated. I'm not looking to completely rehaul my own style in favour of making the game look more "cave story" but theres probably a way to compromise. Making it my own, but also making it look like it belongs in the game. I do take your criticism seriously and will give my best attempt at re inventing these based on my goals and community opinion.

For anyone who doesnt know, i have furry routes, so to speak. And so, my sprites and characters are never going to look "straight out of an anime". But yeah, i have never been good with simplifying stuff, its something i need practice with.

http://www.cavestory.org/diph.php?u=http://img109.imageshack.us/i/madotoonstyle.png/ (incase the code isnt functional)