Bippo Bop

I could make a title screen for you. Maybe.

The shield size has been noted. I will keep that in mind for the next release.

The title screen would be quite appreciated, but I don’t know what it should look like yet. Before I decide, I will need to know what you can and cannot draw well, as well as what your art style is like. After all, it is a good idea to go with your strengths, and some title ideas might not look good in some art styles. Of course, the other reason that I don’t know what it should be yet is that it is late at night, and my brain is not at full capacity at this time.

The frictionless physics is fairly instrumental to the mod. In addition to being one of the key things that makes it different, the level design is based somewhat around it. If I were to make a frictionized version, it would either be too easy, or I would have to completely remake the levels, or I might have to resort to cheap difficulty (upping the number of enemies) to save time.

That is not to say that a version with friction will never happen. It merely means that it will likely not happen until the original game itself is 100% complete and I can devote more time to it, due to how much work it could take to do this task without ruining the challenge. Or one of you guys could modify Bippo Bop to make a version with friction. You guys have my permission to do so, as long as you give me credit for the original mod and include the readme (which includes musical credits that are legally required).

If you do so, note that deleting those big, tall sectors next to the main area of the level is all that is needed to bring back the friction. But doing so without modifying the levels could make them too easy. Doing so without modifying the characters’s speeds will make them unbearably slow (except Bop, who will be about normal speed).

TITLE SCREEN: Give me a basic design, I should have the whole thing done in a couple days. (possibly background included)

ENEMY DESIGN (if you're interested): If you have any enemy concepts for this, I will gladly make the sprites for them, providing they aren't too complicated or they can be built using basic shapes, then sharpened.

I can draw a variety of stuff from simple shapes. (Circles, squares, rectangles, triangles, anything with no curved sides, with an exception of circles. :P)

I have a ton of styles.

I have 9001 styles. :P (PUN INTENDED!!)

(OVAR 9000!!!)
Anyway, Do you want a ring behind it or no?

There are three things I must address.

First, I apologize for yet another unannounced break. I was distracted by college and other projects. Looking back at the pattern, I suppose from now on I should refer to such occasions as ‘pulling a Joat’, as I seem to be the king of this maneuver.

Second, I will likely be editing things in small ways. The shields will, as suggested, probably be scaled down, if not completely redesigned. In addition, I might be making minor tweaks to other Things.

Third, the title… I must admit, I do not know how I want it to look. If I make it too dark, this mod could cross the line into emo territory and I do not want that. If I make it too bright, it will give false mood expectations. I know for a fact that I do not want the typical ring-style opening, though.

EDIT: A stage in progress

My updated todo list.

Planned
- Complete chapters 7 (the “s” is not a typo)
- Resize/remake shields
- Add new cutscenes
- Add new music
- Figure out what the title should look like

Possible
- Add voice-acting
- Recolor springs to match the mood
- Possible other modifications to sprites
- Remake one or more bonus stage(s)
- Change Mountain Pass midi music (the current one does not seem quite right)
- Change spindash SOCcing (though currently, I am having difficulty finding something non-overpowered for it to do)
- Try to make Mountain Pass look better

Ugh. While I didn't really have a problem with your first stages, the textures here (in your latest screenshot) really clash, or are just plain hideous. So, is that an ice flow atop of green slime or what?

That's grass, not slime.

On the clashing part, are you talking about where the mountain texture (the blue) meets the normal wall texture of the stage, or maybe about how the wall does not match the grass, or how the grass does not match the snow?

If the latter one, then remember that the theme of this stage is that the snow is melting, hence the patches of snow rather than consistant snow.

I guess I main beef would be be the that grass texture. Everything else looks alright, but I hate that particular grass texture in principle. It honestly reminds me of spread out snot and/or slime.

Just a personal nit-pick, I guess. *shrugs* What'cha gonna do?

Also, the walls need shadows so that individual angles are more distinct (right now they blend together because they're all the same hue), but I imagine you probably haven't gotten around to that yet.

Shadows are a fairly interesting idea and could add to the level, but due to the nature of the level editor, this task is not as simple as one might think. Still, considering that this is supposed to be early morning, it is worth looking into, I suppose.

EDIT:

As a sort of visual proof-of-concept, I made a sort of shadow for one of the walls.



In reality, this will not be so easy. This wall extends to the ceiling, which means that, for this wall, I can simply change the lighting for the sector. However, for other walls, I will have to use light blocks to ensure that the shadows do not go above the walls they are shadows of.

Two updates.

One, the shadow idea is completely scrapped. The shadows are not only way too much work in that level, but doing it in that level would require me to do it in every level. Including the calculations required in where to put the shadow, this would roughly double the work involved in creating a level (no exaggeration) and the effect would not be very good.

Two, I have finally mastered the art of fog blocks. I am going to use fog blocks in the Misty Forest (working title) level, as seen below:



Yes, I know it is just a single room at the moment, but still, it demonstrates the fog pretty well. I wonder if it is a bit TOO foggy, though.

That fog idea is great, Joat. I personally think it looks fine.

There will likely be a few new enemies. Here are a few ideas:

Fire Mouse I plan on this enemy running away from the player (at a slow speed) or running around randomly while periodically spawning slow-moving fireballs. These fireballs are homing and fizzle out with time or upon collision with a wall or other object. Interestingly, while the Fire Mouse can harm the players, it can only singe, not truly start a fire, which is why the trees do not catch fire. My only worry with this character is that it resembles Bippo quite a bit. The below is probably not the finished model. There will likely be modifications.


Will-O’-Wisp: These resemble balls of light, but are somewhat difficult to see. They slowly chase after the character. These balls, upon their destruction, trigger a random linedef between 1001-1008 (in short, somewhat random effects dependent on the stage). Alternatively, I may have them spawn an enemy sometimes in addition to triggering linedefs. Depending on the stage, the effects of these balls of light range from beneficial to downright nasty. More often the former, so you are sometimes best off trying to avoid them.

Wisp Master: A larger Will-O’-Wisp that will summon normal ones, as well as fireballs (much akin to the Fire Mouse). This will likely be a boss, or at least a rather tough enemy. I am considering making him turn red when he is low on health, and only then will he summon fireballs.

Flame Master: Either a ball of flame or an oddly-colored flame, possibly both. This enemy will spawn fireballs. Unfortunately, since this enemy is made of fire, the elemental shield is a must if you want to kill it unscathed. Otherwise, it is best to run. Flame Masters do not move.

Enraged Spirits: It seems Galto is not the only spirit from the Battle of Crécy to have come into Mobius. Others seem to have come here as well. Unfortunately, Galto is the only one who seems to have retained his sanity. These spirits are red and go into a semi-spindashing state periodically (during which time, they gain the Fire tag). They can float and take two hits.



More, mayhaps, later.

That flame mouse should probably be a bit smaller and more flame-like, but otherwise good job.

The Flame Mouse that appears in the game will be about as large as Bippo.

As for the more flamelike, I agree. Right now, though, I have decided to work on the Will-O’-Wisp first, since that is the enemy I will want to use first, so respriting the Flame Mouse must wait for now.

Well, in case you want to use these...


A redone Bippo and Galto, by me.

The new sprite for Bippo looks good, but the ears and eyes look a bit unnatural. The eyes, I can understand, because Bippo is no longer a normal mouse, and it looks more like that in your sprite. Also, it has a kinda cute feel to it, which is what I am going for with Bippo. Unfortunately, the ears do not look very mouselike. In all, the Bippo sprite looks good, but it does not look much like a mouse to me.

The Galto sprite, I must admit, does not fit the tone, and has enough colors that, if Galto were ever used in multiplayer, what color he really is would be difficult to discern.