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#1 2018-12-01 23:35:26

Alexandre
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From: Brazil
Registered: 2009-01-27
Posts: 3,300
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Help asked: new opening animation

Now that the SurgeScript integration is mostly complete compared to the old API, I'd like to focus on the game again. One of the things there is to do is to replace the level opening animation. I'd like to have something better and more exciting.

I'm asking for ideas for a new opening animation. It should be original, display the level name, and there should be some orange as well (it's Surge's color). An animation with plenty of movement. If you would like to contribute, please join the thread smile

To explain it better, I picked the opening animation that plays in Sonic Mania as an example. See how it's fast and well done.
10fyp0x.gif

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#2 2018-12-05 07:10:39

G.E.R.
Member
From: Russia, Krasnodar
Registered: 2017-12-26
Posts: 177

Re: Help asked: new opening animation

My suggestion:

There are rotating gears in the corners.
Bottom ---> up appears the orange panel with the "Open Surge" caption.
A monitor with in a level icon in the bottom corner. (it will also for a new conception of the game).
Level name is placed in center.
The main background color will be determined by the level color gamut.

illust_1_051218.png



PS: The Sonic Mania' GIF demonstrate Act 2 in the caption, but in fact, it is Act 3... did we find a bug?

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#3 2018-12-07 16:44:53

Alexandre
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From: Brazil
Registered: 2009-01-27
Posts: 3,300
Website

Re: Help asked: new opening animation

hmmm, the gears are tied to waterworks. I see it's a nicer idea to use batteries (+) (-), since they are a constant throughout the game.

Battery-sprites5x.png

Also: Surge is related to electricity, and he's very high energy! big_smile

Thus, we may pick up colors / create animations that convey very high energy.

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#4 2018-12-08 11:21:56

G.E.R.
Member
From: Russia, Krasnodar
Registered: 2017-12-26
Posts: 177

Re: Help asked: new opening animation

ok, I'll think about electricity themes.

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#5 2018-12-09 23:38:47

KZR
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Registered: 2010-07-14
Posts: 1,447
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Re: Help asked: new opening animation

here's an idea

sorry for the poor quality, this was a screen capture of something i was mocking up

giphy.gif


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#6 2018-12-10 03:37:51

svgmovement
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Registered: 2011-11-24
Posts: 209

Re: Help asked: new opening animation

KZR wrote:

here's an idea

Maybe the character running across can vary based on a level's active players? (Charge and Surge for some levels, just Neon for others, etc.)


-- svgmovement

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#7 2018-12-10 09:42:05

KZR
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Registered: 2010-07-14
Posts: 1,447
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Re: Help asked: new opening animation

image.png


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#8 2018-12-12 13:57:19

Alexandre
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From: Brazil
Registered: 2009-01-27
Posts: 3,300
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Re: Help asked: new opening animation

Hey guys, thank you for the feedback smile

I find it coincidental that KZR mentions this thunder/lighting bolt idea, because just the other day I was browsing through OpenGameArt, and I found this:

JQFMKkd.gif
https://opengameart.org/content/animations-random-1

At the time I wondered if we could use such an animation, but it was too small for our purposes (the sprite is 32x64, while our screen is currently 426x240). Maybe we can draw a bigger one?

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#9 2018-12-12 23:02:14

KZR
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Registered: 2010-07-14
Posts: 1,447
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Re: Help asked: new opening animation

it has only 2 colors. this should be easy. how do you plan to use it? it kinda does a ping-pong motion which does not fit my idea, since the character runs across the screen. maybe the character could run across, brake before the edge of the screen, and run back after the level image is drawn, while leaving this thunder animation as a trace, or even being involved in it. in the second case I would split the animation and use as the thunder shield fading in, and fading out

also bear in mind that longer than 3 seconds will have people mashing buttons to skip it

Last edited by KZR (2018-12-12 23:03:13)


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#10 2018-12-13 00:15:19

Alexandre
Administrator
From: Brazil
Registered: 2009-01-27
Posts: 3,300
Website

Re: Help asked: new opening animation

I don't see it's a good idea to have the character in the animation because it will appear in world space just after the opening.

Regarding the colors, it's a good fit to use yellow and orange, just like our website.

how exactly the lighting bolt is going to be used, I don't know yet, but I imagine a vertical effect just like the gif (without the ping-pong motion). I'll give it some thought, but if you guys have any ideas, feel free to share. It should be fast and have high energy.

Edit: for the time being, I'll just throw this here
elefie3.gif
Electric field
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hb … lefie.html

KZR wrote:

also bear in mind that longer than 3 seconds will have people mashing buttons to skip it

that's pretty good timing.

Last edited by Alexandre (2018-12-13 00:52:27)

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#11 2018-12-24 01:45:01

Alexandre
Administrator
From: Brazil
Registered: 2009-01-27
Posts: 3,300
Website

Re: Help asked: new opening animation

Here's a design. It's clean, featuring hot colors and high energy, with plenty of movement.

s000.png

You can see it playing on build 18.1123-dev.

It's written in SurgeScript, and you can study how it's done by reading scripts/core/opening.ss and sprites/hud/opening.spr

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#12 2018-12-24 10:51:45

KZR
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Registered: 2010-07-14
Posts: 1,447
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Re: Help asked: new opening animation

I like it! it's very clean and impacting. it sure leaves an impression


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#13 2018-12-25 09:15:04

G.E.R.
Member
From: Russia, Krasnodar
Registered: 2017-12-26
Posts: 177

Re: Help asked: new opening animation

How do you think, is a good idea to place on the open-level screen a level icon / level art?
as in the KZR's post (2018-12-10 12:42:05)

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#14 2018-12-25 13:11:29

Alexandre
Administrator
From: Brazil
Registered: 2009-01-27
Posts: 3,300
Website

Re: Help asked: new opening animation

G.E.R. wrote:

How do you think, is a good idea to place on the open-level screen a level icon / level art?
as in the KZR's post (2018-12-10 12:42:05)

I think a level icon here would add complexity without much benefit. This could be a cause of headaches to people who want to build new levels, but are not yet proficient in SurgeScript. Additionally, in the latest build, the level art is displayed after about 3 seconds of animation.

In my understanding, a level icon would be better suited to other places, such as a load saved game screen, as in Sonic 3.

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#15 2018-12-26 22:04:34

KZR
Member
Registered: 2010-07-14
Posts: 1,447
Website

Re: Help asked: new opening animation

can SS look if a file is present or not?

let's say we put that thunder symbol in a shield, a medal, a coin... something you can flip over

if an icon for the level called <levelname>.png is present in the level's own folder (not /levels) the symbol shrinks in width to simulate flipping over and it stretches again with the image from <levelname>.png

the idea is to enable this option by default, but make it seamless whether or not the image is available. simple, easy.

Last edited by KZR (2018-12-26 22:06:24)


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#16 2018-12-27 00:35:07

Alexandre
Administrator
From: Brazil
Registered: 2009-01-27
Posts: 3,300
Website

Re: Help asked: new opening animation

Currently it doesn't work with images directly, only sprites (defined in .spr files), but it's a good idea.

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