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MichaelSinsbeck / platformer

A ninja platformer written in LÖVE
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Flame Rotator appearance #200

Closed michalove closed 10 years ago

michalove commented 10 years ago

For the flame-rotator object there are two possible appearances. Which one do you like better? Number one: Flames bandana_flammen Number two: Thorns/Stick with spikes bandana_dornen

Which one is better? To be honest, the flames are a copy from the same thing in Super Mario Bros. On the other hand, I would like to be able to change both the inner and the outer radius. This makes more sense, when I use the flames, rather than the sticks.

Germanunkol commented 10 years ago

I don't know, really. The flames looked a little weird since they're only rotating, not animated. Maybe they should have a simple "flickering" animation, either in combination with their rotation or instead of their rotation.

I would have said "thorns!" straight away, if not for the inner radius issue. But what if we draw a brown line from the centerpiece to the inner radius, to make it look like the thorns are attached to the center via a branch/log/stick? We just have to make sure it looks very different from the thorns themselves... (maybe by making it much thinner)

michalove commented 10 years ago

Thanks for the feedback.

At the moment, I find the flames more beautiful. But conceptually the thorns are better (and make more sense). So let me try to make the thorns look better and to find a solution for the inner radius issue.

I could make it a long stick with small, rotating shurikens on it. The player only dies, when he touches the shurikens. The stick then has to look relatively background-y. That should work, I believe. Then the level design will have to enforce the idea, that only parts of the thing are dangerous.

Germanunkol commented 10 years ago

I think rotating shurikens would make it very clear. Also, if the flames would be attached to something, that might also look nice (sort of like torches on a stick?)

In the end, the looks don't matter that much, it's more about it being obvious what's dangerous and what's not. I don't think it'll be hard to make the sticks look like background though - just use only a single colour and don't add detail. I think it'll be pretty obvious what's what.

michalove commented 10 years ago

I made a quick mock-up of the shuriken idea. bandana_shuriken If the shurikens really rotate, then I believe it will be very clear and they will be very distinct from the stick (I also changed the outline color of the stick from black to brown, which helps).

I turned out, it does not look very good, if I make the shurikens smaller. Do you think it is okay to use the exact same image as for the flying shurikens?

Germanunkol commented 10 years ago

Yes, I would not make them smaller. I think this looks very good. It's very clear what's what and the user will quickly recognize it. I also think the shurikens look much better than the spikes.

michalove commented 10 years ago

That's what I wanted to hear :)

michalove commented 10 years ago

Okay, done. Here is a screenshot. bandana_shuriken2

(By the way, I will rename this thing to "rotator" rather than "flameRotator". For obvious reasons.)

Germanunkol commented 10 years ago

Nice. Looks deadly!