1.Original topic began civil. Some notes on palette compromises and VRAM update architecture; some foreshadowing.
These were good questions to direct at Tepples since he was the brains behind the tech side of things.
2.Last minute sound engine replacement months later once the composer becomes frustrated with the lack of portamento in what is now known as the Pently music engine.
This was a bit of a misunderstanding and some inexperience on my part. I didn't know enough about the audio side of things to explain the details to our audio guy. He learned to compose in Famitracker as I suggested and assumed that all effects were in play. I didn't realize that different effects were handled differently with code so I failed to communicate to Thomas that not all effects were available to us. I also didn't realize that each instrument had to be built individually and that it took time to do so. We assumed that if we delivered an FTM file everything could just be "magically" imported somehow. So he went nuts with the instruments, making new ones for each tune and sound effect in the game. He also heavily used portamento and other effects when composing and so he was understandably frustrated that it wasn't in the music engine since he had taken so much time crafting the songs to his liking. Had I known more about the whole process I could have prevented this issue so that's completely on me! The Pently engine is really good and in any normal situation it would have been more than adequate.
3. Mustardseed notices it's out: persistent begging for gameplay videos.
This is also on me and stemmed from my inexperience with releasing a game. It was totally reasonable to ask for game footage. He didn't want a commercial-esque video with quick cuts, rather, he was looking for some basic footage of someone playing the game for a few minutes. If I understood correctly he was looking for a specific kind of beat 'em up, he didn't like the Double Dragon/TMNT style were you had to beat up all enemies in one section in order to move on. So I think Haunted initially appealed to him in that regard since you could run through it. Had I been more prepared I could have easily had something ready or at least recorded something on my phone of me playing it on a TV as he suggested. Of course I didn't even realize the conversation was even happening.
4. I finally post a video Some complain about how well our artist hid the tile grid; others complain about the music and perspective; still others jump to my defense that I not be a scapegoat for the designers' decisions.
The tile grid being hidden was a result of the graphic artist's (Zack) style. I showed him my original artwork for the backgrounds that I made early on when we were trying to get this off the ground. They were completely 2D and followed the tile grid much more so. I had never made graphics, I can't draw and I had never worked with pixel art before so they were tremendously inferior to what Zack did. Maybe some people would have liked that better since they were simpler and more akin to original NES games but we all really like what Zack did and so we ran with the somewhat isometric perspective and complete shucking of the grid. Needless to say, this was graphically intense and Tepples had to keep us in line with our tile usage.
The music is not to everyone's liking but that's how music is. I understand the complaints about it but what didn't make sense was people directing criticism at Tepples. Once again on me since I wasn't on here to take the criticism. I ultimately gave the green light on all the music so if anyone wants to ask specific questions or make specific complaints I'm completely open to addressing them. Personally, I think Thomas has a cool style and he did a great job making music to fit the game as I asked of him.
Much thanks to everyone who came to Tepples' defense!! From what I gathered, most people seemed to understand that none of this was Tepples doing but a few people wanted to voice their opinions and it came off as an attack on him.
The rest of the thread is not worth addressing since it wasn't constructive at all.
Opinions are always valid, bickering is a bit much. As someone stated, just PM each other rather than having a public battle of who said what. If anyone wants to re-post their complaints I urge them to do so. Opinions are always valid; I stand by that opinion
!! I will take the time to address them and let you know my thoughts on any matter that anyone seeks clarification on. If you want to bash the game now is the time. Seriously, I won't be offended.
To touch on the perspective issue...
We were initially sticking to the complete 2D standard dynamic of a side-scroller even though there was some dimension built into the backgrounds. While we were building the Woods level we started flirting with the idea of adding some depth to the platforms themselves. We demoed the game at Replay FX here in Pittsburgh and people really took to the added dimension, even stating that there were certain things they wished they could have jumped on that we didn't have blocked as a platform. At that point we felt comfortable continuing with the idea and added the additional blocking to things like the bleachers as we developed the levels. When people play the game in our stores most are a bit surprised to find that they can jump into the background but every single person says something to the effect of, "oh, that's cool" or "that's so neat" referring to the added depth. So while it does violate the standard we feel that it adds a bit of character and uniqueness to the game.
The bedroom scene with the over-sized bed was funny to me. I enjoyed the jokes about that! It was not intended to be that way initially but we were running out of time so we improvised and just used the main character sprite in the scene instead of adding larger sprites that would have required more work and more time to complete. We already had plane tickets to Portland and purchased a table at PRGE and we wanted to have the game ready. So we did our best to work with what we had and put together the opening cut scene. Again, most people tell us they like it and that they get it that the story is being told by a ten year old boy so things are exaggerated and don't always make perfect sense. Other things in the game are exaggerated as well like the giant hay bales and cornstalks. The monologue is poorly written and rambles at time just as ten year olds do.
So I accept the criticisms that some perspectives don't match and that the physics might not make sense in parts but I stand by the decisions made and call upon the wonders of the suspension of disbelief. I will gladly discuss any specific perspective concern if someone asks.