Comic Genesis Forums

Hello. As you may know, I've been trying on-and-off to make a video game based on Tales of the Questor.

I know I haven't been really reliable with my projects (ie I get excited at first but get bogged down later), but I thought it would be wise if we made a repository of art and music files that a future game could use. ('Cause it's destined that there be a Tales of the Questor video game, even if it's not by me.)

Anyway, I think it's important that the "official" game be free of obviously copyrighted or ripped material (like music from Final Fantasy or enemies from Sonic the Hedgehog). Here is what we might need:

Tiles - Tiles (or background sprites) are background scenery or objects that block the hero's path. Here is an example of tiles from Super Mario Brothers, and here's one for Zelda.

Sprites - These are tiles specifically for characters or enemies (things that move or require animation). Here is an example of sprites from Super Mario Brothers, and here's one for Zelda.

Music - A game has to have good music, right? Post pieces of music that you either made yourself or are in the public domain. The format can be midi, wav, or mp3. (preferrably midi or mp3)

Sound Effects - Kaboom! Bang! Schiing! Splat! Thunk! Boing! Ouch! Fash! Crunch! Pop! Zap! Wav for shorter files and mp3 for longer files.

Voiceovers - "I will be the first Questor of Freeman Downs or die trying! And I'll fight anyone who tries to take it away from me!" . . . "It was so close! It was all I could do to keep from ripping Wildcard off the wall and running with it, no matter that I would never make it out alive." . . . "Don't worry, Questor. Squidge fix EEEEVVVVERYTHING!" Just plug a microphone into your computer, open up a sound recorder program, and do your best Quentyn, Squidge, or Gragum impression. Or, you could try a voice-altering program. The final product is best in mp3 format.

These are things that I would find useful in the next game project I plan to try, but remember that these files are for the whole Questor community. Be sure to identify your creation when you post something, and be sure to give credit when you use something.

Suggestions for Sprites and Tiles

* The preferred file format is PNG. (JPG might be okay for big backgrounds.) For some weird reason, this forum won't let you post BMP images.

* Try to adhere to a tile size. When you put multiple sprites on one image, try to make each sprite is evenly spaced, as if it were on an imaginary "grid" that the game will slice up (which it pretty much will). For example, let's say you make a file called Quentyn_Map_Screen_Sprites_32x32.BMP, and you decide that each tile is going to be 32 by 32 pixels big. In that case, make sure that each Quentyn sprite can fit inside on 32 by 32 pixels. (It's also okay if you have a bigger sprite that takes up multiple tiles, but just mind the imaginary dividing line between tiles.)

* How big should you make each sprite? It depends on how chunky you want to graphics to be. 8x8 is too small. 32x32 is okay, but it could be bigger. 64x64 is probably good. 128x128 might be a little too big, unless it's a big monster or giant boss.

* The sprites don't have to be square. Square sprites work well for top-down games like Zelda, but a rectangle would be better for side-view games like Mario or Sonic.

* How many frames should you make to simulate walking or action? Well, two frames per walking cycle will suffice for a simple game. Eight frames per walking cycle would probably be the maximum. (Either that, or you might as well make a Tales of the Questor animated movie!)

* Put your username or email on the bottom of the sprite page you create. Give yourself credit.

Here is a Quentyn Spritesheet by Rob "Gizmo" Powell. Each sprite is 32x32 pixels. (second image)

The other image is slightly edited by me so that the sprites match the 32x32 grid perfectly. (first image)

Nice going. I wonder what the defult attack for Kathrin would be. Maybe just a dagger strike.

I noticed your "32x32" sprites are really just 16x16 sprites with the pixals doubled. I am good with minimalist animation and working on a pixal-by-pixal basis so this sort of thing is right up my alley. It looks like all these sprites are from a top-down view, any work on a side view? Is music made on a real piano OK (in Mp3 of course) or is "computer" music prefered?

For "tile" sprites, is there just one size for the game or can there be a close and far version to create a 3-D look (eg. far ones half size and move by at half speed)?

I suppose tubes and doors and other objects the characters might pass though or interact with need to be bigger then the characters but is there any standard (like say 24x32 side character sprites and 32x48 doorway sprites)?

Would the idea of the game be following events already in TOTQ or can there be a more game-like premis (find stuff, save the princess, avoid the fireballs)? of course that is a bit of a retorical question because it is not a team project yet so I could explore the options and see what people "run" with.

Dapple wrote:Nice going. I wonder what the defult attack for Kathrin would be. Maybe just a dagger strike.

...? My Kathryn?

Here is the game developer program that I am currently using:

http://gamedev.sourceforge.net/

However, you can post art or music that doesn't quite fit the program, since we're talking about the long run, where bigger and better programs will come.

Aurrin wrote:

Dapple wrote:Nice going. I wonder what the defult attack for Kathrin would be. Maybe just a dagger strike.

...? My Kathryn?

Erm...... ehem maybey not much of a fighter that one.

Yuoofox wrote:Here is the game developer program that I am currently using:

http://gamedev.sourceforge.net/

However, you can post art or music that doesn't quite fit the program, since we're talking about the long run, where bigger and better programs will come.

OOooooh sweet. This could be fun.

It looks like all these sprites are from a top-down view, any work on a side view?

Yes, I'd like to do that. (In fact, that's why the Bouncing Quentyn Head game only included the head. I hadn't attached a side-view body to him yet!)

Is music made on a real piano OK (in Mp3 of course) or is "computer" music prefered?

Music on a real piano is good. I'm at school right now, so I can't *promise* you that the game accepts mp3 background music, but I'm pretty sure it does. (Even if it doesn't, I'm sure everyone here would enjoy it, and we could use it later on with a bigger and better program.)

For "tile" sprites, is there just one size for the game or can there be a close and far version to create a 3-D look (eg. far ones half size and move by at half speed)?

Yes, from what I understand from the Tutorial, each "map" have multiple "layers" in this program (grassy field to walk on, roof overhead, mountains in distance, etc), and yes, you can make each layer move at different speeds. From what I understand, each layer has to have *one* tilesheet devoted to it (not counting sprites, like enemies or your hero). Two layers in a map do not have to use the same-sized tilesheets.

I suppose tubes and doors and other objects the characters might pass though or interact with need to be bigger then the characters but is there any standard (like say 24x32 side character sprites and 32x48 doorway sprites)?

Hmm... I don't know enough about the program yet to say. Remember that something in the game (such as a table, a house, or a doorway), can be made of more than one tile. For instance, maybe the door you use will be made of three tiles: the two side tiles for the doorposts and wall, and the middle tile for the opening door. (I'm just guessing about that one, based on what I've seen in the Zelda games.) I'll get back to you on that.

Would the idea of the game be following events already in TOTQ or can there be a more game-like premis (find stuff, save the princess, avoid the fireballs)? of course that is a bit of a retorical question because it is not a team project yet so I could explore the options and see what people "run" with.

Yeah, I think that eventually we'll have a "serious" Tales of the Questor game, perhaps even one that Mr. Ralph could sell. However, in the meantime let's just make games that mimic other games we've seen (zelda, mario, final fantasy, sonic). Making a serious game (or a good one, at least) would require a whole lot of thought and planning.

...? My Kathryn?

Aurrin, if it's *your* Kathryn, then I'll make her have a Raccona-Blaster 5000, a robotic-legged vehicle with Lux-Lasers and Missiles. "Unrealistic gadgets?! I'll show you unrealistic gadgets!! Bwa-ha-ha-ha!!!"

I will help with the sound FX.

I will help with the sound FX.

Cool, thanks. If you're looking for a sound-recording program, this one is pretty good:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/audacity/

It will even let you adjust the voice's pitch without speeding it up.

Yuoofox wrote:

I will help with the sound FX.

Cool, thanks. If you're looking for a sound-recording program, this one is pretty good:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/audacity/

It will even let you adjust the voice's pitch without speeding it up.

Will look into it, I plan to use a lot of OTR tricks, amazing what they had come up with.

Idea for minigame, it might be nice to start with to get the practice before starting in on the full blown version. A "Boggy" game, you know the little bog dragon of Nessie's. Could use it to find the missing pieces of nessies hair or something similar. Use a basic swamp and add some simple monsters. Lets you work on backgrounds and sound effects. Trust me starting small, is better than shooting for the moon. Although I would love a questor game with a decent story.

I can help with game art and concepts, if you would like. Just tell me what you need.

Heys;

I first did the Quentyn sprites last year by copying the SNES Legend of Zelda game sprites and re-editing them appropiately. Since then, I'm still busy with various things (I wish I had more done at this point).

I'm still focusing thoughts on a TOTQ RPG game, similar to Zelda, in wich you use artifacts to complete various quests.

Other game programming ideas include thoughts like a MegaMan/Zero-like 2D side-scroller, jumping/climbing trees/hillsides.

An Oggie game could be done similar to Frogger/Frogger's Quest, using the controllers to move about, frog-tongue ability (like Yoshi from Super Mario Bro), power-ups like 'jump/glide', fire-breathing, etc... Yah, it would be a cute mini-game.

I'm coding in C/C++ using SDL, using 16x16 sprites at 320x240 resolution. Here's some images I'm using for fonts...

Thoughts/comments/suggestions?

Could do music for it, but it'd be useful to know the major game areas and any particularly dramatic points in the plot.

Could do music for it, but it'd be useful to know the major game areas and any particularly dramatic points in the plot.

Well, most RPG games like Zelda or Final Fantasy have a general set of songs that fit the following events:

* General Level Music: just a song that plays during a normal level, something that has a nice tune, but something that isn't too distracting, since you'll be listening to it over and over again. May have several themes for different levels. (forrest, swamp, dungeon, Martian space-fortress, etc)

* Boss Music: ususally more dramatic, tense, or faster-tempoed (sp?). It says "this fight will be hard."

* Town Music: usually a calm, gentle song. different variantions depending on whether you're visiting your home town, a mysterious troubled town, or a grand castle.

* Comic Relief Music: plays when something silly is happening, or when the hero is confused. (like when Quentyn first meets Squidge)

* Sad Music: plays when a character dies or tells the tragic story of how they were separated from their twin a birth.

* Courageous Music: when the hero resolves to save the day, or while the hero is saving the day (cinematic scene)

* Love Song Music: when the hero falls in love, or first meets the person they will later fall in love with

* Character Themes: in some games, each character has their own theme that comes up when they're a key part of the plot.

* Main Theme: Something like the "Star Wars" theme that plays when the game begins or ends.


Well, those are just some general categories. It'll probably be a long while before someone makes a game advanced enough for a storyboard, but computer game aside, anything that you contribute will be appreicated by all of us.

By the way...

It looks like I should find another game-maker program to use after what happened. Does anyone have any ideas?

Or, maybe we should write it from scratch. Even though I'm a Computer Science major, I've never learned how to do game I/O (keystroke capture / Direct X output). Could someone teach me about that?

Yuu, are you certain you need another program? I mean yeah RH's computer crashed when it ran it, but you don't know if it is the computer's fault or the program's. Afterall, when I took the advance placement computer science course in my high school for college credit, the whole state had a test that revolved mainly around a set program that was made, so naturally all students were given the program halfway through the course to learn it inside-out and to learn how to amend it and make certain function calls better, ect. On the very first day that we got this program, I was the only one to suffer a rather peculiar error. The initial program interface, when run, would normally have something similiar to the file bar on most programs (IE. FILE, EDIT, VIEW, FAVORITES,, TOOLS HELP, for Internet Explorer) though mine and only mine had the bar at the bottom and the individual words mirrored (File would become eliF only with the letters backwords). Mind you, there was only one floppy disk that had this program and there were seventeen other students in that class who had the program running normally, and this was merely suppose to be a day to see what the program was suppose to do, no editing involved. I tried at least 3 times to delete what I had and reload it on the computer with the same results. Needless to say, after much a dumb-founded look on myself, all neighboring students, and the teacher, I switched computers, loaded the program up, and it worked perfectly. As for why that particular computer couldn't run the program properly, I can't say, but it certainly couldn't have been the program's fault for that kind of output.
Basically put, I would suggest just looking around the internet in regards to the program you have, to see if there were similiar reports as to what happened to RH. If there isn't it was probably a one-in-a-million fluke that unfortunately RH just happened to be the lucky "winner" of. It would be a shame for this project to get undermined because of such a fluke, but still you are the one who is doing it, so I guess your call on what to do.