Thursday 9 May 2013

"Eroico" and the May Update


Labcoax - Texturing MAY-hem


I tried to stop myself at the heading. Believe me.

Okay I've been slacking. Well not really. After drawing tilesets in the past weeks, I thought I've drawn enough to start putting together a whole zone/area(there will be multiple colour-denoted zones to traverse) in the game. I did draw alot, but they all lack texture.

So basically I've been putting together some very uninteresting looking area. Didn't like it so I went back to the tilesets and fiddled  some more. Refer below picture:
I had no clue how to texture, initially.

Of course I SHOULD know (texturing) this before I start making a game right? I knew, but I didn't know it would be taking so much time (I may be inefficient). Being frustrated at my slow texturing progress, I decided to play ..

Eroico - a mini-H-platformer game by Kyrieru


Before I start, I just want to point out something first:
Learn this 'move' and learn it well for it is your friend.
And don't forget to use the shield.

Eroico, a 2D-ero-platformer was released by Kyrieru a few days ago, so I'm actually late to playing the game. I'm sure many have already played the game to oblivion but in case you haven't played it yet, go to his blogspot and try the demo (then buy the game via PayPal, or wait a little more for it to be released on DLsite).

So I've played Eroico and I think Kyrieru managed to capture the atmosphere of an 'Adventure that promises the player many a great ride'. The animations were fluid & had transitions, and the background music fits very nicely with the drawn background, giving some feeling of 'immersion'.

Combat controls are responsive, but Eroico's combat was designed such that there's a start-up delay to all the protagonist's attacking moves so players will often find their attacks coming out slower than the quick-footed catgirl.

Upgrades are always fun. You use the sparkly bits that come off the enemy girls to obtain sword and ranged-magic upgrades. The upgrade pedestals are placed around the levels (if you miss them, you can still beat the game, but why would you not want a burning sword?):-
 Step on the pedestal and be bestowed the burning sword of Ero.
I prefer to use 'burning' because.
The upgrade gives extended attack range but not attack power.

I have to say that the platforming part of the game is actually really challenging and fun. You'd think you would be doing a lot of jumping around, but what you're really doing in Eroico is a lot of jumping around, dodging, attacking and messing up, all at the same time.
There is a sense of achievement for  Playing on normal, you'll have very few chances to make mistakes as a few can mean starting the level over if you haven't gotten to the checkpoints. There are only 2 checkpoints in each level and the first checkpoint can only be found at about halfway through the level.

Lastly, not forgetting the hentai, there's a total of 15 enemies in the game. Each enemy girl in-game has its own sprited H-animation and a respective quality CG. I have to say Kyrieru definitely improved his drawings of CGs.

Back to progress report


I don't always write reviews. The reason I brought Eroico up is because I wanted to point out that a nicely put together background and tileset can really go the mile in bringing out the 'life' in a game. From the screenshots above, one can immediately feel the 'colour' of the game.

What I'm really saying is that that's what I'm trying to do in Labcoax. I haven't achieved a satisfactory level with the texturing yet but I think I'm getting close to it (that satisfactory level). I want to do at least this before I release anything because first impressions are important afterall!
...

And before I forget, I was actually doing the "intro story" to Labcoax before my attention got diverted to adding tileset textures. Here's the sketch:-
Labcoax intro - concept and sketch

I'll just leave that here for now and the rest of the story to your imagination (let me hear/read it in the comments!). I apologize for not having a new release for Labcoax this time around. I couldn't get as much work done as I thought I could.

Q: If you've played Eroico, what were the few plus points you think it has?

25 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Woot, first post! I've been checking your blogspot daily, hoping for a new post, and I was surprised to finally see a new entry, albeit I was disappointed it was not a release. Anyway...

    For your question, I'm guessing the highlight of Eroico for me is the amount of ANIMATIONS it has. Don't get me wrong, the CGs are beautiful, but I prefer animated hentai over still ones. 15 enemies with hentai animations are definitely worth the price of the game, which I paid for. *nods*

    Back to your game, I actually like your initial demo, the simplicity of your design is its beauty. If there is anything I can do to help, you can always send me an e-mail, although the most I can do is writing stuffs, like proofreading and plot-making. You can review my work (unfinished novel) at my own blog:

    thedarkarcanist.blogspot.com

    My e-mail address is also in that blog, so if you have time, please check it out!

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    1. I think your point regarding the high number of animations is spot-on. For a small game like Eroico, having lots of animation is definitely a big plus.

      Oh and I've read your blog and work. Should I ever require a writer or plot-maker, I'd contact ya. And good luck with TGT.

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    2. Aww, thanks for replying! That was a very nice thought. And yes, I'll be here to help in any way I can. *thumbs up* I shall be monitoring your progress every day. *grins* Good luck, too!

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  3. Nice, glad to see you've been working on this. It looks promising.

    I tried to play Eroico, but I didn't much care for it. I don't generally like melee platformer-type games. Its not my preferred playstyle so it really wasn't that fun for me.

    In addition, I'm not a fan of having a male protagonist who's at the mercy of monster girls. Just doesn't do it for me.

    This is coming from someone who beat Kurovadis on the hardest difficulty and enjoyed it tremendously. I'll look forward to his next game, and obviously yours.

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    1. So difficulty-wise, Kurovadis & Eroico is okay for ya? While Labcoax is not as fast-paced, I'm aiming to make a fairly challenging platformer as well.

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  4. the textures look good

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  5. UnknownFoodItem10 May 2013 at 12:58

    Right so as for the story I get from that rough sketch...you ready for this?

    Okay so some science dudes were set on creating the ultimate being however our protagonist was not set to this project because shes a lady and women cant do science BWHAHAHA only jokes on them because, surprise surprise, she can.
    Anywho experiment fucks up 'aw hell no' and all the science dudes got fucked up because of how close they were when shit went down, lucky for our protagonist she was working on a separate project the 'Hypodermic antagonist termination equipment' or H.A.T.E this equipment includes a rifle that fires hypodermics filled with god knows what and also a device that can be worn the allows the wearer to assimilate physical memory at an advanced rate effectively allowing them to 'Level up' and so she figures she'll sort this out whilst also giving her the chance to test run said equipment.

    The difficulty was a plus for me in Eroico just hard enough to make you work for it.

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    1. Haha that's some story. Truth be told I never thought of an explanation to the whole "leveling-up" actually. If anyone asks, I'll be stealing this :D

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    2. UnknownFoodItem16 May 2013 at 07:37

      Sure you go ahead, not a bad explanation for something that i thought up on the spot if I do say so myself.

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  6. Randomization Device10 May 2013 at 21:30

    Scientists discover organic life on Mars and have ran tests on the samples over the years; succeeding in reproducing the microscopic organism. With all of the experimentation going so smoothly, they try to introduce other elements in the samples' environment to push for an accelerated evolutionary reaction. Soon they are able to attempt to 'select' what kind of creature to create from the cellular 'clean slate' of the malleable organisms. However, all of this pushing eventually comes to shove; The microscopic Martians force their own evolution in unexpected directions at unexpected times and eventually overrun the facility.

    From what I've seen in your tests/demos and such, our heroine is either in the middle of such an event, or taking action shortly after the catastrophe. I tried making a bit of an explanation to tie in any other enemies you may come up with and to reason why they would all be 'cooperating' with one another.

    Keeping an eye on this project; it looks amazing.

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    1. Perhaps the scientists could have done some genetic manipulation in order to increase the martians reproductive/sexual drives in order to increase the population. When things go downhill and the martians are exposed to the humans, their reproductive instincts would take over and they would work together so that they could breed. The martians might not be intelligent enough to realize that this cross-species breeding doesn't work though, or maybe they would just be trying to satisfy their powerful urges.

      Just throwing out some ideas, been following this game for a while. Keep up the good work.

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    2. Interesting story. Actually came quite closely to what I have in mind.

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  7. Rainbow Sparkle should actually log in15 May 2013 at 11:40

    texturing is definitively important, an excellent example is the WIP H-Game Resident Evil Progeny. Its original versions were...well...lets just say that Dataony would be vastly better in my opinion to its first versions.

    Eventually however, the game got not only a resize, but a graphics overall (better sprites and better backgrounds) which made the game substantially better than it started out.

    So take the time you need to get the backgrounds the way you want them. If the backgrounds are bland, it kinda pulls away from the H-animations. (especially if they're good)

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  8. Your controls are pretty good - I'd like to see stopping become a little tighter, but, eh. The dropping/random angle projectile is an interesting mechanic - it fits with the scientist character, because it makes you experiment wit how the weapon works, and think ahead about how to use it tactically.

    The animations are nice. It feels a little hard to get away from an enemy, but that may be just because you start with the health you do - the same sex at level 3 wasn't nearly so heart attack inducing as it was at level 1...

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  9. Eroico is one the rare games were theboy gets fuck/rape by girls.. i wish there was more games like this but i can only find eroico and monster girl quest... T.T and then this shrota thing but u cant find the download link for it anywere... thanks ofr the info on this game my good sir also good luck with your game

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  10. LazyRainbowSparkle5 June 2013 at 23:00

    http://www.gunpointgame.com/

    Saw this and thought of this game. Briefly wondered if you had anything to do with it.

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    1. This game was created by one person or a team of developers?

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    2. I believe it was initially by one person. He then got help for the music, backgrounds and stuff. I like the well-proportioned art in the game.

      I got nothing to do with it though.

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  11. Hey buddy, are you still alive? Loved the demo and whatnot, just hoping you didn't fall off the radar. :o

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    1. I should have a blog post pretty soon showing current development progress along with screenies.

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    2. There shall be much rejoicing.

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