O Ilusionista
Captain 100K
makes total sense
Complete Golden Axe Remake 1.5
- Thread starter Sindor
- Start date
-
- Tags
- golden axe
Project is completed.
kimono
Well-known member
Today, I would like to illustrate the work of @maxman in setting up the stages and of @Lycan77 on the recoloring of this fabulous Norfolk.
Lots of new animations like the classic pain, fall, rise, attacks and grabs.
GA2 level 3 is in place and the first appearance of the Norfolk boss has 2 phases (to be added in a future update): one with his shield and a second with it destroyed.
Lots of new animations like the classic pain, fall, rise, attacks and grabs.
GA2 level 3 is in place and the first appearance of the Norfolk boss has 2 phases (to be added in a future update): one with his shield and a second with it destroyed.
Last edited:
O Ilusionista
Captain 100K
I liked the result so far. I know it's still a work in progress, but I noticed a few points:
0:10 I saw that you're aiming for cohesion in the graphics (which I think is great), but then it would be necessary to change that life bar, because it has many color tones and the Mega Drive couldn't produce graphics like that.
From what I could see in the video, you're using an image for the life bar and altering its X scale, correct? You could generate that image with 4 tones and red and use dithering to create smoother transitions between the colors, so it would be closer to the style.
0:14 I don't know how much you want to replicate the original game, but the RunJumpAttack isn't controllable in that way - once you executed it, you couldn't control it in the air. Since it's a high-damage attack, I suggest it shouldn't be controllable either.
0:31 It doesn't make sense for the enemy to get up just to lose their head (literally). This should happen automatically on the last hit, without the enemy falling to the ground.
0:35 I would remove this "wait," as the screen didn't even move 50px before another pause. This slows down the flow of combat too much, hindering the sense of progression in the game. In the original, this pause happens in this place, but there are 2 differences:
1 - The first fight happens without the player moving the screen.
2 - Since the resolution is 4:3, you have a sense of progression between pauses.
Knowing how to balance the space between pauses completely alters the rhythm of the game.
1:10 You can see the enemy's shadow "leaking" outside the bridge. A simple way to avoid this is to place a fglayer there, recreating only that part of the scenery - although this can cause problems in the final battle, when someone falls near the bridge.
Another simpler solution would be to shorten the shadow. It would still leak, but much less.
Oh, and I think it would be worthwhile for you to separate the layer with the water and the island in the background into different layers (you could even use the "Water" effect on the water sprite). This would help with the sense of depth in the level
As far as replicating the original game goes... you can't run along the z plane nor escape roll or block either. The original game felt rather stiff in that way so since we have all the additional mechanics, the aim is to allow a more modernized feel while still being true to how the original games played.
Think of it overall as how classic Castlevania was with its fixed jumping to how SOTN established the modern standard... We're going for similar as there is no need to strictly stick to dated design principles that just isn't fun.
"Fun allowed" vs still challenging, fair and balanced IMO is the way to go. The runjumpattack has been nerfed damage wise since it's new utility makes it powerful.
I should also mention, the GA1 vs GA2 cast have been completely redone gameplay wise so that they feel very different to each other. They also have their respective game sound effects
and new special moves. Something to look forward to.Regarding the 'get up and lose head' bit... this is a bug we can't yet resolve and I have no idea why it does that. At times, the enemy simply dies on their feet while the head goes flying, this is how it should behave. Other times, they get knocked down, get up, then the head decap occurs... it gets even more confusing when 'attack5' (the head decap attack) is called from throws and such... Seems to me like there's the base engine reactions, and then there's the extra code for the decap and at times it just prioritizes reading one over the other.
Last edited:
O Ilusionista
Captain 100K
I confess I have a certain apprehension about the expression "modern," as it's often used very loosely to refer to anything or as if it were better. I can give you a series of "modern" things in recent beat 'em ups that are worse than their predecessors. SOR4 is full of that, for example.
My point here wasn't to be a purist, it was to think about balance. It's an attack that causes high damage and, in that way, becomes very OP. I say this because I myself made that mistake in my game – exactly with that attack.
kimono
Well-known member
I understand your concern O' regarding this runjumpattack (and thank you for the tips and thorough feedback ): yes, this attack seems unfair because few enemies can counter it with an animation upper, nor are agile enough to dodge it.
Player feedback suggests that this move should be controllable, so a good compromise would be to nerf it so that it is not used repeatedly.
Regarding the HUD, @Bloodbane is using it for magic spells and has adjusted it (thank you very much!), and you can see an excerpt on Gilius GA2. I will take the time to respond to the other points raised.
): yes, this attack seems unfair because few enemies can counter it with an animation upper, nor are agile enough to dodge it.Player feedback suggests that this move should be controllable, so a good compromise would be to nerf it so that it is not used repeatedly.
Regarding the HUD, @Bloodbane is using it for magic spells and has adjusted it (thank you very much!), and you can see an excerpt on Gilius GA2. I will take the time to respond to the other points raised.
My philosophy for 'modern' is basically what SOTN did for CV, that sort of modern. Trust me, I'm the most anal one here when it comes to balance, kimono can attest to that as I keep repeatedly mentioning balance to him until he's sick of hearing it
The core GA1-2-3 cast has been fully reworked and rebalanced. The runjumpattack especially has already been very significantly nerfed damage wise to the tune of 50% nerf across the board. I was the first one to go WTF when I saw the original damage value was 32...I cut it across the board to 16.
We are also currently in the process of revising enemy HP. The default enemy HP in v1.4 is far too low and will be significantly raised across the board.
Tho that being said the damage in the video still looks wrong @kimono did you merge the latest changes I gave you?
My philosophy for 'modern' is basically what SOTN did for CV, that sort of modern. Trust me, I'm the most anal one here when it comes to balance, kimono can attest to that as I keep repeatedly mentioning balance to him until he's sick of hearing it
The core GA1-2-3 cast has been fully reworked and rebalanced. The runjumpattack especially has already been very significantly nerfed damage wise to the tune of 50% nerf across the board. I was the first one to go WTF when I saw the original damage value was 32...I cut it across the board to 16.
We are also currently in the process of revising enemy HP. The default enemy HP in v1.4 is far too low and will be significantly raised across the board.
Tho that being said the damage in the video still looks wrong @kimono did you merge the latest changes I gave you?
FWIW, there's more than one way to nerf something. The arcade enemies were coded to evade by side stepping when you tried to drop stab. The old Remake had scripting to do the same. It just got disabled or removed over time when people messed with it. So don't dunk too hard on Utunnels over the damage value.
DC
O Ilusionista
Captain 100K
out of respect, but this was a very bad move. It just removes the core function of that attack.
See why I don't like "modern" stuff?
out of respect, but this was a very bad move. It just removes the core function of that attack.
See why I don't like "modern" stuff?
Don't worry, it's still the most powerful move the player has. I know full well what it's purpose is and that isn't going to change.
Just to avoid any misunderstanding... Me saying above that it 'isn't going to change' does not mean the move won't change or be tweaked etc. I was referring to the fact I understand it's purpose, and that purpose will not change. It will remain what it was always intended for even in the classic games.
kimono
Well-known member
Tonight, I wanted to show you how sometimes it's a matter of wrestling with the sprites until you get something decent (adjustments will surely still be made so that Kain can proudly ride these dragons):
I redid Kain and Sara's portraits right away so that they would reflect their warrior temperament a little more.
An unusual duo and this NPC Menu (Thanks @Kratus for this fantastic script!) finally completed, leaving the choice among 32 possible characters (others will naturally be added in the updates that follow):
I redid Kain and Sara's portraits right away so that they would reflect their warrior temperament a little more.
An unusual duo and this NPC Menu (Thanks @Kratus for this fantastic script!) finally completed, leaving the choice among 32 possible characters (others will naturally be added in the updates that follow):
Last edited:
Nevinchik
New member
The portraits for Kain and Sarah are beautiful - just need to redo Death Adder's portrait, it looks funny ;D
Are you using AI for the portraits? I think that would make drawing them easier.
Eve's aerial kick sprite still looks wrong - it's actually a ground attack sprite. I think replacing it with the correct one would look much better.
Are you using AI for the portraits? I think that would make drawing them easier.
Eve's aerial kick sprite still looks wrong - it's actually a ground attack sprite. I think replacing it with the correct one would look much better.
Regarding Eve's kick... I deliberately picked the other one as it actually looks more like a flying kick and/or diving kick in regards to how the legs are angled. The correct sprite looks... well... boxy, IMO. I'll leave it up to kimono if he wants to change it. The hitbox and bbox are basically identical anyway.
kimono
Well-known member
Honestly, Eve's original poses are mostly poorly designed (what was the point of giving her a guard and boxing moves?) and it's difficult to get the most out of them.
I tried giving her a kick and a peck, and she'll also need some other decent alternative poses.
Regarding this jumping kick, perhaps some flight frames should be added, but I would have preferred him to have more attacks worthy of an eagle (royal, since he's originally a king )
I tried giving her a kick and a peck, and she'll also need some other decent alternative poses.
Regarding this jumping kick, perhaps some flight frames should be added, but I would have preferred him to have more attacks worthy of an eagle (royal, since he's originally a king
)Honestly, Eve's original poses are mostly poorly designed (what was the point of giving her a guard and boxing moves?) and it's difficult to get the most out of them.
I tried giving her a kick and a peck, and she'll also need some other decent alternative poses.
Regarding this jumping kick, perhaps some flight frames should be added, but I would have preferred him to have more attacks worthy of an eagle (royal, since he's originally a king
The peck move you gave him was perfect to effectively replace the kick, which honestly looks pretty jank so I used the peck in place of the kick. It honestly is much better.
But yeah, of all the available frames for the jump kick, I picked the one that most looked like a dive kick.. I know the boxy looking one is the official sprite but ugh, it really does not look good... maybe if you could make it into an 'in-between' frame, that would be best. I really had to cheat a lot to make Eve's attack frames look good.
@hbdhl Help! Frames needed!
