Research/Inspiration

Project Dusk (still haven't thought of a name) basically started shaping itself in my head because of 3 2D side scrolling games that I really enjoyed, and I thought I should make a post explaining how they helped me come up with it. I could talk for hours about why I like them, why I think the mechanics work well, how they stand up in comparison to other games in the industry etc. but no ones really interested in that. For now I'm just going to say why these games in question inspired me to make Dusk, and what I took away from each one when I started envisioning my own project. 

Limbo

It's obvious, if you've seen the posts prier to this one, to see what I specifically took away from Limbo. More than an any other, Limbo is a game who's art style I can look at and really say to myself "I could do that", and thus it's one that I can point to straight away when people ask me what sort of game I'm making (Limbo with more jumping).

Castle Crashers

While I've made animations before, I've never had to animate a fully working controller in unity so it's still somewhat daunting when I think about what it is I'm actually trying to make. Looking at Castle Crashers though, suddenly I feel just a little more at ease. Every character in the game has only a few frames of animation, but every one of them conveys a lot of personality, as though there made up entirely of key frames. If anything else it taught me not fuss too much over how many slides I have in my own project. 

Rayman Origins

Really, Rayman Origins is just fun. I'ts a game built entirely around jumping from one ledge to the other (there's swimming and gliding etc. but all in service of the platforming) and that it does it so well, is that I think it commits itself wholeheartedly to this simple mechanic. My game isn't a puzzle platformer like Limbo or a beat'em up like Castle Crashers, it's based entirely around jumping from platform to platform. Thus Rayman is the game I'm taking the most ques from when I start thinking about how my level is going to be set up (i.e how I'm going to flow from one section to the next).