The Poppytales (Journal Thread)

Changed the screen size so that the boss levels are 100% on screen, so I had to resize some backgrounds to get that parallax effect.

Here's what it looks like now. What do you all think?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvYCpyPFpj8

I would make the speed of the background a bit slower but i think it adds something.

So, not much progress has been made recently. There are now six fully playable characters in the game (with a seventh half-finished) and five bosses that can be fought in the game.

One dilemma that I've been thinking about a lot is what to do about this game. This is a game I really want to make and play, but if I do the art in the current method I'm using, it's going to take a long time to finish this. I could go back to the old style of just drawing in Pencyl, but then the game probably won't look so good. I want to make it look good without it being too time-consuming.

Anyone have any advice?

Well...i think you might need to do a sacrifice and either focus on time or quality but there might be some options. Btw i think finishing the game should the ultimate goal.

• Try someone to do the art for you. Yes you will need budget for it but it can also be cheaper then you might think. Ask artist to get an idea
• Try to optimize your workflow when and find better tools when creating art to save time. his can also have a huge impact. There are some very nice tools for little money on itch.io for example
• Continue with less good looking art. Its not perfect but i think finishing the game should have priority.

Sorry I haven't replied for so long. Thank you Bombini. I've decided to just keep going with the current style at the moment. For the last few days I've spent a little bit of time in the evening working on the game and I managed to get another level done in that time.

I also wanted to put my thoughts about the order in which I make things for the game. I think at the moment I should focus on making the levels and then go back to adding new playable characters later on. Currently there's six playable characters (seven, counting an unfinished one) and six bosses, so I think there's enough playable characters to get a sense of how they will work against different enemies.

So, for the game's first world, 6/10 bosses are now complete. The plan for the game is 12 worlds, but not all of them will have as many enemies as this one does.

You know...i would cut scope if you feel its too much. rather have a shorter good game compared to a longer not so good game.
Maybe just shorten it.

You know...i would cut scope if you feel its too much. rather have a shorter good game compared to a longer not so good game.
Maybe just shorten it.

I don't think it's too much. I'm thinking of maybe releasing a really early version of the game with the levels and playable characters so far.

I keep thinking of this game as kind of like being a bigger version of Easter Fun 2 (with various changes). I still enjoy playing EF2 even though I've done it a million times and I want to make another game like that where there's more to do, which is why the idea of The Poppytales eventually evolved into what it is now.

Bit of an update. I have finished making World 1! Of course, I'll probably need to go back and change things later on, but at least I have all ten bosses working now.

Now, my plan is to have twelve worlds total, but in one playthrough the player will go through a minimum of six. I'll be offering players the choice of which worlds they want to go to progress through the game. So, the player would start in World 1, then they could choose between 2 and 3, then between 4, 5 and 6, then between 7, 8 and 9, then between 10 and 11, and then 12 at the end.

I'll be working on World 2 next, which will have eight bosses rather than World 1's ten. 5/8 are originally Rise n' Brawl characters (since that game had 45 bosses total), and then we have Lizzie from Easter Fun 2, Leopard from Christmas Time, and then the Red Guy from Poppytail 4.

I'm not sure whether I want to add more playable characters or not yet since I've still got two unfinished ones. I've been finding it easier to make the bosses instead of the playable characters since they require less animation frames I have to draw.

Should I maybe release a very early demo to see if anyone likes the game so far? I'm hoping some feedback would be useful.

Should I maybe release a very early demo to see if anyone likes the game so far? I'm hoping some feedback would be useful.

I think if you have gameplay mechanics implemented and want some feedback before committing to too many level designs, an early demo would be useful.

Should I maybe release a very early demo to see if anyone likes the game so far? I'm hoping some feedback would be useful.

I think if you have gameplay mechanics implemented and want some feedback before committing to too many level designs, an early demo would be useful.

I still need to renew my Stencyl subscription. I've got 11 finished playable characters now with a 12th in progress, along with 12 bosses. I might still need to do a bit more fiddling around with things before I start making a demo.

Characters 12-14 are now complete (Crystal from Christmas Time, Nursina from Poppytail 5, and Malhare aka Virus Nursina from the Easter Fun games). #15 (the first one for April) is in the works (Christmas Time's protagonist Protagonist) and #16's art I've been working on (Dragon-Fly from A Game About Trimming Hedges).

For some reason I have in my head I want to keep working on the playable characters for a bit, until maybe I get to 20% and then I continue on bosses. So, I'd be at about 12% once Protagonist and Dragon-Fly have been fully implemented.

An issue I'm having is music in this game. I'm thinking of using Eric Matyas' music for this project but I'm not sure what would fit the game. I'm sure I'll find some I like eventually.

This was the roster image I posted to Discord a while ago (with everyone except Protagonist and Dragon-Fly so far).



From left to right and up to down: Poppytail, Easter Bunny, Gremlin Girl, Alex, Nykolas, Nursina, King Ted, SLiM, Purple Shirt Guy, Kah Boom, Dream Fennec, Malhare, Rattlesnake and Crystal.

Anyway, I was also thinking about how much storage all this would take up in the game. The actor type for Protagonist was the 100th actor type for the game and I'm getting a little worried that maybe once I get into the higher numbers of characters Stencyl will start running out of storage or memory. The reason the characters are made as separate actor types instead of being all the one actor type like they were in Easter Fun 2 was to allow me to customise each character more, and having everyone be the one actor type would just be a pain for this game (EF2's with 64 was fine, but this game's starting roster is more than double that).

Protagonist and Dragon-Fly have now both been added to the game.



Another mechanic I added to the game a while ago. For each playable character in the game, you can feed them potato chips. Each flavour has a different effect.

Also got some screenshots of gameplay as Protagonist and Dragon-Fly:

Working on Exister (playable character #17) at the moment. Only 117 to go after that (yay!) It's nice to see the character select screen slowly fill up though. Hopefully I can finish Exister and his virus version today and move onto someone else.

Those two are finally done. Think I'll add in Tiny next because I have an idea for his moveset which won't require me to add too much new stuff.

Tiny along with Snarly Dog are done. 20 playable characters are now finished. Working on a new character and boss at the moment. The character is Jenni la Crevette from Easter Fun, the boss is Bandanana from Rise n' Brawl.