CALL TO ARMS:
BACKGROUND DESIGN
Since a lot of tlak yesterday was about separating the levels into different parts of the body, BOM suggestions on layout design, as well as needing more suggestion for design, I'd like to issue a call to arms for all the cell level designers to get thinking and attempt a background design!
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To repeat BOM:
The total area of the stage is 750x550 (750 wide, 550 tall)
BUT I'm letterboxing both the horizontal and vertical levels for performance and to leave room for the HUD so the viewable areas will be:
... VERTICAL - 450x550
There are currently 6 levels of parallax. Hopefully this is enough to handle everyone's needs. Each team should provide art for all 6 levels of parallax. These are set up in tiles that are 423px high for horizontal, and 450px wide for vertical. Having them in tiles lets me load them as-needed so they need to fit together seamlessly where they join.
6 . FAR FAR BG: bg (ie: something like clouds or looped mountain ranges) ie: 2 tiles that fit seamlessly together, 1-->2 and 2-->1
Width > 750 for horizontal and height > 550 for vertical. Not to exceed 2800 px
5. FARISH BG: Same as FAR FAR BG above but closer details
4. FAR BG: Customizable, so if your bg wants to tell a story on this layer, it's ok. Width > 750 for horizontal and height > 550 for vertical. Each tile not to exceed 2800 px
3. BG: Customizable. Same specs as FAR BG above.
2. GROUND: This may or may not actually look like the "ground" in your game. This is the layer that can be crashed into. So, if there are any "crash-into-able" elements, they go here. Width > 750 for horizontal and height > 550 for vertical. Each tile not to exceed 2800 px. You can leave some or all of these blank if you want. Level designers may want to sketch up how these lay out to make it clear to me what you want when you send them over.
1. FG: This goes in front of everything else. Maybe mist? or Clouds? or debris? Just make sure it doesn't detract from screen visibility, unless you really think flying blinded for a section would be awesome :-P
The speed these layers move can be adjusted per-level, but remember that the Farthest BGs move slower than the layers in front of them so FAR BG and BG and GROUND (the customizable, non-looping ones) if you want them to align right to tell a story, need to have progressively MORE art in them.
P.S. If you don't want to make custom tiles for FAR BG and BG you don't have to.
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Great stuff.
Cell Level Specifics
1 - We're running vertically up the body, from groin/arse to brain.
2 - Possibly try to make more nano oriented as you progress to the top.
3 - Discussed areas of body: (Crotch); Digestive; (Stomach); Circulotory; (Heart); Lungs; Nervous; (Brain)
- (Bracketed areas are possible areas of bosses)
- These suggested locations aren't set in stone! They might be shit, or too much work, in which case they'll be scrapped. You may feel other locations may be better (see point 6)
4 - Aim for some areas which are slow, and wall based (for mobs, enemies which rely on walls, and mazing through body), as well as fast paced, open, mob based areas (such as the nervous system)
5 - Be as interesting as possible :) Somebody has to design this, and and the players looking at it! Make it as fun as possible, whilst not distracting to gamplay. (Remember to follow BOM's parralax suggestion)
6 - DON'T MAKE CONCEPTUAL SUGGESTIONS WITHOUT A PICTURE TO BACK IT UP. It's pointless and meaningless, nearly everything looks better in your mind's eye, plus I'll froth at the mouth.
7 - Feel free to tamper and critique other people's backgrounds, or do another version.
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rararararararar
