Guys, I'm glad to tell you that Betty's Beer Bar is steadily approaching alpha state (it's already playable and seems like it's going to be fun!). I've posted a new screenshot with updated graphics, new characters and and some UI elements here :

http://www.mrio-software.com/info.php?id=bbb

As always, feedback is extremely appreciated. As soon as it reaches alpha, I'll post a link here so you can get a taste of the gameplay.

Thanks!

I really like the style on the graphics, but if I'm not mistaken the fans seems to be behind some of the customers heads.

I'm looking forward to trying it out.

Edit:
I was wrong, the drawing order is correct =)

That really looks fantastic! I can't wait for a demo!

Looking good, Gabriel. However, I didn't notice that Super had an "exclamation bubble" over his head until after I'd looked around some. You might consider making it a little more noticeable since it's kind of important. I'm looking forward to playing your alpha!

Looks good. More important: looks different, originality plus plus.

You could spice up the graphics, make the thing even more fun by adding alittle bit of detail. Look at the real world: on cash registrars there are sometimes some old stickers. On the floors of bars there are lying some things around (like a banana?). You could add some humor to the picture.

Hope you got me, my english tends to get funny sometimes.

I have to say that I'm really looking forward to this game. It reminds me of Tapper and also this game: http://www.div-arena.com/showpic.phtml?wip/rickmeteor.jpg I remember asking the author if he was going to develop it further and if he needed music. He was done with it though and wanted to move on to other stuff.

As for your game, I think you could move the bar and the other three counters closer to the bottom of the screen. Then with the top you could add some more perspective to the bar with more floor and a wall with an entrance or something, or even some more background depth or detail. Perhaps the background could have a pool table, some slot machines, posters, just plain tables etc. I think the floor could be a bit darker coloured too. Other than that, the graphics still have me hooked and so does Betty. She's a babe. :D

Nice graphics too!
Seems like hand-drawn and then scanned.
You hired an artist to make them?

Dreeze : I'm looking forward to trying it out.
KNau : That really looks fantastic! I can't wait for a demo!

We're working hard so you don't have to wait too much :)

Kerchen : I didn't notice that Super had an "exclamation bubble" over his head until after I'd looked around some. You might consider making it a little more noticeable since it's kind of important.

Hmm, maybe. However, with the fans rotating, the character animations and the different exclamation bubbles, it is clearly visible. I'll look into it, anyway.


formfarbeminze : You could spice up the graphics, make the thing even more fun by adding alittle bit of detail. Look at the real world: on cash registrars there are sometimes some old stickers. On the floors of bars there are lying some things around (like a banana?). You could add some humor to the picture.

Great suggestions! We have similar things in mind, just remember this is a pre-alpha screnshot :)


formfarbeminze : Hope you got me, my english tends to get funny sometimes.

My english gets funny sometimes, too. And you should hear my german :P


Hydroaxe : As for your game, I think you could move the bar and the other three counters closer to the bottom of the screen

It's not that easy. The diffuse "crowd" background will be used to make the characters appear and disapear from the bar. Originally we had more of the bar in the background, but it required walking graphics for every character :(

Jack_Norton : Nice graphics too! Seems like hand-drawn and then scanned. You hired an artist to make them?

They are hand drawn and scanned. The artist will share the profits from the game. She trusts me and she knows I can't run away or hide from her - she's my little sister :)


All of you : Thanks a lot for the suggestions and the positive comments, it definitely helps keeping our moral high :)

Originally posted by ggambett

It's not that easy. The diffuse "crowd" background will be used to make the characters appear and disapear from the bar. Originally we had more of the bar in the background, but it required walking graphics for every character :(


With the number of characters you have planned that would add up to a lot of animation, so I can see why you might want to cut that down. There's still something strange about the floor though. I'm guessing you might give Betty a simple spot shadow under her feet, but what about the bar and counters? Maybe they also need to shadow the floor a bit to make them look more grounded. Anyway, I'm not convinced that pre-hype works well for shareware games, but this will be the first page I've bookmarked in anticipation. Your sister is an excellent artist!

My compliments also to your little sister. It's looking great! Is that blitz3d you're using, by the way?

Hydroaxe : With the number of characters you have planned that would add up to a lot of animation, so I can see why you might want to cut that down.

It's still being discussed. We think we'll use animated figures after all, but they will be just silouhettes (read : 2bpp :) ) against a background more or less than the one we have now.


There's still something strange about the floor though. I'm guessing you might give Betty a simple spot shadow under her feet, but what about the bar and counters? Maybe they also need to shadow the floor a bit to make them look more grounded.

Actually, there are several problems with the bar and counters... there are being redrawn as we speak. The scale is simply wrong. And I agree, we should add some kind of visual clue to understand the perspective.


Anyway, I'm not convinced that pre-hype works well for shareware games, but this will be the first page I've bookmarked in anticipation.

Thanks a lot, you just got to #1 in the list of best compliments received :) I'm not making that much of pre-hype... I just posted the screenshots here for fellow developers to see. No actual pre-promotion is being made yet. BTW, why aren't you convinced it's a good thing? I understood it helps to start building traffic before you launch the product. The question may be stupid but I'm completely new in this.


Hydroaxe : Your sister is an excellent artist!
Anthony Flack : My compliments also to your little sister. It's looking great!

She's flattered :) She also asks me to say she's not that little, she's 18 :)

Anthony Flack : Is that blitz3d you're using, by the way?

Nope. 100% C++. And 100% 2D. It might not be obvious in a reduced image but it's just a bunch of hand-drawn images blitted in the correct order.

oops, I had you confused with someone else on the "introduce your dev platform" thread.

Yeah, I think it is quite obvious that they're hand-drawn and scanned. And I like that A LOT.

I'm hugely behind anyone who is trying to broaden the kinds of graphic styles used in video games (since I consider game graphics in general to be incredibly impoverished, stylistic-wise, when compared to the vast range of graphic styles in, say, print, or film animation)

Originally posted by ggambett
Thanks a lot, you just got to #1 in the list of best compliments received :) I'm not making that much of pre-hype... I just posted the screenshots here for fellow developers to see. No actual pre-promotion is being made yet. BTW, why aren't you convinced it's a good thing? I understood it helps to start building traffic before you launch the product. The question may be stupid but I'm completely new in this.


You're certainly welcome. I can answer your question, but only with my own opinions, as I have almost no experience in pre-release hype. I think that too many independent developers try to get traffic for their unfinished game way too long before it is released and bore people to death. In the past two years, I've been to a number of sites that have had games in the works and they just can't hold my interest long enough. Waiting 6 months to a year or more is boring and I quit checking even long before that.

Part of my theory is this: Each time you get a potential customer intersted with information on your unreleased game, he may get excited, but next time you will have to provide equally, or more interesting info than the last time. It's hard enough to do that in actual gameplay. Players get bored after mere seconds when playing a game that's not adequately paced. Web hype is spaced between days, weeks or months. The longer an initially interested customer has to wait for your game, the more he sees that he can live without it. All the fits of anticipation you've been providing, (maybe) haven't allowed him to take any action in playing or buying the game.

If you're lucky, an interested player might talk or write to someone else and get you some traffic. Obviously, this is the point of hyping, but I can't recall that it has been done well by anyone. The gaps are so terribly long that any other traffic you gain has the potential to become bored as well. I don't think it's impossible. I just think it should be done with an extremely shorter cycle and in a precisely calculated matter.

For example, just today I went to a web site that had a screenshot and a paragraph about a really cool sounding puzzle game. It had a caption that said "coming soon". I never bothered to bookmark the page, since it didn't have a date on the next announcement. I think long, drawn out previews work better for the retail industry where they can fill pages talking about all the latest graphical technologies and show some nice screenshots along with them.