Tip: Don't reply to irrelevant stuff, it would set up a bad reputation as an indie developer.

Ugh, I apologize for that, and on top of that I wanted to thank you for a) expressing interest in the project and b) letting me know I should leave well enough alone regarding certain comments. "Haters gonna hate," after all. (;

Returning to relevant shizzle, I will take a listen to some of your stuff and get back to you! ^_^ Thanks again!

Okay, here's an update:

'Ey, people! Atnas (the artist for this game) has been working his butt off to vastly improve the graphics for the game, which is why the screenies have suddenly vanished. In addition, while the story remains intact, it's just there to serve as a general idea of what the game's about until I can write a better summary, which will most likely be right after I finish this post. A new major character has been introduced to the story, and some major plot details have been changed or removed entirely due to a general inability to suspend disbelief at the absurdity of it all, haha.

In other news, the engine has been completely finished and spit-shined, save for importing in the new sprites and tiles Atnas made. Rest assured, the next time you see Skunk'd, it will not only be looking like a glorious remake of itself, it will also be in motion. As soon as Atnas is satisfied with the quality of his work, I will be uploading both screenshots AND a video teasing the first level. ^_^

Once again, if you have any criticisms, comments or praise, do NOT hold back. Feel free to tell me "this thing is awesome," or "that something totally blows and should be removed or changed." I can't guarantee I'll use your suggestions, but I can guarantee I value your opinions and hold them as very important to the project. And just so you know, the first post has been heavily edited and story summary refined. Take a look! ^_^

-cough- thanks MelodiousRefractions -cough- (:

O:

I am simultaneously baffled and intrigued. Not sure I really understand the point of this, but it's interesting and I admit I zoned out watching them get all bunched up, lol.

Good luck with your game. I can't wait for the demo.

Your support is much appreciated, my friend! ;D

In other news, the price of the finished project has been decided on: a measly $5 USD. Steam is likely going to be used as the distribution platform, pending approval by Valve, of course. The basic engine for Skunk's movement is complete, as are the sprites, tiles, background and animation for the first dream realm, meaning the project has surpassed the Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing milestone of completion. (;

I'm hoping to get a gameplay video up on YouTube within the next couple days, so stay tuned!~

Looks awesome ! Do you have any Youtube account ?? Good luck :)

I do indeed have a YouTube account, here, however there are currently no videos about Skunk'd on it. Expect the first video upload on 9.5.2011.

Also, tell Clement that's 2 of us thinking like that

Gladly, my friend. Thanks again for your support. :)

There should be a demo 09.15.2011, which will take you through the first dream realm. And yes, Wet Dream being a level name is part of the game's often suggestive and disturbing sense of humor.

Thanks for the compliments on the art as well--I'll tell Clement about your praise, he certainly deserves it! :D

I live in New Hampshire..

*high fives* Same here dudicus! ^_^

INTRODUCTION

Hullo! MeliSoft Games here, reporting on my first ever indie video game, which will hopefully come to fruition later in 2011, but most likely in early 2012. I'm plugging away at it, spending 4-6 hours a day programming my life away. This has become sort of my baby, and I'm very proud of how it's turning out so far, so I thought I'd share it with this community.

THE STORY

Skunk'd: Live Your Dreams is the story of a teenage "emo" boy, Thommy Summers (nicknamed ?"Skunk" due to the albino stripe running down the middle of his pitch-black head of hair), ?who has quite a bit on his plate. His father is a deadbeat, drug-dealing loser who leaves ?him home alone most of the time, and he is tortured at school by a stereotype-defying ?bully who is actually much smarter than he is. And yet life goes on; Skunk keeps himself ?chugging along with daydreams of his classmate and love interest, the plucky, nerdy writer ?Lilly Hartwell.

One fateful day, however, Skunk opens his eyes to find himself in the land of dreams he ?used to escape to as a child, a magical world called Lucidia. Here, he comes across a ?ghostly figure greatly resembling Lilly, who urges him to wake himself up and save her, as ?she has been brutally attacked and left to die somewhere in their town. Upon trying to ?wake himself, however, he is told it is not possible by his childhood imaginary friend, ?the sadomasochistic and self-mutilating teddy bear Kid Snuggles. After an emotional ?reunion for the two old friends, Snuggles reveals that he is now Skunk's guardian angel, ?and that the only way to awaken from his slumber is to defeat the "imagination killer" who ?has taken over the Spire of Dreams. Skunk is shocked and horrified to find out that the ?"imagination killer" is actually Japanese-American boy genius Satoshi Kuragame, who is his ?real-life bully!

Determined to confront his fears, Skunk, joined by the restless soul of Lilly and his ?self-abusive teddy bear-made-angel, decides to traverse the seven realms of Lucidia, climb ?the Spire of Dreams, and put an end to the imagination-killing bully once and for all. ?Then and only then will he be able to wake up and save Lilly from her otherwise inevitable death.

THE GAMEPLAY

Skunk'd: Live Your Dreams is a platformer that takes place across 7 puzzle-filled realms, each with its own mechanic to alter your surroundings and solve mysteries. Each level is named after a specific type of dream:

I. Sweet Dream (candy and dessert themed level)

II. Pipe Dream (level in a giant hookah complete with altered states of mind based on which 'clouds' Skunk walks through)

III. Wet Dream (ahem, it's a water themed level a la Water Temple in OoT)

IV. Day Dream (day-night mechanics)

V. Bad Dream (horror-themed level with darkness, flashlight required)

VI. Double Dream (level in a castle with one entire side made of a giant mirror, introducing playing as two Skunks at once)

VII. American Dream (level in a New York-style city, weather plays the biggest role here)

Once all seven realms are completed, you must climb the challenging Spire of Dreams and confront Satoshi in a sure-to-be-epic battle!

CONCEPT ART

<img src="http://lolipopsicle.com/uploader/uploads/Skunkd_characters.jpg" border="0">

The main cast of Skunk'd, improved version. Art by Clement Swennes.

SCREENSHOTS

Screens are not available at the moment; here is some temporary pixelart of the characters:

<img src="http://lolipopsicle.com/uploader/uploads/Skunkd_sprite_test.png" border="0">

Pixelart by Clement Swennes.

BOTTOM LINE

This game is being programmed in Scirra's Construct Classic. I'm currently looking for feedback and, actually, a musician to write the score for the game (a paid position). Thanks for reading, lol, if you got through all this you're a better man than I. <3

Well, I gave in and used a separate object for the collision mask. Disappointing that I had to do that, but it works SO MUCH better. Oh well, I'll take a working engine over a "convenient" one any day :D

Any fellow US East Coasters here who will be affected by the hurricane? O:

> I'm pretty sure this is a collision mask problem, as I'm not using two separate objects for the character (i.e. hitbox with platform movement and dummy for animation). Any advice? :/

Do you know, you can edit collision mask in image editor? There's button on top panel

Yeah, I was tooling around with that for a little bit until I realized I don't know what a collision mask SHOULD look like in order to move down a slope. :(

This really makes me feel like a dork, I've been using event-based programming since I started with Clickteam's The Games Factory back in 2004. I just honestly have never used slopes before. xD

I appreciate the help you guys have offered (:D), but I guess I'm specifically looking for advice on what I need in order to make realistic, tolerable-to-the-eyes slope movement. Thanks! :)

You can find slopes in Deadeye's platform school 4, in the tutorial list... not sure if the file is accessible now, but it should be around.

Admittedly, this is the first place I thought to go for help, haha. One must note however that while these files are still available, there are a couple issues with the suggestion that they can help with slopes in cases like mine:

1) When Deadeye remade Lessons 1-5 to reflect the better platform behavior and improved overall coding in the "finished" Construct Classic, slopes were mysteriously cut out from Lesson 4 and are, in fact, not found in any of the remade lessons.

2) If you're referring to the old Platform School, then yes, slopes are included, however... they are programmed with the hitbox as a separate object. I mentioned in the original post that I'm using one object as the character rather than a pair of objects (collision detection "real" character, animated dummy). I don't know if that programming can still be applied to my situation with a little rejiggering, but from what I've heard it's pretty archaic programming as it is.

And yeah, I've searched high and low across Scirra's forums here and the old site's forums to try and find a trace of slope-traversing advice. No such luck! :(