For me, I have a single sprite with multiple frames of animation (set to 0 speed so it doesn't animate.) Each frame number corresponds with a global variable for health/hit points. Ie if global variable "life" = 2, set sprite "hp" animation frame to 2, and so on. Very simple to set up, every thing is in a single object, no math involved. If the max healt is 3, it also helps to have an event where if glob.var "life" > 3 set "life" to 3 to make sure you avoid errors with health-restoring items.

Of course, this would be less effective with large bars ala Zelda, but there are more compact and creative ways to show health anyways <img src="smileys/smiley17.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

It looks good, wolod! It's easy to tell you put a lot of work into the levels and making something full-featured. I agree that some more frames of animation in most places could go a long way, but great work regardless.

So it looks like an Alpha release should be happening soon! I'm narrowing down the date, but mid-July to the beginning of August is the plan. I'll be releasing the first world on that day, and those early adopters would get the rest of the game (early and as it's done) free of charge. I think 40% of the final price is fair. It would allow people early access while still serving the purpose of funding.

The current structure of the game is 4 worlds with 7 levels each, with the seventh level being the equivalent of a castle stage. The first 6 levels are get from point A to point B successfully while finding a certain number of hidden objects in the levels. The completion of the boss at the end of level 7 plus the location of a minimum number (but not all) of the hidden objects in the world would unlock the subsequent world. Level 7 in each world will be more complex with branching paths, and the levels will steadily increase in length, complexity, and difficulty as the game progresses.

There is a central, simple level selection screen that seamlessly transitions to each level. Also a fun detail to note: the soundtrack is orchestral with electronic elements at times, but when you pause, it seamlessly transitions to a piano version of whatever music is playing until the action is resumed.

You can see an early version of level selection on Blight's IndieDB page

Looking' good, spacewarguy! Let's see it released!

It's looking very nice and runs great. The animations are really nice and it's a good style overall. I might increase the acceleration of the character (and deceleration, for that matter), to make things feel a little tighter. But nice work overall!

About 24 in Firefox, 40-60 in Chrome

Story-Telling

So there's a particular tale that is meant to tie the Blight experience together. The game starts off in a pristine environmental setting. Each locale you visit will be increasingly covered with mechanical parts, pollution, and general corruption. Something along the lines of how Donkey Kong Country did it, but I'm shooting for more poignancy and some other small sub-themes. There will be a brief intro cinematic and a brief cinematic at the end of the game. Otherwise, I want things to be unobtrusive, but still delivering on the theme. This will be done partly through the environments as you see them progress, and then the level titles will reflect an overarching, poetic story. Each level title is a short line in an overall poem, but each line also corresponds with the theme of the level it represents as well. A tough writing task, to be sure, but I think it'll make a big difference.

The level titles for the first world are as follows:

At the Outset

The Future was Steeped

With Sprawling Vistas

And Heights Unknown

But Below the Surface

Lurked a Danger

Sealed Deep Within

And no, they're not going to rhyme.

I'll save the rest of the titles for when you play the game!

Haha not a bad mini-game at all.

The textures look nice, but it's extremely busy! It's almost difficult to see what or where anything is. The background needs to be more muted or smoothed out so it doesn't interfere with the foreground. At the very least, drop the saturation of the background and lighten it a little so the eye can pick up the distance, btu something to make it less confusing to the viewer. No single object looks bad, but together it's overwhelming.

Windows 7 64-bit

GeForce 7900 GS (updated drivers)

4 gigs of ram

Pentium D 3.2 Ghz

I can try running as admin to see if that would make any kind of difference.

I added a few more pieces to the original post. All of them are youtube links, so you don't have a good reason to not click them <img src="smileys/smiley2.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

The videos and such look fantastic. The intro does shy on the long side without a skip button. I couldn't play it, though... every time, once the intro finished, the game cut to an all-gray background. I could see a tiny blip of something before the gray a couple times, but i got stuck with it every time. Ah well, here's hoping future builds don't fall victim to it.