Hello there, I am currently working on a relatively simple 2D action-platformer side-scroller called After the Light. I have been working with game design (and Construct) for roughly 3 years, and I've found that my initial game idea was a bit too ambitious for me to complete more or less on my own -- unless I want to spend half a decade on it, that is. So instead I've started work on a kind of "downsized" version of that original idea, based on a different concept I've had knocking around my head for a while.

Programming is my weakest area of game development -- the art, sound, gameplay and level design are all things I can mostly handle, and while I'm not completely useless in terms of programming, I'd much rather have someone who knows what they're doing help me get the game up and running so that I avoid any early pitfalls and can get the game's basic mechanics implemented in a way that I can build on later.

As I mentioned my game is called After the Light (or ATL). It is sidescroller with a heavy emphasis on exploration, combined with some fairly simplistic combat that combines both melee, shooting, and magic alongside the various traversal abilities used for platforming. The game's influences are things like Mario, Metroid, Castlevania, and Megaman, as well more recent titles such as Hyper Light Drifter, Axiom Verge, and Dead Cells.

For now, the main thing I want is to get a semi-dynamic lighting system going, along with the traversal abilities up and running, since without those implemented I'm unable to really dig in and start building levels -- any combat related things will come later, once all the movement and traversal mechanics are implemented and working smoothly.

The kind of mechanics I'm looking are fairly traditional, however I'm dedicated to making sure that what elements do make it into the game are polished, fun, and contribute to a sort of sandbox-style approach that the entire game will have.

Some of the basic abilities I need to get working are:

-Rudimentary health/death system (this is will be as basic as possible for the time being, with more nuance added further down the road)

--Destructible boxes or objects, possibly experimenting with some mild physics-based stuff (though this is not a high priority)

-Lighting or shadowcasting system, this is more important than usual since it's less about visuals than actual gameplay mechanics, since the player in ATL is actively destroying sources of light and/or "collecting" light as they go, in addition to emitting light themselves.

-Movement & traversal mechanics, most of which are fairly conventional. Some of this involves adding entirely new things, but others involve some minor tweaking of things I've already implemented. For example, in ATL, there is a dedicated jump button (as one might expect from a platformer). Pressing jump a second time performs standard double jump, while pressing jump for a third time while mid-air executes a very fast "groundslam" maneuver. I have this in the game already, but the groundslam requires some tuning.

-Other basic traversal elements are: sprinting, sliding, wall-jumping, ledge-grabbing, and gliding.

-Fine-tuning the animations (made by me) for the above-mentioned traversal abilites.

Ideally, I'd like to find someone who is interested working on this game with me from from start to finish, wherein a solid working relationship between myself and the programmer can be formed. In that scenario, I'd be willing to share a significant amount ATL's revenue (along with a credit as co-developer) -- particularly since, programming aside, I'm unlikely to have any other long-term team-members. My goal is to get a working demo of the game up and running within the next two months, which will then be released to the public (possibly as a source of a funding, or maybe just as a method to build interest and gain a following for ATL).

That being said, I'm very much open to negotiation, and so if you'd prefer to simply do the job and can be done, I'm willing to work out a payment arrangement, or even making a trade of skills (I'm a fairly accomplished artist, animator, and writer, so I'm open to an exchange of work if somebody needs help in one of those areas).

If you are at all interested please do not hesitate to send e-mail me at fmb137xtd@gmail.com -- I will gladly explain more of the game in greater depth, share artwork and material, and provide examples of the kind of mechanics I'm interested in.

Below are a handful of screenshots/concept art for this game and some others, as well as an older mock-up teaser I made for what is a essentially an older version of After the Light, but it should give you an idea of the game's feel and atmosphere.

Mock-up Teaser:

https://vimeo.com/202687656

Hey, I was going to PM you but I don't have enough reputation to do so. Perhaps we speak via e-mail? You can reach me at fmb137 gmail.com

I'm very interested in seeing if we can work together. Going by your post, I think we might balance each other's deficits fairly well. I'm personally working on two games at the moment -- one of which is more "serious" (in that I want it to be commercially successful), and another that is, for now, just for fun. My weakest area in all of this is the programming. I'm very slowly getting better, but I'm also trying to hone my other skills (namely art). I'm actually more of a writer than anything else, if I had to force myself into a label, though I prefer the moniker "storyteller" -- I've focused on novels and some minor film-making, but this is my first foray into actually making video games (despite the fact that I've wanted to get into since I was a child). Here are some examples of my stuff -- bear in mind that it's all a work in progress:

Here are two brief videos of some of the level/world design I've been working on (disregard the terrible character models, they're just place holder!), as well as some random art:

Whoops, also forgot I can't post URL's yet...just take out the spaces on either side of "vimeo" in the links

https:// vimeo.com /153411049

https:// vimeo.com /153410512

Definitely e-mail me if you're interested -- at the very least we could swap some ideas!

I'm definitely interested. I'll send you a message ASAP.

I'm interested. I don't require payment, but am looking for someone who is decent at programming in Construct 2 to give me a few pointers. I have a thread going already here (can't link it yet). PM or e-mail me at fmb137hss@gmail if you want to talk it over! Here are some old-ish examples of my stuff:

level design mock-up

character sprite

floor tile for ancient temple

another level mock-up

Need some concept art? Creatures, technology, characters...if you're interested, PM or e-mail me -- fmb137oft@gmail -- with a concept or design that you want. I'll do the first rough draft for free, and if you like it we can continue from there. Be as vague or as specific as you like.

I will trade any art given in exchange for help with programming Construct 2, or otherwise will accept monetary compensation. I may consider doing work for free (with credit) if I'm really interested in the project, but would have to be pretty compelling.

I am a game designer looking for assistance on programming a relatively simple 2D platformer (I have most of the individual pieces of the engine figured out, and mostly need help stitching it together in a sensible way, and tweaking a few things). I will trade assistance in this area for a steady supply of concept art, or possibly final asset art depending on the demands.

My specialty is science-fiction and/or fantasy, and I'm best at doing creatures of all sorts (animals, aliens, robots, humanoids) and things like armor or weapon design -- be it futuristic, old fashioned, both, or neither. I can also dream-up environments, but I'm not as experienced in that area. I work with pretty much any style -- light and cartoony, darker and more realistic, or surreal abstract. I can also do pixel art.

I am also a writer -- it's actually my true area of expertise -- which I will gladly assist with. Going hand-in-hand with that, even if your game has minimal actual "writing", I can help to create a believable, cohesive feel to the world-building and design (I.E., aside from just designing a creature I can help explain its origins, why it looks the way it does, its behavior, so on and so forth). World-building is a hobby in itself for me, and it's probably the most valuable service I can provide.

Here is a quick mock-up I did earlier with a more pixel art feel. PM or e-mail me if you're interested!

Some other random rough stuff:

Hah, actually I think you understand the question better than I do. That was all I needed to know. Like I said, I'm very dumb when it comes to the programming side of stuff, even simple things trip me up (I also suspect that I tend to OVER think certain situations, expecting it to be more difficult than it actually is to implement something).

Thank you kindly!

ETA:

Oh, and any ideas on the "hold a button to stop moving but still shoot" thing? I know it can't be hard, and I think I know what I need to do (essentially, add an event in which a particular button disables movement...which I can do, but it also disables "aiming" since both are controlled with the left stick and/or WASD/arrow keys).

I'm actually designing with a controller, but it would be keyboard otherwise. I don't want the total free-aim of a mouse, as seen in the top-down templates in Construct 2 for example.

EDIT: Whoops, just realized I can't post URLs yet. The "generic megaman engine" is on this very forum, and Axiom Verge gameplay can be found pretty easily on YouTube.

For those that don't know of Axiom Verge, it's really not all that different from classic Metroid.

My game is an action platformer, and I've been trying to use SPE (Super Platformer Engine) as a general basis, since the actual movement there is very close to what I want. However, I'm also just plain terrible at "programming" (I don't know a lick of any real coding -- my experience revolves much more around the art/story side of things), so the templates help a lot. I've been consuming as many tutorials as possible but somehow I seem to have missed how to implement this system.

It seems like trying to use the "bow" system in SPE might not be the best idea as a foundation, since it's pretty different from what I'm seeking (you can't really move and shoot with it). I've also used a pseudo-Megaman template, which might be better to start with.

Here's the link to that for anyone interested: I've also just tried going from scratch -- certainly the best way since I need to learn how to do these things on my own -- but I'm just really clueless and don't even know where to go beyond getting a simple horizontal bullet going left or right.

Just to outline exactly what I'm looking for:

1. Shooting in eight directions -- left and right, up and down (the latter only being while mid-air preferably, but I can figure that specification out myself), and then the four "diagonal" directions.

2. Running/jumping while shooting, and being able to shoot opposite to the direction you are moving.

Bonus, pie-in-the-sky request:

3. Holding a button to remain stationary while shooting.

I'll post a link to some Axiom Verge gameplay just in-case I'm not explaining myself clearly: ...but again it's pretty much just old fashion Metroid -- not sure about the "hold button to remain stationary" feature, been a long time since I played them. But I'd be more than happy just getting those basic shooting mechanics ironed down.

Any advice whatsoever is most welcome!

Just sent you a message. I'm extremely interested and willing to negotiate payment for some coding assistance.