What do you do when your friend takes it upon themselves to learn how to code their own video game?
Try to insert yourself in the process any way possible, of course.
Or maybe that was just me, but recently a good friend of mine taught himself how to create a basic side scrolling video game using GameMaker Studio and a course purchased from Udemy. I noticed from some cell phone videos he sent me that it was very much sprite based and took it upon myself to create a few unique sprites for the game. On one hand to give me some practice, on another hand to partake in his glory.
Thus we created the character “Gunther”. A spelunker with a knack for chronicling caves. Sure, he wears white shoes and maybe his hair is a bit long, but he can jump and fight monsters with the best of them!
It started with recreating the “idle” sprite. I just wanted to see if the basic pose would work in the game. When Zak (my game-making friend) sent me a first look, I liked it, but I wanted all of the animations replaced.
So, we made the “jumping” sprite. I had the idea of creating a hair flip in the animation and when Zak played that out for me, I was floored. It was a tiny detail, but it greatly improved the way the animation looked. I was astounded at how well it played on the first go. I decided to delve into the biggest sprite sheet next.
The walking sheet took me the longest for a few reasons. One, I wanted to make sure that the movement was fluid and believable; and two, it was really hard to translate the default movement sheet for an entirely different character. Again, Zak placed it in his work and it played beautifully. My only issue was I tried doing too much by adding the hair highlights. If we ever go back and revamp his game, I want to change that first.
Ah, the “damage” sprite. This one was meant to represent the horrid yip the player cries upon receiving damage. A unique take on the “x” eyes sprite that existed before it. It’s another comical take on a basic sprite. While it only exists intermittently, it is representative of the character we’ve created and adds some fun to getting the stuffing kicked out of you.
The “exit” sprite was a unique challenge as I had to represent the back of our character, but it was also one of the more bland assets. After all, the player rarely sees this aside from exiting a level, and even then it is only for a few frames. So, I made it believable enough to work, but there wasn’t much to do to make it unique.
I decided to have some fun with the “edge grab” sprite. I wanted something that resembled how I feel about heights and climbing. I figured a nervous looking Gunther with a stare of a thousand miles was a comedic way to exhibit that Gunther really shouldn’t be exploring caves, he should be at home making sprites for games about exploring caves. It was a tiny thing, but it makes me smile every time I see it.
Overall, it was a heck of a fun project. Zak wound up taking a boss sprite I made based on our friend Robbie and implementing it into our own unique version of the game. It’s really just one big inside joke, but it was a lot of fun and really good practice. I hope we get another chance to work on a project like this together soon. Especially as my skills improve.