Indie Assault Aesthetics

maxfalcon-

Great, post by the way. To be totally honest, mike and JaredG are in active discussions to pin-point the exact 'style' that we are looking to display for our title after signing on a new Art Director.

This is a "talk" for the moment as the game is currently in pre=alpha, but we'll definitely have a more defined answer for this as the game evolves and our title continues Full time development into the summer months.

1. Originally the Art style for Bionic Fighters was hard, cold, and Bionic as seen in the Bionic Commando titles. As if recent, we are going for a more cartoony look in flavor of what you would honesty see in PSABR. *** Do note, that this is a party brawler and we have no intention to mimic the Photo realistic qualities of Killer Instinct besides the attention to detail on their characters. We want 4 HD characters on screen at 60 fps which falls to both the Art Director's and Lead Programmers in-sync collaboration.
2. Yes, this is still an "indie" video game even when we get a publisher. The Art Style will loved or be hated depending upon player's aesthetic taste. To be put in light of realistic expectations, 1 character in Killer Instinct cost(ed) Double Helix between $1.5 to $2 million dollars to: concept, model, texture, rig, and animate. We are going to attempt a roster of 15 characters with about a $500k publishing deal.
3. Yes, to be fair *I had requested our Video Editor* to add additional lighting effects to cover up "loose programming/ weak animations" to ensure that it wasn't noticed too much. As we all know that didn't work... Moving forward, the game will be less strobe light effects then before.
4. Yes, and no. TowerFall sold over 500k units in 1 month on the PlayStation 4 network. Matt Thorson's style was old/school pixelated art direction that some love or others disregard (like myself). I do plan to have some classic nostalgia feel to Indie Assault as 'Indie games" have been around for a long time [wink] hey there Freemium games. Though, I directly prefer 3D models because it feels newer and more realistic expression for gameplay for what we are aiming for ie: like PSABR.

5. Ow my goodness, definitely the competitive stage!!! We have a huge overhaul on the stage that really shines on New-Gen platforms. *** I can't honestly answer the character question, until this week because if this license goes through this new character is the best aesthetic looking character to date in our title (no holds barred)....
6. We do have the "Assault Gauge" that fills up throughout the match to unleash your comeBack attack and we also have a red plane behind the avatar's face texture glow 'redder' with the more damage the character receives.

7. Um, not sure if you are referring to the Kickstarter video, but yes. We are currently using Unity Free and will be acquiring the Pro license for Dynamic lighting after the publishing deal goes through this Fall.

JaredG
I really like the idea of going more cartoony. I like the current art style a good bit already but I feel like that could have more appeal as well as provide more options when designing things.
The red faces sounds cool, kind of reminds me of Samurai Shodown where as you take damage your character turns red and it's POW meter fills.
7 was just a bit of a joke/nod to how much I liked the lighting haha, but even better.

nitrohamster
Cuphead looks awesome, I'd very much like to see this guy in the game if at all possible.
Making characters is a lot of work though. I could see it happening if they ever decide to patch the game and have them as free DLC or something later on, but for now 15 is good imo.