Dark Ninja is an adventure, side-scrolling game where the player gets to control the Dark Ninja and his fellow heroes as they fight to defend the world from the Monsters of Mayhem and their leader, the Prince of Pain. This is probably going to be the most ambitious game that I am working on thus far! This game has a big storyline, and will contain various missions, enemies, bosses, upgrades, and more. Watch this discussion to see all the news on Dark Ninja’s production, suggest ideas of your own, and learn more information about the upcoming title.
Disclaimer: The game is not ready yet, and this discussion is just to talk to the community about this upcoming project, and update them about the progress I am making. I may even list some cool tricks I use in the game, since it will also display such tricks.
So one of the cool things about Dark Ninja is that it is planned to have randomly generated levels. Each level is unique, and its layout will never be the same even if you play the same level. Similar to Minecraft Dungeons: the level layout is randomly generated, but the objective stays the same.
The easy part is making sure that the level can be properly generated into a terrain that can be easily navigated. The difficult part is making sure that the game doesn’t lag from the amount of objects being put down. At one point, the game lagged so badly that I had to refresh the whole page just to get it working again. Fortunately, I have come up with a few logic requirements and restrictions the terrain generator will have to minimize lag, all the while preserving the randomly generated terrain. The following steps will be taken every time the game is about to generate new terrain.
Is the player close enough? If the player is less than 100 tiles away from the generator (3,200 pixels), the generator will continue generating the terrain. If the player is farther away, then the generator will temporarily halt. Also, any terrain that is more than 80 tiles to the left of the player (2,560 pixels) will automatically delete itself. This will create a giant pit that will kill the player if they fall in.
Should the terrain be generated horizontally or vertically? There is an 8/10 chance that the generator will continue spawning terrain horizontally, but a 2/10 chance that the generator will create mini-cliffs and drop-offs that the player either jumps onto or falls into. If the terrain begins generating vertically, steps 3 and onward are ignored, and step 1 will be repeated.
Should there be a gap? The generator will occasionally make a big gap or pit that, if the player falls into it, they’ll die. Pits can be anywhere from 3 tiles to 20 tiles wide. If a pit is more than 6 tiles (which is the maximum distance the player can jump across), then a moving platform will be placed to assist the player in crossing the pit. There will always be a maximum of 3 pits in a single level. If a pit is generated, steps 4 and onward are ignored, and step 1 will be repeated.
Should there be enemies here? Enemy placement is predetermined by the generator, but the enemies themselves will only spawn if the player gets close enough. Once again, this is to prevent lag. What types of enemies are spawned depends on what level you are playing, but the amount of enemies placed in the same spot is random (never less than 2, never more than 8). Enemies do not despawn even if they are too far to the left, since they have a less significant impact on how fast the game runs. However, most enemies will be destroyed anyways because they would fall into the pit created by the degenerated terrain (some enemies can fly, so they could avoid this and continue pursuing you).
Should there be a collectible? Collectibles have a similar spawn condition as enemies, but with a few exceptions. Collectibles are far more common and are spawned even if the player is not within range. Much like enemies, collectibles do not despawn even if they are too far to the left, since they have a less significant impact on how fast the game runs. Most collectibles are just currency, such as emeralds, but others act as power ups or boosters.
So that is pretty much how the game is going to generate terrain. It is purely random, and no two playthroughs will be the exact same.
There are many, many enemies that you will encounter in your journey to save the world from endless suffering. These enemies are split into different classes. Due to how recent the game was made, the total number of enemy classes is not yet set in stone, but I already have come up with a few ideas. One of them, and perhaps one of the most dangerous one, is the Demon class.
Demon enemies can be identified for having bright red or crimson red bodies, and they also have large dark horns. They are mighty aggressive and are based solely on attacking the player. They do not have any supportive abilities to assist other enemies. What makes Demons dangerous is their attack damage.
The attack strength of a Demon is based on the exponential function y = 2x, where x represents the number of times the Demon has hit you, and y is the total damage. This means that if you got hit by a Demon for the first time, it will only deal 2 damage. However, if the same Demon hits you for the 7th time, the Demon will deal 128 damage, which is enough to instantly KO any hero. Keep in mind that this damage output is not universal. If a Demon hits you for the 3rd time (8 damage), a different Demon enemy will not deal 16 damage (unless they also had previously hit you 3 times already). If you want to see for yourself the damage that a Demon can potentially deal, insert the function y = 2x into a graphing calculator, but just know that on the 7th hit, you are already dead.
The good news about the Demon is that they don’t have a lot of health themselves. So when you start running away screaming at the top of your lungs because a Demon is about to hit you 7 times, just remember that they are vulnerable to ranged attacks and can be defeated quite easily. If you have any healing items on you, use them every time you take a fatal hit (but remember, 7th hit is bad).
To put this into perspective for people I’ll use an analogy:
The Demon first attacks you with a nerf gun, then a paintball gun, then a handgun, then a shotgun, then a rocket launcher, then a nuclear bomb.
simple enough?
New Enemy Class “Oni” Reveal
The next enemy class I decided to reveal today before I reveal the next one next month is the Oni class.
First, what is an Oni?
So if you look up “Oni” on Google, you will find that they are ghosts, demons, yokai, etc. from Japanese mythology. They tend to hunt down and eat humans, and most Oni were humans who committed terrible sins. They have unbelievable power, which makes them a feared monster. They are included in many art and paintings made by the Japanese, and have appeared on Western creations at times. In the game Phasmophobia, one ghost type is an Oni, and are described to be cousins of the demon ghost type. In the children’s TV show LEGO Ninjago, the Oni had 3 seasons dedicated to their story, and how they played a role in Ninjago’s history, [spoiler alert] despite only one Oni being in that world by the time the series starts, and despite all being destroyed in season 10 (presumably).
So what role do Oni play in this game? Well, they are the most common enemy that you will find. Their attacks are all normal, and despite being Demons on a technical level, they do not hit as hard as them. Oni have a mixture of attack and support type moves. On their own, they are not much of a threat, but in groups, which they always are in, they can overwhelm the player. When using their support moves, they tend to favor using it on other Oni and Demon enemies. Oni in the game are characterized with purple bodies and large white horns.
Items and Powerups
Throughout your adventures, enemies may end up dropping a thing or two. These items can be stored in your 3-slot inventory for later use, and will help you defeat your enemies when you are in a pinch. One of them is a Griffin Horn.
How is he blowing the horn through his mask? (this picture is a rough draft and not part of the final design)
Using a Griffin Horn will summon in a Griffin (part lion, part eagle) that will aid you in battle. Griffins only last for 10 seconds before they grow tired and leave. Griffins have infinite health and deliver quick attacks against enemies. They can occasionally fly around to reach flying enemies, dealing critical damage to a specific enemy class, which will be revealed next month.
Once a Griffin has been summoned, the Griffin Horn will break and be removed from your inventory. This item is useful if you are being surrounded, but is useless when fighting a boss or very few enemies.
Items and Powerups - Ultima Orb
Nobody knows who invented the Ultima Orb, but it somehow got in possession of the monsters. This ball contains highly unstable energy within it. If it is unleashed, it will create an explosion that will rival that of (most) nuclear warheads. I advise that you don’t touch it…
I said DON’T touch it! (this picture is a rough draft and not part of the final design)
But in all seriousness, the Ultima Orb is a very powerful, albeit very rare item. It destroys every single enemy that has currently spawned, at the expense of half of your health. It has a medium risk, high reward. If an enemy isn’t destroyed for whatever reason, it will receive massive damage. This item is useful when fighting a boss or if you are surrounded, but is useless if you are fighting very few enemies. I also don’t recommend using it if you have too little health. Using the Ultima Orb can either save your life, or make it harder.
So I have stated before that next month, February, I will talk a little bit about another enemy class. There are seven total (Oni and Demon included), and I would like you to choose which two enemy classes I will talk about next month.
Which Enemy classes should be discussed next month? Choose up to 2 choices.
Banshee Class
Phantom Class
Geist Class
Reaper Class
Wraith Class
0voters
The winning choice will be discussed on February 1st, while the runner-up will be discussed February 8th. In the event of a two-way tie, both tied options will be discussed on the same day, and the runner-up will be ignored. If there is a three-way tie or more, then I will break the tie with my own vote.
(Yes, most of the enemies are ghosts/demons. The villains are chaotic evil, and demons are masters of chaotic evil.)
For most of these, yes, although I have never heard if there even is a Reaper ghost in that game. I am trying to make sure that the enemies are not exactly the same (e.g. behavior and danger).
For the Wraith, they are more inspired by their Minecraft Dungeons counterpart.
So normally I am not comfortable with sharing my music with other people, because I ponder whether or not I can trust other people to credit me in their games when they use my content. But for this specific music piece, I decided, “Yeah, I’ll just go ahead and reveal it, why not?”
This soundtrack is not yet completed, and it may be subject to change. This soundtrack plays in a secret level that can only be accessed by beating the whole game, called the Dungeon of Death.
This soundtrack is best used in a cave environment, one that contains hidden secrets and dangers within. You may use this soundtrack to your hearts’ content, but if you do, please credit me by including my Flowlab username. Putting my username in the description does NOT count. The credits have to be in the game itself.
Please be aware that the final version of the song will not be allowed for use by other people.
Um, guys, I know you are talking about a totally different topic, but I need some help. Do you know how to make a game maker? Can Jr 01 help me, or latif? They’ve made game makers before.
