Ninja games.

Just checked out the video of the alpha release gameplay. Downloading now and will give it a go right after this.

EDIT: It launched fine but doesn't want to start. All of the options on the Title Screen seem to be inactive.

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That's true a lot of times people are just scoping way too big particularly for first-time projects. I just see all of this work that has been put into probably thousands of different projects around here that end up tossed aside and sometimes it seems like the creators even leave game dev.

So there are all of these WIP projects out there probably thousands and even tens of thousands of hours of time spent on graphics and systems and game structure and so forth. Just seems like it would be a huge benefit to a lot of people. I am sure in many cases the code is a real mess yet I imagine there are still many things that would be very useful.

Imagine if everyone had access to all of this work. All of these hours and hours of work. People could take some bits from here and there as needed. Perhaps others would just take over the project and continue from where the first left off (granted I imagine many people would do some heavy refactoring first).

 

Just to warn you now, you'll PROBABLY have to crash it from the Task Manager, because I don't think we ever fixed the quit prompt not working, ha ha

I mean, if we're real about it, thats why we all get into this, to make those kind of big games we love. Find me someone who's first project wasn't a game whose scope was way bigger than they were first expecting and I'll personally introduce you to the aliens from the Roswell crash. Everyone has done it, we get ahead of ourselves because we're passionate about a spesific game or spesific genre or just a particular idea, and I don't think it's a bad thing, it helps you appreciate how much work really goes into this.

If you are still ready to hang with game design after seeing the magnitude of how much work making a game really is, this is something you were meant to do.

Well it's not like that time is nessessarily wasted, it's like level grinding in an RPG, you're gaining experience doing all that work. But instead of becoming like a Lv 4 Black Mage or a Lv 5 Knight, you're now a Lv 2. Graphic artist or a Lv 3 Programmer or something. Stuff you learned from that last project carries onto the next.

Well sure, you could download the work, but you can't download the experience. You could look at the code and not understand it without having that experience gained from writing that code themselves. At the end of the day, the end product is less important than the experience gained.

 

I think we're talking about two different things. A person definitely needs to gain experience by actually doing the game dev. That is a given.

I just wonder if more people could make the games they want to make if they had access to all of these forgotten projects. If nothing else just the graphics could save some time. I think some of the code would have to be useful too.

Thinking about it I don't recall ever tackling some epic AAA style game. I did tackle pieces of them such as one level but only from a game design gameplay perspective. But never the entire game. It would just be way too much. Instead, I used to just try to figure out how they did things so one level or even half a level was more than enough then time to get on to the next study.

 

I think the kind of game @N1warhead is using as a model is a good scope or should be at least.

Released 18 years ago so odds are something along these lines would be doable by a tiny committed team (even solo) today

Also this one released in the same year (not a Ninja game but does have some strong emphasis on stealth)
Relevant stuff starts around 4:00 mark:

 

Asset Store Complete Project incoming for 2D ninja games with most of the features of Mark of the Ninja (climb around ceilings and walls, transitions between them, peek and climb through vents, hide, etc).

Platformer PRO will include the base movements. The full sample game will be separate purchase for $30-$40 and will also include full art, levels, menus, save, etc.

Most of the movement is done. Character art is done. Still need to do enemy and level art and then tie it all up in to a complete game (so yes it will be a while).

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</self promotion>

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PS If any Platformer PRO customers want movements ahead of time can be arranged via a support request.

​

 

I do have this idea of sight detection I haven't tried to implement yet. Well, maybe other have already implemented it, I just too lazy to search it....
1. Add a camera with a render texture at enemy's eye.
2. Render player using replacement shader which only draw specific color(red, or green, or blue, etc)
3. Render other thing using replacement shader which draw other color(say, black)
4. Read the render texture pixel, if any non black pixel is read, then player is detected...

BTW, naruto is about ninja? ()
I though it's about wizard vs aliens...

 

NARUTO WAS GOOD NINJA STUFF, they reinvented the genre around the concept of "deception" (which stealth is a part of). Up to zabuza (fan will know) it was very ninja in philosophy, most fight where based on the very act of deception, they had clear rules and stakes, then they seemingly broke them in fight, only to have a strategy and tactical debriefing after the fight that show you how they exploited the rules to create deception to win, it was genius to put mind game and flow of information at the center.

That was glorious ... but then it became about secret hidden techniques from nowhere which nullify strategy (no more established in advence, everything broke every drama beat, it's just showing off from there). It doesn't matter if the character overcome deception using logic and deception, the author can just pull off magic trick number 65300 to reverse the situation instead of well craft situation.

 

Ive also wondered this also - at least cut the elements that arent working correctly and release a simple demo. Might be at least worth it for self promotion only - but at least it would be something.
Of course at this point I have scrapped 3 prototypes that have not seen the light of day. I could have posted them but the fun wasnt there and I didnt need confirmation from others that this was in fact the case.
Could be - some are advertising too early in development - we are actually seeing a ton of working prototypes instead of actual games being developed. So eventually when the prototype hits a wall - either technically, or fun factor or whatever - its not worth continuing. Maybe? -

I wrote over 100 page design document before downloading Unity personal for my own use. I didnt even begin on anything because I realized the concept would never ever be completed by me alone, so I sealed it up and mailed it to myself for later. I wasn't as knowledgeable about best practices for indie design & development back then.
But Im still in process for - my own - first indie title.

Awesome progress Johnny. So soon after release we should be seeing a slew of new 2D stealth based games!

 

You still went through the same process, "I want to make gigantic awesome game of my dreams......Oh wait, this is crazy, maybe not." You just stopped sooner than most do.

And good lord, 100 page game doc!? The one for my first game was only 30, and a third of it was just pictures, ha ha.

 

Yea asking about 100-page first design docs maybe should be added to psychiatric intake interview. lol

Although the important thing is he realized the scope was way too big. So probably massive doc was time well spent.

 

Yeah, he might be crazy, but thats what makes a good game designer

Combine that with the fact that he saw his scope problem while writing his crazy ass game doc means....he may be the chosen one.

 

Interesting thread. I just started playing around with a Ninja game idea a week or two ago. I wasn't sure (and still am not sure) whether I wanted to make it a "platformer" type game where you can only move on one plane, or if I should go for a third person game.

Either way, the liklihood of me finishing this particular ninja game is very low lol.

Would you play a game that looked like this, just curious:

 

LOL - you guys!!
My defense/explaination - The project I worked on prior to starting on my own in Unity was as designer and animator for a pretty large "serious" training project consisting of roughly 15 artists and programmers, some of which would be working on elements of the game "off & on" during the entire development process.
And the project was corporate driven - so documenting everything was manditory and actually useful to keep every minute detail in line with the vision of the end goal.

On my 100 pager - scope never increased from the initial concept. Its just a big @ss game.
Id still like to one day create that game. But on a extremely smaller scale as a (mechanically) fully scoped demo.
Maybe in 3-5 years depending upon my progress.

And lastly - of course Im crazy! Im a non coding artist in a programmer world!!
Gotta be crazy to think I can be successful as an indie - exclusively as an artist.

 

Yeah, I understand that you need to be detailed, but 100 pages sounds downright verbose, unless the game is truely insanely massive, ha ha ha

I suspect it is though. And yeah, if you can believe it, Rat Boy was my attempt at toning it down, my real ideas are even crazier.

Game design is not a programmer's world, it's a designer's world. programmers and artists are just part of it too. You can succeed as a specialized artist, if you can gather people around you who can do the programming and design work. You just need a team

 

Not sure what you mean by "would you play a game that looked like this"?

Game-wise I don't know what I'd be playing. Will other ninjas pop up out of the ground? Come crawling over the large rocky area in the background? Is he sneaking along because there are traps (maybe like bear traps) or mines hidden in the ground?

If you just mean "looked like this" as in literally the graphics. Sure. Graphics look great to me. Can't play them without there being an actual game though! lol

 

Ya'll know a new Thief game came out in 2014? It rated between 6-7 of 10. Haven't played it yet but I love the series so I picked it up.
I do know the cinematics are very nice looking. But some seemed to believe the game play wasn't as good. Seems excessive money was spent on visuals rather than making sure the mechanics were solid.
I'm gonna play it anyway, I like the visuals, story, settings and stealth mechanics. Might be enough to overlook other degenerate elements of the game.

 

Haha, for sure. I know what you're saying. You would definitely need more info to make a good assessment Bottom line is, I just need to work on the game more. Thanks for the input.

 

\I don't know.

This is a very bad screenshot that doesn't tell me anything about the game.

It doesn't even have a HUD.What genre it is? RPG? Quest? Action? Are there enemies? What can the ninja do? Why is there a palm tree? Why is ninja in a desert?

The screenshot doesn't give me any answers.

 

I know, I know. It's ok lol. I was mainly just wondering if people liked the graphical "look" at all, based off of that one screenshot. Purely graphically. From what you and GarBenjamin said though, I know you can't guess how the game plays from one screenshot.

 

There's a few other Ninja games that were a bit good, such as...

Ninja Hamster (Spectrum, circa mid to late 80s)
Last Ninja and Last Ninja 2 (Old 8 bit computers, mid 80s)
Shinobi (Arcade and Sega consoles, late 80s)
Yie Ar Kung Fu (Arcade and 8 bit computers, mid 80s)
A whole plethora of licensed scrolling fight 'em ups including TMNT, Simpsons etc (mid 90s)

 

Purely graphically, I'd probably skip that.

Basically, judging by screenshot the scene wasn't constructed with much attention to details. The tree doesn't seem to be casting a shadow, for example, horizon line is strangely sharp (water usually doesn't cut straight into clouds), ground is empty and level of detail is uneven (ninja seem to have lower texture resolution than the ground). Basically, it does not give impression of a game, but an impression of a scene quickly thrown together. Someone made ground, put texture on it, added few trees and put a ninja in it.

Compare your screen with something like this, for example:

Spoiler

 

I'd just be happy to see a game in there. There is more than enough stuff in the scene and high enough quality for me to easily get a feel for the environment. I see ground, close tree, distant trees and... a ninja. But what is the point of it? That is the biggest thing missing IMO.

Maybe an animated gif or video showing a few enemies entering scene from right side and then some combat. Or better still beam of light comes down from above on right side and a couple of aliens appear. Maybe they have ray guns.

Ninja vs Aliens seems like a game that should be made.

Also could be a nice Deadly Warriors / Mortal Kombat style set up.

 

No. @neginfinity gave a good explanation.

As a die-hard fan of the series, I kinda wish it didn't. It's "playable" the same way every streamlined AAA console shooter is "playable", but compared to the old games of the series it's reeeaaaaaaly bad. I had more fun replaying some missions of Thief 1 again after I finished Thief 4.

 

What I meant is that it does not give impression of being a "whole" something. Detailed explanation was individual symptoms of that.

In comparison, shadow of collossus screenshot I posted does give impression of a whole, despite having inferior shaders in it.

Here are few more screens:

Spoiler

But then again, maybe I've seen too many games.

 

Speaking of which... anyone remembers "legend of kage"?

 

Vaguely. It's funny - (assumption of others) we played so many games back then, when the rentals allowed 3-5 day rentals, we'd get 2-3 games knowing at least one of them would be a dud. I can't remember half the games I played that were pretty good. Only have storage room enough to remember the best games of that era.

 

Legend of Kage was my favorite as a kid. Would go to the local waterpark in the morning and would always find dollar bills falling out of people's pockets into the wave pool. ALWAYS. Would take the morning's haul down to the arcade and split it all between Legend of Kage and Rastan.

As for ninja games I'm actually shocked there aren't more modern examples of these. The basic gameplay of the Tenchu series seems like a very worthy and quite achievable candidate for an indie Unity game, even from a single developer.

I am no fan of ninjas personally (might as well just believe superman beat the Nazis), but someday you all will be subjected to my dream game of running around and living in Old Japan. It'll probably be out in the next 20 or 30 years.

 

@chingwa : Yeah I am surprised as well... There's not very many of them. Considering how alluring it is, Ninja's are still fascinated by millions today. So why is such an entire market being virtually untapped by nobody? Not including that fake like anime style. But more on a realistic type. Maybe not AAA graphics, but just in general Ninja stuff.


I think I'm going to give it a shot here soon.

But Tenchu, you gotta understand, the first was released in like 1998. So with that being said, it was a big achievement back then. Heck Tenchu 2 even had an entire level editor built in! The levels were never entirely that big, so yeah I could make a game similar to this (If I was good at character modeling) in about 2 months. Not including tons of levels, just the mechanics, AI, Graphics, Animations, Sfx, main Scripts for player, enemies, health, ui, etc.

Then I'd say about another 2 months for levels to be made...
But that's if I could make characters easily. But I can't. So add 6 more years on top of that haha.

 

I think even the quality of Tenchu Z should be achievable by a single experienced developer, and can still be an entertaining game even with today's expectations. The levels are small, mechanics are pretty basic. Animations and characters might be an issue, but even these are limited in Tenchu Z and these things are learnable. Besides, if you are developing a game without learning something new then you're probably not doing it right.

 

@chingwa : Eh I think T-Z sorta ruined the series honestly. Something just didn't seem right with that one.
Animations would be the hardest part, I'm sure they MoCapped the crap outta a lot of them haha.

 

The Ninja class is the most popular in TERA Online.


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$10.00 contest CONTEST

 

I love tenchu. My only wish is for tenchu and way of the samurai to come to xbox backwards compatibility since my 360 died. I'm close to buying a first run ps3 just so I can play them.

In the meantime I'm working on an open world, ninja/samurai, roguelike, permadeath, procedural mmo with 18 quintillion provinces to explore*.

* some features may not be present in final product.

 

@N1warhead - I came across a game which might be something to check out. I've not played it but picked it up because it looked fun. Stxy: Master of Shadows
Reading the comments on steam page and review comments on other sites - it seems the people who are more into action combat with stealth elements hate the game, and people who really like hardcore stealth based games really love the game.
No ninjas involved - but this is a true hardcore stealth based game at its solid core.

 

@theANMATOR2b : Seems pretty interesting, I might get it.

I just love stealth games, I think the reason a lot of people don't like this, is because you have to actually use your brain to do something without being seen/caught or whatever else. A lot of people don't have the patience to sit there lol.

 

Let us know if it's any good. I've contemplated getting it in the past, but playing as a goblin-like protagonist somehow is unappealing to me and I've not seen anything else thematically that would sell the game for me.

 

Sure will. I have so many back log games that I'd like to play. I'll bump this one up a little to see how it plays.

 

right now I am working on a stealth game like tenchu, I have made a WIP thread on it so check it out.
I hope you like it