Joh

Introducing Sprite Combinator

Hi tumblr land, this is one of the latest things i’ve worked on. A tool to make sprite creation from multiple images easy!

With it, multiple emotions for VN characters is super simple! Changing eyes, mouths or even accessories is easy. Color swaps are easy, and generating many unique sprite combination is trivial.

Perfect for VN characters, Character Creators, Random NPCs and more!

The tool is fairly powerful and works on browsers! https://johgames.itch.io/sprite-combinator

Simple use

Sprite combinator makes character variants easy!

import or drop your images for layers.

multiple images at once will be grouped as one layer with multiple subimages

Arrange the layers order, positions and colors as desired.

Preview (right tab) and/or download the resulting sprite combinations

Convenient functionalities

Color layers: Recolor any layer (best used on base white)

Link layer colors: two parts that should always match color? link them!

Layer editing: Image scale, rotation and position can all be edited to best lay out the final sprite.

Layer hierarchy: Group layers such that transformations happen on all the sublayers

Randomize: select and random set of images and colors

Save & Load: save the project for later, or share it with others.

Try it out!

https://johgames.itch.io/sprite-combinator

Just released a new abstract background pack and its on sale 50% off for the Itch Winter Sale!

https://johgames.itch.io/abstract-background-pro-pack

Its a lot larger than the previous free packs containing more than 250 backgrounds. It contains some familiar designs(but different) and a lot of entirely new ones including some seamless tiling backgrounds.

About a year ago for Halloween season I shared an artwork of my witch card. I thought it would be nice to try and revisit it this year. I think it turned out a bit too casual/modern (it is a fantasy world) but it was fun to draw and certainly made me want to draw more! (Now reminded of that time I planned on drawing at least once a month... failed big time)

In the spirit of Halloween, here is one of the new cards in my game: Pumpkin hacks. Always liked that kind of monster and big fan of its flavor text. Its fairly strong, but its spirit level is quite unique. 

Following my previous pack, I’ve decided to release a second abstract background pack for FREE! This time it features 84 backgrounds with a bit more color variations! Also some more interesting designs I think, but that’s subjective. https://johgames.itch.io/abstract-background-pack-2

Top 100 in Fun, gmtkjam results!

Hello! Last weekend I participated in the GMTK jam 2021.

Actually forgot to post about it here! It was a very fun experience. And I made a game I find quite fun, yet would probably never have made outside of the context of that Jam. It’s a part of why I like Jams! Game is Link.Game, “link dot game” Starts simple, gets harder: My highscore is 2615, but it already got beaten by 3804! Curious to see how high it can go!

You can play it here: https://johgames.itch.io/linkgame Rating and comments are also appreciated! https://itch.io/jam/gmtk-2021/rate/1085394

Although there is certainly a focus (and advantage) to using the exchange mechanic, traditional combat still exists! Just changed the aiming arrow to one from a recent jam game.(Its like recycling!) I think it looks nicer.

Hello! Its saturday!

I worked on some status effects animation/particles! Poison... although no one can deal it yet, Burn wich is a classic and Rage which I’m not sure usually has an animation, but doesn’t it work well?!

There’s of course some room for improvement, but I think the more challenging ones will be Atk up & down. Glow, arrows, Lines, overlay?! so many options. Do want the to stay lowkey though!

Hi everyone!

I missed screenshot saturdays, been a while! So Following up on my lastest project Spirits of Equivex here is one of my favorite gameplay moment! You cannot mix Sum and Product cards for possession. However,if they have the same spirit value, you can exchange them in two steps.

Possess 1 unit

Use that possessed unit to possess the second one

Sometimes it’s much more complex, but always nice to notice, and an easy win!

Introducing Spirits of Equivex

In the world of Equivex, one rule reigns above all: Equivalent exchange!

In this Deckbuilder meets Puzzle game, leverage the power of possession through sacrifice to turn foes into allies and defeat waves of enemies.

Gameplay

Each campaign level start with a predefined lineup of units and you have to get through multiple waves of enemies. To get through the wave is crucial to use Exchange: An equivalent exchange deal where you sacrifice some of your units to possess some of your enemies. Through this, your lineup will be constantly evolving as you progress on your campaign.

Taking it to it’s perfect conclusion is where the challenge and puzzle lies. For every campaign level, there is a path where you perform no killing and clear the mission through only exchange. Of course, if it fails, you can always brute force your way through with might!

Units

There are currently over 30 unique cards with plans for more to come.

Cards work as units with 3 main stats Health points, Attack and Spirit Level. Spirit level is the value of the unit for equivalent exchange. It can be of two type: Sum (red) or Product (purple) and it determines the means of possessing the card.

Units can also have some skills and abilities: from simple buff and debuffs to complex possession restrictions or spirit level changes they can help turn the tide around.

Exchange

The core mechanic of the game. You can select any enemy for possession and their total value will show up at the top. Depending on the spirit type, it will either be the sum or product of all selected units. (The two types cannot be mixed in one exchange) You then have to select your own units that add up (or multiply) to the exact same value. If you can set up this equivalent exchange, you will sacrifice your units and gain possession of your opponent’s.

This is very powerful and simple way to wipe out enemy waves, but remember it only works if you can create a perfect spirit level matchup.

Origins

This is a project I’ve been working on for a while. It started as a Jam entry from LD41 (Theme: Sacrifice) and it’s been one of the Jam game’s I’ve been the most fond of, always feeling like it had a bit more potential and was worth revisiting.

I’ve spent a lot of time giving the whole game a massive overhaul, but the gameplay remains largely the same. A bunch of new units have been added with new abilities and spirit values to spice things up as well as more campaign levels. There has also been some rebalancing, overall I feel this new iteration gives a much better idea of the game.

I hope this project managed to get your interest and you will stick around to follow it’s progress. It’s pretty far along and should have a demo ready relatively soon, so stay tuned & share along!

It’s a Goat! and it is the GOAT.

Hey all, still juggling with my projects but in the spirit of starting “somewhere” and trying to get back into posting, I present this art piece.

I am currently revisting an old game of mine: Demon queen’s possession. It was a LD jam entry that performed surprisingly well and I do believe was a strong concept. I also somehow never shared it here so hopefully this is new and interesting.

This is a friend’s favorite unit in my game. Certainly a fav of mine too. It stands out a bit from the other more humanoid units, but perhaps that’s part of the charm. It also happens to have one of the best skill in the game. Great unit.