the lava eruptions are amazing, i've never seen such good particle effects in here. *maybe* add a heat distortion shader, but that's all you could improve about it.

about the panels/ HUD: have a look at the stamina panel in the newer super mario games. kinda like that... http://fallingsky.blogs.com/falling_sky/super-mario-galaxy-20070308014605100.jpg or that http://www.myds.com.au/img/gallery/full/LJSLMD3W.jpg . i think something circular would fit in.

dude, i love your project (i really do. the gameplay is fantastic) and all but the visuals hurt my eyes. want some advice? get an art director. if you have some money left over, i could put you to the right person (no, not me) who knows all that you need. he wont doit for free of course.

but ill do a few things for free. first, your graphicsl style neesd to fit the game. make it cartoony or cgi-y, much like mario galaxy or zelda wind waker. you can combine that with a simple yet effective style. when i take a look at your player model, i see simple round shapes. so id say go with that theme for the whole game. simple round shapes are easy to produce and look great if youre doing it right. use cartoony textures, with alot of round thingys and alot of colors.
create nice backgrounds for your levels, not just a dark cave. a cave can be made with color aswell.
like this:
http://www.pinkpt.com/neodex/images/5/50/Fungus_Cave.gif

or that:
http://www.bluebison.net/backgrounds/2007/1107/bats-in-a-cave-with-waterfalls-1600.jpg

it has little color but it has alot of details. something along those lines. use paralax scrolling to enhance the effect.

then get some quirky music and SFX to add some mood. i could help you with that if you want.
be creative. play a few modern side scrolling games like the freeware "legend of princess" or the new "Dragon Ball" Game for wii.

have a few examples:
http://wiimedia.ign.com/wii/image/article/959/959158/a-boy-and-his-blob-20090304101116560_640w.jpg
http://quiksave.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/emag_lostwinds_041508_5_47695.jpg

i personally prefer 2D backgrounds and stuff but thats up to you. you can mix them, thats what id do but its your game...

just my two cents

speaking of newer side scrollers... check out trine. --> http://trine-thegame.com/site/

Thanks for the feedback!
I removed the shader and improved the default material of the lava. Maybe I will "add a heat distortion shader" with an option in the main menu to turn it off.

Yes, I know, the graphics (still) suck. I'm still coding and developing various stuff, I did not work on the graphics yet (except for the lava/water) so it won't look that bad when it's finished but I will try it on my own (no art director).
The examples are helpful and I really like the style of your/sPIKe's last picture (http://quiksave.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/emag_lostwinds_041508_5_47695.jpg) and the style of Trine which looks really great, too (I'm not much of a fan of cartoon style like in Wind Waker). The detail and the visuals of Trine are unreachable of course and I cannot create three dimensional backgrounds as that would consume too much time, my last attempt 2 years ago failed because of this. As a result I will use 2D backgrounds with parallax scrolling (that is already implemented).
I started to learn Wings 3D some days ago and I will create a new main character, this one is 6 years old. Thanks again for the feedback.

not a problem, i'd hate to see this project go down the drain.

i know that trine is pretty much unreachable, i just postet that as an example of consistent style, not to put you under pressure or somethin

really cool game

Some progress information:
I've redone the gravity and rope swing code and improved the overall gameplay, it is a lot faster now. Superku has a new speedbooster, too, that can be activated by double tapping left/right. In ball mode, Superku can detonate himself to destroy breakable walls and to attack small enemies:

woohoo, update!

looking good, i'll be glad to get my hands on a playable demo. graphics are still a little bit simple, but better concentrate on the gameplay than on the graphics, those can be still improved as soon as the gameplay is complete.

keep it fucking up man!

Looking great! Keep up the nice work.

Hi there!
Superku switched to isometric camera and below is a comparison between two styles, somehow a friend of mine and I prefer the first one without transitions. What do you guys think?


(click to enlarge)