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Little Nemo and the Nightmare Fiends

Created by Team Nemo

An indie game based on Winsor McCay's groundbreaking comic strip.

Latest Updates from Our Project:

Little Nemo Brainstorming Podcast #27: Is this podcast a Metroidvania?
over 2 years ago – Wed, Nov 24, 2021 at 12:58:21 PM

Hey Dreamers! Adrian here.

This week, after a small tangent where we discuss the illustrious status of Metroidvania for several games, including our own, we talk about the level flow for each level of the game: what powers you need, what kinds of locks and keys will you find, and what can you take from one level and bring into another? By cementing the level flow and beginning to draft out the individual elements and characters you'll find in each level, Ben can begin coding out those individual systems and we can get to implementing the levels, creating the menus, and more. It's a fun discussion with a lot of really in-depth design considerations being solidified, so please give it a listen!

 Click here to listen/download! 

We're a bit cheeky about the internet discourse on the contentious phrase 'Metroidvania', but we are seriously interested in your opinions about exploratory platformers; what kind of exploration in games that you like in nonlinear games and what you hope to see in Little Nemo, so please let us know what you think in the comments or on Discord! Also, because I gave it a shout out in the podcast, here's a link to Kate Willeart's excellent video on  the hidden influences of Metroid that if you haven't seen, you really, really oughta. She also has an upcoming video on the origins of the term 'Metroidvania', so be on the look out for that as well!

Finally, with the Thanksgiving Holiday coming up in the US, we'll be taking a break from the podcast and streaming this week to spend time with our family. We'll be back in December with a new episode, so until then, Dreamers, I leave you with the classic Thanksgiving comic from the original Little Nemo in Slumberland. Enjoy the holiday if you celebrate, and we'll see you all again next time!

~ Adrian & Team Nemo

Little Nemo Brainstorming Podcast 26 - Level Intros
over 2 years ago – Sat, Nov 20, 2021 at 04:50:01 PM

Hey dreamers! Adrian here.

In this slightly late edition of the podcast, we chat about what happens when the player enters a new area for the first time. We're all big fans of the elaborate level introductions in games like Kingdom Hearts and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze and how they prep the player for what's about to come. We discuss the most effective way to capture that energy that embodies the spirit of the Little Nemo comic and works within our specific constraints.

Click here to listen/download!

Related to this discussion is how we can incorporate a distinct theme and motif around our level intro and outros and the rest of the game, the contrast between Slumberland and the waking world, and the approach other games such as the Super Mario Bros. franchise take as well. It's a fun discussion and I'm looking forward to hearing all of your thoughts in the comments or the Discord server as well!

~ Adrian & Team Nemo

Little Nemo Brainstorming Podcast #25: Moving Forward
over 2 years ago – Sun, Nov 14, 2021 at 12:24:18 AM

Hey Dreamers! Adrian here!

In this week's episode, Ben and Chris discuss the next steps for the game moving forward as we begin wrapping up our vertical slice! We discuss ways to make our level making pipeline smoother, finishing Peony's move set, levels and systems we need to build out next, and more! We also discuss our plans for distributing the vertical slice to publishers and other venues as well.

 Click here to listen/download! 

While listening to this week's episode, you may notice a distinct lack of... well, me. That's because my recorded audio has seemed to malfunction this week, so apologies for that! I've edited around the episode as I didn't feature too heavily this time around regardless so the absence should hopefully not be noticeable, but in case you're wondering where I wandered off to this week, that's what happened. I should have those kinks ironed out by next week! Also heads up that there's a lot of background noise this week, particularly at the beginning, which I was unfortunately not able to rectify.

Until next time Dreamers,

~ Adrian & Team Nemo

Little Nemo Brainstorming Podcast #24: AKA The Metroid Dread Episode
over 2 years ago – Thu, Nov 04, 2021 at 02:38:49 PM

Hey Dreamers, Adrian here!

As the title mentions, this week's episode was inspired by Chris and I's recently playthrough of Metroid Dread. Specifically, it got me thinking about how we should approach hiding, and challenging players who search for extra content in the game. For us, this includes things that enhance your abilities such as health upgrades or recipes for the kitchen to optional content such as comics that you find to add to the in-game gallery. Metroid Dread's hidden pick ups are all character upgrades and many are hidden behind optional challenges that test your dexterity such as the infamous shinespark puzzles, so we ask; what kinds of challenges should our hidden items be? Should they be completely based around exploration and observation, or should some of them test other skills such as the aforementioned dexterity? Or do we mix and match depending on the type of item that it is? Here our thoughts in the new episode! And in case it wasn't obvious, spoilers for Metroid Dread abound in this episode.

 Click here to listen/download! 

Of course there's also plenty of talk about our general feelings about Dread (spoilers: we liked it) and what we took from the over all experience. We had a lot of fun recording this one and I hope you have as much fun listening! Be sure to let us know what you think in the comments or on Discord!

Until next time Dreamers,

~ Adrian & Team Nemo

Game dev stream tonight!
over 2 years ago – Mon, Nov 01, 2021 at 01:04:03 AM

Hi Dreamers! I’ll be streaming development tonight on Twitch. Tonight I’m going to try and get Princess up and running. I’ll be setting up the animations and working on a projectile attack.

I’ll start streaming at about 9pm till about midnight at http://twitch.tv/pxlplz. Follow me if you want the go-live announcement.

See you tonight! - Ben