The current design is to have the game remain 2D in a 2D space with shallow shadows as if the Sprites are paper cut outs sitting just above another layer of paper. However this presents a stack of challenges.

Option 1. Draw all the shadows into the sprites. 

Not only does this create a ton of extra work, When the sprites, Player and NPC's overlap upon attacks etc. the shadows cross over layers and does not look good at all. Plus I'm going for more of a 2D style of what was achieved in 'Paper Mario' however Paper Mario was built in a 3D space. 

Option 2. Draw shadows as a separate sprite sheet.

Again a ton of work and not sure how easy this would be to implement without bugs and may increase CPU load. The project is designed to run on even the oldest machine so this isnt a good option. 

Option 3. There appears to be 2D 'fake' shadow options built into Godot.

This will require more investigation but looks like a good option.
2D lights within Godot 

also a better option may be 

To use code to make a copy of each sprite, colour black, and add to a single layer behind the sprites. This will require testing. 

NOTE: you think your game idea is simple until you start actually working on it and realise there are hundreds of elements you didn't think about. 

After much testing, and trialing different engines, I've now switched to Godot. This was actually a recommendation from pretty much everyone from the start, and after spending a few days using it, I find it far more user friendly and intuitive. So This is the start of the 3rd prototype. Aiming to have a playable prototype of the first level before 2025. (So a week) to test the controls. 
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Cho Dan Bo - The Game. 
This game is crowd funded so it can be Ad free, and have a cheap final price. For more detailed Dev Logs and production notes, please consider joining the House Party. 

This is the Original Idea. Put together way back in March 2024. It's important to keep the original separate and unedited. Instead, create a new working version for any changes or updates. This way, you always have a reference to return to and compare if the production veers too far from the original concept.

NOTE: The Game Concept is quite differnt now as it changed dramatically as the project developed, I will post the more recent updates soon, as I have it all documented in in a Confluence Wiki. I also built a playable version originally in UE5, however I have now moved the porject to Game Maker, and now to Godot as its better suited to the 2D style and less cumbersome. The most recent version is much better and more defined. 

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CHO DAN BO

Cho dan bo is a simple action fighter game where a young White Belt Taekwondo (TKD) fighter day-dreams he is a legendary fighter. Based on a comic strip I wrote in 2008 when training in TKD.

Inspired by one finger death punch, IK+
(Commodore 64)

What is ‘Cho Dan Bo’ 

“The “Cho Dan Bo” rank is often heard of in World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) Taekwondo. It is a red belt with a black stripe going through the middle of it. It represents a probationary black belt between Red and Black ranks and can sometimes take up to 2 years to progress depending on your training and at your teachers discretion. 

Rando Ideas

• Tutorial level is like training. has a guy on the left and right holding boards at chest height. you are asked to break the boards. if going with the more complex control system. then a press of the punch buttons X or Y will do the trick. also up (Jump) and A (Kick) or up and B (special Kick) will surface. each scenario will play through. The whole training will take place using practice boards. for the jumps, one guy runs in with a chair and puts it down, the next guy runs in with a board and climbs up on the chair and you have to press up and kick to smash it. teaches you to jump kick. A game in a game. lots of practice time and minimal talking. once complete you then have to fight the new guys.. they aren't wearing uniforms as they don't have them yet. they don't fight back., and you can kick the shit out of them. lol . then game begins,

• No need for saves as you only get one play through at a time, and the game remembers how many levels you have unlocked.

• main menu isn't always punches , can be blocks . up up up up, side side side side. It changes through out the game, more interesting and true to the mundane preventive practice, all be it very important for training instinct.

• must remain true to Taekwondo ethics. not pull the piss. emphasise the basics are super important to becoming a great warrior… because they are,

Concept

Menu Screen. you see cho standing there running through the routine left right punches 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 , or Blocks etc.

When you hit start (Any Button you are taken to the dream level select via a bubble cloud coming out of his head. 

Initially there is only one level, you fight your fellow schoolmates, and they pile up around the walls still twitching as they aren't dead, just hurt. This gets faster and harder. Once you hit a certain level you unlock the board breaking level. This follows the same style as it gets harder and more elaborate setups once you unlock all of them, the levels show various techniques from board breaking, multi opponent combat and weapons etc.

Each level, seemingly endless, gets harder until you die. by dying, you are woken up by your teacher and snapped out of the day dream back to the main menu, where you continue the mundane drills. Each time you wake up is slightly different and you return do a different mundane practice. blocks etc

As you fight, the unconscious bodies of your school mates pile up around you and fills the background. Once this pile reaches the top of the screen, a meter appears in the top right corner showing the height of the top of the pile in the form of a child's height meter. How high you get the pile is represented in a leader board to compete with others online.

Visual Style

Black and white cartoon style just like the original artwork, with red blood. The whole thing is hand animated on paper and scanned in, to build the sprites.

Mechanics

The player stands in the middle of the room with a ring around them on the floor. This marks when the enemy has entered the strike distance. The player then hits the left or right to hit in those directions.

Optional. could use X and Y as left and right punch and A and B as left and right kicks. And the control pad as up for jump and down for duck. making the control system a lot more strategic.

Will require play testing to see what works.. The first option is the same as One finger death punch.

Now thinking that all buttons are kicks and leave the punches as TKD is 99% kicks

or can he walk left and right as well. and make it a coop game.

Controls

X - Left High Kick

Y - Right High Kick

A - Left Kick

B - Right kick

DPad Left / Right - Face Direction. Not sure about this now will require testing

DPad Up - Jump

DPad Down - Duck

DPad Down → Up - High jump.

DPad Down → Up → Up (Fast) mega high jump

If the player is facing left and presses the left kick (A) it kicks normally front kick, crescent kick etc. Alternatively if the player presses Right kick while facing left , the character performs a spinning back kick.

LOTS OF COMBOS to LEARN AND MASTER .

eg.

• Down → Up → A + B = very high split kick both sides.

• (Facing Left) B - Spinning back kick
  (Facing Right) B - Either = Front kick, Crescent kick or Roundhouse kick.

Levels

• Start fighting your teammates in the school

• Once unlocked you can play board breaking in the school

• then weapons over a spike pit, the pit catches on fire as you progress through the level.

• other levels could be outside and fighting warriors on horseback

Each level has its own way of unlocking the next Level.

The Dojang, the bodies pile up behind you. when it reaches the top you get notified you unlocked the next level. and the option to continue. then the meter opens up and keeps getting higher. when you play this level the second time it just makes a sound at the roof top and continues until you loose.

The spike Pit, the bodies pile up on spikes until you hit the top of the pit , you unlock the next level and asked to continue. again just makes a sound on the second run through and continues.

You could get silly with the levels. Even on the board breaking one you could have a random chicken, this could be unlocked.

Music and Sound

This is not a heavy music filled game more empty or subtle. The Korean Gayageum and Drum is perfect for background level music as the sound of the fight will fill the rest. See video below. which would be perfect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3yVDdiZaCg

This is called Korean Sanjo. or Traditional Folk

Sound Effects

• kicks and punches

• Sound of Uniform material snapping

• Boards breaking and landing on floor

• bodies piling up

• spike piercing

• kiups, grumbles and murmurs

Demographics

Anyone who plays games of any type and is into Taekwondo. which is a lot of people.

I don't own or ever have owned a dog so this one has been quite difficult to design.. I mean, Cats.. easy as, but Dogs have a completely different character and face structure. This is what I have so far. However I realise now, after story boarding, that the entire art style should be more along the lines of a young childs drawing in Crayon, So I may need to simplify this. And also however, I'm trying to get this animated and released by Christmas. geh

I Love Capsicums. That is all. 

Originally drawn as a ghost. But I do love capsicum.. hence.. Yay... Capsicum

The idea came about from sukis original shark drawings on Procreate. From there I had the idea of the shark onsie animations. Storyboarded it out quickly on a postit note.. and the final animated emote Drawn and animated with Aseprite.