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Work in Progress / GDefender - Gravity-based Arcade Game

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H4ck1d
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Posted: 19th Aug 2007 02:44 Edited at: 19th Aug 2007 02:54
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----------Download----------
Download 1


----------What is it?----------
To start off with, imagine a pinball game, set in space, with the ball affected by the gravity of nearby planets. That, in a utshell, is the basic concept of the gameplay for GDefender. The player's ship can be rotated and the power of the shot can be adjusted. Then the gravity simulation takes over, swinging the shot around planets, bouncing it off, and hitting "objectives" (barrels) left and right.

The game progresses through several different levels (at the moment there are only 4), each with a varying number of planets, of different types and sizes/masses. The objective throughout is to collect as many 'barrels' as possible, for use as an energy source for your home planet.

At the moment the basic gameplay is completed and working, however, there is still much to add. One of the next improvements will be to add more 'special' objectives, aka special barrels that give powers, funky planets, etc. More on that later.

----------Screenshots----------

Main Menu:


GamePlay:












----------Done----------
Main Menu
Main Engine
Collision
Basic Graphics
Explosion Animation
Smoke Effect
Frames per sec based movement
Level Loading, editor
Level progression
Level intro screen
Basic game gui
Basic soundfx

----------Todo-----------
Sound FX, Music
2-Player mode
Level Codes
Better Ship model
Customizable Options
Highscores?
Projectile object
More backgrounds
Storyline
More 'objectives' - different 'special' barrels, etc.
Any more suggestions?....

----------Thanks To----------
Scraggle (Free Planets )
Sparky (Collision Plugin)

Well, that's all I've got, you can download the demo below. Atm, you can either select "Start Game" to start, or go to the "Enter code" option in the main menu and press enter, and then use the left/right keys to select any of the levels to play, and press enter again. I'm open to comments, critiques, and questions. Thanks guys!

-H4ck1d

[edit] Pictures aren't showing up, fixing...

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Digital Awakening
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Posted: 19th Aug 2007 03:04
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Sounds like a neat idea. Downloading is taking for ever though. Shots looks good!

You could add different types of ammunition.

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Digital Awakening
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Posted: 19th Aug 2007 03:36
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Now I've tested it a bit. It was more fun then I thought, I love the bounce sound.

It runs around 500 FPS on my laptop and apparently you do not use timer based movements so some barrels where spinning around at a very high speed (and some didn't rotate at all) and the aiming was a bit innacurate. I turned on maximum AA and AF (the barrels look good with 6xAA) and got around 200 FPS instead, which made it easier to aim.

You should make the power remain the same between shots.

I seemed to be skipping between levels quite fast although I didn't get all the barrels. And when I had hit all the barrels on the first level I had to wait for the bullet to dissapear.

You could add gravity and anti gravity objects that can be shot, that would make the level change over time. You could also add moving objects (blockers, barrels and gravity)

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H4ck1d
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Posted: 19th Aug 2007 04:21
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Thanks for the input DA! That's got to be quite a laptop you've got! I tried to implement timer-based movement, however chances are I did it wrong or just forgot it for some sections (aiming, power adjustment). I'll definitely look into that more. As for the skipping between levels, each level has a certain number of shots (you can see the shots remaining in the bottom-left corner, by the sputnik-type thing. I couldn't decide whether to wait until the user got all of the barrels or just give them a certain number of shots. In the end I went with the current one, but I'll just as easily be willing to change it. What is your opinion?

Thanks for the ideas, especially with the idea of different types of bullets and of other types of objects. I'll definitely try to implement these!

Finally, I'd just like to ask if anyone knows of a good site where I could host the file. It's just above 40 mb, but for some reason I can't get the forum uploader to work. If anyone could suggest a better place to upload it than my current one, I'll be glad to upload it there. Thanks all!

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Digital Awakening
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Posted: 19th Aug 2007 13:37
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Nah, it's quite an old laptop, about 2½ years. It's just that you don't have a lot of graphics on screen and my laptop have a real graphics card (Radeon Mobility 9700). If you can't get everything time based you can always set the sync rate to 60 (or lower).

With a game like this people want a challenge. That is you should have a limited amount of shots to get all or a minimum requirement of barrels to be able to get to the next level. You should clock the time it takes for the player to do this. Each level have a bonus clock and the player gets 1 point per second left on that clock. Also give the player points for shots remaining and extra points for taking out more then the required amount of barrels, when the minimum is reached the game ends but a skilled player could take out extra barrels with his last shot.

I would like to see joystick support added to this at a later stage.

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H4ck1d
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Posted: 22nd Aug 2007 18:37
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Sorry about the delay in response, I've been a bit caught up with work and family commitments. Again, thank you DA for your input, it's really helpful and I'm definitely going to put a lot of what you've suggested into this . At the moment I'm working on implementing 'special' objectives which can orbit around the planet, and if the player hits it then he gets some sort of bonus (better ammo, larger shot, longer shot time?). I've also, at your suggestion, set the sync rate to 60, and I really like the results, so thanks for the suggestion!

Again, thanks tons DA for the input! Has anyone else out there tried out this game or have any input? I'd really appreciate anything. Thanks guys!

-H4ck1d

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dark coder
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Posted: 22nd Aug 2007 20:16
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Well I got 2000 FPS and wouldn't even aim the ship without spinning 50 times, Timer Based Movement for everything

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Dark Dragon
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Posted: 22nd Aug 2007 20:18
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Nice
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Libervurto
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Posted: 22nd Aug 2007 21:53 Edited at: 22nd Aug 2007 21:53
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Why are there loads of barrels in space?
I think they should be asteroids or satellites (yeh yeh, anything orbiting a planet is a satellite )

Your signature has been erased by a mod because it was rubbish.
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H4ck1d
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Posted: 22nd Aug 2007 23:46
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Heh well that's part of what I'm working on, getting the storyline all sorted out . For now, just know that the barrels are an energy source, and you're collecting it.

Well I've got some more done on the game, however I'm just running out the door now so I don't have any screenshots or downloads. Sorry! But what I've got now, is that I've added support in both the level editor and the game itself, I have added a new satellite that orbits around planets and when hit, change the next shot to a special shot. I plan on having 2 or 3 special shots, but at the moment there's only 1 - a giant beach ball . Since it's larger, it's much easier to hit the barrels. I'm also going to play with its mass to make it act somewhat differently from the original shot.

Anyways, sorry I'm out of time, but I'll post some screenshots and maybe a new upload once I get a chance. Thanks for the feedback guys! Oh, and @darkcoder I've added a sync rate of 60 and added timer-based movement to the rotating so that won't happen anymore.

-H4ck1d

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Digital Awakening
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Posted: 23rd Aug 2007 00:10
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No problems I think this game have potential to be fun and it seems quite solid so I want to help you make an enjoyable game.

BTW, you may wish to rethink your name. Defender is an old classic arcade game that's very well known so people may think your game is a remake of sorts.

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Libervurto
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Posted: 23rd Aug 2007 00:30
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I've got a name: Space Balls!
Looks cool so far

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RickV
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Posted: 23rd Aug 2007 11:02
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Hi,

Can you please post your best shots into the TGC Gallery? We're very impressed with you game!

http://www.thegamecreators.com/?m=gallery_upload

Rick Vanner
Director
TGC Team

Financial Director
TGC Team
[Check out Jed McKenna - http://www.wisefoolpress.com/]
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H4ck1d
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Posted: 23rd Aug 2007 17:43 Edited at: 23rd Aug 2007 17:44
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@RickV - cool! I've uploaded a screenshot!

Quote: "BTW, you may wish to rethink your name. Defender is an old classic arcade game that's very well known so people may think your game is a remake of sorts."


Heh, actually I've been thinking about that for a while now. I probably would've changed the name a while ago, but I'm particularly fond of my logo that I've used for the game, which has made me hesitant to change the name . So I'll have to think on that one a bit.

Quote: "Space Balls!"


Haha, umm I think that one's already been used

Okay, here's a screenshot of some of the stuff I've added. Quite obviously, there's the new beach ball. Its large size makes it much easier to get barrels and other objectives. Toward the top of the picture you can see a satellite orbiting around the planet. This is the object which, if hit, will turn your next shot into the beach ball. I'm not sure if I'm gonna keep the model though - personally I think it's kinda ugly. What do you guys think?



Allright, that's all I've got for now. Thanks all for the input and encouragement, it's really helping a lot! And the more the better! Thanks!

-H4ck1d

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Diggsey
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Posted: 23rd Aug 2007 18:34
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Quite fun to play, but there are a few things you could improve:
Do you really need to use sparky's dll for this? All the collision is on circles, which is exceptionally fast if you use 2d vectors for it
Also, maybe have the ball come onto the other side of the screen or something, because it's not very interesting if you get an odd bounce, and it goes flying away!


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Digital Awakening
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Posted: 23rd Aug 2007 18:35
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Heard the expression "Kill your darlings"?

I like the idea of satelites for powerups, but from the shot I can't tell if it looks good or not.

BTW, is a beach ball the best option? The rest of your game have quite a realistic style. Maybe a rocket instead?

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H4ck1d
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Posted: 23rd Aug 2007 22:32 Edited at: 24th Aug 2007 02:38
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@Diggsey - Thanks! Actually you would be mostly right about the collision, the only thing is that I rely heavily on sparky's to get the correct bounce vector. I could theoretically code my own, but I wouldn't have a clue where to start. As for the ball coming in on the other side, I hadn't thought of that, but I'm not sure how well that would work, with the gravity suddenly shifting and everything. One other alternative I've considered is either to have the shot just bounce off the sides, or the other thing could be to have it self-destruct early if it goes too far out. I'll have to think about it.

@DA - Actually I hadn't heard the expression before, but I've looked it up online now . Heh you've got a good point about the beach ball - it does seem quite out of place. The only problem is, I can't think of anything large like that which would fit in. The only thing that comes to mind is perhaps to add a "force field" around the regular shot that lets it hit more barrels? We'll have to see. But I agree, the beach ball has to go

To all - I'm currently working on fixing a bug with the explosions. If you've noticed, if there's an explosion currently cycling when the shot self-destructs, then as soon as that explosion disappears a new turn for aiming starts, without the last explosion completing. So I'm (frusturatingly) fixing that, which will clear the way for some more improvements in the future as well.

Thanks everybody for your input, I appreciate it!

-H4ck1d

[edit] Gah, this bug is driving me insane! It could take awhile...

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Digital Awakening
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Posted: 24th Aug 2007 03:18
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You could speed up the simulation while the ball is out of bounds. Personally I'm not sure if it's a good idea to do anything about it as it would seriously affect gameplay.

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H4ck1d
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Posted: 24th Aug 2007 17:56
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Woot! I fixed the bug! Ah that feels good. Heh. Anyways... I've got work today in half an hour until late tonight, so I probably won't be getting any work done today on this .

I'm planning on adding 2 things soon (aka once I have a chance to work on this). The first thing is to change the beach ball to something more realistic for the game. Anyone got any ideas? I'm having a little trouble coming up with an idea of something that large.

The other thing I'll probably add very soon is some nice background music. I found this great site - http://www.incompetech.com - that has lots of free royalty-free music, so I might add something from that once I have a chance to look at some of them. If anyone wants to request a specific (royalty-free) song to add to the game, I'll be glad to look into it.

Oh, and I just remembered something! I've also added new camera control so that if the shot object goes out of the screen, the camera zooms smoothly out, and then returns to its original position at the next shot. I'll have to look into having it zoom back in once the shot returns to the screen, but atm it stays zoomed out until the next shot.

So that's about all I've got for now until I've had some more time to work on this. I'll update you all once I've had some more progress. Thanks guys!

-H4ck1d

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Digital Awakening
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Posted: 25th Aug 2007 14:56 Edited at: 25th Aug 2007 14:57
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I think I like the camera zoom out idea. You could add a bit of camera pan to it so it tracks the ball slightly as it zooms out, that way you don't have to zoom out as much and the over all effect would probably look more impressive.

Base this on the shot's distance from the center of the screen, use OBJECT SCREEN X() and OBJECT SCREEN Y() and once the shot gets past a set distance (radius) from the center of the screen the camera starts zooming and panning based on how far the shot exceeds that distance and what angle it is at relative to the center of the screen.

The bigger shot could be a comet!

And thanks for that link

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tha_rami
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Posted: 25th Aug 2007 16:19
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Looks good. If you ever need some 2D images of nebula backgrounds, planet textures or the like - I could make you some. I'm kind'of'a space-artist, so I might be able to help.

Just drop me a line.


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H4ck1d
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Posted: 27th Aug 2007 18:47 Edited at: 27th Aug 2007 18:48
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Sorry about the delay in response, workload, homework, and church have kept me away for now.

As always, thanks all for the great response!

@the_rami - Thanks for the offer! As you can probably tell by the backgrounds, my knowledge and ability in making space textures are somewhat limited, some help could be great! I'll think about it and send you and email if I decide I'd like the help. Thanks for the offer!

Quote: "You could add a bit of camera pan to it so it tracks the ball slightly as it zooms out, that way you don't have to zoom out as much and the over all effect would probably look more impressive."


I would actually love to implement this, but the only problem is that now I've added a new feature that may more or less make this more or less impossible:



As you can see from the screenshot, I've added support for a special shot with multiple objects. It works really great! The only problem is, now with the multiple shots, if more than one go off the screen (which happens quite frequently, as I've found), you can't really pan the camera. It may still be possible, however, for me to add camera panning when there is only one shot object present.

Thanks for the input guys! As always, I'd love any feedback, comments, ideas, etc. Thanks!

-H4ck1d

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H4ck1d
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Posted: 31st Aug 2007 06:53
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Hey all! It's really late, so I've gotta keep this pretty brief, but I just wanted to keep everyone updated.

As of the last post, I've made a few improvements:
There are now 2 special objects that you can hit (although both still give you the same special shot type)
I've added what I call 'panels.' Basically they're plain objects that seem to zoom toward the camera - kinda hard to explain, see the screenshot below. At the moment, as I wanted to test them, one appears every time you hit a barrel, that will change in the future.
I've changed the type of explosion that occurs depending on what has happened. AKA the explosion is different depending on whether you hit a barrel, a special object, or if your time has run out.
Fixed several small bugs, including a bug giving the user too many points



So basically what I've got left is to really finish the structure of the game (how points are determined, timing, etc.) and adding some more sparkle, and then some small additions like a new shot type, etc.

Aaaand, finally, I have another demo - a lot's the same, but a lot's different too. I recommend selecting "Enter Code" in the main menu and using the left/right arrowkeys to select one of the last 2 levels to try everything out. Again, I know the words "Another Barrel" can get a little annoying, they're only for testing purposes, I promise .

Here's the download link: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?fye4mxdnjek

Enjoy! And as always, I'd love feedback, criticism, or worship

-H4ck1d

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