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Work in Progress / Savior From Orbit

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Jimpo
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Posted: 29th Feb 2008 19:34
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Story:
"My father, thrusting his hand towards the starry night sky, told me of a savior up there. Someone who orbits our planet, all planets, crushing the countless asteroids before they enter the atmosphere. A hero who blazes across the heavens, protecting the Milky Way. But how long can our savior from orbit last? Up there all alone"

Gameplay:
Players will gun down asteroids and mine gems to purchase upgrades. After each stage, players will be allowed to upgrade and repair their ship using their collected gems. There will also be 4 different weapons to use and upgrade.

Screenshot:


Attached to this post is the current build, featuring the basic game engine. Use WASD to move, left click for primary weapon, and right click for secondary weapon.

Shooter - Game Finished

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wickedly kick it
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Posted: 29th Feb 2008 20:09
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that was pretty fun, but i would work on some cool explosion effects when you shoot the asteroids... it seems like a promising game

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Mr Tank
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Posted: 29th Feb 2008 21:10 Edited at: 29th Feb 2008 21:10
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Seems like a good start. A few annoying things though...


Windowed mode and mouse clicking doesn't really go. If you accidentally click outside the screen, it messes up your game. Fullscreen windowed is better.

Having the ship instantly point towards where you click and the rotate and thrust thing doesn't really go. For starters it's difficult to keep track of where you're pointing, and so which way thrust goes. Also, turning using a/d is so much slower than clicking with the mouse- it seems inconsistent. For consistency, you could make the ship always point in the mouse cursor direction, or have classic controls (no mouse), or have the gun in a "turret" controlled by the mouse, so you can still rotate and thrust the main body of the ship without gettting confused.

I'm guessing that you're using if mouseclick() for mouse detection. Really you should be using mouseclick bits

0 means no mouse buttons pressed
1 means LMB pressed
2 means RMB pressed
3 means BOTH are pressed.

In yours if you press both mouse buttons, it doesn't detect it. You can use

if mouseclick()&&%1

from Left Mouse Button (LMB)

and

if mouseclick()&&%10

for RMB.

I'll post something in code snippets, since i've seen people do this a lot.

Otherwise nice stuff. Seems to run smoothly and solidly.

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Jimpo
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Posted: 2nd Mar 2008 02:13
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Thanks for the feedback! Anyone else have advice?

Quote: "that was pretty fun, but i would work on some cool explosion effects when you shoot the asteroids"

Ok, I'll see what I can do with the explosions!

Quote: "Windowed mode and mouse clicking doesn't really go. If you accidentally click outside the screen, it messes up your game."

I was going to add an option later, but I will now make full screen be default.

Quote: "For consistency, you could make the ship always point in the mouse cursor direction"

That was how I originally had the controls. Maybe I will switch back to that and see how it works.

As for the mouse clicks, that was intentional. I didn't want players to use both weapons simultaneously.

Shooter
Blocks
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Virtual Nomad
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Posted: 2nd Mar 2008 04:29 Edited at: 2nd Mar 2008 04:31
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hey, jimpo. glad to see you back so soon with another project.

it looks like you'll be making some changes to the controls and i do believe it needs those changes so looking forward to an update there. and, i'm for the full-screen mode as well.

one thing to mention at this stage is that with the very fast speeds some of the asteroids can achieve, the player should be able to rotate much faster than it currently does in order to have a chance at avoiding or shooting them down. right now that rotate rate seems way too sluggish. ie, watch the balance between asteroid velocity and player rotate rate.

i love the pop-up style energy bar that you're using here; i don't think i've seen that before. and, the graphics are looking very nice. great start on this!

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Jimpo
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Posted: 4th Mar 2008 18:28 Edited at: 4th Mar 2008 18:30
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Quote: "i love the pop-up style energy bar that you're using here; i don't think i've seen that before. and, the graphics are looking very nice. great start on this!"

Thanks! I like the energy bar myself. As for the graphics, most of them come from this forum in one of the free art threads.

Update time:
Player always faces mouse
Fullscreen
Slower explosions, more debris, engine thrust, and cursor
Upgrade screen between each level

Screen:

Next update will include the weapon system!

Download is attached. Tell me what you think!

Shooter
Blocks

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draknir_
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Posted: 4th Mar 2008 22:08
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What font is that? It gave me a sense of deja vu..
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Mr Tank
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Posted: 4th Mar 2008 23:41
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Much better! I got to stage 19. Found myself using secondary weapon almost all the time. Pick one big rock, destroy all of it, then move on. Fire a couple of homing shots, then slam them both into the asteroid at the same time.

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da power pwnerer
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Posted: 5th Mar 2008 00:36 Edited at: 5th Mar 2008 00:37
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Is the the RPG Maker font? It looks very similar to that



-Dan

EDIT: No, it can't be! (Not trying to be sarcastic in any way )


http://Freewebs.com/noobisoft
Come to Noobisoft's website today!
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Jimpo
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Posted: 10th Mar 2008 00:57
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draknir_, the font is MS Gothic, which is the RPG Maker font.

Quote: "Much better! I got to stage 19. Found myself using secondary weapon almost all the time. Pick one big rock, destroy all of it, then move on. Fire a couple of homing shots, then slam them both into the asteroid at the same time."

Stage 19 is pretty good. You inspired me to see how far I could get, which was stage 22. What upgrades did you buy?

While testing I found and fixed a bug that involved unwillingly purchasing multiple of the same upgrade if you had too much money.

Today I plan on adding the third weapon, some type of spread fire shot. I want to add 4 weapons to choose from, but I don't really have an idea for what the fourth should be.

Shooter
Blocks
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Jimpo
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Posted: 22nd Mar 2008 18:45
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It has been a while but I've added in all four weapons now, and players can freely choose between each by left/right clicking on the box. In the final version, players will be able to upgrade the weapons too.

Please give me any feedback or suggestions, because my next update will be the finished game. My main concern is if the weapons and upgrades are well balanced.

Screen:

The download is attached.

Shooter
Blocks

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Virtual Nomad
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Posted: 22nd Mar 2008 23:56
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ack! downloaded the latest version and the game starts, mouse and W(ASD) function, FPS show on screen (~500+ FPS) but NOTHING MOVES. asteroids are suspended, ship rotates with the mouse fine, W/Upkey shows thrust tail, but nothing will move. i've tried all keys to see if it's in a PAUSE state; nothing helps.

savior needs a savior!

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Jimpo
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Posted: 23rd Mar 2008 17:54
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That's a weird bug, Virtual Nomad. Does everyone have this happen, or does the game run normally for some people?

I think I might have a fix and will upload another version soon.

Shooter
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Mr Tank
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Posted: 23rd Mar 2008 23:42 Edited at: 23rd Mar 2008 23:44
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Works fine for me. I play with the homing shots. Makes it possible to completely destroy one asteroid at a time, minimising the amount of debris flying about at a time. Haven't really practiced with the other weapons so don't know how balanced they are.

What with rejuvenative shields, it is wise for the player to hang around at the end of a level when there's only 1 asteroid left, and wait for the shields to recharge. This is a bit boring though, and there is no way of the player knowing what the shield level is when not being hit anyway, so to play best, the player should hang around for ages before shooting the last asteroid. If you don't want an energy bar on screen all the time, maybe just let it show when a particular key is depressed. Preferably something easy to reach from the w or up key- perhaps ctrl (ie either left or right)

Would be cool if the game didn't just quit out when you die. Just having a screen at the end saying what level you got to and allowing you to play again would suffice.

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Jimpo
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Posted: 27th Mar 2008 23:46
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I've hopefully fixed the game being stuck for some people. Can you try the latest version Virtual Nomad? Plus, I added in a new feature; pressing the middle mouse button will display the health bar.

Quote: "Would be cool if the game didn't just quit out when you die. Just having a screen at the end saying what level you got to and allowing you to play again would suffice."

I tend to save the menus and music as the last things I add. I'll add a title screen and gameover screen next.

Shooter
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Virtual Nomad
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Posted: 28th Mar 2008 02:27 Edited at: 28th Mar 2008 02:30
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Jimpo, the fix is good and i'm back in action! care to elaborate on what the issue was?

some comments/feedback:

/weapons on:

i love weapon 4. offense + defense built into one. it's great in a pinch when things get too hectic. my only complaint is that it doesn't seem to be activating instantly. i had a small 'roid closing in and still got rammed after activating the weapon. i don't know if it was your intent to provide a temporary sanctuary/shield with the weapon so this is definitely not an issue. it saved me many more times than it didn't and thats "all good" in my book.

the homing/guidable shot isn't something i've been wanting to use but i need to give it another chance. without experience with it, i can't offer feedback on the question of balance you asked about.

i still haven't spent enough time with the tri-shot blaster but i look forward to it. i love the recoil effect, by the way. nice touch/detail! some thought will definitely have to be applied when using that "scatter-blaster". *see edit below*

/weapons off

and, that leads me to reiteration of the fact that this seemingly "simple" space shooter is a lot more than that. i go into a terribly cerebral mode when playing, making every shot count, considering their effects, and planning my next move. i can't say i've ever felt that dimension in a game like this, and it's greatly appreciated here.

3 more items to comment on quickly:

1) suggestion: audio/video alert when a gem has been collected. (and/or maybe a small visual gem-count shown when the health bar is displayed?) sometimes i think i destroy them. is that possible? and, btw, i like the ability to check my health via MMB. nice addition.

2) you've obviously accounted for the 'roids and a sometime tendency for them to get "lost" in the sides of the screen when their trajectory is near horizontal/vertical. i think another degree or 2 could still be added/subtracted to the modifier.

3) is it too late to add edge-wrapping for player shots? it feels slightly "wrong" without it/i'm missing it in a game like this. very minor issue and i'll learn to live without it!

nice game, jimpo. patiently awaiting the final version now.

edit ok, i went in at tried the triple-shot before posting this. it's KING. heh. perhaps a bit too powerful/maybe add more delay to it's re-charge (or recoil?) for balancing purposes?

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Jimpo
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Posted: 29th Mar 2008 02:58
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Thanks for all the feedback Virtual Nomad! The previous version wasn't accounting for the fact that the timer() function eventually returns negative values, so the movement intervals weren't calculated correctly.

Quote: "my only complaint is that it doesn't seem to be activating instantly"

The bullets start in the center of the ship, and slide into position. This gives it a small time before the bullets move outside the collision area of the ship. Weapon 4 is my personal favorite!

Quote: "1) suggestion: audio/video alert when a gem has been collected."

This is something I will definitely add. Also, gems will only disappear when you collect them or beat the stage.

Quote: "2) you've obviously accounted for the 'roids and a sometime tendency for them to get "lost" in the sides of the screen when their trajectory is near horizontal/vertical."

This made me double check the screen wrap code, and it turns out it was calculated wrong. Asteroids can no longer get lost off screen.

Quote: "3) is it too late to add edge-wrapping for player shots?"

Edge-wrapping was an original feature, but I felt it made things too easy. I'll play around with bullet lifetime and edge-wrapping.

Quote: "i went in at tried the triple-shot before posting this. it's KING. heh. perhaps a bit too powerful/maybe add more delay to it's re-charge (or recoil?) for balancing purposes?"

I like the delay time because it equals the time it takes to fire three single shots. I will try increasing the recoil.

If anyone else has any feedback, it is greatly appreciated.

Shooter
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Wiggett
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Posted: 29th Mar 2008 04:49
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it's Bowie up there in space! pretty nifty game mate good work!

Syndicate remastered: Corporate persuasion through urban violence.
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