Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Shook]

SO, WHAT IS THIS? It's a vertically scrolling space shooter. Not the most original of concepts, but i figured i'd start out by seeing if i could make something fun at all. Along the way, i picked up Chartle for additional programming and level design, and Basheman for wonderful chiptune goodness. Start the game, select your difficulty and weapons, and get shootin'!



Where it differs, however, is that your only actual objective is to get through the levels alive, since destroying them all is completely impossible (and i mean that literally). Since this gets way harder as the game progresses, you get money and XP for destroying aliens, which you can spend on upgrades in the inter-level shop, which can help you SHOOT MORE ALIENS.



As you can see, there's both buyable upgrades (costs DOSH) and skillpoints. The upgrades provide the most necessary changes, while skillpoints are there to tune your ship to your playing style, be that a heavily armored and mobile tank, or a not quite as armored deadly glass cannon, or anything in between. Note that the most powerful skill upgrades might require you to specialize!

So anyways, SLIGHTLY OUTDATED GAMEPLAY VIDEO:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1h_Zwvpi2E

The game has, as of 23/08/2018, reached version 1.0! Version 1.1 has been released on 03/10/2018.

By now you're probably either running away briskly, or hoping for a download link. In the latter case, here you go:

Download here!

Just put the EXE in a folder of its own, it's going to export some files that it needs (and a few other goodies). Feedback most welcome! Hopefully there won't be any bugs, but if you run across any, do tell!

Additionally, Basheman's excellent soundtrack is available for listening and/or purchase at the following links:
Youtube
DistroKid/Spotify
Bandcamp
And Patreon, if you wish to support his future endeavours!

[MirrorIrorriM]

Definitely looks interesting, downloading now.

[The Fool]

I finished it on Normal. I didn't bother with scatter shot, because that damage modifier is harsh. The shrapnel upgrade had a lovely chaining effect, and it got me a lot of money quickly, meaning I breezed through the last couple levels.

Lowering the scatter shot penalty to 75% might be more appealing.

[Shook]

Well, the thing about the spread shot is that even with the huge debuff, it's actually insanely powerful. Get your damage up to 7.5, and it'll blow through everything much faster than a 15 damage single shot would. That's probably because the end result is still 50% more damage being pumped out, and with the spread, it hits a lot more enemies. It's a damned tricky thing to balance (because it's a potential game breaker, much like the splinter cannon), but I'll see if I can't make it a bit more appealing. :U

However, I can say that past level 10, they suddenly won't be nearly as overpowered. Two very annoying foes are inbound there, and I'm probably going to start throwing even more dick moves in the players face. Not to mention the incoming boss. c:

Thanks for your input! I'll be gone the most of tomorrow, so I won't be doing any development there.

[Thief^]

Looks interesting, might give this a play later!

[Caz]

I like the graphics and upgrades.

[Muffindog]

I just finished the game on easy and normal. It's not that hard, but the first few levels are the worst. You have little firepower and can't kill things properly. You can't get that much money that way, and can't evolve that much. On later levels you can kill so much things that you can buy multiple expensive upgrades at once. So perhaps the beggining should be a bit easier, and the later levels a bit harder.

I went with shrapnel too, and it's really sweet. The chain effect is just great. And the regeneration is awesome too, especially when upgraded twice. You can kill stuff and heal at the same time c:

Overall, it's not something new or unique, but it's much fun nonetheless and looks decently polished for a first game (it's your first, right?) I'm most certainly looking forward to see more.

The ending was way too cliffhanger-ish! You must make moar!

If you need any help with the GML or game maker in general, feel free to ask. It's my weapon tool of choice. But with your new co-programer, I hope you'll have no difficulties.

On a semi-related note, when I said you should do games, I meant something with graphics done in your drawing style. It would be just plain awesome to have a player character who's all c: but goes >:U when attacking and :c when hurt But yeah, finish this project first. It certainly is promising.

[Shook]

Oh, well that makes sense, I'm thinking about the same thing myself. It would be lovely to make a game where it isn't the graphics taking all the time to make (bosses in particular take forever). First things first though, I have a lot of spriting ahead of me here.

Also yeah, there is a bit of an uneven difficulty gradient, I'm hoping to smooth it out somewhat. However, your delusions of godly power only lasts to the beginning of level 10, because past that point, shit gets seriously real. Instant kills and mostly-homing missiles directed at you will likely make their entry there, and there will be heavily shielded mooks (read: only super shots can harm them from the front) to seriously complicate your path of destruction. I'll probably also crank up the number of dick moves if the former isn't enough of a challenge. (huehuehue)
Past level 15? Well, there will be red sentries and insta-kill mooks. Don't worry though, insta-kill attacks come with a glaringly obvious forewarning. If you still manage to get hit... Well, your own damn fault then. :U (it is possible that insta-kill attacks might not be quite as powerful on lower difficulties)

Also, expect more cliffhangers, because from this point on, the completion of the game will give you a hint at a future feature/event, just for the trolololololz. Except the finished game, of course.

In other news, I'm currently on a small hiatus, because I had a rough weekend (full of PARTY HARDY and less sleep in two nights than I'd normally get on one) and college things are popping up. I'll resume soon though, co-programmer is very nearly done with the new boss. C:

[Muffindog]

Yeah, I guess making the sprites (especially animated ones) takes most of the development time. If you hang on the GMC, you might have seen that many developers like to add a bar and show their current progress in their signature. 90% coding and 3.7% graphics ain't a rare sight...

It's completely understandable that the game's unbalanced - it's a WIP. You'll probably have to tweak the balance all the time till you finish the game. You can thank me for my optimism later c:

Oh, and you certainly don't seem to be in any help with the enemies. You seem to have maaaaany ideas how to make the player's life a living hell Not that I complain...

Good luck with your college stuff, and hopefully you had a fun time getting hammered that weekend, even though the consequences might have been the nicest ones I'll check the new version when you release it.

[Shook]

Oh it was fun, quite a change from my usual daily routine. c: (also thanks for your optimism, it is "later" by every definition of the word)

Also yeah, i have LOTS of painful ideas for the player to tackle. More than what could fit in the 20 planned levels, i think, unless the escalation of enemies gets even quicker near the end. (read: current progression formula only allows for 3 red ship types (one after each boss), 8 yellows (odd-numbered levels, minus boss levels) and 10 greens (even-numbered levels, plus 2 to begin with))
I'm probably going to dick around with that progression anyways, since level 11 will introduce 3 new foes (one red and one green from level 10, one yellow for the end of 11).
Basically, level 19 is going to have a shitload of possible variety. It will also serve as a gate for the final boss, because if you can't handle level 19, no way in hell you're going to beat the boss.

In other news, been dicking around with the SECOND BOSS sprite.



Perhaps a tad too messy, but hey, still needs a bit of work. The large central turret will cover some of the decal things. You'll probably be too occupied dodging the storm of boolits and rokkits (aw shit son they're semi-homing) and lazors (HUGE lazor, possibly insta-kill if my co-bro is up for it) coming your way to even notice, though. :U

(parenthesis)

[Muffindog]

That sounds all kinds of deadly and awesome! But I have a question - will you allow some kind of grinding? If one can't handle one level and make progress towards the end, will he be forced to restart from the beginning?
Although that kind of situation can be easily avoided with checkpoints or with careful planing of the difficulty/balance. Another would be replaying/endless level 19 till you have enough/all upgrades and are ready for the final showdown.
Just be careful with that one - you are probably used to your own game because you test it and make it, you know exactly how it works. Others do not possess such experience and understanding of the game. Keep that in mind please.

And to be honest, I can't remember how the first boss looks likes either, because I was... that's right, avoiding death by millimeters and watching my health bar go down at a frightening speed!

The second one looks fairly detailed, but not really threatening. Nothing that the mentioned turrets can't fix.

Anyways, patiently awaiting the update.


{Have[some(variety)]}

[Shook]

That sounds all kinds of deadly and awesome! But I have a question - will you allow some kind of grinding? If one can't handle one level and make progress towards the end, will he be forced to restart from the beginning?
Although that kind of situation can be easily avoided with checkpoints or with careful planing of the difficulty/balance. Another would be replaying/endless level 19 till you have enough/all upgrades and are ready for the final showdown.
Just be careful with that one - you are probably used to your own game because you test it and make it, you know exactly how it works. Others do not possess such experience and understanding of the game. Keep that in mind please.

Well, i'm of the opinion that the levels are short enough to not warrant checkpoints, with the possible exception of the very final boss. I mean, 72 seconds per level? Most people can survive that, and it's not a huge loss if you die near the end. But yeah, dying in a level puts you back to the beginning of it. We're implementing the ability to sell back upgrades though, so if you made a bad choice, don't sweat it too much.
AS FOR GRINDING, i can't say i'll let it be done in its purest form, because i don't like grinding. However, i'm planning to let the player retry levels once level selection is implemented, so that he/she can squeeze the highest amount of cash out of every level. Like, if you complete level 1 with 900 cash at first, you can retry it later and get 1100 instead, for a net gain of 200. I'm thinking of having the cash stack up progressively, so that getting 200 extra in level 1 will add 200 to your wallet in the following levels as well. (for a grand total of 200 extra, of course)

And to be honest, I can't remember how the first boss looks likes either, because I was... that's right, avoiding death by millimeters and watching my health bar go down at a frightening speed!

hee hee

The second one looks fairly detailed, but not really threatening. Nothing that the mentioned turrets can't fix.

None of the ships look very threatening, but don't worry, it'll be far worse than it looks. :U

Also wut



red blockfaces

[Muffindog]

That's a wise decision. I guess it'll add some replay value, as you'll want to revise the early levels now that you have super destructive powerz and gain extra monies. And while grinding is usually bad, it's not nearly as bad as the frustration of not being able to progress. Luckily, I had no such problem, but I must admit I was quite worried that I'll buy wrong upgrades and screw things up when I played the first time. Level selection and the ability to sell them will fix all those dilemmas.

Oh, I (don't) like that rate of fire... One red ship is not that bad, but when you throw 9000 of them at once at the player's face ... Oh god...

On a very random, somewhat-related note, have you ever played Warblade?

[Shook]

I have indeed, and believe it or not, it's not the first time people have drawn parallels between Warblade and this.

Also yeah, red blockfaces will be a major pain. However, i'll also be a bit more conservative with them than the others, since they have the potential to make hell freeze over. Not only do they shoot an awful lot, red lasers also cause 8 damage instead of 5. And that latter part is a recurring theme, since all red projectiles will cause 60% more damage than green ones, meaning that big red ones (heavens help you) will cause 40 damage ON NORMAL. Obviously, those will be used sparingly.

As for the replaying, i'm still not quite sure about how to tackle it, but letting the player keep his/her upgrades might allow for more gameplay time, but on the other hand, replaying level 1 when you have level 17 upgrades would probably be a chore. Maybe it could be like, upgrade states are saved on a per-level basis, so you can try out different combinations to earn maximum cash with the amount you otherwise had, while still keeping the challenge. I'd like to keep the player challenged at all times (which is probably impossible, so at least most of the time), and letting the player keep upgrades from later levels would make the first ones ridiculously easy (i've tried). I guess it's a nice way to show how much the upgrades matter, but playing through previous levels for more cash shouldn't be seen as a chore.

And about the difficulty, the thing is that i'm balancing it on me being able to beat it on Nightmare most of the time. If i can do it on Nightmare, then it's fairly safe to assume that most people can do it on Normal (and one crazy dude even got to level 6 on EPIC MAN MODE >:C which is fucking amazingly crazy, i didn't bother past level 1). Even if Normal is too hard, there's always Easy to go to.

also



Newest look for the second boss, which is just about the end result minus some random scratching. Now i just need to sprite the rocket turrets and huge laser turret so we can finish up the boss.

[Sowelu]

Tyrian and Piranha were some of the /best/ games.  Posting to remind myself to play this later.