Steven M Posted June 25, 2011 Report Share Posted June 25, 2011 http://dl.dropbox.com/u/27392295/lobster01.exe Use the arrow keys to move, the Shift key to single/double jump and the A/S keys to use the left/right claws. Hints and Tips: The crab arms won't last forever (they generally berk out after the counter at the bottom hits 450) and you can't move while using them. You can either walk into keys to pick them up or grab them with your claws. The same applies for opening doors - either walk into them or unlock them from a distance. You can also use the crab arms or claws to protect yourself from enemies. Wrap the arms around yourself like a shield. Try bashing either crab key and yelling 'ORA ORA ORA' while you do it. DONE Guide Claw demo TO DO Quick Claw demo Throwing Swinging/climbing/possibly wallbouncing Hostage situations A fully working level for SAGE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven M Posted June 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2011 http://dl.dropbox.com/u/27392295/quickclawbetav027.exe Not pictured: player swinging around at a rate of approximately eight full-circles per second. Use the arrow keys to move, the Shift key to single/double jump and the Q/W keys to use the left/right claws. You can connect to platforms and walls, zip up the line and through the platforms, or even swing around a bit. While you're connected to a platform you can swing around through backdrops but you can't jump-disconnect through them. Yet. If that could be implemented without breaking the game, I'd like to try it. I am by no means an expert when it comes to physics or game design/programming, so I'm working in Multimedia Fusion 2 as usual. So if there's something technical about the demo that gets your goat (or you end up glitching out) then do let me know! And if you're interested in helping me fix the problems let me know also. DONE Guide Claw demo Quick Claw demo TO DO Quick Claw movement - allow player to use the Claws while moving horizontally/vertically (bug seems to send the chain link objects completely out of whack when trying this); allow player to use moving platforms again (see chain links, out of, whack, etc) Quick Claw camera - adjust the camera somehow so it doesn't 'snap' when the player enters the swinging phase Throw Claw demo - collecting, dropping and throwing Objects Hostage situations and at least one boss fight A fully working level for SAGE Nightmare Redcoat mode Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven M Posted July 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2011 Whipping up some sprites - have a WIP sheet. I'm not great at animations or backgrounds but I'll work on those along with the engine. Top row: the heroes, also featuring different renders of the same suit (currently gunning for the far right suit) Bottom row: teh bad guys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlazefireLP Posted July 6, 2011 Report Share Posted July 6, 2011 If you made them from scratch, then awesome work Steven . I'll play that engine when I get the chance tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rawr Posted July 6, 2011 Report Share Posted July 6, 2011 Man I love those sprites so far. I'll have to test this out sometime! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strife Posted July 6, 2011 Report Share Posted July 6, 2011 This is quite a neat concept, and as long as you design the levels and challenges around it, then I could see it becoming a sweet gimmick. As for the lobster sprites, I definitely like the one on the far right the best. Also, the girl on the bottom reminds me of Cammy from Street Fighter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven M Posted July 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2011 Not a good sign, but I'm stuck on the plan of action for the first demo or proof-of-concept. The way I see it I've got three choices, but any advice (especially from people with a dab hand in level design) would be appreciated. Lay out miniature levels, gauntlets of screens for each character - the girl Pepper gets the swinging Quick Claw levels, the boy 'Guyman' gets the winding Guide Claw levels. Guyman gets puzzles and takes the defensive/strategic in combat; Pepper takes to the air and relishes in going on the offensive. Both characters get a unique end-boss and sub-boss. The advantage is that the levels will be relatively tight, going through gimmicks like candy - think Rocket Knight Adventures or Gunstar Heroes. Create two open-scale levels with features and items for both types of play; allow/'encourage' the player to tag-out with another character; whoever's out of play has their health gradually restored while whoever's in play has theirs decreased because of the suit. Both characters get a unique sub-boss depending on the path chosen, but the end-boss is the same. The advantage is that the levels are far more open-ended and non-linear to an extent, encouraging exploration and co-op - think 2D Spiderman games. There's the possibility of combining 2 with 1 - open levels with exclusive paths opening up depending on the character you're playing at the time. Said paths turn into more linear gauntlets before ending with a large pre-boss area. The disadvantage is that this would be twice the workcontent for each level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rawr Posted July 8, 2011 Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 I'd say 1 sounds like your best bet. I might be biased because I like Gunstar Heroes a lot haha. I think a nice tight action packed level sounds great to me. Ideallly though 3 sounds like a lot of fun, but its also the most work. I'd rather see you get something manageable and polished out of it all that won't have you killing yourself to work on. I just really love this idea and art style you've got going so far with the sprites, and while I haven't had a chance to test out the demos you have up, I am going to be watching this project closely because its something nice and original. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven M Posted July 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 Bump. Still working on the Lobster engine - ironing out the bugs due to new graphics is a bit more of a bitch than I'd anticipated and I'm not sure how much I'm going to get done in time for SAGE. That said, in the meantime I need to ask you guys a favour. If you guys remember the bonus stage from Be The Bullet (or more specifically the old Sonic Puzzle Attack demo because lolcopypaste) then you should understand the idea behind this mockup - it's basically a jazzed-up version of that gameplay but with different modes. I'd like a decent name for this game if you guys can come up with one. Edit: before I forget, credit goes to Damizean, ParadoxX and Clwe for the basic 360 engine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven M Posted July 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 Demo v0.25 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rawr Posted July 23, 2011 Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 Haha thats actually quite a bit of fun! I enjoyed it. Gonna get around now to testing your other demos above. Edit: which for some reason my antivirus won't let me, says its a threat when it's obviously not =/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sslaxx Posted July 23, 2011 Report Share Posted July 23, 2011 An amusing little ditty, that one! Don't recall the dots and fruit in 0.25 as far as I've played though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven M Posted July 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2011 An amusing little ditty, that one! Don't recall the dots and fruit in 0.25 as far as I've played though. Yeap, still working on those at the moment I'm afraid. It's more working on a way to spawn the pellets Championship Edition-style in an optimal manner. From the Readme under "TO DO": Small pellets and bonus fruit/item spawning mechanics in Championship Mode New behavior for Dinky ghosts, ala Championship DX (slow movement, rainbow 'homing' mode triggered when in close encounter with Pac-Man) Bombs for use in Championship Mode (to send enemies packing) Multiple courses for Attack and Championship Mode, including boss level(s) in Attack Mode Continue feature and auto-save/level-select system in Attack Mode More music and window-scaling options Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven M Posted August 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2011 So I've got some portrait sprites for the playable characters in this game, and I'd like for you guys to critique and fix them - where have I gone wrong in terms of colour combination, hues, values, etc? Colours per sprite are limited to 16, but most of the sprites don't have nearly that many. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven M Posted October 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2011 Music now, with a little 8-bit-esque something I'm working on called "Ghost Police" - I'm making a push for this game for the upcoming October Ludum Dare. You can try the old tech demo out here, or alternatively listen to the music I'm working on for the upcoming game - there's four tracks done so far. YouTube Account SoundCloud Account Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonicyoda Posted October 7, 2011 Report Share Posted October 7, 2011 You can try the old tech demo out here Virus alert on my system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven M Posted October 9, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 9, 2011 Virus alert on my system. Weird. It's just a stand-alone application built from MMF2. I'll have another look at it though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven M Posted November 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 26, 2011 So, I'm working on a SHMUP. I've got a barebones work-of-concept up and running, and I'm planning on a more concrete demo with graphics, bosses, placeholder sound, etc by Christmas Eve. Here's that work-of-concept file. It's basically three barebones boss fights asking the question, "What kind of offense can you use for a SHMUP if you restrict yourself from programming in conventional firearms?". You all know good games like Gradius, Dodonpachi, Battle Garegga, Jamestown, Ikaruga - each with their own different subweapons and systems of scoring but all still mainly relying on "shoot up/right, stupid" to tear down the opposition. I wanted to see if I could pull off something different and still make it fun and easy to learn within the game itself. So, featured in the demo are: Repel the Bullet, where you can only use the enemy's fire against them - bullets caught in the radius of your effect are projected away from you and your health bar is replaced with the boost gauge Punch the Bullet, where you have two giant robot claws to punch projectiles away or just smack enemies around directly and your health drains automatically, necessitating refills Be the Bullet, where you warp across the stage to tear down enemies, neatly bypassing obstacles such as walls, pits and bullets to pick up items for health I'd like feedback on possible bugs, glitches, etc as well as the learning curve of each game mode - in other words, are you able to adapt to the chosen style of play given the sparse control notes and boss attacks. I'm not concerned about the placeholder graphics and sound for the time being, I just want to get the control down Ok before moving onto refining scoring systems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven M Posted December 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2011 Haven't had as much time as I'd like to sort the game out but I've managed to make a minor update before the Christmas demo. Changes made: Reflect mode: HUD and control change (yellow meter on left), bullets in range of player are highlighted, charged bullets automatically home in on target. I tried a counter underneath the player that counted the boost as you collected it, but the counter obscured on-screen bullet display and actually made it harder to play. Punch mode: punches can be charged up (yellow meter on left), punches extend automatically in/beyond direction of mouse (no more accidentally clicking outside the window). Be mode: mid-warp direction change removed since it made the boss too easy. Ghost mode: a sneak peak of a new mode being implemented for the Christmas demo Changes to make: Reflect mode: multi-target reflect, melee attacks, bosses [s. Undertaker/Magician]. Punch mode: parrying and blocking, bosses [shield Robo/Bubbleghost]. Be mode: sprite implementation/collision detection, dicking around with level/environment hazards, bosses [imitation Crab Robo/Hazel]. Ghost mode: implement health system, bosses [G. Roger/D. Master]. Question for potential playtesters: would you prefer the game to have a conventional level layout (2-or-so minutes of fighting through waves of enemies and the level design, followed by a boss), to be a boss rush game, or to be a mixed-type (e.g. basically go nuts with the presentation/format of each style, something like Live-a-Live)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven M Posted February 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2012 Still working on the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rawr Posted February 28, 2012 Report Share Posted February 28, 2012 THIS LOOKS FUN. You are my favourite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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