N-type, Horizontal Shoot-em-up: "old skool" Options

[nickydude]

N - TYPE [DEMO BETA #3 - 12/1/06]

File Size: -Main EXE - 3.65mb - zip
File Size: Audio Folder - 2.69mb -zip
GM Version: 6.1
Screen Size: 800 x 50000 (views)
Changes Screen Resolution: NO
Screen Size: Full Screen [can be switched]

* Just unzip the Audio folder into the same place as the main exe *

* Also please note that these demos in no way shows what the finished level will look like, this is just to show some of the things that can be done so far and the level is likely to change on final release. *

N - Type is a horizontal scrolling shoot-em-up in the "old skool style" which basically means "shoot the crap out of everything that moves!"

THE STORY - condensed
A huge mothership is heading for Earth and you're the only one who can stop it. You must destroy this ship and then the planet it came from. You are taken through a number of levels:

1 - Space
2 - Over Ship
3 - Inside Ship #1
4 - Inside Ship #2
5 - Inside Ship #3
6 - Space #2
7 - Planet Surface
8 - Inside Planet #1
9 - Inside Planet #2
10 - Planet Core

This is a small demo of part of the Space level. Here are some screenshots:



Here's a little 1mb movie of how the game should play: WMV Movie - 1mb (right-click and Save As).

CONTROLS & HELP
You control the ship using the cursor keys and CTRL to fire. All the menu works apart from Story also the instructions are very brief. If your bullets don't go through it, neither can your ship so be prepared to dodge. If you see a little red ship carrying a pod, shoot it, it will release a powerup. Also, just after the asteroids, pick up the silver satellite for an orbiting shooter!

When you find yourself in empty space for a while, that means the "demo" has finished.

Any questions just ask, I'm sure I've left something out

WHAT'S TO COME
=============
* More attack waves.
* Many different enemies.
* Many powerups, including:

~ Double shot.
~ 3-way shot.
~ Ship speed increase.
~ Orbital Sattelite.
~ Balldroid.
~ Homing Missiles.
~ Rear shot.
~ Fire Spread.
~ Bouncing shot.
~ Laser Spread.

* Redifinable Controls.
* Another 9 levels!
* Two bosses per stage.

Plus a whole lot more. . . stay tuned

This post has been edited by nickydude: Jan 19 2006, 03:11 PM

[Skarik]

its okay.

cant get past those astroids.

[nickydude]

Anybody else finding the asteroids atthe beginning too hard? If so, i'll cut the number down.

[Odin]

Anybody else finding the asteroids atthe beginning too hard? If so, i'll cut the number down.

No...if you played R-Type it's simple
I really enjoyed the game
ummmmmmmm..........8/10
+Graphics were really good
+Someone who didn't forget the ship tilting up and down
+Sounds
-Can't destroy asteroids
-Left Click= Shoot

I realy liked the game...it reminded me of my fav scrolling shooter for GBC....R-Type DX

[Carnivac]

Can't you just let the player select their own fire button? Keys like Z and X don't have any problems on my keyboard when used with two cursor keys. I ain't much a fan of mouse control in any action game but needing it for something simple like shooting, without the ability to even aim, seems ridiculous. Thousands of other shooters on PC don't seem to have this problem.

It seems to be Space, Up and Right that fail on my machine, but I never like using Space anyway.

Surely all keyboards are capable of recognising 3 keys together eh? Ctril, Alt and Del for example. It's just a matter of finding which keys don't mess with each other.

This post has been edited by Green Arrow: Dec 21 2005, 05:10 PM

[Skarik]

i finally got past the astroids and realized that the laser thing is useless.

Surely all keyboards are capable of recognising 3 keys together eh? Ctril, Alt and Del for example.

i used to have a keyboard that didnt even let me do that.

This post has been edited by Skarik: Dec 21 2005, 07:43 PM

[nickydude]

Io0011ver2 PM'd me with some excellent feedback on the game which I replied to. Just so people know where the game's going, I've made a copy of my replies here (in bold):

1. The ship must remain stationary on the screen.
-- This has now been done.

2. I would greatly suggest a room before the first level that simply displays what the controls are.
-- There is an instructions menu option, all details on how to play the game will be there.

3. The ship needs to be a little more responsive. . . it could benefit the gameplay if there were powerups to increase your ship's movement.
-- There will be! Here are some of them:

* Double shot
* 3-way shot
* Ship speed increase
* Orbital Sattalite
* Balldroid
* Homing Missiles
* Rear shot
* Fire Spread
* Bouncing shot

4. Severely reduce the amount of lasers that can be fired at a time, and increase their speed.
-- Done. There will also be powerups that increase number of shots AND bullet speed.

5. Enemies need to give off an obvious display of damage when they're hit by lasers. For instance, a small explosion effect, and the enemy blinks red.
-- Hits now give off a shower of sparks, i'm working on having them flash.

6. Other objects besides enemies imerse you into the game. You could have smaller asteroids floating by fast in the background at the first point in the game, for example. Or maybe enemy Starships in the background
once you get to where the enemies are.
-- Good idea, I'll consider this. But I'm concerned that the player might think these 'background objects' are to be avoided and end up crashing into the real enemy.

7. Once you get to the point of including newer levels, be sure to have a clean and clear transition between levels. Let the player know he is done with a section, and that he's moving onto the next.
-- This was going to be done anyway.

8. Lives and having the level restart (Or a new ship appear, ala Life Force / Darius Twins) once you've died would be great.
-- You are to have a set number of lives (which can be increased with powerups) and when destroyed, a new ship appeared for you to carry on.

9. Music, I'd suggest you look for midis from the Gradius series, it definately has some fantastic space shooter music.
-- There is already music / sound effects in the game and will be throughout the entire game. The music will all be original.

10. The abillity to change your controls. This can be accomplished very easily.
-- I've now changed the FIRE button to the CTRL key. It must be the SPACE key causing the trouble as I can now both fire and move diagonally. There will be an option to configure keys.

A new demo will follow shortly.

[nickydude]

New update! - Demo #2

WHAT'S NEW IN DEMO #2
==================
* Transition effects between rooms.
* No longer uses mouse to fire, use CTRL.
* Keyboard only for entire game (including menu).
* Shower of particles when objects are hit with bullets.
* Enemy flashes to show it's been hit.
* You now have 3 shields (can be added too with powerups).
* When you're hit, a shield is taken and your ship flashes and is invulnerable for a few seconds.
* There is a satellite you can pick up that orbits your ship.
* The satellite shoots bullets also!
* Ship is more responsive.
* Less number of bullets but faster bullet speed (will change with powerups).
* Continual fire when fire button held down.
* Another enemy attack wave (Rock Slime).

This post has been edited by nickydude: Jan 7 2006, 05:41 PM

[nickydude]

I'm now creating a blog on how I created the game showing the problems I've had and how I got round them as well as how I implemented my ideas. I'll definately be adding more in the coming weeks as well as adding stuff as I work through the game. You might find something that helps you if you're creating a shoot-em-up

GameMaker's Blog: N - Type

[curnow]

graphics are nice but dont seem to match. good anyway

[[-=[montney]=-]]

that's great you did a good job, i rate it a 8 out of 10!

[nickydude]

New update! - Demo #3

WHAT'S NEW IN LATEST DEMO [03]....

* Now uses tsg1zzn SuperSound DLL for .ogg files.
* Audio separate from main program (download separate and unzip).
* Better sound effects.
* Another enemy attack wave (Sprint Ships - fly fast towards you)
* Another enemy attack wave (Laser Ships - fire long lasers)
* Better Icon.
* Better Loading Screen.
* Better looking menu screen.
* Extended menu, now with OPTIONS and CREDITS.
* A proper game over sequence when player is finally destroyed.
* muzzle flash for the player's gun when he shoots.
* A puff of smoke debris from hit enemies (as well as the shower of sparks).
* Slowed down player speed. . .
* Slowed down the amount of bullets fired. . .
* And slowed down speed of bullets, ready for powerup implementation.

[Skarik]

i got an error

"error on creation event with object __newobject745 :
trying to draw a non existing surface."

after that, it looked like something was trying to fade in (instead it was that red stuff when you start up a 3d program), and when it finished, it exited.

[nickydude]

I'm now about to work in the power ups but don't know which implementation I should use:

Relative
There is a list of powerups along the screen and when the player pick's up a powerup, the next one is highlighted and the player selects which powerup he want's by waiting until it's highlighted.

Absolute
The powerup that the player picks up is an actual powerup like triple-shot or speed-up and it's activated as soon as the player picks it up.

I've created a poll so I can judge which one people like most. Please vote here.

[Styles2304]

I don't know if it's too late to give input or what but I definitely have to say that the rate of fire should be increased. One bullet on screen at a time is not enough to take out all those enemies, especially when they all fire at the same time. I just got frustrated and quit.

[nickydude]

One bullet? There should be at least four and these will increase when powerups are selected. Here's a little 1mb movie of how the game should play: WMV Movie - 1mb (right-click and Save As).

[t3mp3st]

ERROR in
action number 1
of Other Event: Room Start
for object_newobject74:

Trying to use non-existing surface.

Note: I received a very similar error in a completely unrelated demo earlier tonight, so I suspect this might be an issue with my computer, but figured I'd post it just in case.

Anyways, great to see a promising shoot-em-up in progress, will need to check back once I get this issue sorted. (Got a new monitor complete with new drivers, but with some unfortunate side-effects :/)

[Io0011ver2]

Wow, significant progress since the last version I played! However, a few things bugged me. Yes, you can code "k00L" effects. How exactly does it contribute to your theme though? The menu doesn't really fit your theme very much besides the background image. An example would be trying and find a way for the helix-effect text to be inside of a computer screen of sorts that flies across the screen instead of it just flying in the middle of nowhere. I also suffered significant lag when the oppening effect with all of the little squares occured.

As for gameplay issues:

1. Customizable controls are considered a huge plus for a game. I'd schedule it in at some point in early development, as it eliminates a lot of frusteration. Not everyone likes the same key configuration as you, and others have found ones that work a lot better. For example, I play all games with "W,S,A,D" for movement and typically "F,G,T,H,R and Y" as the other buttons. This perfectly replicates the SNES JoyPad button configuration.

2. I am curious, did you rip half your graphics, or actually model/paint them yourselves? In either case, you need a little more consistancy in graphics. Your ship pales in comparison to some of the enemies I see. Don't you think the hero should be the coolest looking guy on the block?

3. Most arcade space shooters had the lasers setup so that you could only have a certain amount of lasers going across the screen at once. Typically, two lasers was the max with your beginning weapon. What would happen, is if one of your lasers went off the screen or collided with something, your ship could fire another laser. This allowed tricks and strategies like getting close to an enemy and letting loose on him, even if you still had an early stage weapon since your lasers would quickly be removed and fired again. This also eliminates the frusteration in "not being able to destroy certain enemies" with early weapons.

4. The ships movement is entirely too slow. I couldn't get too much further than the blobs in level 1 due to the fact that I could not move my ship fast enough to avoid enemy fire.

5. Your enemy fire is a little too hard to see against the starry background. Games like Gradius had their enemy fire as sort of reflective metal 8-sided spheres so that you could easily recognise it against the attractive backgrounds and chaos happening on the screen. A little research into making the enemy fire easier to recognise and avoid would help.

6. The display for shields, score, and the level are a little inconvenient at the four corners of the screen. It may make more sense to have them all along the same row at the top or bottom of the screen, as well as shrinking them down a bit.

7. It took a moment to realize the items flying by wouldn't destroy my ship. It only took me one try to realize one of the items couldn't be obtained until I shot at it, but I had to learn the hard way. You may want to make it a little obvious that an item is "good". For example, give it a large glowing orb or something in the center and have it colored with friendly colors, such as blue, purple or green.


I am actually a little stunned with the progress you've made since my last critique. The flash effects when you hit enemies, the smoke effects when you hit asteroids, all of it really brings the game a lot further, excellent work. It is really shaping up into something I'd like to play, but it isn't quite there yet. Some further progress needs to be made in general playabillity before I can start to critique on level design and pacing. The topic for N-Type has earned a place in my favorites folder so I'll be expecting updates!

[kyle_brown]

R-type is better.

[Io0011ver2]

Yes, it is. What that has to do with N-Type becoming a good Game Maker game I have no idea.