Category: Simulation/Open World Exploration/Top down shooter File Size: 3.23 MB GM Version: Made in GM7, but presented as an executable Vista Compatible: Yes, it is being made on a vista Changes Screen Resolution: No Download Link:Download It's on Yoyogames, so Instant Play is also an option.
Alpha 0.5 is out! Information above has been edited to reflect the changes.
Additions in Alpha 0.5: Ship features: -Several small tweaks, such as damage values and graphical mishaps.
Planetary Features: -Asteroids look better, act better, and have a better function. There are far more of them and their presence makes the game a bit more challenging. You can no longer just turn on hyperspeed and zoom forward relentlessly, you must be careful of the asteroids that block your way. -Terraphosphios' ships have been greatly improved. They have a better AI, detecting the ship from a distance. They are very difficult to face now, since the first one you kill will cause the others to immediately start blasting at you. This, along with the asteroids, will hopefully add in a bit of action for those who prefer that game style.
Other: The Message UI has finally been revamped. WAY better now, if you ask me. No more scrolling text, no more flashing lights or any of that nonsense. Static paragraphs allowing you to read at your own pace or quit whenever you like. This was a pain to do, but now that it's been rewritten it'll be MUCH easier to create message screens in the future.
------------------------ Past Changelog:
Spoiler
Additions in Alpha 0.4: Ship features: -Several graphical tweaks in terms of ship movement -Ship damage now looks a bit smoother with more random particles -Ship is no longer invincible in hyperdrive. Enemy missiles will hit the cruiser and damage it, and the ship can be defeated while using hyperspeed. -Missiles are slightly bigger in apparent size and therefore easier to see.
Planetary Features: -Asteroids have been fleshed out. Now, if you collide with one, you will take damage, regardless of your speed setting. This gives a reason for more careful space flight, and a reason to destroy asteroids in your path. -Terraphosphios looks WAY better. Trees are less ugly, and terraforming features work better there now.
Additions in Alpha 0.3: Ship features: Nothing much, just tweaked a bit as usual.
Planetary Features: -Planets' backgrounds have been revisited, becoming less repetitive and more smooth. -There is a new cave. Somewhere... -Some planets have new surface features to make them more interesting.
Other: -Due to user requests, the star background has been toned down a lot and made easier on the eyes. -There is a wormhole but you can't use it yet.
Additions in 0.2:
Ship features: -Hold V to use compass, which always points towards home planet -When health is low, bits of metal can be seen falling off the ship and smoke begins to come off
Planetary features: -First cave: can be found on rocky planet: to find this planet, go all the way to left of map from home planet and go down. Cave is found at top left of planet, it looks like a rocky mound. Place a crater-bomb on the mound to blow it open and reveal the cave - fly down in. Use crater bombs to reveal precious gems, which can be picked up with tractor beam when exposed. -Day/Night cycle added: with the new addition of nighttime come new consequences. Aside from darkness, the night affects things on planets' surfaces. For example, on the ice planet, where using crater bombs brings water to the surface, nightfall will re-freeze the lakes, so be quick! Night will affect more soon as to add the new challenge of time management in different situations.
Other: -Upon return to home planet's space facility, your ship's health will be refilled completely. -Communications screen toned down so that the flashing colors aren't so rough on the brain.
------------------------
Space Exploration is (or is at least going to be) a huge open-world space exploration game. There are no quests, no huge complicated storyline, no points or money or anything (though I am debating adding this), no forcing you to do anything. The only limitations are you and what your ship can do (which should end up being a whole lot!)
After a quick (like twenty seconds) start-up tutorial and a launch from your home planet (which looks pretty much like Earth), oh, and a tiny transmission from your base explaining the game, you are free to do whatever you want. Explore the galaxy! Abduct aliens! Shoot asteroids! Fly down into a super-hot star for all I care, play it how you want! I think in terms of this the only thing you can't do is hurt your home planet, since you need someplace to crash, literally, if you run into trouble while exploring. Simple controls in the F1 menu will teach you how to use your ship's abilities to your liking. Use your cargo hold of three items (what do you want, it's a tiny ship!) to carry alien creatures, water, and whatever you feel like picking up around and drop them where you want. Drop crater-bombs and blow holes in planets (And then, fill them with water! Lakes!). Shoot lasers at things! Whether those things are asteroids, ufos, or hapless aliens, you decide. Use hyper-drive to navigate the universe with ease! And if you die, your super-convenient escape pod will bring you back for a crash-landing on your home planet, and you'll end up right back where you started.
The graphics aren't amazing, but they're pretty good, at least IMO. There are some pretty cool things to find - new planets, different stars, nebulae, comets, asteroids, and a whole lot more.
Current Features:
Spoiler
List of Commands:
Your ship's commands are an extremely important part of the game. They make things much easier, as well as help you as you explore the universe.
C - Drop a crater bomb. Crater bombs are very strong explosives that will create a large dent in the surface of a planet. If a planet has a substance underneath its surface, it will rise up and gather in the crater, making it easy to access. Crater bombs will not harm your ship, but they are strong enough to hurt any close-by lifeforms. B and D - Control your tractor beam. By pressing and releasing B, you toggle on/off your beam, which attracts objects and lifeforms and puts them in your cargo hold. You can carry up to 3 objects at a time in your cargo hold. By pressing D, you can drop the items in your cargo hold. H - Use Hyperspeed. Hyperspeed is possibly the most important feature. By pressing H, you can switch in and out of hyperdrive. While in hyperdrive, you cannot use any other functions, but the ship travels extremely fast. Space Bar - Shoot. By holding down the space bar, you can defend yourself by shooting dual lasers at a target, in case you may ever need it. V - Hold down V to activate the compass. The compass always points towards your homeworld so you do not get lost. Press F1 inside the game to access this window at any time.
Space: Currently, the universe is 10000x10000 pixels in size. I plan to have it be extremely vast, as much as 100000x100000 px wide on its completion. The objects you can encounter: Stars - red giants, early stars, main sequence, and white dwarfs. Quite common. Many have planets around them. Planets - can be flown down into and investigated, and are (usually) at the full expense of your tools. Asteroids - aimlessly hover and can be blasted with lasers. Comets - large chunks of ice that floats in a direction, grow a tail when they near a star. Nebulae - large clouds of gas and dust, glow and flash vibrantly. Three colors - pinkish/red, yellow, and blue. Black Holes - safe to near, but fly down into one and you're dead. Satellites - these can be found outside of sentient alien colonies. Fly into one to communicate. Wormholes - a future feature. Will allow for travel to the much smaller Next Dimension, where large spaces between wormholes in the normal dimension can be passed much quicker.
Aliens: There are currently 3 races of aliens to be found, each on a planet located on their own planets *somewhere* (I'd tell you, but what would be the fun of finding it then?) Slugs - On a planet blanketed in primordial ooze, primitive, sluglike creatures slither around, consuming tiny bacteria. They pose no threat and can survive directly in water. Sandspiders - These desert-dwelling 4-legged spider-like creatures move rapidly, pose no threat, and can swim. Terrophosphians - A race of bird-people who have pretty good technology. They are generally peaceful, but their legions of UFOs show that you might want to stay on their good side.
Caves: Caves are a new feature being tested in the newer releases. Currently, there are only two caves to explore. Find the first cave by starting at the home planet and going as far left as you can until the map stops scrolling. Now, go down until you see an orange-ish star with a rocky planet orbiting it. Go into the rocky planet and find the mound of rock in the top left corner. Use a crater-bomb (press C while on top of it) to blast it open and enter like you would any other planet or building. When you are inside, use crater-bombs to reveal precious gems underneath. Currently, gold is the only precious gem, and the only one available in this cave. Use the tractor beam to pick up the gold once it is fully uncovered. Precious gems/ore materials do not take up a space in the cargo hold and will have a use later in the game, possibly for trading. The second cave's location will not be revealed!
MORE coming soon!
Edited by saintsalive, 10 December 2011 - 08:04 PM.
Just gave the game a little play through and here are my thoughts:
1. Regarding the incoming transmission screen: Flashing black and yellow, kind of a strain on the eyes.
I noticed you neglected to use apostrophes. Use quotation marks instead of apostrophes when defining strings and you can use apostrophes in your string. EXAMPLE: draw_text(x,y,"I'm using apostrophes! Yay!")
Also, being able to skip this message would be nice.
2. I feel like the non-hyperspeed speed is just a little too slow.
3. I got completely lost very quickly and could not find my way back to anything. Having some sort of map or radar system that showed where you were and maybe also showed places you've visited would be nice.
4. I couldn't get the crater bombs or the tractor beam to work.
5. Personally, the whole "no quests, story, money, points, etc." makes me have very little desire to play this game. I'm just flying around aimlessly with no goal?
Other than that, it's looking good so far, keep at it!
Just gave the game a little play through and here are my thoughts:
1. Regarding the incoming transmission screen: Flashing black and yellow, kind of a strain on the eyes. I noticed you neglected to use apostrophes. Use quotation marks instead of apostrophes when defining strings and you can use apostrophes in your string. EXAMPLE: draw_text(x,y,"I'm using apostrophes! Yay!") Also, being able to skip this message would be nice.
2. I feel like the non-hyperspeed speed is just a little too slow.
3. I got completely lost very quickly and could not find my way back to anything. Having some sort of map or radar system that showed where you were and maybe also showed places you've visited would be nice.
4. I couldn't get the crater bombs or the tractor beam to work.
5. Personally, the whole "no quests, story, money, points, etc." makes me have very little desire to play this game. I'm just flying around aimlessly with no goal?
Other than that, it's looking good so far, keep at it!
Thank you for the reply and critique!
1. Yeah, I've been thinking about that. It's pretty messy and kind of lame if you ask me. I threw it together pretty quickly when I did and just haven't gone back to tweak it. Not so much of an eye strain for me, but I can see how it could get annoying, so it will have to change. Any suggestions for a new setup? I'm thinking about having a static paragraph of text instead of scrolling, so that there won't be any issues with reading it, too. About skipping the message - I want to leave it in mainly because it explains the F1 menu and why you haven't gone through a huge briefing process (in a slightly humorous way). However, I am contemplating making a message in the beginning tutorial explaining the F1 menu so the transmission won't be so intrusive.
2. I'm thinking of making it a little faster, but the point is supposed to be that the hyperspeed is exaggeratedly faster than moving without it (think of how vast the universe really is - your ship is already, relatively, pretty fast) and also to force quick thinking and make it a bit more difficult. Let's say you're cruising in Hyperspeed and suddenly you come across a band of hostile UFOs. You either switch back to normal so you can shoot (and bear the consequences of the time it took) or you haul arse out of there and rethink your plan. That way, your character isn't completely elite against my crappy AI system But yes, I agree, it is pretty slow. The time when you notice this mainly is when you are exploring a planet, since hyperspeed is too fast but normal speed is too slow. Maybe make it much faster when on the surface of a planet, and just a bit faster in the universe?
3. Very true. I'm actually a bit conflicted about this because I want it to have a feeling of if I wander too far, I might not be able to find my home again without dying, but that's the risk I take but also I don't want people to get completely lost. So I am probably going to implement a radar system of some sort, or at least something that points always to the home planet. Maybe marker satellites you can set around the universe that mark points you want to keep track of? I don't want it to be too complicated, but if you're getting lost, then that tells me it's a bit too simple.
4. Really? Did you try them on the home planet, or somewhere else? They should work everywhere but the home planet. The reason for this is because the scale is much different on the home planet. On most planets, you're very close to the ground, enough to see tiny creatures in great detail. But on your home planet, you are way above the clouds, and can see cars, and cities, and your secret base in full detail. A crater bomb dropped there would have to be way smaller than on the other planets, and would need time to fall. I'm actually thinking of implementing a little animation where, if you drop a crater-bomb on your home planet, you watch it fall and explode in mid-air, dropping as ashes harmlessly to the ground. The same with the tractor beam - its range is limited, so it would not appear on the surface of the homeworld when it would easily appear on the surface of a planet you are closer to. I hope you see what I mean about the scale differences.
5. Yes, that's right. And this is what I'm sad about, because I know this won't appeal to a good number of people. But that's simply not what this game is about. It's all about exploring, finding things out, learning new things, seeing new things. I might add minor quests, such as alien races whose fights you have to break up, or "Help! A meteor is falling down to our planet! Save us!" and you have to destroy it or something, but other than that, I want to make it have as little pre-written storyline as possible and as much emergent storyline as possible. I'd go as far to say that I wish I could make a randomly-generated universe. I hate that it's static, because then you'd just be able to tell someone else where something is, and they could find it. It's about the player doing the exploration themselves. There will be a fair share of space fights, so there's certainly no lack of action, but for the most part, you're on your own.
Just played the game and I think it's pretty good. It seems somewhat similar to a game I tried to make (It's not on the site). But There are a few things that could be changed to make it better:
-Making the down key make you go backwards, instead of on and off the surface.
-Making something to tell you where the home planet is
-A health bar. Something to tell me if I'm gonna die soon
-Graphics. There okay but could be better. If you want any help with it just ask me.
But other that it's great!
Just played the game and I think it's pretty good. It seems somewhat similar to a game I tried to make (It's not on the site). But There are a few things that could be changed to make it better: -Making the down key make you go backwards, instead of on and off the surface. -Making something to tell you where the home planet is -A health bar. Something to tell me if I'm gonna die soon -Graphics. There okay but could be better. If you want any help with it just ask me. But other that it's great!
Hi, thanks for playing! I'd love to see the game you were working on, btw.
To answer your concerns: -The problem is, I want people to be able to really quickly go down to a planet just as they're done moving. I want the basics to be very easy to get the hang of, simple things that are essentials, and have the other tools be quick keys. If you had to memorize another specific key just to visit a planet, it'd be kind of tedious. (Plus, when you're running from aliens, you want to be able to get to shelter quick. ) -See my above post @Classygoat, I'm thinking of doing that. -I've tried health bars but it looks pretty bad. I want to stay away from too many graphics that get in the way. I might make a key to access your control board, and that could show your ship's health, but I don't want too much onscreen. I want the player, the surroundings, and possibly waypoints to indicate structures you mark and your homeworld. Even the waypoints seem too messy for me. -Thanks, but I'm good. Right now it has a pixel art feel (except for some of the stars, where the sunspots are blurred) and fits together pretty well. I know it's not the best but I like it the way it is. The only thing I really need help with is sound. I don't have any professional sound programs so my past games have been lacking in this particular area. I want this one to be good though, so if you or someone you know can help me, let me know please!
Thanks again!
Edited by saintsalive, 09 January 2011 - 02:55 AM.
Just played the game and I think it's pretty good. It seems somewhat similar to a game I tried to make (It's not on the site). But There are a few things that could be changed to make it better:-Making the down key make you go backwards, instead of on and off the surface.-Making something to tell you where the home planet is-A health bar. Something to tell me if I'm gonna die soon-Graphics. There okay but could be better. If you want any help with it just ask me. But other that it's great!
Hi, thanks for playing!I'd love to see the game you were working on, btw.To answer your concerns:-The problem is, I want people to be able to really quickly go down to a planet just as they're done moving. I want the basics to be very easy to get the hang of, simple things that are essentials, and have the other tools be quick keys. If you had to memorize another specific key just to visit a planet, it'd be kind of tedious. (Plus, when you're running from aliens, you want to be able to get to shelter quick. )-See my above post @Classygoat, I'm thinking of doing that.-I've tried health bars but it looks pretty bad. I want to stay away from too many graphics that get in the way. I might make a key to access your control board, and that could show your ship's health, but I don't want too much onscreen. I want the player, the surroundings, and possibly waypoints to indicate structures you mark and your homeworld. Even the waypoints seem too messy for me.-Thanks, but I'm good. Right now it has a pixel art feel (except for some of the stars, where the sunspots are blurred) and fits together pretty well. I know it's not the best but I like it the way it is. The only thing I really need help with is sound. I don't have any professional sound programs so my past games have been lacking in this particular area. I want this one to be good though, so if you or someone you know can help me, let me know please!Thanks again!
Oh, okay. You can't see the game(Not because I don't won't you to see I just don't know where it is(Made it about ... a few years ago.)Anyway in my space game you were supposed to find planets and colonize them, not just do whatever you like(when I finish the game... which probably won't happen)). I can't help you with music or sound effects because I cant do those. Oh well. See you when the game's finished!
-The problem is, I want people to be able to really quickly go down to a planet just as they're done moving. I want the basics to be very easy to get the hang of, simple things that are essentials, and have the other tools be quick keys. If you had to memorize another specific key just to visit a planet, it'd be kind of tedious. (Plus, when you're running from aliens, you want to be able to get to shelter quick. )
My recommendation about the controls is to let the player choose his own control, including using joysticks if they have them. You could make your own, but you could also look up an extension I have made, called "kbinput". Right now, it is still on the first page under extensions. It lets you use custom controls, and makes it easy for the player to define them, including using the joysticks if they have them. They can also use the joystick axes as buttons, so you don't have to account for axes that can be halfway tilted, unless you want to have that affect your gameplay. Instead of using key events, or checking the keys in your step events, you would instead check a function from my extension, to know if an action button is being pressed. Your game doesn't have to know or care what key the player has selected. For example, you appear to be using the down arrow key for going to a planet surface. Instead, you could use the down arrow to go backwards, but only as a default key configuration. There is also included a program which lets you create the "default" controls, and save them to a file for your game to load. In an options menu, you let the player choose what keys they want, and likely, unless you have too many different actions/buttons, they will have no problem remembering the key they chose, simply because THEY chose it, and your game will call the same function, not caring what button they chose, even if it is on a joystick instead of the keyboard. And, whenever the player changes his configuration, you would then save the file(not overwriting the default file you created, rather another file) and then whenever you start the game later, you load that file, and the player doesn't have to redo his controls. Also, if said file doesn't exist(like first time to play the game), or of the player clicks the "default config" button, you can load the default file you created.
Feel free to check it out. If you need help with it, you can post in the topic, or PM me, and I will be glad to help.
I like the idea, and it plays pretty well... making a randomly-generated universe would be awesome methinks! It could give it re-playability... maybe making some alien races that are also random and random planets and such??? Could be very cool! If you ever need sounds to be edited, combined, found, mashed, slaughtered or whateva, I'm your man for it! (can't really make my own... but I can do some pretty cool stuff with whatever is provided to me, and I can find my own stuff to mash up). Just PM me with sounds that you have and have suggestions to change or sounds that you want to be found with some specifications or references to similar sounds and such. Keep it up! This could very easily go very far!!!
My recommendation about the controls is to let the player choose his own control, including using joysticks if they have them. You could make your own, but you could also look up an extension I have made, called "kbinput". Right now, it is still on the first page under extensions. It lets you use custom controls, and makes it easy for the player to define them, including using the joysticks if they have them. They can also use the joystick axes as buttons, so you don't have to account for axes that can be halfway tilted, unless you want to have that affect your gameplay. Instead of using key events, or checking the keys in your step events, you would instead check a function from my extension, to know if an action button is being pressed. Your game doesn't have to know or care what key the player has selected. For example, you appear to be using the down arrow key for going to a planet surface. Instead, you could use the down arrow to go backwards, but only as a default key configuration. There is also included a program which lets you create the "default" controls, and save them to a file for your game to load. In an options menu, you let the player choose what keys they want, and likely, unless you have too many different actions/buttons, they will have no problem remembering the key they chose, simply because THEY chose it, and your game will call the same function, not caring what button they chose, even if it is on a joystick instead of the keyboard. And, whenever the player changes his configuration, you would then save the file(not overwriting the default file you created, rather another file) and then whenever you start the game later, you load that file, and the player doesn't have to redo his controls. Also, if said file doesn't exist(like first time to play the game), or of the player clicks the "default config" button, you can load the default file you created.
Thank you! That sounds a bit complicated though, and not really my area of expertise. However, I'll definitely put it down on my list-of-things-I-might-do.
I like the idea, and it plays pretty well... making a randomly-generated universe would be awesome methinks! It could give it re-playability... maybe making some alien races that are also random and random planets and such??? Could be very cool! If you ever need sounds to be edited, combined, found, mashed, slaughtered or whateva, I'm your man for it! (can't really make my own... but I can do some pretty cool stuff with whatever is provided to me, and I can find my own stuff to mash up). Just PM me with sounds that you have and have suggestions to change or sounds that you want to be found with some specifications or references to similar sounds and such. Keep it up! This could very easily go very far!!!
My recommendation about the controls is to let the player choose his own control, including using joysticks if they have them. You could make your own, but you could also look up an extension I have made, called "kbinput". Right now, it is still on the first page under extensions. It lets you use custom controls, and makes it easy for the player to define them, including using the joysticks if they have them. They can also use the joystick axes as buttons, so you don't have to account for axes that can be halfway tilted, unless you want to have that affect your gameplay. Instead of using key events, or checking the keys in your step events, you would instead check a function from my extension, to know if an action button is being pressed. Your game doesn't have to know or care what key the player has selected. For example, you appear to be using the down arrow key for going to a planet surface. Instead, you could use the down arrow to go backwards, but only as a default key configuration. There is also included a program which lets you create the "default" controls, and save them to a file for your game to load. In an options menu, you let the player choose what keys they want, and likely, unless you have too many different actions/buttons, they will have no problem remembering the key they chose, simply because THEY chose it, and your game will call the same function, not caring what button they chose, even if it is on a joystick instead of the keyboard. And, whenever the player changes his configuration, you would then save the file(not overwriting the default file you created, rather another file) and then whenever you start the game later, you load that file, and the player doesn't have to redo his controls. Also, if said file doesn't exist(like first time to play the game), or of the player clicks the "default config" button, you can load the default file you created.
Thank you! That sounds a bit complicated though, and not really my area of expertise. However, I'll definitely put it down on my list-of-things-I-might-do.
I do my best to make it as simple as possible. That's why I made the external program to create the "default" configs. I didn't want the hassle of creating them in code, or having to create a game menu, and then get the defaults. I don't think it's very complicated, but I'm sure with the lengthy paragraph I wrote you, it may seem that way.
Oh, okay. I will take it into definite consideration.
Thanks!
I also came to tell you guys that an update should be coming sometime next week. It will involve a new way of using the current mechanism of the ship to do something very cool, and will enhance the exploration experience even more!
The update is currently underway. Among the new features will be:
-A test cave! On a certain planet, a lump in the earth can be found, and when blown up, it creates an entrance to a cave, filled with precious minerals! There will probably be a single cave when the update is put up but eventually you'll find them everywhere!
-Precious minerals. No current use for those, but there will eventually be.
-Some new fun functions for the ship.
The update is out! Alpha 0.2 is described in the original post, but in short, it adds a compass (hold V) that lets you get the gist of where your home planet is, a cave (instructions to find it are in the top post) with precious ores, a way to tell if your health is lower, and a fix on the annoyingly bright communications screen.
