56 replies to this topic

[wakeskater_X]

Hey Folks!

Wakeskater Studio has released a WIP demo for Space Blaster X2 (SBX2): Return of the Fuscians

This is going to be a different type of game, as it isn't a shmup arcade style. SBX2 is both a platformer and a space exploration game. The story will be driven by the platforming elements and the space exploration will serve as the core gameplay. You can search and find other platforming areas as you explore the sectors of the galaxies!

SBX2 Game File:
Sandbox Link

ScreenShots: (New added: 1/7/2012)

Spoiler

Demo Video:



The controls are funky but you get used to them:

CONTROLS:

Space Exploration:
W - Move Forward
S - Move Backward
D - Turn to the Right
A - Turn to the Left
E - Strafe Right
Q - Strafe Left

Space - Fire weapon
Shift - Alternate Weapons
Mouse Right Click - Activate Add-On Effects

Platforming:
W - Jump
A - Run Left
D - Run Right
E - Examine Area / Use Item

Space - Fire Gun / Continue Dialogue / Select Menu Item
Enter - Confirm First Menu Selection

Mouse - Select Menu Items, Move Ship (Galactic Map)
W,A,S,D - Navigate Menu Items (Up,Left,Down,Right)

Right now the demo consists of: The Tutorial area and Levels 1 - 3.

Known Issues: (to be fixed later)
-few glitchy enemies in Level 3


FAQ:

Spoiler

Ask me questions, I'll put them here with answers.

Devlogs:

Spoiler

Most Recent:
11-2-12 :: v0.00.23
Level 3 is open. You can fight off a bunch of enemies and unlock new items in level 3. There will be 2 explorable areas later and a boss to fight as well, but the main area is finished. Cool new features like removable layering once you open up new areas so that you can see inside and HP and Shield recovery items in the levels should make the game a little easier. There is also a new character added in level 3.

Old Logs:

Spoiler

i]10-17-12[/i] :: v0.00.22
Well, it's been a while but Level 2 is finished. The Boss has been added with his orbiting defense shield and devastating laser! watch out! Also new sound effects have been added to the game (no new music yet) and new hit effects when the player is hit. A bunch of items are unlockable and the boss drop something cool when you beat him too!

7-11-12 :: v0.00.21
Level 2 is under way! You can now fight all the enemies in level 2, but there will be a boss as well (NYI). Also there is a new area to explore in level 1 to find a cool item, and some new secret items have been added to the game. (hint: try blowing things up to find them). Also Delete File no longer will delete file 1 if you hit escape.

6-29-12 :: v0.00.20
The Auto Shop is finished! You can now equip any items you find in the levels and swap out items. Also you can now delete and reset files with a new delete function. Stars and a little more info has been added to the map as well. Level 2 coming soon as well as more content in level 1.

6-20-12 :: v0.00.19
Haha, forgot to update my devlog for 4 patches ;. Anyway, Level 1 is here! You can Save and Load your game, gather new items, and engage up through the Level 1 story line. There has been lots of content added in the past 2 weeks. Check out my blog too in my sig for a huge list of all the stuff I've added over the last few weeks. And most importantly: The game is in production again!

1-12-12 :: v0.00.15
Finished the tutorial area. The story line is finished for the tutorial and there are just a few minor graphical things left to add. New rooms added, enemies were scattered throughout.

1-7-12 :: v0.00.14
Updated some graphics, added the next area (which doesn't have anything in it yet). Tweaked the enemy AI script (and now they twitch again... will need to fix) Some other graphical fixes and some behind the scenes stuff for later. **also added the first platform enemy!**

12-24-11 :: v0.00.13
New Enemy Type, Watch out! New Level Design (Temp Graphics). New Weapon Added (Must Unlock it in platform area). Reset Room upon death instead of game.

12-18-11 :: v0.00.12
Added Profile Selection (No Save System Yet). Also changed up a few things and made the test platforming area (the one inside the space area) more useful with an item pick up inside. And a background ;D.

12-15-11 :: v0.00.11
Upgraded the Tutorial Sprite Sheet. New Tutorial Layout that makes you go through everything including firing weapon.

12-10-11 :: v0.00.10
New Tutorial Area, incl: Test Area as well. Story line beginnings. Portraits and Dialogue Boxes. Instructional fade text.

Edited by wakeskater_X, 02 November 2012 - 06:52 PM.

[ShaManT]

The game feels really slow. At least for my taste.

The background could have some more work (better quality stars, some galaxies / nebula / planets etc.)

Bullets also fly really slow, you can consider making them faster.

The enemies should be able to move and engage you at the same time. Make them move around you until: they die, you die or you get out of their range.

[wakeskater_X]

Just remember this is just a tech demo for the engine. The UI will look better, graphics will look better, etc as the game progresses.

For the enemies, they engage you and will follow you , but keep their distance until they get to below half hp in which they begin to strafe around you. Did player bullets or enemy bullets feel slow? The idea is that you are able to dodge some of them, it's not a real like fps . The only time enemies stop though is when they get too close while chasing in attack mode, I can change this a bit to make them more maneuverable.

EDIT: Ok, i just uploaded a new file. The enemies don't just stop now when they are in attack mode, (they are still a little buggy in between the movement distances sometimes, but it's better). Also the player moves and turns a little bit faster, and the enemies fire faster bullets (since I increased the player speed, i adjusted enemy bullet speed).

I just want feedback on the movement engine and the AI, the destructible blocks will probably not be in the actual game, at least not in the form they are, I plan to have some destructible environments though. I will develop a new GUI Hud for the player and add some planets, etc to the backgrounds. I will probably rework the stars too to have them glow a bit

Redid the file a bit: The player now has shields (I was gonna add this later, but why not now ;D) Shields are able to absorb laser type damage, which the enemies current bullets fall under. Physical damage affects HP only (crashes, walls, etc). It makes the level really easy, but there are 5 enemies now.

Edited by wakeskater_X, 22 October 2011 - 08:02 PM.

[wakeskater_X]

New Tech Demo Uploaded:

Easy and Hard AI - for Hard the enemies adjust their firing based on which direction you are moving in relation to them. So they will fire to your right if you are strafing right and fire left if you are strafing left. This way they are way harder to dodge easily. They are more accurate while targeting you while you strafe and hitting you ahead of time. I want to add a variable targeting factor right now and Hard mode is a little glitchy as they swap back and forth sometimes and it gives them a "tweaking" feel.

Let me know how the AI feels (I know hard is glitchy) but does it feel significantly harder or do the enemies feel smarter? Is hard a lot tougher? Did it not pose enough of a problem? This would be some good feedback

The movement engine as well: Is the player able to move capably and avoid things? Are you able to do some cool stuff? The stats for this ship are close to what the base stats will be in the game, so as you progress movement will improve as well as turning and weapons.

[ShaManT]

You should also consider adding an angle of accuracy error for the enemy to make them miss a bit more so that it feels more natural. If the game is going to have diferent difficulties, you can also add a movement adjust angle so that the enemy knows where to shoot so that its almost certain its going to land their shots.

[wakeskater_X]

Yeah it still needs some work, but the idea is that the enemy will adjust it's turning based on which direction, I just need to add how fast too. There are certainly some adjustments I need to make so the AI actually works well, but for now it does make it a little harder :D

EDIT: Just added a new item to the test level. The ship will have passive boosts that you can find and unlock throughout the game, one of them will be the Radar addon. I wanted to go ahead and test it and i have it working!!!

You start the test area with a panel up in the corner that shows you were enemies are now!

Try and kill all 5 enemies on hard mode

EDIT2: In addition to radar, the player now has 3 weapons!!! In the full game, you will be able to equip 3 weapons at a time and cycle through them with Shift. You can cycle through the first three weapons of the game using the <SHIFT> key to change weapons.

Edited by wakeskater_X, 25 October 2011 - 06:11 PM.

[wakeskater_X]

3 Weapons are added, a few additional features will be added in the next few days as well, I want to try out a few different types of weapons, upgrades, etc, and probably a new type of enemy in the test room. I'll probably make a whole bunch of different things and cycle through which ones you can use that way they will already be implemented when I am ready to make the game and will work from the start with little testing.

[wakeskater_X]

Weapons 4-6 are now testable against the second enemy of the game! Same testing room, new weapons!

4: SLaser (straight laser)
5: DLaser (double laser)
6: Rocket Launcher

these weapons are now available to test in the tech demo.

There is also a new enemy in the current sandbox file.

[ShaManT]

No one else plans on testing this? lol. You are making it a bit better with each update good work!

[wakeskater_X]

Well, it's a huge upgrade in programming from my last game SBX, I figure a Space Exploration game will get a bit more attention, but I don't expect it to catch on too much until I release the actual game play with the story. I doubt tech demos seem too appealing to people, and the Jam is still fresh. Still, I really appreciate your feedback.

I'll be bringing back the overheat meter at some point so that endless fire is not available, but I will probably also reduce the HP of early enemies as well.

Some plans: (Lemme know what you think)

For weapons, shift and spacebar will be the main uses, I might make 1-3 swap the slots as well since you have 3 slots for weapons. For the special items (radar, etc) I plan on using the mouse more.

Some things i have thought of for special items are:
1. Teleporter - Left click within a certain radius to teleport. Hold mouse button to charge it (short charge time, will show a radius around the ship as well) Then release within the radius to teleport to that point. The cooldown will be shown in the radar box instead of radar, and will be rather long.

2. PulseWave - Left click to send out a pulse of energy from your ship, deflecting any energy type weapons. Medium cooldown, mouse location is irrelevant.

3. DestroLaser - Left click to fire a powerful laser capable of destroying nearby destructable objects (not effective vs enemies). This would have a low-medium cooldown and would be used to help clear out paths quicker.

These are just some ideas I've had so you can customize your gameplay how you like. Perhaps even a clickable speed buff that increases movement speed while you hold the mouse button down, and charges once you release it.

None of this is yet implemented, I want to get most of the basic weapons and items in game before starting the actual gameplay. That way everything is tested and works, and I can always add more later.

Edited by wakeskater_X, 05 November 2011 - 09:24 PM.

[wakeskater_X]

Meet Lieutenant Jack R. Hawk:

Lt. Hawk is the protagonist of SBX2. He is the pilot in SBX, but you don't ever get to meet him. And yes, he does have a sweet ass blonde handlebar mustache!

edit: Here is Lt Hawk, left and right facing as well, and in his combat suit as well:

First Running animation sequence... not sure how I like it : /

I have recently decided to make SBX2 both a space exploration AND a platformer. As you explore sectors, you will be able to find secret locations that will let you dock your space ship and explore areas in platform style. I have just begun working on the custom sprites for Lt Hawk and am making the platform engine in a seperate GMK file until I develop a system I really like. It's my first attempt at a platformer so if you have any tips or tricks you know of, feel free to offer help . I just posted a blog entry detailing a little more of what my plans are for the Platforming element of SBX2.

Let me know what you think of the sprite!


~WakeX~


Edit: BTW that is his hair, not a beret. He'll have a helmet and a pistol in most of the platforming areas. He'll probably show his face in some of the story lines though. Also don't mind the random white pixels, they are not supposed to be there.

Edit2: OMG, so much done tonight!! Just coded in the teleporter to the platforming stage of the test area. This is my first time with a platformer and I spent HOURS today working on all the running sprites and etc. Let me know how it feels, if you have any suggestions on the platforming area. Just move the ship to the portal to enter. Then you can jump around with WASD and press space to fire your gun.

Also in the space exploration part there are 3 new weapons to try out: the Big Shot, Sniper Rifle and Double Sniper

DOWNLOAD THE NEW FILE TO TRY IT OUT!

Enjoy!

Edited by wakeskater_X, 09 November 2011 - 09:26 AM.

[wakeskater_X]

New Updates!

The platforming engine is nearing completion, and there are some new background sprites, that look much better.

I also have a post for team members as this project is going to be an official team project and I am looking for some serious members. If you are a Graphic Designer with a specialization in pixel art, A Sound Artist or are proficient in programming engines for platforming games, then check out this post:
http://gmc.yoyogames...howtopic=524086

I already have a few people that have applied so far, so if you have talent and want to be a part of a serious team, by all means send me a message!

[ShaManT]

Yeah you got my idea. But now the enemy circles way too close around you (plus they can strafe!) when they engage.

Also... the music is quite not fitting I guess, and it has lyrics! That's really weird for videogames.

Make it so the room restarts instead of game restarts when you die. It takes quite some time for me to test again every time I died!

[wakeskater_X]

The room reset thing isn't a bad idea. And the music is just temporary, it's a song by Muse that I like so I just put it in there for the test level, the actual game will have original music by whoever becomes the sound artist for the team.

I had those codes in there before you posted The only new thing was the platforming area, did you get to test it out? there is a portal just south of where you start, just bust through some walls to get there.

[TheUltimate]

Wow, I can't believe I still haven't left a reply here yet. Haha I love how you used the title style in your game that I made for your banner.

Anyway it's a pretty good start. The movement and turning feels right, but there should be more obstacles or at least some way to tell where you are on the map since none of this stuff shows up on the radar. The one thing I found is that all the enemies followed way too close. It was really hard to hit any of them because my reload time was so much slower than theirs, and how they'd move out of the way before I could hit them. There should be at least one rapid-fire weapon in there somewhere and enemies with less health... Or maybe it's because I just suck at top-down games.

I know you already asked me about the platforming part, so yeah, not much to say about that. This seems like the kind of game where you can explore a lot and get kinda lost unless you have a map. It's kind of hard to say a lot since the level's so short, but I'm looking forward to seeing more of it.

◊ TheUltimate ◊

[wakeskater_X]

Thanks TheUltimate,

I actually have a few replies for team members, so the game will really get under way once I get a team together.

Hmm, you are right about the enemies, I could make their attack range a little larger, and their following range a bit further away as well. The AI will be reworked once I get another programmer to work on it some as well, and get different input. For Now the radar is an optional item that you can equip. I might institute a Map System (In fact that would be awesome) Where you can open a map of the area before entering a level, or perhaps it loads the level showing the map of the area.

If anything I can always add a tutorial file that includes the maps inside of it.

And, the starting weapon in the game is a rapid fire weapon, right now you are just testing 3 powerful weapons that you can get later on.

Thanks for testing it, and there will be more to come as I get time to work on it a lot.

~Wake

Edit: Oh yea I didn't even think about the banner idea, I just was like, well I don't wanna type all that out, so I'll do it this way, I forgot you did the SBX on the banner like that too ^^; great minds...

Edited by wakeskater_X, 13 November 2011 - 10:01 PM.

[wakeskater_X]

Working on the movement system some more for enemies. I want them to be less OP in turning and move a little bit more like a player, so I'm re working a lot of the AI for enemies. Also they won't be able to see you through walls now.

I'll try and add a few more things before the next update as well.

Still working on it, but I got a new job so scheduling is all jacked up for programming.

Edited by wakeskater_X, 19 November 2011 - 06:12 PM.

[wakeskater_X]

Got a sound artist on the project now.
Waseem Faraz Butt will be doing the music and sfx.

Here is a sample of what he sent me for me to see his work in action. This is what he interprets for the music of SBX2, at least, an updated version of this sample will be used.

Check it out here: Rock-IT by Waseem Faraz Butt

edit: better yet... check out the full updated version here: Rock-IT (full version) by Waz

Trying to get some more of the engine done, and working on getting the team together.

Will begin work on the story line and intro level soon.

Edited by wakeskater_X, 26 November 2011 - 07:08 AM.

[wakeskater_X]

Alright, been working on the sound system to use .ogg files in a reasonable manner. Took some researching on ds_lists, as i've never used them before, but anyway, I have a new file for upload!

It is still just the test level, with the first few weapons, however, actual music that will be in the game, music composed by my sound artist specifically for SBX2, is now in the test room. Also there is a new style of background which should give a better space feel. I will be adding planets later and asteroids and things like that to give it depth as well. Planets will not be static like the background now is. I'll work on it a bit.

Well the only really big thing i need at the moment is a graphic artist. Pixel art and someone who can make the graphics to proceed, I'll begin making placeholders for the story line, but it'll probably all be redone later.

Check it out if you haven't!


~WakeskaterX~

[Bjorn Morrison]

Been meaning to play this for a while and finally took the time.

It looks really ambitious. I like the idea, and combining space exploration, shooting and platforming should make for a fun and varied game.

I like the guns changing visually on my ship when I change weapons. I like the tilt of the ship when turning/strafing. I love that you have strafing.

The walls seemed a little strong - the visual change indicating that they were taking damage should probably kick in after the very first hit - I only knew to keep shooting them from your post on here.

When you exit the portal from platforming back to space, it immediately detects that i'm touching the portal and asks if I want to go platforming. You seem to have an alarm setup to not ask this on every collision, maybe you just need to trigger this alarm when coming back from platforming. In any case, the most liekly thing I'll want to do is fly my ship away, NOT to re-enter the platforming section.

I don't like the lack of visual feedback when I'm moving through empty sections of space. Maybe some space junk, stars, anything that the player can move relative to. I hate that dying resets the game, not the room. Especially for a tech demo where I want to get back in and keep testing.

The platforming is OK so far, the run animation probably has the knees bent too much, but as a test it works. I didn't get stuck or glitch.

Overall I'm excited to see where you'll take this. Good luck, and I'm sure I'll enjoy playing the next update.

Bjorn