The idea of an overall campaign sounds cool, but part of what drew me to this project in the first place was its simplicity. Quicks sub fights seemed like fun.

Awesome. This is probably exactly the kind of feedback I needed at this point.

Given that that is a draw, I certainly won't make a move to draw away from that.

I also suppose that, rather than worry about longevity based on the old version that was definitely a lot more limited than intended, I should port it over and see how long the average level lasts based on the new systems and go from there. I don't really want any one level to last more than 10 minutes but I'd certainly like them to last longer than a minute or two.

For example, it may be that randomly-generating the action levels, turning it more into a rogue-like, would work better for the game than a separate campaign mode.

Not sure how I feel about turning it into a roguelike but it couldn't hurt to prototype a random level generator once I've got the game more rebuilt.

[1. Make a semi-large amount of polished, well-designed levels.]

Thought a bit about longevity. Going over a few ideas in my head. So here goes.

1. Make a semi-large amount of polished, well-designed levels. This is where the original was headed. It works but I'm worried about longevity. The average level for the original was beaten in a minute or two. That'd be a LOT of levels if I wanted it to last long at all. But then there's the fact that this will be built differently, possibly be slower paced, and the levels will be much larger (I had been working on larger levels in the original but I'm not 100% sure they were going to last much longer than the small levels).

2. Do something like this:



This is a tactical map for an overarching campaign. A turn-based wargame to complement the real-time action. I figure I could have several campaigns.

Something not mentioned on the image. The idea is that where you start the battle on the campaign map reflects your battle map. If you start a battle near a fuel depot on the campaign map, it'll show up in the battle map. If you start a battle right next to a large patch of shallow water, a large part of your battle map will be shallow water.

I think the idea could be interesting.

3. A combination of the two. Campaigns and scenarios.

Lastly, I am still working on the color palette. Working on branching out from the 2 color palette I'm used to.

Man, this looks great. Looking like it'll have some compelling gameplay, as well.

Clearly, most of the game's mechanics are going to stay the same. Most or all of what I showed off in the GIFs is going to be kept in this game.

However, there are going to be some changes/improvements. Here's the list of things I want to change/improve:

- New damage model based on where you're hit. Having a 1-tile submarine didn't allow me to really work with damage models all that much.

- Rudimentary simulation of crew. Basically, the crew are in a specific part of the sub and, when that part gets hit, there's a chance they die and your ability to control the sub feels the effects of it.

- Make moving around more intuitive. Playing the ANSI version, it was difficult to remember to dodge using vertical movement and the actual process of changing depth didn't give a lot of feedback other than the tile for the enemy and the meter for depth changing. Definitely need to work on that. Also, movement is probably going to feel a lot more fluid on a hex grid with multi-tile entities. The easiest, most obvious change is, of course, a change in the color of the sub when changing depths.

- The move to 6-directional movement. I'm working with hexes. It only seems appropriate.

Also, I think I'm going to use LÖVE for this reboot. I had been working with Lua for the ANSI version and LÖVE has the benefit of having cross-platform support.

Alright, it's been 2 months without news from the engine's front, so as it is, ANSI Submarine game is dead. I just don't have the motivation to keep working on it when I can't release builds. It sucks. The engine was fundamentally finished and all I had to do was flesh out content and add a few more targets with different behaviors but I just can't justify working on the game as it was any longer.

That being said, I'm entertaining the idea of moving it to a new engine with a new look and Hexels is really making that idea seem fun.

So here's a preliminary look at what I was thinking...

Interesting. Very confused as to a few details, such as the enemies not seeming to get hurt when you hit them in the head with swords, and the theme of it, but the surreal look has me intrigued.

Out of those, I like the one with the long i. The thicker one.

The demo will be pretty limited compared to the one you've played. The full build will be fairly similar, just far more polished and with some new content.

Alright, cool.

The most dedicated testers (including you) will get the game for free, though. I really appreciate all the feedback I got and it was immensely helpful .

Awesome, thanks! I've still been playing the game so that's pretty exciting news. And thanks to the 70 changes or so, looks like I've got a bit to look forward to.

A little co-op video http://youtu.be/Nlbvat7rjq8

Hahahaha. Now THAT is co-op. I could see myself shooting the person I'm playing with into a pit of lava a few times.

Since I noticed they have different things going on on their screens, any chance it'll be possible to choose different screens to have up while you're playing?

Sure, let me iron out a few bugs and I'll PM you the current build.

Does this offer still stand? Happen to be on Mac right now and wondering if the non-Steam version will work in Wine.

Looks like the game will launch (through alpha funding) next week!

Awesome! How are the full version and the demo going to compare to the builds we've been getting on here?

Voted!

Going on 2 months. Should I just assume this is dead? Should I not bother picking work back up on my game when I can finally fix my PC?

Any news for this?

Gauntlet, you say? I'm sold! Plus it'll have a level editor, meaning, if we're lucky, a near-endless amount of levels to play through.

I could have sworn I'd posted in this thread before since I've been watching the game for a while but anyways, congrats on getting single-player running!

Based on your description, it'll be interesting to be able to finally be able to play through the game. Definitely appreciate the quirks like the flies requirement.

I've been keeping an eye on this on and off for a while. I'll probably put down the $15 sometime soon. Can't wait to give it a shot.

"for 10 points, Randall, I'll buy you a W, and add it to the malformed URL"

Haha. I thought I just ended up at a page that didn't exist and removed "campaign" to find myself at something related to MediaTemple.

Man, I am not going to sit there and try to finish the non-school levels right now. Maybe later. But the school levels were a cakewalk. Other than one or two levels in each pack, each contributing about 10 deaths, I got out relatively unscathed with under 30 deaths for both level pack.

The fan blades are driving me insane. Other than that and the lack of collision between yourself and enemies, it seems fine. Maybe tone down a bit on the big empty space.

I thought it was fine. Showed off the game and gave a good idea of what we're getting into. You even managed to throw in the upgrade screen that I didn't know existed.

The only thing it's really missing is music, though, I'll be honest. I thought a song was starting at the beginning due to the footsteps sounding like they were keeping a beat in between the game's other noises.

Just saw this on Desura. If I can get it working in Wine, I might try it later.