I started using this yesterday for my compo entry but its my first time doing anything online, do you think you could include an example of just setting up a connection and have to people just moving around, it would really help me. I got a connection going already but now I'm not really sure how the send data and stuff.

Yes Yes YES! I am happy my first foray into online programming and the two instances of the game connect to each other properly the first try. Just updating because I made a ton of progress and I will soon upload a playable version. Got so much stuff done today I am in a good mood, check the timeline in the first post for progress.

Computers would never do such a thing

Man people are the worst.

[†]

^__^ I love Justice. Although I have never heard of Planisphere before. Is it new stuff they're doing? I can't recall it being part of their † album.

Also, anything by CloudKicker is pretty sweet.

It's probably on YouTube its a 4 part song totaling like 17 minutes I think and I just can't stop playing it over and over. You gotta hear it.

I don't think I'll buy bulletstorm it seems like the core concept "kill with skill" would wear thin pretty quickly, also I don't spend money easily

Added one way mirrors and some other stuff, check the first post for details. I also wanted to discuss an idea I had. What if when a laser hit a mirror on the edge (like ====--- (equal sign is laser dashes are mirror)) that mirror would shatter. So you could destroy enemy mirrors so they have less to work with or accidentally destroy your own.

I second what mcc said. Even if it's not game-related, it's a lot more satisfying to me to get a working prototype up and running as quickly as possible, and to add little features to it here and there, eventually ending up with a lot more. It really helps prevent boredom! Now that I think about it, I haven't been doing that recently as much as I used to, and I also have been a lot less productive lately.

Yeah, when you're doing a self-driven project with no guarantee of money or anything coming, being able to see tangible signs of your own progress is a huge motivator. (And not being able to see tangible progress over time feeds the temptation to quit like nothing else.) This goes double when the project is a video game because it means that every thing you add has a little built in reward, i.e., it's a video game and you can play it.

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This is cheesy, but when I did my first game project I came up with a little rule I followed. I would try to always do one thing every single day. It didn't matter whether the thing was big or small. It could be as large as "today I rewrite my graphics code completely" or "today I add a sound effect when the little dude lands". The only rule was that something had to be new or different within the game by the time I finished working on it that day, there had to be a new "X" next to something on my to do list. If I didn't have a lot of time to work that day, I'd just pick a very small task. I think trying to keep myself to this rule actually did a huge amount to get the game finished where some of my earlier projects had fizzled out, because (1) the continuous feeling of progress made it a lot easier to stick with the progress, and (2) even during "down time" periods where I wasn't really working on the project I was at least making some tiny incremental progress toward the goal.

That is a really good idea, I should do that. Also posting a devlog can be very helpful because people can give you feedback to make your game better, and when people post and take an interest in your game it really boosts motivation.

Yes, have the same problem. Try making many small games that focus on a single mechanic and dont worry about how many game modes there are or any crazy features, it helps a lot.

Planisphere by Justice, I really really like it, a lot.

Got the bouncing lasers working in game, check first post for screens.

Development has been put on hold for a little bit because my computer hates me and decides to stop functioning properly right as the competition starts. Anyway I've been working on getting lasers firing and bouncing around but it's proving to be a bit trickier than I thought. Just an update on progress.

I just went to the comic book shop and ate some beef jerkey, teriyaki style.

That is the only acceptable kind of jerky. As long as you spell it right...

Maybe we should make it the only thread available to people with no posts. Also hi, if you wanna get involved right away we just started the versus compo so you could get in on that, good community builder.

You should make a game where who ever harvests the most ideas from people wins.

Thanks for the replies, I think that, like chess, the player going first may not have much of an advantage. Also it will take a turn to fire the laser so you may try to open a path that your enemy will not see, also one way mirror can prevent players shooting along the same path.

Edit: Oh yeah also if you own laser gets deflected back and hits your laser you will lose so you have to choose your shots carefully and look ahead. Also possibly thinking of giving each player a split block that will split the laser into two. This could add another layer of strategy because lets say red has a splitter where one of the paths hits the enemy, on blues turn he could make the other path deflect back to red therefore not allowing red to fire.

I coded the basic engine right now so there is a grid players take turns moving their lasers around, that all I got so far but my semester is coming to a close and we have projects/exams so I can spend a whole lot of time on it right now.

Edit: You can take your turn to rotate any piece or move it one space now.

I'm not really sure if I should allow for the full 360 degrees of rotation or limit it to 8 directions, also I had some ideas for one-way mirror piece were only a certain colour can go through.

[Final Competition Version (way bigger because of music):]

This is my first competition entry here. It is be a grid based game where players take turns moving pieces. You will have one laser piece and 5 mirror pieces (2 of which are one-way mirrors), each turn you can move or rotate one piece, or fire your laser. Lasers will bounce off of any mirror regardless of who's it is, unless it is a one-way mirror of your colour. The game ends when a player has shot the opposing players laser with their own. As of Feb 12 both online and local are working. Anyway that's the game and hopefully all goes well. Also I will be using Game Maker because it is what I am most comfortable with.

Edit: I updated it on March 5th but I only compiled with a new version of the Faucet Network Extension because it fixed some bugs. I also gave them proper credit and I fixed a musical looping bug. So hopefully that is alright.

Alpha Version: Download Rebound Alpha.zip (1.48mb)
Beta Version (somehow smaller): Download Rebound Beta.zip (1.47mb)
Final Competition Version (way bigger because of music): Download Rebound Competition Build.zip (9.94mb)


In-Game Screenshot


Timeline:

27/02/2011
Didn't update in a while but I finalized everything tonight. Also there are now 2 modes of play.

12/02/2011
I uploaded the beta version today which comes with online functionality now! I'm quite excited so let me know if you have any problems playing it. Next up adding sound and music, finishing tutorial section and making proper winning and losing during online play.

12/02/2011
I uploaded the beta version today which comes with online functionality now! I'm quite excited so let me know if you have any problems playing it. Next up adding sound and music, finishing tutorial section and making proper winning and losing during online play.

10/02/2011
Haven't been able to find much extra time but I will today so today I uploaded the playable alpha version (local only) and updated the screens.

05/02/2011
I completed to local play completely with winning and restarting and the lasers work in all situations, continued working on online functionality and starting to brainstorm music ideas.

02/02/2011
Today I got one section of the tutorials up and rewrote the start of the online play because I had it all wrong, I also ironed out some bugs regarding selecting a piece and then firing the laser (it would let you move the piece while the laser was firing, thus giving you two moves on one turn).

30/01/2011
Today I started work on the tutorial section explaining how to set up an online connection, how to join a host and playing the game in general.

28/01/2011
Made up for yesterday's lack of work, I made a complete custom font, added shattering mirrors, added a menu system at the beginning (a title screen), fixed the laser drawing so that when it bounces there isn't that weird overlap, and started online implementation getting two copies of the game to connect.

27/01/2011
Was ultra busy and couldn't do any work.

26/01/2011
Updated more sprites and started an a title screen and menu as well as begun to work on shattering mirrors.

25/01/2011
Added proper one way mirror implementation. Added some text that displays whose turn it is, and updated some sprites.

23/01/2011
Got lasers working with bouncing on standard mirrors and implemented proper scaling.

Later on 19/01/2011
Got rotating pieces working.

19/01/2011
Got basic grid engine working with pieces moving and players taking turns.

18/01/2011
Brainstormed ideas and created topic and mock-up.

Are you using mp3s or wavs? I had this problem with mp3s and I solved it by using compressed wavs.