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[Theta]

Sorry for the late replies; I was away for a week.  These are all excellent suggestions.  I will add the cursor keys as an alternative to JKLI, and I will most likely add mouse-controlled shooting.  I will see if constraining the mouse-shooting to eight directions makes it awkward; if it is, then I will make the mouse shooting be full-360.

@John Sandoval:  I think a lot of that might have been the low-fps.  In general, though, I don't want the game to be too hard - I want people to be able to finish it.

[Theta]

I have uploaded Demo III, which includes many additions, including the option for mouse-controlled shooting (though it is still constrained to the eight cardinal directions, as per Melly's suggestion), along with the option for using the arrow keys instead of IJKL.  Please see first post.

[Melly]

Playing the latest version, got this once the story screen faded out:

Code:

___________________________________________
ERROR in
action number 1
of Create Event
for object title_obj:

Failed to play song -

Game played fine, if silently, after that. Mouse aiming took some getting used to, since the constrained firing directions are not usual for mouse control (not saying they're bad, I suggested them myself. ), But they're important to balance the control schemes and they didn't take too long before becoming second nature.

Otherwise the game's fun. Some sound effects would be nice, and perhaps you should let the player fire during the invincibility time after it respawns. Decrease the invincibility time slightly if necessary.

Then I go to the second story screen where I was conngratulated for destroying a whole natural habitat. Then when the screen faded out again I got this:

Code:

___________________________________________
ERROR in
action number 1
of Create Event
for object title_obj:

Failed to play song -

___________________________________________
ERROR in
action number 1
of  Step Event
for object desolate_leave:

Failed to play song -

Code:

___________________________________________
ERROR in
action number 1
of Create Event
for object title_obj:

Failed to play song -

___________________________________________
ERROR in
action number 1
of  Step Event
for object desolate_leave:

Failed to play song -

___________________________________________
ERROR in
action number 1
of Create Event
for object title_obj:

Failed to play song -

After which it let me go back to the title screen (I pressed "Ignore" on all of these).

[Theta]

I agree, the constrained mouse-aiming does take a little getting used to.  I think it is actually more fun to play with, though, than the full-360-degree shooting (in addition to it being more balanced).

Actually, there are sound effects.    However, I kept them low and subdued, so that they would not overpower the music.  I may increase their volume a bit, however.  I will also most likely give the player the ability to shoot during the invincibility time.

About the errors, did you get any music at all?  All of the music worked fine for me.

I think I know what might be causing the problem, though I don't know why (since it works for me).

~ Theta

[Melly]

Perhaps there's an external file you didn't include? Are you using supersound.dll or another external library?

No, I don't think I got any music during gameplay.

[Theta]

Perhaps there's an external file you didn't include? Are you using supersound.dll or another external library?

No, I don't think I got any music during gameplay.

I am using 'bass.dll' and 'bgm.dll' (Bass for GameMaker).  They were definitely included with the executable in the download '.zip' directory (Otherwise, there would be way more errors).

[Theta]

Perhaps there's an external file you didn't include? Are you using supersound.dll or another external library?

No, I don't think I got any music during gameplay.

Okay, I was able to reproduce your exact problem on my old XP.  There was no problem in playing the storyline piece ("Hay Meadow"), but when the main piece ("This Isn't Chess") was supposed to play, it gave those errors.  Thus, I think the OGG file could have possibly been corrupted somehow (though why it worked on my main computer is beyond me).

Using the original WAV, I recompressed the piece into another OGG file, and created a new version of the game.  It worked fine on my XP, so hopefully it will work for you (and anyone else who might be having this problem).  Could you please give it a try?  The new version is Demo V.

[Melly]

Ah, yes, game works perfectly now. A pretty nice song you got there, gives the game a strange but pleasant atmosphere. Though I found the initial parts of the songs a little grating on my ears.

[agj]

Nice, it's very smooth. I felt that the ending was rather anticlimactic, though. I expected... something. Unless there's different endings.

[allen]

- How fast (FPS) did the game run for you? 

It was very smooth, I didn't check in-game though, but it was running perfect.

- How difficult was the game for you?  How is the difficulty curve?  Are four lives enough?

Beat the game with exactly one life on my first try. I was actually satisfied with the difficulty though.

- If you used the mouse, did the 8-directional mouse-control feel right to you?  I am hesitant to make full-360 mouse control, as it might encourage the player to sit in one place.

Wasn't crazy about it but I did get used to it, it was no problem. Didn't affect my performance at all.

[Theta]

This is all good to hear!  I think I will be releasing a final version of this soon.

@Melly:
I'm glad everything is working.  The storyline piece is supposed to be a bit jarring; I was playing on a piano from the 1700's that barely worked.  As for the main piece, I must say I like the atmosphere that it gives as well.  I didn't want to go for the typical "SHMUP soundtrack."  Although, I could see how the sound wave sounds in the very beginning of the piece might be a little grating (sine waves are almost never pleasant-sounding).

@agj:
[spoiler]
I wanted the ending to be subtle.  I realize that Agent Orange caused way more damage than ecological destruction; it also caused innumerable birth defects, health problems, and deaths.  The photos of its effects are absolutely horrific, and I briefly considered making the ending more jarring (i.e. alluding to Agent Orange's effects on humans in some way).  However, in my opinion, this would be tasteless (also, this game is not specifically about Agent Orange in Vietnam, but about something broader - it is about the ideas and methods behind war in Vietnam, Iraq, etc).  I hope seeing the utter ecological destruction at the end is enough to make some sort of impact.  There is meant to be a paradox at the end, with the superposition of the General's congratulations with the desolate background image.  The player is meant to question - did he/she really win?
[/spoiler]

@allen:
Good to hear everything ran smoothly.  I personally prefer full keyboard-control, but for those who prefer mouse-controlled shooting, I'm glad it is pretty easy to get used to.

[knight]

Great game. I love the simple yet addictive concept. I've managed to get a 50% completion rate. I also love the menu. Something about scrolling over that jungle feels perfect. Nice game looking forward to seeing it finished.

[Theta]

It's finished!  Please see first post.

Great game. I love the simple yet addictive concept. I've managed to get a 50% completion rate. I also love the menu. Something about scrolling over that jungle feels perfect. Nice game looking forward to seeing it finished.

Glad you liked it!  Originally, I had just a stationary image of the jungle, but I agree, the "scrolling" really adds something.

[agj]

Forgot to mention earlier that the music is great.

@agj:
[spoiler]

I get that, but rather than subtle it felt a bit weak. The contrast wasn't strong enough; the result was too obvious to create much of an effect at the end. That is how I felt.

[Theta]

@agj:
Glad you liked the music!  It was fun to record. 

Also, I can see what you mean about the ending.  This is the approach that I wanted to take, though - hopefully it will leave some impression on people.