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[fentlewoodlewix]

METEOR STORM ESCAPE

UPDATE: Visit the Feedback Forum. Where we are posting Playable Builds!

UPDATE: We are searching for a musician composer (post). Take a look at the images, play the (unfinished) demos and get in touch.




a long time ago, way back when, we all saw this post... http://www.tigsource.com/2007/01/04/wow-wow/
and also a video was posted... http://www.tigsource.com/2007/01/11/untitled-preview-1/
then the mists of time rolled over the sands of time and the seas of time parted, and we didnt hear anything more about it.

so i was inspired by that video and also MySims Racing, SSX, Rez etc

here is a video i made of the development so far...



story/situation

• in the near future, a cataclysmic meteor storm is hitting your city
• you get on your trusty futuristic hover bike and try to escape the secondary impacts.

core gameplay

• you escape the meteor storm, going as fast as you can, slowdown and one will surely hit you.
  avoid the meteors and other obstacles.
• the landscape is generated and infinite.

other gameplay systems

• you have adrenaline (the vertical gauge) which you can use to get a speed boost and go faster. once in the air, do somersaults and turns to pull off tricks. if you successfully land, you get more boost.
• you have fuel which depletes from the throttle and is gained by passing refuelling points.
  
• you have shields which deplete on impacts slightly from small objects completely from meteors.

personality

• low colour, low poly, retro graphics style
• chiptunes

so, what do you all think...

• what do you think of the story/situation?
• i know you cant play it from the video, but what do you think about the gameplay approach, leap into the air and stunt, avoid obstacles, is it enough?
• do you like the retro graphics style, etc?

(dont hesitate to ask any other questions you might have)
thanks,
sean

[fentlewoodlewix]

This hoverbike is our first try at a small jet powered craft with limited flight capability. It looks awesome even now with no textures or shaders. Multiple air intakes, jet engine exhausts at the back and a pointy nose tell us at a glance this is a fast craft.



The first version had a single large jet engine in the centre. We decided to go with two smaller engines, one on each side. The hoverbike tilts when it turns, so offsetting the engines from the axis of rotation means that any particle streams coming from the exhaust jets will add to the visual effect of the rotation of the ship.

I cant wait to release a video or demo with this baby in it.

share & enjoy
sean

[fentlewoodlewix]

A few updates in the last week...

We now have explosions, they are very simple: A few expanding semi-transparent spheres and a particle system of quads. Nice and techy without being too lame.

In Game...


In Editor....



Here is a quick video to show off the new content:

• You can perform great stunts in the air, and the game now recognises what stunt you have performed (check the debug text on the left). Still need to make it report the stunt nicely on screen with a big font and boost meter updates.
• At the end of the stunt if you dont level out, the game does it for you, but this takes a little extra time, dont leave it till you are too close to the ground or you will wipeout.
• Hitting the ground whilst still stunting means... game over.
• When your shields are depleted, there is an explosion of light, particles and explosive spheres.
• "contrails" from the wing of your craft.
• Trees everywhere, these are very likely to change in the near future.

Questions...
At some point down the line most of these visuals are going to have to be properly lit/textured etc. I was thinking something between Rez and Fract. Does anyone have any ideas?

Also i'm gonna be looking for some kick ass techno fonts, something computery without being bladerunner or a chequebook, again suggestions?

thanks
sean

[Franklin's Ghost]

Nice video, really like the way the meteors hit the landscape as you're going along, looks great.

[fentlewoodlewix]

Thanks!

The Meteor's hitting the ground ahead of you is part of the core of the game concept. I'm glad you like it!
They do currently bounce of the top of the trees, hmmm, maybe i should fix that soon?

Incidentally, I was trying to work out how to make this tech i had made for a driving game really dramatic and i remembered that bit from Deep Impact where Leo and Sara are on a motorbike. You can see it here (the first 10 seconds of

). I'd love to have a completely over he top effect, needs audio, and bright flashes and camera shake too.

thanks for the feedback,
sean

[fentlewoodlewix]

Whats New:

• New Lighting in the Gameplay.
• New Art Style on the 2d screens.
• Placeholder loading and instructions screens.
• Stunt recogniser reports on screen in a nice font too.

You can also see a video





I'm expecting REALLY soon to have a playable demo for ppl to bang on and such.
In the mean time, dont hesitate to leave your feedback, good or bad, dont worry i can take it ;-)

share & enjoy
sean

[JMickle]

I have to say the art looks pretty interesting, can't wait to try out a demo! (i'm a sucker for low-poly stuff)

[fentlewoodlewix]

So we received new mountain assets from an artist last night and i threw them in:







our artist is not sure that they are in line with the retro feel of the track, what do you all think?

maybe original boxy mountains become background elements for a desert/pyramid/egyptian level?

[fentlewoodlewix]

2 New Ships have been modelled (3 in total) and roughly integrated (yet to give them different physics parameters).
Also the HUD is updated, angled == feels faster?



Current thinking is that this should be an iOS game with this kind of interface:

• steer (& stunt twist) via a single on screen thumb-stick
• stunt boost button launches and switches thumb-stick from steer to twist
• ship always tries to go to at max speed (its an emergency after all and its the most fun)
• brake button, only really used occasionally (also increases the steering ability so useful to avoid obstacles)

The proof is in he pudding as they say. We'd like to simplify the interface further, but not sure how.

I would like to try the indie game portals, but we dont really know how to publicise/exploit it on them, any recommendations?

[fentlewoodlewix]

Lighting Test Mockups

Now we have artist contributing to the project its looking less and less like a programmers technical demo and more like a game. These are a couple of mockups that were created to see what kind of lighting we like.
Click to Enlarge...


Made in unity using the same lighting and models of the game,

read the whole post here

share & enjoy
sean

[fentlewoodlewix]

Here are the results of some of the work we have done incorporating better lighting and materials.

• We have doubled the background features (in this case mountains). There are twice as many and they are further back from the camera, it now feels less like 2 rows down the side of the track.
• Tweaked the fog & sky colors so they work together properly.
• Added a direction to the shadowing light so it casts across the scene.
• Added flare & halo to the light coz 60s cinema is where its at man.
• Adjusted the shadows so they are hard edged & pixellated but higher rez.

All this together has improved the visuals no end, and i hope kept the retro feel. However it has had an impact on the framerate, and some of these approaches will have to be scaled back for the iOS version.

[click for a larger zoomed out version]



Playable demo real soon. I promise.

share & enjoy
sean

[fentlewoodlewix]

Gameplay Video Includes New Mission Art


Click an image for the video!

share & enjoy
sean

[burtonposey]

Gameplay Video Includes New Mission Art


Click an image for the video!

share & enjoy
sean

Great job on the lighting for the environments. Really sells their personality quite well.

It might be a good idea to reinforce the state health/shield stuff in the trails of the ship or the ship itself (not crazy about this one). Maybe the trails would change color as you get closer to losing. Since a lot of your time is spent experiencing near misses and making sure you're ship is avoiding obstacles by small margins, it would be nice to see critical information without having to look away from the ship. Just a thought.

[fentlewoodlewix]

Great job on the lighting for the environments. Really sells their personality quite well.

It might be a good idea to reinforce the state health/shield stuff in the trails of the ship or the ship itself (not crazy about this one). Maybe the trails would change color as you get closer to losing. Since a lot of your time is spent experiencing near misses and making sure you're ship is avoiding obstacles by small margins, it would be nice to see critical information without having to look away from the ship. Just a thought.

Thanks for the feedback.

You make a good point. Currently it really is not clear to the observer what the ship's state is without having to glance away from the ship itself. I'd like to move the info closer to the ship somehow, trails are a good idea.

Overall the fuel, collisions & health arent "in the world", currently they're only readable on the hud. Trails particles perhaps lighting could all be used to communicate this. Perhaps the shield could "splutter" like a bad flourescent light after each collision? In addition sound effects on each collision would help too. Maybe a camera judder?

Thanks for your suggestions, keep them coming, they remind me what to prioritise,
sean

[burtonposey]

Just spitballing ideas back to you (better than coding alone and not talking to anyone)...

For the shield, you could have a crystalline/geometric-like force field that surrounds the ship. It's invisible to starter and beings to show/flicker and gets a tint applied to it when you take damage. It could get more reddened as it gets more dire or cracks and tints (ultimately doing a shattering effect when it's gone).

For the health, and I'm not sold on this idea, but you might consider an embedded health. So on the ship itself is a notched (so it's easier to see percentages) meter. It could go on top or on that middle tail piece between your thrusters. Like I said, I'm not sold on that. I kinda like the subtle trails idea, but in the vein of the color design of a game like Lumines, you might want to change your thrusters to complement your levels colors.

Anyways, keep at it!

[eyeliner]

Goddamned chiptune! How I hate that with a passion...

[fentlewoodlewix]

Goddamned chiptune! How I hate that with a passion...

yes, the chiptune music is quite dividing! seems people either love it or hate it.

we will definitely have a volume control, and if possible on the iOS version the chance to play your own tunes instead

do you have any suggestions for alternative music types that would fit the gameplay, visuals and scenario?

current tune used is zizibum by x-ray of greyscale

thanks,
sean

[eyeliner]

Actually, I see myself blasting away in that game rocking on some techno or some aggressive rock sounds, to emphasize the urgency.
Something like this: http://www.jamendo.com/en/album/47542 (second track) not the best example or even ideal, but I think something like this fits in your game.

The beat, simulating the hit of the meteors would be a touch of class. Adding some low beats, with echoes to a track would be like hearing the rocks hitting the ground in the distance.

Do you agree?

[fentlewoodlewix]

Actually, I see myself blasting away in that game rocking on some techno or some aggressive rock sounds, to emphasize the urgency.
Something like this: http://www.jamendo.com/en/album/47542 (second track) not the best example or even ideal, but I think something like this fits in your game.

The beat, simulating the hit of the meteors would be a touch of class. Adding some low beats, with echoes to a track would be like hearing the rocks hitting the ground in the distance.

Do you agree?

agressive techno and heavy rock are a good fit for the urgency, it is the end of the world.
i may have to source more than one genre of music.

syncing the sounds the action would be awesome, tis a feature that might have to wait for v2

i was checking out some DIO this morning to see if that would fit, it does but there is probably better, i dont really know much rock beyond AC-DC QUEEN and Status-Quo.

thanks
sean

[eyeliner]

You could do something like, play a drum beat at spaced intervals with a random seed to prevent them from looping too fast to let players know that out there there's rocks falling.

There's the "Boom, boom, boom" from the drums.

Using timed event sequences you could make a kind of basic soundtrack. :p