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[RyanHuggins]

Hey! I've been trying to make my way into the Tigsource community for awhile, but due to a variety of reasons, I've been having trouble keeping my post count up and consistent. Haha. Despite this, I've been working on a small project, Dolphin Squadron, as an attempt to improve my skills as a game designer/programmer. I'm looking for some feedback on it as it's only my second project to go past prototype.

Dolphin Squadron

Some screenshots for interest purposes.

DOWNLOAD "DEMO":
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/62523364/Ryan/ACPCP%20-%20Siifour%20Games/Dolphin%20Squadron%20V021Public.zip

Platform: PC (more if the game is well-received)

Engine: Game Maker 8.1

Time Spent: About 3 months on and off (school )

Team:

Ryan Huggins (myself) - Design, Programming, Art
Brook Chipman (Revocare http://revocare.tumblr.com/) - Art
Jack Yeates (Blueskybleu https://soundcloud.com/blueskybleu) - Music and Sound

Premise: You are a dolphin hired by the US Marine Corps to intercept dangerous underwater mines that are being used to covertly destroy coastal cities around the world. The core game is a vertical scrolling shooter where you play as a weaponized dolphin fired out of a deep-sea submarine. Starting at the bottom of a trench and traveling up towards the surface, the goal of the game is to destroy a mine before it reaches the surface by first, catching up with and destroying a mechanized angler fish (a mecha) that's carrying it to the surface, and then destroying the mine with your dolphin. The hook is exploding dolphins. To destroy the mines, you have to destroy the mecha with your dolphin lasers and then slam your dolphin into the mine.

Controls:
PRESS UP to launch out of the trench
HOLD UP to accelerate up towards the surface
LEFT and RIGHT to turn your dolphin
S or Z to fire your secondary weapon when you get it (it appears on your back)
HOLD SHIFT to increase turn sensitivity if you want (I rarely use this, but some like it)
PRESS F4 to fullscreen the game

Notes: Currently, the title/start-menu screen is pretty useless. Just choose ARCADE mode to play. You can try the TUTORIAL, but it hasn't been updated for awhile and is probably broken. :D

Feedback Requests: I'm looking for general feedback about the aesthetic, gameplay, controls, and SE. I'll take pretty much anything as feedback. The game is nearing "completion" though (I only have a week or two to finish it up before I need to move on) so some things may not be addressed. I will keep a log of things I am working on updated in this post.

Log:

--Redo title screen/start menu [DONE]
--Redo tutorial [DONE]
--Complete unlock weapon system [DONE]
--Add some visual flair to space [DONE]
--Design and implement final boss [DONE]
--Finish implementing sound effects and obtain finalized music [DONE]
--Balance [DONE (Never really done...)]
--General polish [DONE]

THANK YOU FOR HELPING OUT!


More screenshots!

[RyanHuggins]

In an absolutely shocking turn of events, Dolphin Squadron was featured on Indiegames.com!

The link is http://indiegames.com/2013/04/free_demo_dolphin_squadron_is_.html

I'd like to take this moment to reflect on my life as a game developer.

It all began in 5th grade when I decided that I would design a Megaman Battle Network fan game. I spent my days designing weapons, writing a story, and making concept art for the game before I discovered RPG Maker and lost a few years of my life to that. During that time period, I found my wonderful musician Jack Yeates though, so it wasn't huge waste. Fast-forward about 3 or 4 years from that point and I'm a junior in high school making a (bad) game that was however, actually playable. Fast-forward a few more years and I am a freshman in college making his first game that's actually mildly entertaining.

For a lot of developers I feel like a post on Indiegames.com wouldn't mean too much, especially for a game like Dolphin Squadron that might get a few downloads and a few plays at most, but I feel like it just helps us to validate our desire to make games. Someone thought something we made was cool enough to feature just based on a post at Tigsource. That means a lot to us, and to me especially. It means that we're at least going in the right direction! :D


HOWEVER I WOULD STILL LOVE SOME FEEDBACK!

[marcgfx]

i like it. its very simplistic but has some neat new ideas. i like the launching and the not so happy ending for the dolphin. the game mechanics are solid and i didnt get angry for dying. if i did die, it was my own fault.

[RyanHuggins]

Thanks! I've been working on balancing the game, so it's good to know that it doesn't feel unforgiving or unfair.

In other news, I've just left my freshman year of college behind and will be spending the next day or so unpacking and stuff. If I find time, I'll be working on Dolphin Squadron! I'm aiming for a release before the 10th of this month, but we'll see if I hit that mark.

Thank you to anyone who has played (even if you didn't post). :D

[PierrickC]

I've just tried it and it's pretty good, it play very well and simple to understand, the graphic are simple but very efficient, I guess because of the resolution that you only target phones ? that's a shame

[RyanHuggins]

I'm actually am only targeting the PC atm. If, when I'm done with the game (in a few days) I feel like the game would work nicely on mobile, I might port it after I make another project or two.

[dlan]

played it and it's quite good, the movements could feel a little heavy at first, but that doesn't hinder the game experience, and it's a nice change from classic arcade games. I liked how you have a lot of different secondary weapon, that make the game more interesting to play. Otherwise, the game resolution is really more suited for a smartphone . At least, having the option to upscale the default resolution on pc would be great.

[RyanHuggins]

Haha. Thanks for the feedback!

I originally designed this game as a college project (freshman at Champlain College) and the brief's target was to create a game that could potentially work in an arcade cabinet. Inspired by the vertical real-estate and scrolling gameplay of games like Spy Hunter, I decided to emulate the screen resolution with Dolphin Squadron.

One of the first things that my teacher told me was that the game would work really well on a mobile platform. Haha. I'm not completely sold on how the controls would handle with touch and tilt controls, but I am interested in at least messing around with the game on mobile at some point.

You can go fullscreen by pressing f4. Haha. I keep forgetting to tell people that.

[RyanHuggins]

DOLPHIN SQUADRON IS ALMOST DONE. Just making trailer(s) and finalizing the music and stuff now.

About a week ago, a Russian blog picked up Dolphin Squadron as well. TrueIndieGames it is called. 

http://trueindiegames.blogspot.ru/2013/05/dolphin-squadron.html

I translated the page and I'm still not sure exactly what is being said, but I think it's along the lines of the game being interesting, somewhat difficult to get used to, but fun notheless. :D These are the things that make me happy in my life!

Also.

PROMOTIONAL IMAGE.

We are aiming for a release window between May 20th and May 26th. :D

[SirNiko]

The red-eyed dolphin makes him look like the bad guy.

[RyanHuggins]

Genuine question: Would you consider that an issue? We like to think of the Dolphin as an antihero of sorts. Haha.

[GameRoom]

This is quite sexy looking.

[RyanHuggins]

Thanks a bunch! Hopefully we'll continue to make visually appealing games during our time at college. haha

[SirNiko]

I don't think the evil-looking dolphin is an "issue", no. It just seemed odd.