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[RLofC]

PvP Arcade Dogfighting Shooter


Now on Steam Greenlight |  watch the [TEASER VIDEO]



DOWNLOAD the alpha-demo here: rlofc.itch.io/guts-vs-glory


Latest video:




Current Stage: Alpha / DEMO

The Short Version:
Guts vs Glory will be all about providing some old-school arcade fun. No fancy storyline or puzzles. Shoot or get shot.

Planned Features:

• Single-Player and Two-Player (Local and LAN) PvP dogfights
• Booster crates with perks and surprises
• Ground targets to shoot at or that shoot at you
• Weather and sun effects
• Flocks of geese

Videos:
Air to Air missile launcher:



Geese, Boosters and Bad Weather:



Getting the alpha-demo ready:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiYIUofgKXU
Latest pre-alpha update:



Watch the game skeleton in action:
http://youtu.be/U9XSDJodnwc
Watch the prototype in action:
http://youtu.be/vwYq4XkT8A0
Watch the previous AI and physics test:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ki7LlqTurI

Also:
I'm developing Guts vs Glory on my spare time but I think I'll be able to pull it off quick enough.
The concept for this game is simple: pure, simple, coin-op-ish PvP fun.
The alpha deadline was April 1st 2014   I managed to release the first 8 levels of the game.
The next goal was to release the first half of the game (levels 1-12) by the end of June 2014.
This is now part of the latest alpha build.

I appreciate any feedback, critique and info you can throw at me.

[Matt Rohr]

The camera definitely needs work.
Camera shake, some "tweened" movement, maybe the camera can zoom in and out based on the planes distance to each other?

[sperryman]

Is your game going to be limited to aerial combat, or are you going to have land-based objectives as well? Even so far as taking off and landing the plane and the start and end of missions?

[RLofC]

@Matt
Shake sounds great. I can even push it to the prototype. Maybe small shakes while shooting and a big one when the plane crash.
I tried binding the camera to the center point between both planes and set its distance based on the planes distance. This ups the intensity but after a few minutes of play, I got dizzy. I think I'm not the best one to judge so I'll probably put it out later for some sort of AB testing, so other, more robust gamers can judge.

@sperryman
Yes, I do want to add some land interaction: AA guns, bonus bomb-run levels.. landing and take-off is a very good idea... could add some flavor.

[Matt Rohr]

It is all about the little bits of feedback you give the player.
Do you have some sort of unique or key mechanic?

[Zaxuhe]

I like the idea of plane chasing, I don't know how the controls would fell though and how it easy would be to get used to them

[RLofC]

The controls will be simple. Pull the stick to any direction and the plane will rotate and fly there. If you fly up, the plane will slow down, if you fly down the plane will speed-up. Hit a button and the plane shoots. Easy and fun.

The game will involve evading the opponent or other hazards and balancing between going after the opponent's tail, trying to shoot it down or shoot booster crates / other environmental objects.

For PvP, I'm considering timed rounds (2-5 minutes each). Player with the highest score wins. Medals, glory, the works..

The guns have measured bursts, so you need to calculate your shooting. Possibly limited ammo, with refills using boosters (not sure about this one as this may slow things down).

I'm aiming for a simple and intensive "2D" in 3D shooter

[darklight]

Looks nice, and sounds great too!  The planes seem to rotate a bit fast though?

[RLofC]

Thanks for the kind feedback darklight. I still need to tweak the plane behavior, speed, rotation and gun rate. This is perhaps the most challenging aspect, finding the sweet-spot where everything just "works".

[RLofC]

After playtesting the prototype I can definitely say it's a go ahead for the game. The dogfighting is just as fun as I thought it would be:





The red plane is P1 (me) and the black is CPU. I know I overdid the clouds. I just wanted to see the effect. I also added some camera shake. Things are far from perfect, but it's a start.

I will now begin designing the actual Game. This is both fun and challenging. I really want to keep everything within achievable bounds.

You can read the full update here:
http://randomlinesofcode.com/blog/articles/guts-and-glory-prototype-playtest/

[Matt Rohr]

Yay camera shake!
Good luck man!

[RLofC]

Guts & Glory is on its way to becoming a full game. I'm now following this blueprint:


The scaffolds for the game structure are set. I have a preliminary home screen, levels menu, game mode and a level stats placeholder:





Everything is still pretty much WIP but it's good to have the core elements of the game set-up. Unlike the prototype, the codebase is fresh and clean, and I feel confident to move on as fast as I can.

You can read the full update here:
http://randomlinesofcode.com/blog/articles/guts-and-glory-scaffolds/

[RLofC]

Added some clouds to the home screen. It looks better this way:

[RLofC]

Guts & Glory has a new southern rock soundtrack by Milos Petrenj. Checkout the latest video update:




Last week was very productive and the game pre-alpha builds are shaping up.
I've toned-down the auto-generated clouds of the weather system and added bullet trails:



I've also made progress with controls assignment and the players profile storage. I'm using every single spare moment I can find to progress and have a playable alpha-demo that I can start sharing.

More news will follow 

[Randomasta]

Looking good! I see your game has stages, does that mean that there will be more enemy planes type / AI variance / alternative objectives? Your clouds looks nice too, how did you make it? The bullets are too big for me but that's just personal taste.

[RLofC]

Thanks Yes, different levels will introduce different challenges. The first few levels are basic flight and combat training. As you progress additional elements will be added that will complement the core dogfighting mechanics: AA missiles, bad weather and.. flying geese.. the enemy AI will also increase in difficulty and in later stages both Guts & Glory (the planes) may look and behave differently 

The clouds are generated using a particle systems and a weather generation module that will (hopefully) introduce different weather conditions.

The bullets are far from true proportions. I've done some experimenting and finally settled with the current scale to make things a bit clearer.

[RLofC]

Last week was mostly dedicated to adding the first training levels of the game, but I also got to revamp the mid-air explosions. Check it out it out at 0:56 here:





The training levels will help new players get into the game, while still provide PvP :



Guts & Glory will be playable against a CPU opponent as well, so I add new AI behaviors for the new challenges.

After adding some Newtonian physics, the explosions look much better

Before:



After:



I'm going to focus on setting up the first demo builds for the game. I don't like repeating mundane tasks so I'll probably automate the build system for the game's different platforms, starting with Windows, Linux and OSX.

[RLofC]

The core of the game is ready , but I still need to complete levels 6-12 for the alpha:



Yes, it's a goose. Imagine a flock of these, your flying foe and your blazing guns

( and if you're wondering about the strange Blender layout, it's because I'm still working in portrait mode )

I've also set-up my Windows builds machine. I have a fully automated build process for Windows, driven by git. I'm going to get the same setup for Linux tonight, and for OSX early next week.

I already have an early demo build with the first 5 levels ready for some brave test pilots I will upload the files and post the links in the playtesting forum soon. Using a gamepad is recommended, but the mouse works okay too.

[RLofC]

After a short testing cycle, the alpha-demo of Guts & Glory is up for grabs:
http://rlofc.itch.io/guts-n-glory

There are 5 levels in the demo. Levels 1-4 are training levels (both planes are immune to guns fire) and level 5 is the first dogfighting level. The game can be played in single player and two players modes and it is best experienced using a gamepad, but can be controlled using the mouse as well.

Please share your feedback with me. I would greatly appreciate it!

[RLofC]

Working on the game trailer, box-shot and poster. Here is one style I'm considering:


Oh, and I fixed the broken download link in the first post