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[Bombini]

Get the final game here:

https://mabafu.itch.io/goldspace

Join the community:

https://discord.gg/XukUBzs

Controls :
W, A, S, D  keys to move
Arrow keys to shoot
Space to select/continue
or Controller or Custum Controls!

Story background:
By the year 3050, humanity depleted Earth’s natural resources. Hardscrabble soil led to famine, and elevated regions became uninhabitable as oxygen levels continued to drop. When aquifers withered away, wealthy countries learned to melt the ice caps for drinkable water, but their overzealous efforts led to flooding that devastated island nations. It wasn’t the apocalypse, but it was close. Scientists predicted a societal collapse within two centuries and the end of humanity within the millennium.

In a flurry of activity, world leaders instituted a program aimed at discovering a new habitable planet. Space shuttles launched into space, each equipped with a team of twenty. Each team was promised unimaginable wealth should they find a new planet on which humans could live. The world leaders called this plan GoldSpace.

Inspiration:
I loved playing Buck_Rogers:_Countdown_to Doomsday, Whale's Voyage and Star Flight 2 on my Amiga 500 and i would never even think about trying to copy the complexity of these titles with the limited resources i have. Starflight succeeds largely because the exploration mechanic works so well.
One thing i had in mind though while playing was the wish to explore ships and locations a bit more as i could. I loved finding ancient ruins. The game i have in mind won't get anything near the exploration possibilities of these games but it is definitely an inspiration.

Please let me know if you like or dislike it.
Cheers!

[rascalpuppyjay]

Very cool! :3 I like the music and the game play.

[Bombini]

Thanks!

A bit more explanation on the gameplay:

You are a space explorer who is about to discover the myth of Space Eldorado – the legendary "Lost City of Gold", that fascinates explorers since the days of first space travel.

The game consists of 2 parts:

Levels

• Find weapons and artifacts for avatar and fuel for the ship
• Get coordinates for new locations on other planets
• Collect parts of ancient data which will lead to Space Eldorado

The Spacemap

• Travel to stars or spaceships
• Upgrade ship to travel through special terrain like nebula
• Find Space Eldorado in the end

I am still wondering if the player should have more choices when running into a spaceship (communicate, attack etc). What do you think?

[ryansumo]

This is a really cute game.  If I had more time I'd definitely play it some more.  My one request would be to allow use of arrow keys as well as WASD.

[Bombini]

Thanks
Arros and WASD is already in btw.
I will upload a new version in around 2-3 weeks.

Have some hatching eggs in between:

[Bombini]

I am currently working the digging mechanics.

From start I wanted to have planets in the game because exploring spaceships only might become a bit repetitive.
Digging for lost artifacts? Hell yeah! Guy with a tie is watching.

Having fun with the Tile Api

[Voley]

Looks very neat, do you draw and program yourself?

[atmos]

Here are my 2 cents:

At level 01, just before you get to the final control room there are the human characters who for some reason walk through the walls. Not sure if it is intended.

Something about the controls doesn't feel right to me. I find myself stuck on more that one occasion an it is kind of hard to aim.

Anyway, love your idea and will definitely try it again later.

[Bombini]

Thanks guys!

@Atmos:

The enemy walking through walls is a bug or rather a performance issue (pretty sure about that). I wanted to publish Space Pirate as a flash browser game but it is so difficult to have a good performance when it comes to flash.
I reworked the game and will publish it as download (PC, MAC) which will allow me add more features as well.

The aiming is a good point. I got the suggestion to build in an "auto-aim" system.

I am wondering though:

• Would i like to focus on one specific enemy if there are multiple ones? I guess yes.
• Would i need a "select" or "switch" target option? I guess yes and that might be a bit much.

Maybe i try an "auto aim area" which is always in front of the player and only enemies in this area will be targeted without choice?
What do you think?



I will also work on controls. You are talking about the general flow right?


@Manboobs:
Thanks a lot!


@Voley:
Its currently a one man show. I do game design, scripting, music, animation and art myself (i started with the sci-fi pack from oryx though as mentioned earlier) in my spare time. For scripting i use Stencyl 3 (so its not programming).

[Bombini]

I updated a lot behind the scenes (so not much cool stuff to show):

•   Fixed static gun states (x)
•    Removed player slowdown on tile contact (x)
•    Removed enemy walks through walls glitch (x)
•    Streamline lower interface (x)
•    Player not so stuck when small entires (x)
•   Fix relations between furniture, broklen walls and digging (x)
•   Diggin: Player can now dig through dirt (x)
•   Enemies get damage from nearby fire (x)
•    mine/bomb explosion (add bomb are to kill dirt) (x)

I added a core reactor to every ship.
The ship will blow up piece by pice if you destroy it which will be needed to reach certain goals.
The player will be sucked into space if not running to safety.



I am working on a auto target system for the laser gun right now and i am not sure if it makes a lot sense. Giving the player control what to target is too much micromanagement for the palyer as i mentioned earlier.

But what if the player wants to shoot something specific and the target system targets the nearest enemy?

Anyone has been in the same situation yet?
I will post a weapon test soon!

[Bombini]

I have an aiming system which could work.

Question is: What do you prefer?
Please let me know!

1. Auto aim to nearest enemy (in specific area; see image below)
http://mabafu.com/spacepirate/aim2/index.html

2. Straight shot in direction which player is facing (original one)
http://mabafu.com/spacepirate

3. Classic run and gun with mouse
(i didn't build that yet)

All files are around 7.5mb (server in Germany).
I will switch to download PC/MAC for alpha.

 

[kruxus]

I didn't like the auto-aim that much, but the other way where you can only fire in the direction you're walking felt a bit restrictive.
I would prefer Binding of Isaac controls to be honest. Move with wasd, fire in four directions with arrow keys (or the other way around).
Mouse-aiming in a Flash application might be a bit annoying, as far as I recall you cannot lock the mouse to the app so you might move the cursor outside the game and deactivate it.

[Bombini]

Thanks for the feedback!
I am also not convinced of the auto aim.

I embedded your proposal (WASD to move, arrows to fire in direction):
http://mabafu.com/spacepirate/aim3/index.html

Beside that here is a version where you press Space + Control + direction to shoot without moving:
http://mabafu.com/spacepirate/aim/index.html

What do you think?

[kruxus]

I prefer the first one. Much better if you want fast action. If you want your game to be more like an rpg where stats is more important than skill and reactions you could still consider some kind of auto-aim.

[Bombini]

Thanks!

Totally agree. I want to aim for the action (with a meaningful story background).
I love rpg but this would be too disrupting for the game flow.

I want to implement some meaningful stats though (mastery of guns maybe).

[Bombini]

Here a sneak of the Bank Heist Ship btw.
Robbing the counters will be so much fun

Ask gently? Sneak in? Blast all apart?

[Bombini]

I figured out that i need to advance the enemy behaviour to create more interesting situations and more fun.

First step is done:

• The enemy is now in a passive idle state (smoking cigarettes or whatever).
• It will change into an "being aware state" (the question mark) for a short while if the player is close enough. Enemy will go back to idle if player moves away again
• Finally the enemy will turn into hostile mode if player stays close.

This enables passing enemies without fights and makes the world more believable.

What next:

• Combine this bahaviour with patroling, walking towards the player
• Adding an "officer" who will trigger an alarm (big problem;) ) when player is recognized

[Bombini]

About to rob a space bank...



I implemented the first step of a global alarm. Hell breaks loose if it triggers.
Will post it soon!

Most of the enemy behaviours are reworked.
Its now much more fun and challenging to play.

[jctwood]

Love the aesthetic and particle effects.

[okoz]

I'm enjoying the demo very much!  The WASD and arrow keys controls were my favorite after a quick try.  For some reason the auto aim reminds me of that gun with the replay button in the Fifth Element.