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[davido]

Hello Tig Peeps. I've been working on a 3d zooming arcade space combat game with procedurally generated missions/maps. It is called "skyw0r" (pronounced "SKY WAR".) I draw inspiration from the home-computer space combat games of the 70s and 80s, particularly from the works of the master Atari programmer Doug Neubauer (see website for more historical influence info.)

Here's a video link:


Here are some screenshots of skyw0r:





I currently have an alpha build for Windows and Linux. Available at http://gamejolt.com/games/shooter/skyw0r/58813/

Play with keyboard and/or joystick. Most USB gamepads should work. Please peep the website also for more notes.

My goal is to create an entertaining oldskool space shooter, but with some Starflight-like exploration and mining elements, and possibly a few other surprises.

I hope you enjoy the demo and let me know if you have any feedback or questions.

Thank you !
---david o'toole

[davido]

Hey. I'm actively working on the game and going to release v0.3 soon. Here are some updated videos showing new stuff. The biggest new thing so far is the Intellivoice-style AI copilot named "Roger".

New 1-minute trailer video:



Raw gameplay footage without music:



I've also been working on the design much more. In build v0.3 you will be able to land on planets and drive a tank around the surface.

[davido]

Hi. I have updated this to v0.3 with TONS of new stuff.
http://dto.itch.io/skyw0r

[fingerman]

hello davido!

i downloaded and played your game. the graphical style of your screenshots looked interesting.

here is one of mine. i think i turned some debug stuff on by mistake:


i must confess however, that i didn't really figure out what i was doing. i moved into a fleet of other ships on the universe screen and then started a fight. i also managed to shot some enemy spacecraft with rockets.
but neither did i understand how to manouver anemies into my sights on the rader or evade the hostile fire. i am not a veteran ogf the 3d zoom in space genre but also i guess this is a very early version of your game.

[davido]

Hello fingerman! Thanks for checking out the game. Let's see well, yes I left "d" as the debug graphics key! I'll have to fix that.

I hope you enjoyed the game. Ok so, yes this is an early alpha---the overall quest is not there yet, you just fly around and shoot stuff / collect fuel from the little clouds. I'm working to flesh things out more and more, however this is a good way to test out the feel of the gameplay modes.

About getting enemies in your sights---I would like to visually indicate the enemy hitzone (the area above your ship on screen where your bullets go.) That would help figure out when to fire. Evading hostile fire is a bit difficult but you have to dodge the other way so that it flies past you.

As there is currently no instructions or tutorial, this video might help show what you're supposed to do:



Thanks I appreciate your feedback. Let me know if the video illustrates anything for you. Also, I'll be working on the improvements i mentioned above (visual hitzone indicator, better dodging)

[davido]

More images:

[davido]

Coming soon: PLANETS SURFACES and mining.

MOCKUP image of what i want it to look like with the tank leaving your landed ship:

[davido]

Updated to v0.4! Downloads and change list at http://dto.itch.io/skyw0r

[gimymblert]

good!

[davido]

UPDATED to version 0.5 alpha!
http://dto.itch.io/skyw0r

New zooming over mountains combat video:




List of changes:
    Galaxy is now much larger.
    New locations and enemies in the Question mark sectors
    Mountain peaks on some worlds which must be avoided.
    Enemies cannot be seen on map until within your sensor range
    Star data display moved to system map
    More new funky planet/sky graphics. Star systems are now chunkier.
    Fixed planet icons incorrect color
    Don't allow landing on gas giants or stars
    Error message sound
    Improvements to the Roger AI (new messages, messages do not interrupt or repeat anymore)
    Planet orbit spacing improved
    Planet types now correlated with position in system
    Bugfixes

[davido]

So, what's next? Starbases, expanding the Rover mode gameplay, and tying it all together with randomly generated quests.

[davido]

Just updated to 0.6 alpha. Now all the basic features of gameplay are working.
Download at: http://dto.itch.io

Also an image gallery of pics: http://imgur.com/a/jf0se

    Added the Starbase, your home in the game. At the Starbase you can buy fuel, sell minerals, buy missiles, read notices and the jobs board, and recharge your shields.
    New lock-on targeting reticle.
    New menu system tying together all game screens and activities.
    Reworked control scheme. You can now play the entire game with just the joystick, or keyboard-only, or any combination thereof. See the in-game Help screen for more information.
    Better voice message prioritization for Roger.
    In-game software copyright/license display.
    Current text message / Roger speech is subtitled on the bottom of the screen.
    Bugfixes.
 
And a few of those pics, embedded:

[davido]

new video:

[andrew.r.lukasik]

Hi Davido,
Interesting concept. I wanted to check it out but my win8.1 pc crashes this game for some reason :< (error message is plain "stopped working"). Pm me if there is any log file you would be interested in.

[davido]

Hi, there should be a 2nd window behind the main game window with text/errors you can paste. If it even got to that point, that is.

Do you have Windows DEP (Data Execution Prevention) turned on? It usually barfs on my games because I use Lisp.

[davido]

By the way, it's been updated to v0.7 at http://dto.itch.io/skyw0r
Please let me know if you are able to recover any text from the terminal window I mentioned.
Also can you take any screenshots of the dialog box?

Hi Davido,
Interesting concept. I wanted to check it out but my win8.1 pc crashes this game for some reason :< (error message is plain "stopped working"). Pm me if there is any log file you would be interested in.

[andrew.r.lukasik]

You were right Davido - exception in DEP was needed.

Skyw0r really reminds me C64-era games - for good and some bad (it's hard to figure out what i'm suppose to do, what is what and lacks human characters/portraits to help storytell). I really like it's very distinctive visuals and sound concept, it's like Elite meets Hotline Miami! :D. Imho if you add more good stuff from nowadays games like visual storytelling clues ("you're being attack by triangles" vs "you're being attacked by xeno-repilian-fungi-pirate who wants to eat your heart") and more smooth learning curve this has potential to be awesome!

[davido]

I'm glad the game worked. I've added DEP config notes and a link to the game's itch.io page.
Indeed this is an alpha, so the game doesn't quite hold together yet.
I like your suggestions, and I'll be working on this game probably through the end of summer to flesh it out and polish it up as nicely as possible.

How was the framerate? It should be a smooth 60fps with an occasional jitter,

You were right Davido - exception in DEP was needed.

Skyw0r really reminds me C64-era games - for good and some bad (it's hard to figure out what i'm suppose to do, what is what and lacks human characters/portraits to help storytell). I really like it's very distinctive visuals and sound concept, it's like Elite meets Hotline Miami! :D. Imho if you add more good stuff from nowadays games like visual storytelling clues ("you're being attack by triangles" vs "you're being attacked by xeno-repilian-fungi-pirate who wants to eat your heart") and more smooth learning curve this has potential to be awesome!

[andrew.r.lukasik]

Framerate was optimal. On my pc (intel core2 2ghz, 4gb ram, win 8.1 64, gtx 275) Skyw0r runs super smooth.

Playing today I noticed that edurium seems to be very hard to replenish. You may want to look into that sir (maybe player can mine it? destroyed ships would drop it?).
And while missions seems to give you coordinates it could be probably reasonable not to expect that player will remember that numbers and give him some indicators on the main map where which destinations are.

[davido]

Glad to hear about the framerate.
Yes, endurium needs adjusting. You can refill somewhat in the gas clouds. (little sparkle dot groups on map)
Cool idea re: enemies drop endurium
Also I will have an objective marker in future builds.
I have plenty of work to do.
Thanks again for your comments and suggestions.
I hope you are enjoying the game

Framerate was optimal. On my pc (intel core2 2ghz, 4gb ram, win 8.1 64, gtx 275) Skyw0r runs super smooth.

Playing today I noticed that edurium seems to be very hard to replenish. You may want to look into that sir (maybe player can mine it? destroyed ships would drop it?).
And while missions seems to give you coordinates it could be probably reasonable not to expect that player will remember that numbers and give him some indicators on the main map where which destinations are.