next »

[Eniimal]

Seren Nova 3D progressed a lot.

I already said it, but it's really interesting to come here and see your progress.
Keep up the good work !

[GalaethGames]

Seren Nova 3D progressed a lot.

I already said it, but it's really interesting to come here and see your progress.
Keep up the good work !

Thanks again!
I've just started the second level, and I'll post about it very soon, it's going to be an asteroid field based level, so the screenshots should at least be a nice contrast to the very white snow planet level.

[GalaethGames]

I’ve started working on the second level, which will start within an asteroid field.  The asteroids will be big and can cause some damage, but can be destroyed by a few lasers.

Here’s the beginning of the level being edited in the Godot Engine editor:


And how the asteroid field looks like in-game:



I’ve also changed an enemy that I had previously designed.  Now, when you first approach it, it looks like this:


This is it’s back, which is shield protected and so all lasers just bounce off, but every few seconds it turns around to face the player and fires some shots, the front is exposed and can be destroyed.  Here it is, turning back after firing some shots:



I’ve also added some particles to the space level, which look like little space debris particles flying past you.  Also, I’ve increased the blast range of explosions from the rockets that the player has, which means a few asteroids can be taken out at once with one, but then again, you have a limited supply.

http://www.sionco.com/asteroid-field-the-second-level/

[GalaethGames]

Trying some new cross-hairs:

[GalaethGames]

If anyone would like to test what I have so far, please give it a whirl:
http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=50457.0

I'm looking for constructive feedback, and tips on any little things that I can add.

[KaiTheSpy]

This game looks really cool. I loved Starfox 64! The only problem I see is that it looks a little too much like that game.

[GalaethGames]

Thanks! Hopefully, the alpha-builds are working, I've provided an extra one, any feedback welcome

[nnyei]

I've wanted to play a Star Fox 64-like game for ages since that game came out so I'm very happy that someone is doing a game in its vein. I'm really excited to try out the alpha!

When we sent you feedback, do you want people to just comment on this thread here? I'm asking because I tend to give very long commentary (provided the game has enough content to properly critique) and I don't want to drop a wall of text here if you don't want me to.

[GalaethGames]

Hi, thanks for your interest, it's encouraging to see some genuine interest in my little game.

Yeh, leaving feedback here will be fine, or via a PM. I know that it's not going to be of the same quality as Star Fox, but if I can at least make it as fun, I'll be happy.

[GalaethGames]

Ok, I've fixed the issue that meant the exe file didn't run.
I'm still getting to grips with the Godot Engine, and didn't select the option to export all the resources in the executable, now it should work.  The file size is a little big, as it includes all the models I've designed so far, even if they are not in the game.

http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=50457.0

[nnyei]

Ok, I've fixed the issue that meant the exe file didn't run.

Oh, so that's why it wouldn't start the other day. XD

(I played the 64 bit version, jsyk.) This is obviously very, very early in development so I'll probably touch on some things you're already well-aware of that need to change. Rather than PM you, I'll post my impressions here so other people can chime in, agree or disagree with any of my points. Also, I'll bring up Star Fox 64 disgustingly often, but I don't think you can blame me for that.

• Choice of font in the HUD: you're on the right track with a sans serifs font, but I hope the one we currently see is just a placeholder. It lacks character to be anything more.
  
  
• Compared to Star Fox 64, it feels like the ship is a lot farther away from the screen. It felt weird to me and I don't think I particularly like how it is at the moment. But that might just be my personal preference.
  
  
• I also wish you could see a little farther. It feels like enemies and environment pieces pop into view very late and that combined with my point right above this one, it feels like the game gives you a very short reaction time. Even the original Starfox for the SNES has a bigger draw distance (I've never played that one, but I looked at a video just now).
  
  
• I feel like, if it was already possible to die, the robot guys in stage 1 would wipe the floor with me. But I feel that's partly due to the positioning of the ship and the limited reaction time.
  
  
• The part of the first stage where it tells you to lean on one side to evade the rocks I completely ignored because I didn't know that I had to press either K or L. I simply flew over all the rocks and was completely fine that way.
  
  
• The ship feels a bit too slow in my opinion. Finding the right speed is probably very tricky because you also have to keep in mind how the crosshairs will be affected...
  
  
• There were some parts of the level where I just resigned myself to dodging everything rather than try to kill enemies because it felt like it wasn't made to be possible to kill all enemies on screen. This also ties into my "ship's very far away from the screen + enemies pop in relatively late" comment.
  
  
• In stage 2 your ship and the crosshairs are constantly vibrating for some reason.
  
  
• Some feedback -- visual and/or auditory -- for the player when they hit something or get hit would be nice. With the boss in particular I was unsure if I was actually hurting him. Also, that boss was very easy and it feels like he's actually incapable of hitting you at the moment.
  
  
• The first stage hurts my eyes after I look at it for too long. The white is a bit overwhelming for me personally.
  
  
• Apart from that, the graphic style is very minimalistic and clear. If this were my game, I'd probably try to differentiate myself in some way, try out some different color schemes/effects and the like, but that's just me.
  
  
• I like the little particles that fly by you. Creates a nice effect.
  
  
• It's obviously still lacking a lot of polish, fine tuning, and features, but it feels very much like Star Fox 64 at this early stage, which I personally like. But it would probably be good to think of some ways to differentiate yourself from that game. Because as it is, I struggle to come up with anything, and Star Fox 64 is such a good game (imo) that it's very difficult to measure up to it.
  
  

With that said, I think it's a solid start and I'm looking forward to seeing where you can take it.

[GalaethGames]

(I played the 64 bit version, jsyk.) This is obviously very, very early in development so I'll probably touch on some things you're already well-aware of that need to change. Rather than PM you, I'll post my impressions here so other people can chime in, agree or disagree with any of my points. Also, I'll bring up Star Fox 64 disgustingly often, but I don't think you can blame me for that.

Thanks for taking the time out to give your feedback.

Choice of font in the HUD: you're on the right track with a sans serifs font, but I hope the one we currently see is just a placeholder. It lacks character to be anything more.

The HUD is only a place-holder.

Compared to Star Fox 64, it feels like the ship is a lot farther away from the screen. It felt weird to me and I don't think I particularly like how it is at the moment. But that might just be my personal preference.

I've experimented with bringing it close to the screen, and can agree with you, it does feel easier to target enemies and feels a little faster, so I've changed this.

[

I also wish you could see a little farther. It feels like enemies and environment pieces pop into view very late and that combined with my point right above this one, it feels like the game gives you a very short reaction time. Even the original Starfox for the SNES has a bigger draw distance (I've never played that one, but I looked at a video just now).

This is something else I agree with you upon, that I've just started to improve.

I feel like, if it was already possible to die, the robot guys in stage 1 would wipe the floor with me. But I feel that's partly due to the positioning of the ship and the limited reaction time.

Yeh, they are mean robots, I think its easy to take them out if you get both laser upgrades, I also want to introduce a Star Fox type roll that can be used sometimes to deflect lasers, but I think I'll slow their rate of fire a little.

The part of the first stage where it tells you to lean on one side to evade the rocks I completely ignored because I didn't know that I had to press either K or L. I simply flew over all the rocks and was completely fine that way.

I posted the controls in the playtesting thread.

The ship feels a bit too slow in my opinion. Finding the right speed is probably very tricky because you also have to keep in mind how the crosshairs will be affected...

Yep, this takes fine-tuning

In stage 2 your ship and the crosshairs are constantly vibrating for some reason.

Ah yes, the vibration is something I implemented for the planet based stages to show the effects of the environment and atmosphere, but forgot to remove for the space stage.

Some feedback -- visual and/or auditory -- for the player when they hit something or get hit would be nice. With the boss in particular I was unsure if I was actually hurting him. Also, that boss was very easy and it feels like he's actually incapable of hitting you at the moment.

I haven't implemented any sound yet, and I've got visual special effects for laser hits on my todo list.

Apart from that, the graphic style is very minimalistic and clear. If this were my game, I'd probably try to differentiate myself in some way, try out some different color schemes/effects and the like, but that's just me.

It's obviously still lacking a lot of polish, fine tuning, and features, but it feels very much like Star Fox 64 at this early stage, which I personally like. But it would probably be good to think of some ways to differentiate yourself from that game. Because as it is, I struggle to come up with anything, and Star Fox 64 is such a good game (imo) that it's very difficult to measure up to it.

Yeh, I think there are positive and negative points to this. Star Fox is a great game, and the formula is fun, so, if I can get something finished, I'm sure it'll be enjoyable and easy for people to understand and get into.

Overall, it's a shooter on rails with a ship, so it'll always get compared to Star Fox whether I want it to or not, (I really don't mind), because a Star Fox 64 style game is what I want to do, and have wanted to do for a long time, so, except for changing the colour schemes (as you mentioned) to something completely wacky, there aren't too many things that I could think of that I could do to do that.  In the end, I'm trying to make a fun game and learning from the experience, without being too different just for the sake of it. But, any ideas are welcome.

With that said, I think it's a solid start and I'm looking forward to seeing where you can take it.

Thank you, I'm really glad to get some useful feedback that I can think about! I was worried that all the feedback would be negative or valueless comments like "It's rubbish". haha

[GalaethGames]

I should have posted this update before the release of the alpha-demo, but anyway here it is:

Firstly, I’ve created some enemy star fighters, these ships come in from the side of the screen in little squadrons, they’re easy to take down individually, but much tougher in groups.



This is how they appear in the game, (I’ve since added a booster effect to the back of them)seren nova 3d enemy starfighters:



Also, I’ve added some forcefield generating enemy ships, these ships come in packs of 4 and create a forcefield between them, that causes the player a lot of damage if touched.  Luckily, the forcefield can be brought down by destroying at least two of the ships on the corners.  In the asteroid field level (the second level), I’ve created a gauntlet of them, which is hard to get past and takes some sharp shooting to navigate.



I’ve also worked on some of the effects for the game, such as I’ve given all the enemy ships a little booster effect (such as the blue light that comes out of the player’s ship).  I’ve also added explosions to every ship or object when it’s destroyed.  I’ll probably try and improve the effect of the explosion in the future, but for now it works and makes the game feel better with a little more visual representation of when an enemy has been destroyed.



Finally, I’ve implemented the start of a mission select screen, for now it’s very basic, but functional.  I’d like to turn it into a space map screen with stats, such as in Star Fox.

[GalaethGames]

I’ve previously mentioned that I’ve added shields to the game.  But, for some reason making a shield collectible that can be picked-up in the game slipped through the Seren Nova 3D development.

So, finally, I’ve done it!  If you find this beauty during the game, you’ll get shields, which will last until they’ve taken too many hits.



You’ll also notice the blue circle below it, I’ve added this to all the pick-ups in the game such as laser upgrades and energy, it rotates and makes the pick-ups and collectibles more easier to recognize.

http://www.sionco.com/shield-upgrade-in-seren-nova-3d/

[marcgfx]

I loved star-fox on the snes ... you're making good progress here!

the male character reminds me of lego. I prefer what you are doing with the female character, the eye area is the right way to go. the mouth looks too pixelated though. but you have probably changed that by now?

maybe you can add some weak-spots to the battle cruisers, something you can target to make them sink?

the force-field idea is great. keep up the good work!