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TIGSource ForumsDeveloperPlaytestingBullet Void - Testers wanted (alive)
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skaz
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« Reply #20 on: November 13, 2015, 10:49:03 AM »

Thanks a lot for the feedbacks!

@sAm_vdP

Happy you enjoyed the general feeling of it, for now it's really the thing I'm trying to get right. I think you're a bit generous with the AI, right now it has huge flaws, I should work on it to let the enemies fly a bit longer and be a real threat to the player. Sometimes ships are really dumb as rocks!

I agree, right now asteroids are so punishing, you kind of forget the ships and logically focus on the main threat. I must balance that, destroying asteroids should be a component of the game and helps interesting situations to occur. Making them really hard to destroy and instakill means any mistake in the way I spawn them will be seen as totally unfair by the player. Shield might be an answer, stooping medium sized asteroids but fully depleting. Something to try!

Concerning weapons, right now I want to make the game works with a single weapon, and not loose focus one more time, with plasma, missiles, beams... But a bigger gun with a low ROF and a high stopping power is possible. Would give the ship a much more "space tank" feeling, and be good at crushing rocks Smiley

@fingerman

I'm glad to hear you found it fun, I sometimes wonder if I find it fun myself only because I'm emotionally invested in it :p

For the enemies, I tried a lot of options, but a mix of patterns and free flight feels good imho. I try to give the feeling they really try, and not that's they're cannon fodder. I want them to feel smart too, but they have to crash on asteroids at some points, because I think it's fun and pays homage to the main inspiration of the game: the asteroid field chase from star wars. I must find a balance between unstoppable solid rock, and popping balloons. I also should make asteroids flash on hit, no reason not to.

The things you collected are meant to be ship's parts, but you are not the first to think it might be people: I must redo those assets to make it clear, as well as give it a clear purpose, like getting health back, or charging something...

To both of you, nice scores Wink I'll be working hard on the game the few next days, expect new builds soon if you are interested Smiley And thanks again for your time!
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fingerman
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« Reply #21 on: November 14, 2015, 07:00:33 AM »

yes the asteroid scene from empire strikes back! that is totally what i was reminded of. i feltz like han solo or dash rendar, partly because of the ship and the turret.
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skaz
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« Reply #22 on: November 17, 2015, 02:07:54 PM »

A new build is OUT! I've addressed a huge chunk of the problems you found, all the explanations are in the devlog. Asteroids are no longer instadeath! You can heal by picking up scrap, too. I'll let you discover it, I think it's a far better experience.



As usual any feedback highly appreciated!

Skaz
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fingerman
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« Reply #23 on: November 17, 2015, 03:09:26 PM »

Ok, I will have a go at the new version at the weekend! looking forward to it.

Also, I read your devlog and am kind of interested how the cyber computer space hacking sim would have played out...
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skaz
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« Reply #24 on: November 17, 2015, 04:10:37 PM »

Looking forward to your impressions!

Ahah... the hacking part of the fantasy game I'll never make.

I imagine it as a gameplay phase in which the character uses some kind of huge game-boy-like device attatched on his arm, kind of like a pip boy, to make the hack. Inside the hacking tool you can put a set of 5 cartridges,  those cartridges are A.I. programs, which in term of game means "units" in a tactical RPG. The grid would be small, like 10 by 10 max, and the device you hack can have walls, turrets and units. The combat is classical tactical grid based RPG, but really fast paced. Every unit has a few attacks, but very different in shapes, ranges and damages. Your A.I.s get XP on each successful hacks, getting stats up, kind of like pokemons.

You then build a roster of A.I.s you train to face every possible situation, heavily defended places, ranged opponents, close combat ones, and when you beat the enemy units, tada! You win and open or access the stuff you were hacking.

To mimic the stress of the situation, you can even imagine a time limit, so not only you have to beat the opponent, you have to do it quick, not much time to think! Still turn based, but without the comfort of taking all the time you want to plan ahead, which could be nice if the game is quite simple. You have to act on instinct and train yourself to be efficient.

I have very elaborate fantasies...

BTW, my personal high score is 201 seconds.
« Last Edit: November 17, 2015, 04:22:11 PM by skaz » Logged

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fingerman
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« Reply #25 on: November 20, 2015, 05:47:35 AM »

Hi skaz,

thanks for the info on the hacking. I even dreamt of that game after I read it haha.

NEW VERSION:
-liking the way you repair the ship with the parts
-good that the asteroids are not insta death. i feel like the asteroid density is still too high at times though or in other words there is this cut out lane that you have to fly sometimes and there are loads of overlaping rocks in other places. dunno, just seems slightly too obvious sometimes. (don't get me wrong, this build is vastly improved Smiley)

one bug thingy: check out if you fly into the screen border on the far right. if you shoot there is a shoting animation but no shots are actually spawned!

take care
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skaz
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« Reply #26 on: November 21, 2015, 07:06:23 AM »

Thanks fingerman!

Glad to hear you found the whole thing to be better with the last changes, I agree on the quite obvious patterns for asteroid spawn, it's really early in the development, mostly experimenting. The goal is to force the player to constantly move, change from a side to the other, don't just stay idle in the screen. I want it to be dynamic, but I'll have some tweaking to do to make it feel more organic.

Right now I'm trying to figure how surfaces works in game maker, I'd like to make the actual port of the image 1:1 pixel ratio, just as if you were running on a low res screen. I'm also making some sound effects, with bxfr, so mostly "8bits era" sounds.

On the bug side, what is your screen resolution? It directly affects the size of the game space, I must have made a mistake in the way bullets detect they're out of the playing field before being removed :p

Thanks again!

Skaz
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fingerman
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« Reply #27 on: November 21, 2015, 07:26:28 AM »

my resolution: 1600 x 900 pixels
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skaz
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« Reply #28 on: November 25, 2015, 11:08:11 AM »

Quick update! A new build is out with some major changes: mo mouse, no aim! Shoot with the arrow keys, ala binding of isaac. Only four directions, a lot more maneuvering required. 
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« Reply #29 on: December 11, 2015, 04:04:02 AM »

New MAJOR build is out! The KINETIC build. Everything is detailed in the devlog, I'm looking for feedbacks on the modifications of this build, which are:
- physics! Everything is a solid and stuff collide with stuff, semi-realistically
- graphical tweaks, bigger guns, bigger bullets, new shield, GUI gauges are bigger
- gamepad support!
- space shotgun as alternate weapons. HUGE kick, huge recoil, low range.
- in the current state of things, asteroid can spawn from anywhere but the bottom. ROCK GRINDER!
- indestructible asteroids. Life's hard! Push them with your guns. Pushing them on enemies is nice.

The CONTROLS:

Keyboard:

WASD(ZQSD also works) to move
Arrows to shoot in 8 directions
left ctrl to fire the shotgun
SPACE to activate the shield
R to restart

Gamepad:

Right stick : move
Left stick : shoot and aim
Left Trigger : shield
Right Trigger : shotgun
Start to restart

Hope you'll like it!

Skaz
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« Reply #30 on: December 11, 2015, 07:03:59 AM »

I would like a WASD to move and mouse to aim/fire control scheme option, since that is a bit more intuitive to me than the twin stick controls. (Though it might just be me, since I haven't played Binding of Isaac.)

Somewhat related to the controls, I found it difficult to play because you can only aim at specific angles (up/down/left/right/45 degree diagonals). To hit anything, you have to focus on lining up with your target and aiming in the correct direction, which in my opinion, isn't as fun as shooting anything you want to.

A longer delay between enemy spawns would be nice, with some indicator of where the next enemy is going to spawn will be nice, so that I have some time to get out of the way. Some warning indicators for asteroids would be nice too.

A visible score would make the game feel better to play and give a bigger sense of achievement throughout the game (as opposed to when you lose).

Some minor graphical details that I noticed (OCD more than anything):
- The shield graphic seems to clip through the player.
- The effect that shows when a bullets hit the ships looks strange because it has a solid black background and spawns over the ships.

Overall, I think it's a really well-made game. The art style feels consistent, which is a great thing.

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skaz
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« Reply #31 on: December 11, 2015, 01:26:19 PM »

Thank you for giving it a shot Gkxd!

Mouse aim was the previous control, I dumped it for a more classic/arcade/oldschool way of aiming. Thing is, with free aim, aiming at 360° is just overpowered when enemies don't. You can outmanoeuvre anyone, sustain no shots, still land your owns. It put emphasis on manoeuvring with limited angles, which is something I want.

Spawning sequences are really a WIP for now, I will have to time things to sustain tension and interest. Huge priority for the next build.

Indicators were previously in the game, but doesn't work if I spawn asteroids from the sides. and I was told they weren't explicit enough to what they meant. So I temporary took them out. I'll have to rework them so they fit. But I get it, at least a second to react before an asteroid comes right at you is mandatory.

Score: will do!

As for your OCDs Wink
- the shield is actually opened on the top, I can't make the turret work without drawing it on top of the ship AND the shield. At least not with a lot of work, which means lot of time...
- you mean the black smoke? Or the red impact? it has a transparent background, that's weird. Are you sure?

Thank you, the consistency in art style is what you get when you are your own art director ^^



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« Reply #32 on: December 11, 2015, 05:55:32 PM »

- you mean the black smoke? Or the red impact? it has a transparent background, that's weird. Are you sure?

The blue effect that has a black background. (I think that's the black smoke?)
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skaz
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« Reply #33 on: June 20, 2016, 12:51:10 PM »

Hello fellow TigErs  Tiger! (that's Tig users)



This project was dead, but as a fan of zombie movies, I'm bringing it back to life. A lot of design choices were made to bring this new version of Bullet Void, which is changing name and is now called VOID MINERS.

Get it HERE!

Everything is explained in the Devlog, and  I'm looking for a few playteters!

Next update will include a lot of changes to the scoring system and fixed playing sessions, I will ellaborate on the design process in a few days.

Every feedback is as usual invaluable!

-Skaz
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fingerman
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« Reply #34 on: June 23, 2016, 07:29:45 AM »

hi skaz,

liked the build. the mining is a nice addition and changes the focus.

sometimes too low frequecy of minable asteroids somehow.

do you take more damage, if you collide with a faster asteroid or is it based on time and size?

it's obviously a randomly generated infinete space scroller. it would be sweet if there were something more to keep you motivated rather than just chasing the high-score. for example: every time when you have collected a certain ammount of ore a larger resource trading ship comes into screen and you hand over the ore and pic a reward (extra hull strenght, 3 rockets, screen nuke).

as always take care,
fingerman
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skaz
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« Reply #35 on: June 24, 2016, 08:32:26 AM »

Hi Fingerman!

Glad you liked this build. Right now the frequency of spawn is totally random and based on nothing, it's just aimed at testing the mining mechanic. You take more damages with big asteroids, and their speed is included in the damages. I might just take the speed to calculate damages, and leave out the base damages.

It won't be infinite! The goal is to provide 4-5 minutes round of intense gameplay, based on the ability to score by mining and only mining. Pirates will be less frequent, and will only be a disturbance. The global amount of possible asteroid and the amount of ore will be fixed, so there will be a theoretical 100% perfect score. But I will include a score multiplier mechanism, based on heat: you heat up the drill while mining, but it will cool down the rest of the time. You will ramp up the multiplier by filling the heat gauge, and any multiplier level will be kept until the end of the round.

This means you are incited to stack several asteroids on the screen to mine them one after the other with no interruption, to fill the gauge and not waste multiplier potential. Of course, the sooner and the more efficient you are at getting the multipliers, the better your score will be. I've put a lot of thoughts in this system, I hope it'll work just fine Smiley

As a simple score based game, there won't be anything like powerups, it's going to stay the same from start to finish, only thing changing being your mastery of the gameplay. Nice thing with a fixed length game is, you don't always end up dead. You win the game, and sometime you loose by dying before the finish line. You increase your score or not, but there is some victory. I hope to design something not to frustrating!

Next version in a few days.

-Skaz
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« Reply #36 on: July 02, 2016, 05:16:30 PM »

I've never played your earlier versions of the game, but I tried this one out, it was cool! Game looks terrific, and it's fun to try to maneuver your ship to mine an asteroid as dangers fly around you. I agree with Fingerman that right now the frequency of the mine-able asteroids is too low; sometimes you wait around a long time for one to come, only to have it fly by too fast for you to grab it. I think you also can make the arrow indicating an incoming gold asteroid more obvious; I was so focused on avoiding disasters that I rarely noticed the gold arrows.

Sometimes the pirates would take a while to start shooting at me, so eventually I would just ignore them and concentrate on asteroid mining, and often times a quick asteroid would take them out.

I think powerups and ever-increasing pirates would be fun, but it sounds like you want to keep the game pretty simple!
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