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[BlackOpzFX]

**ChopperSquad X** - Week 18 - The "Say Cheeeeeese?" Update - Smoke, Buff Stations and Graphics Assets.

This week turned out to be the change of pace I needed. The last couple weeks I've been stuck under the hood programming a lot of the underlying systems I'll depend on later. The shift to graphics was a welcome break that allowed me to keep moving the project forward. For the last couple months I been archiving graphics and backgrounds I might possibly use in the game and this update finally gave me a reason to sift through them and pick some items that'll make a decent demo. (I also realized how much I bought that I'll never use in this project)

This update tested the flexibility of my core routines. Luckily I had little trouble extending them to add the features I needed. My first target were the parallax layers since they would create the most dramatic change. Unfortunately none of the multiple packages I purchased worked for me as-is but combining a few pulled off the look I wanted. The layers are seamless and can scroll forever, perfect for 'Endless' game modes. I also added bases to the buildings.

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Next on the agenda was auto-spacing the buildings to leave room for my midpoint mini-boss fight and also at the end of the level for the eventual level boss. (I also had been waiting to finally get the mini-boss mech onscreen since he looks so kool). Initially buildings will be scan-locked until you defeat the building guard holding the key.  Locked buildings display XRay scan lines and random radar static. The enemy will eventually reassign guards to buildings with missing/defeated security.

Inside the building ladders have been converted to sliding doors and been given squad based locks. You will have to consider the makeup of your squad to make sure that all doors towards your objective can be opened. PowerUp/Buff stations were the next addition. When activated they will provide passive buffs to squad members every 30 seconds to 2 minutes. Control of buff stations will be critical to giving your team the advantage they need to defeat the enemy. Locked stations display their unlock cost and are color coordinated to the buff type.

Rounding out this update I complete the conversion of my programmer placeholders. The tokens that represent coins have been converted to chests of varying rarity that range from low reward wood safes to silver/gold safe with much more cash and/or rewards. I also added a chopper/ground collision smoke cloud. Eventually you'll take damage from the collisions but currently it just shows the smoke and rebounds the choppers.

Aside from a few small details I've completed most of the internal components  for my buildings. Doors, locks, buff stations and reward chests are in place and working as expected. The enemy will also fight to gain control of buff stations you possess. (They also learn which buildings have the most buff stations and target them)

I feel pretty refreshed after this week. I ditched most of my programmer art (still have to redo the building outside tiles and add signage) but got quite a bit done. Next on the agenda is FIREPOWER!! Its just about time to add bullets and rockets to the party. After that I'll be able to focus primarily on Enemy Animation and basic AI.

* Updated Background Environment
* Updated Parallax Layers
* Added Parallax Foreground
* Added Building Base
* Added Mini-Boss
* Added Arena Arena for Mini-Boss & Final Boss
* Added XRay Scan Line to LOCKED Buildings
* Added Sliding Doors with Squad based LOCKS
* Added BuffStations with Time Based Squad Buffs
* Added BuffStations with Unlock Cost Display
* Added Treasure Chests - 4 Wood, Silver, Gold
* Added Chopper Collision Smoke with Ground

Engine: GameMaker:Studio 1.4.1474 - 1.4.1567

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[BlackOpzFX]

**ChopperSquad X** - Week 21 - The Presidential "Lets Move" Update - Troop Movement, Military Budgets and Squad Selection.

This week I continued to resist the urge to add shooting and rockets to the chopper. At this point theres no active target so I would have spent time adding a feature that I would have spent too much time playing with in the name of 'testing'. When I add firepower I want to be able to 'play' the game in some capacity (I've been wanting to play this game for a while). This week I focused my attention on getting the squad 'moving' and responding to target flag deployments. Now when the play drops a flag the squad will troops will head to the farthest right marker. The player can easily control ground force movement by adding/deleting flags.
 

Previous images displayed only the ninja sprite this update rounds out the squad and additionally adds the sprites the the Army, Engineer and Medic. In my effort to provide as much variation as possible to gameplay as possible the player is not presented with preset forces. Instead the player is given a budget and can customize their troop selection to their liking. Thats my first stab at increasing replayability of levels. Failed with a ninja heavy squad? Try again with more engineers and medic. Its all up to the player. Also when building squads for a building assault the first troop type selected becomes the squad 'leader'. The effect in-game will give that troop type first strike when attacking. This will allow the player to select ninjas as the lead that can use 'silent' strike attacks to disable the enemy without alerting nearby guards.

Youtube -



Troops, Enemys and Flags have been properly layer distributed so images are in the correct Z space and things look natural when they move in front and behind each other. Up to this point troops were static but this update gets things moving. To position troops the player only has to drop a flag and all ground troops will head towards it. Deleting the rightmost flag will make the troops halt if no other flags are present or retreat to the nearest existing flag. At first this presented an issue with all flag seeking troops converging on the same point. The addition of flocking/spacing AI gives each soldier their own 'personal space' so they dont bunch up.

Troops can now be summoned to 4 different locations - Flag, Chopper, Ground Floor Entry and Rooftop entry. All unassigned ground troops will always head to the rightmost flag. Troops assigned to the chopper will eventually flock towards the chopper. This update adds the ability to 'load' the chopper with troops. Lowering the choppers ladder activates the squad load mode. Troops selected for chopper load are highlight and can currently be 'picked up'. If the ladder makes contact with them they will climb the ladder and enter the chopper. Future updates will have chopper selected troops automatically head for the lowered ladder and upon contact they will climb and enter the chopper.

Troops selected for ground entry will head toward the building once assigned and troops selected for rooftop entry will have to be player choppperlifted to the target roof. The roofs will also be populated with anti-aircraft weapons, remote drone antenna's, snipers and other obstacle that will have to be cleared by chopperlifted squads. The player will have to wisely choose their troop distribution strategy. How many to leave on the ground, how many to assign to any building assault and which troop type leads that assault. These choices are easily made with the current GUI. I'm striving to create levels that can be attacked multiple ways to provide player variation.

Control of Buffstations (that provide every 'X' seconds Damage, Defense, Health boosts to squads) inside the buildings will be critical to player success and without them the player has very little chance of victory. The enemy will also attempt to control buildings to boost their troops. Control of Buildings will be critical to player success to gain advantage.

This update focused on the ground troops. Getting your initial troops selected via player choice, adding a monetary system, flag seeking and proper layer distribution. Upcoming weeks will shift to deploying chopper loaded troops and getting them to seek the inside building markers. Inside building enemys have also been assigned 'levels'. Higher level troops are placed on the lower floors to protect from Ground Entry assaults. This will encourage the players to select the ground or rooftop entry that offers the least resistance.

* Added Army, Medic, Engineer Sprites
* Added BUY Troop Menu
* Added Chopper Loading for Transport
* Added Squad Leader (First Strike) Selection
* Added Ladder Climbing Animation and AI
* Added Player Cash - Military Budget
* Added NPC Proper Layer Distribution
* Added Earthquake Effect to Chopper Ground Collide
* Added Troop Add/Remove Build Squad Menu
* Added Squad Flocking/Spacing AI
* Added Flag Seeking Soldier AI
* Added Selected Troops Removal from 'Available' menu
* Added Inside Building Enemy Level Assignment

Engine: GameMaker:Studio 1.4.1474 - 1.4.1567

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[BlackOpzFX]

**ChopperSquad X** - Week 27 - The Post-Birthday "Get Back To Work!!" Update - Troop Movement Controls and AI

This update I worked out my final issues with troop movement. I wanted the ability to post troops at a particular spot along the path and have them free-form follow the helicopter while activating into fight mode if they come into range of the enemy. It turned out to be a tricker problem to solve then I imagined since it took me a couple of schemes to settle on something that would work equally well on controller and keyboard. (I want both to be viable without sacrificing ease of use for either).

The solution turned out to be a version of 'catch and release'. Unassigned troops gravitate to dropped flags and chopper assigned troops follow the chopper until they encounter the enemy. Once they engage the enemy they ignore the chopper and continue fighting until recalled to the chopper. With the press of one key/gamepad button the chopper troops in combat flash for 5 seconds and head for the helicopter even if they are in combat range (this allows troops to walk past enemies without stopping to fight).

These past weeks have been mostly catch up from an unexpected birthday slowdown. I knew I had slowed up a little but I didnt expect to do a "Mitt Romney"!! I use "Rescue Time" and it reported that I spent 47% LESS time programming in the 2 weeks following my Bday. The following chart shows my 'productive' hours in blue, 'unproductive' in red. The blue hours mainly chart my time spent in the GMS:Compiler screen the red is mostly web access even though RT cant distinguish web research from casual web surfing without messy manual intervention. I simply set mine to the max time (10+ hours) before detecting 'Away from Keyboard' and let it capture time spent in the current foreground application (the web is overrepresented since I often leave it up but my compiler foreground times are mostly accurate).

You can see the major dip after the 17th. Since then I've been on Turbo to recover the hours (So far this month I'm on pace to recover a big chunk of the time). I normally clock about 120 hours monthly of 'productive' compiler time. After looking at my RT report at the beginning of August I turned on the afterburners just to start catching back up. RT is a great self monitoring FREE tool that I would recommend to anyone working solo (especially solo!) to stay on track. - https://www.rescuetime.com





This update I really wanted to tackle the 'outside' building issue of moving the troops around. Its something the player does so much that I wanted it to be relatively uncomplicated. Ordering unassigned troops is made simple by using flags and the simple rule that they gravitate to the rightmost flag. Its a simple systems and only requires the controls of adding/deleting flags without having to assign anyone to them. I wanted chopper use to be similarly easy and it took a minute for me to figure out a solution.

Eventually I centralized it to 'loading' the chopper ladder extended sequence. Now lowering the ladder can be used to 'load' the chopper and/or assign troops to 'follow' the chopper. If the ladder is in reach the troop will climb the ladder otherwise they'll just follow the chopper. Lowering the ladder above troops ability to reach it combined the actions (I feel conflicted about not having it be a separate process but relieved that its only one thing the player has to remember).

After the 'Load/Assign' mechanic was added I programmed the weapon systems for the troops. Its a flexible system that can be easily expanded to the variety of things they will be able to use. Currently it activates and randomly chooses knife, shoot on knee or standing shot. Upcoming enhancements will change weapons after 'X' seconds or 'out of ammo' conditions. The AI also distributes the attackers so that you dont have all troops firing at their range activation point. (all the shooters start shooting within 700 pixel range but automatically retreat if troop already there)

The upcoming week will focus on finishing the outside mode so I can get troops assigned to buildings for attack and entry. Moving troops around is now pretty simple for the player so the focus will mostly be on independent troop AI, Auto weapon changing and ammo monitoring/restock will be part of that update. I plan on adding 'Gun Ammo' to the chopper 'Powers' bar that has been unused to this point and show the player how 'Powers' will be integrated into the game.

This has been mostly a silent update since most of it happens under the hood and/or without player control but it did add the ability of the chopper to have passive troop offense without adding player complexity. This gives the chopper its own 'army' in addition to the guns and missiles it will have (still stalling on that since dont want to spend time 'playtesting' them yet).

As this ability to incite conflict across the play field expands (flag, chopper follow and building assign), the importance of troop placement and resource management will be crucial to player success. A simple system that will allow for a variety of outcomes. Next update coming much quicker.... (still making up time)

* Added Troop Follow Chopper Mode
* Added Soldier BUY Flash
* Added Enemy Hit Flash
* Added Chopper Combat Recall
* Added Troop Fight Engage AI
* Added Floating Hit Text Adjustments
* Added Rifle Muzzle Flash
* Added Chopper Load/Assign Code
* Expanded Squad Flocking/Spacing AI

Engine: GameMaker:Studio 1.4.1474 - 1.4.1567

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[BlackOpzFX]

**ChopperSquad X** - The "I Can See the Light" Update.

This week I finally added some basic shooting and bombing mechanics to the chopper. It still needs some tweaking but I was overdue to get started on programming those functions. I also spent quit a bit of time on getting the Chopper Powers bar activated. The Chopper power slots will be critical to player success and are a huge part of what makes each playthrough different since you never know what powers will populate the bar. Most enhancements are locked to a certain slot color so how the player arranges their available slots will change gameplay dramatically. Currently powers dont expire after use but in-game each use will empty the slot.
 

The first step to activating the chopper powers bar was adding indicators so that the player could easily see the effects of powers on the soldiers. It took me a while to settle on the format but decided to create over the head levels for Ammo/Health/Defense. Now the player can easily see the status of any soldier just by getting near them. The bar fades away as the chopper distance increases. It was my compromise to keeping the screen uncluttered. I also added the ability to toggle the bars on/off.





Chopper powers are activated by the player and effect all soldiers within a radius of the player. I'm still debating on the initial radius size but the player will be able to upgrade the radius distance to expand its reach. As shown soldiers within that radius receive the buff/debuff effects. The use of a player restricted buff/debuff systems will force the player to be more active across the field since they would want to ensure that all troops have ammunition and proper defense. Currently I have Ammo/Health and Defense buffs active to test the overhead view bars but have plans to expand to a variety of fun, wacky and useful powers.

Next up was the chopper weapon systems. I worked on the gun muzzle flash system and a basic gravity bomb. Future upgrades will add more exotic missile types (homing, heat-seeking). My next update should have a fully functional chopper machine gun but I'd be the first to admit I spent much more time on the bomb since I had a kool explosion animation I wanted to see in action. Both system are pretty much implemented but just need some polish. Neither registers hits on the enemy but the dropped bomb activates a pretty decent screen shake effect in the meantime. (Bark worse than its bite)

This was actually a pretty fun update. At this 'outside the building' stage almost all the work shows visually which was nice for a change (instead of being mostly under the hood). Seeing the soldiers move around so much has me pretty anxious to get the first enemy waves activated. Next week I plan on focusing on deploying chopper loaded troops to ground and rooftops along with refining the chopper bullet/bomb code. Once thing I can say is how impressed I am with Gamemaker Studio. Its sold as a hobbyist tool but I've been very nicely surprised how effective it can be for professional development.

I'm being very careful to avoid unwanted bottlenecks but I have yet to see any piece of code run unacceptably too slow. The only real complaint I have has nothing to do with the compiler or performance but the IDE. The GML language is mature but the IDE is stuck in small project/beginner mode. I approached GM:S as a programmer and ignored the drag/drop programming mode so I never got a chance to appreciate it but its a real limiting factor as your project expands. So other than the IDE (that doesnt effect the final game quality) I have few complaints about GM:S PC. Its a nice tool.

* Activated Chopper Powers Bar
* Added Chopper Bar Powerlevels
* Added Chopper Power Rings
* Added Soldier Health/Ammo/Defense Levels
* Added Soldier Popup Power Icon
* Added Chopper Bomb
* Added Chopper Bomb Explode Animation
* Added Chopper Bomb Earthquake

Engine: GameMaker:Studio 1.4.1474 - 1.4.1567

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[BlackOpzFX]

**ChopperSquad X** - Week 31 - The "Show Your Pretty Face" Greenlight/Kickstarter Update.

The last two weeks have been incredibly productive. I started to work on the basic enemy movement and mechanics and surprisingly things went so smoothly that I recorded enough test footage to make a decent trailer. I think it conveys the spirit of the game well enough to see what the market is like for something so niche. I'll see what the audience for action arcade tactical tower defense is even though I must say that the Steam comments have been very nice and the 'Yes' vote percentage is about 30% so that's encouraging. So in the end if I can get greenlit ChopperSquad X can probably find a audience. (Upvote us on Greenlight / Check Us out on Kickstarter)
 

OK, back to our regularly scheduled programmings....  After the last break I wanted to basically get most of the things that happen outside of the buildings working.  Because the game has inside/outside strategy showing even one side would display most of the basic controls and give viewers the design direction. The first thing I did was dig through the assets I had available (I've been picking up random graphics all year) and saw some that would be perfect for creating drones and another set that for some strange reason I immediately saw as teleporters. I always like it when ideas come to you instead of being forced.

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The drone movement is procedural and calculated with a simple sine wave. Adjusting the wave amplitude/height and drone speed gave me a perfect basic enemy. The movements is predictable enough that it gives the player ample opportunity to avoid collision. I plan on adding more drones  that stop, hover and attack the player but even the basic was pretty impressive (especially since it kept hitting me). I added 3 drones that are randomly selected but didnt realize until after I made the video how much I preferred the darker one (to me it looks very snakelike when it moves).

Next up was the mini-map. I realized quickly that part of the reason that the drones were hitting me was because of them coming from my blind right/left so I tackled the mini-map issue. Since the buildings are randomly generated. I needed the map to scale depending on the play field content. I keep all of the building info using memory buffers which are incredibly fast. In fact at this point no matter how much I throw at GM:S it handles it with no problem. I am really impressed. I'll also admit that I purposely place the the CPU cycle killing computations in the init code for a routine so it only runs once instead of every step. I stuff as many things as I can get away with into the init-once state code.

In the background of the above pic is the building patrol drone. For each building I have a randomly selected number of drones that patrols it. Each level the possible number of drones will increase. I had a lot of fun working on the shrinking and pulsing radar. The radar has 3 invisible collision lines that monitor the edges and the middle of the tween expanding graphic. If it touches the player it spawns a 3-20 segment drone sine snake instace. Surprisingly easy implementation that add a lot to the combat experience (even without shooting drones that I thought would be OP combined with drone avoidance).

I also did quite a bit of work on the chopper power bar. I  wanted powers to internally be easily placed on the bar and expire when used. Also I needed floating dead-enemy powerups to populate the bar. At this point in the coding I was 'in-the'zone' and on a roll (My Rescue-Time log shows I was spending in 14+ daily hours in the compiler. 2X+ my normal). The previous coding came together without too much problem so I was at a good point towards the end of the first week after my last post. I almost stopped working to do a write-up and posting for ScreenShot Saturday but decided against interrupting my momentum.

The first chopper bar powers I worked on were the passive powers that boosted the ammo, health and defense of troops. Those were actually pretty simple since in the last post I had already written the code to have the buff popup overhead the soldier. Adding to the individual stats was pretty trivial. What was work (though not too bad) was implementing external scripts for grenades, smoke bombs, etc (the video demos a grenade).

I also implemented the internal chopper upgrade screen. I'm still thinking about when the player should be able to access it (between rounds or during gameplay!?). In the end I was looking at the collection of rough footage I created to view animation timing and decided that it was good enough to make a trailer. I had bought the music and fivver voiceover MONTHS ago and started playing with it in Lightworks FREE (I prefer hard cuts and dissolves so even the basics was good enough for me) so the soundtrack was done. The next shock was the Kickstarter submit.

I figured after doing some internet research that it would take a couple days but when I pressed the "Submit" button I was given the opportunity to get the page instantly published. I think it mostly had to do with the fact that I had built the page over months and my bank info and everything but the video had been in their system and approved for a while. So any advice regarding Kickstarter that I could pass along would be to enter all of your qualifying info early while working on your 'Story' and dont enter ANYTHING into 'Risks & Challenges' until you're ready to publish your page. (the empty area will stop the page from being accidentally published)

'Nuff said. Its been a hectic 2 weeks and I got quite a bit done. I would appreciate a Greenlight upvote and/or Kickstarter pledge if you care to visit either page. For the next couple weeks I'll be splitting my time between KS promotion and programming. Wish me Luck!!

* Activated Chopper/Drone Ground Shadow
* Added Attacks Drone w/sine Movement
* Added Patrol Drones
* Added Patrol Drones with Tweened Radar
* Added Teleport Drones
* Added Mini-map w/ Enemy Locations
* Added Soldier Popup Power Icon
* Added Enemy Teleport Fighters
* Added Chopper Power Buff Actions
* Added Chopper Power Bar Usage Stack
* Added Chopper Power Bar Powers

Engine: GameMaker:Studio 1.4.1474 - 1.4.1567

* Upvote us on Greenlight / Check Us out on Kickstarter
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