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Hello this is Pencerkoff

Finished Version (15 Mb) (http://www.mediafire.com/?7enaz4b45v36faf)

No-Numpad Version (15 Mb) (http://www.mediafire.com/?dyq9ewqbe22jyc8)

(http://img816.imageshack.us/img816/3161/screencap4.png)

(http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/3923/screencap5.png)

2-player , same keyboard

Design your own ship to fight against a friend, the computer, or both

May be a little complicated, but it is worth the mental investment

Uses fairly legit physics, but don't call me out on any of it

Player 1 : WASD + B + N + M
Player 2 : Arrows + Num1 + Num2 + Num3
Player 2 (no numpad version) : Arrows + I + O + P

Thanks to Mr. Trianglehead (http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=8823.0) for his Assemblee spaceships

Thanks to JorgeBoscan (http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=8829.0) for his 3rd Assemblee song

Thanks to cheapshot (http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=8949.0) for two of his Assemblee songs

-PENCERKOFF

Hello this is still Pencerkoff

Features:

    Movement based on realistic physics (acceleration limited by drag)
    Customizable ships (idea mostly taken from the Starfleet Command series)
    Damage adversely effects the ship's components
    8 different components
    7 different ship templates
    AI for enemies, not awesome but very reasonable
    Music and sound effects
    3 game modes (one for single player and two for multiplayer)
    Obnoxious menu system (Pencerkoff Standard)
   
- PENCERKOFF

I don't think hotseat is what you're thinking. Hotseat is multiplayer where players swap who's playing at a specific moment, like turn-based games, and players don't play simultaneously.

At least I'm farily sure of it.

Also your concept looks really interesting.

That's definitely got the Star Control vibe already - one of my all time favourite games. Can't wait to see where this goes.

Are you planning to have very assymetric ship abilities and strengths? I thought the points mechanic for picking sides added quite a bit, and it was also fun to try and beat large tough ships with less likely ones (Pkunk ftw!)

Will

Pencerkoff, you still exist! Good, I have high expections of this!

Hello this is Pencerkoff

(http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/47/screencapspaceship2.png)

Moving along.  Components you select before the fight now affect your ship.  Each component has mass, and each booster engine has thrust, which determines your ships's acceleration based on F=ma.  Also solved for turning speed using a similar principle involving angular momentum.

Using GM tiles for the first time ever.  Probably far off from another playable demo.  Now includes bullet type weapons and the graphic for lasers.


Hey I never went anywhere, there just aren't very many of these competitions.  I had to substitute the Comicompo for my competition lust recently, which has admittedly left me feeling somewhat dirty.

-PkunkERKOFF

Compo addiction is good! :beer:

Also, will components affect ships appearancE?

Hello this is Pencerkoff

Not in the way you may want.  There will be a few ship templates, each with component slots.  As the ship gets damaged, those components will fail and their corresponding section of the ship will look damaged (hopefully).

Otherwise, fire trails appear out of the part of the ship that has booster engines and missles shoot from their bays, no matter where you put them.

I'll try and make an interface so you guys can try it out.  Maybe tomorrow.

-PENCERKOFF

Hello this is Pencerkoff,

New demo, only one player can customize their ship, a system which is probably confusing to anyone not named Pencerkoff.

Power doesn't quite work right yet.  I have no idea what I'm doing next.

(http://img709.imageshack.us/img709/6456/screencapspaceship3.png)

(http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/4755/screencapspaceship4.png)

-PENCERKOFF

Hello this is Pencerkoff

Next Demo up, it however is only single player.  Obviously not a permanent change.  It has an infinite amount of enemy ships with poor AI to destroy.  Build has Lasers, though they seem over-powered.  Will likely give a limiting firing arc and a charge-up time to balance it.  I think I can safely start calling it "fun to play around with".

Can anyone suggest some of the Assemblee music for this game?  I have a horrible sense of appropriate video game music.  Also it seems a decent amount is no longer is hosted, which is annoying.  Oh, sound effects too.

If anyone out there wants to contribute some real basic pixel art to my game, I'd love some more ships to eventually put into my game.  Anyone interested can post or PM me and I'll tell you the pixel sizes I'm looking for.  Normally I do my own but I seem to be incapable of pulling off anything remotely as cool-looking as Mr. Trianglehead's.

-PENCERKOFF

Hello this is Pencerkoff

One more Demo for whoever might want to try it out.  May be the last one before my final.  I enjoy playing it, though I can't tell if it's all too complicated for others.

DONE:
I have 8 ship components now, all fully functional

LEFT TO GO:
sound
ship template selection
multiplayer
score system

-PENCERKOFF

Hello this is Pencerkoff

I finished.  I've never had a thread with so little life to it, but oddly I've been motivated to finish this thing anyway.

This is the least approachable game I've ever made, but I have to say it's my favorite.  Don't be put off by the fact that it's a little complicated, I think it's worth the time to learn it.

Multiplayer works now but there's probably bugs, as there is only the one of me. 

Give me feedback, I finished early to further modify the code if needed.

-PENCERKOFF

hello this is RadiationBlur  :)

the game is absolutely amazing, as the fact that you could design your own spacecraft!


cons:
The camera was a bit confusing and flaky(creazy?)
the starter ship was a big cloud of rockets.(?)

Hello this is Pencerkoff


The camera equations are a bit complex, and I had trouble making it more fluid.  The problem is that you want a large playing field but occasionally want to see the details... I may mess with it and see what I can do.

I never thought about a first time player going for the "no cost" option and getting confused.  Of course, it makes perfect sense.  Maybe I'll just default to the Vodka Hangover for the no cost modes.

The story behind that is I had a Borg-cube looking thing for the sprite but didn't load it right and got nothing instead.  It was so funny looking I kept it, just for that ship.

Glad you liked it!

-PENCERKOFF

The Game wouldnt run. Do I need XNA,  says 'encountered a problem and needs to close'
nice music.

To Pencerkoff

Hello this is Pencerkoff


The game should run in windows, so long as the folder was kept as is.  I made this in GM so I really couldn't fix it even if I knew what the problem was.  I'll ask about this in a technical GM thread.

-PENCERKOFF

Maybe a resolution thing if it runs in fullscreen? Looks fun, btw. I'll try it when I get home. A suggesting is to change the controls so it's playable on a keyboard with no numpad. :) (Sitting at a Mac right now made me think of this.)

Hello this is Pencerkoff


Sorry Glinka.  Sounds like you can't run any GM games.


I couldn't get a good key combination for both players on the same keyboard without the numpad.  GM doesn't handle the < > ? keys which would be ideal.  Single player works, though.

-PENCERKOFF

Good game Pencerkoff! allthough first time i played it i forgot to buy weapons XD i love that you allso put in a single player mode :)

Hello this is Pencerkoff


I'm sure if you took a poll, you'd find that most play-testers are single players.  Glad you like it.

-PENCERKOFF

To Pencerkoff

I tried it on a different machine and found it worked, not only that but I tried the wrong game at first. the music was from 'Stand off'  http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=18119.0 The theme_song
I mustve been thinking about you or just dl Star Ship when I tried StandOff

Star Ship rocks. psychedelic intro screen,
Love the camera z_position based on the players_distance from each other.

I had a hard time finding player2 controls (still havent) and player 2 seems to be the human player in singleplayer.

Hello this is Pencerkoff



Okay, I made a version for all you anti-numpad guys.  Up on the first post.  Now uses I O P for weapon controls.  I guess it works, but who really knows.

Appreciate the feedback Glinka.

-PENCERKOFF

I'm not one of those, btw, but yay anyway.  :)

JESUS! I love the music. I strongly recommend anyone play cheapshot_Rush.ogg in the music folder or listen to the full track on the ship select menu. GENIUS

Pencerkoff can you hear me?

Hello this is Pencerkoff


The full song can be found through the cheapshot link I posted in post 1.  All music in the game was shortened for space constraints.  Hope nobody finds that offensive.

I can firmly declare that I cannot "here" or hear you.  Sorry.

-PENCERKOFF

To Pencerkoff

LOL
Edit: Edit your quote I meant cheapshot_Rush.ogg so many files!

OK enough of me and my typos

To Pencerkoff

On the plus side, the music is awesome, the movement of the ships was smooth and fun, along with the zoom which gave a nice effect.

However, we didn't understand how to shoot at each other.
Out of the 3 buttons, only one seem to respond (to both of us), the one that creates a white line that doesn't stop. The other two buttons didn't appear to do anything..

Hello this is Pencerkoff


That sounds like your ship didn't have any missles or guns on it.  The "white line" sounds like a laser, but those should stop once you release the button.  Might involve a keyboard issue where you have too many keys pressed down at once.  I can't predict every keyboard, nor can I figure out how to let you choose your own keys (GM doesn't seem too friendly there). 

Does single player work okay?  Because the shooting really is the best part of a shooting game.

-PENCERKOFF

Ah, that is the problem. We didn't know that we have to add missiles or guns to the ship, it makes no sense, we'd expected to have them as defaults. We just started playing right away, we weren't really interested in the menu that modified the ship. I think you need to change that.
I tried it again, and used the menu to arm my ship. I think that this menu is too complicated, you should make it more intuitive.
Yes, it was definitely more fun now that I was able to shoot!


Nah, not a keyboard problem, we were well aware that releasing the button stops the laser, but why would we, when it's the only weapon we got and it hurts the opponent, there really is no reason to release it ever...

TO PENCERKOFF


You have the best title screen of any game in the composition I have played yet, even if I lose sight of the ship cursor occasionally.

It sucks when your weapons get knocked off and you just sort of have to wait to get killed. Would have been cool to have the ability to ram, or self destruct, or ram while self destructing kamikaze style.

Also, would have been cool if the ship looked different depending on the build.

All in all good entry it's a pleasure to take in, nice job guy.

Hello this is Pencerkoff


Not sure what to tell you.  I could have made a fine 1-player system with the mouse, but that wouldn't work with 2 people.  Ship modding was what made this game a game instead of a pointless waste of hand-eye coordination.  I come from a long history of gaming where you have to figure stuff out.


I actually had this at one point, but got rid of it because you would always destroy your ship well before you were ready to go out with that kind of a bang.


Shmup fighters did that.  Probably could have merged our methods to make a sweet game.  I couldn't think up a good way to organize it to make it look good, and never pursued it.  I've never considered myself an artist, and all the graphics from all my games are a testament to that.  Everything pretty about this game I stole/borrowed from somewhere else.

-PENCERKOFF

I don't know if I mentioned this, but I appreciate that your game had a one-player mode.

Hello Pencerkoff,

I'm a big fan. I like your style because it's always clear who is talking and there is never any ambiguity about who everyone is.

When we tried this game, we couldn't figure out the ship building interface (we are a little slow). And the options overwhelmed us. It looks like a really cool game! But it didn't really lend itself to the group we played with. Can't really fault the game for anything in that regard.

The person driving the mouse spent at least a full 60 seconds on the main menu dancing with the mouse cursor and spelling words out with the trails.

That gives me an idea for an asymmetric cooperative game. One person spells letters with the mouse and the other has to guess what they are. It would probably have to be online. Alternatively, it could be a group of people competing on keyboards and the first person to type the letter wins. Like charades with a mouse.

Well, thanks for the inspiration!

-FLUFF

I had the same issue, The only way I play is with the no cost invisible ship. I had no idea what the fittings screen is all about lol. (I'm slow too!)  :durr: :durr: :facepalm:

Hello this is Pencerkoff

You should be able to play just fine in any game mode, the ship-customization is optional since I give you a pre-made ship to start with.

I was half-expecting everyone to be adverse to my customization system, but it really isn't that bad.  The screen should tell you what buttons do what, and the rest is just watching your cost to make sure you can afford it.  Every component has 3 levels, so you can build a single, better, more expensive engine instead of two of the lower cost ones.

Hey Starflier, you customize much?  You may be the only person who got that far.

-PENCERKOFF

I tried this in SP and enjoyed it a fair bit - the progressively bigger waves make for a good challenge. I was delighted that beams were in although I did find it hard initially to spot which beams were mine. The enemy AI (get on your tail and shoot) works nicely too.

I played with the ship customisation and did get the hang of it but I think I was initially confused since the changing letters on the modules were quite subtle.

Are you going to add more stuff? It seems like you have the germ of a great Star Control type game here and with a bit more variety and personality it should be awesome.

Cheers,

Will

Hello this is Pencerkoff

Hey thanks Will.  I don't see myself adding more, to tell the truth.  I had fun with it, but in the end I would have to overhaul too many things.  I could make a nicer single-player version that has a nice mouse-interface when customizing the ships, but it's a lot of work for something that doesn't actually make the game-play any different. 

Plus I got employed since I finished this, so my free-time has nearly disappeared.  Luckily for the video-gaming industry I'm still just an engineer.

-PENCERKOFF

Congrats on getting a job - and I totally understand how this can be a bit of a time sink :) Are you able to say where you're working?

Hello this is Pencerkoff

Cameron.  I help manufacture compressors.  I'll make a game about it sometime.

-PENCERKOFF