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[Howard Day]

http://www.hedfiles.net/AEUpdate10.exe - 20MB!
Updated in this version:
Added New Heat Gauge - matches the rest of the UI...
Lots of minor under-the-hood tweaks.

Currently working on: The player model and movement in general.
Next up on the list:
Complete the visible In-game HUD with the score and life counters
Intro, Main menu.

I'm going to really try and get the player re-animated this weekend, I want to go into Monday with that friggen GunApe working properly.

Thoughts?

[+peter]

Hey, just downloaded the demo... I LOVE the way you use bounced lights to light your scene. The whole aesthetic is all sorts of fetching.

[deathtotheweird]

This game sure is beautiful.

When I press escape in full screen mode, sometimes the cursor gets...lost? And I have to wiggle it around before it comes onto the game area. Pretty odd.

Enemy waves seem a bit relentless, no? Easy enough to dodge them but they keep coming making it difficult to progress. I guess it's still early in development (I admit I didn't read every post in the thread).

[hyperduck]

Enemy waves seem a bit relentless, no? Easy enough to dodge them but they keep coming making it difficult to progress. I guess it's still early in development (I admit I didn't read every post in the thread).

I like that

[hyperduck]

Oh, and I thought, maybe you could find some good sound effects in the large archive for Assemble 1 competition here (not sure about the copyright thing though, asking is always possible though)... I think there could be many fitting sounds there (like lazer sounds, and explosions...), maybe even some music... Too bad there's no big download, with all audio files zipped up...

I think Howards got that covered now 

[Howard Day]

+peter: Thanks. That's a little bit of mirror's edge inspiring me.
allen: Thanks! The cursor thing has been fixed in the latest (unreleased) demo. It had to do with how I was driving the cursor. You can now move the mouse off-the-play-field with no problems. And if I'm not mistaken I have the difficulty level stuck on the highest setting to test the graphics and cpu load...thus explaining why it's so hard.
0rel: Thanks!
When you say slow, do you mean the pace, or the framerate? What resolution setting are you playing at? (normal,2x or fullscreen?) What kind of computer do you run?
On the difficulty - yeah, it definitely needs to ramp up. Good call!
On the Glitches - #1 is being fixed - I'm putting an elevator in to the left to block the character...#2 I've re-doing those steam particles...more of an actual particle system that doesn't statically follow the character around...#3 is fixed in the latest build!
Cool catches all, and thanks for the bug-seeking assistance!
I've got the sound effects mostly handled on my own. Music on the other hand... Thanks Hyperduck! As soon as we work out a payment scheme I'll release the latest build with their tunes in and working in a dynamic fashion!
Mecha: That I do. :D

Okay, so! Some major improvements - I got the music and sound in, but I'm running into a crash in the sound engine. I'm using the Onu Audio Engineer...and I don't know how to fix it. Still working on it, of course...and I might have an idea on how to fix it. *might*. The other big improvement is that I've added debris and corpses when you kill the bugs - stuff that sticks around. Also scorch marks from your gun, on the ground. Makes it feel way more visceral - and there's a neat sense of accomplishment when you see the junkyard full of damage you just wrought upon your mechanical enemies. :D

In the mean time, I've started re-making the intro - the video I had been making, while cool, was too different in style to the rest of the game. With that in mind, I've put this together:
http://www.hedfiles.net/intro.exe 1.4mb
Still sort of broken, the sun doesn't act properly, and the ship is missing, as is some printing text action! I'll hopefully have an update tonight.
Enjoy!

[Howard Day]

http://www.hedfiles.net/intro2.exe 1.4MB - better motion, things work right-ish now. Got on-screen text, working sun flare...goodness.

[deathtotheweird]

I really like how you did the planet eclipsing the sun. It's really noticeable and quite well done. Very beautiful intro, this is.

[Howard Day]

Thanks, allen.
Here's the most recent version, and pretty much complete...graphically, sounds still need to be added.
http://www.hedfiles.net/intro4.exe -7mb, Use 1,2,3 to change the resolution. Next up: sound FX.
Enjoy!

[Howard Day]

So - here's what's up. I've done very little on this project in the last month - I purchased a house, and have been running around like an insane person trying to cover all the needed tasks related to the whole thing. It's taken a month to get to the point where I had my first free day to relax (yesterday) and I didn't give any thought at all to this project then. Cheesy Too busy vegging.
That said, I'm back into it!
CURRENT TASKS OF TERROR AND DOOM
Fix intro text
fix intro re-entry flame (too goofy right now -I think I can do better...)
Then, continue on to one of the following - I have no idea which one I'll hit first:
Add SPIDERBOT to the game...
Add health and coolant pickups to the random dropable system
Create a crate and container system
Create a point/score/money/RPG/selective end of level upgrade system
Continue creating intro sequence and main menu - as well as a "how to play" and credits screen
Start making City Rooftops Level End-boss. (MUWHAHAHAHA)
More Cityrooftops art - including kites and shit in the backgrounds...

Yeah, lots to do. If anyone would like to chime in and comment on *which* of those they'd like seen done first, go for it!

[Howard Day]

0rel: Okay, thanks for the clarification on the framerate issues - hopefully I can track down the exact problems here soon.
The difficulty stuff is definitely something I need to fix.

Anyhow, I'm back working on this! I've kept working on the intro and got quite a lot further on it. I've also started working on the backgrounds for the first level. Your scoutship crash-lands at night in a secluded part of the Forest outside the city I've already built. Anyhow, here's what I've got!
The furthest back layer/the sky/atmosphere base. The stars go behind this. :

Midground hills:

MidForeground hills:


So those glowing mushrooms are gonna have little bugs zipping around them - since I'm not having the trees move on the beginning levels - I'm going for a more pastoral, calm before the storm sorta feel.
Anyhow, I'm pretty excited about this. I really like how the combo of dark forest, stars, and pale green glowing mushrooms turned out. I'll post up the latest intro tonight when I get home.

Enjoy!

[Howard Day]

It is hard to tell exactly what is going on in those split images.. here's a compo.

[fraxcell]

That looks incredible. Can't wait to see it in action.

[tyronehenrie]

Indeed, magnificent work. I'm glad to see you're back on it.

[Howard Day]

So. I’ve finished the intro…moving on to the main menu.
http://www.hedfiles.net/AbsentEdenIntro.exe -40MB

Lemme know what you think!

[Farmergnome]

Woo another mmf2 user, game looks stunning dude keep at it 

[Howard Day]

Thanks, Farmergnome.
Some people I showed this to were having random MMF2 crashes on run. I think the audio plugin I had been using was at issue. I've removed this, and started using the basic MMF2 sound system as a my primary sound driver. In the meantime, here's the almost 100% completed intro.
http://www.hedfiles.net/AbsentEdenIntro3.exe -50MB
Uncompressed executable, no sound effect engine. 

[compositeredfox]

Plain. Awesome. I can't wait to buy this

[Howard Day]

Thanks. You can't wait to download this for free, you mean.

[compositeredfox]

Thanks. You can't wait to download this for free, you mean.

I meant I would totally pay for a game with such great art.