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[imaginationac]

So I was originally creating sprites on the fly for projectiles. From some testing, it looks like this is far too computationally expensive, so I'll be switching to static sprites.

Stuff done today:

• First pass of in-game GUI mocked up
• Implemented timer object with wave functionality.

Had a slight scare when the power cut out, but I'm extremely meticulous with my backups just in case.

[imaginationac]

Lots done:

• Implemented a charger counter.
• Fixed fullscreen setting not applying on loading.
• Score drawn on screen.
• Enemy spawns according to timer.
• Refactored how charger counter is drawn.
• Implemented a cooldown time when firing (currently at 1/2 a second).
• Enemy stats are generated base on wave number.
• Timer draws on screen.

Game is almost back to a playable state. Might have a release next week.

[imaginationac]

• Added hold functionality for transitions.
• Fixed create profile text box positioning.
• Added mockup for mode selection screen, started on profile select.
• Added mode selection screen.

I'll be working on the design of enemies and powerups this week.
You can comment on the design document here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vmqbnWJJISUj1ra0Kp6zzk7pbApALyKnI5UlnOvcvtQ/edit

[Inanimate]

Hey, great dedication so far! I like how you give an option for health display, that's pretty considerate.

I'd advise having a unique mechanic for your arena shooter, just to make it stand out. Since it's called "charger", why not have the unique mechanic be... it doesn't have shooting? It's based around tackling things, or rushing forward; a sprint-meter? Or, perhaps, a charge meter? Hohoho.

My main advice is to check out other arena shooters, and try to learn from their enemy designs. Why do they have the enemies they do? What weaknesses do those enemies exploit, or have themselves? Learn the roles of an arena shooter.

[imaginationac]

Thanks for the advice. Yeah, the main mechanic is based on charging the weapon. The longer the charge, the more powerful/effective the shot. To offset that, the cooldown (period before charging can begin again) increases as the charge level goes up.

I plan on playing with that as much as possible until I get it to feel just about right.

[imaginationac]

Changes today:
-Refactored input handling. Keyboard control should now work flawlessly.
-Game can now be played.

I spend last night working on the design using a web app called Workflowy. It is possibly the best thing for organizing thoughts in a hierarchical nested structure.

[imaginationac]

Changes today:
- Figuring out nest menus. Now have some semblance of a select profile screen (non functional).
- Placeholder score system is in.
- Lots of refactoring, and repositiong of elements.
- Designed some more game modes.

I'm aiming to have a new release on Friday.
Also officially moving my project management & design document to Workflowy:
https://workflowy.com/shared/93538c49-a4ac-78e8-f223-47380ad1240c/ (view only)

[imaginationac]

Changes today:
-Fixed a bug with the profile select screen.
-Changed some icons.

I found an issue with my menu transition scripts, so I'm going to have to refactor that bit by breaking it up into smaller scripts. Should still have a playable build ready for tomorrow.

[imaginationac]

New release: v0.2 http://db.tt/iDhyiGmG









You can try out the game in its current state if you like.
Profiles are setup though at the moment you can't view, delete or edit them (and you have to delete the profile file manually if you want to create a new one).

Known issues:
- Restarting or starting a new game loads a empty room (instances are not created).
- Returning from the main menu from a play session does not hide the visibility of the mode select screen.
- Error string position on create profile string jumps after typing.
- No player death (or rather -life means you're undead )

I'm not looking for specific feedback at the moment, but you're free to give it.

Edit: I totally forgot to mention controls and I didn't include a readme Default keys are WASD to move and mouse to aim. Left click AND hold to charge, release to shoot.

[imaginationac]

Changes today:
-Major overhaul of profile system.

After some analysis, it felt a little clunky going to a separate screen to name and rename a profile. Now all the profile operation are done one screen. And they work perfectly. I had a little trouble when loading profiles from disk, but got that sorted out.

Next I'll be adding the stats screen(s) and fixing the remaining bugs on my list. The next major feature I'll be adding are pickups. Pickups are, as their name implies, things the player picks up. How they change the play session is detailed in the design doc.

[imaginationac]

Changes today:
-Fixed a few bugs.
-Added game over state.
-Added pickups.
-Came up with a decent story concept.

Right now pickups don't do anything, but I wanted to get the system in before Monday.
Here's the current mockup of the powerups.

Without resorting to iconography for the pickups that increase or decrease a proprerty, 32x32 is about as small as I can make the pickups and maintain readability. I was planning on increasing the character sprites to 64x64 anyway, but I'll see how things look after I've done a comparison. Thought at 800x600 things might be getting a little too crowded, so I might have to increase the minimum resolution.

Edit: Complete mockup of pickups.

[imaginationac]

Changes today:
-Replaced player sprite.



I'm refamiliarizing myself with Maya, and I thought I just finished up doing the legs for the first pass of the walk cycle. I pasted a few bad keys. And did not double check

In the screenshot above, the character sprite is actually made up of two images, one for the lower body and one for the upper portion. I also desaturated it so I can do colorizing in game, which would be important if I ever put any form of mulitplayer in.

[imaginationac]

Changes today:
-Formatted times on stats screen.
-Pickups are now pickup-able and a description of what it does is drawn. They still do nothing at the moment.

So it turns out, that Maya is stupid like I always knew she was. So I'm going to hold off on assets for a while. I'm going to do my own character design, and see what I can come up with Blender instead.

[imaginationac]

Changes today:
-Player pickups work!

I was thinking of refactoring my movement and refactoring code. I have no idea what I was thinking. So then I didn't. What I have works exactly like I need it to anyway, so why fix what isn't broke, eh?

In messing around with text alignment, some stuff got misaligned, so I'm going to have to go through and fix that. Also, a bug I marked as done wasn't fixed

I expect tomorrow and Friday to be grindy in terms of work if I want to get all the pickups in before the next release.

[imaginationac]

Changes today:
-Got rid of an annoying menu bug.
-Changed menu transitions to be instant.
-Fixed some text alignment issues.

Not much done today. I almost felt like giving up just a bit. Room persistence does some weird things apparently.

Anyway, tomorrow's release will probably not have all the pickup classes in, but I'll see what I can get in. I'd like to get in at least one of the different charge types.

[imaginationac]

Changes today:
-Added fire pickup.

There's a new release available.
Highlights:

I am packaging releases in zip archives now that I'm including a README file. The new link is http://db.tt/xnDxZY3O. Update on first post as well.

Had a slight setback today when my PC decided to lockup, so lost a bit work I had done for the bowling ball pickup. Still I learned some basic things about reflective angles.

I really hope to get in the remaining pickups this weekend. After all the pickups are in, I'll probably start looking for feedback on that, and start on the enemy designs next.

[imaginationac]

Changes today:
-Added homing charge.

I started working on the bowling charge. It's little more complicated than I thought. Right now I'm having trouble figuring out what to when it hits the edge of the playfield.

[imaginationac]

Changes today:
-Added bowling charge.

Was somewhat of doozy. I misspelled a variable so when the charge hit the right side of the play field, the normal wasn't calculated properly.

I've got to add a way to catch the charge, and that should be it. Best part is my collision checking for the bowling is reusable for the boomerang.

[imaginationac]

I got distracted yesterday by Dwarf Fortress and Chrono Cross.
Changes today:
-Bowling logic is done.
-Added boomerang charge.

It even spins like a boomerang should! Haven't tested it out against enemies yet.

Right now for both the bowling and boomerang charges, they check collisions continuously, instead just on entering and exiting the instance. I'm not sure if I want to bother changing that for this game.

Should be done with the charges this week (including basic art).

[imaginationac]

Changes today:
-Verified the boomerang charge works correctly.
-Started coding in a live debugging mode.

I hadn't coded in an easy way to create, delete and change instances yet. So whenever I wanted to test something on that level, I'd have to recompile the whole game. Pain in the ass. Once I've got this in, I'll be able to tweak things on the fly, which is great for testing.

Tried my hand on modeling a bowling ball today in Blender. Trying to figure out how to create the finger holes. Going to have to read the docs.