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[VinceTwelve]

I'll work on that frame-rate issue, but no promises for older computers!  AGS may be a bit slow for what I'm trying to make it do!

winsetup.exe is just a program that lets you choose whether the game will be run in full screen or windowed plus a number of other options.  You can choose between graphics drivers there, too.  If Direct Draw 5 (the default) gets a slow frame rate on your computer, you might have better luck with Direct 3D 9.  Try it out!

[VinceTwelve]

Download Alpha 4

Alpha 4 has a close-to-final level one. There are still a few bugs getting squeezed and features to stick in.  I've got to get the save squares working as well as the gas squares.  Initially, your ship will have next-to-no gas and you'll have to step on that gas square before you'll be able to take off towards the next level (which isn't out there yet, and if you get far enough, the game will crash! )  But you can imagine how that works.

This should give you a pretty good idea of how the game will start out.  When you take off with your ship, you'll be on to the next level.  Each consecutive level will be harder with some new twists thrown in like enemies and breakable blocks, etc.

Now, I know that this build is getting some pretty miserable frame rates.  My dev machine was getting around 15 fps, and then when I tested it on another, it ran at 20, and the guy ran too fast and became difficult to control.  Once I can get the frame rate under control, I'll have to tweak the speed of everything to feel right.  Unfortunately, Adventure Game Studio isn't really intended to do all the things I'm forcing it to do right now (go figure), so, I've got to find the best way to optimize the drawing routines.

I'd be interested to hear what kind of frame rates people are getting on different hardware.  It's intended to be run at 30, though that is almost certainly unbearably fast, since I tweaked speeds on a machine that was getting 15 (but I hadn't noticed at the time).

Thanks for trying it out! 

[Melly]

Doesn't AGS have some kind of delta timing thing you can use to make sure your tweaked movement works the same in any framerate?

I tried the recently beta. worked at 20 FPS on a pretty beefy rig, and the levels were pretty punishing. Having to restart all the way on the first part made it impossible to even get to the spaceship.

I'm really liking the direction you're going though.

[VinceTwelve]

Unfortunately no delta   And yeah, the save points will definitely help with the difficulty!  Thanks for trying it out!

[VinceTwelve]

Went on vacation for a week.  Just got back and here's a new alpha:

Download Alpha 5

New features:

-Saving tiles work.  Step on them to save.
-New level zero which serves as the load-a-game and options menus.  (I always liked when game menus are built using the games' mechanics, so I wanted to try that out!)
-Level one significantly updated.
-Ship now lands on new levels to allow actual progression.
-Tweaked guy's running speed for the intended 20 fps.
-Gas tiles now fill up the ship.

Still to do:

-All levels after the first. (Right now your ship will just die at the end.  This will change when an actual level two gets dropped in)
-Fix that damn frame rate.  It still chugs on slower PCs.  I'm working on it, but not sure how much I'll be able to improve it, especially in the time frame.

Try it out and please let me know what you think!

[deathtotheweird]

Such a fantastic idea.

Runs 20fps when I'm controlling the green dude (which is fine and feels ok) but when I'm in the ship its sluggish from 9-14fps. My pc isn't too new but it's not old either, it should run better I think.

[VinceTwelve]

I get pretty much the same as you on my main testing computer.  I aim to improve that, but am focusing on gameplay first.  And the slow graphics library the engine uses may be a tough wall to break through.   

[ThetaGames]

I love the concept of this; the mashup of very different genres is quite well-done.  One thing - I like the effect of seeing all of the colored rectangle extending into infinite, but I think the ones in the background could be subdued a bit (perhaps make them a little darker), so that they don't distract from the foreground.

[Melly]

Looking pretty good. I agree with Theta, if possible subduing the background images would help differentiate the foreground.

Works at 20 fps here most of the time, though it slows down to maybe 18 during the flight sequences.

[VinceTwelve]

Excellent suggestion guys.  I do have the levels get darker as they go back, but only slightly.  I played around with making them much darker and it definitely helps.  Thanks for that!

I'm going to slightly re-factor the graphics here aiming to improve framerates and I'll make deeper levels much darker to help readability.

[VinceTwelve]

Another alpha:

Download Alpha 6

New features:

-Much improved framerate!  Still not perfect, but better.
-A few tweaks and bug fixes.
-Better on screen messages.
-Taking off gives you a few seconds to get your bearings before giving you control.
-Kind of started putting in level two.

Still to do:

-Levels
-More framerate improvements.

I'm getting to the point where I can just focus on level design.  I'm thinking around 10 levels.  I've got some ideas to keep it fresh.  Should be able to bring this in on time!

I totally still need some music and sound.  Anyone interested in helping with some NES-era stuff?

[tzachs]

Played the alpha 6, very impressive!
Some whacky gameplay, but I liked it, and will definitely play the full game...
There was a small slowdown when controlling the ship, but it wasn't too bothersome for me.
On the platform part I really liked the slippiness of the little guy's runs&jumps.

[VinceTwelve]

Thanks tzachs!  Here's a new one for ya:



New alpha, new levels.  Level 3 underway, but if you can get there you can see the new projectiles feature.  Frame rate also has some improvements.  (Screenshot not a very good demonstration of this )

You'll have to clear your saves using the top right door in the menu level since old saves won't work.

Download Alpha 7

New features:

-New levels
-Projectiles
-Some updated graphics.  Makes doors clearer about which way they go.

Still to do:

-The gun!
-Levels
-More framerate improvements.

[Melly]

I just tried this one. The framerate was a bit better at 23-24, but because of that the character moved way too fast for me to control him right.

The save point at the blue platform area didn't work, so I didn't manage to make much progress and see the new stuff.

[VinceTwelve]

Yeah, every time I improve the frame rate it needs a little tweaking which takes just a couple minutes.  I just need to figure out where it's going to rest, then I'll try and lock the frame rate.  The current player speeds are for the 20 fps range.  I'll cap the framerate at 20 in the next build and then it should work smoothly for you.

When you say the save point didn't work, what do you mean?  Does it say "Saved" near the top of the screen when you walk over it?  It should just save the game and when you die you should respawn straight to that point.  If it's not working, you may need to clear out your saves from playing a previous alpha build.  Do this by starting a new game and then going through the top right hand "Clear data" door.

Let me know if that works out for you.

I'm currently working on getting this gun working.  I've got a couple more bugs to work out then I'll get a new build up.  I'll also include some cheats to jump to a level.

[Melly]

I don't see a clear data door. I just start in the first level.

[VinceTwelve]

Melly, it sounds to me like you've got an earlier alpha.  Verify that you've got Alpha 7.

Intended to push out a new version today, but the wife got sick and I didn't have any time.  Deadline this week will be tough, but I intend to hit it, extension or no.

[Melly]

I'll try and redownload it.

[Melly]

Alright, redownloaded and played through the first two 'levels'. First level was straightforward enough, but the second one was a matter of pure trial and error to get that extra fuel tank. It seemed impossible to judge the right path to take, so I just tried door after door until I finally found the right path.

Then when I got back to the ship, this happened:



Framerate remained capped at 20.

[VinceTwelve]

Cool.  Thanks for the bug report!  There is a way to spot the route through level two.  I'm trying to keep a variety of levels, with this one, and probably one other being just a maze of doors with little in the way of platforming danger.  Maybe I need to "teach" the player a bit more about how to read these passages.  But it isn't that hard, regardless, to brute force it.    Gracias.