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[moonmagic]

SHOOT THE BUTTS

STORY:

Many years ago there was a SONG, and everyone thinks it is a GOOD SONG. But then, everything is BUTTS. Use your JETPACK and BLAST OFF to strike GIGA BUTT and make a difference!

DESCRIPTION:

I'm making a short horizontal shmup with a jetpack and rhythm game mechanic; I'm mixing little bits from Hero Core, Thrustburst, Ghosts and Goblins, and R-Type, because I love them. I've put about a week into this game so far; here is what is finished:

- Player movement, basic shooting, death
- Level layout, scrolling, etc.
- Two of three basic enemy types (Basic Butt and Tiny Butt, with associated Butt Pod)

Items to be completed:

- Third basic enemy type (Rainbow Butt)
- Giga Butt
- Smartbomb rhythm game (short DDR sequence after shooting Rainbow Butt)
- Music, and rhythm element for the basic shot (plan to make it more powerful if firing on the upbeat)
- Sound effects
- Title screen
- High scores and stats

The game is very short, because who wants to play a long game about butts?

LAUNCH VIDEO :


TEASER VIDEO :




PLAY THE GAME

[moonmagic]

RAINBOW BUTT now teleports in and scoots off the screen.



Trying to decide how badly I want to add rhythm elements to this game. The game is HARD right now, and needs to be toned down; it desperately needs a smartbomb or something to level the playing field. I was going to graft DDR instructions onto the smartbomb, but playing it in its current form it feels like that would break the flow. It feels crufty cramming something else in that isn't just, well, shooting butts.

I just typed myself to a decision. I am cutting the DDR elements and I will put them in another game.

[JackMenhorn]

Love it.

[moonmagic]

Dusted this off over the weekend and finished most of the gameplay. Made a video:





I feel like I've finally gotten to the point where if I was able to do it in Game Maker, I can do it with Flashpunk. This game has local high score saving now, except I rolled my own table instead of relying on Game Maker's sorting function (which is understandably absent in Flash ). It taught me a lot about parsing and manipulating strings, which feels good to have done (I am understanding arrays more and more, it seems). It's good for me to be forced to dig into these kind of programming 101 situations, instead of always having to look around for applicable example code. Hurray, learning!

[noah!]

To me, I feel like this video raises more questions than it answers.

Firstly, it would be worthwhile to examine the relationship between men and butts. Is it along the lines of a class struggle? An infestation? A feud between warring factions? Remember that the light in which this relationship is portrayed will affect how the player views the actions they perform, which in this case seem to be both extermination of opposing butts and claiming their property, which in this case is fruit.

Additionally, you seem to throw around the concept of human purpose and the meaning of actions and existential satisfaction without clarifying your particular viewpoints. In the video you seem to imply that, by shooting all the butts, you are bringing about a positive change. Is causing this change indicative of personal worth; as in, a human's purpose is to bring about positive change, which in this game is portrayed as shooting butts? Or is one shooting the butts in order to restore the status quo? Is social stagnation a viable solution if it brings about personal or collective happiness?

However, one could make the case that this game holds the believe that human happiness and fulfillment comes solely from fulfilling the orders given by others. A strong case for this belief system is proposed within the video, where the player avatar is commanded to shoot butts via a message sent from an unrecognizable source. Is this source supposed to be indicative of a higher power? Or is it representative of the humanity's internal yearning to shoot butts? If so, is this desire innate and fixed upon conception, or is it a desire that is socially reinforced within the culture surrounding the player avatar?

These are important philosophical questions to consider and I hope you take the time to provide a satisfactory answer.

[Chris Pavia]

Frontpage plz.

[moonmagic]

As to the relationship between the protagonist and the butts, the immediate answer lies in the story text. I believe it is green: the butts are everything, and everything is butts. This has not always been. I read the song (the origin of butts) as the kind of Urizenic agent that William Blake criticizes throughout The Four Zoas, among others; ironically, it is masquerading as a funky bass line, traditionally not aligned with reason, control, or monism. So, the subtext is muddied a bit, here.

The first ending of the game reveals the nature of the protagonist / butt conflict. The second ending reveals the relationship of the butts to the universe. The true ending can only be held with open hands. The true song only plays when you have left the room.

This game is a companion to Magic Planet Snack and some of the same ideas are present.

Also, you just gotta shoot you some butts.

[negativeview]

The philosophical discussion is hilarious. The video was hilarious. I'm mostly commenting to get a pencil on this icon so I can come back later. I want to shoot me some butts!

[moonmagic]

Just put the last secret thing into the game; I'm going to make another video and then everyone will be free to SHOOT THE BUTTS. Thanks for your attentiveness, y'all!

[JackMenhorn]

This is my secret best game to watch right now.  Can't wait.

[PompiPompi]

I found myself watching the video a few times already...

[moonmagic]

GAME IS OUT.

Here is another video.

(VIDEO)

[PompiPompi]

Well, it's hard but it's really fun. However, it just got stuck in the middle of playing. :/
The music was still playing, there was a sound of something appearing going on repeatedly, but the screen froze.
It might be my browser, because it's flash don't always work for some kind of a reason(for other things as well).

[moonmagic]

Oh sad! But thanks for playing! Will you let me know if it happens again, and what occurs right before it freezes?

[JackMenhorn]

It hasnt froze on me but is incredibly difficult.

[delete me]

My Mom doesn't like your game. She called it dumb.

[mokesmoe]

Those trailers are amazing. They really made me want to shoot the butts.

[sabajt]

i shot the butts.

any reason why the up key is not the jetpack?  seems like it would be easier to concentate on shooting the butts that way.

also congrats on finishing.

[moonmagic]

Thanks for playing, everyone!

@xoorath: It's not just dumb, it's mega dumb.

@sabajt: I didn't want the jetpack to just be an extension of how you move; I wanted it to feel kind of clunky and mechanical. I love the feeling in Thrustburst (and before that, Mechwarrior 2 / Virtual On / any decent mech game) of fighting with a machine to make it do what you want, and eventually mastering it. Of course, my controls aren't nearly as good as Thrustburst's, because I'm not nearly as good at math. Maybe someday.

After all, BUTT FOREST is just as much an adversary as GIGA BUTT.

[DGH94]

Are the top 5 scores we see all time? If so I made it with 21.5k Sweet game, love that the jetpack isn't just up, it makes it way more challenging.