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[Windybeard]

Hi all. I have finally completed a video for all to see, its only short but shows a little of what this game is and how it runs, Please remember that this is still very early and lots of stuff needs to go in and be fixed but you should get the idea of what this game looks and plays like.

I really hope you like what you see.

[nicked]

Looks awesome! Real smooth gameplay to go with the smooth art style! Looking forward to this one.

[Windybeard]

Thanks for the kind words 

[Pemanent]

I am enjoying your progress so far! I get a very Ratchet and Clank feel from it. I think it would be cool if you took it in that sort of direction, but its your game so do whatever. 

[Windybeard]

Thanks, what do you mean by ratchet and clank direction?? im intrigued

[Windybeard]

Hi

I have been slaving away at all the start stuff. Im trying to get the "Start new game" system working perfectly before i release a demo for all to see. what i mean is im trying to set it so that everything runs in the correct order such as NPC conversations, story screens and what levels are open and what are closed at start of new game.

Hopefully it wont take much longer as im really excited about getting the demo out to see what you kind people think.

Also i have completely implemented a new object which is now very important to the game mechanics. In this game you use the left mouse button to shoot and the right mouse button works as a magnet for picking up stuff. However with the new object i have created if you attempt to use the magnet within its proximity it will detach your magnet from you and attach it to itself, if that makes sense. It works nicely and the graphics that go with it im happy with.

Thanks again to everyone whos watching this devlog and i hope to give you all the chance to play it very soon.

[Pemanent]

Oh well I'm not sure what you have planned but from the video it felt like a sort of run and gun game. I can even see some small 'button' puzzles fitting in to move things along. It felt like you could have lots of different guns that do different crazy stuff to defeat certain enemies. It would be cool if you could upgrade those guns like in Ratchet and Clank.

Playing the game and watching the game are two different things though. Hopefully that makes sense. haha

[Windybeard]

Ahh i get you, I will be having many power up guns but these will only have limited ammo when collected. However each gun can be upgraded by attaching upgrade's to the ship that increase special ammo or power and so on.

The stat system works by having a static set of stats per ship, these do not change however each ship will have different ammounts of upgrade slots in which you can attach whichever upgrade you think is best.

Hope that makes sense

[Windybeard]

I have been chipping away at the mountain of work i have made for myself. Im in the middle of designing and programming in as many bad guys as i can think of. So far i think im upto 10 fully designed, animated and programmed and around another 10 ideas to do. I want to have a total of around 40-50.

Im also re designing the stuff i first designed when i began the project as it is now looking a little behind my current work so thats going to take a small while.

I am also still trying to complete the "start new game" stuff. its a monster of a task as it needs to reset the save file and set it up for a clean sheet which bearing in mind this game saves everything! it will take a while.

Things are looking promising though, i am begining to design all the "training zone" stuff which is slightly different to the actual game levels as its pace and layout are not about mayhem and carnage but learning the basics of the game (which to be honest is aim at it and shoot fast!)

Thanks again to everyone for the feedback and i will drop a new vid soon with all the new sexy monsters and level decoration i have designed.

Peace!

[Windybeard]

Hi everyone

I am still full steam ahead with this project and am currently working on plumbing in the world map, im nearly done and when its all working nicely ill chuck a demo up for those who may be interested.

I find myself all too often sitting down with the intention of programming some complex save file system and then all of a sudden i have spent 4 hours designing a new bad guy.... god only knows how it happens but it happens alot.

I have also added a massive new game play mechanic which will make this game at least 10 times more intense, you can now use your right mouse button (which works as a magnet for picking up loot and stuff) to destroy bad guy bullets, what this allows me to do is CRAM and i mean CRAM levels full of bad guys and give said bad guys ridiculous shooting patterns knowing that the player will (hopefully) develop the skill to both run, shoot and shield themselves all in a hellish colourful brain fuck of fun that is sweezy gunner!

Anyways, hope you like what you hear and see and i will be placing a demo up very soon to get some much needed feedback.

Thanks! 

[SolarLune]

Slick graphics. I saw the gameplay footage too - looks pretty tight. I think that the mouse-magnet radius could be increased, but it's pretty good as it is. So what engine are you using? Is it a Flash-based game, or...?

[Windybeard]

Thanks for the kind words! 

The magnet radius can be altered in game by buying upgrades, however the larger it is the more power it uses so its a balancing act. The cursor graphics are only place holders for now, i intend to jazz them up a bit seen as they are so important to the game.

Im developing this in MMF2 if your familiar with it.

[SolarLune]

Thanks for the kind words!  

The magnet radius can be altered in game by buying upgrades, however the larger it is the more power it uses so its a balancing act. The cursor graphics are only place holders for now, i intend to jazz them up a bit seen as they are so important to the game.

Im developing this in MMF2 if your familiar with it.

Wow, MMF2, heh. Pretty far back, I thought that it was a 'lesser' engine, pretty much just because I was familiar with Game Maker, really (I was a young kid). Now I see a lot of good games that are made with it (The Underside comes to mind... When is that going to be finished? )

[Windybeard]

MMF2 is very powerful now, the updates click team have made are amazing. I found Game Maker to be slightly less pliable if you know what i mean, however it is still very good.

I love MMF2, i find it can do everything i want it to but im still (Very slowly) learning JAVA but thats natural progression rather than a need to stop using MMF2

[Windybeard]

Hi

I have been working non stop getting this new feature up and running, it is almost fully implemented and all works correctly. It is a Monster compendium. Every monster killed is logged and shown within this compendium and plays a vital part in unlocking the high end powerups and bonus levels.
Every kill is 1 monster xp which counts towards that monsters lvl, when it levels up the loot which it drops increases and the possibilities of getting rare stuff becomes greater.

I hope you like the idea, im really happy with it and i will be reworking and adding to it for my next project which i have swirling in my head.

heres what it looks like, The loot percentages are not visible in the screen shot sadly but you can get a taste of what it offers.

[Windybeard]

Hi all

I have been working away on the save load (again). Its actually starting to get somewhere now. I have designed only 2 levels for this game so far but i have designed an extensive level editor so i can knock up new levels fairly quickly.

I have also added a new feature, every level has a "clear zone" target, Basicly if you kill everything and get to the exit faster than the target time you are awarded a prize! what that prize is is a a suprise.

I have also started working on the shop system. I have also removed the "elemental orbs" that could be collected and used to buy stuff, i figure having this along side cash loot is pointless and time consuming and without it the game is easier to understand and as it is a bullet hell it makes sense to have as little distractions as possible.

Anyways, i will be dropping a demo very soon, just need to get the save load working properly and then its good to go.

Thanks again for all the interest and hope to please your eyes soon with a sweezy demo!

[Windybeard]

I have decided to change the looting system around ALOT! Risky considering im 50% through development however i started to think that collecting cash to buy upgrades is a tad unoriginal.
Now each mob drops different bits and bobs like screws, bolts etc that have scattered around the world from your crashed ship which you are trying to rebuild. Each mob has a list of what they drop and the chances of getting it and when you kill a target amount of a certain enemy it will upgrade its loot which means that there is more point to the bullet hell grind than just high score.

Due to this rather drastic change in gameplay dynamic i have added an inventory system to keep track of what you have. The new parts collected will be used to build new ships and guns however upgrades are now only earnt through several different means like fully lvling a bad guy or killing a boss.

Also the main aim of the game is being layed out, its a simple idea in which every level has a "Power Core" that you need to rebuild your space ship in order to leave the planet. After you have enough small power cores you can fight the bosses which give a bigger power core and these are the ones you really need. After killing the main boss on the world the next area opens and so on.
Once all the major power orbs are collected....game be finished.

Thanks for reading

[Windybeard]

New loot system in place and working nicely. I am currently designing the actual loot itself, ive done 10 out of 24 items so nearly there. I have also decided against having a "level complete" screen, it just felt redundant so now you hit the finish pad and it shoots you up in the air and then back to world map, its faster, smoother and im making a concious effort not to put too much stuff in this game (esp stuff thats not really doing anything) but keep it more than just a run and gun.

I have also nailed the actual flow of the game and the reason for doing everything, Ill let you know what the hell im talking about soon. And again i will def drop a demo soon, im not one to release even a very early demo if its not going to be solid enough.

Thanks for reading

[08--n7.r6-79.84]

awesome style! and thank god it's not pixel-art again :D

[Windybeard]

Thanks. I find not doing pixel at gives a huge amount of freedom to do what I want.