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[fractilegames]

NOTE: I wanted to preserve this original post as it was. Check out the latest replies for up to date information.

Hi everyone!

I have been working on an Asteroids-style local multiplayer space shooter for a while now. In it's current state it is just a working prototype. You can fly around, pick up two types of power-ups, and shoot the other players. There are no menus or configuration and all art is just placeholders. This is what it looks like:



Download for Linux (64-bit): astronautics-r3638-linux64.tar.bz2

Download for Windows: astronautics-r3638-win32.zip

The game supports up to six players: three on keyboard, one using mouse and two using gamepads. I'm looking for feedback on the different controller types and the overall gameplay feel. Eventually I'm trying to decide whether this project is worth developing further.

I'm aiming for somewhat realistic (as far as possible in 2D arcade shooter) Newtonian physics. The biggest violation of this so far is the quite low maximum velocity, but that is necessary to keep the ship in player's control.

How to play: Press shoot -button (see below) to activate a controller. F12 exits the game.

Player 1 move: W/A/D, shoot: LCTRL
Player 2 move: J/I/L, shoot: Space
Player 3 move: Arrow keys, shoot: RCTRL
Player 4 move: mouse/RMB, shoot: LMB
Player 5 move: First gamepad sticks, shoot: A/B or right shoulder button
Player 6 move: Second gamepad sticks, shoot: A/B or right shoulder button

Check out included readme.txt for a bit more detailed instructions.

All feedback is very welcome!

[fractilegames]

Although I haven't received any feedback on the game so far, I decided to keep on working on it for now.

Here's an updated version, just in case someone gets bored over the holidays:

astronautics-r3635-win32.zip
astronautics-r3635-linux64.tar.bz2

What's new since the previous version:

• A basic menu with option to restart match and exit the game
• Video mode settings (takes effect on game restart)
• Randomized background color and lighting.
• Distortion shader effect for arena borders.
• Some new sound effects.
• Lots of minor tweaks here and there.

I'm still looking for answer to the big question: Could this game be any fun to play?

[fractilegames]

It turned out that the game had a nasty shader bug that resulted in invisible ships and particles on many GPUs. Here is an updated version with a bug fix:

astronautics-r3638-win32.zip
astronautics-r3638-linux64.tar.bz2

[fractilegames]

A lot of time has passed since I started this thread. The game has improved quite a bit too. It now has a name: Hyper Ultra Astronautics.



The first public alpha version has been released on Itch.io:

https://fractilegames.itch.io/hyper-ultra-astronautics

Give it a go and let me know what you think!

[fractilegames]

A new public alpha version 0.0.4 has been uploaded to itch.io.



Check out the announcement with full change log on the website.

[Babar]

We had 10 minutes of fun with this, but it's hard to understand the basics.
At first we thought the game was cooperative asteroid-smashing, but it looks like we were supposed to shoot at each other :D

Texts, cooldown and life circles are too small, it's hard to read.
Weapons upgrades don't stand out so we didn't see them at the beginning

Controls are fun with Xbox controller, I like the twin stick style with inertia.
It's impossible to shoot using A while controlling direction with the right stick, but Rb is fine

The death animation is really cool :D

Maybe you should add more asteroids at the beginning because we didn't have as much as there are on your screenshots.
Also add victory conditions :p (maybe we didn't play long enough)

Hope this helps ! Keep up the good work.

[fractilegames]

First of all, thank you for taking the time to test it!

We had 10 minutes of fun with this, but it's hard to understand the basics.
At first we thought the game was cooperative asteroid-smashing, but it looks like we were supposed to shoot at each other :D

I should have mentioned that At this point there is only one game mode: all-vs-all deathmatch. At least team deathmatch is coming. I have also thought of score-based co-op and single player modes, but I'm not sure if I'll end up adding those.

Texts, cooldown and life circles are too small, it's hard to read.
Weapons upgrades don't stand out so we didn't see them at the beginning

Currently the ship "status indicators" don't scale with arena size (changeable in settings) even though the camera moves further with larger arena. I think they are ok in the small arena, but they do get a bit small in medium sized arena (the default), especially on a small screen. I will add some sort of scaling here.

Maybe you should add more asteroids at the beginning because we didn't have as much as there are on your screenshots.
Also add victory conditions :p (maybe we didn't play long enough)

The amount of asteroids can be changed in settings, but I should probably increase the default value. With default settings the match should have ended when first player gets 10 kills.

[fractilegames]

A new public alpha version 0.0.5 is available!



Change log:

• Scale ship and power-up labels to same on-screen size independent of arena size.
• Fixed random freezes.
• Added team deathmatch game mode.
• Improved match completion label placement.
• Dead ships no longer collect power-ups.
• Prevented ships from collecting power-up while disrupted by EMP.
• Allow controller app reconnection without losing stats (e.g. after phone call).
• Added random asteroids to arena already when match starts.
• Reworked asteroid spawning to better maintain set asteroid density in the arena.
• Adjusted match default settings (more asteroids).
• Lighting improvements and optimizations.
• Fixed missing (or discolored) application icon.
• Show random tips at bottom of screen when a match starts.

Downloads are available on Itch.io:

https://fractilegames.itch.io/hyper-ultra-astronautics

[fractilegames]

Another alpha update 0.0.6 is out!



Change log:

• Increased EMP light flash intensity and range.
• Added shooting with gamepad right stick button too.
• Added dynamic lights to plasma burst explosions.
• Transfer heat from warhead (missiles) explosions to nearby ships.
• Ship explosion disrupts other nearby ships for a while.
• Fixed warhead explosion sound never getting played.
• Added ambient sound loop played in the background.
• Added match completion music.
• Save screenshots with ENTER key during gameplay too.
• Slow down sound effects as time slows down.
• Keep controllers enabled after match completion.
• Fixed only some parts of HUD blinking during disruption.
• A new weapon: Disruptor.
• Fixed missiles turning very slowly if target is behind them.
• Removed "slide prevention" controller option.
• Fade out thruster sounds and lights smoothly.

More info on game website:
http://fractilegames.com/products/astronautics/

Downloads on itch.io:
https://fractilegames.itch.io/hyper-ultra-astronautics

[fractilegames]

A new alpha version 0.0.7 is out!

The single most important addition is the new game mode called Survival co-op. It was initially intended as a single player practice mode, but it doubles as a co-op survival match for multiple players:



Change log:

• Added large slow-moving asteroids in the background.
• Added training/survival co-op game mode.
• Require holding down shoot button to respawn to prevent accidental controller activations.
• Added auto-rotation to pause mode (press R).
• Moved screenshot saving to a separate thread (no frame drops).
• Added milliseconds to screenshot file names to prevent duplicate names.
• Weapons no longer shoot in paused mode.
• Improved quality of glow/bloom post-processing effect.
• Shortened disruption time caused by EMP blast and disruptor.
• Prevented missiles from locking on to teammates.
• Increased damage caused by plasma bursts.
• Increased disruptor recharge delay and heat production.
• Limited plasma beam usage to 20 seconds in total.
• Added a bit more particles to explosions.
• Added new better thruster sound loop for player ships.
• Added blue engine glow to player ship models.
• Preload all resources at game start to prevent stuttering during gameplay.
• Fixed broken fallback video mode selection when monitor does not support set resolution.
• Adjusted match completion labels to take less horizontal space.

More info on game website:
http://www.fractilegames.com/products/astronautics/

Downloads on itch.io:
https://fractilegames.itch.io/hyper-ultra-astronautics

[-Ross]

Cool project, I'm curious to see how this goes. I fiddled around playing it a bit by myself, here are my gripes:

- The second-biggest issue: it's really hard to see things. Your ship and the asteroids are both dark grey against the black background. And the lighting on the asteroids makes it worse. It's kind of important to know when you're going to run into asteroids or hit them with your weapons.

- The biggest issue: the ship controls are pretty slow. Probably a personal thing, but the ship movement is too slow for this to be fun. Especially the turning, it's like you're stuck in molasses. Compare it to http://www.kongregate.com/games/skyboy/asteroids which seems nice and responsive. I think the top speed could be quite a bit higher before it gets crazy.

- The mouse controls were fine, except I would make the steering reticle much further away from the ship and probably larger, more like the telefragger reticle. Putting it further away would also let you do variable throttle control if you wanted (via distance from reticle to ship), which might be useful if you increase the thrusting power.

- I'm not sure why you didn't start the game in the menu? I didn't realize the menus existed until I tried to quit.

- That menu font is awful. It's just too squashed. The style is cool, but it's terrible to read.

- Nice visual effects, even though they're simple. I especially like the screen-wrapping effect.

- It's a bit weird that the asteroids don't wrap.

- The respawn time is kind of long. Maybe it's not so bad in actual multiplayer though, maybe. Also I would make it count back up when you release the button rather than instantly resetting. That way if you do it by mistake you don't have to wait the full time again.

- I think the HUD would be clearer if you used two arcs (one on each side) instead of two concentric circles.

[fractilegames]

Thanks for the feedback, I really appreciate it!

- The biggest issue: the ship controls are pretty slow. Probably a personal thing, but the ship movement is too slow for this to be fun. Especially the turning, it's like you're stuck in molasses. Compare it to http://www.kongregate.com/games/skyboy/asteroids which seems nice and responsive. I think the top speed could be quite a bit higher before it gets crazy.

It's not the first time I hear this. I have been continuously balancing between "realistic" thruster based space flight and instant ship control. I thought I had found a good middle ground, but I may still have to make same adjustments. Don't expect any radical changes, though.

There is some room to make the ships turn faster, but the top speed is more problematic. The problem is not so much with gameplay getting too crazy, but as the ship speed increases, it gets harder to control (to make the ship go where you want and stopping from that speed).

- The second-biggest issue: it's really hard to see things. Your ship and the asteroids are both dark grey against the black background. And the lighting on the asteroids makes it worse. It's kind of important to know when you're going to run into asteroids or hit them with your weapons.

Are you talking about the highlights on the large background asteroids? I already limited the maximum brightness on them so that they always stay darker than the foreground objects, but all this is highly dependent on screen brightness and contrast..

Do you think it would help if I made the background asteroids even darker and perhaps turned up the overall lighting on foreground objects?

- The respawn time is kind of long. Maybe it's not so bad in actual multiplayer though, maybe. Also I would make it count back up when you release the button rather than instantly resetting. That way if you do it by mistake you don't have to wait the full time again.

That is a very good idea. Added to my todo list.

As for your other comments, I will definitely take them into consideration.

[fractilegames]

Now that I was looking through my ship controller code, I found a bug there. I have been unintentionally limiting ship's angular velocity when using directional controllers (gamepad, mouse, remote). In practice the bug made >90 degree turns take more time than necessary. Fixing it made the controls feel a bit snappier.

Despite my previous comments, I'm going to increase the top speeds for the ships a bit too.

[-Ross]

Yeah, I wasn't suggesting you make the turning instant on-off or other "gamey" mechanics, just requesting more powerful thrusters. And I think if you have more thrust it will be easier to control since you could change your velocity more easily.  

For the visibility issues, I'm mostly talking about the foreground asteroids, the ones you can run into. The light is coming roughly from the same direction as the camera, so the edges of the asteroids are black and you can't see them. I guess you don't take damage from running into them, but it still seems important to know exactly when you're going to hit something. Maybe you could add a fairly strong point light to your ship, so the edges of things close to you are clearly illuminated.

And maybe I will be the only one you hear complain about this. I'm an artist, so for my own projects I try to come up with a hierarchy of how important each object is to the gameplay and design its visual contrast based on that. "Your Character" is probably #1 and "Things you can run into" is pretty high too, so they should both be among the most visible (highest contrast) things on the screen.

I played a bit more in survival mode. It's quite hard to hit things. Have you considered making the HUD direction line longer, so it's more useful as a sight? I understand more where you're coming from though. It feels more like a space simulation than an arcade-y dogfighting game. You drift through space with some subtle course-corrections and blast things as you pass by. I guess I expect that kind of gameplay more from a game like Escape Velocity or Solar Winds, where RPG stuff takes up a bunch of the game, not combat-only.

[fractilegames]

I'm an artist, so for my own projects I try to come up with a hierarchy of how important each object is to the gameplay and design its visual contrast based on that. "Your Character" is probably #1 and "Things you can run into" is pretty high too, so they should both be among the most visible (highest contrast) things on the screen.

I have been trying to follow that principle too. The dark sides of the asteroids do blend in to the background badly. Somehow I haven't seen that as a problem as long as some part of the asteroid is bright enough so that player notices them. I like the realistic look with the pitch black shadows. However, now that you pointed this out, it started bothering me. :D

I played a bit more in survival mode. It's quite hard to hit things. Have you considered making the HUD direction line longer, so it's more useful as a sight?

The length varies based on the weapon. For inaccurate weapons it is generally shorter. For accurate and slow reloading weapons (disruptor for example) it is longer, but probably not long enough. I have been planning to adjust the lengths as I get more player feedback.

Perhaps I could make the lines a lot longer, but stop them at first contact with something. Something like laser-sights..

[fractilegames]

There's a new alpha version 0.0.8 available!

This update addresses many of the problems discussed here. The game now starts up in the menu with proper logo and title music. Ship controls are a bit snappier than before. Lighting as been improved and if the game looks too dark on your screen, you can now adjust the gamma correction (full-screen only).



Here's full list of changes since 0.0.7 alpha:

• Fixed once active players always showing up in match results even when not playing.
• Added new weapon: Autocannon.
• Improved collision particle effects and sounds.
• Open the menu automatically when the game starts.
• Added intro music in menu.
• Made respawn timer count down instead of restarting from zero when button is released.
• Added QR code links to mobile application downloads in the settings menu.
• Fixed menu font not using proper aspect ratio.
• Increased maximum ship velocity by 20%.
• Fixed unintentional ship angular speed limitation when using directional controllers.
• Increased ship thruster forces slightly.
• Enlarged drone collision models to make them easier to hit.
• Increased the brighthess of the directional base light source slightly.
• Fixed active player controls getting stuck when menu is opened.
• Fade menu and player labels smoothly in and out.
• Added a game logo in menu.
• Added title music in menu.
• Added menu action sounds.
• Pause match with active players while menu is open.
• Added monitor gamma setting to system settings menu.

Game's website:
http://www.fractilegames.com/products/astronautics/

Downloads on itch.io:
https://fractilegames.itch.io/hyper-ultra-astronautics

[fractilegames]

Hyper Ultra Astronautics alpha 0.0.9 is out!

In addition to many smaller improvements, this update adds a new enemy type to survival match:



Here's full list of changes since 0.0.8 alpha:

• Improved game logo.
• Added enemy mother ship as a new enemy in survival mode.
• Enabled biased mipmaps for font textures to allow smoother fonts.
• Increased background color brightness and limited randomization to bluish hues.
• Added long aim indicator line to disruptor for easier aiming.
• Added flash particles on beam weapon activation.
• Plasma beam and disruptor now slightly home in on nearby objects.
• Added support for control using dpad buttons on gamepads.
• Added steering acceleration to digital control from mobile application.

I need your help in balancing the weapons and fine-tuning survival mode difficulty. Let me know if you think that some weapon is too powerful or too weak in the competitive matches. I would also like to hear how you feel about the overall difficulty of the survival mode. As usual, any feedback will be very much appreciated!

Game's website:
http://www.fractilegames.com/products/astronautics/

Downloads on itch.io:
https://fractilegames.itch.io/hyper-ultra-astronautics

[fractilegames]

Hyper Ultra Astronautics alpha 0.0.10 update is now available! It fixes a few serious compatibility issues and brings a lot of improvements to the co-op survival game mode.



Here's full list of changes since 0.0.9 alpha:

• Added a new boss in survival mode.
• Made survival mode enemies drop collectible score items.
• Added projectile impact sounds on all enemy ships.
• Added missing dronefragment.png texture.
• Fixed random freezes when exiting game.
• Fixed crash in full-screen mode (X error: RRSetCrtcGamma) on Linux with recent NVidia GPU.
• Created a new mesh based teleport effect that better scales based on ship size.
• Added new less annoying drone shoot sound.
• Improved enemy spawn patterns to prevent overlap.
• Adjusted survival mode difficulty progression.
• Increased missile launch speed to make it harder to accidentally catch your own missiles.
• Made drones go look for target in the direction of hit when shot from a distance.
• Fixed mobile controller server connection issues on some PCs with multiple network interfaces.
• Updated GLFW to fix really laggy keyboard input in some cases.
• Added alternative "left handed" shoot keys to keyboard controllers.
• Added separate main menu entry for competitive and co-op matches.
• Added in-game controller layout help (under Settings -menu).
• Prevented spawning same power-up twice in a row.
• Don't spawn power-ups right in front of players to prevent accidental pickups.
• Initial player start-up positions are now arranged in a grid.
• Renamed players based on their controllers and removed player settings menu.
• Added common score counter to top right corner of arena in survival match.
• Removed last bit of randomization from background and lighting color.
• Prevented damage from "friendly fire" in survival mode.

I would like to hear what you think about the survival game mode so far..

Game's website:
http://www.fractilegames.com/products/astronautics/

Downloads on itch.io:
https://fractilegames.itch.io/hyper-ultra-astronautics

[Giant_Gamer]

Your project is really looking like it's coming together very nicely.  

While I have only played survival and verses as a single player, I didn't run into any errors or bugs in the 21~minutes I played, Great job! I think that the dark blue of space compliments the darker tones on the shading of the asteroids, this helps to differentiate the objects while the player flies around the screen. I like how the bigger asteroids in the background are far less saturated, this helps the player to ignore them as a possible threat or obstacle.

I'm not certain what the mechanical point is for the point shards to glow from red to green. When I attempted to collect them before they changed color to see if they might have a higher point value, if collected before they turned green, they seemed to reward the same amount. I'm probably just reading to much into this. lol

I think it might help the players, if the aiming indicator would be shown on the other side of the "level" when the player is very close to switching between the sides. I understand that the shots fired do not cross from one side of the level to the other, but in certain cases it might help the player to better know where they will pop out from on the other side. The most piratical use of this idea might help when wielding the teleporting circle weapon, so when the player is on the edge of one side of the level, they can tell where they will jump to from the other side of the level. (and maybe also help warn if an enemy player is about to do this in multiplayer.)

In my time with the game I tried using the keyboard and a game-pad (xb360). It seems the main menu is keyboard only, which for testing reasons is perfectly fine.

Keep up the great work!
G_G

EDIT: I plan to grab some friends this weekend to try out 3 player multiplayer. So I'll hopefully have additional feedback to report on then.

[fractilegames]

Thank you for your kind feedback! This really saved my day

I'm not certain what the mechanical point is for the point shards to glow from red to green. When I attempted to collect them before they changed color to see if they might have a higher point value, if collected before they turned green, they seemed to reward the same amount. I'm probably just reading to much into this. lol

The color change is there for purely visual reasons. Bright green stuff inside ship explosions looked bad, so I just made them initially red so that they smoothly emerge from the explosions. I was a bit worried that players might mistake the red items as something dangerous, but left it like that anyways.

I think it might help the players, if the aiming indicator would be shown on the other side of the "level" when the player is very close to switching between the sides. I understand that the shots fired do not cross from one side of the level to the other, but in certain cases it might help the player to better know where they will pop out from on the other side. The most piratical use of this idea might help when wielding the teleporting circle weapon, so when the player is on the edge of one side of the level, they can tell where they will jump to from the other side of the level. (and maybe also help warn if an enemy player is about to do this in multiplayer.)

That's a great idea. I'll make the telefragger target circle wrap around arena edges.

EDIT: I plan to grab some friends this weekend to try out 3 player multiplayer. So I'll hopefully have additional feedback to report on then.

I really looking forward to this as I rarely get feedback based on actual multiplayer experience.