Diving Trunks - DevLog & Playtest

Diving Trunks is now on Steam Greenlight. If you like it, PLEASE VOTE! Grin

The official Diving Trunks information page can be viewed on my website: DIVING TRUNKS at Lunacy Interactive. Please check it out.

Overview:
Diving Trunks is best described as a dodge 'em up shooter which features a seafaring elephant who has dropped his peanuts overboard. It is your task to help 'Trunks' dive down into the deep ocean to retrieve as many peanuts as possible, all whilst gulping air bubbles to stay alive and avoiding unkindly marine life.

Due to being my first game (and if not greenlit) it's quite possible Diving Trunks will be released as a free game for desktop/web, though with aim to convert to mobile as a paid (or ad-supported) app. Hopefully it will appeal to the casual gamer.

Diving Trunks has been developed in Flash Professional CS6 in my spare time over about 18 months. The idea came from a private game jam contest combining the theme of 'underwater' and item 'elephant'. Though initially for fun, as I added more features I realised I could make a real go of it with aim to release on Steam. The graphics were created within Flash itself and are entirely vector-based. This allows for silky smooth scaling and rotation, and ensures the visuals are crisp at any resolution, especially fullscreen.

Beta Playtest:
Please try the latest build of the full game in the playtesting forum:
Click here to play the DIVING TRUNKS BETA.
Your feedback in the comments will be greatly appreciated. Let me know what you think. Grin

Mechanics:

Movement and objectives:

	Collect peanuts Adds to your score and supplies you with ammunition for boss battles.
	Gulp air bubbles Replenishes your air supply.
	Dodge marine creatures Avoid these to not meet an untimely demise.

Controls:

'Trunks' the elephant is controlled via the keyboard:

W, Up Arrow - thrust in opposite direction to trunk
A/D, Left/Right Arrows - rotate trunk
Spacebar - shoot peanut (only during boss battles)

He moves much like the spaceship in the arcade classic 'Asteroids', where momentum speed is determined by the amount of thrust. This somewhat cumbersome movement nicely conveys the understandly awkward behaviour of an elephant underwater, and can make for some very tense and tight manoeuvring!

Air Supply:
Collecting air bubbles adds to your continuously decreasing air supply, represented by the air meter. The colour of Trunks' face reflects his current state of respiratory distress. When your air supply runs out you promptly expire.

A healthy grey.
Plenty of air left.
No worries.

A worrying purple.
About half the air remaining.
Be concerned.

An alarming red.
Running on fumes.
Get air immediately!

Creatures:

The following basic marine creatures frequent the waters from the very beginning:

	Pucker Fish This is the most common fish and moves slowly.			Angel Fish This is a common fish and moves relatively quickly.
	Seahorse Moves quickly in an up and down motion. Can be tricky to avoid.			Turtle Moves at a medium speed in a circular motion.
	Shark Darts very quickly across the screen when Trunks is close. Beware!			Piranha Moves erratically from one point to another. Highly unpredictable.

Game Modes:
There are two main game modes on offer (plus a third secret one). Wink

Endless: Collect peanuts and survive for as long as you can. You will encounter occasional boss monsters with randomised features. These monsters must be battled and defeated to be able to score big points. Monsters range in threat from minor inconvenience to stress-inducing mayhem.

Challenge: Collect 50 peanuts before reaching the sea floor. Numerous game-changing mysteries of the deep can be unlocked, which affect all game modes from then on. Each playthrough is completely different, offering a true challenge with every attempt.

Boss Monsters:
Boss monsters are a feature of Endless mode and will be encountered every so often on your journey down into the ocean depths. Each boss monster is completely unpredictable, as its appearance, size, health and weapon set is randomly-generated upon spawning. Prepare for anything from a simple battle to a total onslaught.

Weapons:

A boss monster can possess one or more of the following weapons:

	Mouth Spits green globs of goo in a steady arc shape.			Turret Fires several pink plasma balls, aimed directly at Trunks.			Spike A sharp projectile shot directly upwards.
	Pod Shoots forth a flaming homing missile which locks on and follows Trunks for a short time.			Tentacle A slippery suckered appendage wiggles upwards in attempt to grab Trunks.			Pincer A clambering claw reaches up and swipes at Trunks.

A boss monster can be defeated by targeting its weak spots: the glowing spheres located between its body parts.
The bigger the boss monster the more reward points you'll score.

Mysteries:
Mysteries are unlocked (quite literally) by playing Challenge mode and introduce game-changing effects and new creatures into the mix. They offer the player additional content and make each playthrough more exciting. There are 15 mysteries in all.

The following additional creatures can be unlocked:

	Jellyfish These spawn in large schools and must be navigated with extreme caution.			Squid When startled, these squirt large clouds of ink at the player, obscuring visibility for a short time.
	Electric Eel These generate a large field of electricity around their bodies. Don't get too close.			Stalker Fish Creeps up on you when you're not looking at it.
	Rage Fish Appears cutesy and innocent, until you get too close. You won't like it when it's angry. Beware!

Effects:
Each unlocked effect offers both a favourable and unfavourable change to gameplay.

The following effects can be unlocked:

Air bubble size large/small
Air bubble quantity high/low
Air level depletion slow/fast
Elephant speed fast/slow
Elephant drift low/high
Creature speed slow/fast
Creature quantity low/high
Creature type same (chosen randomly)
Boss encounter delay/summon
Boss health weak/strong

Mystery Bubble
Gulp this bubble to enable one of the already unlocked mystery effects, be it good or bad.

An effect remains active for a limited amount of time, as represented by the mystery timer.
Another mystery bubble gulped during this period replaces the previous effect.

The mystery bubble's large size and hence large boost of air makes it especially enticing, though usually to the player's immediate regret if, say, it causes the constant spawning of rage fish. Shocked

Achievements:

There are 28 local achievements to conquer to prove your skills. Some are tiered into bronze, silver and gold.
These achievements will encourage long-term goals for the player and give the game longevity.
Completing all achievements immortalises the player as a Lunacy Champion.

Music:
The game features original music with a definite chiptune influence. This is my first attempt at composing music, and although a little ear-grating at times I'm quite happy with the results. I used the most excellent OpenMPT and basic waveform tones.

Phew! That's a lot to take in. Hopefully this mega post has explained every aspect of the game in enough detail to make you interested.

Please try the latest build of the full game in the playtesting forum:
Click here to play the DIVING TRUNKS BETA.
Your feedback in the comments will be greatly appreciated. Let me know what you think. Grin