next »

[Fun Infused Games]

Definitely getting a Contra and Mercenary Kings vibe from this game -- in an old-school cool kind of way!

Thanks!

I need to check out Mercenary Kings... that developer does stylized artwork really, really well. Probably more than a few things I can learn from them.

[ydobemos]

@ydobemos - Thanks for the gobs of feedback, much appreciated! I will comment on some of it below but please know I read it all and will carefully consider all the points you made. This is exactly what I was hoping for when asking for testers...

Glad to be of help. This is what I would expect as well when looking for feedback.

Hmm... I can play with some stuff and see how it goes. I do like the big colorful explosions but I have grown to not like their fading out as much as times goes on.

I'm fairly certain you can do better - like you have the masked enemies in that gif above dropping the mask, but it would be cool if instead of a pixel fountain they would also drop those dual knives and some bones or, even better, explode into pixels, but pixels equal in amount and color to their pixels. If you added inertia to that it could look amazing.

They make keyboards without ESC? What would one use instead, backspace? I'll review enter/space consistency throughout the menus. I thought it was pretty standard besides on the Join screen, where I used a different button press intentionally to ensure you didn't accidentally start the game before you were ready.

Yeah, a Bluetooth keyboard generally intended for Android devices, for example... see, you get a very specific testing case. My solution would be to just add a "Back to main menu" option.

Again thanks for all the feedback... I have a TODO list that I jotted down a number of new items to review / address out of this. If you have any more, don't hesitate!

Ok, if you have the CRT mode on then the stats at the end of the level get cut off on the bottom.
Also, the windowed/fullscreen toggle may need to inform you that changes will take effect on restart.
Just tested and it totally throws you into the pit several times when you respawn near columns.
I think you could really use a larger muzzle flash on the gun.
It might make sense to look into making diagonal shooting a little more sensitive (with a gamepad)... as in, make it work when it's like 35-55 degrees diagonal so it's a little easier. I know it's a slippery slope and there's risk of shooting diagonally when you just want to run forward, but it might help the player feel more in control.

[Fun Infused Games]

I'm fairly certain you can do better - like you have the masked enemies in that gif above dropping the mask, but it would be cool if instead of a pixel fountain they would also drop those dual knives and some bones or, even better, explode into pixels, but pixels equal in amount and color to their pixels. If you added inertia to that it could look amazing.

That would be neat... not sure how easy to implement because reading all the pixels in a file is a kinda slow operation so it would almost have to be done upfront on load. Maybe a half measure of using more closely colored pixels plus a few weapon/gibs would be better. I'll see what I can do / what makes sense.

Ok, if you have the CRT mode on then the stats at the end of the level get cut off on the bottom.
Also, the windowed/fullscreen toggle may need to inform you that changes will take effect on restart.

Noted, thanks.... i've been wanting to fix the fullscreen / windowed issue so it does it without requiring a restart but at least in the short term (now that I have others testing), I will need to add in that text.

Just tested and it totally throws you into the pit several times when you respawn near columns.

Is there a certain level you're running into this with? I know it does check if there is something directly below the player before spawning him (it caused a memorable bug when levels were incomplete or ended with a pit where the player could never be respawned because there was never a platform below them).

It might make sense to look into making diagonal shooting a little more sensitive (with a gamepad)... as in, make it work when it's like 35-55 degrees diagonal so it's a little easier. I know it's a slippery slope and there's risk of shooting diagonally when you just want to run forward, but it might help the player feel more in control.

I don't know off hand what the amounts are, but I'll revisit that and see. I've been doing it so long that it just feels good to me, but that's why I ask for other people to test

I changed the orange flash when enemies are hit from 1 second (I can't believe it was that long!) to .25 seconds. I think it looks a lot better, you still get the hit indication but the enemy's artwork is obscured much less. I'll get a new build out sometime this week so you can see yourself.

[Fun Infused Games]

Pushed out a new build to Steam last night for anyone that wants to take a look. Has a number of misc fixes (many of which ydobemos mentioned).

I think the pit thing after spawning is resolved too (also added the phantom jumping). Code was in there but it was using too large areas to check for a pit so even though it was finding land below, the player was smaller than that area and sometimes would fall where no land was.

[Fun Infused Games]

Released a number of new videos for Platinum Kill last night. I was tired of having the only video playthroughs of old versions of the game and wanted to ensure people were seeing things up to date (which look a lot better than they used to).

[Fun Infused Games]

This is the first video showing off the new slime tower graphics too FYI.

[eyeliner]

A wee bit too much screen shake. Why do it on every single kill and not on bigger enemies/bosses only?

[Fun Infused Games]

A wee bit too much screen shake. Why do it on every single kill and not on bigger enemies/bosses only?

It really improved the feel of the game from when I didn't have it at all. I added an option in the menus to turn it off if you don't want it at all though. Maybe I should have a middle option that just lessens it too.

[eyeliner]

Having the option to turn it off is a good idea. Good decision.

[Fun Infused Games]

Here is a video where I talk in depth about the first two levels of the game as I play. If you like stuff like this, please let me know, I aim to do more.

[Fun Infused Games]

Most of the work I did the past few days was on a new level where you fly on a burger through space. In some ways this is similar to the surfing level (especially with the jellyfish and the autoscrolling) but also different too. It's going to re-use several assets from the previous levels plus a new Space Invader's type enemy that slowly descends on you.

Also reworked the UI (smaller, removed the kill counter) and made the AI Helpers not spawn automatically but rather when you earn them, you can store up to two of them and then press a button in order to spawn them. I think with this change, I may make earning them a little more challenging too, as you can really spawn a lot of helpers if you're good at the game.

[Fun Infused Games]

No pictures or videos to share at the moment but I still wanted to talk about progress on Platinum Kill...

Space burger level
We've got the main level done minus some artwork and graphics updates. We created a new "space invaders" type enemy that slowing moves towards the player but can be dangerous in swarms. The space burger you ride on comes to a stop as these enemies approach and you must kill them all before the burger starts moving again.

The rest of the enemies in the level are various from previous levels (eventually with updated art)... Penguins and whales from the North Pole level, Jellyfish from the Surfing level.

The boss will be a giant sun. It's main attack will be shooting large shots (fireballs?) at the player in alternating patterns so the player must jump, duck, jump, duck, ect. The frequency of shots increases as the boss nears death. I would like to do at least one other pattern for the boss but that's all I have for the moment.


Graveyard level
I finally settled on wanting to do a graveyard level for level 6. I have not seen a run and gun game approach this sort of level and I think the styles could be fun to mix. Lots of zombies, ghosts, skeletons, and creepy stuff. It's REALLY early but there is a lot creatively I can do with it. I'm excited!


Other stuff
Reworked how the AI helpers work... you get 1 point per kill and when you hit 25, you get the ability to spawn a helper (you can queue up to two helpers). These counters don't reset on death, meaning even bad players should be able to get the helpers eventually (something different than before when it was tied to kill streaks only). You must press a button then to spawn the helper, allowing you to summon them when needed instead of the instant they are earned (and risk losing them when you are at a section you don't need them at).

There was a bug that allowed a brief double jump and I kinda liked it, so I implemented a true double jump mechanic. This can be useful when fighting large numbers of enemies or to reach higher areas of a level.

[RadicalBradical]

No pictures or videos to share at the moment but I still wanted to talk about progress on Platinum Kill...

Space burger level
We've got the main level done minus some artwork and graphics updates. We created a new "space invaders" type enemy that slowing moves towards the player but can be dangerous in swarms. The space burger you ride on comes to a stop as these enemies approach and you must kill them all before the burger starts moving again.

The rest of the enemies in the level are various from previous levels (eventually with updated art)... Penguins and whales from the North Pole level, Jellyfish from the Surfing level.

The boss will be a giant sun. It's main attack will be shooting large shots (fireballs?) at the player in alternating patterns so the player must jump, duck, jump, duck, ect. The frequency of shots increases as the boss nears death. I would like to do at least one other pattern for the boss but that's all I have for the moment.


Graveyard level
I finally settled on wanting to do a graveyard level for level 6. I have not seen a run and gun game approach this sort of level and I think the styles could be fun to mix. Lots of zombies, ghosts, skeletons, and creepy stuff. It's REALLY early but there is a lot creatively I can do with it. I'm excited!


Other stuff
Reworked how the AI helpers work... you get 1 point per kill and when you hit 25, you get the ability to spawn a helper (you can queue up to two helpers). These counters don't reset on death, meaning even bad players should be able to get the helpers eventually (something different than before when it was tied to kill streaks only). You must press a button then to spawn the helper, allowing you to summon them when needed instead of the instant they are earned (and risk losing them when you are at a section you don't need them at).

There was a bug that allowed a brief double jump and I kinda liked it, so I implemented a true double jump mechanic. This can be useful when fighting large numbers of enemies or to reach higher areas of a level.

The space burger level sounds great, haha. Can't wait to see what the actual space burger will look like. 

There's a lot of neat things you can do with the graveyard level! Now's the perfect time to start brainstorming ideas since it's Halloween time and all. 

[Fun Infused Games]

Thanks for the comments. I'll get some new screen shots or videos online soon too.

Yeah I'm trying to think of ideas. For now I'm just using placeholder artwork to get the behaviors right. Need to think up more creative ideas for graveyard stuff besides typical skeletons and zombies.

[Fun Infused Games]

No new media to share but I don't want people to think I haven't been doing work on this either since it has been just over a week since the last update.

I'm working with a contract artist and as I wait for artwork I've asked him to work on, I've been spending a lot of time doing some of my own artwork for the graveyard level. I've been looking at Castlevania and Ghosts and Goblins for reference ideas and a little Zelda 2. I've got three of the level enemies designed and mostly working. I'm not trying to make this level insanely hard (it is the second to last level) but I really want to focus on it having new challenges different from the previous levels.

I also added a "Demo" mode to the game so it starts playing itself (with AI) if you sit at the title screen too long. It's a lot like how old arcade machines would play so that someone just passing by can see the game in action. I sometimes find myself at game dev meetups with my game running and I want people just passing by to see what it looks like, even if I'm away or if no one is currently playing. Its my hope that seeing the game in action will lead others to want to play the game themselves.

I'm expecting some new art and music in the near future. I might make up a new video once I have those to share. It seems like so much changes that I almost have to do a new video every month as the old stuff looks dated.

[Fun Infused Games]

New video of the surfing level featuring new background art and new boss art.

[Fun Infused Games]

This is pretty rough, but here is how the boss is looking so far for the space burger level.

[Fun Infused Games]

Created a new teaser trailer the other day:





Spent a lot of time this weekend reworking weapons and attributes. The idea is that you can have one weapon and one attribute at a time and the attributes can apply to ANY weapon. For example there is a Freeze attribute that will allow your gun to freeze enemies. If you have the spread gun as your weapon, they the spread shots will all freeze too. Its basically a one level of stacking. I also updated the item drop boxes so that some of them drop only weapons and others drop only attributes.

The rest of my recent work was just a lot of bug fixes and polish. No major changes, but spending days just fixing and improving little pieces leads to the game feeling a whole lot better.

[Fun Infused Games]

Chicken head enemy we just added. Trying to ramp up the sillyness. Thoughts?



http://funinfused.com/images/PK_ChickenHead.gif

[eyeliner]

It should drop caca and not legs.