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TIGSource ForumsDeveloperPlaytestingSpace Huggers: Run-and-Gun Roguelite Browser Game
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Author Topic: Space Huggers: Run-and-Gun Roguelite Browser Game  (Read 2212 times)
FrankForce
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« on: September 17, 2021, 01:29:00 PM »

Hi everyone! It's been a while since I've posted here. Over the past few years I've gotten really into JavaScript and this game represents the pinnacle of my skills thus far. The game engine was custom coded including the physics, rendering, etc. I also wrote the sound effect system ZzFX which generates sounds in real time. It has support for 4 player couch co-op! The entire thing is 13 kilobytes and open sourced!

The next step is maybe expanding this into a larger game. I have a lot of ideas already but I'm interested in feedback from players about what they want to see and do. So give it a shot and post your results in this thread. The farthest I've gotten is level 6, it gets real tough.



The empire is spreading like a plague across the galaxy and building outposts on remote planets. You are an elite rebel soldier tasked with wiping out those bases. Explore strange planets using your tools of destruction and eliminate the invaders! You have only 10 clones left, 3 more will be replenished after each mission. Good luck, have fun, and give space a hug for me.

- P L A Y S P A C E H U G G E R S -










Open Source on GitHub!

Game Features
- Run and gun / roguelike hybrid gameplay
- 2-4 player jump in local co-op mode
- Procedural level generation of great variety and complexity
- Levels are fully destructible with persistence
- Fire propagation and explosion system
- 5 enemy types with a larger variant
- 7 different crate/barrel/rock types
- 17 sprite textures using a 12 color palette
- Checkpoints can be captured for players to respawn there
- Multi layer procedurally generated parallax background
- Starfield simulation with moving stars, planets, and suns
- Particle systems for rain, snow, blood, explosions, weapons, water and more
- Native resolution rendering up to 1920x1200
- 11 different sound effects with ZzFX
- Up to 4 player co-op with 4 gamepads!

Engine Features
- Custom game engine written during the compo is separate from game code
- Super fast rendering system for up to 50,000 objects at 60 fps
- Physics engine for axis aligned bounding box rigid body dynamics
- Tile based rendering and collision system
- Particle effects system
- Input processing system for keyboard, mouse, gamepads, and touch
- Math library with Vector2, Color and Timer utility classes
- Audio with ZzFX has ability to attenuate sounds by distance
- Debug visualization system not in JS13K build. (press ~ to enter debug mode)

Enemy Types
- New Recruit (Green) - A bit shorter, more hesitant, takes 1 hit to kill
- Soldier (Blue) - Average height and ability, 2 hits to kill
- Captain (Red) - Can climb walls and jumps more often, 3 hits
- Specialist (White) - Jumps and rolls often, they are ninjas, 4 hits
- Demolitions Expert (Purple) - Throws grenades and can't catch fire, 5 hits
- Small chance of a heavy weapons variation that has double health and fires full auto

Objects
- Plastic Crate (Brown) - Burns easily and breaks when fully burnt
- Metal Crate & Barrel (Gray) - Is hard to destroy, can't burn
- Water Barrel (Blue) - Puts out fires and pushes away objects
- Explosive Crate & Barrel (Green) - Burns and explodes after a few seconds
- High Explosive Barrel (Red) - Explodes quickly and much larger than normal explosives
- Rock (Color Varies) - Heavy and very hard to destroy, can't burn, can crush enemies
- Lava Rock (Glowing Red & Orange) - Anything that touches it is lit on fire

Tools Used
- Roadroller
- Google Closure Compiler
- UglifyJS
- Imagemin
- Efficient Compression Tool
- ZzFX
« Last Edit: November 15, 2021, 03:52:19 PM by FrankForce » Logged
michaelplzno
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« Reply #1 on: September 18, 2021, 02:43:27 PM »

Impressive! Looks like bro-force a bit, which I mean as a compliment since you did it with such a tiny web engine. Keep it up!
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FrankForce
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« Reply #2 on: September 19, 2021, 07:42:34 AM »

Thank you! Broforce was my primary inspiration for this one.

As I continue forward past this demo, it will start to diverge greatly from Broforce. Mainly by addition of rpg-lite elements, like upgrades and more weapons, and some real crazy ideas I have that may or may not work out.
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Piaworthy
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« Reply #3 on: September 20, 2021, 03:53:33 AM »

Hi Frankforce,

 Found the game to be very pleasing to play, movement was satisfying, the sound effects were juicy, and I really enjoyed the various physics interactions, and the terrain destruction.

A few things that could be tweaked:

Maybe make the dodge roll recharge effect more prominent, perhaps add some sound? Also, playing on an Xbox controller, pressing X to roll felt a little awkward, RB might allow for more dextrous manoeuvring. Not sure, but it felt a bit 'off'.

Sometimes the enemies are placed really far apart, requiring lots of mining through terrain just to find the last remaining enemies to kill. Also, sometimes the off-screen enemy indicators disappear, maybe the radius at which they display should be increased?

Overall I found it really fun, there was a surprising amount of physics simulation that I really enjoyed.

Good luck! 

 
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FrankForce
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« Reply #4 on: September 20, 2021, 08:06:25 AM »

Hi Piaworthy!

Thanks for the feedback!

I totally agree on the dodge roll recharge. The recharge sound got cut to make space. Had hard time deciding where to put the roll button. Still thinking about control layout but your input helps. Right now RB is available but as I add more stuff it probably will be needed for something else.

I also agree on the enemy spacing and mining. IMO the fundamental problem is that the goal is to kill every single enemy which actually isn't all that fun. My plan is to add more varied objectives like maybe in one level the goal is to just capture something and escape. maybe another it's to assassinate a vip, etc. This way I can still retail the size and scale of levels.
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geo
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« Reply #5 on: October 03, 2021, 01:59:55 AM »

Played your game right now.
Just 13KB, this is insane, congrats on that  Toast Right

I played with mouse and keyboard but soon switched to xbox controller. When playing with the mouse it would be nice to also control the shoot direction with the mouse. This would make "strafing" a lot easier. Right now I have to turn with the key board and then shoot with the mouse. But maybe this is due to me no using the shoot key too much. I am on a different keyboard layout where Z is not very convenient to reach.

In terms of gameplay I really like the destructible terrain. Maybe if you beef up the physics even more you could take inspiration from games like teardown (https://store.steampowered.com/app/1167630/Teardown/).

Great work, keep it up!
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FrankForce
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« Reply #6 on: October 03, 2021, 03:14:54 PM »

Thanks for your thoughts, geo!

I also prefer playing on controller, try snes gamepad if you have one! I thought about controlling the shoot direction with the mouse and right analog stick, but then it is more like a twin stick shooter except you can't really aim.

I still have yet to play teardown but it looks great. I will check it out. I have some cool ideas for both construction and destruction to push it to the limit.
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jbarrios
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« Reply #7 on: October 15, 2021, 08:36:47 AM »

Hey FrankForce,

I played your game and recorded my thoughts:



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FrankForce
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« Reply #8 on: October 15, 2021, 09:18:39 AM »

Hey jbarrios, thanks for playing my game!

My first question is, what was up with the framerate in that video? Was this just the recording or was it like that while you were playing? If so, what OS and browser did you play in? Generally it runs better in chrome then other browsers I've tested. Ideally it is played at 60 fps.

There are instructions on how to play that is important to read. For example the roll button is very key to gameplay, and you never used it! The game was for a size limited game jam so there is almost no in game text to save space. The next version will have some info about how to play included.

I plan to add much more, this is mostly a test of the core gameplay and game engine itself. I think it is important to get the basics first. Going forward I am not worried about differentiation from Brofroce, though it was a huge inspiration along with games like contra, metal slug and metroid. I plan to take it in a roguelike direction. So think more like broforce crossed with spelunky. The levels are already randomly generated and destructible, really just need to add the meta game layer, and build it out with more enemies, weapons, variety, etc.
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FrankForce
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« Reply #9 on: October 25, 2021, 07:52:15 AM »

Hi everyone, I just released a major update to Space Huggers!

I polished it up, added a final boss fight, music, hud, achievements, and scoreboard for fastest times. It is on newgrounds now where hopefully will get some plays. Here's the new place you can play it...

- P L A Y S P A C E H U G G E R S -
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FrankForce
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« Reply #10 on: November 06, 2021, 09:32:49 AM »

Hello again everyone! I have just added mobile support to space huggers with a virtual on screen touch gamepad!

I also improved some other stuff and it is feeling really good. Current speed run is about 11 minutes, it's a fun quick playthrough. Let me know if you give it a shot...

Play Space Huggers

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FrankForce
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« Reply #11 on: November 15, 2021, 08:16:28 AM »

Hi everyone. I am continuing to refine Space Huggers. Just reworked the final boss AI to be much more aggressive. Also they can now roll through walls and throw stuff at you.

Mobile support has continued to be improved and the on screen touchpad works better. Perf is improved too and levels load faster.

Here's the current record speed run, 11:14! I been talking to the guy that recorded this, and he has been a great help with development. There are currently 3 users with sub 12 minute times. We think 10 is possible. This video is before I improved the final boss so you'd see how easy he went down...



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mobilelast
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« Reply #12 on: November 23, 2021, 01:01:07 PM »

I haven’t played Broforce, so this was a fresh experience to me.

Physics are well done and allow many ways to deal with the enemies. Chaotic chain reactions of explosions are fun, and I died many times because the NPCs decided to blow themselves up in front of me; in good games, losing spectacularly is even better than winning. Inaccurate shooting is a clever way of restricting the shooting range, and reaction time of NPCs is well balanced. When prepared, the player usually has just enough time to take down the enemy. I like that the enemies remain dead when you die and restart. Otherwise it would get tedious.

Some thoughts:
- I agree that there’s more than a shooter in this. It is funnier to sneak than battle. This could be enhanced by adding stealth options like lighting or voice, ninja-like aspects.
- I'd like to have a larger visible area. It would increase tactical possibilities.
- The game would benefit from more accurate controls. Now the character slows down and moves a little after releasing the movement button. It is hard to turn without moving, and movement easily overshoots. Climbing works very well once you get used to it.

This is a great concept and I'm eager to see new versions in the future.
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FrankForce
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« Reply #13 on: November 23, 2021, 05:48:10 PM »

Thanks mobilelast!

Definitely thinking about stealth aspects. When I move to the next step and build it out with more stuff, I'd like a stealth playstyle to be possible. Also I'd like to add better map so you can see where enemies are better when they are off screen, this should help with what you said. You are not the first person to mention the controls could use some more tweaking so I will see what I can do. Sometimes a few things can make a big difference.

I will keep working on it! Maybe start a devlog when i really get moving on the sequel.
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Ace
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« Reply #14 on: November 23, 2021, 10:20:18 PM »

I did check out your game and you did a good job programming the AI etc.

But based on Game footage and the Information you provided your game is sadly 2/10.

Your game is about killing enemies. The more satisfying the killing is the more people might be interested in it.
For this aspect, I will ignore Music/Graphics since it is meant for a Browser game.

The Problem is you moving from Flag to Flag increasing the number of enemies and that's it. You got only 1 weapon/grenade with little no reward for clearing it. That's how I feel about this game.
 
There are many ways to make a game enjoyable. I summarized it in 2 ways.

Map and Kill options.

The Maps feel annoying.It's like playing on the same Map just with different colors and a bit of randomizer.
You can add Bricks
-which can't be destroyed.
-slippery (ice till which makes enemies/you move left and right)
-sticky
-Muddy
etc just to mention some of it.

Also, i personally hate crates since they are something they block my enemies.

The 2nd point is the kill option.

Example would be
-stealth
-more weapon types that kill differently
 in this case, since its a browser game the different types of weapons can make people play long to test out the weapon
 itself.
 the more unique the better like ice ray or solar beam something like that.

the other option is to give players the option to "move" enemies to their demise.
an example would be to use an object which throws them down the cliff or makes them jump up to a brick, breaking it and killing themselves.

In my opinion, this game is not finished yet. But it has potential if you continue to improve and smooth out the AI, Map, etc
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FrankForce
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« Reply #15 on: November 24, 2021, 10:24:06 AM »

Thank you so much ace, great suggestions!

Right now I am still focused on the core gameplay experience. Next step is to build a much larger game around it. I have been polishing many small things since I first posted. The game is pretty small, it takes only around 15 minutes to beat 5 levels. Each level has tougher enemies with new behaviors.

I agree that adding more variety to the map and weapons would make the game better. You have some good Ideas I will add to the list.

When crates block enemies there are a few options. You can shoot the crates to break them, or even shoot crates into enemies to kill the enemy, and a bunch of the crates explode. I will add more types of these too.

Thanks again for the feedback, I am excited to get started on the next version of the game and add a lot more stuff!
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