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TIGSource ForumsDeveloperPlaytestingR-Theta II [Expanded Edition]
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ThetaGames
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« on: November 29, 2007, 08:39:38 AM »

R-Theta II
EXPANDED EDITION

by Theta Games

SPECIFICATIONS:

Title:  R-Theta II, Expanded Edition
Compability:  Windows 98/2000/XP.  Only the 'Vista Compatible' version will work on Vista.
File Type:  A '.zip' archive that contains the main executable, README.txt, two DLL's that allow for module music playback, and unmo3.exe, which converts the compressed '.mo3' modules into a usable format for the DLL's to use.
Version:  1.5
File Size:  Regular Version:  2.93 MB, Vista Compatible Version:  3.29 MB.
Resolution:  Does not change screen resolution.
Programmed with:  Game Maker 6.1Game Maker 7 was used to create the Vista Compatible Version.


DOWNLOADS:

Regular Version:
Mirror I
Mirror II

Vista Compatible Version:
Mirror I
Mirror II


OVERVIEW:

R-Theta II is an arcade-style SHMUP coded entirely in polar coordinates. Rather than using a standard x-y 'Cartesian' grid, the game is based on a polar grid. This means that every point in the game is defined not by its horizontal and vertical positions, but by its distance from the center origin (R, or radius) and the angle (theta) that a ray connecting this point to the origin makes with a horizontal axis. The game is based entirely in a circle, and all motion in the game is angular (rather than linear).

In R-Theta II, you control a triangular shooter mounted on a spinning radar-scope-like line. You must prevent enemies from hitting this line by shooting them, which will cause the line to continually rotate faster. Some of the enemies shoot at you, causing the triangular shooter to temporarily freeze in place.

Many players of this game have found that it requires you to think about things in entirely new ways, in terms of angles and distances, rather simply shooting forward at oncoming enemies. There are three types of weapons, which create many different strategies to suit different playing styles.


EXPANDED EDITION INCLUDES:

- Nine new enemies, each with distinct behaviors.

- 'Combos' system. You get extra points for killing large numbers of enemies in a short time.

- Game Options, including adjusting difficulty settings, sound volume, special effects (i.e. motion blur, screen-shaking), and fully customizable controls. All options are saved even after you quit the game.

- Other improvements, including quit confirmations, more randomized enemy spawning locations, a better scoring system, and much more!


CONTROLS:

The controls are fully customizable.  Just press <F2> at the title screen to bring up the Options menu, then select 'Controls...'

Default Controls Scheme:

<UP>: Increase radius of shooter (move it away from the center)
<DOWN>: Decrease radius of shooter (move it toward the center)
<Z>: Fire Misile
<X> (hold): Fire Rapid-Fire
<C>: Fire Standard Shot


SCREENSHOTS:

     

Click on the above images to see full-size screenshots.


NOTES:

- This game has no set color scheme; the game randomly generates contrasting colors each time you play.  In the Expanded Edition, you can cause the game's colors to randomly change in-game by pressing <F12>.

- An earlier version of this game have been featured in a variety of places on the web, as well as on the cover CD of the October 22nd issue of the Czech computer magazine Svet-Pocitacu.

- All of the sound effects (except for one - the Pink Floyd Echoes sonar ping that sounds when you get an extra life) are completely original, created by speaking noises into a microphone and severely altering them with Audacity and Goldwave.

- The music is also self-composed.

- NEW [Version 1.1] I have changed the music from MIDI format to module format, which means that there should be no more lag at the loop point of the MIDI pieces. The volume of the music can now be dynamically changed as well.
« Last Edit: February 15, 2008, 03:36:32 PM by ThetaGames » Logged

Guert
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« Reply #1 on: November 29, 2007, 09:56:01 AM »

The game looks interesting, I'll give it a spin. Can you make smaller screenshots in order to show them straight on your post?
Later!
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« Reply #2 on: November 29, 2007, 10:59:49 AM »

Just got through playing this one and I have to say that I do enjoy the concept immensely. However, there are a few things worth noting:

-The gameplay seems to me to be somewhat slow for a shooter game, granted this one is a little bit different I believe the pace of the game could have been picked up a little.

-Shooting just enemies is all well and good but I think this game would benefit incredibly from some simple environmental obstacles ala Asteroids to mix things up a bit.

-Now, I don't know quite what you are going for here, if this is going to be a game with strictly stripped down gameplay elements or if you want to flesh it out some more but I wouldn't mind seeing at least two other "power-ups" or weapon abilities added to the game for the sake of variety in the gameplay "(and to hopefully add a smidgen of strategy).

Anyways, all in all it seems to have a lot of potential. Kudos on the music as well. Well, good luck and I hope I helped in some way Smiley
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ThetaGames
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« Reply #3 on: November 29, 2007, 03:48:58 PM »

@Guert:
I have also added some small embedded screenshots.  I left the links for the large ones in, because when you shrink the screenshots, some of the thin lines disappear or become not as bold.  Thanks, and I'll keep that in mind for later.

@skaldicpoet9:
I'm glad you enjoyed the concept.  I wanted to create something entirely original, which I did in the original R-Theta.  This game was a bit of an embellishment of the same concept, with added weapons and powerups.

Other people have commented on the learning curve of the game.  Personally, I am not very good at SHMUP 'standards,' especially those that bring you right out there with the highest difficulty level.  From watching testers, it appears as though the concept is very difficult to grasp at first, but over time the polar coordinates become somewhat innate to the player.  I may consider either increasing the initial radar speed, or increasing the rate at which the speed increases.  What do you think would be better?

As for added enemies, I really couldn't think of many more that would maintain the simplicity of the game.  'Asteroids' would be just like the rectangular enemies, because they float around aimlessly.  As for added powerups, I originally considered adding powerups, and having a button that cycled though powerups that you 'collected.'  However, the button to cycle proved to be somewhat cumbersome, and I feel that collecting powerups detracts from the simplicity of the game.  This game was intended to be very 'stripped down,' like the aforementioned Asteroids and other arcade games of old.

If anything, I would add a fourth enemy and a fourth weapon type, that would use the keys <V> and either <H> or <;> (although I have never seen a game that used the semicolon key!)  This would be purely for the sake of symmetry (and variety), as there are many instances of the number 'four' in the game.  For instance, all the music is in 4/4 time, and if you notice (and if the MIDI doesn't slow down) the title screen makes a complete revolution every four beats.  What would you suggest as a fourth enemy or powerup?  Would the added key make game too complicated?

Thank you for your kind comments and suggestions!

~ Theta Games
« Last Edit: November 29, 2007, 05:43:39 PM by ThetaGames » Logged

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« Reply #4 on: December 11, 2007, 07:00:38 PM »

Comment:
This game is not mainstream; which means someone not liking it is NOT a reflection on its quality. Coincidently, I didn't care much for it. But I liked the concept.

The problem I had was just that the controls feel weird. They get better, but initially, it's hard to grasp where the bullet will end up. It becomes more second nature later, but it's still weird.

Suggestion: 2 things that might make the learning curve nearly invisible:
1) Start with the rotation being slower and bring it to normal speed within five seconds. Just gives a little more time to grasp the concept, but doesn't annoy people who already get it with a long warm-up.

2) Also at the start, try make some concentric circles of a consistent difference in radius to help the player map out where bullets will fly. You probably want to delete these within five seconds like the slow speed.

Note:
Shooting an enemy when it's close to the center is awkward to me. No suggestions, and maybe you like how it is, but just a note.

I hope you do fully develop this game. As I said, it's not my type, but I would like to see where the concept goes.
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Guert
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« Reply #5 on: December 11, 2007, 07:16:40 PM »

Alright, I played it a bit and here are a couple of comments.

-The menu graphics, altho simplistic, can get a bit annoying with time since its constantly shaking and it uses bright contrasted colors. I would definitively tone it down. (Same goes for the loading screen)

-The game lacks options. It would be alot more accessible for the player if he could remap keys, adjust the size screen or simply control the music and sound effects volume.

-Of course, confirmations upon exiting the game is always required to make sure that leaving the application or the game area is a wanted move.

-Moving up and down the rotating line can become confusing when it's in the southern part but it would be hard to have a better control of the avatar. In the end, I'm not sure what you could do with that, unless you have have more variety in the game (see next points)

-The core gameplay concept is interesting but is a bit hard to understand at first. The fact that you cannot shoot more than one "bullet" at a time makes the game harder. This isn't bad in itself, it just means that the first time the player gets inside the game area, the level of difficulty should be quite low to insure that he undestands the basics. Perhaps adding a difficulty level selection would do the trick as experienced players may not want to go through "tutorial" levels.

-The game in its essence lacks player motivation. From what I've played, the game pretty much serves everything it's got within the first few minutes of the game. Once you understand that all you need to do is shoot one bullet and move up and down the rotating line, you've pretty much seen what the game has to offer. I think the game would be alot more interesting if it would offer variations on it's gameplay and even perhaps different behavior of the rotating line. For instance, the game area could change to give a bit more variety to the game (example: rotation changes direction after a while or when touching certain enemies). playgrounds could be a bit more complexe, like featuring more than only one rotating line and the player would controlif he changes or not from one line to another. These are simple suggestions and I don't believe they are the best in the world  but I do believe that the game could do alot more and should offer more variation in its levels.

Player Motivation could be also obtain by giving us more simple targets. For instance, you could ask the player to achieve a certain score or kill as many enemies within a given time or perhaps simply eliminate a fixed amount of enemies in order to win. Right now, I feel like the player lacks motivation because he fails to see what challenges the game can offer. Yes, he's learned how to kill enemies and yes he could do it better and faster but what would be the point? Why would the player want to finish this level or kill the next enemy? Why would he want points?  That's the questions you have to answer within the game, excluding the real life factor such as "friends wll think he's cool" or "personal pride". You can try to work with those external behaviors but it's alot simpler and efficient to work within the game world itself, creating motivational elements where you control almost everything. Adding unlockable levels or new powers or upgrades are all common ways to achieve this. I'm pretty sure you have already your own motivations when playing the game, all you have to do is make sure the player will get the same goals as you do when creating it.

-In general, I felt the game was a bit slow because of the "one bullet" direction of the game. Not that the game itself is slow but rather because if I miss one shot, it takes a while to be able to shoot again and most of the time, it also resulted in my loss. In the end, I felt that I spent mot of my time waiting to shoot and then dying. This could be fixed easily, perhaps by allowing the player to shoot more oftenly, by adding more bullets ove rtime or by allowing the player to pick up bullets along the way, or perhaps by speeding the bullet up so it travels twice as fast so the player doesn't have to wait too long before being able to attack again. In all cases, this is an issue that, I believe, needs alot of attention.

I think that's pretty much what I can think of at this moment. i hope it helped you out a bit.
Take care now and keep at it, the concpet is interesting and I'm pretty sure you can come up with a way to make it very unique and fun!
Later!
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ThetaGames
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« Reply #6 on: December 13, 2007, 10:56:34 AM »

Thank you all for your comments and suggestions.  They will all be heavily considered, and many should be implemented in the next version.


@SplinterOfChaos:
I think part of the point of the game is to force the player to think in new ways.  It's difficult to detect where the bullet where end up because you are probably accustomed to playing more linear shooters.  However, I think your ideas would be best put into a 'tutorial' mode (rather than a slow-paced intro to the game).  The concentric circles, as well as a slow rotation speed, could be implemented into a scoreless 'practice' game.  This game would be accessible through the title screen (I will make a menu; probably something that would rotate around as you select different things).  That way, the actual game could be 'ramped up' a bit in difficulty, as some testers have noted that it takes awhile for the game to increase in difficulty.  Basically, the player could get used to the controls and the gameplay in the practice mode, and then (once they are used to it) be able to be challenged from the start in the regular game.

Good ideas!  I definitely will use the 'concentric circles' to aid with targeting in the practice mode.


@Guert:
You made some very interesting points as well.  I agree, probably what my game lacks the most is motivation.  I have noticed that once you get the hang of the controls and the gameplay, the game becomes rather hypnotic, and the player almost forgets that he or she is playing.  Unfortunately, this means that he or she also forgets why he or she is playing.  There are only three enemies, and they all come out within the first few minutes of the game.  After that, nothing really changes, except for the gradually increasing game speed.  I think this is directly linked to motivation, because a player will probably want to continue to play any game to see something new (i.e. powerups, enemies, etc.).  A change in speed does not achieve the same result.

I would like to maintain the continuous 'never ending' nature of the game.  Therefore, the player's ultimate motivation will continue to be to gain the highest possible score without dying.  However, any game also needs intermediate goals, to keep the player playing throughout.  This is probably why many games are level-based, (rather than continuous) because the player feels some reward at the end of even the first level of the game.  Though they are good ideas, I do not think it would fit the spirit of R-Theta II to make different levels with separate goals (i.e. a 'time attack' level).  Instead, I will make other intermediate goals for quickly killing enemies, such as combos.  Nothing rewards a player more watching his combos rack up on the screen, while his score does the same!

I think I will cure this 'motivation' problem by adding many more enemies, each with distinct abilities.  The player will then want to continue the game, so that he or she will be able to see these new enemies, which could drastically change the gameplay.  Enemies could do a variety of things, such as changing the direction of the radar-scope-line, or they could look and behave differently, like requiring more than one hits to kill.  As for powerups and other weapons, I don't think I will add any more.  As I said above, I might add another weapon, but it would be constant like first three.  I toyed with the idea of powerups before, but I felt that they took away from the simplicity of the game.

I can easily adjust the shooting speed.  I will make the shooter be able to fire at a higher rate for the regular shot and fire more 'rounds' for the rapid-fire.  Also, I will make the speed of the bullets determined by the speed of the rotating line.  As it stands, the bullets have a constant speed no matter what speed the radar-scope line is rotating.  Therefore, a very skilled player could theoretically play enough so that the line begins to rotate faster than his shots (of course, he would instantly die at this point, so therefore my game does have an end!).  If I make the bullets faster as the game gets faster, then this problem would be eliminated, and it would get slightly easier to shoot as the game got harder.


Thanks again for your excellent ideas!  I will work on a new version, and post it soon.

~ Theta Games
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« Reply #7 on: December 18, 2007, 08:33:55 PM »

It is not a game for everyone indeed. But maybe you could make it more "accessible" - I'm sure you could make it work with the mouse. Smiley And I agree with Guert that shaking is really irritating, my eyes got tired quickly!
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« Reply #8 on: December 19, 2007, 08:02:21 AM »

@Tex Pine

The new version will be more 'accessible,' as there will be an options screen, allowing the player to adjust the music/effects volume, map the controls, and turn on and off the blur effects.  I will also allow the player to adjust the degree of the screenshaking, as other testers have found it somewhat irritating.

As for mouse control, I don't think it would work very well.  First of all, it would be very confusing, because mice do not inheritly work in polar coordinates, but in cartesian coordinates.  The movement of the shooter is constricted in one dimension over a rotating line, so don't really see a point to using the mouse.  Also, mouse-control games usually should have movment that is real-time to the mouse's movement, and such would be too quick for this game.

I have already begun a new version.  I have completed nine distinct enemies, and some have more 'hit points' than the 'original three.'  I'll be working on these above options soon.


Thanks for your comments!

~ Theta Games
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« Reply #9 on: December 22, 2007, 06:16:18 PM »

To all:  I have released a new version, including many of your suggestions.  Rather than making a 'practice' mode, I decided to allow the player to change the difficulty level, which changes the initial speed of the radar-scope line, as well as changing the speed at which it increases speed (its angular acceleration, if you will!).  I also created an easy system for controls mapping in the Options Menu, as well as other game options.

I hope this new edition solves the 'player motivation' problem.  I created nine new enemies, which appear as the game progresses.  I think a player will be motivated to be able to see new enemies as the game advances, and deal with the new gameplay elements that these enemies will incur.  I also created a small 'combos' system, which will reward a player for quickly eliminating enemies, rather than just allowing them to come toward the shooter.

Thank you all for your suggestions, as they were very well received and implemented with the best of my ability.  If there is anything else that I can improve, please let me know.  Thanks!

~ Theta Games
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« Reply #10 on: January 13, 2008, 03:11:35 PM »

Has anyone tried the new version?  Is there anything else that I can improve?
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« Reply #11 on: January 25, 2008, 07:18:44 PM »

Sorry for the triple-post, but I would like to announce that I have included new module music with the game.  The music was previously MIDI, which caused lags at the loop point and could not be adjusted in volume in the game.

I have also balanced the power of the missile by decreasing the damage of its shrapnel.
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« Reply #12 on: February 01, 2008, 07:18:34 AM »

I never liked the first R-Theta, but at least the second one has more style. As for the gameplay, the movement may be interesting but you've done very little to turn it into a fun game.

I gave the concept of your game two minutes of thinking and figured it could be more fun as something other than a simplistic shmup with awkward cotrols...

How about a space racing game where you move from orbit to orbit and dodge the planets' satellites? You could add enemies and shooting to that as well to make it more varied and fun.

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« Reply #13 on: February 01, 2008, 09:36:42 AM »

Played the game for a while. It was interesting, and I certainly like the style, but the controls take a good while to get used to since I mentally assume up goes up and down goes down, so I sometimes went the wrong way when I was at the bottom of the circle. The game can be pretty challenging, especially if you screw up.

I'd do something about the controls, but I'm not entirely sure what would work.

I'm also not sure that music fits too well.

On an unrelated note, I bet Cactus took a grand total of 0.223 seconds to think up that idea AND draw that diagram. Waiting for the next week's game. :p
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ThetaGames
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« Reply #14 on: February 01, 2008, 07:36:24 PM »

Thanks for all your replies!

@Cactus:
This was meant to be a simple, arcade-style SHMUP, just set in a different coordinate system.  That was kind of the point of the game, from the original R-Theta to now.

I like your idea, but I don't know if it would fit the existing themes of the game.  It would be fun to plan your orbits around various planets, careening yourself around and shooting enemies.

@Melly:
I would try setting the controls to something that would make sense to you.  Maybe the best option would be to use keys that don't imply up and down, so they would be purely 'increase  radius' and 'decrease radius.'  Press <F2> at the title screen to get to the game options.

Also, what is it about the music that you feel doesn't fit?


Thanks again to all!

~ Theta Games


EDIT:  I forgot to mention, a new version has been uploaded with some minor bug-fixes regarding default options settings and the registry settings.
« Last Edit: February 02, 2008, 01:03:28 PM by ThetaGames » Logged

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« Reply #15 on: February 11, 2008, 06:41:27 PM »

I don't remember which game, but I think one of the Neko games had a game where you spun around a circle and timed when you would place the next circle, and place it in a way that travelling down it's path would let you avoid walls / obstacles etc.

I like the game! Felt a bit slow at first, I didn't play much. Very cool concept though. I would make it faster, and speed up as it goes along. Maybe have the option to change which way you rotate, and enemies come at you from both directions.
Nice work!  Cool
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« Reply #16 on: February 11, 2008, 07:17:54 PM »

@MekanikDestructiwKommando: [yes, I copied and pasted! Smiley]
Thanks for the comments!  I've never played that Neko game, but it seems like it would be a fun thing to play.  I may adjust the initial difficulty settings; a lot of people are saying it is a little slow in the beginning.  If you notice, though, the game gradually gains speed, though the increasing difficulty is more focused on the increasing strength of enemies.

The ability to change the direction of rotation would be a fun idea; it would force the player to chase after enemies to quickly destroy them.  I suppose just one button could control the switch.

The only problem I see with this would be the enemy collisions.  As it stands, the game does not actually detect a collision with the line; instead, if any of the enemies' angular (theta) value is greater than the player's theta value, then the player dies.  The enemies are always created with a theta value less than the player's theta value (which constantly increases throughout the game; it never resets to zero after 2*pi.)  In earlier versions, I used actual collisions, but I noticed that some of the faster enemies would 'skip over' the radar-scope-line.  I don't quite see how I could implement the ability to change direction of rotation, for these reasons.


Thank you for the suggestions!

~ Theta Games
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« Reply #17 on: February 15, 2008, 03:36:14 PM »

I have uploaded a new version (Version 1.5).  It includes some minor options bugfixes, and an improved icon.
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