Metroid-inspired Project

Nesteris - ha that's funny, sorry it's confusing. I don't know why I chose the buttons the way I did honestly.

I started working on the engine in September, but was using some different graphics and originally had planned a different kind of game. I had these ideas for this game kicking around my head for literally years though - maybe over a decade - and I've worked and reworked the ideas off and on here and there. I'm just now in a position to devote some real time to it.

I started using a program that Scirra Construct was based on (at least in part), Multimedia Fusion, and have been doing graphics for some time. Everything I guess finally came to a head here, like I was saying.

Thanks for all the feedback and interactions, amigo.

I'm also a video editor and making a metroidvania.

What is going on?! Too many coincidences.

100% true.

Back to the thread : the title screen font is really cool.

alvarop and Nesteris - I edited a video this year... does that count? I'm also a wedding photographer...

also, yes - stencyl = horrible.

Nesteris - been dreading it haha, but I think I'll try to tackle it over the next couple of days... gonna try and switch to 8 direction movement

Nesteris, that's interesting - I haven't checked that out... but actually I've fixed the geemers, didn't use 8 direction or platform, just ended up retooling my engine. It actually works better than ever, and is framerate independent. Much respect to the developers of the 80's, some of these enemy behaviors are more complex than they seem!

A quick update - didn't upload a new build, but here are some screenshots. New additions include:

Several New Enemies and Behaviors (see screen shots)

Zone scrolling camera movement for specific rooms (see screen shots) - which addresses the issue of not being able to see where to jump vertically in certain situations

Improved game-play elements, such as marking enemies that need to be eliminated

New tilesheets

Thanks for all the feedback everyone!

Loving the new enemy behaviours! The game is really coming together well. Can't wait until the next build.

— - thanks for keeping up with the project! I need to add in item drops and a better level end screen... and maybe start on the actual level select screen as well. THEN I'll put something up for you guys!

Loving the new enemy behaviours! The game is really coming together well. Can't wait until the next build. <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_smile.gif" alt=":)" title="Smile">

It's been a while, but here's a brand new build:

http://threesevenhosting.com/builds/12-15-2014/

It has a lot of new things kind of under the hood, but I also spent some time refining and creating some more complex enemy behaviors and mission objectives. There's a few new area tilesets, as well as a new objective.

Let me know what you guys think or if you run into any bugs. Thanks for all the encouraging feedback!

Your enemy AI is pretty flawless, I must say. Great job!

I did run into a slight control hiccup; while standing and moving at the same time, you cannot crouch. You have to be completely stopped. If you could make it so that you can crouch while moving, it would feel much better. You can, however, stand up while moving from a crouch position, which feels much better.

One thing that has been a little off from the beginning is the jump speed, and this is just a personal opinion, but if the gravity and jump strength were reduced, I feel it would be easier to control your jumps.

All in all you've done a pretty awesome job so far. Let me know when you post another build!

ryanrybot - thanks for giving it a thorough playthrough! Did the snake enemies work ok on that last level?

I'll play around with both of those aspects. I don't think crouching would be too hard to implement, I'm pretty sure I would just have to check for running in addition to standing still. Any values you would recommend for jumping?

At this point I've built a pretty versatile engine - I can implement new enemies within the range of enemy types super easily, generally with little to no new events added, just by adding them to a couple of families. A few things that need to happen from here are other aspects like actual level selection, in-game shops, power ups. I'm also working on implementing some new suits and ships. For example, right now the map has some built in radar. I'm playing around with the idea of making radar something that you would have to purchase (with ingame money), or having a ship that can restore health a couple of times if you return to it, stuff like that. But everything, like I mentioned, is really modular at this point and can be very easily modified. At some point I might need some additional graphic design muscle, though..

I'm also playing around with the idea of sequence breaking, in relation to level progression. What would that look like? I'm not totally sure but I have some ideas at this point.

Thanks again man. Looking forward to any other feedback.

Are you referring to the floating snakes, or the yapping maw ones that grab you? I'll give impressions on both.

The floating snakes seemed to work quite well, floating around until you get close, then flying towards you. It makes them seem very territorial which is cool. They are pretty easy to kill at a distance though. If you shot them when they are in their neutral cycle, it might be better if they were alerted and came after you.

The Yapping maw ones worked well, but were not very threatening. I found that I could run past them quite easily, either because they were slow to grab me, or didn't react fast enough to my presence. However I did fall into a pit beside one, and it grabbed me through the wall and I got stuck. One time I got stuck in the wall, and another time above it.

[attachment=1:3ehw5rik][/attachment:3ehw5rik]

I also noticed the bombs float when placed over a cliff. It would be cool to be able to drop bombs over an edge to defeat enemies.

[attachment=0:3ehw5rik][/attachment:3ehw5rik]

Sequence breaking could be cool, in the way of secret passages and such. In Super Metroid most sequence breaking has to do with abusing your abilities, but since most of them are absent in your game so far, a less linear approach to level design might work equally as well.

ryanrybot - noted! That's some great input man. I'm using the pin behavior for the grabbing guys, but maybe that's not the best behavior when interacting with obstacles. It could be something as simple as setting a flag and then setting a IID of the grabber that has you. I know IIDs change, but I think that's fine.

When I finished the floating snakes, I was pretty pumped - and then I realized that they were pretty easy to kill! But they look sweet. Having them pursue when attacked is a good idea. I think I'll flag it when a player projectile is within a few pixels of the head.

Gravity behavior on bombs is a great idea too. I actually had that in mind at some point. I'm thinking of some different bomb types - like sticky bombs, remote bombs (bomber man style).

This is good stuff. You're getting some kind of special commendation somewhere at some point.

Hello mudmask

Great game!

How did you made that crawling enemy in your game?