Game play video -

5-15-15 Demo 0.1.5 alpha UPDATE Devlog

Okay, it has been a minute and I haven't posted as much as I would like. But I promise it's worth it.

Last time I posted I talked about the feedback and changes I would be making based on said feedback. I based my decisions on what to change and rethink based on the frequency of a particular issue or request. I tackled the insanely long “game over” issue and updated immediately, so people wouldn't have to wait every time they died. That was the single most brought up issue.

Player Directional issue :

Artwork is updated and all in game. I added an aggressive look and backpack to 505. The addition of the backpack brought an unexpected idea and implementation to the game... The 'Holo-Spawn' A friend said “it would be neat to get an extra life and then your backpack would be able to drop a re-spawn point”

Holo-Spawn : (WIP)

Now when you collect an extra life by finding the secret room just right of the first elevator by shooting the blocks repeatedly – yes seeing if people actually read my shit cause, I just gave away a secret <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_smile.gif" alt=":)" title="Smile"> The light on your backpack will turn from red to green – then you can hold the B button or C key for 2 seconds and drop a Holo-Spawn point. This will save your progress from that point on. When you die after dropping a spawn point you re-spawn at that point. If you don't drop a spawn point you start back at the beginning of the level and no progress is saved.

HUD Useless Info Issue :

The new HUD changes are now updated, in game, and working. I was at first a bit leery on this change because I really liked the balance of the symmetric HUD prior, but in terms of information and real-estate this new layout is much more efficient and useful. Brief explanation below.

Frick'n “Lasers” :

I wanted a couple more obstacles so I added some frick'n lasers to the mix. They are old school in function, they all fir in unison and are timed. I like them. <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_smile.gif" alt=":)" title="Smile">

Bigger Levels & Insta-deaths :

It's still only one level at the moment, but it's massive. 4X bigger than the previous. I got rid of the bottomless pits, but kept spikes and crushers. I'm not going to get into the “shooters shouldn't have this or that” Show me a rule book and perhaps I may follow it.

Desktop Exports (YAY!) :

I have exported versions of the new demo for Windows, Mac, and Linux. I am unable to Linux builds, but I am using NW.js 12 and from what I have read Ubuntu and other distros should be supported. If you find any errors or run into issues on install, just let me know so I can attempt to resolve it.

Other than that, I polished and refined some artwork. Adding directional signaling on the elevators, when they are returning to let the player know what is going on. I also added a tiny bit of parallax to the background texture to give it a bit more depth. There are a few more things but minor in detail, perhaps you'll spot or hear them.

I have a laundry list of other things to work on, but as people are playing I want to keep the build current in hopes to get ideas and inspiration to keep chugging along.

Game Links :

Desktop Versions : itch.io : http://bit.ly/1F4noDY Just go to bottom of page

Online Version - Scirra Arcade : https://www.scirra.com/arcade/shooting- ... 5-demo-138

Yup... : / sqiddster I feel your pain.

That looks superb! I'm curious how you handled the flocking overlap so nicely and how taxing that is on FPS? DatapawWolf

This was at 1280 x 720 sqiddster

I never got close to 60 FPS but the game is very playable.

I linked a video clip of game play for you to get a better idea. http://www.facecjf.com/img/sqidd.MOV

[quote:15tuismv]That's a good candidate for a 'min spec' machine if it runs at 60 at a lower resolution.

I guess... LOL If anyone is gaming on an i3 with integrated graphics I feel for them. It's hit or miss with games working on it, at least in my experience.

I tested the demo out on my crap laptop.

Laptop Specs : Intel i3 3217U CPU 1.8Ghz / 4GB Ram / Intel HD Graphics 4000

Results

At idle - Full screen

FPS : 45 DT diff : 30 ish DT : 30 ish Max DT : 68 Min DT : 41

Playing - Full screen

FPS : 15-20 (jumped all over) DT diff : 35 ish DT : 30 ish Max DT : 68 Min DT : 33

During game play FPS was all over the place. The jank was noticeable, and constant but not excessive. The demo was playable

Hope that helps. :/

Awesome! Excited to see this implemented.

Not sure how you are going about handling this, but I wonder if putting enemies in a family and applying the (underwater) behaviors to the family, would make it easier to manage for your underwater portions of the map...

5-8-15 Demo Devlog Update

First and foremost, I want to thank all those who have played, supported, found bugs, and offered feedback in respects to Robot 505. It's rather emotional to see people enjoying something you created (in your room, behind closed doors in solitude...) This first bit of demo'ing has been super rewarding – I plan to keep that up.

I got some really great feedback and some motivational comments as well.

A couple of issues that were brought up were :

Hard to tell which direction the player is facing Game over / and restart sequence is way too long Crushers bug : Crushers not always killing player Can I haz Bigger levels please? Instant deaths in a shooting game? Can't tell when enemies are hit - (Likely WebGL issue) UI / HUD : hard to tell what info is important. “Your game is unfinished, so it's crap” I know it's a demo. Thanks.

The Plus's :

Solid mechanics & movement TONS of potential Great artwork

The first change I made and applied right away was the Game over long restart sequence. Now when you die, you have the option to quickly restart.

Player Directional Issues :

I had a hard time with this one. I didn't want to change the player entirely – Which would force me to change a lot of artwork. Instead I thought about how I can create subtle changes to cue to the player what direction you are facing. The solution was to add a battery/backpack and a bit of aggressive lines to Robot 505 (#4 is the chosen one)

UI / HUD / Communication issues :

Once someone had pointed out some of the issues, I began to realize that a good portion of the info showed during game play is really irrelevant to, well... game play. The timer takes up a bunch of space, yet it's really not important. It's something left over from the original direction. Spawned enemies for X amount of time. Well that no longer exists... and all it really serves now, is a bonus at scoring. Ammo, Weapon, and Health is the most important info at game play.

I'm not 100% dead set on changes to HUD... So any and all feedback is welcome.

I'll be making a few more updates throughout the weekend, at which point I will apply updates to the current build. It seems at this point the game is kind of organic in a sense that it's going to be changing as it's live. This isn't the initial direction I wanted to take, but I'm rather pleased considering it's bringing in TONS of great feedback.

Stay tuned for more updates.

Seems to work on my end (Nvidia GTX 650Ti Driver V 350.12)

Not sure if it's related... but I have noticed similar behaviors with updating tilemap and sprite textures. They either don't update after exit and restart / or I have to create a new object to replace it. OR I get a solid color sprite upon updating of image.

See:

I only ask, cause as of late I have been noticing odd bugs in relation to images / sprites / tilemaps - I wonder if this is at all related.

:/ MadSpy there is one. lol

Seems I need one on the crusher.

Thanks jordyadan I appreciate it

Yeah MadSpy the crushers, if the light is flashing it will kill you. I'm still finding that on quick movements every once and a while it won't injure or kill player. I think the gaps on elevator platform sides may be too narrow, you're right... when the player moves fast it sometimes hops over, other times it will fall. I think I can resolve this with shortening the platforms a tad. (or the colliders for them)

I will fix that and the crushers (again lol) and post an update soon.

Robot 505 - Demo Update :

(v0.1.4 - pre alpha)

Fixes :

Random Death Bug : player would randomly explode – Now fixed Camera Quick Return Bug : camera would quickly return to the start position (thanks

MadSpy !)

Elevator camera control bug : sometimes disabling the camera control on elevator wouldn't work - should be fixed

Crusher not killing player on first hit : (I think) I have fixed this. It's super random, and from what I can tell maybe a result of NW and collisions.

Adds / Tweaks :

Refined the weapon shoot to kill ratio further – I feel there is room for more. Added more dynamic explosions Added a bit more screen shake Refined the analog movement in relation to camera controls

Browser Version (*testing purpose only – for I am not targeting browsers)

http://facecjf.com/R505/

Desktop Versions

NW 10.5 32bit

https://www.dropbox.com/s/6lp2g2nait62icy/R505_NW105.zip?dl=0

NW 12 64bit

https://www.dropbox.com/s/jp8dlez47h34nfr/R505_NW12.zip?dl=0

Next order of business is to start on some more level design.