FUNGICIDE - Retro Game Competition Entry

[Scaremonger]

FUNGICIDE
The Earth has been infected by Alien Spores!
They arrive on Meteors from infected Asteroids and grow into Giant Fungus!
Your mission is to destroy them before they take over the planet!

Controls:

Movement	Cursor Keys (Up, Down, Left, Right)
Main Weapon	Space
Bomb	Z
Quit or Pause	Escape
Screenshot	F12

Game available for Windows and Linux.

I have not documented the dependencies for Linux, but it should run on your system if you already use BlitzMax.

Please post a screenshot of your high score table. I'd like to see how far you guys get

[Conjured Entertainment]

Please post a screenshot of your high score table. I'd like to see how far you guys get

You got it...

Very retro and fun to play.

I really like this game.

[iWasAdam]

I've got my alien spore hat on now...

[therevills]

For some reason the ship moves very slowly up and down - was this on purpose?

[Scaremonger]

Very retro and fun to play.
I really like this game.

Thanks. Always good to hear that.

For some reason the ship moves very slowly up and down - was this on purpose?

Yeah, I slowed it down because it was starting to cause problems hitting the ground all the time. Maybe I overdid it a little.

[Steve Elliott]

Yes it's far too slow - quick change the speed before anybody else notices

[Scaremonger]

Yes it's far too slow - quick change the speed before anybody else notices

On a plus note. You can't hit the ground so easily.  Lol

[GaborD]

 

[RemiD]

I have just tested your game.

It works well on my computer/os (Windows 7 64bits)

Graphics : nice, consistant style. And it looks good even when scaled (not like my game :-p)
Sounds : cool effects , thanks for the option to configure the volume
Controls : easy enough to understand how to play
Gameplay : original world/enemies, shoot and hit, fun and addicitive, however instead of moving toward left or moving toward right, i would have added a way to move the ship more quickly or less quickly to be able to avoid the "spores"

[Conjured Entertainment]

Okay guys, where are the high score images? 

There are so many great games in this competition, and my top 3 were very close and almost equal favorites.

The thing that set this apart for me from most of the other games (including mine) was the length of play.

While my game and others had a set number of levels for a limited time of play, this one ends based on skill and increasing difficulty.
 
Most retro games had limited time to play with fixed ends to the game after the first batch of arcade machines, once the operators realized that allowing a player to marathon play on Asteroids or Pac-Man for hours on one quarter did not result in very much revenue for the arcade.

Then came games like Pole Position that had a fixed number of laps for a quick but exciting game, and it became the highest grossing arcade machine for the year it was released, so operators looked for games that offered fixed play.

Games like mine, or Get to Da Chopper, have a fixed number of levels for quick play and a decisive end, but Fungicide uses increasing difficulty to make the game play short lived, especially for noobs honing their Fungicide skills.

I get to the end of the other games, like mine, and feel a level of accomplishment for 'beating the game', but games like Fungicide give me that feeling every time I beat my personal best score, because increasing my skills can keep extending the game time.

Also, the fixed number of digits for the score is classic, because you want to make it to 100,000 and get rid of that leading zero, but that seems to be nearly impossible with the increase in spore population in later waves.

This game keeps me wanting to go back and do more damage, and fight my way to that 100k.

Classic, Epic, and tons of Retro fun!

Despite the few bugs in the game restarts, this one is my favorite, and now you know why.

[Scaremonger]

Graphics : nice, consistant style. And it looks good even when scaled (not like my game :-p)
Sounds : cool effects , thanks for the option to configure the volume Controls : easy enough to understand how to play
Gameplay : original world/enemies, shoot and hit, fun and addicitive,

Appreciate that. Good to hear. Thanks.

however instead of moving toward left or moving toward right, i would have added a way to move the ship more quickly or less quickly to be able to avoid the "spores"

Turbo mode. That is simple to add and is now on my list for post competition changes along with improved Up/Down controls and fixing the online high score system that I had to comment out at the last minute!

Okay guys, where are the high score images? 

Yeah, please upload them. The online high score system is non functional and I'm going to have to add you all manually when I fix it.

The thing that set this apart for me from most of the other games (including mine) was the length of play.

While my game and others had a set number of levels for a limited time of play, this one ends based on skill and increasing difficulty.
 
Most retro games had limited time to play with fixed ends to the game after the first batch of arcade machines, once the operators realized that allowing a player to marathon play on Asteroids or Pac-Man for hours on one quarter did not result in very much revenue for the arcade.

Then came games like Pole Position that had a fixed number of laps for a quick but exciting game, and it became the highest grossing arcade machine for the year it was released, so operators looked for games that offered fixed play.

Games like mine, or Get to Da Chopper, have a fixed number of levels for quick play and a decisive end, but Fungicide uses increasing difficulty to make the game play short lived, especially for noobs honing their Fungicide skills.

I get to the end of the other games, like mine, and feel a level of accomplishment for 'beating the game', but games like Fungicide give me that feeling every time I beat my personal best score, because increasing my skills can keep extending the game time.

Also, the fixed number of digits for the score is classic, because you want to make it to 100,000 and get rid of that leading zero, but that seems to be nearly impossible with the increase in spore population in later waves.

This game keeps me wanting to go back and do more damage, and fight my way to that 100k.

Classic, Epic, and tons of Retro fun!

Despite the few bugs in the game restarts, this one is my favorite, and now you know why.

Thanks for the vote. Pleased you like it.

I had not thought about levels and increased difficulty in that way before. I remember the days playing games like defender for hours on one coin and then spending a fortune trying to finish dragons lair (never did).

Fungicide originally had four enemy types designed and the graphics for them are already drawn. They were introduced at different levels but two of them never made it due to time restraints (except the shrooms which I use as a desktop icon in Windows). I hope I get to finish this at some point.

[Derron]

Was not really able to play it on linux (excuse the big GIF file)





Game stucked here and there - sometimes ship was "invisible" (think it passed a barrier in the "stuck"-loops).
Used Wine then to run the windows binary... way smoother (but still slight stucks here and there).
The startscreen (story + testers) is not in the rotation of control and highscore. Escape did not return to the titlescreen. It went away too fast so I was not able to completely read the "story" .


"Z" is placed on the "Y" key on German keyboard layouts...


Why do small "moving" fungicides give less points than the easier to hit bigger enemies?


Highscore initials are tough to make: similar to Adams SyntaxBomb you need to hit the keys for each up/down movement. KeyDown() and a lastDownTime-comparison would help here.


My Wife told me that the sounds reminded her on the old Atari 2600 games.




bye
Ron

[Scaremonger]

@Derron: Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated.

Invisible ship! Hmm, not seen that myself, but looking at the gif when the meteor arrives there is a gap in the tail which shows its stuttering. That can only happen when the game loop tries to play catch up and DeltaTime from the last loop cycle is a large duration and so it moves a long distance. Can't think what would be doing that.

What version of Linux are you using? It was developed mostly on my 32bit Linux Mint notebook and runs much smoother than on windows. I didn't try Wine myself.

I hadn't considered the story to be part of the lobby system, but I'll release another version after the competition with some changes and this is now on the list. I've also added the Z and Y keys issue to my list, although I'm not sure what to do about it at the moment.

I see what you mean about the points. Should be more points for the spore as it's more difficult to hit.

High score system is already on my list.

[Derron]

I also made sure to not have a >28 days uptime session (to avoid borked up delta timing because of the integer wrap).

Dunno what caused this. Am running Linux Mint 18.3 64Bit.
If you want you could code me a simple "game loop"-example outputting the necessary stuff.


My game loop looks like this:

Code: BlitzMax

1. [...]
2.    Method RunRender()
3.       'the time available for rendering has to consider the time
4.       'used for updating - so subtract that from the accumulator
5.       _renderAccumulator:+ Max(0, _lastLoopTime - getCurrentLoopTime()) / 1000.0
6.  
7.       if(_renderAccumulator > _renderRate)
8.          local start:Long = Time.GetTimeGone()
9.  
10.          'if there is a function connected - run it
11.          if _funcRender then _funcRender()
12.  
13.          'subtract the time reserved for a render from the accumulator
14.          _renderAccumulator = 0
15.  
16.          'for stats
17.          timesRendered:+1
18.  
19.          _renderTime :+ (Time.GetTimeGone() - start)
20.       endif
21.    End Method
22.  
23.    Method RunUpdate()
24.       'each loop the looptime is added to an accumulator
25.       'as soon as the accumulator is bigger than the time reserved
26.       'for an update ("timeStep"), the loop does as much updates
27.       'as the accumulator "fits"
28.       _updateAccumulator:+ Max(0, _lastLoopTime)/1000.0
29.  
30.       local start:Long = Time.GetTimeGone()
31.      
32.       while(_updateAccumulator > _updateRate)
33.          'if there is a function connected - run it
34.          if _funcUpdate then _funcUpdate()
35.  
36.          'subtract the time reserved for an update from the accumulator
37.          _updateAccumulator = Max(0.0, _updateAccumulator - _updateRate)
38.          'for stats
39.          timesUpdated:+1
40.       wend
41.  
42.       _updateTime :+ (Time.GetTimeGone() - start)
43.    End Method
44.  
45.  
46.    Method RunSystemUpdate()
47.       'each loop the looptime is added to an accumulator
48.       'as soon as the accumulator is bigger than the time reserved
49.       'for an system update ("timeStep"), the loop does as much updates
50.       'as the accumulator "fits"
51.       _systemUpdateAccumulator:+ Max(0, _lastLoopTime)/1000.0
52.  
53.       local start:Long = Time.GetTimeGone()
54.      
55.       while(_systemUpdateAccumulator > _systemUpdateRate)
56.          'if there is a function connected - run it
57.          if _funcSystemUpdate then _funcSystemUpdate()
58.  
59.          'subtract the time reserved for an update from the accumulator
60.          _systemUpdateAccumulator = Max(0.0, _systemUpdateAccumulator - _systemUpdateRate)
61.          'for stats
62.          timesSystemUpdated:+1
63.       wend
64.  
65.       _systemUpdateTime :+ (Time.GetTimeGone() - start)
66.    End Method
67.  
68.  
69.    Method Loop()
70.       'compute time last loop neeeded
71.       '1/2: compute delta
72.       _lastLoopTime  = Time.GetTimeGone() - _loopBeginTime
73.       '2/2: store for next run
74.       _loopBeginTime = Time.GetTimeGone()
75.  
76.       'update values for FPS/UPS stats
77.       updateStatistics()
78.  
79.       'the loop time is limited to 250 ms to avoid spiral of dead
80.       _lastLoopTime  = Min(250, _lastLoopTime)
81.  
82.  
83.       RunSystemUpdate()
84.       RunUpdate()
85.       RunRender()
86.  
87.       'for looptime-average-calculation
88.       _loopTimeSum :+ GetCurrentLoopTime()
89.       _loopTimeCount :+ 1
90.  
91.       'if there was time left but no updates need to be done
92.       'ALTERNATIV?: hierfuer feststellen wieviel zeit ein loop haette
93.       'und wieviel davon benutzt worden ist... den rest dann "delayen"
94.       if _renderRate > 0 and (_systemUpdateRate*1000 + _updateRate*1000 - getCurrentLoopTime() > 0)
95.          delay(1)
96.       endif
97.    End Method
98.  

And it works for me (and some hundreds/thousands of users) on Linux, Mac and Windows - at least nobody created issues about timing problems.



bye
Ron

[Scaremonger]

If you want you could code me a simple "game loop"-example outputting the necessary stuff.

Thanks @Derron, I'll transplant your game loop code into the sample and see what I get.

I have drawn up the following sample using the game loop from Fungicide and adding 1000 sprites it seems to run smoothly. On my old  Dell Latitude D620! (32bit running Linux Mint), I get 35fps for 1000 sprites and 53fps for 100 sprites which was better than I expected.

I'm using a MilliSecsLong() function based on some code by ImaginaryHuman in my Delta Time code.

Code: BlitzMax

1. SuperStrict
2. ?linux
3.         '# Fix for Linux Mint / Ubuntu
4.         Import "-ldl"
5. ?Win32
6.         '# Windows Application Icon
7. '       Import "bin/ProjectIcon.o"
8. ?
9.  
10. '# Randomise the game
11. SeedRnd MilliSecs()
12.  
13. '# Frame and game timings
14. Global fps:Float = 0
15. Global NextFrame:Long = MilliSecsLong()
16. Global KeyFrame:Long = MilliSecsLong()
17.  
18. '# Start the game by Launching the lobby
19. AppTitle = "MyGame"
20. Global game:TEngine = New TEngine.Create()
21. Global player:TPlayer
22.  
23. HideMouse()
24.  
25. '# Add some sample "enemies"
26. For Local n:Int = 1 To 100
27.         New TEnemy.Create()
28. Next
29.  
30. While game.running
31.  
32.         '# Delta Time
33.         Delta.Update()
34.  
35.         '# Collisions
36.         ResetCollisions()
37.  
38.         '# Allow key-press every 16ms
39.         If MilliSecsLong()> KeyFrame Then
40.                 KeyFrame = MilliSecsLong() + 16
41.                 game.update( Delta.time, True )
42.         Else
43.                 game.update( Delta.time, False )
44.         End If 
45.  
46.  
47.         '# REFRESH SCREEN 60FPS
48.         If MilliSecsLong() > nextframe Then
49.  
50.                 '# Clear the screen
51.                 SetClsColor( $f,$f,$f )
52.                 Cls
53.  
54. '               game.backdrop()
55.                 game.draw()            
56.                 If player Then player.draw()
57.                
58.                 SetColor( $ff,$ff,$ff )
59.                 DrawText( "FPS:"+FramesPerSecond(), 0,game.GRH-game.TXH )
60.  
61.                 Flip 0
62.                 nextframe = MilliSecsLong() + 16.7 '60 Frames per second
63.         End If
64.        
65. Wend
66.  
67. '############################################################
68. '# Delta Time
69. '# Based on code by WAVE:
70. '# http://www.truplo.com/blitzmaxbeginnersguide/wave18.html
71. '#
72. '# Uses LONG miliisecs functions to overcome INT over-run after 28 days.
73. Type Delta
74. Global _last:Long = MilliSecsLong()
75. Global _now:Long  = Delta.Update()
76. '#
77. Global Time:Float
78.         '------------------------------------------------------------
79.         Function Update()
80.                 _now  = MilliSecsLong()
81.                 Time  = Float( _now - _last ) / 60.0
82.                 _last = _now
83.         End Function
84. End Type
85.  
86. '############################################################
87. '# Fix for Millisecs() integer over-run
88. '# Based on code by ImaginaryHuman:
89. '# http://www.blitzbasic.com/Community/post.php?topic=84114&post=950107
90. Function MilliSecsLong:Long()
91. Global MilliSeconds:Long=0:Long                 'Initialize before use
92. Global LastMilliSeconds:Long=get()              'Initialize before use
93.         Return get()
94.         '~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
95.         Function get:Long()
96.         Local Milli:Long=Long(MilliSecs())+2147483648:Long           'Convert to 32-bit unsigned
97.         If Milli<LastMilliSeconds Then MilliSeconds:+4294967296:Long 'Accumulate 2^32
98.         LastMilliSeconds=Milli
99.         Return MilliSeconds+Milli
100.         End Function
101. End Function
102.  
103. '############################################################
104. Function FramesPerSecond:Int()
105. Global _counter:Int, _time:Long, _frames:Int
106. Local _now:Long
107.         _counter :+ 1
108.         _now = MillisecsLong()
109.         If _time < _now Then
110.                 _frames  = _counter
111.                 _time    = _now + 1000  '# Update again in 1 second
112.                 _counter = 0
113.         End If
114. Return _frames
115. End Function
116.  
117. '############################################################
118. Type TEngine
119. Field running:Int = True                                '# Application is still running
120. Field paused:Int = False                                '# Game has been paused
121. Field enemies:Int = 0
122. Field GRW:Int = 640
123. Field GRH:Int = 480
124. Field TXH:Int = 0                                               '# Height of text
125.  
126.         '------------------------------------------------------------
127.         Method Create:TEngine()
128.                 Graphics( GRW, GRH )
129.                 TXH = TextHeight("8")
130.                 Return Self    
131.         End Method
132.  
133.         '------------------------------------------------------------
134.         ' UPDATE ALL SPRITES AND GAME STATES
135.         Method update( delta:Float, keystate:Int=False )
136.                 '#
137.                 If AppTerminate() Then running = False
138.                 '# Update all Sprites
139.                 Enemies = 0
140.                 For Local Sprite:TSprite = EachIn TSprite.list
141.                         If( TEnemy(Sprite) ) Then Enemies:+1
142.                         Sprite.update( delta, keystate )
143.                 Next
144.         End Method
145.                
146.         '------------------------------------------------------------
147.         ' DRAW OBJECTS
148.         Method draw()
149.                 For Local Sprite:TSprite = EachIn TSprite.list
150.                         Sprite.draw()
151.                 Next
152.         End Method
153.  
154.         '------------------------------------------------------------
155.         Method quit()
156.                 running = False
157.         End Method
158.  
159. End Type
160.  
161. '############################################################
162. Type TSprite
163. Global list:TList = CreateList()
164. Field x:Float, y:Float
165. Field vx:Float, vy:Float
166. Field speed:Float = 2.0
167. Field size:Float = 3.0
168. Field r:Int=$FF, g:Int=$FF, b:Int=$FF
169.  
170.         Method update( delta:Float, keystate:Int )
171.                 x:+vx*speed*delta
172.                 y:+vy*speed*delta
173.                 If x+size>game.GRW Then
174.                         x  = game.GRW-(x-game.GRW)
175.                         vx = -vx
176.                 End If
177.                 If x-size<0 Then
178.                         x  = -x
179.                         vx = -vx
180.                 End If
181.                 If y+size>game.GRH Then
182.                         y  = game.GRH-(y-game.GRH)
183.                         vy = -vy
184.                 End If
185.                 If y-size<0 Then
186.                         y  = -y
187.                         vy = -vy
188.                 End If
189.         End Method
190.        
191.         Method draw()
192.                 SetColor( r, g, b )
193.                 DrawOval( x-size,y-size,size*2, size*2)
194.         End Method     
195. End Type
196.  
197. '############################################################
198. Type TEnemy Extends TSprite
199. Field points:Int = 10
200.         Method New()
201.                 ListAddLast( list, Self )
202.         End Method
203.  
204.         Method Create()
205.                 x=Rand(size, game.GRW-size)            
206.                 y=Rand(size, game.GRW-size)            
207.                 vx=RndFloat()*5-2.5    
208.                 vy=RndFloat()*5-2.5            
209.                 g=Rand(0,8)*32
210.                 b=Rand(0,8)*32
211.         End Method
212. End Type
213.  
214. '############################################################
215. Type TPlayer Extends TSprite
216. Field angle:Int =0
217.  
218.         Method Create()
219.                 x=game.GRW/2
220.                 y=game.GRH/2
221.         End Method
222.        
223.         Method update( delta:Float, keystate:Int )
224. '               If keystate Then
225. '                       If KeyDown( KEY_SPACE ) Then fire()
226. '               End If
227.         End Method
228.        
229.         Method draw()
230.                 SetColor( r, g, b )
231.                 DrawRect( x-size,y-size,x+size,y+size)
232.         End Method
233.  
234.         Method fire()
235.         End Method
236.        
237. End Type
238.