Gunstar - update

[STEVIE G]

>  I assume it does not matter much - if there is a price tag - even optional - people skip it.

Maybe my English wasn't good enough there so I better clarify: what I meant to say is: as soon as you tag it "pay what you want" people will skip the game (not the ask for the price). They see "hmm, something with money" or maybe even "orrrrrr this needs an additional step to download it).

As said you could try to create an entry (maybe a "Deluxe version" with 2 additional levels). Sell it for 2,99.
Then create a campaign offering it for 100% discount (0,00) for 2 weeks.
Download count of this version will raise a lot then.

BUT ... you do not know who just downloaded and who plays. Many "collectors" around.


bye
Ron

I think I've given a 100% discount before (maybe just free) and people just snap it up, add it to their collection for later download.  When you remove the discount it fades into obscurity.
I'll maybe give it a go though.  At the end of the day it would be nice to earn a little money for the effort but priority is getting people to play it and hopefully have fun!

I've said it before but I think that the majority of Itch users won't pay for a thing.

Quick update (from my ever reducing todo list),

* Improved explosions effects
* Improved respawn effects
* Improved player dead camera
* Improved Powerup / Gem collection
* Finalised the upgrade system
* Added a flying monster. 

A bit more on the monster. 
It's similar to the one in Zarch in that you'll only occasionally see it. 
It chases and eats ducks - is faster with a lower turning circle which makes for some madcap chases. 
The wings flap, tail moves side to side and mouth opens and closes as it's moving.
The ducks crap themselves when it's close by. 

Predator VS Prey .. a couple of shots of this monster in action ..

[STEVIE G]

A short 1/2 speed / 30 fps / no sound / bad quality video showing the new GS Escosystem 

[Matty]

I like that in motion.  The little geysers or volcano things are great.

[Santiago]

it's excellent!!!!!
I love it when the mothership shoots the little birdie.

Style and colors really transport me to the golden age of video games.

perhaps to give a sensation of height to the terrain, the shadow of your ship could be varied according to the height of the terrain

[STEVIE G]

Quick update. Almost there ..

* Added difficulty select from Poor to Elite and unlockable start wave.
* Sorted all the sounds to .ogg
* Added regeneration ability to the MkII and MkIII Gunstars. Power slowly increases to repair damage. Saves you having to top up as regularly.
* Optimised the AI
* Added rain effects
* Added water monster which pops its head up, looks around and  disappears with a splash.
* Added friendly (at least they don't attack you or the enemy unless provoked). They will fight for you in the end.

All that's left is finishing the final waves. 

The Cruiser has escort fighters which destroy anything which hits it, including rocks and you.


The Saucer


The Betty. My favourite kind of like the one from Alien4.


The water monster in the rain.

[Steve Elliott]

Some good progress then, marvellous.  Looking forward to playing.

[STEVIE G]

Spent yesterday  optimizing the render cycle. Was sitting at 10-15 ms per frame with alot going on. My dev comp is gash with lowest end gfx card so would no doubt render faster on most other machines. I'm aiming for v low end so changed all the object rendering to single surface with vertex manipulation, similar to the particle system. Down to 2-3 ms per frame, what a difference. 

Development was slow as every time I quit the game, after testing something, it took a minute to get back to the IDE. Im guessing Blitz had to flush vmem or suchlike. That issue has gone now, straight into the IDE when I quit 

Today I have been working on AI collision avoidance. The code was quite simple and could be built into the main collision routine. Basically,  if there wasn't a collision and objects were still within a certain distance; weren't attacking something and had turning and thrust capabilities , calculate the reflection vector as if there was a collision and augment the turn towards that new vector.  The results are pretty good with some spectacular successful avoidance and failure for some faster ships. I've been testing this by zooming right out to see everything on the level - a real sight on a big TV and would make a nice screensaver.  The bonus is you and get to see the particle and animation systems working well - in that they only happen close to the ship.

Anyway, just thought I share more good progress.

[Derron]

I enjoy reading such "improving render times by 500%" posts. good job.


Also this means your upcoming projects will benefit from your newly gained experience.


bye
Ron

[Santiago]

Hello, what a good job, it looks amazing !, I am really anxious to play it !!

[STEVIE G]

I enjoy reading such "improving render times by 500%" posts. good job.


Also this means your upcoming projects will benefit from your newly gained experience.


bye
Ron

Cheers. I do like the optimisation phase of a project. Each object used 3 meshes/surfaces and 3 textures (main/shadow/outline). Now every object uses about 15 meshes and 15 textures in total. Next up is text rendering. Logic is sitting at a constant 4-6ms per frame which is fine for everything that's going on.

[Steve Elliott]

Good job Stevie, it's a style of work you've been refining for a while now, looks like it's paying off.

[STEVIE G]

Now that I've finished the text optimisation - now for the Characters - to give it a bit of a (very limited) story.  The guy in the middle is the Supreme Earthling leader (the bad guy), the green ones on the right are Mercurians (who are being invaded) and last but not least is you - the Martian (out for vengance).  The faces eyebrows, eyes and mouthes move about while rotating side to side on their respective ships chairs.  Only one character will appear at a time (this is just a test) and they'll talk some mince at the start or end of levels.

[Xerra]

Are you submitting this for the reboot competition, Stevie?

[STEVIE G]

Are you submitting this for the reboot competition, Stevie?

Nope. This is just me developing my original vision for the game. Started it not long after the last comp ended so not valid anyway. 

[blinkok]

Haha. Superb characters! I'm thinking a parody of Bender would be nice