SyntaxBomb - Indie Coders

General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: playniax on April 14, 2019, 07:17:59

Title: Playniax 2.0
Post by: playniax on April 14, 2019, 07:17:59
For those who care, I am back!

Not that I was really gone but I haven't released anything in a while.

Monkey 2 is dead and because of this Pyro 2 is dead. I still think it is a shame because I thought Pyro 2 was my best work so far but I had to move on.

For me now my tool of choice is Unity! Yes, I basically did a 180 and have learned to love it!

Before Unity I first tried AGK and really liked it. I even started working on a framework for it called Combustion but after disappointing performance results I'm sorry to say I shelved it.

Anyway, a few months ago I was approached by CIROCCO STUDIOS who hired me to work on a game idea they had called 'Asteroid Invaders'. This game is almost done and will be released very soon. Before CIROCCO STUDIOS hired me I was working on our own game called 'Dumbot' still in Monkey 2 / Pyro 2 and after pitching this game to CIROCCO STUDIOS they bought it and even ordered more levels. To guarantee that the code won't break I decided to rewrite the game in Unity and most of it is done so this game will be released also very soon.

(https://playniax.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/asteroids.png?w=756)
Asteroid Invaders

All in all I have 3 games in the works, 2 templates and a framework for Unity that for now remains nameless. I might call it Pyro for Unity but haven't decided anything yet. Most importantly, I have my coding MOJO back because the whole Monkey 2 situation was depressing.

(https://playniax.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/dumbot.png?w=756)
Dumbot

So I or I should actually say 'we' as Playniax have been very busy and I hope to share more news soon!

Bye,

Tony
Title: Re: Playniax 2.0
Post by: 3DzForMe on April 14, 2019, 08:35:27
Quote.  All in all I have 3 games in the works, 2 templates and a framework for Unity that for now remains nameless. I might call it Pyro for Unity but haven't decided anything yet. Most importantly, I have my coding MOJO back       

Great news, Glad to hear you've moved on to new ventures, I'm a fan of your work and wish you the very best.
Title: Re: Playniax 2.0
Post by: Steve Elliott on April 14, 2019, 09:22:12
Quote
For those who care, I am back!

Not that I was really gone but I haven't released anything in a while.

Most importantly, I have my coding MOJO back

Glad to hear it!   :D

Quote
Monkey 2 is dead

Shocker, not like Mark Sibly to abandon a language.   ::)

Quote
For me now my tool of choice is Unity! Yes, I basically did a 180 and have learned to love it!

Before Unity I first tried AGK and really liked it. I even started working on a framework for it called Combustion but after disappointing performance results I'm sorry to say I shelved it.

Forced yourself to love it?   ;)

I've always found AGK fast for 2d, but if you wanted some extra FPS you could have compiled it using C++.  I'm glad you've found something that works for you though.

Games are looking very polished, congrats.

Title: Re: Playniax 2.0
Post by: playniax on April 14, 2019, 10:17:31
Thanks guys!

Yeah, AGK Tier 1 I was using and I never tried Tier 2 that will probably NOT have the performance problems I had.

AGK is a great engine, don't get me wrong here...

Title: Re: Playniax 2.0
Post by: Kryzon on April 14, 2019, 20:51:03
Good to see you again playniax!
So, from your experience, does Unity have decent enough performance? Have you tried it on low end systems?
Also, are you using the Personal or Pro edition?
Title: Re: Playniax 2.0
Post by: Qube on April 15, 2019, 04:08:33
QuoteBefore Unity I first tried AGK and really liked it. I even started working on a framework for it called Combustion but after disappointing performance results I'm sorry to say I shelved it.
Lots of logic per loop is a frame killer for AGK Tier 1. Hopefully one day they'll actually do native compiling so more complex frameworks can be done.

Having said that the Tier 1 side is no slouch and perfectly capable of full on HD 2D games with hundreds of sprites zipping around.

QuoteSo, from your experience, does Unity have decent enough performance? Have you tried it on low end systems?
I know this question was aimed at Playniax but I can tell you that Unity is a lot faster than AGK Tier 1 in code execution but slower in raw 2D execution. But.. If you dive into Unity's new DOTS system / Project tiny then you're looking at super fast and super small.

For example, look at this in Chrome https://unity3d.com/tiny A full Unity game in just 1.8mb ( The initial transfer gets the game started in only 969 KB compressed data (162 KB engine, 199 KB game code, 597 KB of art). An additional 861 KB in audio files loads in as the game plays totaling 1.8 MB for the full project. )

QuoteFor those who care, I am back!
Nice to hear from you and good luck with your upcoming projects :)
Title: Re: Playniax 2.0
Post by: iWasAdam on April 15, 2019, 06:27:59
Great to have you back. and cograts about the games - well done :)
Title: Re: Playniax 2.0
Post by: MikeHart on April 15, 2019, 20:30:29
Great art as always. Good luck with your future business affairs. It sucks for everyone who is affected. But I am sure you will pull it off.
Title: Re: Playniax 2.0
Post by: playniax on April 17, 2019, 09:57:42
Thanks...

Yes, Unity performs well enough for what I need.

If I remember correctly I was having trouble getting tile performance right in AGK with Tier 1 but I am sure there are ways to tackle this.
Title: Re: Playniax 2.0
Post by: Amon on April 17, 2019, 10:48:12
Good to know you are back in action, Playniax.

Please, don't give up on the framework for AGK. It's a highly active community with plenty of members and I think a framework, especially from you, would be welcomed greatly.
Title: Re: Playniax 2.0
Post by: playniax on April 19, 2019, 12:59:31
I doubt I will finish the AGK framework but I may release the code so far. It has been a while so need to check if it's worth the trouble...

We will continue our asset packs so this could be of use to AGK users also.
Title: Re: Playniax 2.0
Post by: playniax on June 22, 2019, 05:30:56
So a little game we helped produce called Asteroid Invaders for Cirocco Studios!

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Cirocco.AsteroidInvaders

This is my first finished game made with Unity!

Have fun!
Title: Re: Playniax 2.0
Post by: Qube on June 22, 2019, 07:01:30
QuoteThis is my first finished game made with Unity!
Looks really polished, nice one :)

Not normally one to criticise things but in the video there appears to be more titles than actual gameplay ( though the end tag line made me laugh ).  Bit of a nit pick but in a gameplay video I'd like to see more in game action rather than cut scene titles. Not sure if you are limited on Google Play with that though time wise?

So after screaming during learning Unity what do you make of it now you've done your first game?. For me I got a bit bored with the repeated coding structure but then my first game (https://www.syntaxbomb.com/index.php/topic,4953.0.html) wasn't very technical. Note - it's not optimized so if your GPU has limited RAM, don't try it :P

I'll probably dive into Unity again at some point now that are putting more time into the 2D side with proper 2D lights and upcoming 2D shadows. I know there are plugins for this kind of thing but for longevity I prefer native support.

Unfortunately I don't have any Android devices or else I'd grab it. Are you planning an iOS / Mac or PC version?

Anyway, good luck with your game and I hope it does well :)
Title: Re: Playniax 2.0
Post by: Derron on June 22, 2019, 07:18:12
Gameplay: looks nice and toony-consistent. Yet it could have some more bells and whistles to make it look "less static" (just judging the screens, so excuse if they are there ;-). Casual gamer-ines like a lifely world.

Video: effects look like for a "render game" not a "vector based/drawn-images game". Also it misses a lot more game play rather than texts more suiting to a "teaser".


bye
Ron
Title: Re: Playniax 2.0
Post by: Xaron on July 05, 2019, 20:35:00
Welcome back and grats to the game release! Bit sad to see only 100+ installs after 3 weeks for a polished and free(!) game but oh well... that's probably the reality nowadays...

Fiddling with Unity as well and really like it currently.
Title: Re: Playniax 2.0
Post by: Matty on July 06, 2019, 02:58:05
That was fantastic.  I'm not good at it....but yeah....so good to look at.  And smooth. And colourful. And pretty. And amazing.

Too good.

Thanks for making it.  I'm keeping this one on my tablet.
Title: Re: Playniax 2.0
Post by: 3DzForMe on July 06, 2019, 10:05:30
Alright! This game has oodles of..... Just one more go, brill fun.  8)
Title: Re: Playniax 2.0
Post by: playniax on November 02, 2019, 10:44:18
First apologies for beeing away so long. Real life stuff got in the way and I was just being productive!

Anyway, I would like to present our first Unity template called NO SPACE INVADERS. It is a remake of our Revengestar game that I did a while back in Monkey but this time written in Unity!!! This template will go on sale soon at sellmyapp and itch.io and will kick off a new line of games and products from us! NO SPACE INVADERS has 10 levels of original shoot'em up fun. The template will include the full source code and bonus stuff. The template has IAP (to disable ads) and Unity ads.

Simply re-skin the game and publish it!

Eventually this version will also replace the original Revengestar game in the app stores right after the template goes on sale.

Below a link of the OpenGL version that probably runs best on a desktop PC but the template should also run on all the other Unity platforms like Android and iOS.

Play the free online version here : http://www.playniax.com/external/showcase/nospaceinvaders/demo/

Playniax shop at itch.io : https://playniax.itch.io/
Playniax in the Unity Asset Store : https://assetstore.unity.com/publishers/30574

Have fun!

(https://www.syntaxbomb.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.playniax.com%2Fexternal%2Fshowcase%2Fnospaceinvaders%2Fscreenshots%2Fnospaceinvaders_3.jpg&hash=549becf0b211a57ea83a768b012d4c8786b89f90)


Title: Re: Playniax 2.0
Post by: Derron on November 02, 2019, 12:25:55
window:
(https://i.imgur.com/wOhQK85.png)

fullscreen:
(https://i.imgur.com/hF4jNax.png)

Help:
(https://i.imgur.com/7PP1WVR.png)
-> someone needs to tell me that you need to drag the text with your mouse cursor to scroll it. Desktop users expect something different. Also scrolling is done "smartphone like" - scroll some pixels and it moves 1.5x of it and continues scrolling a tiny bit. Mouse users ... will probably enjoy "release button = text stops scrolling". Exception is if it scrolls "page wise".


After typing above sentence I returned to the browser - did not react to any click but started playing some explosion sounds - think it played in the background while the screen did not render any new stuff.
So screen looked like this now (while explosion sounds played):
(https://i.imgur.com/yDGiZD1.png)


@ Bugs:
It might be that these things only happen in the browser version I tried - yet others might try so to and judge on it before buying.



Aside of that it seems to work as expected. If you plan to sell the template you might also consider creating at least some bitmap font for the HUD display (score etc) and maybe even for the point-text (when you gain score).

Main screen also looks a bit "dull"/default. I understand that a graphics replacement would possibly change that anyways but as argument for a sale the title screen should at least look a bit more interesting. Maybe give them a PSD to alter the title on their own?


Good luck with your sales - and unity.


bye
Ron
Title: Re: Playniax 2.0
Post by: playniax on November 03, 2019, 06:26:15
Thanks for the feedback.

I don't experience any bugs though. What browser are you using?
Title: Re: Playniax 2.0
Post by: Derron on November 05, 2019, 06:56:49
(https://i.imgur.com/nyPNPrB.png)

Wondered why I got no chrome update so long and it is no longer in my package repository lists.. hmm.


Edit: Updated to v78 and fullscreen now works as expected - that odd help-thing was hard to reproduce in v63 already so I cannot verify that it is gone.
v78 got a pretty bright GUI ... need to get used to it. And the start page site previews are gone too (they were borked for versions now).


bye
Ron
Title: Re: Playniax 2.0
Post by: playniax on November 05, 2019, 18:13:45
Thanks Ron,

Anyway, I just uploaded another thing I worked on and it is a game manager or level manager for Unity. It is basically a UI with game states like start, pause and game over screen but also handles your ads and IAP (NoAds). It is a pain to make everytime so I decided to create a template for it that I will reuse!

You can buy it here: https://playniax.itch.io/level-manager
Here is the demo: http://www.playniax.com/external/showcase/levelmanager/demo/
The No Space Invaders uses it: http://www.playniax.com/external/showcase/nospaceinvaders/demo/
And here you can find an early draft of the docs: http://www.playniax.com/download/Unity/Docs/Level%20Manager.pdf

The No Space Invaders Unity Game Template is now also on sale: https://playniax.itch.io/no-space-invaders
And soon on SellMyApp after they approve...

(https://www.syntaxbomb.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fplayniax.com%2Fexternal%2Fshowcase%2Flevelmanager%2Fscreenshots%2Flevelmanager_1.jpg&hash=85a1c3e8db021736c43667d2dac155f129e126dc)
Title: Re: Playniax 2.0
Post by: playniax on December 30, 2019, 18:22:04
I lowered the prices of most of our products. Buying is now practically stealing  8)

https://playniax.itch.io/
Title: Re: Playniax 2.0
Post by: Hardcoal on January 03, 2020, 22:15:23
this looking good
Title: Re: Playniax 2.0
Post by: Amon on January 04, 2020, 18:01:47
Quote from: playniax on December 30, 2019, 18:22:04
I lowered the prices of most of our products. Buying is now practically stealing  8)

https://playniax.itch.io/ (https://playniax.itch.io/)
I'm buying this soon. :)
Title: Re: Playniax 2.0
Post by: playniax on January 10, 2020, 08:44:59
Thanks!

I hope to publish an update for the space shooter art pack 02 this weekend or next week. This update will contain the first release of Ignition for Unity. Ignition for Unity is a very small framework that will bring the art to life. The pack basically is a space shooter construction template. All the basic behaviours for the enemies are precoded. Backgrounds will also be included!

Demo will be posted here.

(https://www.syntaxbomb.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fplayniax.com%2Fexternal%2Fshowcase%2Fspaceshooterartpack02%2Fscreenshots%2Fssap92-1.jpg&hash=cd2a3d94bf2201632c3b11a9678c7886684596e3)

Sprites Overview
Title: Re: Playniax 2.0
Post by: Hardcoal on January 10, 2020, 12:34:18
Looks Cool
Title: Re: Playniax 2.0
Post by: playniax on January 11, 2020, 16:16:06
Thanks!

Here is the Unity demo (http://www.playniax.com/external/showcase/spaceshooterartpack02/demo/) (best to watch on a desktop)

And here you can buy (https://playniax.itch.io/defenstar-art-pack) it!

Ignition features

- Bullet Spawner
- Object Pooler
- Sprite Collider
- Simple Space Shooter Enemy AI
- Optimized 2D Particle System (uses the object pooler)

And some other useful scripts.
Title: Re: Playniax 2.0
Post by: playniax on January 18, 2020, 16:41:45
A little promo video for the art pack  :o

https://youtu.be/ryP7xLzhhGI

The pack is already available at itch.io but I am waiting for approval from Unity...
Title: Re: Playniax 2.0
Post by: playniax on February 01, 2020, 17:51:41
Available on the Unity Asset Store: https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/2d/environments/space-shooter-art-pack-02-161040
Title: Re: Playniax 2.0
Post by: playniax on April 07, 2020, 18:12:39
I am currently working on an update for the space shooter art pack 01. I added the Igniton framework for Unity and basic behaviours scripts (like the space shooter art pack 02 pack)

(https://www.syntaxbomb.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fplayniax.com%2Fexternal%2Fshowcase%2Fspaceshooterartpack01%2Fscreenshots%2Fssap92-1.jpg&hash=12cf20be8913d53a135bb69b950673463fb20761)

All I need to do is finish the docs and upload it to the Unity Asset Store.

Here is the Unity preview (http://www.playniax.com/external/showcase/spaceshooterartpack01/demo/) (best to watch on a desktop)

Playniax can be found in the Unity Asset Store (https://assetstore.unity.com/publishers/30574/)

And please stay inside if possible and stay healthy!
Title: Re: Playniax 2.0
Post by: Steve Elliott on April 07, 2020, 18:26:49
Lovely work, and silky smooth gameplay.  What kind of game timing are you using?  Delta Timing? Tweening?   :)
Title: Re: Playniax 2.0
Post by: tboy on April 07, 2020, 19:09:33
This runs great! superb effects! I bought Ignition (MonkeyX) many moons ago, if I ever
get around to trying Unity, this will be the first on my list!
Title: Re: Playniax 2.0
Post by: Matty on April 07, 2020, 19:10:49
Beautiful
Title: Re: Playniax 2.0
Post by: ImJustAnotherCoder on April 08, 2020, 09:30:27
Very very nice graphics and smooth movements.
Title: Re: Playniax 2.0
Post by: playniax on April 10, 2020, 10:27:05
Thanks guys!

Quote from: Steve Elliott on April 07, 2020, 18:26:49
Lovely work, and silky smooth gameplay.  What kind of game timing are you using?  Delta Timing? Tweening?   :)

It uses delta timing.

The update is now available at itch.io (https://playniax.itch.io/space-shooter-art)

And soon on the Unity store.

Docs can be found here (http://www.playniax.com/download/Unity/Docs/Space%20Shooter%20Art%20Pack%2001.pdf)
Title: Re: Playniax 2.0
Post by: playniax on April 11, 2020, 08:44:17
The update (https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/2d/environments/space-shooter-art-pack-102249) in now available at the Unity Asset Store
Title: Re: Playniax 2.0
Post by: playniax on April 27, 2020, 10:56:50
Just submitted updates for space pack 1 and 2 waiting to be approved in the Unity Asset Store.

New versions have top down examples:

Demo 1 (http://www.playniax.com/external/showcase/spaceshooterartpack01/demo/)
Demo 2 (http://www.playniax.com/external/showcase/spaceshooterartpack02/demo/)

(best to watch on a desktop)

Also we are getting mostly 5 stars out of 5 whoo!

(https://www.syntaxbomb.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fplayniax.com%2Fexternal%2Fshowcase%2Fspaceshooterartpack02%2Fscreenshots%2Fssap92-2.jpg&hash=2b818177eb6c8a3f3605f3eecd0383dc74af9178)
Title: Re: Playniax 2.0
Post by: Hardcoal on April 28, 2020, 09:29:09
I do seems to like unity too. But i don't understand why do you need to externally compile your code and than press play on the Editor.
What's wrong with those people, or is it me who doesn't know how to operetta unity correctly?

Good luck with your new path.
Unity impresses me more than unreal
Title: Re: Playniax 2.0
Post by: playniax on May 07, 2020, 07:03:29
It's official... Ignition for Unity is coming!

Read more (https://www.syntaxbomb.com/index.php/topic,7779.0.html)
Title: Re: Playniax 2.0
Post by: Amon on May 07, 2020, 14:40:29
Quote from: playniax on May 07, 2020, 07:03:29
It's official... Ignition for Unity is coming!

Read more (https://www.syntaxbomb.com/index.php/topic,7779.0.html)
ooooh!
Now that would be very cool. :)