SyntaxBomb - Indie Coders

General Category => Worklogs => Topic started by: Xerra on September 02, 2020, 00:12:10

Title: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Xerra on September 02, 2020, 00:12:10
Thought it's about time I created a worklog rather than clogging up the competition thread.

Today I have spent hours rewriting and then tweaking the player movement code. The original never felt right so I've not video'd it yet because I knew it needed to be binned. I felt it was important to go back and get this done now, rather than leaving it until after levels are built and having to work around that. Now I'll be building the levels around the player control so they're not too frustrating to navigate. There will be enough issues dealing with enemy soldiers and rescuing scientists as it is.

I might need to tweak the gravity slightly and I still need to do the walking animation, but in general I'm pretty happy with it.


Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: blinkok on September 02, 2020, 00:52:05
That is looking very cool. That death animation is the bomb!
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Xerra on September 02, 2020, 01:51:57
Quote from: blinkok on September 02, 2020, 00:52:05
That is looking very cool. That death animation is the bomb!

Hahah, yeah it is pretty good. It's going to be used for when the player gets shot but I thought I'd use it for falling until I get the enemies in and shooting.
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: blinkok on September 02, 2020, 04:33:00
I'm not sure if it's the way you want to go but i might have some assets that would suit this type of game.
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: iWasAdam on September 02, 2020, 06:32:54
cool - double the size of your main character :)

Just found this \o/
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Xerra on September 02, 2020, 20:52:48
Quote from: blinkok on September 02, 2020, 04:33:00
I'm not sure if it's the way you want to go but i might have some assets that would suit this type of game.

Show me what you got. I'm using Humble stuff that I've bought over the last few years when they do a charity resources sale.

I've still got a bit of flexibility to change the kind of graphics I'm using in the game as it's just collider blocks at the moment and I'm not sure if I'll have ladders in there yet. I've got a vague nation of machines being placed around the levels where the bad guys time warp into and then pop out of the hatch so the opening door gives you a warning a bad guy is coming, but not much more that's fixed at all.

Like Adam, I've been pondering the sprite size of the main player too.. I'm receptive to anything at present as still plenty of time to jig stuff around.
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: blinkok on September 02, 2020, 21:14:03
That is a very good video @iwasadam

It was a mockup i did ages ago. I thought it would be a good idea to have a real cute character but the gameplay would be to have blood EVERYWHERE!
I was going to have the front/back animations but i'm not sure that would fly. I could make a similar dude only grey/black as the enemy

The jungle background is from another canned project. You could prolly sell it as vietnam.



Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Xerra on September 02, 2020, 22:07:49
These look great. Is it a tileset, sprites or just backdrops you've got this lot done as?

Are you planning on entering the competition?
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: blinkok on September 03, 2020, 00:57:17
QuoteIs it a tileset, sprites or just backdrops you've got this lot done as?
jungle is backdrop. I see you'll prolly need it to be tileable
platforms and foreground are tiles but i think some other tile might suit your approach better
character is a sprite sheet.

QuoteAre you planning on entering the competition?
I have has 3 or 4 different things i have scrapped so at this point i don't think so.

If you give me a list of stuff i'll see if i can put it together for you. Something like
Splash
High score
Main character and weapons
Enemy1/2 and weapons
Scientist
Tile1, Tile2 etc
Chopper, Tank etc
backgrounds

I know it's tempting to go all out but if you can keep it simple it's more achievable
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: iWasAdam on September 03, 2020, 08:29:35
@blinkok - very nice graphics  ;D The backgrounds have that Metal Slug vibe going on with them. sooo impressed :)
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Xerra on September 03, 2020, 23:04:01
Thanks a lot, Bliinkok. I'm grateful for your assistance and have DM'd you.
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Xerra on September 07, 2020, 16:17:55
Tommy Gunn works out his path to rescue the scientists and get to the escape helicopter, while taking out as many henchman of the evil Qube, who fronts the Syntax Bomb corporation.

This screen is a mock up W.I.P.

Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Xerra on September 09, 2020, 01:04:16
Splash screen

Today I've added tanks and working escape helicopter. Needless to say the tanks don't work right yet. But they will.


Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Xerra on September 11, 2020, 00:55:36
Not a mock up screen this time. Tanks, Scientists, rocks, trees and entry portals.

Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: iWasAdam on September 11, 2020, 06:07:12
Sweet :)
I've done nothing for ages now :(
Heres some food for thought:
(https://www.syntaxbomb.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F1.bp.blogspot.com%2F-pEVSxbQt7AE%2FTnSqyThb-YI%2FAAAAAAAAGxE%2FogYNcOKW_BY%2Fs1600%2Fmetal-slug-3-c.jpg&hash=1e71ca6c2b44742f0fb7721f0251c28b664dc993)

(https://www.syntaxbomb.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F1.bp.blogspot.com%2F-ke_AWbYi0uY%2FTnSqRZowMSI%2FAAAAAAAAGwU%2FEjHmpTCTCDQ%2Fs1600%2FB000GQ1NK4-2-lg.jpg&hash=527e9a0bf6a0865eab1af2e8c1b78ce4918ca846)

(https://www.syntaxbomb.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F2.bp.blogspot.com%2F-znmDyBO73HE%2FTnSqmpR73zI%2FAAAAAAAAGw8%2F_hy_4_VyLnE%2Fs1600%2Fmetal-slug-2-big.gif&hash=2e2f9e09c8c31671762750ecbc9258b5003b16a7)

It might give you some ideas about foreground and background. muting of colors, scales, etc
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: MrmediamanX on September 11, 2020, 07:22:39
Ah metal slug ... man that franchise went down the crapper once it went mobile.
very nice there Xerra.
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Steve Elliott on September 11, 2020, 22:08:24
Making some good progress by the look Xerra, while some have gone a bit quiet.  Maybe they're not wishing to show their hand just yet.   :)
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Xerra on September 11, 2020, 22:19:51
Quote from: Steve Elliott on September 11, 2020, 22:08:24
Making some good progress by the look Xerra, while some have gone a bit quiet.  Maybe they're not wishing to show their hand just yet.   :)

That's why I like seeing worklogs go up. Can get an idea of how many people are entering this time. Hopefully a few entries will come up unannounced at the end so we have a lot of games to try out. So far, I think there's only four or five we know about.

Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Xerra on September 16, 2020, 14:06:30
First look at the evil tyrant Qube, leader of the terrorist organisation Syntax Bomb. Hopefully he's going to be a boss fight at the end of the platform/gun levels in the game.

This is part of a skippable introduction scene before the game starts. Probably 3 pages or so, which will introduce the back story to the game as a comic book.

Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: STEVIE G on September 16, 2020, 14:21:43
Quote from: Xerra on September 16, 2020, 14:06:30
First look at the evil tyrant Qube, leader of the terrorist organisation Syntax Bomb. Hopefully he's going to be a boss fight at the end of the platform/gun levels in the game.

This is part of a skippable introduction scene before the game starts. Probably 3 pages or so, which will introduce the back story to the game as a comic book.

Love the comic book look, really works well. You'll get no bonus points for having qube as a boss character though!  :P
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: iWasAdam on September 16, 2020, 14:57:56
yep. the comic style is well thought out and well implemented Very nice work :)

Potential thought for you: The text boxes and the info boxes might work better if slightly different colors. say very pale yellow/peach/dust for the box info and pure white for the speech bubbles. that way the speech would remain as the most important :)

Oh. And uber hugs for the National Socialist Syntax Bomb logo. You get first place for that alone \o/
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Xerra on September 16, 2020, 15:10:27
Hahah, I wish I could take credit for the comic strip but that's all Blinkok. I didn't even think of it. He just threw it at me randomly as an idea and I have to agree, it's fantastic.

Wait until Qube sees his uber-ginger namesake. If I don't appear again in these forums then you know that his fanatic followers have had me kidnapped :)
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Steve Elliott on September 16, 2020, 15:14:42
lol good stuff - just thank/blame Blinkok.   :)
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Steve Elliott on September 16, 2020, 16:39:15
...
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Qube on September 16, 2020, 16:42:26
Quote from: Xerra on September 16, 2020, 15:10:27
Wait until Qube sees his uber-ginger namesake. If I don't appear again in these forums then you know that his fanatic followers have had me kidnapped :)
I've enlarged the ban button ready :))
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Matty on September 16, 2020, 17:42:19
Re banning....I had a thought you could ban me voluntarily and also block my ip from seeing your site entirely at least until the comp ends...so I don't say anything foolish over the coming weeks... :))
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Steve Elliott on September 16, 2020, 17:48:48
...Or just not come here until the competition ends lol...Although SyntaxBomb is far too addictive!   :))
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Xerra on September 17, 2020, 17:05:45
Awesome HUD design by Mr Blinkok.

Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Matty on September 17, 2020, 17:09:41
That does look good.
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Derron on September 17, 2020, 18:45:51
You got a talented artist in your backhand ... think you can feel glad.

Just make his art shine by creating some nicely to play game - maybe he will join forces with you again.


bye
Ron
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Steve Elliott on September 17, 2020, 19:36:23
Quote
maybe he will join forces with you again.

Team Xerra/Blinkok...No fair lol.   ;)
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: STEVIE G on September 17, 2020, 19:44:32
Quote from: Steve Elliott on September 17, 2020, 19:36:23
Quote
maybe he will join forces with you again.

Team Xerra/Blinkok...No fair lol.   ;)

Aye, Xerra you've won a watch there - don't piss him off  ;D
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Xerra on September 17, 2020, 21:03:24
Quote from: Derron on September 17, 2020, 18:45:51
You got a talented artist in your backhand ... think you can feel glad.

Just make his art shine by creating some nicely to play game - maybe he will join forces with you again.

He doesn't have a choice. I got him chained up in my basement with an iPad :-)
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Xerra on September 17, 2020, 21:04:11
Quote from: Steve Elliott on September 17, 2020, 19:36:23
Quote
maybe he will join forces with you again.

Team Xerra/Blinkok...No fair lol.   ;)

Yeah, but we're competing against the mighty Stevie G.
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Steve Elliott on September 17, 2020, 21:19:44
Quote
Yeah, but we're competing against the mighty Stevie G.

Haha, yes that was exactly what I was thinking.   :))
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: STEVIE G on September 17, 2020, 23:39:23
Quote from: Steve Elliott on September 17, 2020, 21:19:44
Quote
Yeah, but we're competing against the mighty Stevie G.

Haha, yes that was exactly what I was thinking.   :))

May the best baldy, shot-arsed weegie win!  :D
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Steve Elliott on September 17, 2020, 23:59:27
lol is it just me or has this comp become a bit more chilled?

But what the hell is a bald shot-arsed weegie anyway??
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Xerra on September 18, 2020, 00:58:05
Quote from: Steve Elliott on September 17, 2020, 23:59:27
But what the hell is a bald shot-arsed weegie anyway??

It sounds very Scottish. Not sure I want to know :)

On a plus note, Tommy Gunn now has enemies to shoot at in the first level. They're bugged to hell and need some serious work but it's fun to mow them all down anyway.
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: STEVIE G on September 18, 2020, 08:26:51
Quote from: Steve Elliott on September 17, 2020, 23:59:27
lol is it just me or has this comp become a bit more chilled?

But what the hell is a bald shot-arsed weegie anyway??

Baldy = no head hair
Short-arsed = small
Weegie = indigenous to Glasgow

= Me  ;D

Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Xerra on September 21, 2020, 16:16:55
The evil tyrant Qube makes his first appearance. He needs some steroids for a size increase but, yup, he's definitely ginger.

Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Derron on September 21, 2020, 19:25:24
Quote from: Xerra on September 21, 2020, 16:16:55
The evil tyrant Qube makes his first appearance. He needs some steroids for a size increase but, yup, he's definitely ginger.

This is never Qube ... Qube never wore sunglasses when wearing guns ... he knows how it distracts when aiming.


bye
Ron
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Steve Elliott on September 21, 2020, 23:23:48
Quote
The evil tyrant Qube makes his first appearance. He needs some steroids for a size increase but, yup, he's definitely ginger.

Good stuff Blinkok, any chance of seeing what you've produced personally Xerra?   ;)
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Xerra on September 22, 2020, 00:21:45
Quote from: Steve Elliott on September 21, 2020, 23:23:48
Quote
The evil tyrant Qube makes his first appearance. He needs some steroids for a size increase but, yup, he's definitely ginger.

Good stuff Blinkok, any chance of seeing what you've produced personally Xerra?   ;)

In graphics, or you mean a look at how the game currently is?
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Steve Elliott on September 22, 2020, 07:37:56
Gameplay.  To see you've been working (and not just Blinkok lol).   :))
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: MrmediamanX on September 22, 2020, 08:08:36
solid,it's coming along nicely. :)
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Xerra on September 23, 2020, 02:36:10
Quote from: Steve Elliott on September 22, 2020, 07:37:56
Gameplay.  To see you've been working (and not just Blinkok lol).   :))

Ok, if you insist. I was going to put up a video showing this in motion but there's some stuff I don't want seen yet and also I've only just overlaid the collision tiles with temporary land tiles so there's a lot of work needed still before I can count level 1 as complete. I've also just rewritten how the enemies move around the map and still not happy with it, so just some screenshots for now. Mr BlinkOk will confirm there's a game coming together here as he's also testing for me :-)

I have four levels I'm currently planning - hopefully the fourth one will be a boss fight with the evil mastermind, Qube. Not got too far design-wise on that part yet but BlinkOk has done some nice industrial scenery for Syntax Bomb HQ.

Rock face is the first one - and some elements are shown here. I've got my collision tiles the wrong size compared to the graphics, which I stupidly didn't notice, so I'll have to redo it all, but this is better than seeing red blocks everywhere for now.

Level 2 is jungle.
Level 3 will be a hybrid of the first two graphics.

Tanks are already in, as can be seen. They don't fire yet and you can't kill them at present.

Enemies are taking up a lot of my time trying to get them right with how the levels will be set out. This is the main reason I haven't got a proper completed level to demo.

Poison traps, pits, water holes, quicksand are also possibilities for each level.

Quite a bit more I'm not mentioning because it's all on a list and some of it will inevitably need to be shelved when I start running out of time.

I've got all the front end stuff and game flow around 90% done, though. That too can get improved depending on time but I didn't want to be panicking trying to get it all shoved together at the end. Now I can just add bits right up to deadline and just stop when I have to.
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Derron on September 23, 2020, 07:26:35
_is there a reason for the tank having these pixelated jaggy outlines while the palm trees in the background are ultra smooth?
Wrong mask for the sprite?

(https://imgur.com/jVFW8vE.png)


the "portal/door" ... it needs to fade into sandstone on the red border -- as if "painted on it": create a sprite of the background without the red border, then a sprite only consisting of the red border. Then "multiply" render it on top of the background/sand background. This will create a "painted on the surface" look.
You can drawyour "without border" door then normal on top.
If you want, you can even have the red border of the door still on the "without border door"-sprite but gradually fade it out short after start - so stuff blends over nicely.

Another way to "fix" it is to add some kind of "3d shadow" behind the door - so it is clearly visible that the door is standing a meter in front of the background (similar to the shadows of the ground blocks the green soldier stands on - except that the shadow needs to be smaller, as not "as far reaching into the front").

bye
Ron
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Steve Elliott on September 23, 2020, 08:57:22
Quote
Enemies are taking up a lot of my time trying to get them right with how the levels will be set out. This is the main reason I haven't got a proper completed level to demo.

Fair enough.
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Xerra on October 04, 2020, 16:08:35
Still maybe a bit too early to put a video up but, as I've mostly laid out the first level, why not. Lot of work still to do with this, and the video plays slower than the game does due to Snagit, but here it is.

Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: STEVIE G on October 04, 2020, 17:00:10
Good work.

I'm gonna do a mini-Derron ... its slower paced than I expected but probably the recording like you say.  Bullets need to be bigger to suit the cartoony look and move faster as it seems like you could outrun them.  Do the tanks shoot at you? According to the headstone you were born 4 years after you died  :))

Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Xerra on October 04, 2020, 17:46:58
Quote from: STEVIE G on October 04, 2020, 17:00:10
I'm gonna do a mini-Derron ... its slower paced than I expected but probably the recording like you say.  Bullets need to be bigger to suit the cartoony look and move faster as it seems like you could outrun them.  Do the tanks shoot at you? According to the headstone you were born 4 years after you died  :))

Bullets will be bigger and more pronounced. The other backgrounds (Underground station, HQ and Jungle) are all different graphically so they will need to stand out against them. I'll be fine-tuning that part when I have the other levels laid out. Still trying to work out how to do the third level with the underground station, thinking I might do it as right scrolling only with enemy swarms to shake it up a bit from the platform-side. Time is my biggest worry on doing stuff like that.

Slower is because of video - it's quicker in play.

I'm planning on tanks shooting at you and you also being able to take them out - hence grenades number on the hud.

The headstone is deliberate. You forget that Tommy Gunn is going back in time to rescue the Scientists. He's gone back to 4 years before he was born as that's where the evil Qube sent the scientists in various different locations. So, if you fail the mission and get killed then you did die before you were born :)
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: STEVIE G on October 04, 2020, 18:55:53
Ah, time-travel  :D
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Steve Elliott on October 04, 2020, 18:59:25
Very nice.  You and Stevie sorted what were my observations too.
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Xerra on October 06, 2020, 23:02:48
Hard at work creating the second level - here's how it looks in the editor.

I bought GMLive a couple of weeks ago and it's helped me no end with getting the levels underway as before I was adding an area, manually positioning the player in code and recompiling to test that bit, then going back and doing a bit more before recompiling to test again. With GMLive I have the server running in the background monitoring for updates in the room I'm working on and also the code for key objects such as the player and enemies. Now I can just compile the game, make it jump to the correct level I'm working on and then add/remove stuff in the room at will, or adjust the code for the objects I'm watching. As soon as I save in the editor the code is intercepted and the interpreter runs the modified code instead of what was there at compile time. It's all saved out afterwards so you don't lose any changes afterwards.

Probably the best use of £30 I've spent in a looooong time, even if it was a bit fiddly to set up initially.

Oh, I should add that the platform graphics aren't the ones shown in this image. I modify them in-game based on level and this is the default image for level 1.


In the screenshot, if you look closely, then you can see the crates for grenades, extra health and score are now in. I've got water and lava pits for this level as well which need a bit of work still but should make for some careful jumping in certain areas.
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Xerra on October 06, 2020, 23:08:29
So it actually looks like this when playing level 2...
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Xerra on October 06, 2020, 23:13:57
Finally, for this evening, I'm doing an Adam and posting a sneak peek.

Is Tommy going to catch a train?

Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Steve Elliott on October 07, 2020, 01:43:30
Coming along very nicely, I've lost about a week in development but picking up the slack now.
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Xerra on October 11, 2020, 02:27:44
That dastardly Qube has finally shown his face. Tommy sneaks up to take him out with a stealth kill.

Laying out the final level at the moment - not sure what I'm going to do with old copper-top at present. All the levels are in and mostly built now - they just need some tuning up and a bit more testing. Luckily I've got a few friends helping me out with that this time.

It looks like I'm about to lose the whole of next weekend including Friday as I'm probably going away for a few days, which means I'm going to have to get this done by Thursday or I'm out of the competition.

Getting my head down for the last few days now <panic>
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Steve Elliott on October 11, 2020, 22:30:59
Ah, I'm sure you and the team will get it done in plenty of time, looks good.
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Xerra on October 13, 2020, 17:03:29
Here's hoping. Trip cancelled. Now I have a fighting chance :)
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Xerra on October 17, 2020, 16:17:29
Looks at date.
Blinks rapidly.
Looks at watch.
Tap, tap, tap ....
Game complete sequence finally finished. Hopefully now worth finishing the game so the comic page ending screens can be seen as well as the other bits. Qube is going to live to fight another day. Sneak preview below.

Also finished up gamepad controls as I wasn't allowing the use of the stick controls as I didn't think people would want to play it that way. Turns out I'm wrong so I set it up to use both of them as well.
Now the player can use "WASD", Cursor keys or game pad to play the game. Should cover all scenarios short of putting in redefine keys option.

Started working on stuff this morning and now my list has actually got bigger. Hoping to get done by this evening but not hugely optimistic at the moment so likely I'll be posting it online tomorrow at some point.



Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: iWasAdam on October 19, 2020, 07:52:32
Well nice. I got the naughty Qube :)

Took me a while to work out what the fire key was I had to wait for the info to cycle round.

Along with the other suggestions how about some form of electricity - that would fit the new icon and also the tube level.

If I was going to step back look at it and make a suggestion it would be this:
The tube level really reminds me of an endless runner "Jetpack Joyride" which is a good thing :) ...

Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Xerra on October 19, 2020, 16:34:09
Quote from: iWasAdam on October 19, 2020, 07:52:32
Well nice. I got the naughty Qube :)

Took me a while to work out what the fire key was I had to wait for the info to cycle round.

Along with the other suggestions how about some form of electricity - that would fit the new icon and also the tube level.

If I was going to step back look at it and make a suggestion it would be this:
The tube level really reminds me of an endless runner "Jetpack Joyride" which is a good thing :) ...

Did you fall through the platform and hit the rail in the tube level? There's your electricity right there :-)

Not the worst death in the game, however. Get a spike pop up under you and poor old Tommy is going to be cradling the Crown Jewels for a while after that.
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: iWasAdam on October 20, 2020, 04:48:06
Aha. I was that good I didn't fall into any pits.  8)
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Xerra on October 20, 2020, 12:42:37
Quote from: iWasAdam on October 20, 2020, 04:48:06
Aha. I was that good I didn't fall into any pits.  8)

Heroic. What's your opinion? Too easy? Playing through myself last night to see if I can pick up on anything that does need fixing in bug fix week and I think I've broken the difficulty scaling up after you complete the game and are sent back to level 1 again. Not sure if that counts as a bug and allowed to fix or not.
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: iWasAdam on October 20, 2020, 14:47:43
Hmmm. difficulty - that's a very personal thing.

Here's how I approached it in Axonite:
Everything was run and tested on brutal mode (difficulty 3) there is a further difficulty after that.

Going down in difficulty I started to lessen the aliens in an attack wave
Also a level is broken into sections and each section into 4
Each difficulty adds aliens from that section

so easy (1) only has aliens in section 1
(2) has aliens from 2&4
(3) brutal has all aliens

I Also have more bonus stuff on lower settings plus aliens will drop more on lower settings.

Plus bosses and other things that fire will do so more in higher settings

OK.
If I was going to suggest a way to add difficulties I would possibly go about it this way:
1. Enemies fire less on lower settings - I use a frame counter and a mod to track when to fire
2. The tank thing that doesn't fire - make it fire on higher settings
3. the higher the settings the more brutal you can be
4. a thought would be to have Qube as a character. You cant catch him, but he is always ahead of you dropping bombs or other such nasties - fires a rocket or removes a ledge if you don't get there in time. this would be harder to do as you would need some form of map tracking
5. Think about 'BASTARD' moments where you can see something and just about to do something and an enemy blocks you - kills you - nicks the power-up, etc.
6. similar to above have a timer, or let Qube activate an atomic bomb - that way you now have a timer counting down and a finite amount of time before before the screen explode or death rains from above or qube turns into a giant mutant qube, etc

Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Xerra on October 20, 2020, 20:36:26
Quote from: iWasAdam on October 20, 2020, 14:47:43
Hmmm. difficulty - that's a very personal thing.

Here's how I approached it in Axonite:
Everything was run and tested on brutal mode (difficulty 3) there is a further difficulty after that.

Going down in difficulty I started to lessen the aliens in an attack wave
Also a level is broken into sections and each section into 4
Each difficulty adds aliens from that section

so easy (1) only has aliens in section 1
(2) has aliens from 2&4
(3) brutal has all aliens

I Also have more bonus stuff on lower settings plus aliens will drop more on lower settings.

Plus bosses and other things that fire will do so more in higher settings

OK.
If I was going to suggest a way to add difficulties I would possibly go about it this way:
1. Enemies fire less on lower settings - I use a frame counter and a mod to track when to fire
2. The tank thing that doesn't fire - make it fire on higher settings
3. the higher the settings the more brutal you can be
4. a thought would be to have Qube as a character. You cant catch him, but he is always ahead of you dropping bombs or other such nasties - fires a rocket or removes a ledge if you don't get there in time. this would be harder to do as you would need some form of map tracking
5. Think about 'BASTARD' moments where you can see something and just about to do something and an enemy blocks you - kills you - nicks the power-up, etc.
6. similar to above have a timer, or let Qube activate an atomic bomb - that way you now have a timer counting down and a finite amount of time before before the screen explode or death rains from above or qube turns into a giant mutant qube, etc

I have some simple changes to the chances of firing and enemies spawning in already which should be going down a bit once you go back to level one but it doesn't seem to be working right. I'm probably ok with changing that during this week but adding anything like your other suggestions would have to be outside the competition. I originally planned for Qube to be an end-game battle but ran out of time, hence just having him arrested. I do like the idea of him destroying his own base on a timer if you don't get to him quick enough. Something else to add in a revised version after the competition possibly.

Thanks for your input - much appreciated and useful.
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: iWasAdam on October 21, 2020, 07:37:23
ignoring the competition and looking forward you could take this sort of direction:
(https://vjointeractive.files.wordpress.com/2020/10/2020-10-11_01-52-02-1.png?w=1024)

What I have done is take the characters and doubled their size. then took the heads and made them bigger again - so sort of cute chibbi style

left top is you right top is qube

ok. the bottom looks a bit messy but bear with me.
Let's assume that the level are horizontal with not up/down movement of the screen - just one long level. You could also do some form of parallax background here too. each level is different but takes you on a trip - start in the open, maybe then water back to land in a factory, then tube and finally the bunker. each with qube in some kind of machine boss. with the final being a big tank thing...

You have layers/platforms so your charcater can go up down - Think Ghosts and Goblins:
(https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/shacknews/assets/editorial/2014/10/GhostsnGoblins_1.png)

You could use the bottom of the screen as a location or weapon choice. or as some form of mini map like in defender.

But the g&g basic gameplay would work well. and with the big head it's got cute written all over it :)
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: blinkok on October 21, 2020, 07:48:41
[youtube width=1024 height=768]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwXZ-TgBy7o[/youtube]
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: iWasAdam on October 21, 2020, 08:23:54
oooo. purdy  ;D
very metal slug
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Xerra on October 23, 2020, 01:02:24
I finally bought some decent video recording software so did a complete play-through of Tommy Gunn on my You Tube page.

Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: GaborD on October 23, 2020, 19:52:46
Looks great! The art style is nicely clean and has charm.
Very strong contender.
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: chalky on October 23, 2020, 20:15:00
Video is great - I'm curious as to what video recording software you bought/used?

The game is also great - very well put together. Looking forward to the enhanced post-competition version you've promised us...  :D
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Xerra on October 24, 2020, 01:11:43
Quote from: chalky on October 23, 2020, 20:15:00
The game is also great - very well put together. Looking forward to the enhanced post-competition version you've promised us...  :D

Haha, no pressure then :-)

Video software I bought was Screenium 3. I've got a couple of other great apps from the developers of it and they sent me a 50% offer just at the time I was thinking about going to look for something. It's Mac only, to my knowledge, though.
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Qube on October 24, 2020, 01:29:25
Quote from: Xerra on October 24, 2020, 01:11:43
Video software I bought was Screenium 3.
That's the one I use ;D
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: 3DzForMe on October 24, 2020, 07:27:23
@Xerra, you've outdone yourself, love the graphics and style - very polished work. :D
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Derron on October 24, 2020, 08:29:48
Just watched a piece of the gameplay video (did not play the game itself yet): what are these odd "click" sounds during the whole game - is he reloading the weapon every 1-2 seconds? Together with "no background music" and the "ohh/hhmm/huh" sounds on each jump it sounds rather ... not so attracting.
What I mean is: add some ambience music track ... and avoid playing so remarkable sounds in a repetitive way.

Just imagine you have a match 3 game ... and the only effects you have are a remarkable "click" sound on EACH click you make on the tiles. And on each match you make, you add a "explosion sound" ... it would sound not effective, but "annoying".

Maybe others see it different - but I wanted to mention that.


Graphically wise it looks nice (albeit the levels look a bit too ... dunno ... "clean" to me ... they look too polished without "melting" together). Maybe add a little debris here, a bit random decoration there (in the background) - so it just does not look like "background + level tiles". Level tiles should not look like a "new layer", they should look like they come out of the background elements. The first level ("rocks") tries it a bit - but the background looks too much like "tapetery"  (maybe some "holes" or "deep cracks" would help to avoid this "repeating tiles pattern"-look).
The "grass" does not have any shadow and looks "flat" - like a shadeless paint of something. Palm trees throw a shadow - am not sure if the shadow fits to the shadow the "deeper" platforms throw (on which the trees grow ...so they are more near to the background rock and should have a less "offset" shadow as they reach background earlier).
The second one ("jungle") has the issue of very... uhm... big palm trees? I mean - how big is Tommy gunn then?. The "level elements" there look artificial because of it - they fly through the air without being "grounded" somehow -- you might have played with some kind of "bamboo fence" in the background or - some "construction aid" which holds all elements in the air. Assume other games might have some lianes spanning over the screen randomly. Sorry, cannot come up with better ideas now.
The benefit of the current "distinctive" approach is a good visibility of the characters - things look "clear" and you know what is foreground and background.

The other levels ("metro" and "boss") suit more visually.

Main character has some "look around head movement" (video at around 1:40)... the figure runs and jumps rather quick, but the head is moving slowly. I doubt soldiers would move their head so slowly "looking for enemies". Just do this movement on your own - how would you look for enemies in a "cool and experienced soldier way" (not how it is done in reality - but how do "80s action movies" do it - as this suits to your game). Also there is this odd "head position change" between running (face visible) and jumping (head shown from side) - without any "morph" from A to B (maybe there could be some "inbetween frame" be added?).


Maybe the "clean" look is based on the drawing style itself - like a "toon render" without any "grain". So do see my post with some more or less fine grain of salt - and see it as a personal feedback, not a "general advice".


What I _really_ liked was the font choice in title and highscore screen... this "bold" font face cries "army", "soldier", "bullets". Well chosen.
What I _really_ miss is "dirt" ... action is dirty, explosions add debris, throw around stones, dirt, ... so dunno, maybe have some "grain". Less "almost shiny" polished graphics. This is of course not the task of the developer but the gfx artist in your (inofficial?) "team" :)


Remember: do not get me wrong - the entry looks good, to use some "external" graphician pays out for you Xerra... your games become to look less "coder graphics" and more appealing. Each done game will improve your skills - and I am sure there will be a game which makes even me - the nitpicking Derron - only being able to write 5-6 phrases of critics for this game then :)


bye
Ron
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Xerra on October 24, 2020, 10:49:34
Points all taken on board. I'm going to take responsibility for some of the graphics predictability you have mentioned, however. BlinkOk supplied me with some more stuff that I could have put in. I didn't get to  doing it all because I was running out of time, and didn't want push my luck breaking anything by adding anything else so late. As it was I think I was pushing it adding the drone on the 3rd level and, I think, as a result it's a bit too haphazard how it fires as a result. I really regret being forced to remove grenades for the competition version at the last minute just because I'd left it so late.

Probably a bit more time having a bit of thought before I jumped into the game might have also been very useful. I didn't have BlinkOk's assistance for the first couple of weeks and was going for a completely different look altogether. I even had some free assets I was going to use that would have meant the levels being completely different in look and style. Most of you will also probably remember the title screen stuff I'd done with the big animated figure shooting and walking. Also the different high score screen I'd almost finished. I scrapped all that because it didn't suit the new direction and his artwork was just soo much better. He also had some great ideas which I couldn't say no to - like the graphic style for the tube station level. That came about from just showing me a background image he'd done and saying I could always do something like that if I had the time. That's became the run/gun third level because I couldn't not do it. Wish I hadn't forgotten to put in the platform signs though :)

As it was the first time I'd approached a platform game, and wanting to take that a bit further, I had some stuff that would hold me back for days rather than hours trying to get right. I love the competitions for the push it gives me to complete something but, like everyone else, I hate axing ideas I have at the end. I always have to be merciless because the one time I just didn't want to compromise was the time I couldn't get the game I was working on finished in anywhere even close to the deadline and had to stand down.

The explosion effect on the title screen was put in at the last minute just because I wanted to use it somewhere. That was meant to be part of the game from grenade impacts and I would have had debris from impacts as a natural progression from that, which probably would have given it a more rough look that you describe.

BlinkOk drew a rejigged version of the main player with lighting and all the animation effects that the original had just for firing so I didn't have to faff about with the separate gun flame effect coming out of the barrel but I forgot to get that all changed as I'd done the player stuff so early on.

Some examples of bits I could have used but didn't get to - like enemies climbing ladders and collapsing platforms - are shown below.

As for the sound, again, my issue. I literally helped a guy out in the gamemnaker studio coding forums as he was new to the whole thing and he was so grateful that he offered to do some sound work for me if I ever needed it. I don't turn down offers of assistance if I can help it but it was quite late in the development process so he couldn't get a lot of it done. Stuff like the teleport and body impact sounds is him but I used some generic stuff I have for pickups, firing and jumping so possibly some bad choices there. Also, I specifically had written a new sound playback function to handle all the background stuff for me such as not playing if it's switched off, looping or not and, most importantly, should it clone the sound if the same effect was already playing. For come reason I'd called the function each time without cloning, which wasn't my plan. This meant that effects like teleports, some of the impact sounds, bullets firing etc were all only activating some of the time when the action was taken. Possibly some of the sounds could be more irritating as a result when I bug fix that, which is why I've not done it yet, as I think some changes may be needed. Other people didn't like the jump sound either :)

So, I don't think I did too bad with the game at all, but, as always, I think I could have done a bit better. Like I said previously, I'm considering going back to do an improved version after competition is over. I don't consider the time we have to make these games too short, by any means. I just think I'm not managing my time well enough to really create that one game that even I'll be impressed enough to say "Fuck. I wrote that!!"

Give it a play anyway, Derron. See what you think then as well. It'll be much better than watching me play through it, and probably take the same amount of time.
Title: Re: Go Nuts contest entry: Tommy Gunn
Post by: Derron on October 24, 2020, 11:46:28
As said - do not get me wrong when I mention stuff in detail - I do it if I think people could do better (aka "trust in them"). I hope you make a "deluxe" version with ambient music, debis, some particles ... this "gore death effect" for the units ... if you already have this, add eg a helmet particle, or some shoes (not bones ... this would make it more gory than needed). When collecting the "friendly units" not just make them "invisible" ... have a little effect when collecting (sfx + animated fade/scale out ... or a fast fading out puffy cloud ... ).

Each thing you do should have a visual "effect". Your enemies transform into meatballs,  your bullets fly through the air, ... So collecting stuff could come with a little effect too.
Increasing score numbers could be done in a "raising/climbing number" way instead of just showing the current score, ... all these little things will add up to a more polished appearance.

Eg a "climbing score": imagine the hero can start a chain reaction of kills (grenadier killed - activated grenade is "particle effect" thrown to somewhere where it explodes ... killing another one ...). Seeing how the score climbs and climbs looks way way cooler than just increasing from A to B in one step).


Units could alarm others when they see you standing next to a corpse (they then know that they might not be strong enough to "kill you on their own").
Tommy Gunn could gain some "80s hero"-one-liners ("gunn'a get ya", "here comes Tommy boyyyy", "Bullets for free, come and get some!", "gnarghhh", "Come out to play!" ...).

I have some more ideas but yeah - you surely have some too.


bye
Ron