StarDestroyer.Net BBS

Basically this version was finished in October or something, last year, but shit got in the way and I didn't have time to fix the last little things. But I did that today, and behold:

Attack of the Ufos: Ufo X

The soon-to-be canonical version of Hunters vs. Ufos.

Download!


How to play:
Name writing:
Write your name using that ring-thing. Scroll it using the arrow keys, or press a character to have it scroll there, and press Enter to add the letter to your name. Press CTRL to scroll to the OK button, backspace to remove letters or exit the name entering mode. Pretend you're playing it on a console and it'll make sense

Playing:
First select a ship and weapons and start the mission. Then turn using the arrow keys, accelerate with Spacebar, shoot with Z, X and C, and use powerups with CTRL. As you'll notice, this game uses ultra-realistic physics so you won't stop moving when you stop accelerating. Watch out for the enemies, you can see where they are on the radar-map-thingy. Red dots are enemies; yellow missiles. When you've killed them all (asteroids do not count), you'll go to the next level, where you will die!! Also you can pause with Enter to check how many enemies you have left, and press Escape when paused to exit to the main menu.

Ah yes, one more thing: If you have enough battery power, double tap Spacebar to do an "instant speed boost".

That's basically it I think. You'll probably figure it out pretty easily. If you think the control scheme sucks, change it in the "Options" menu.

This is a test version of the "Arcade mode" of the finished game. I also plan to have a scenario mode with actual missions and stuff. Sort of like a top-down version of TIE Fighter.


Oh yes, if you have an internet connection (which you probably do, seeing as you're reading this), there's an online hi-score table! You can see it in the "Highscores" menu, or here. When you die and it's game over, the game will send in your score.

Play play play!!

Sticky for now

Yay

Runtime error! This application has requested the Runtime to terminate it in an unusual way.

That is, it crashes on starting.

Alan Bolte wrote:Runtime error! This application has requested the Runtime to terminate it in an unusual way.

That is, it crashes on starting.

Damned crap! The zip archive didn't like empty folders.
And now I have to kick the ass of that guy I sent it to first. Bastard must not have tested it at all.

Should be working now, though.


Edit: BTW, if you don't want to download it again, just create a folder named "Save", and that'll fix it.

Comments: Is there really any reason to pick a fighter other than the Vorpal? It has the best marks in everything but recharge rate, and it's not lacking particularly there. There's no descriptions for the weapons. The mission name should be "Arcade Mode", not "Aracade."

In other news, I got the 4th highest score on my first try.

Yeah, some weapon descriptions would be nice. And some extra detail on the ships before choosing them. Like how they have different hardpoints for firing weapons.

A lot of my targets get destroyed off the screen. The current viewable area isn't really enough for me (I waste way too much energy and don't even get to see them go boom). Any chance of a zoom-out capability so I can see further out, or for some kind of target indicator to let me know of enemies off-screen without having to look at the radar for most of the game? (Maybe like either FreeSpace's offscreen indicators, or the Super Smash Bros. Melee bubble view for players off the screen?)

Also, I run into asteroids way too much.

It's still pretty fun to play, of course.

Speaking of Smash Bros, its variable-zoom design might be worth looking into here.

Alan Bolte wrote:Comments: Is there really any reason to pick a fighter other than the Vorpal? It has the best marks in everything but recharge rate, and it's not lacking particularly there. There's no descriptions for the weapons. The mission name should be "Arcade Mode", not "Aracade."

The ships have a few secret attributes, such as top speed and max battery energy. The Cepheid is actually the best in both of those, and it's the only one that can outrun missiles. Also, the... uh... Sigma Craft and Zerdon has linked weapons, which is nice if you want to vaporise asteroids with the standard laser. Other than that, yeah the Vorpal is the best. The shield seems to be the most important attribute though, so you'll probably do about as good with the Viper (which also fires faster).

Weapon descriptions are of course a very good idea.

Also, I actually noticed "Aracade" a long time ago, but I thought it sounded cool so I kept it...

In other news, I got the 4th highest score on my first try.

That's good! Once you get the hang of it though, it's pretty easy. I have a version where the enemies have some better targeting (that is, they actually hit you, even if you're not close), and then it's not so easy. In fact, I tend to die at least once on the first level...

Mad wrote:A lot of my targets get destroyed off the screen. The current viewable area isn't really enough for me (I waste way too much energy and don't even get to see them go boom). Any chance of a zoom-out capability so I can see further out, or for some kind of target indicator to let me know of enemies off-screen without having to look at the radar for most of the game? (Maybe like either FreeSpace's offscreen indicators, or the Super Smash Bros. Melee bubble view for players off the screen?)

Yes, I tried a GTA-inspired camera, that moves ahead of the ship when it moves, but that got a little disorienting. The zoom seems like a better idea. Maybe it can zoom out to show two or three screens. Should it be automatic (zoom out when an enemy is far away) or manual though? I was thinking of this myself the other day actually, because I might want to put capital ships in the game, and I realised you wouldn't be able to see much of them...

Also, I run into asteroids way too much.

You gotta vaporise them, man! Blast them with a high-energy weapon like the blue laser or purple pulse weapon (or the ring thing, but that thing will kill or heavily damage your ship too). You'll notice they only break apart into smaller asteroids when hit by lesser weapons (that's those ultra-realistic physics again ).


But thanks for the suggestions and criticism guys, that's exactly what I want

Also, did anyone notice weird particle effects on the Select Ship screen, and basically no exhaust gas in-game? I noticed that on a computer at school, which was using an ATi graphics card. You can fix it by launching a P-5 bomb, but I know what the problem is and it's fixed in future versions.

Dooey Jo wrote:Yes, I tried a GTA-inspired camera, that moves ahead of the ship when it moves, but that got a little disorienting. The zoom seems like a better idea. Maybe it can zoom out to show two or three screens. Should it be automatic (zoom out when an enemy is far away) or manual though? I was thinking of this myself the other day actually, because I might want to put capital ships in the game, and I realised you wouldn't be able to see much of them...

I think it should be an option. Have it on by default, but a toggle key mid-game (and a menu option to change the starting behavior) to switch to manual. (I wouldn't want to zoom in too close on a level with lots of asteroids, for instance.)

I seem to recall playing a game that had an auto-zoom that was done poorly, though, and it was a bit disorienting. You might want to have a smooth transition between set step levels, so that the view doesn't jitter too much.

You gotta vaporise them, man! Blast them with a high-energy weapon like the blue laser or purple pulse weapon (or the ring thing, but that thing will kill or heavily damage your ship too). You'll notice they only break apart into smaller asteroids when hit by lesser weapons (that's those ultra-realistic physics again ).

That doesn't work when my heading is 90 degrees different from my facing. Being able to zoom out so that I have more than a split-second warning fixes that nicely, though.

But thanks for the suggestions and criticism guys, that's exactly what I want

No problem. I've been wanting to do a similar-type game for a long time now, but haven't really had the time these past years. Maybe I can code vicariously through someone else now.

Okay, let's see about this, then:
New version

I did a first test version of the zooming, so see what you think about it. If an enemy is near enough, it zooms out to show it, pretty much like in Super Smash Bros., except that if it is too far away, it zooms in again. No manual just yet though.

Also, the enemies are harder now. Making it past level 7 is fucking hard... But since you'll die a lot more, I made the dying-explosion-effects cooler

I like playing zoomed out. It still gets disorienting when it zooms in close, though. Manual zoom would solve that for me.

The updated, shot-leading AI is rough, though. Do they ever have to worry about running out of energy the way I do?

Mad wrote:The updated, shot-leading AI is rough, though. Do they ever have to worry about running out of energy the way I do?

They do, actually. All ships have exactly the same basic mechanics. The enemies that shoot red lasers have 200 energy points, and the enemies with more deadly weapons have 100. Your ship has 200, unless you're using the small Cepheid ship, which has 300. They tend to die before they run out though, but it could be noticeable for those that shoot the electric wave-thingys (which drain quite a bit of energy). The ones that shoot missiles can also run out of missiles, in which case they can use some other weapon (though I didn't bother finishing that part and just gave them 300 missiles or something. But you could theoretically watch them run out of ammo).

Also, I have conversion factors for "energy points" to Joules, somewhere.
Though I seem to have misplaced them...

Edit: Never mind what I had before if you saw.
I can now open it but I can't see the ship or anything on the main part.

fusion wrote:Edit: Never mind what I had before if you saw.
I can now open it but I can't see the ship or anything on the main part.

Huh? What is the problem? Can you see anything at all or do you just get a black screen?