StarDestroyer.Net BBS

None of you may remember that little game I did for the programming course, but I finished an improved version of it today.
Here's the old version. Although I doubt that download link still works, there are two screenshots there which I won't bother reposting here. The old version got the highest grade in the course, BTW (so did I).

So, yeah. I've been adding some stuff since november or whenever the old version was finished. Or well I've taken three breaks from whatever I was doing at the time to add stuff to this game, and now it's finished enough.


Download!!

How to play!

Main objective: Kill the Ufos!
Secondary objective: Defeat my Highscore!

Controls:

• Arrow keys: Steer
• Space: Fire
• Return: Pause (yay, you can pause)

Powerups:
Weapons:

• Laser : Weak but rapid fire
• Power laser : Fires four super-charged laser beams
• Nova beam : Fires a Nova beam projectile that will drill through enemies
• Spazer gun : Fires a space wave thing
• Nova laser : Fires a continuous particle beam
• Uni-blaster : Creates uni-directional blaster surge thing at impact
• Magical goomba : Makes shiny bonuses out of impactors

Status affecters:

• Shield booster : Increases shield power
• Super dephasorising shield : Ship becomes intangible for a short time

Other:

• Smart Bomb : Kills all enemies on screen
• Goomba Bonus : Enables Goomba Bonus Mode
• Vlad Reverse Bonus : Enables Reversed Vlad Mode

Enemies:

• Ufo scout ship : Normal enemy. May fly in strange formations.
• Ufo Interceptor : Powerful lasers and shields. Always moves in a zig-zaggy pattern.
• Adv. Ufo Interceptor : Even more powerful shields. Moves in same pattern. Has Spazer gun. Only in Reversed Vlad Mode.
• Space alien : Creates Vlad Reverse bonuses.

Tip: Watch out for the Advanced Ufo Interceptors! Getting hit by the spazer gun at the wrong angle means instant death if your shields are low. These bastards makes you appreciate the Super Dephasorising shields...


Now... who will be the first to break that 606600 highscore?

Made it sticky because I wanted to.

DLing. Slow going. Will edit this post when I find out how it plays.

Now... who will be the first to break that 606600 highscore?

*cracks knuckles*

57400 on my first try. I must be gett...I must still be as rusty as ever.

My thoughts :

* Nice EXE icon

* Great music. Is that your own work or public domain ?

* It's strange to be hit that many times. I'm used to instadeath in 2D shooters - not that I play that many.

* Dodging lasers - is it actually possible ? With a narrow playing field, a big ship and enemies that can fire sideways the constant hits get a bit frustrating.

* This is just my personal preference, but shooters are so much more satisfying when you see your enemies suffer from each hit. Damage effects on enemies are probably aiming quite high, but hitting a UFO three times with no apparent effect is a bit...dissapointing.

* Runs nice and smooth, though.

* Your powerups are hilarious. Goomba !

Bounty wrote:* Great music. Is that you're own work or public domain ?

Eh, it's from a number of different Castlevania games. They're edited slightly, and it was for non-profit and somewhat educational purposes, so I guess it might be under fair use...

* Dodging lasers - is it actually possible ? With a narrow playing field, a big ship and enemies that can fire sideways the constant hits get a bit frustrating.

It's possible, but it's not easy. It gets even harder if the Ufos manage to pass...

* This is just my personal preference, but shooters are so much more satisfying when you see your enemies suffer from each hit. Damage effects on enemies are probably aiming quite high, but hitting a UFO three times with no apparent effect is a bit...dissapointing.

Hmm, I actually never thought about that... Shouldn't be too hard to do...

I'll second the damage effects. I'll also say I suck at this game and get killed far too much.

A small thing thats annoying is the bonus pickup radius is tiny, I've been practicly on top of the bonuses and got nothing.

108,825

166,275

Bloody Hard

By the way, your highscore file format is the same as Ulead's PhotoImpact graphics file (.Ulead File for Objects)

The game would be much more satisfying if the enemies besides the Hawk Saucer things had a chance of missing in their aim. As it is, the game seems like a rush to grab a reverse Vlad and a Cresent-Shaped-Wave Gun and go to town until you die.

My highest actual score is 112,050, but I had one that froze at 184,000 or so.

That game is pretty damn hard, at least much more so than I was expecting. Good work.

What API did you use for graphics in this version ?

I'll share the best tactics I've managed to come up with so far:

1. Do NOT stand still. When Ufos come down, shoot at them, then immediately move to the sides until they have fired at you, move back (they should fire at your old position) and shoot at them again. Repeat until they are dead.
2. In Goomba Bonus mode, move forward a bit so you hit enemies quicker. Concentrate on hitting the bastard Ufos as they are the ones that kill you the most. Grab the sparkling bonuses. Weapon bonuses will end the Bonus mode, so avoid them. "P"-thingys are your friends.
3. Goomba Bonus in Reversed Vlad mode will give twice the bonus points.
4. It is possible avoid the wave thingy shots from the uber Ufos, since they do not change direction while they're charging up, so just make sure to move as far away from where you were. Then wait for an opportunity to move in under them and kill them.

Sarevok wrote:What API did you use for graphics in this version ?

The same; OpenGL. I just optimised a few things.

The Aliens wrote:That game is pretty damn hard, at least much more so than I was expecting. Good work.

Thanks! Well, making a hard game isn't that difficult. Making fun games is the tricky part

I got 180,200, I love the sounds but it's annoying to go to reverse mode and be ambushed on all directions and lose a ship.

Destructionator XIII wrote:289,325 is the score my brother just got. He needs to play fewer video games.

And it was my second try, too. Third time was above 300,000.

The ship seems to move a bit sluggishly, especially when trying to dodge lasers. Not really a bad thing, though. It moves fast enough to be fun while slow enough to be challenging. Very good work, Dooey Jo!

I can't quite get used to the ship sitting completely still for a fraction of a second while changing directions (while it completes the untilt animation). That's where I keep dying, because all the enemies on the screen aim for that point right then.

Destructionator XIII wrote:Question: will you be releasing the source code? I would be most interested in taking a look.

Sure
You'll need FMOD3 if you want to compile it though. And it has to be linked with the opengl32, glu32, winmm and fmod libraries to work (and unless you remove FMOD3 you'll need the dll to run it).

The code isn't extremely good though (just good enough). I have an improved version of the engine here, with which you can basically create any 2D game. Even has basic 3D models, scripting and XML capabilities, as well as a much better physics system (though I didn't write that all by myself). And also a palettised image system (which is awesome of course, though it uses a lot more video memory than traditional palette images). It's a bit undocumented though. Especially the custom file formats...

hmm... does ramming kill you? It seems like it does, but that could just be the insane amount of firepower thrown around the screen.

Also, it seems like the UFO's weapons can hit and destroy other UFOs.

In sadder news, I got 31775 on my first try.

You need to add some sort of menu at the beginning so you can view high scores, credits, and whatnot before going directly into a game.

Hawkwings wrote:hmm... does ramming kill you? It seems like it does, but that could just be the insane amount of firepower thrown around the screen.

No, it does. That's why even those little space aliens aren't completely harmless.

You need to add some sort of menu at the beginning so you can view high scores, credits, and whatnot before going directly into a game.

I'll do that if I re-write the game using the new engine. But as it is now it would be a bit complicated (or well, the code would get even messier at least).

Actually... I based this game on one aspect of another game I wrote with another game engine. If I ever rewrite it, I'll make it like the other game. And that one has ship selection menus, mission selection, high scores, save files and pretty much everything. Here's a screenshot from the beta of that game

(perhaps you recognise the ship )

159,850. It's really irritating, the way that you are unable to move when the screen twists into/out of Reverse Vlad Mode, yet all the enemies aim right at you. I've gotten killed more than a few times because I couldn't dodge anything. Also, it would be cool if the credits came down from the top of the screen if you were in reverse mode when the game ended.

DesertFly wrote:159,850. It's really irritating, the way that you are unable to move when the screen twists into/out of Reverse Vlad Mode, yet all the enemies aim right at you. I've gotten killed more than a few times because I couldn't dodge anything. Also, it would be cool if the credits came down from the top of the screen if you were in reverse mode when the game ended.

Actually, you can move. But the controls reverse right when the ship change into the green one, which is when the angle is at about 90 degrees.