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Hi

EDIT
Demo for windows and Android added to post

So this is my current project, going be the working title Project Space (need to come up with something better).



The game is primarily designed for touch screens and one of my issues is that I don't like virtual joysticks and I also find with some games the player's hand obscures the screen. So what I've done is to slow the pace of the game down, so it players more like a strategy game, which allows the player time to take their fingers off the screen so they can see what's going on.

There's a whole bunch of things to add: different npc types with different weapons / effects and some more weapons and power ups for the player. What I'm aiming for is a kind of slower paced, tactical bullet hell shooter.

I'm not entirely sure what the final structure of the game is going to be, I'm currently favouring a number of discreet levels rather than a score attack / survival game. I'd also like to add boss battles which is something I've never done before.

I'm going to keep the look of the game abstract but the I might change the final design, although I do like the current colours on the grey background so that'll probably stay.

This is really cool and presents a neat looking control scheme for mobile. That's one of the turn offs for allot of action and arcade games on mobile, crappy joystick controls...especially when it comes from pc ports...

Good luck, looking forward to play.

Thanks for the comments.

I know what you mean about game controls on touch screens and I'm a little surprised that people don't talk about it more. It's a whole new area of game design that not many people are getting right and is ripe for experimentation.

The original idea was for the game to be controlled with a single touch, so on Windows it would be played using nothing but the mouse and left mouse button. But I recently got a Nexus 10 and I found I wanted to play it with both hands and on the phone I found I was using my thumbs if I had to hold the phone. This multi-touch input changed the nature of the game a little, making it a little easier to play, so to level the playing field I added some keyboard controls to the Windows version (although you can still use the mouse to press the on screen buttons).

Anyway, I've put a playable demo for both windows and android in the first post so people can have a go. Feedback welcome.

29th Sector?

Trying it out now, will be back later with feedback...

Edit
The controls are fine, and I guess I am one of the ones not getting it right, because I don't like pointing over the sprites.
My hand blocks the screen and I miss things (like enemy bullets) that mess me up.
I had trouble with those virtual joysticks too, but the buttons work better for me too.
I would like to use the touch screens for inputting the left thumb as a screen locator as if its button is a mini-map of the screen.
So, wherever my thumb is on the mini-map, the target would be in the same spot on the play field.
That would be better than a joystick for me, and allow me to see the whole playing field unobstructed from my boney arthritic fingers.
I am digging this game though for its similarities to asteroids. (this is much harder though and is a skill game for sure)
I am not getting far though, and wish there was a score.

Thanks for having a play



I actually quite like that: 29th Sector, 29th Parallel, Invaders From the 29th Dimension. I'm not above littering a game with the number 29.



That's quite a cool idea. It might be better on a larger screen as it there's more screen area to devote to it. The other idea I like is just to use relative movement. So touch anywhere on the screen, push up and the player moves in that direction, a bit like a on screen track pad.



Is this an issue you're having with this game or just in general?



How far did you get? Did you see the big enemy firing bullets in all directions?

It may be that the level is too hard for a beginner. It might require a more gentle learning curve. I've been playing it quite a lot - I don't have many games on my phone - so have probably lost sight of how easy or difficult it is.

The level is finite, with five waves. If you see the big guy I mentioned then that's the last wave so if you see him you've almost won.

The way the level is structured is that the enemy waves are just based on a timer so they spawn regardless of whether or not you killed the previous wave. I might change this, as it's easy to get overwhelmed - which was kind of part of the game play - or, conversely, the player kills everything then has to wait for more enemies to turn up.

As I mentioned in my first post, I've not decided on the overall structure of the game. I could add a score, it probably gives the player a sense of progress. I might even add a infinite score attack mode or it might be the way the game is played.

It's early days so I can tweak it.

Yeah, that's almost like a dynamic virtual joypad that moves based on the first press, then reads the release for direction calculation.
I like that idea too, instead of a fixed position, it auto-adjusts to the player's preference without the need for setting any controls in options.
Sweet


Any game that has input controls in the play field. (it's just me)


That is the only reason I wanted a score, was to measure progress without counting whilst trying to attack the enemy ships.
Any way of measuring it would be cool, maybe even the ship's computer telling me? (as long as its name is not 'HAL 9000')


Dude, I get wiped out early (in the second wave), but the game is not that difficult.
I am just so used to setting controls up for my own games that I have almost forgotten how to adjust to them instead of changing them to suit me.
It's all good, I just need some practice.

Here's a bit of an update:



So I now have four different enemy types: red shoots bullets, yellow have energ beams, green are mine layers and blue have shields.

I've managed to put break points in so the player has to kill everything in a wave before more spawn in. However, during a wave the timing of each enemy can be staggered so the player could be overwhelmed if they're too slow.

There's still quite a bit to do such as sound effects, power ups and a second weapon - like a bomb - for the player. They player also only has a single life so I might change that.

I also need to sort out the overall structure of the game and a proper scoring system. I'm thinking of having multiple levels but the game saves the player's progress so they can start the game from a higher level if they want to, this would be instead of having more than one life. I think.

I'm kind of giving up on the idea of having boss battles, the code's become a little confused to implement this neatly. What I might do is have super enemies that has dual weapons, say bullets and mines, but we'll see.