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Work in Progress / Carnage (In Development Again!)

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JLMoondog
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Posted: 12th Mar 2012 22:01
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While I wait for this to download, when is the deadline for the competion?

http://www.jlmoondog.com/
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Fallout
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Posted: 12th Mar 2012 22:45
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Next Monday bud. This is pretty much the finished article for the demo. I'm gonna be squeezing in a few more fixes and small additions, but I have other stuff to do like a final demo video, so only simple gameplay tweaks/suggestions will make it to the pass now.

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baxslash
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Posted: 13th Mar 2012 00:37
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Good luck! I doubt you'll need it

...downloading...

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Fallout
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Posted: 13th Mar 2012 11:36
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Good old Baxslash and his relentless thirst for maiming. I can always rely on him to try the next build.

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baxslash
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Posted: 13th Mar 2012 11:53
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It's a side to me I didn't know was there... if I had any self respect I would be ashamed.

Didn't get time to try it yet by the way

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Van B
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Posted: 13th Mar 2012 12:25
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Just tried the new demo, and damn you've added a lot of polish!

Game looks awesome, plays awesome - and I'm damn good at it (26k/2d).
I especially like the number displays, very clear and the lighting really sets the atmosphere.

One thing, if your going for a widescreen view, that's a lot easier with the 3D view, but a royal pain for 2D stuff, trying to adapt to all the different aspect ratios out there. What I was thinking is why not add a border at each side of the menu, say, a big chainsaw blade, like the teeth and neck as 2 separate images. Then you offset the teeth so it looks like the chainsaw is running. Then, you could use the chainsaws meeting together in the middle as a screen transition - maybe they meet then the teeth speed up, add in some spark particles too, and have the teeth interlock so nothing is seen through them (triangular saw teeth maybe). So when you start the game, the chainsaws meet in the middle, hiding the menu, then when they separate again, the game screen is showing and the chainsaws move completely out of view. The transition could be used for loading as well, like close it up while the level loads. Dunno if I'm explaining this too well, might be better if I make a little demo using screenshots of Carnage.

Also, would be nice to have a visual indicator when ammo is running low, like a flashing bullet symbol or something - or an extra sound effect for the last 5 bullets. Actually I prefer the sound idea, then people would notice themselves that low ammo sounds slightly different.

Health, Ammo, and bacon and eggs!
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Fallout
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Posted: 13th Mar 2012 12:46
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Quote: "Didn't get time to try it yet by the way"


Men are still alive because of you. You should be ashamed.

@Van

The 2D stuff should work on all resolutions now. What I do is:
- Design all media for a specific screen height (in the case of Carnage 960) an a 4:3 ratio
- Work out the resize ratio (screen height()/960), and resize all 2D media by that ratio. Now it's all to scale for the resolution
- Work out how wide the screen should be if it was 4:3 (screen height()*(4/3)). Call that drawWidth
- Give all 2D assets X,Y coordinates between 0 and 1, so they're all proportions of the screens width/height, rather than pixel positions. So 0.5,0.5 is the center of the screen.
- Position assets on the Y axis using screen height()*Y
- Position assets on the X axis using screen width()/2 - drawWidth/2 + drawWidth * X (all content centred on screen)

That works for any resolution, unless it's thinner than a 4:3, in which case the edges of the images go off screen a touch (e.g. 1280x1024), so I design with this considered and don't put anything on the very edge.

I know that's not anything special, but it works and it comes from programming for Android and the royal headache of supporting loads of ridiculous resolutions and pixel densities. Definitely a useful time of my game programming life for learning new stuff.

As for your chainsaw idea, that's brilliant mate. It made perfect sense. It'd suit the style of the game perfectly too. I could imagine it on a violent TV show (they even having something vaguely similar on Robot Wars). I'll keep that one in mind mate. 0.000001% royalties in the post.

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zootan
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Posted: 13th Mar 2012 19:25 Edited at: 13th Mar 2012 21:43
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just had a play on the latest version, i didnt try b4 but the controls seem very intuitive .

I found that the character walks just a little too slow with most weapons and the reaper is inevitable chase to death unless you are lucky . (30 mins i played for so room for my skill to improve granted , but is it just a tad too hard when the reaper cometh((ok its death i know but he its annoying ??) maybe make it just a fraction easier by making bullets slow the reaper ?( or critical hits would slow it , not every shot but perhaps the best placed shots or a random crit hit .)
The long sword attack seems abit wrong, ie the anim rather than the actual attack , the swing of the blade could be better done as it doesnt look like your swinging so much as turning it in the enemys direction . That stands out to me bacause the rest is extremely well done .
you should put FPS count on the demo so i could tell you my FPS so you could gague better if its my pc that is slow or a few things need speeding up a little, ie movement in general and the death anims for char and npc's both could use a touch more speed.(as i see it)
Very addictive ,amusing/entertaining , well fleshed out and polished game , i can see it on steam , the quality is there.

Did remind me very much of other topdown 3d shooters , while not a bad thing for the demo when it comes to building the game levels I would be looking for something unique about it if i were to part with my own cash for it, or it could be just another topdown .
(perhaps with the traps idea taken to another level would be cool)
Im being critical at the same time as being very impressed .

edit : probably has alot to do with my pc, i get inconsistent Frame rate and, i guess ,running generally slower than your machine. sometimes it almost grinds to a halt.
3ghz prcessor ,3gig ram ,ati 500mb hd gfx.
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Fallout
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Posted: 13th Mar 2012 21:40
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Hi Zootan. Thanks for the detailed feedback.

I think for the full version I may implement a game speed setting, so that people can make movement faster if they wish. The whole reaper thing is something else I'll address too. Currently he's just an example of a power-up, but in the full game he'll be more of a feature with a little more thought put into him. I also expect to add some sort of weapon swapping/inventory system, so you could swap away from your heavy weapon if you needed to leg it from Mr Death.

This demo has really just been a proof of concept and a test of the most basic of gameplay formats. I think we've proven it's fun to play and has potential. So the full version should address all your issues with animations, level designs and generally being "just another topdown". It won't be a simple free-for-all deathmatch. There will be loads of game modes and variation, and we're even discussing features like user level design tools.

I'm really looking forward to getting the design of the full version under way and getting feedback on the new ideas.

As for the performance issues, try turning off the shaders in the menu. I can run the game quite comfortably on an old low end laptop. It's the shaders that do most of the damage.

Thanks for playing.

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zootan
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Posted: 13th Mar 2012 21:47
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oh , check edits of my last post, and i did have shaders down too and still had the slow-downs in places .

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swissolo
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Posted: 14th Mar 2012 00:06
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Wow that's nice. Maybe a sprint key would a good addition (to add a little bit of mixture the movement) and a way to enable AA without going into graphics driver options, but wow. I was unstoppable until the reaper Got killed 4x, then became unstoppable again (on defaults)

swis
Joined: Tues Dec 16th 2008
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RickV
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Posted: 14th Mar 2012 11:56
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Yes a sprint feature was in my thinking when I last played the game. You could have say about 4 seconds of sprint strength before you revert back to normal pace. It then takes about 8 seconds to get back the sprint capability.

Rick

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Fallout
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Posted: 14th Mar 2012 16:42
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A sprint key makes sense and would add a nice extra element to the game. I could imagine sprinting past a turret or for a weapon that's in the open. Good shout!

Anyway, more goodness. Another new presentation video for the demo is online!



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swissolo
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Posted: 14th Mar 2012 17:25
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Quote: "A sprint key makes sense and would add a nice extra element to the game. I could imagine sprinting past a turret or for a weapon that's in the open. Good shout!"

swis to the rescue

This community is really awesome. Simply put.

swis
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Fallout
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Posted: 14th Mar 2012 19:07 Edited at: 14th Mar 2012 19:11
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@Swis - Your sprint idea may become your downfall when I add tripwire claymores!

New screenshots. Click to enlarge.















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Fallout
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Posted: 14th Mar 2012 19:38
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Final (hopefully) demo build available to download now. Only minor updates.

Carnage Demo v1.10 (110MB)

Changes:
- Added score skull and sound effect
- Fixed widescreen 3D stuff for the last time
- Updated weapon pick-up base image
- Updated settings defaults

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Fallout
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Posted: 15th Mar 2012 20:14 Edited at: 15th Mar 2012 20:15
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Final demo installer now available to download:

Carnage Demo (104 MB Installer EXE)

Please let me know if you have any problems with the installer and running the game from the start menu etc.

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MMM
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Posted: 22nd Mar 2012 03:13 Edited at: 22nd Mar 2012 03:15
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Well, it certainly all flows together - even if you have gone for a kind of kitch 90s theme. The Steam guys are pretty big on fluid 2D stuff so your 4:3 screens and crosshair will suffer but despite that I reckon this final version really does have a good chance. Way better than last year's entries and a good contestor for a few of this year's I've seen. New lighting is a cute addition too.

With gameplay, the weapon balancing is smooth and commercial. People will like this. Watching the sweeping movement of mini-gun fire is satisfying-as - even though it is slow. The movement controls are fine and the sensitivity is fixed with sliders (great addition, by the way). I still feel the level design is solid.

The AI is a highlight for me. Best I've seen since FarCry2. I am particularly fond of the bots' human side - their tendency to make the same tactical mistakes as I do... Like blowing myself up with grenades. Or running away from the Reaper, only to be caught in crossfire. This stuff is GOLD. The judges will love it.

Thanks for using an installer, too. That is appreciated. Part of the rules or just good judgement?


Best of luck with the result. You have my vote.


Edit: by the way - offer for help still stands, though it looks like you won't be needing it anymore.
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Fallout
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Posted: 24th Mar 2012 00:28 Edited at: 24th Mar 2012 00:32
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Thanks for playing it buddy, and I'm glad you like it overall. I'm working on the full game now, and will start a new WIP in good time. All your suggestions and feedback on the new work and ideas will be much appreciated when I start posting them up.

As with everything in this demo, it was put together really quickly. I agree all the 2D and UI stuff could be better. Peter did a great job on the art, but how it's interacted with, it's arrangement and the polish is not there. That'll be a sorted out in the full game.

The full game is going to be a completely new beast. I'm starting it from scratch, and it'll have some changes to the core gameplay mechanics as well as loads more content. I should move from a fun demo to more of a credible full game.

Some core things that are changing/new:

1. I'm introducing height. I've played around with the concept and I'm pretty sure I can add staircases and different heights, while maintaining the same arcade feel. Adding the crosshair based aiming has made this possible where it wasn't in the past. This means jumping gaps, falling down holes and defending high ground will be possible.

2. If you don't like the levels that come with the game, you can make your own in a level editor out of prefabs. It'll be nice and simple, like FPSC, but should add a lot of longevity to the game. I'm working on the level editor right now, so it'll be one of the first things in the WiP.

3. I've done some prototyping of full on dismemberment, and am confident I can get a really gory damage model. Once I've got rag dolls in there, I should be able to make some really awesome deaths.

Then there are all the other additions: multiplayer, different game modes, new weapons and power-ups etc. Hopefully it'll be 10x the game the demo is. Time will tell!

Edit: The installer wasn't necessary for the compo btw, but it made sense to add one to try and get a bit more polish in there.

Thanks again for playing.

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MMM
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Posted: 24th Mar 2012 04:35
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What's your loose turn-around plan for the full game? Don't wanna wait and see if you win something before committing?

I had the varying height thought too and I'm honestly in two minds about it, myself. Just thinking of weapon clashes ie; flamethrower at the bottom of a flight of stairs. Plan there? Don't think I've seen it done before.
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Fallout
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Posted: 24th Mar 2012 11:07 Edited at: 24th Mar 2012 11:10
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You were right about the level up compo. Last year the entries looked a bit lame, so we thought we'd have a good chance at winning something, but some of the entries this year are very good. Some sort of prize would be nice but we're not expecting anything. We're going for the full game regardless, because we're confident it's the sort of thing that will work on Steam, so long as we get it up to scatch.

The varying height thing will introduce a few weaknesses, but overall I think it will be a good thing. The simple mechanism will be, where ever your crosshair is, that's the height you aim at. So if you're at the bottom of some stairs with a flamethrower, and you move your crosshair to the top of the stairs, your character will aim there, tilting his gun upwards, and you shouldn't set yourself on fire.

The only real negative is, if you want to shoot someone in front of you and you put your crosshair on somewhere behind them which happens to be much higher ground, you may end up shooting over their heads. A bit annoying, perhaps, but it'll be worth it for improved game dynamics I think. You'll just have to aim with a bit more care.

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Dr Tank
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Posted: 16th Apr 2012 00:41 Edited at: 16th Apr 2012 00:41
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I played the demo. Looks really cool but on my desktop it ran about about 4 times slower than it was supposed to (judging from how fast the seconds ticked down), which i guess made the game a bit too easy. I found the longsword and minigun were a lot better than the other weapons i tried!
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