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Work in Progress / BlastroidS BETA TEST

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geecee3
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Posted: 6th May 2004 18:54
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Hi, All.

Here is a beta of my first game for your approval!!

If you do playtest it, please post your machine specs as well as your high score and level. Also a general comment would be nice.

many thanks,
geecee3.

http://www.geecee3.dbspot.com/BlastroidS.zip

it's faster than shite off a hot shovel, honest.
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Peter H
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Posted: 6th May 2004 19:02
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cool!...but how do you turn to the left or right?


Formerly known as "DarkWing Duck"
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geecee3
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Posted: 6th May 2004 19:06
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use the Z and X keys to turn left and right

use the > to fire and the /? to thrust

ok dude!

cheerz! geecee3

it's faster than shite off a hot shovel, honest.
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Peter H
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Posted: 6th May 2004 19:35 Edited at: 6th May 2004 19:35
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i got like 30,000 points ...i think for the full version if you haven't already done these thing syou should...
a)gun upgrades that make your gun more powerfull
and
b)gun upgrades that make your gun fire faster


Formerly known as "DarkWing Duck"
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geecee3
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Posted: 6th May 2004 19:43
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Darkwing,

what cpu speed and video card are u using, feedback please dude!!!
more weapons etc. needs more power, without basic spec info i can only write a game for my own machine specs!!


Regards, geecee3

30,000 not bad the current record high score is 67,560 set by my brother

the highest level reached so far is 11 (55,965) by me!!!

it's faster than shite off a hot shovel, honest.
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Peter H
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Posted: 6th May 2004 19:51 Edited at: 6th May 2004 19:52
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i have a "1.5ghz pentium IIII" and a "geforce4 mx420" graphics card....and 512MBs of ram...and it ran good for me(XP)


Formerly known as "DarkWing Duck"
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klonoa
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Posted: 6th May 2004 20:01
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WOW

Very cool

Good graphics and effect

nice work
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geecee3
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Posted: 6th May 2004 20:03
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Klonoa, thanks m8

i'd like to know the specs of the kit you tested it on please.

Regards, geecee3

it's faster than shite off a hot shovel, honest.
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walaber
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Posted: 6th May 2004 20:24
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wow! I was expecting another simple asteroids clone, but this is really impressive!

nice music, great effects, good controls!

my only complaint is that I experienced some slowdown every so often.
but overall, fantastic job!

Go Go Gadget DBPRO!

Athlon XP 2400+ || DDR-SDRAM 1GB || Nvidia GeForce 4 Ti4200 AGP 8x 128MB
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geecee3
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Posted: 6th May 2004 20:29
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thanks walaber,

The game should rock on your spec, i think you need to adjust some BIOS setting or something on your system, as it plays on a 1.5Hz P4 with GF mx 420 , and thats a PCI card!!

thanks for your comments, what a boost!!!

regards, geecee3

it's faster than shite off a hot shovel, honest.
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Peter H
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Posted: 6th May 2004 20:34
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my computers weird though... ...some games that are wickedly awesome graphicly speaking run nice and fast and then some games that are the essence of poop(graphicly speaking) run like snails


Formerly known as "DarkWing Duck"
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geecee3
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Posted: 6th May 2004 20:37
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this is true dude, take HALO for example!!! LOL

WOW I can't believe the intrest in such a simple game!!! woohoo!!

it's faster than shite off a hot shovel, honest.
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LoKiDeCaT
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Posted: 6th May 2004 22:16 Edited at: 6th May 2004 22:18
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Nice and fun.

Pros:
Music is kinda inspiring.
Graphics (esp the explosions) are dandy.
It's really fun to play.

Cons:
-Would like slightly faster turn rate on the ship.
-As stated, maybe gun upgrades.
-The bullet itself i think could stand to be a hair wider. (I died because a bullet i shot directly at a rock went sorta past it by a micrometre and I couldn't turn enough to hit it.. )
Some graphics issues with the overlay.

The words "spacebar" flashes and flickers. and the rest of the UI is practically unreadable.

Click here for image. That's what I mean.

I got a little of 11,000 on my first attempt (as you can see kinda in that screenshot).

Great job man.



System specs:
Athlon 1800 XP+ (1.544G)
512 MB PC3200 DDR RAM
Radeon 8500 64MB

I was getting a gazillion FPS and no slowdown even with shooting bullets all over the place.

Loki D'Cat - Modeller, Composer, Animator
Nerdsoft Creations
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geecee3
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Posted: 6th May 2004 22:36
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cheers lokidacat,

I just tested the game on my brothers system, radeon 9800XT, and there was no glitching of the game whatsoever, looks like you are having catalyst driver probs mate, try the latest version!!

also i cant get the JPEG image to display, I'd really love to see the glitching you are speaking about, I use GF-FX5600ultra and it's ok, it's ok on GF4 series even MX420 PCI.

thanks for the reply, i hope you get a chance to play properly soon!

Regards, geecee3

it's faster than shite off a hot shovel, honest.
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spooky
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Posted: 6th May 2004 23:27
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My test rig: Athlon XP 2000+, 512MB RAM, WinXP, Geforce Ti4600 (128MB) graphics card.

Game runs a nice constant 60fps with nothing slowing down. Nice!

Love the explosions.
Love the music - is it your own composition?

Only graphical glitch is the 'Press Spacebar' thingy. Text flashes all over the place at various angles. Horrid!

My only suggestions are:

1. Some sort of thruster sound even if it is fairly quiet.
2. Sound when firing is triggered a fraction too late. Prefer sound to start the second bullet is visible.
3. Collision with rocks is slightly dubious but at least in players favour. Rocks can go over your wings with no collision at all.
4. In playing other asteroids games, seems like thrust and fire buttons should be switched. Not sure though. Just seems more logical.

This game rocks!!! (groan!)

Boo!
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spooky
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Posted: 6th May 2004 23:58
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This is an example screengrab of 'Press Spacebar' problem. Imagine it flickering and jumping around. It's as if the image is on a 3d plain object and you are rotating it on x axis at random angles!



Boo!
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Izzy545
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Posted: 7th May 2004 00:10
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I think he is

I think it looks good though.
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geecee3
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Posted: 7th May 2004 01:23
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cheerz guys,

@spooky, the tunes are mine, thanx. i just stuck them in there for test purposes, the tunes are the basis for the final sound track, which will have more tunes. (not the simple JESKOLA BUZZ vibes you hear just now, they need some work) The flickery thing is programmed to do that intermittent scaling thing to give the impression of a glitchy computer display panel, like the ones in sci fi movies. i thought it would look quite good. the sound problem is not code related, I made the audio using BUZZ and just forgot to chop off any leading silence or over long attacks. this will be taken care of, THRUST!!!!!!! i wondered when someone would notice, I'm just trying to get that certain whoosh / rumble conbination just right. I plan to move a lot of the audio into the sub bass range, I want to feel stuff shake when i play it. hehe.
sounds like a very nice test rig you have spooky. very quick for cpu / fsb specs.

@Izzy545, Thanks I like it too. but it may have to go. 'Keep the flickery spacebar graphic protest' If it has to go, i'll put something else flickery in it's place!!!

Regards, geecee3

it's faster than shite off a hot shovel, honest.
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LoKiDeCaT
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Posted: 7th May 2004 02:36
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i'm using Catalyst 4.4, oddly. But who knows.

As for the flickery spacebar thing.. maybe if you just have it curve value grow/shrink on the x and y axis slowly.. like a pulse?

Still, very good job.

Loki D'Cat - Modeller, Composer, Animator
Nerdsoft Creations
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geecee3
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Posted: 7th May 2004 04:05
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cheers loki,

i think that may just be what it needs, instead of the flickery thing, i plan on putting a large transparent scrolltext across the centre portion of the title screen,(still want to see the background) and a pulse press space thingy in the space at the bottom (would another, different scrolltext in there be too over the top, LOL) I'm going to add a sh!tstorm of extra stuff on top of the stuff that has been disabled for the beta test. the way i built the engine allows me to add just about anything to the game with minimum fuss. (the source is over 2000 lines in length and growing at an alarming rate) An update will be posted soon

regards, geecee3

it's faster than shite off a hot shovel, honest.
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walaber
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Posted: 7th May 2004 06:12
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personally I thought the flickering was spot-on. looked very cool.

I think I had like 3 other programs running when I tried the game, that probably caused the slowdown

Go Go Gadget DBPRO!

Athlon XP 2400+ || DDR-SDRAM 1GB || Nvidia GeForce 4 Ti4200 AGP 8x 128MB
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CrashX
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Posted: 7th May 2004 07:12
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Don't like the controls ... Left should be left arrow ... Right should be right arrow .. Space bar fire .. Up thrust ... I know it is quite easy to fix but it will make game play much much better ..
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geecee3
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Posted: 7th May 2004 15:07
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@CrashX

the controls are just a temprary measure, I understand the game could be quite difficult for right handed players, I am a leftie.

the control system you suggested will be implemented at some piont in the future, as well as joystick / pad support. i may also include mouse support (this may make the game to easy though)

cheerz m8

it's faster than shite off a hot shovel, honest.
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Pincho Paxton
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Posted: 7th May 2004 20:19
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Hey that's really good, especially for DB Classic. I like the flickery spacebar effect. Runs a bit slow on my computer though. Or did you purposely make the ship slow?

AMD 1800+ GForce FX 5200.

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Peter H
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Posted: 7th May 2004 23:55 Edited at: 7th May 2004 23:55
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Yay! i got 67,630!(level 11) does that mean i have the current high score?


Formerly known as "DarkWing Duck"
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TheOneRing
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Posted: 8th May 2004 00:22
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Ok. First off, COOL. This game is way better than the asteroids crap I've done. You've put a lot of effort in the graphics and music. The controls work fine for me, although a joystick or gamepad support would rock.

I have to second the motion that the ship turns a little too slow, but it's pretty close.

Also, ammo powerups would rule!

Specs:
AMD Athlon 2400+
512 MB DDR RAM
GeForce4 Ti 4600

Played wonderfully.
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AluminumPork
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Posted: 8th May 2004 03:38
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wow! that was one of the most professional presentations I've ever seen! I love main menu, the menu music, but the most awe inspiring thing in there... the freakin explosions! They are beautiful.

The only thing that I feel should be adjusted is ship turning speed.

It played beautifully and smooth, my system specs are in my sig.

P4 2.4Ghz HT, 512MB RAM, ATI Radeon 9600 128MB, 19" Viewsonic, 80GB HD

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geecee3
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Posted: 8th May 2004 05:31
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Thank you all very much indeed,

I'm glad you like the game and posted your comments, the machine specs provided by you all tell me that i can handle around 100 more tracked and collision detected objects while maintaining a 60 FPS play rate. coming soon - scripted levels, including all paramaters for the ships turning speed, fire delay, and bullet speed. The lense flares are also being made to dim and switch off depending upon the type of object passing over the moveable hotspot (more backdrops and flare FX coming), Loads more explosion fx. A maximum large asteroid count of 15 instead of 10 (this is so i can make proper survival levels) Lots of timer based events (release certain types of rock or enemy if a timer has expired or reached a certain amount. this feature will also be scriptable). I also plan to add a user level system where a simple text file will provide the level builder with the info it needs to build the level ready for play. There will also be a randomize level option that does exactly what it says, but gives you a mean ship to do the business with. A special version of the game that only plays user input level values
entered via a menu system. this version of the game then plays that level and gives you the option of writing out a level file that can be read by the main game. This will make it possible for anyone to make levels to play and challenge each other, you can also set bonus timer events etc. Extra shield every 30,000 points up to a max of 5 shields then it's 5000 points instead) rock reversal instead of hyperspace(once per level), rock randomize (once per level), inertial brakes!!! handbrake turn the ship!!! the code is already tested and working for that one!! eh.. more ships.. more tunes and more of everything else i can think of and code etc. until either my head explodes or i get sick of making stuff for the game. But I'm having great fun coding and testing and i'm doing an all nighter tonight in order to get some new nasties into the game.

I'll keep you posted on developments and release a new version every time a substantial section of code or extra features are added.

once again, thank you all very much, It's my first game and I am buzzing from your comments. LONG LIVE DARKBASIC!

it's faster than shite off a hot shovel, honest.
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geecee3
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Posted: 8th May 2004 05:48
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@ Darkwing

Are you becoming addicted? I hope so!

It's A new high score !!!! 67,630

i just scored 78,115 level 13 but it's a newer version so mines don't count!!!

By the way, the game ROCKS when the ship turns 50% faster and the explosions come at a mental rate if the fire rate delay is dropped to a value of 8 ( I tested a level containing 15 biggies and wiped out the lot in an 18 second mad blasting frenzy!! lost 2 shields, watched 105 explosion effects. what a rush!!!

thats 5.83 of those explosion a second, hehe.

it's faster than shite off a hot shovel, honest.
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Jimmy
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Posted: 8th May 2004 10:07
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I've never been a big fan of the asteroid game/clones but for a darkbasic game it's awesome. Love the flickering "space bar" and the music and the booms. I actually felt the turning speed was fine... I hit all the rocks.

I think my favorite thing is the background with the particles and spinning planet. Way, way cool, I died from staring at it

I'll have to make this the next game showcase on dbspot, because you know, everyone reads those.. bah

Great game. Keep up the good work!

http://www.dbspot.com/ - Free subdomain hosting. Unlimited space/transfer. It's nice, I like it, you should too!
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geecee3
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Posted: 8th May 2004 15:38
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thanks Jimmy,

Glad you enjoyed it. WOW the L33T likes it!!!

it's faster than shite off a hot shovel, honest.
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Richard Davey
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Posted: 9th May 2004 06:28
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geecee3 - do you reckon you'd be able to release a new version in time for the next newsletter? (21st of May) - it's a very nice game and I'd love to feature it.

Cheers,

Rich

With our species on the edge of extermination,
with no prospect but a horrible death,
we actually played games.
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LoKiDeCaT
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Posted: 9th May 2004 06:31
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Now that's praise right there.

Kudos.

Loki D'Cat - Modeller, Composer, Animator
Nerdsoft Creations
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geecee3
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Posted: 9th May 2004 08:06
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Bjesus!!!! (sorry if I offended anyone by that, but WOW!!!)

I'll have a version ready a couple of days before the newsletter is due. (in order to get it tested for minimum specs)

there will be a lot of new features by then, including scripted levels instead of just the number of rocks incrementing each level.

adding and added already :

proper pause function,
rock reversal instead of hyperspace (looks quite good),
rock randomization as a last resort, (randomizes dir and velocity),
bonus pickups,
gravity well,
rock debris,
active flare fx,
inertial breaking, (almost like driving the ship, tight turns!!)
nasties that shoot back.

well, it's 4.46 am in Edinburgh, and that means it's time for bed!
Back up @ 10.00am for more coding (caffine is such a good thing!)

Goodnight all, Live long and code!

geecee3

it's faster than shite off a hot shovel, honest.
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fog
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Posted: 9th May 2004 14:54
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Wow this is really good geecee3. Love the graphics and the presentation is superb (keep the flashing spacebar message )

Apart from adding a bit of variety, extra weapons etc my only problem is with the speed. The controls are a bit sluggish so I'm pleased to hear you've changed them. I also get some slowdown on higher levels even though there isn't much on screen. I guess that's a DBc thing though.....time to upgrade to Pro

Looking forward to the next version.

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geecee3
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Posted: 10th May 2004 17:42
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cheerz Fog, (that game of yours is well awesome)

i plan to upgrade to pro as soon as i make another couple of small games using classic, I bought classic as it came out and used it for making funky screen displays (scener type demos), then it got shelved as i got more into 3D modelling and music. I had no intentions of getting back into coding, then last month, i was going through my software collection and there it was, DBC. I Wonder what i could do with that language and a faster video card. So i played around with it, and realised that the time was right to make something i could actually play, I love asteroids, it's my all time favourite arcade game, So i decided to make a version that played how i wanted. So on the 21st of April I started writing BlastroidS SE. Now the BUZZ is back and all I can think about is coding, and add to that, the fact you can use other stuff you have created within your program, it's a great way to let people see the lesser things we as creative individuals make. ie backdrops, models, audio etc. I'm now totally addicted!!!

Oh and not a TRIG or HIGHER MATH function in sight, the whole inertial thing is done using an integer based system i developed, with a division of 1000 as the last sum to drop the values to a level I require for the game. I also have not used any LOGICAL operators (AND OR) in this software, as i didn't know classic supported them (until i had another flick through the manual, and by that time the engine was complete).

this is just too much fun!!! making beats playing any day of the week!!!

by the way Fog, I can't wait for your next outing.
cheerz m8.

it's faster than shite off a hot shovel, honest.
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fog
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Posted: 10th May 2004 20:12
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Thanks geecee3

Glad to hear you're enjoying coding again so much because that's what it should be all about.

Been playing your game again and I must say the 3D graphics with 2D gameplay is incredibly effective. I've been thinking of heading that way myself and this has certainly given me something to think about. It looks and more importatntly plays very very well.

Having said that if you do switch to Pro be sure to give the 2D a go. From what I hear sprites in DBc are very poor but, apart from the lack of a decent native collision system, they are superb in Pro.

On a side note I don't use AND anyway as nested IF's are supposedly slightly faster........and ever little helps

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Peter H
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Posted: 11th May 2004 01:26 Edited at: 11th May 2004 01:26
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you know i noticed that games where you blow up big things that progressivly break into smaller things that you blow up completely when they are at the smallest stage... are really addictive!(d-u-o and blastroids both use this concept)


Formerly known as "DarkWing Duck"
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geecee3
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Posted: 11th May 2004 19:41
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And what a simple but effective concept that is.

I wonder who would have come up with the idea if ATARI never existed? Would we all be playing STAR CASTLE by ROK-OLA (a sort of asteroids variant thingy, but with more strategy involved).

By the way, I have just reached level 15 and got a score of 105,050 on a newer version that supports progressive ship upgrades for turning, fire speed, and the delay between shots. every small rock now releases a thingy that flies toward the ship, these things are bonus items which age and fade very rapidly, the closer a small rock is to you when you kill it, the more likley you will recieve some sort of bonus, at the moment the bonuses are...

(a). an extra 50 points on your score
(b). shield bonuses (collect 50 for an extra shield)
(c). rock slowers (collect 20 to slow rocks down)

* These bonuses are carried over from level to level.
* You now get a shield every 30,000 points (max 5 shields)
* Your ship gets upgraded every 5 levels until you have the reached the maximums for ship turn, fire and delay,(extra ship models will be used to reflect the change)

I am beginning to think that i am reaching the limit of what i can have on the screen at any one time (under classic). As a result I MAY have to reduce the amount of explosion FX and their size. I hope i don't have to do this as the visual impact of the game will suffer as a result (boooo).

I have had, on occasion, a slight slowdown in game play. nothing too dramatic but slowdown never the less (real arcade hardware also suffers from this problem!!). I think it is due to the amount of transparent (alpha) layers on top of each other.

Still, apart from the small niggles the game is coming along nicley and is still on schedule for completion a couple of days before the newsletter. One of my friends is going to help with some additional backdrops (if he ever gets round to it!!) and my brother is going to do a severe amount of testing (he has no choice in the matter).

Apart from a few baddies the game is practically complete, all that remains after that is to build some levels and test the crap out of it. the status displays are also being redone using less objects and overlays to help the speed along a bit. and the main welcome screen is also due for a change. More tunes are also planned, I just hope I can get them finished before the due date!! If not, they will be in the FINAL final release.

Regards, and thanks for taking the time to post.

geecee3.

it's faster than shite off a hot shovel, honest.
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