Shooty squad game

rooster

well, i know these threads arent that popular maybe since there's not much art in the prototypes, but everyone here loves their games so I still hope each time for some interesting feedback anyway . Gimme some indie lovin'

this one's a tactical squad shooter, with inspiration from space hulk, cannon fodder and syndicate (sorta) going on:



so the gameplay's incomplete at the moment, but the idea is you enter a derelict ship with a goal in mind, battle through the rooms and do what you need to.. be it collect something, destroy something, or activate something.

right now, instead of one main goal each room has a goal, randomly selected from 3: collect most of the loot, collect 1 special item, or destroy all alien spawners. Once that goal is complete you can choose an exit to another room. Since there's no main goal right now its just exploration and fighting..

right now theres 4 squad members, and each has an ability (eventually, the idea is you find and equip these yourself). from 1-4, abilities are: grenade, tele-dash, slow enemies, repulse blast

DOWNLOAD:
latest: http://www.redprodukt.com/smc/squad_v0.7.zip

old vers:
http://www.redprodukt.com/smc/squad_v0.6.zip
http://www.redprodukt.com/smc/squad_v0.5.zip

CONTROLS:

wasd - leader movement
mouse/lmb- aim guns

mouse/lmb- loot rays - when mouseover loot item (yellow outlined orbs), click once to begin beaming them to mothership. shooting will distrupt transport beam

rmb - use 'ability' (icon on the left).
*bonus* press N to name your guys.. ENTER completes each naming

wait, there's more!:
-to go into pause 'squad control' mode, hold spacebar

in this mode:

- right click on players to toggle their 'guard' status. This tells them to stay put and shoot at whatever they see
- left click-drag from 'guard mode' players, to draw a path for them
- hit F at any time to have them follow that path. Paths are reset if players exit guard mode.



FEEDBACK REQUEST:
basically I'd like to hear if you have any 'wouldnt it be cool if..' moments while playing- or if you think theres some potential for fun which isn't being realised. I think I'd like to try get in more enemy types, especially some which require flanking..

what interests me is the possibility of combining environment factors, enemy behaviour, and player abilities to generate interesting tactical experiences. I feel like I'm only scratching the surface right now

anyway, thanks for reading/playing!

PS: level load time is a little long right now: please bear with me till I work out how to reduce it!!

Slum

I'm going to check this out at lunch. I love your prototypes you do, always fantastic man!

leilei

Downloading

p.s. It's Stoo not stu.

rooster

It's my game, he's called Stu :P
press N to rename the guys btw

Davision3D

Nice, i see a lot of potential there.
Is it possible to make online multiplayer games with that engine?? I think that would be very cool, a multiplayer shooter that really requires teamwork with tactics.
Currently i find it very hard to make use of controlling single characters because there are so many enemies coming at you and it doesnt seem to make much sense controlling them independently with those enemys.
Instead of this massive amount of enemys chaseing you i would go more for single strong and slow enemys that patrol on paths. Something like you know from games like "commandos", though keeping it action pathed. You could then easily flank those enemys with your team.
Dont know if you played bulletorm? There are some big enemys in multiplayer that require teamwork. They are heavy armored and heavy weaponed of different types but they have exploding tanks on their back. So 1 team member needs to get around and shot at his back at his tank to get rid of his armor, then he becomes stunned and areas get hightlighted then that you have to hit while he is stunned. Also enemys that simply have a shield should be nice or every enemy is simply very strong armored at the front and easy to kill by shooting at his back, so some team members keep the enemys busy by shooting at them from the front out of cover while 1 or 2 sneak up from the back. Being able to slice enemys throats from the back could be also cool.
Also puzzle elements could be nice that requires to use several team members independtly, new portal 2 multiplayer could be a good inspiration there, just that 2 buttons need to be pressed at the same time should be already nice. Or the puzzle elements could be even like in lost vikings, that you have to make use of each member unique ability for the puzzles.

Just tossing out some ideas, but like you said you only scratching the surface right now of what could be done with it.

kaptainkernals

rooster wrote: »

well, i know these threads arent that popular

You're kidding right? I really enjoy playing your prototypes, good gameplay is an art all in it's own, will play over the weekend and give my impressions.

rooster

thanks all! Davision: great ideas there gonna work through see what I can try

ok theres a new version in first post.. this one aims to alter the gameplay balance quite a bit.

changes:
1- only initial fog is used (exploration). you can view enemies in any area previously seen, this is for tactical purposes to plan your moves

2- all enemies now have a direction, and can only see forwards. this means now you can sneak up on them

3- removed 'all seeing' nature of small enemies. will now free roam until they see you instead of crowding you.

4- big enemies can *only be damaged from behind*

5- players set in overwatch have personal shields.. repelling enemy shots. use this feature to distract shooting enemies and flank with player controlled duders.

thats the main stuff, along with a few other tweaks not worth a mention.

to anyone who's downloaded the game:
did you have an idea of what it was going to be like, and the game was different? what were you expecting and what would you change? (and please try the new version )

thanks!
-rich

kaptainkernals

I think what Davision said sums it up, gameplay is alot more fun after the balancing and "AI" tweeks were done.

One thing i was going to suggest after playing 0.5 was the shields when the guys were deployed, or in overwatch as you say.

One thing I can say is that I like how you have to get behind the big guys to kill him, reminds me of alien swarm.

As for having an idea of how it would look, I saw your gameplay video you posted in WAYWO thread a month or two again, so I was excited to see you released a new prototype in pimping and previews.

This game I'd love to see polished up with somewhat of a story line and sweet missions. But don't make it serious, I like how it's accessible, jump in and play, no need for tutorials or anything. Aside from a quick blurb on the controls.

leilei

rooster wrote: »

to anyone who's downloaded the game:
did you have an idea of what it was going to be like, and the game was different? what were you expecting and what would you change? (and please try the new version )

I thought I posted. Preview button slip argh

Anyway, obtaining the items via ghostbuster wasn't immediately obvious, had to figure out randomly

when I did what I did (find the black/white item) the way to exit the level wasn't clear enough for me to understand. All I see is a flashing series of blocks on the top right. I never exited level 1.

These two problems can be solved with a 'f1 for tips' thing

Jonsnow

Jools, Jops...

hm

Cannon Fodder :]

i'll try the prototype

rollin

hey ho rooster!

played it and I have to say it makes definitely fun!

I would say an important point would be to work out the differences to games like alien swarm. Maybe less shoot'n run and more tactical? On the other hand, for an fast simple game the 4 troopers are bit confusing if you play them all together (at least for me)

btw.. how do you do the "coding"? some stuff look quite complex, but isn't that engine you use more like node-based-coding?!

rooster

bit of art to keep things interesting

rollin: yeah its node based. no reason it can't be complex tho look up ship simulator and audiosurf, same engine

kaptainkernals

Awesome, I really hope you're going to model and animate them, and push this prototype further, while it is similar to alien swarm, I feel, as an arcady SP focused game it starts to stand on it's own, but it can always be pushed further.

Slum

The one thing I didn't like about the prototype is that all you guys shoot in the same direction. It's actually pretty much the opposite of a tactical squad. If you are firing down a hallway toward a group of enemies, and more start flanking, you have to choose which target to fire on. There it becomes more twin-stick and less tactical.

You could have an option to toggle each character in "support" mode, where they automatically fire on incoming units regardless of where you are shooting manually.

Otherwise I thought it was great. Try to play up the "multi-unit squad" thing as much as you can. At first it seems more of a twin stick style shooter with a gimmick. Seems you're headed the right way though!

rooster

slum: If I understand, do you mean allow them to shoot wherever they want as you are controlling them? do you use the guard mode much as it stands? maybe I use it differently to other people. I tend to have 2 guys in guard, move 2 forward, switch and move the other 2, so you're always covered but the 2 you aren't controlling

allowing them to pick their targets while you are moving them too- I dunno, its easy to do techncally. does it feel like the games playing itself a bit then tho?

edit: if I did allow that, I'd need to figure out some very easy and quick mode switch method. will give it some thought!

Slum

Oh, I guess I missed the guard mode entirely. I was just running around with 4 guys at once.

rooster

hmm.. i wonder how I can make it more intuitive to use. But the idea is you can put guys on 'overwatch' to cover the backs of guys you control. Hold space and click on guys to toggle this state, and tap space to switch active duders. They also get a bulletproof shield in this mode (may change, but it sort of makes up for cover at the moment

Slum

That sounds awesome actually. Did you add this in the second version, or was it in the original? I haven't played your updated one yet, so sorry if my comments were outdated.

rollin

haha, the guys look quite cool *G*

btw.. had my problems with the controlling too. It's not clear at the moment which troopers one is controlling.

rooster

Ok there's a new version in first post with some important changes.. the main thing I'd like feedback on is the new squad control stuff..
(btw rollin, the lead character at the moment has a white circle at his feet)

here's how the new system works:
1. Hold space to enter pause mode. This lets you think a bit about your actions more
2. right click on units to enter/exit guard mode. Note, to exit guard mode, a unit must be near the 'lead' player
3. click on unit tab to switch lead units. when a unit becomes active, any units close to him will become active and follow him.
4. MAIN POINT- when in pause mode, you can draw paths for any 'guard mode' units. left click and drag from the unit to draw a path.
5. press F at any time to tell guard units to follow their path

I'd really love people to fool about with this new guard and path system tell me what they think!!

thanks for looking!
-rich

also, here's an art update I'm testing out for the level tiles:
still basic I know but I'm doing work to prepare for an overhaul (fixing uvs etc)