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WIP Space Game Prototype

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Guriamo
polycounter lvl 17
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Guriamo polycounter lvl 17
new update:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=av96SujsaG4"]Space Game - update - YouTube[/ame]

Prototype_21.jpg


older updates:
Prototype_20.jpg

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8TfhW126NE"]Space Game - Skill Panel - YouTube[/ame]


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I started building this prototype using Unity3d about 5 weeks ago.

The basic idea behind is to create a 30 minute playable prototype, including 5 levels ups, 1 mission and 2 or 3 enemy types...At the core its a Diablo style action rpg (for me very reduced) that's more slow paced and focuses on space exploration.

Doesn't sound a lot, but I am working on it by myself and only a few hours every weekend.

It also functions as a learning tool for me to pick up a bit of coding knowledge along the way. having only started to get into that recently.

Here are 2 screenshot from the first 2 weeks which involved getting in basic movement, basic level up structure and 1 enemy (a cube):
Prototype_0.jpg

These are from 2 weeks back when I started testing a few things for the background art, also added basic combat and enemy behaviours (evasive manoeuvres, shooting back, etc.):
Prototype_1.jpg

And a few screenshots from the recent build. I added a collision system, loot drop system and started creating a modular base set for a station based on a huge asteroid:
Prototype_2.jpg


I will hopefully post more stuff as it evolves further and when I have time to do the art stuff... not much to see when I am working on code :)

I know some people might have issues with dropbox links, but for now thats the easiest way for me :)

Replies

  • Blind Boy Grunt
    nice man! im liking it so far
  • Guriamo
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    Guriamo polycounter lvl 17
    cheers, will put more stuff up soon.... forgot to mention that the controls are like in Diablo point & click, so it works nice on a tablet..
  • Guriamo
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    Guriamo polycounter lvl 17
    a quick overview of the modules with textures

    Prototype_03.jpg

    they're also using a spec map in the alpha texture and a glow map for the windows..
  • AdamRodgers
    Looking really nice, keep it up and lets see some awesome shipppyness.
  • Guriamo
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    Guriamo polycounter lvl 17
    Havent had too much time to work on it this weekend. But I added a functional gui for the health bar and exp bar.

    Also made the ship change shader so its visible the occluded by other objects in the environment.

    Plus more work on the space platform. Textured the middle section, added some props and decals to the scene.
    These are still using the same 2 textures plus an additional decal texture. I also added a smoke particle effect for the exhausts (cant see them good in the screenshots).

    Prototype_04.jpg

    next week i'll work more on the enemies and gui.. getting in some collision avoidance and change the attack patterns. Also will do some concepting on the gui as its very Diablo like as its easier to just set that up and get the code working.
  • Guriamo
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    Guriamo polycounter lvl 17
    Only a small update this week... finished some prepared assets and added forcefield fences on the platform.
    also did a bit effects work so the forcefields have randomly animated scanlines, and a big smoke pillar from the platform center..

    Finished the enemy behaviour so it works good enough for now.
    Enemies go around objects and avoid each other, when they get close or get shot they evade properly and come back at you after some time

    Also started to lay out the Inventory UI in unity to be ready to use, but i did spend only an hour on that so its quite basic for now..

    Prototype_05.jpg

    I hope to get more work done the next weekend :)
  • chrisradsby
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    chrisradsby polycounter lvl 14
    Awesome work man :)! Love the modular textures you've got going on, looks pretty cool for a prototype.

    You should post a video if you can ;)! You can use software like Fraps to film and AviRecomp or something to compress it to whatever size (and resolution) you want.

    Good work so far!
  • Guriamo
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    Guriamo polycounter lvl 17
    here is a small vid of the "game" ... plus some more work on the UI visual and scripting..

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8-V9KOyGgA&feature=plcp"]Space Game prototype - YouTube[/ame]
  • Muzzoid
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    Muzzoid polycounter lvl 10
    Pretty cool man.

    Great work!

    I think that your star feels may be a bit dark. It will probably feel better if you bump it up a little. (it seems counter intuitive but it will probably go a long way to making it more cohesive.

    And if you wanted to go even further, maybe have a look at homeworld 2's sky boxes, those were the most colourful starfiels ive ever seen but they were still badass.
  • Guriamo
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    Guriamo polycounter lvl 17
    chers, yeah i'll revisit the background a bit more later, i want to have different colored bigger nebulars for certain areas.
    The nebulars i have in now are basically layered up and scaled polygons with an additive shader, they are offset to give a nice paralax effect when moving around and some have a particle system on them to have a bit movement in them.
  • Guriamo
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    Guriamo polycounter lvl 17
    very small update..

    some work done on the player ship... baked normals to the low poly version.

    The high res version is very basic tho, not much detail there as it doesn't really need it. Basic forms to make it more readable from above. (The high res model isnt even subdividd for that reason)

    Prototype_05b.jpg

    textures are 1024x512 but will be most likely 512x256 ingame..
  • Stinkfoot
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    Stinkfoot polycounter lvl 11
    Looking great I love these kind of games, why not make a turret on the ship that handles the firing? that way the ship isn't flipping around at everything you aim.
  • Guriamo
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    Guriamo polycounter lvl 17
    thanks for the comment,

    yes, i thaught about using a seperate turret, but i dont want to be able to move in
    one direction and shoot in another, but yeah i ll try to get the turning a bit smoother and to have to line up your shots before being able to shoot.

    but the turret thing might still come in as an additional skill, that fires on everything in sight when activated.
  • Guriamo
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    Guriamo polycounter lvl 17
    Finished up the player ship this weekend. its a lot higher res than it needs to be, but I might use it for other things too..

    Also I am using a rim shader on it in Unity so it pops better and doesn't merge too much with the background.

    Prototype_06.jpg

    Also I started to work a bit on the UI... added the health bar for enemies so it pops up every time you shoot an enemy.

    And I created a UI piece for loot drops that I'll use to inspect any dropped items (that'll be the next thing I have to do on my huge list of stuff).
  • Guriamo
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    Guriamo polycounter lvl 17
    worked a bit on the game this weekend...

    added a minimap feature, some weapon effects and a bit of background art...
    also worked more on other GUI stuff, but mostlu code..

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYF1TwpdSoA&feature=plcp"]Space Game prototype - YouTube[/ame]
  • Guriamo
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    Guriamo polycounter lvl 17
    Had no time last weekend and only little time this weekend.... so i did some work on the enemy "rogue sattelite" model...

    still some things to change here and there on this. But since i have litle time i only spend a few hours on it at a time.

    Prototype_07.jpg
  • Guriamo
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    Guriamo polycounter lvl 17
    I havent had much time the last weeks, plus most stuff i did was code things so not very interesting to show.

    This weekend i got a few hours in to work a bit on the Inventory and randomised loot (still very WIP). Plus i added some effects and fixed small things here and there.

    Heres is a short video of the last version.

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZNK3tffWh0&feature=plcp"]Space Game prototype - YouTube[/ame]
  • Guriamo
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    Guriamo polycounter lvl 17
    a small update, last weeks was mostly code things. finished 1st pass of the inventory system, allowing players to pickup, equip, drop etc randomly generated items.

    Now focusing a bit more on the art side again. Putting in more things in the Mining complex, also creating lots of smaller blockout models to popilate the background there.

    then i started on the 2nd mission zone which will be an abandoned space station floating in empty space. Which will get more destroyed looks and debris etc around it.
    Also strted on laying out the missions and storyline what i want to do... nothing fancy as it will be a 30min playable demo only :)

    Prototype_08.jpg
  • Guriamo
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    Guriamo polycounter lvl 17
    Some more structures added (still using he same 2 textures as the others), more work on the background with some animated moving space dust... and a bit effects with the animated mining laser Dish in the background.

    Prototype_09.jpg
  • m1neh
    Awesome stuff! This a one man job?
  • Robbyh
    Are you using the delta.smooth for ur turning speed in unity ( i think it was called that ) ? if not check that out, it makes the ship less snappy when it turns around to fire.

    Otherwise realy nice work !
  • Guriamo
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    Guriamo polycounter lvl 17
    cheers, yes i do everything on this... its just a weekened project for now..

    @Robbyh

    i dont think i use that, will look into it tho... lukily i ll be on holiday soon and can put a bit more time into it :)

    it rotates a lot smoother when holding shift to stay in place when shooting, but its a bit too slow to keep up with enemies now.
  • waldo
    A little tip for space games, found a skybox generator a while ago. It is really awesome but takes a while to learn, there are a few great examples that you can play around with. Check it out if you don't want to handpaint all skyboxes..

    http://sourceforge.net/projects/spacescape/
  • Snader
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    Snader polycounter lvl 15
    I feel your balance between environment and ships is off a bit. Particularly those huge six-sided cylinders in your last post bother me. I model by the mantra of larger cylnders = more sides. The cylinders of your ships guns (I assume that's what the things in front are) are six-sided as well and they're not even discernible in the screenshots!

    Which leads me to my second point: readability. You're lacking in it. Ships are browngray, buildings are browngray and meteorites are browngrey. Get some more distinction between materials and add some colors in thar!

    Even just googling for 'meteorite' gives a bunch of different looking chunks of rock:
    images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTNCaX-PlU3UO2kcRlztd33ZdkOxnI1LCtcqXp5Zyr8DoZ9xYIbmeteorite-gang.jpg
    meteorite.jpgimages?q=tbn:ANd9GcSw8-_RW4wZtBHiXXKsCsm0BY_q0lp24CZ6nl9csCkbw_kyAilTMeteorite1.jpg

    Check http://www.meteorite-recon.com/en/Meteorite_fusion_crust_3.htm for some interesting texture feelings as well.
  • EVIL
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    EVIL polycounter lvl 18
    looks good but I think you can make the environment look allot more interesting.

    at the moment there are 2 layers in terms of contrast, colour use and readability
    1, space with its colorful nebulae
    2, the asteroids, buildings and spaceship.

    Space draws more attention because of the use of color and contrast, and so in comparison the rest looks boring and bland.

    I suggest making the background less look like a standard space star field with some bright patches of nebulae pasted in. The high contrast in these areas combined with the darkness of your enemies make readability a nightmare.

    Next, the foreground should be allot more interesting to look at visually, also separate the spaceship from the background in terms of color scheme. at the moment all of these unattractive brown tones make the game look boring and unappealing.

    add more color to the asteroids, as snader above me mentioned. you can play with layers and different types of rock. Same goes for the buildings and ship. especially the ship. it needs a brighter tone to stand out from the background and it needs something striking to set it apart from the rest.
  • Guriamo
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    Guriamo polycounter lvl 17
    good suggestions there..

    i agree that i need more variation and a better seperation between the different layers. I ll work on that, thanks for the links i apprechiate it.

    also i know theres a lot of brown & gray, i plan on adding more colors to it later on as i go along, i just dont have that much time (mostly 4 hours a week).

    The asteroid variations i totally agree, i wanted to have a bigger variety also with ice and metals, the ultimate plan was for the player to be able to scan them for material and gather some materials from them.

    The geometry is a bit strange at places (i pput a lot more detail in the player and enemy ship as it actually needs, but it was just fun to make). The pipes are too low i agree, i just used some props made for smaller use to block out those big areas :) I ll change that tho, cheers.

    A lot of good suggestions there, will try to use them as i get to do the stuff. There is just so much things still to do and i focus on whats the most fun for me at any one time :)
  • Guriamo
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    Guriamo polycounter lvl 17
    some updates... added a space skybox using spacescape ... i only changed one of the presets there tho as i dont have too much time to focus on that right now.

    also added some more detail on the mining part...

    plus i added the jumpgate which will be the starting and end point of the demo. and started with a 1st pass on the abandoned space station which has a small section repurposed as a pirate hideout. The unused parts need destruction still, and it hasnt got any lightsources added right now. Also the hideout part needs more detail that sets it apart.
    Prototype_11.jpg

    Prototype_10.jpg
  • Snader
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    Snader polycounter lvl 15
    Are the asteroids randomly generated? If so, it should be really simple to have it randomly select a detail texture and vertex color to have a lot of variety quickly.
  • Guriamo
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    Guriamo polycounter lvl 17
    new update:

    worked on a few things over x-mas. Created a model for the turrets and for the armor upgrade. The armor upgrade is now put on when a hull item is equipped. Worked more on the explosion effect adding debris and some trails.
    Added an spawn in effect when enemies are spawned in view. This goes hand in hand with another pass on my trigger zones. I started to make those a lot more flexible to quickly set up conditons when creating the mssions.

    I know the ship still looks weird when moving and i ll have to look into that, but as ong as i can test it out its fine for now :)

    @Snader
    No they are placed in clusters, one object there contains several asteroids. The big ones are single objects. But i might look into that if it still gets batched but i guess it will create a lot more drawcalls when seperated. I still need to do more work on those tho, its still the 5min texture from the 1st wek on there.
  • Guriamo
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    Guriamo polycounter lvl 17
    a quick update...

    Agains my original plans i picked up on the suggestion of having a turret to handle the firing of weapons.
    So i added a turret on the ship that looks at the mouse position and lets you fire and move independently.

    Combat is a lot more fun now, i ll use the other weapon slots on the ship now to put shield upgrades in :)
    For which i started to add the visual implementation. Its just a quick version for now tho.
  • SimonT
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    SimonT interpolator
    cool stuff in here :)
  • Guriamo
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    Guriamo polycounter lvl 17
    This week I finished implementing the mine as a new enemy type.

    mines are static objects until they get activated by the player (maybe even enemy ships in the future for a tactical edge). While they are static they have deployed a heavy shield which makes them invulnerable to player attacks. One hey start moving they drop that shield and charge the player with an ever increasing speed until they eventually explode.


    The other new thing that was added is the players path. Due to the separated shoot & movement controls now it helps to improve the orientation in battle.

    The idea is to maybe have a skill later on that lets the player plot some waypoints which the ship moves along, so the player can focus on the shooting.

    Next I ll probably look into the asteroids making them more interesting as there will be a lot more when I start building the asteroid maze section of the map...also making the turrets functional :)
  • Guriamo
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    Guriamo polycounter lvl 17
    A small update this weekend. I implemented repair kits (health potions). They are pickups that get used immediately. I will make them as inventory items too later.

    Whenever the item is picked up 4 drones will circle the ship and repair it slowly.
  • Guriamo
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    Guriamo polycounter lvl 17
    Created a new ship this weekend... its the small ship for the mining faction (roughly the size of the player).

    All of the mining ships will share the same texture... I still need to set it up in the game with effects and stuff...

    Prototype_14.jpg
  • Guriamo
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    Guriamo polycounter lvl 17
    A new update.. took a while as i was busy at work..

    Added a lean when turning to the player ship, integrated the new ship to work with the AI script, implemented the turret functionality and added a first pass on lootable containers...

    here a quick video of the progress... there still are lots of bugs and stuff but there is a lot to implement still :)
    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8W5_C99HXM"]Space Game Prototype - lootable containers and more - YouTube[/ame]
  • Guriamo
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    Guriamo polycounter lvl 17
    this week more art stuff...

    created one of the lootable container objects (a lost escape pod). plus i started working on revamping the asteroid models to get more variety in. They can also now be colored er instance.

    Prototype_15.jpg
  • Guriamo
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    Guriamo polycounter lvl 17
    Added "Danger Zones" to give me more tools to create more interesting level leyouts. Also they should add a nice risk vs reward and tactical component to playing the demo.

    Also i ve been working on the asteroid models. Got rthe basic rock ones in and will add metal, icy ones to mic it up...

    also planned are dynamic asteroids that fly around in the field that the player can destroy in an Asteroids fashion..

    And finally i worked on the player cllision, now the player wont get stuck inside asteroids anymore, but will be pushed away... but needs more work :)
    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZ8ZhZ-E0xk"]Danger Zones - Asteroids - YouTube[/ame]

    dont mind the typos in the video :)
  • Guriamo
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    Guriamo polycounter lvl 17
    The last couple of nights I've been reworking the background a bit, created new textures for the big asteroid, and added a few more effects and asteroid models (ice asteroid).

    Also I implemented an Asteroids style gameplay to the map. Its basically a few asteroids that sky around in the gameplay area and bounce off (or break after a while) from other static objects. The player can shoot and break them down to gather resources (credits for now).

    I know that there is still a lack of separation between background and foreground, I do plan on having that solved by using seperat cameras with different
    color grading/saturation for each camera. Its just not in because i am using unity basic that doesnt support post effects.

    here some new screens:
    Prototype_16.jpg

    (the spec on the big asteroid is a bit high... i toned that down a lot)
  • Guriamo
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    Guriamo polycounter lvl 17
    Added the first pass of the scanning feature, the player can now scan an object to gain some info. The scanner can also be used as spotlight in dark areas to come. ... also a quick glimpse of the destructable ateroids for harvesting materials (credits).

    Some effects and UI work. Mostly jumpgate effect and cleaning up inventory space. plus a new font.
    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ITFXcYmsWY"]Space Game - Scanning - YouTube[/ame]
  • St4lis
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    St4lis polycounter lvl 7
    Looks really good. I love the idea - feels simple yet unique.
  • Guriamo
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    Guriamo polycounter lvl 17
    cheers, I appreciate the comment... :)
  • Guriamo
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    Guriamo polycounter lvl 17
    This weekend I started on creating a modular interior set for the asteroid cave, and xpanded it with tech pieces and connection pieces for both themes to use for a 2nd interior.

    The piecs are all build on a grid and can be snapped together easily.

    Here is a quick screenshot how it looks in maya, and a quick test export in Unity:
    Prototype_17.jpg

    the layout is just for construction reasons, its not the final level.
  • Guriamo
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    Guriamo polycounter lvl 17
    Another update on the interior... I finished now the first floor of he Asteroid level, testing out the workflow to quickly get the floors made and into Unity.

    Also created a modular rock piece that can be used in a lot of different ways to add to this set.

    Now to finish the tech modules and the other floors.


    The enemies are a bit jittery since they werent originaly made for enclosed spaces, i adjusted the aggro ranges and attack patterns for now... but the avoidance here needs some love still.

    Here is a quick video of the whole thing in action:
    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bC2UyxDOeIk"]Space Game - Interior - YouTube[/ame]

    btw, the framerate is a bit off in the video because my old mac mini doesnt like screen captures a lot :)
  • Guriamo
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    Guriamo polycounter lvl 17
    This weekend i finished of basic functionality on the skill panel, now being able to check skills out and level them up, as well as gaining skill points.

    Plus I added some new combat text, min-max damage, critical hits, weapon cool down etc...

    here is a quick video of the new stuff:
    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8TfhW126NE"]Spage Game - Skill Panel - YouTube[/ame]
  • satrio
    Good Job, man!

    Impressive amount of stuff done for a one man show!

    I would suggest you start putting some soundfx in there (if you have´t already), the sooner the better!
    I shamelesely ripped Zelda soundfx for my Dungeon Memory Prototype (also one man show made with unity).It helps a lot with tweaking the gameplay.

    I get the feeling of the old arcade game, Time Pilot.
    Are you going for a more tactical or a more "arcady" game?

    Keep up the good work!
  • Guriamo
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    Guriamo polycounter lvl 17
    thanks.. :)

    yeah sound is something i always want to put i and the push away for other stuff :)

    its more arcade style... but with some tactical elements.
    For example the cartography skill (plus other benefits added to the map) will give the player the active ability to set a couple of waypoints to move along and concentrate on firing...which will be helpful against bigger ships with turrets :)
  • Guriamo
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    Guriamo polycounter lvl 17
    not a lot visually this weekend... a lot of skill system works, connecting passive skills and creating upgrade paths and interesting variations for the higher passive skills.

    Also created the shield skill which will activate at skill lvl1 and adds a shield that absorbs damage next to the health UI. the shield recharges at the moment after a cooldown of 10 seconds when not in combat.
    Prototype_18.jpg
  • Guriamo
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    Guriamo polycounter lvl 17
    after a while of not updating here are 2 new screens from the Mining Facility interior.. still heavily wip. There are now all 3 floors for this rough in place. working on more props for this now and more interactive objects to put in. Doors are in and working together with a lock / "keycard" system.

    also did some work on the camera, pullig it out a bit more and made is more responsive overall. In addition to that the player speed is now a bit faster.
    Prototype_19.jpg
  • Guriamo
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    Guriamo polycounter lvl 17
    raising this thread from the dead :)

    I havent had too much time the last year working on this game, but i managed to find the hour here and there to put into it.
    Prototype_20.jpg

    I revamped the design a bit, it went a bit more arcade-ish route combined with Diablos hardcore mode (perma death) and some systemic rogelike elements.

    removing the old inventory and going with pickups that will determine the weapon, health, shield and energy levels. those are randomly dropped and distributed.

    Implemented a system to spawn small encounters, and a mission marker system. as well as the main loop.

    I also added a title screen and an end (to the demo). So it has a start and a finish now.

    I 'll be working more on the systems and making the game layers more readable (its better in game, but horrible on screenshots). getting only a couple hours a week to put into it doesn't make it easy :)
  • Guriamo
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    Guriamo polycounter lvl 17
    Some things I added lately:

    changed skill system from being points the player can distribute to pick ups. Those can also be bought in the new shop that can be found around the map (lots of placeholder/debug art there).

    Added some new skills (tractor beam and lay mines).
    Lay mines does exactly what it says, it lays mines that will explode when an enemy comes close.
    The Tractor Beam lets the player tractor various objects and collect them in certain points to get rewards.
    Offensive functionality will come soon. That will be slowing down enemies, dropping heir shields, etc..

    Collection points will give rewards for certain recipes.

    Also added skill bar hotkeys, and health/energy"potions" that can be collected and used..
    Prototype_21.jpg
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