Excellence (previously Eve Shooter)

[Spidyy]

Hi there!

Somes know me by some intervention I made into some posts.
Somes know me by the Stroke class I released a month ago.

Know I'd like you know me by my main project I'm working on since Juin 2009.

It isn't fully finished, but I release some developpement version time to time on the french forum, and I though I should post them on the english forum too.

For the main lines :

Eve Shooter (renamed Eve Fighters lately) is (or will be) a hell shooter on the Eve Online univers. It follow the main line of the hell shooters (lost of bullets, scores, 5 ou 6 stages and again lost of bullets) with graphics, sounds and background from Eve Online... Or at least I wish for it, I don't know if I'll eventualy make my own graphics and sounds. :]

I said dev version because all features are not implemented, like the bullets (haha...), bombs or stage scoreboard, but I'm gradually adding thoses.

For instance, you game got thoses features and some others :
- 1 test stage with some ennemis to shoot at, some BIG ennemis to shoot at and a boss to shoot at.
- a playership fitted with machinegun and missiles
- cool game interface, menus and pause menus
- cool graphics (sounds, ships and planet/starfield graphics come from Eve, Menus, explosions, shots and all are mines.)
- a .dat file ressource editor

Here is the link :
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=VIGEHUIY (Yeah I know, MU sux but it's so simple to use.)

You'll found a runnable exe of the game, the sources for the game, a runnable exe of the editor and the sources of the editor.

If you have question about sources, advices or whatever, feel free to tell me. :]

Here are some screenshot :


EDIT :
Added the last version of the game BEFORE I remade the whole game and graphic engine so you can watch the bonuses, bullets and some cool weapons I removed :
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=CG9HY3K5

[panithadrum]

Looks pretty promising. The intro is good, and the music makes it worth the waiting :-P

I think the HUD is so big. The gameplay zone get's kinda little when the big ships appear. I also suggest you to rotate those sprites a little more, to give them the sensation of realism. I mean, the big ships just go straight!

It ran at solid 60 fps in this computer (when I mean solid, I mean 60 to 61 ).

Keep up the good work!

[Spidyy]

You are lucky to run it a 60-61 fps, it run between 59 to 64 on my PC. :]

I remade the graphic engine to not being anoyed by FPS variation. And from my point of view, it's a success.

The HUD is volontary big, I want to keep an arcade-like gaming area (inspiring of the ratio from DoDonpachi).

Hum yeah I can rotate the big ships a little more, but it is a random rotation speed. I want to get the feeling they loose control of themselves before exploding. :]

(You can press FIRE to cut off the intro... I should add a little "press fire" text. :p)

[panithadrum]

The HUD is volontary big, I want to keep an arcade-like gaming area (inspiring of the ratio from DoDonpachi).

Oh, I've never played this game  

Hum yeah I can rotate the big ships a little more, but it is a random rotation speed. I want to get the feeling they loose control of themselves before exploding. :]

I do not mean while exploding, I mean while moving (think about a curve, or armonic movement) Also if you play with scales, it will add more depth!

[Spidyy]

Dodonpachi :

You can play it with MAME.

The ships are at a "ground" layer, meaning they are not moving, it's the camera that is passing over them. Bug I can pretty easily make objects move and rotate. :]

[Spidyy]

A little patch to add my all new bullet system. Now it really looks like a shmup. :]

Now the big ship is really mad!

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=X819GJEW

It's a patch, so you'll need the previous archive to make it work. (Can be found here : http://www.megaupload.com/?d=VIGEHUIY)
Their is no automatic patcher, so you will need to uncompress the files like this :

- The new Eve Fighters.exe overwrite the previous one
- The image.imdat and gfx.fxdat goes in res/images/ (overwrite the previouses too)

Have fun, even I have hard time to kill the boss now. :x

[Ashenwraith]

PROS:

-Cool music
-Cool weapons
-Cool menus
-Cool fx
-Cool boss
-Fast pace

CONS:

-Only 'W' key works menu/menu stays invisible forever
-I keep pressing 'x' but no bomb comes out
-Hard to see ships--they are too dark.. maybe need some kind of aura fx
-Can't see when you respawn and there are lots of bullets
-Don't know what to do against other big ships
-Slanted HUD text is too crazy
-Warning sign is too big--it's bigger than the boss and covers it--just some smaller letters and symbol would be better
-Movement moves you too much when you tap
-Weird collision with big ships. At first it looks like you can fly over them(which should be easy to do to a big ship).
-HUD is annoying. I know what style you are trying to do, but a minimal option with a bigger game area would be really nice.  Seriously, if you put both hands up by the sides of your face and walk around, that's how it feels for me to play this game.

Still it's impressive for an amateur game.

[Spidyy]

That's what I needed! Thank you! :]

-Only 'W' key works menu/menu stays invisible forever

Huh, meaning? Main menu should appear with any key pressed, not only Fire ('W')?

-I keep pressing 'x' but no bomb comes out

Not implemented yet. :p

-Hard to see ships--they are too dark.. maybe need some kind of aura fx

Yeah someone else tell me that, I'll look for ideas in this way, like increasing ship brithness, adding aura when they'are hit, adding bright engine trails (like missiles), etc.

-Can't see when you respawn and there are lots of bullets

There are lots of bullet cause it's the way of Danmaku/hell shooter. :]
I'll add some respawning effect, also an effect showing the 2 secondes invulnerability timer after respawning.

-Don't know what to do against other big ships

Life bars appear on other ships when hitting, but yeah, it isn't easy to see... Should I make the life bars bigger? Over the bullets?

-Slanted HUD text is too crazy

The "Score", "Highscore", "Bombs" things?

-Warning sign is too big--it's bigger than the boss and covers it--just some smaller letters and symbol would be better

It's a first draft, and should appear when no ennemies are in the screen, but yes, a less invading one should be better.

-Movement moves you too much when you tap

"when you tap"... When you freneticly spam you're movements keys? =p Maybe the ship's too fast?

-Weird collision with big ships. At first it looks like you can fly over them(which should be easy to do to a big ship).
The collision isn't weird, it is just absolute, meaning "you can hit it with your weapon, it can kill you when touching you". =p

-HUD is annoying. I know what style you are trying to do, but a minimal option with a bigger game area would be really nice. Seriously, if you put both hands up by the sides of your face and walk around, that's how it feels for me to play this game.

Screen is with this config : 800x600 resolution, 600x600 game surface (objects diseapre when exiting this surface), 500x600 view. Maybe should I use a 600x600 view, removing the strafe effect when you go left/right?

[Ashenwraith]

-Yeah any key should be good/and the menu should auto appear after like 1 second

-A lot of shmups move you back to start or have you fly in when you die. This one just let's you sit there while you wait and then suddenly you blow up again. If you don't want to move the ship, you should disable the 'sheild' or something around the ship. You could change the sheild ring with every hit like green/blue/red/none dead on last life.

-Instead of lifebars it would be nice if there was a sound effect when your weapon hits something useless and just add flames sooner and little breaking bits so we know it's damaging. It also seems too crazy to fight boss ship plus other big ships slamming into you.  If all they do is fall on you it would be best to make them brightly colored meteors or something.

-The collision is weird because at first it seems they are harmless, then you die. You want to make the games least frustrating/memorization.

-Yeah, the HUD text is like squeezing my eyes

-Not being frenetic so much, but barely moving often seems to be a good strategy in this pattern based shooter. If you stand still in the beginning the enemies can't even hit you. Of course after that it's ridiculous with these giant ships coming at you.

-How about you just make the game full window mode and translucent HUD and add more enemies/background if you have to? It's mostly just black anyways.

They had this same prob with many retro remakes and widescreen resolution but the demand for fullview over boards (even very nice art ones) is high enough to grant it in most remakes--despite any changes to gameplay.


NOTE:Hey I just noticed I have missiles and spray mode. That makes the game more easy (would still get rid of other big ships), but it's annoying that they are the same key. It would be better if spray mode was like 'Q' and missiles were 'E'. Or even better you could choose how many missiles you want to fire with 1,2,3,4. Maybe you could press tab to toggle the locking too--and if they don't lock maybe they reload faster.

[Spidyy]

Translucent HUD like RefRain?



I don't know, At least, I should do the HUD less flashy, more stealth. =p

NOTE:Hey I just noticed I have missiles and spray mode. That makes the game more easy (would still get rid of other big ships), but it's annoying that they are the same key. It would be better if spray mode was like 'Q' and missiles were 'E'. Or even better you could choose how many missiles you want to fire with 1,2,3,4. Maybe you could press tab to toggle the locking too--and if they don't lock maybe they reload faster.

Missiles can't lock the big ship except the boss one, but they can collide thems and do great damages.

I'm not sure having more than 3 keys (fire, bomb, focus (slow) mode) is a good idea but I'm still searching for gameplay ideas on this point.

All I have in mind is 3 main weapons (machinegun, close range explosive blaster and piercing railgun), 3 ideas for deployables (multiple missiles, big torpedoes for big ships and dropable static options), 1 or 2 options ideas (drones), I still need to create graphics for them all and implement them.

At this point, nothing is really done. It is my first game and I want it technicaly good, graphicly average and fun to play. It represent some long month of development. :]

[Ashenwraith]

Missiles can't lock the big ship except the boss one, but they can collide thems and do great damages.

I'm not sure having more than 3 keys (fire, bomb, focus (slow) mode) is a good idea but I'm still searching for gameplay ideas on this point.

All I have in mind is 3 main weapons (machinegun, close range explosive blaster and piercing railgun), 3 ideas for deployables (multiple missiles, big torpedoes for big ships and dropable static options), 1 or 2 options ideas (drones), I still need to create graphics for them all and implement them.

At this point, nothing is really done. It is my first game and I want it technicaly good, graphicly average and fun to play. It represent some long month of development. :]

I think you should do less bullet hell and more bullet fun. IE, less bullets/smaller bullets, but faster bullets/more manuverable enemies, especially small enemies. Instead of the boss just doing bullet patterns it should deploy random ships that do random things.  Also if you could do things like destroy the bosses turrets and deployment bays.

It's more of a challenge and less boring than just playing over and over until you find the pattern.

[Spidyy]

It's good to have a break with the code.

Here are two 3D models I made for two of the three playable ships. :

Fighter : the one already in the game, equiped with machineguns and guided missiles.


Bomber : the newborn, equiped with two railguns (pierce) and packs of rockets.


And the best for me, as I never really made musical composition, here is a potential main menu music :
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=67JXUFWC

I made it like a march, with its epic/heroic side. It didn't stick to the high-tech spirit I want to give, but it fitt well if I add a strong background story.

Of course, your opinion are all welcomed. :]

[Ashenwraith]

I think the attack of your sound fonts need to be adjusted so that every note doesn't sound like a midi. I would try to cut down on the repetition and make it more short and compact to compensate for your lack of experience in making the notes/music fancy.

The ships look good.

I would take the missiles off the sides unless you're going to animate them to fire. Nothing more annoying than weapons you can't use.

The gray ship is also too dark.

Makes me wonder if you have a mac or your gamma is messed up.

Parts of it are almost solid black. To be able to see it well you need to make it at least 65% gray.

If you want it to be 'black' you should add a blue/purple/cyan tint to the gray.

I would make the cockpit glass a brighter and more interesting/shiny/reflective color too like red/orange/blue/green/yellow--see the f22 for what I mean.  

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2409/2187146138_b2fc5e2c50.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/F22_Pacific.jpg

Of course not too bright so it looks like a kids toy.

Right now it just looks kinda like a hole and will be even harder to see when they are small.

[Spidyy]

As for Stroke, I made a small footage video of the game in its actuel state for yhose who can't run it (mac/linux users)



And what will look the third playable ship. (not textured yet)



Specialized in energy weapon (big straight going lazer) and options.

[PeterWelzien]

I haven't played your game yet, but looking at the video it looks like the background is completely static. If you scroll it slowly down it'll look like the ships is actually moving forward.