SFML community forums
General => SFML projects => Topic started by: Spidyy on April 12, 2010, 07:32:00 pm
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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 :
(http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/3862/menuscreen.th.jpg) (http://img193.imageshack.us/i/menuscreen.jpg/)(http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/5823/missile.th.jpg) (http://img340.imageshack.us/i/missile.jpg/)(http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/4799/bosse.th.jpg) (http://img341.imageshack.us/i/bosse.jpg/)
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
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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 :D).
Keep up the good work!
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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)
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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 :D
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!
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Dodonpachi :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoZq2ff_e4Y
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. :]
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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
(http://img693.imageshack.us/img693/849/screenshotup.th.jpg) (http://img693.imageshack.us/i/screenshotup.jpg/)
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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.
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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?
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-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.
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Translucent HUD like RefRain?
(http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/4751/refrain2010041702232917.th.png) (http://img151.imageshack.us/i/refrain2010041702232917.png/)
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. :]
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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.
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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.
(http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/6533/fighter.th.png) (http://img227.imageshack.us/i/fighter.png/)
Bomber : the newborn, equiped with two railguns (pierce) and packs of rockets.
(http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/7314/bomber.th.png) (http://img687.imageshack.us/i/bomber.png/)
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. :]
(http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/968/ingamefighter.th.jpg) (http://img210.imageshack.us/i/ingamefighter.jpg/)(http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/6093/ingamebomber.th.jpg) (http://img156.imageshack.us/i/ingamebomber.jpg/)
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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.
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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)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpgFU09Af98
And what will look the third playable ship. (not textured yet)
(http://i26.servimg.com/u/f26/14/76/17/77/choper10.png) (http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=52&u=14761777)
Specialized in energy weapon (big straight going lazer) and options.
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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.
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I didn't implement the background yet, but the one I will be working of should be quit a surprise.
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Really excellent start, it looks so professional. The graphics are beautiful as well. It actually reminds me a lot of the Touhou games, especially your choice of bullet graphics and pattern, very interesting and fun.
I have a small question though, I know this may not be the perfect place to ask this, but it's been bothering me. How did you compile the game so that the resources are encrypted in a special file format and all? I'm a beginner programmer so I'm not totally familiar with these things.
Thanks in advance!
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How did you compile the game so that the resources are encrypted in a special file format and all? I'm a beginner programmer so I'm not totally familiar with these things.
I could say that he used something like this tutorial (http://www.sfml-dev.org/wiki/en/tutorials/formatdat) ;)
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How did you compile the game so that the resources are encrypted in a special file format and all? I'm a beginner programmer so I'm not totally familiar with these things.
I could say that he used something like this tutorial (http://www.sfml-dev.org/wiki/en/tutorials/formatdat) ;)
Exactly! I inspired myself from this tutorial to create my own DAT files, mixed with a custom Serializer class. (It was with boost at the start) I did a different class for each kind of file (image, animations, sound) and added informations in the header in addition of the tuto header.
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Thank you so much for this. It's been bugging me for such a long time, finally got this question answered.
Anyways, I won't distract this topic anymore. Back onto the topic of the excellent shooter game.
In terms of gameplay suggestion, I think it would be great if you take a direction between bullet hell shooter, or action shooter. Bullet hell shooter can be designed to be a slower pace but it would require you to at least be able to see your own hitbox, whereas action shooter's hit box isn't as necessary, but the bullet speed is generally a lot faster and it would be more reaction based. Of course you can take the direction of both of them and it would, IMO, make a very fine game.
Also, if you plan some kind of level editor on release, that would be really fun too, give the players a chance to design their own shooter levels.
In terms of graphics suggestion, I think a great game that you can check out for some crazy graphic inspiration is Beat Hazard. This game reminded me a lot of it and I personally think this is better is a lot of ways, but beat hazard is a very interesting game where the music (which seems like a important factor in this game) is directly tied into the gameplay. I think it does a lot of things wrong, but it's great inspiration nonetheless.
Keep it up and I'm definitely interested in seeing the progress to the final product!
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Small video update :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=834PCYdSZqE
Changes are in the description
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Hey, long time no see, here are some news about the project.
I got a good and a bad news.
The good news is the arrival of Ned Start and Alex into the project! Ned is a talented 3D designer and Alex a composer and sound designer of genius.
I give you two videos of the game development state, with the work of my two new buddies. :]
An ingame footage of the actual state of the game :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWZVOdmDxd8
And a little slideshow of the rendering and artwork from Ned, with a complete music from Alex, wich remixed one of the music I already composed for the game :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0Vb6mKh1Is (L'original ici : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HMKivwoFGI)
About the changes, I added Ned's background and made a shader system allowing me to introduce a nice shadow shader and glow shader. The ship also became swapable, changing from a fighter form to choper form to bomber form, switching weapon in the same time. Also added a color system for the damages and parenting system for the ennemies. The gameplay changed a bit with that but is not the final one.
The bad news is I'm stopping to use SFML, for the benefit of a full 3D API or full 3D game engine, like Unity3D. 2D is good, but with such 3D models and great rendering, it's a shame to keep with the 2D when, I think, the result could be even better in 3D.
Well, all is proceeding smoothly. :]
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The game is looking awesome... too bad you gonna leave SFML. I think I suscribed to your youtube channel.
I like the shadows.. do you use a heightmap? I would like to check a tutorial or to have a little explanation about that.
Good job!
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The shadow are pretty simple. Yes, I use a height_map that tell at witch distance I draw each pixel of the shadow.
The shadowmap is simply all my sprites drawn on a RenderImage, than the image is rendered through a "all in black" shader that change the alpha channel to a greyscale image (mainly black :p), then distort with another shader using heightmap.
As I will stop with SFML, I think I'll post the full source-code of the client.
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The shadow are pretty simple. Yes, I use a height_map that tell at witch distance I draw each pixel of the shadow.
The shadowmap is simply all my sprites drawn on a RenderImage, than the image is rendered through a "all in black" shader that change the alpha channel to a greyscale image (mainly black :p), then distort with another shader using heightmap.
As I will stop with SFML, I think I'll post the full source-code of the client.
That would be very productive. Thanks!
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As said, here come the sources :
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=BP1QJT2Y
You will found binaries of the game, the resources (sound, images, in .dat) and the sources with the Visual Studio 2008 solution.
Sources are not commented, but I kept them as clean and well-named as possible. If you have problem to understand what I did, feel free to ask.
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Thanks, it looks pretty neat. Although, the visual studio projects are missing (there is just the solution).
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The VS project should be inside the Excellence directory among the source files.
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That's right, but I can't still open it with VS2008. It says that DebugTest, RenderImageTest, RenderSystem and SoundFileMaker VS projects are missing, and then closes.
I tried to convert it to a VS2010 project, and it works. Just letting you know!
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If the solution don't work, just open the Excellence.vcproj alone. :p
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If the solution don't work, just open the Excellence.vcproj alone. :p
That was what I did... happened the same xD
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Hoy!
A short post to anounce the opening of our new devBlog about Excellence Here : http://excellenceteam.wordpress.com/
I'll discuss about programming choice, issue and solutions, but also arts and graphics and sound design. :]
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Hey, I've been following your project for quite a while now and I was wondering:
How do you manage your bullets? I mean, how do you "script" your bullet patterns or how do you code complex patterns? Did you make an engine for it, do you hard code them in C++?
Keep it up,
I'm loving your work so far. :)
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Hi!
Well, I did some class with looooots of parameters that do the work for me.
I'll do a post on the devblog some day, but I'm laking time because of my wonderful work. :(
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Hehe I know that feeling. Keep up the great work!