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General => SFML projects => Topic started by: cmbrgames on August 22, 2013, 05:11:59 pm

Title: Impdude - run'n'gun shooter with procedurally generated levels
Post by: cmbrgames on August 22, 2013, 05:11:59 pm
Hello
I'm making a Contra-style shooter using SFML with randomly generated levels. The graphics are terrible because I suck at drawing but maybe the gameplay will turn out better  :P For the moment I'm planning to release a demo with one level and a boss fight.

What I plan to add to the game:
- 10-20 different types of enemies
- 6 weapons including the spreadgun and a sword; each of the weapons can be upgraded once by picking it up again
- Gradius-style powerup system
- Shrines placed around the level that can give you random good or bad effects
- Challenge rooms which if you complete them you'll get a 1up or some other bonus


DOWNLOAD ALPHA 1 VERSION (2MB) (http://www9.zippyshare.com/v/34012109/file.html)
Devlog @ tigsource (http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=35314)
Level generator info (http://cmbrgames.tumblr.com/post/58251459364/impdude-level-generator)

Screenshots:
(http://i.imgur.com/fuE5DXns.png) (http://imgur.com/fuE5DXn) (http://i.imgur.com/QWHYLiYs.png) (http://imgur.com/QWHYLiY) (http://i.imgur.com/kxmjwBUs.png) (http://imgur.com/kxmjwBU) (http://i.imgur.com/83B0CScs.png) (http://imgur.com/83B0CSc) (http://i.imgur.com/uLyA1rms.png) (http://imgur.com/uLyA1rm)

http://youtu.be/u6BUAGiJo9M (http://youtu.be/u6BUAGiJo9M)
Title: Re: Impdude - run'n'gun shooter with procedurally generated levels
Post by: eXpl0it3r on August 23, 2013, 01:10:04 am
That looks very interesting! :)
I'll make sure to include it in the next SFML News (http://dev.my-gate.net/category/sfml-news/) post.
Title: Re: Impdude - run'n'gun shooter with procedurally generated levels
Post by: cmbrgames on August 24, 2013, 01:25:54 pm
Thanks eXpl0it3r!

If anyone has some suggestions, ideas for enemies, content or mechanics to put into the game I would like to hear them. I hope to get the demo out in 1-2 months and I want to put as much stuff into the game as possible.

The nice thing about randomly generated games is that you can add as much content as you want to the game and you're not limited by level size because some stuff can appear in one playthrough and some in another depening on how the game generates the level.
Title: Re: Impdude - run'n'gun shooter with procedurally generated levels
Post by: cmbrgames on September 02, 2013, 07:03:40 pm
Here's the download for the current state of the game:

DOWNLOAD (2MB) (http://www9.zippyshare.com/v/34012109/file.html)

The game should work on Windows XP and newer, and it needs shader support.

- Controls: arrow keys - move, aim and duck, Z - jump, X - shoot, S - activate powerup, C - use the powerup (the nuke or the 8-directional shot), Alt+Enter = fullscreen, ESC = quit. There's controller support but I only tested it with VJoy and the button bindings might be wrong. You can't change the controls at the moment.

- Powerup system: you can get very overpowered. I'll either tone it down, remove it or maybe replace it with a different system. I hope to make it in a way that won't remove the challenge from the game. Some of the icons are probably not very explanatory and the effects are not immediately obvious, so from left to right: player speed up, bullet speed up, bullet fire rate (reload time), double jump, nuke, fire shield, option, shield (+1hp), 8 directional shot, immunity from spikes and lava.

- There are only 21 level parts for the level generator. You can look them up in lvl/f/roomset.txt and add your own if you want but keep the syntax (there's a info.txt there) and leave no empty line at the end of the file or the game will freeze on startup. The demo will have a room editor and support for multiple roomset files so you'll be able to create and share them or download new roomsets.

- I'll need to add another background layer or change the current ones to indicate progression through the level. You see the game scrolling forward but the random level pieces don't indicate how far you're into it and it feels like watching a Hanna-Barbera cartoon :) For this type of game adding a minimap is pointless so I'll try to work around it.

- The weapon box can sometimes spawn behind walls and you can shoot it inside a wall losing the gun pickup. It spawns every 10 rooms in a room with no monsters. If the 10th room has monsters than it tries the next ones until it can find an empty one. The problem is that the currently made empty rooms are too narrow and the weapon box always spawns at the edge of the screen.
Title: Re: Impdude - run'n'gun shooter with procedurally generated levels
Post by: BaneTrapper on September 02, 2013, 07:17:35 pm
I liked this so much.
One thing was really annoying, i hit jump as soon as i land and i didn't jump (I am guessing i pressed it just a little before i landed but i have to release and press the key again to jump and it kinda was pain to hassle that).
All in all i enjoyed even if i didn't see most because my monitor is super dark but the enemies stood out from the background so it wasn't big of a issue.
Title: Re: Impdude - run'n'gun shooter with procedurally generated levels
Post by: cmbrgames on September 02, 2013, 08:52:25 pm
The non-responsive jumping is because of my ground collision checking. I think I stopped noticing it after a while and forgot to fix that.
I'll try to brighten up the graphics and maybe make them more colorful but keeping this sort of grim art-style for the next release.
Thanks for checking out the game and the feedback.