Invaders - an old fool's first game.

G

Guest User

Guest
Hello,

I'm wondering if some of you are bored enough to play my awful game and give me feedback (good and bad is fine, just don't be too insulting)

Here is a link to the exe file http://expirebox.com/download/0af8a7605ec0e68ffa7c6dcc6686d557.html

Its my first game maker game and its just me starting off on the learning curve, it is all done with GML, no drag and drop.

Yes its far from perfect and has flaws
1: no shields (I couldn't get them working right so just wimped out and decided not to have any)
2: no background music
3: cannot seem to 'center' the score at the top of the screen
4: once you 'clear' the invaders, it generates new ones but they never shoot again. I can't find that bug.
5: invader speed-up not really good enough

To be honest I have learnt a huge amount in just a few days, how to create and move sprites, do collision detection and do some very very basic programming. I now know 1000x more than I knew this time last week. (even if it is only 0.0001% of what you guys know)

Its been a lot of fun (and very frustrating at times, as I've had to look up so many different things) and I've had a lot a enjoyment doing it (when things worked) but I might ditch this now and start something different.

I know its really poor and an 8 year old could do better, but I think for an old guy who's never done this kind of thing before, it's a reasonable start :)

I look forward to any feedback and you can be totally honest, I can take it (well, anything but "you suck, old fart, quit now.". )

Screenshot
 

Gravedust

Member
Looks like Space Invaders. :) Plays like it too, aside from the shoot button resetting your shot when pressed again.

I think you did a fine job, personally. You made a game that does (mostly) what you want and doesn't crash, so congratulations and welcome to the club. :) Looks like you have a grip on the fundamentals, I'd say definitely move on to your next project if you feel ready for it.

The invaders not shooting after respawning is strange, though... I did have a blue one on the 2nd wave shoot exactly once, it was close to the bottom and either the last or 2nd to last one left alive. Can't offer any explanations for that without seeing your code however.

Anyway, glad you're having fun, keep at it. :)
 

Sabnock

Member
Looks great to me. Have decided how you will go about making the shelters?

I can assist you with this if you need it.

Fellow old git btw
 
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G

Guest User

Guest
Looks like Space Invaders. :) Plays like it too, aside from the shoot button resetting your shot when pressed again.

I think you did a fine job, personally. You made a game that does (mostly) what you want and doesn't crash, so congratulations and welcome to the club. :) Looks like you have a grip on the fundamentals, I'd say definitely move on to your next project if you feel ready for it.

The invaders not shooting after respawning is strange, though... I did have a blue one on the 2nd wave shoot exactly once, it was close to the bottom and either the last or 2nd to last one left alive. Can't offer any explanations for that without seeing your code however.

Anyway, glad you're having fun, keep at it. :)
Thanks for the feedback, on the shoot resetting haha it took me 3-4hrs to get that to work just like that as (if my memory serves me right) that's just how the original worked.

Thanks again, I appreciate your thoughts :)
 
G

Guest User

Guest
Looks great to me. Have decided how you will go about making the shelters?

I can assist you with this if you need it.

Fellow old git btw
Thanks but after playing with several ideas for a few hours I just decided not to add them (yeah, I wimped out. lol)
 

HighlandCoo

Member
Oh you _must_ have the shelters.. they are the best part - they show the player that the bullets from the aliens are dangerous.

It's a semi-advanced topic... but here is how I would do it (not my page, but a really great explanation)
http://www.davetech.co.uk/gamemakersurfacedamage

BTW - the way you are learning GM is spot on. I made asteroids, missile command, pong and pacman before working on my own game. You just learn so much without having to concern yourself with game design questions.

Keep going!
 
G

Guest User

Guest
Oh you _must_ have the shelters.. they are the best part - they show the player that the bullets from the aliens are dangerous.

It's a semi-advanced topic... but here is how I would do it (not my page, but a really great explanation)
http://www.davetech.co.uk/gamemakersurfacedamage

BTW - the way you are learning GM is spot on. I made asteroids, missile command, pong and pacman before working on my own game. You just learn so much without having to concern yourself with game design questions.

Keep going!
Thanks a lot! I'll check that link but I suspect it will be over my head at this moment in time. Funny you mentioned Missile Command as that was my first idea for a game (I love it!) but I couldn't figure out how to do the incoming missile 'lines'. as it would probably need some kind of maths knowledge, I turned to Space Invaders instead. hehe
 

HighlandCoo

Member
Thanks a lot! I'll check that link but I suspect it will be over my head at this moment in time. Funny you mentioned Missile Command as that was my first idea for a game (I love it!) but I couldn't figure out how to do the incoming missile 'lines'. as it would probably need some kind of maths knowledge, I turned to Space Invaders instead. hehe
For the lines, look into lengthdir_x and lengthdir_y.

good luck!
 
This might help.

Code:
//First I like to set the text alignment to centred, like in MS Word or whatever you use
//So wherever I decide to draw text in the room, it will be centred on that spot horizontally
draw_set_halign(fa_center);

//Then I like to combine the text I want to display "Score: " with the actual score
var score_display = "Score: " + string(score);

//So here I just draw to the centre of the room by dividing it's length in half
draw_text(room_width /2, 10, score_display);

//This should keep your score completely centred
 
H

HavanHUN

Guest
I noticed that after destroying everything, when the new ones gets generated, I shot them all, except for one. After a few seconds it started shooting.

Anyways, looks great, the sound effects could use some improvements but it does it.

Also I was about to write the same thing as @Siolfor the Jackal but I noticed he was faster than me :D
But yeah, try out that code. That should work.

It can be a great game, keep up the good work ^^
 
G

Guest User

Guest
This might help.

Code:
//First I like to set the text alignment to centred, like in MS Word or whatever you use
//So wherever I decide to draw text in the room, it will be centred on that spot horizontally
draw_set_halign(fa_center);

//Then I like to combine the text I want to display "Score: " with the actual score
var score_display = "Score: " + string(score);

//So here I just draw to the centre of the room by dividing it's length in half
draw_text(room_width /2, 10, score_display);

//This should keep your score completely centred
Thank you very much that is really helpful (also more valuble info to go into my 'remember this' notebook. hehe)

I noticed that after destroying everything, when the new ones gets generated, I shot them all, except for one. After a few seconds it started shooting.

Anyways, looks great, the sound effects could use some improvements but it does it.

Also I was about to write the same thing as @Siolfor the Jackal but I noticed he was faster than me :D
But yeah, try out that code. That should work.

It can be a great game, keep up the good work ^^
Thanks!
 
G

Guest User

Guest
I have kept working on this game and (with help from others) have improved it a lot

Here is a link to the exe file: http://expirebox.com/download/e6ae3bc5462269e0dd28cb56f896f1e4.html

Improvements include:
intro screen
destructible bases
high score
extra lives
invaders respawn
and more.

I think the game is far better than it was.
So I'm calling this finished now and I'll move onto my 2nd game

a big "Thank you" to all the guys in the Skype 'Old Mature Coders' group for all the encouragement and help!

 

Sabnock

Member
This turned out really well. it's clean, it's fun and it's space invaders and it's made well top job.

what's your second game going to be?
 
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