Demo Playable Teaser! - Gravity Star Rescue 'n' Racer (GSRR)

Japster

Member
** TEASER updated at the same link! ** Now contains difficulty selections to try (they add more hazards, and some more troublesome turrets, rotators, etc) - conversely, if you select difficulty levels 1,2 etc, there's LESS stuff to worry about for those races / trials / on those difficulty levels.

Gamepads are also now supported, and detected and active on loading GSRR up. If you plug one in afterwards, you can hit "G" for now, to re-detect them. For now, I only select the first live / connected gamepad... :)

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Okay guys! - On the back of my post in the "Why we love GMS / YoYo" thread, by way of example of what just 2 weeks of spare time from scratch gets me in GMS2 (and I'm NOT a fast coder! - Plus, a lot of that time was spent messing about with levels, fixtures and GFX / SFX!), I've managed to get a decent way into re-writing my Gravity Star Rescue 'n' Racer retro arcade skill / racing / (+shoot-em-up - to come later on!) game over to GMS2, and now have a teaser / preview available for PC / Windows!:-

https://www.dropbox.com/s/8rov7adt9rclvsj/GSRR_Teaser.zip?dl=0







If anyone fancies a go (it's still VERY early on, but the preview has 6 different modes/challenges to try out, and to get a best lap time or high score on), and is kind enough to feed back to me (or even just screenshot and post their best times for the different types of gameplay!) I'd really appreciate it!

As it is, I honestly think it's a lot of fun even where it's currently at, and I'm finding I'm 'playtesting' it far too much!

Please feel free to share the link to anyone who might fancy taking a look, and I'd *really* welcome any feedback or comments - I've currently got a stinking throat infection, sinus pain and constant headache, so it'd right cheer me up to hear from anyone who gives it a try!... :D

I'd highly recommend that you at least quickly read the instructions! - and yes, you will sometimes end up in crevices etc, with no power to move - it's physics based, and part of the risk! - a simple press of ESC will instantly start you off on another attempt!

PS - Obviously, some of the GFX are just low-res placeholders, and the menus and SFX are literally just functional at present, so I'm aware of this! - Just wanted to let people try it out with a teaser!

Japster.
 
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Japster

Member
...hmm.. is this WIP area a bit... well...



Or maybe it's just my post / being too excited about GMS2... ...None of my fellow old-skool retrogamers even wants to give it a quick spin and test their reflexes or give a little feedback?... fair enough, I'll just err... ...carry on coding....

(This wasn't a post to say that my game is amazing btw - it's a basic proof of concept, and it's barely started - I just figured as GMS2 let me create a working, playable proto from scratch, in a short time, I was trying to give credit to the dev system, while possibly just seeing if anyone found it a fun little diversion to test out some of the modes...)
 
Add video of gameplay or a .gif. Just from the two screenshots I can't tell that much about the game or how it's played. Could be top down, could be side view?
 

Japster

Member
Thanks a bunch @Toque @sitebender ! - A little taster video added to main post - PS - It's side-on, with gravity and physics, inertia etc... :D

It shows a sample run for one of the modes - Pure Race... I actually didn't hit the sides once on that run, ironically! - which meant it would have actually been a valid run if I'd have picked Perfect Pure Race mode... :) (Very tricky mode - one touch of the sides or hazards = failed run ;) )

Got lots of modes planned, including all out blasting - In fact, I've since added bullets, and no delay, and ended up with 100's of bullet hell at first (and some pretty spiral effects, ha ha..) I've since added delays to the player and turrets shooting times, and it's starting to come together - Leaving those pesky turrets enabled also means it's VERY tricky to get by without getting bombarded and hit into a cavern wall - might leave it in for ultra hard mode - as it's definitely do-able - I've managed to clear a race lap a couple of times!... :)

Thanks for the input guys! @Toque Damn, I forgot you've only got mac capability - I'll see if I can build unsigned on Mac for you at some point, thanks as always fella...
 
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Toque

Member
Looks pretty cool. Your using physics for movement?

my wife has a windows lap top but doesn’t like me me Messing with it.
I will need a cheap laptop to test games and make windows exe for game jams......
 
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Japster

Member
Hi Toque - yep, physics - was a pain to sort out everything (struggled to get my head around the fact that it's all or nothing, as regarding flicking that 'Physics' switch on), but working great in the end! - gives it a lovely smooth feel, and allows for some nice tricked out control... :)

Yeah, you should deffo get a Win / PC laptop - can't you Bootcamp your Mac? :D TBH, I've rapidly started going off Mac and iOS dev, as Apple keep moving the goalposts, and forcing obsolescence of my dev machines... Kind of thinking, sod it... :( Though I'll still need my Mac to sign my Mac builds for Steam... sigh...
 
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Japster

Member
@HayManMarc - thanks for the feedback, most appreciated!

Yes, gamepad controls are deffo going in, although strangely, I've been finding that I've been getting better runs using keys! - you can probably hear my manic keyjabs in that short video! - Maybe it's just because I'm an old-skooler... :D

Having fun creating different hazards machanisms / switches / enemies, including some that spit out patterns of bullets - hard (but satisfying!) to avoid in a gravity/physics game!
 

Japster

Member
nice looking game. been playing with something similar myself but yours looks a lot better and further along.
@Sabnock - Thanks, appreciate the kind comments :) - Best of luck with your idea too!

I recently added a quad turret, and it makes it REALLY tough to get around - knocks you all over the place with loads of shots! - I might leave it in a super hard mode for a laugh...


PS - @HayManMarc - I added rudimentary (none-re-assignable for now) controls for gamepads - the teaser I'll upload tonight now has Gamepad detection (uses the first one found, if more than one, and advises which one it's using), but weirdly, if I leave the rotation speed the same, it's FAR too sensitive, even on Digital pad controls. So if using Gamepad, I've reduced the rotation speed by about 1/4... seems to work well, and I've set a couple of good times using my gamepad... I'd be interested in what you yourself think if you try it out at some point! :)

As the level is getting fuller with test stuff (it's by no means intended to be this hard off the bat!), I've also added difficulty setting (1-6) buttons. Try one of these, and you'll find trickier things (like that curse-inducing quad turret!) won't appear on lower difficulty levels - most 'props' and hazards in the level have their own minimum difficulty level - ie. they cannot appear in lower difficulty levels, or different game modes.

Using this approach has given me complete freedom to make many interesting, increasingly difficult challenges per level (I challenge you to try eg. a Pure Race, Skill/Tag Race, Perfect Pure Race or Challenge Mode on difficulty level 6 without swearing at some point.... muhaaahaaahaa!), and many game types, simply by using that property...

See what you think if you try the teaser, once updated!

Cheers!

PPS - Does anyone else spend more time agonising over stuff to leave as-is, or change, in their games, compared to time spent coding / adding stuff? ;)

...case in point - I decided to let enemy bullets etc be affected by gravity after they initially hit something, as the results were quite unpredictable and fun (they still manage to cause the player problems, by falling on top of them, rolling down a cliffside, or sailing over a ridge, etc!), BUT, I'm also torn between having them ricochet fully, with no gravity, as per light/beam weapons etc...

I might have to include both, but again, I'm spending time even trying to figure out what to go with, as both were cool... Decisions, decisions.....
 
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Japster

Member
** TEASER updated at the same link! ** Now contains 6 difficulty selections to try (they add more hazards, and some more troublesome turrets, rotators, etc) - conversely, if you select difficulty levels 1,2 etc, there's LESS stuff to worry about for those races / trials / on those difficulty levels.

Gamepads are also now supported, and detected and active on loading GSRR up. If you plug one in afterwards, you can hit "G" for now, to re-detect them. For now, I only select the first live / connected gamepad... :)

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Yrbiax

Member
Hey, i tried your game.

It was pretty cool, needs more maps thought.
Perfect pure race took me couple of tries, didnt really bother with adding difficulty on that one :D
Couldnt really get all 4 tag on challenge mode.

gravitystar.png

It was hard to get out of corners like this, since ship didnt turn too much next to walls.
Also turret next to starting line didnt seem to do anything.
 
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Japster

Member
Hey, i tried your game.

It was pretty cool, needs more maps thought.
Perfect pure race took me couple of tries, didnt really bother with adding difficulty on that one :D
Couldnt really get all 4 tag on challenge mode.

View attachment 28375

It was hard to get out of corners like this, since ship didnt turn too much next to walls.
Also turret next to starting line didnt seem to do anything.
@Yrbiax - Hey, thanks a LOT for trying the teaser out! - Yeah, once complete, there will be loads of maps, plus, I may make levels from 'components' that I can place and rotate, in order to expand the possibilities!

Perfect Pure Race is HARD to even complete (let alone on higher difficulty levels), so well done for even completing it!... :D

Yeah, sometimes, due to the physics settings I had to specify to make general control responsive (but not TOO responsive, hence unplayable!), and not being able to change those, the only option is to restart your run (admittedly, if you end up stuck in a crevice or slope, you've probably fluffed any chance of a good lap time anyway! ;) )

...ALTHOUGH... I could put in side 'boost' logic, if the game detects you stuck against a wall and holding a key, but not turning (or simply a double-tap of the side thrust?) ...hmmm might work, cheers for getting me thinking about it!....

Challenge mode is all about getting a good pass (angle and speed) at the first challenge target, then using your left and right thrust to move, spin and nudge yourself off walls, add momentum etc, once your main thrust cuts out - it's tricky at first, but once you figure out where to turn and nudge/spin your ship to push off sides etc, you'll find it's possible to complete it regularly, just trying to better your time on the occasions that you succeed! :D ...and don't forget - you literally only have to tag a target with ANY part of your ship - literally even just the tip of your tail, nose, etc... :)

Not sure why the first turret isn't shooting, unless you're out of range of it's sensor (they have a few hundred pixels range, with line of sight to be implemented too) - it's a high difficulty level turret, so it's on level 5 or 6 (which I see you're on!), and I think I shortened it's sensor range... (it's a sod to dodge its shots up close!)

Thanks again for the time taken to give it a go, and for feeding back! - massively appreciated!
 

Yrbiax

Member
Not sure why the first turret isn't shooting, unless you're out of range of it's sensor (they have a few hundred pixels range, with line of sight to be implemented too) - it's a high difficulty level turret, so it's on level 5 or 6 (which I see you're on!), and I think I shortened it's sensor range... (it's a sod to dodge its shots up close!)
Well actually it did shoot, but those bullets didnt do anything to ship.
 
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