Feedback Space Shooter (Work in Progress)

[SgtMoose]

Name: Space Shooter (Working Title)
Genre(s): 2D, Space, Shooter, Arcade, Side-Scroller
File Type: Executable, Compressed ZIP Folder

Description:
Blast and dodge your way through endless waves of asteroids in a 2D arcade-style space shooter that borrows inspiration from games such as Gradius, Zero Wing, and Enemy Mind!

This games is a work-in-progress and I would like to improve it as much as possible. I will appreciate any and all feedback and opinions on the game including simple nitpicks.

Credits:
Credit for the background music goes to Jan125 on OpenGameArt.org and credit for the sound effects goes to fins, jeremysykes, RandomationPictures, josepharaoh99, wubitog, smcameron, harrythepotter17, bubaproducer, and several others on FreeSound.org

Download Link: http://gamejolt.com/games/space-shooter-work-in-progress/222744

Screenshots:

Spoiler

 

[amusudan]

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[SgtMoose]

Please put the images in a spoiler.

[ spoiler ] images [/spoiler] (without the spaces)

Thank you for showing me how to do that!

Do you have any comments or opinions on the game?

 

[PhenomenalDev]

Good game that handles well but it's a bit too easy imo because the lasers are rapid fire you can just hold down the trigger and not die and when you shoot a rock infront of you it will split into the smaller ones above you so all in all great game but needs a difficulty increase and maybe a slight speed bump.

 

[SgtMoose]

Good game that handles well but it's a bit too easy imo because the lasers are rapid fire you can just hold down the trigger and not die and when you shoot a rock infront of you it will split into the smaller ones above you so all in all great game but needs a difficulty increase and maybe a slight speed bump.

I appreciate the feedback!

First of all, a speed bump in what exactly? Player speed? Enemy speed?

About the difficulty, early in the development process I had someone test the game and he also said the game was too easy. I tried to fix the problem by increasing the damage dealt by the asteroids and decreasing the spawn frequencies of health and extra life pickups.

At one point I did consider scrapping the player health bar and going with a one-hit-and-your-dead health system similar to Gradius and Zero Wing. That would certainly give the game the coin-op level of difficulty that many arcade games had, but Gradius and Zero Wing had waves of enemies that spawned in a scripted and predictable fashion whereas the asteroids in my space shooter game are randomly generated.

 

[PhenomenalDev]

I meant a speed bump in general aka room speed and to increase the difficult make the small clusters slightly larger and faster and make the spawn nearer the main asteroids center so the player can't run headfirst in and shoot just in time and still win.

 

[SgtMoose]

New Release 0.1.1

Download Link: http://gamejolt.com/games/space-shooter-work-in-progress/222744


Space Shooter Version 0.1.1 Release Notes:

• Mediums-sized asteroids now create randomized clusters of small asteroids when destroyed
• Movement speed increased on all asteroid sizes
• Added "GAME COMPLETE" Message
• Increased laser cool-down time so that the player can no longer shoot lasers in rapid fire

Once again, I would like to improve on this game as much as I can, so any and all feedback and opinions are welcome!

 

[SgtMoose]

New Release 0.1.2

Download Link: http://gamejolt.com/games/space-shooter-work-in-progress/222744http://gamejolt.com/games/space-shooter-work-in-progress/222744

Space Shooter Version 0.1.2 Release Notes:

• Added camera shake effects on large asteroid explosions, boss red laser charge up, boss explosions, missile explosions, and warp sequence
• Stops level music on Level 2 and Boss Level when the player runs out of lives
• Stops lengthy sound effects (laser charge up, warp, and missile launch) when the player quits the game
• Increased damage inflicted by green and yellow lasers

Any and all feedback and opinions are welcome!

 

[shmupgame]

I like the camera shake, it was a nice surprise the first time I saw it and didn't feel overused or distracting. The player movement is a little slow for me but you may be going for that. The level progression felt slow as well, if you added some more action or more variety a little sooner it wouldn't feel so empty.

As for the nitpicking, I would like the shots fired faster. It seems impossible to destroy an asteroid in it's entirety before it is off screen. Combine this with the slow player movement and multiple asteroids and you could be potentially setting yourself up for some pain if you decide to shoot one in an attempt at increasing your score.

All in all, I think it has potential and with a few improvements/additions I believe it will be a joy to play.

 

[SgtMoose]

New Release 0.1.3

Download Link: http://gamejolt.com/games/space-shooter-work-in-progress/222744

Space Shooter Version 0.1.3 Release Notes:

• Increased speed of blue lasers
• Added explosions and spaceships in the background for extra effect
• Added alien spaceships as enemies (one type flies from right to left and shoots green lasers and the other type flies from left to right and shoots missiles)
• Added infrasound to warp sequence
• Changed title to "Odd Infinitum"
• Modified missiles so that they do not get destroyed when they collide with small asteroids
• Camera shake and chargeup sound effect stop immediately when the first phase boss is destroyed

Enjoy! Feel free to offer feedback!

 

[SgtMoose]

New Release 0.1.4

Download Link: http://gamejolt.com/games/odd-infinitum-work-in-progress/222744

Odd Infinitum Version 0.1.4 Release Notes:

• Mouse pointer disappears during gameplay and reappears in menus and upon level completion
• Created custom cursor
• Increased alien spaceship (green laser) health to two hitpoints
• Added smoke effects for when asteroids, alien spaceships, and the bosses are destroyed
• Alien spaceships can now be destroyed by player's missiles
• Alien spaceships now flash red when hit by lasers
• Added Boss healthbars
• Increased missile damage dealt to second phase Boss. Second phase Boss now loses 50 percent health when hit with a missile

I apologize for the delay. It's the beginning of a semester in college and I've been quite busy lately.

Enjoy! Any and all feedback is welcome!

 

[SgtMoose]

Hello everyone! I'm still here!
This took a while due to school, work, and everything else, but I've finally managed to take a big leap forward in my game's progress! Hooray!!

NEW RELEASE 0.2.0

Download Link: http://gamejolt.com/games/odd-infinitum-work-in-progress/222744

Odd Infinitum Version 0.2.0 Release Notes:

• Changed title font
• Animated menu buttons
• Added WASD and Mouse support
• Added controls menu and menu option
• Added Infinitum Mode
• Added Retro Mode
• Added Regain, Missile Consume, and Overheat mechanics
• Increased player movement speed

As usual, any feedback is welcome! What do you think of the new mechanics and changes I've added?

Thanks in advance and cheers to those who are still following my game's progress!

 

[Pisces]

Looks like this is one of your first games. Good start for novice, don't go too big and keep it simple; these games are great for free, and good to keep in a portfolio to build experience. I have a few frank opinions, 1. The start of the game takes too long. The part with "calibrating movement", "priming missile launcher" ect. Just takes too long. 2. The scrolling is right to left, and with enemies appearing from the left and moving to the right slowly; Just annoying cause I can't kill them when I can't get around to shooting them. 3. When I destroy asteroids, the smaller asteroids appear to the left more. I have to keep a good distance and it doesn't feel like good gameplay. 4. I really liked the asteroids from the left to the right, felt the rush and excitment. 5. Nice variety to the game, new things were introduced as I progressed, didn't feel overwhelmed and no sensory overload; the game has a good depth.

 

[IndianaBones]

It's a good start. Basic framework is good. Has all the parts, shooting, player movement, music, sound effects, menus etc...you've put some good work into it.

I agree with the asteroids comment from @Pisces, when I break up a big asteroid, the smaller pieces are to far to the left of it, they should be created in the same area as the big asteroid was.

I think once you add more "juice" to it you will get a really good game feel happening. Right now it feels a little bit flat. I think the player should be able to fire a little faster, perhaps add some glow to the player bullets to give it a more laser-y effect.

If you haven't seen them yet, I recommend a couple of videos:

Juice it Or Lose It by Martin Jonasson & Petri Purho
The Art of Screen Shake by Vlambeer

Take them with a pinch of salt, you still need solid game mechanics, but they do make some good points on how to spice up the game.

Also, could we please have the option to use CTRL as the fire button?

What happens when you use the arrow keys and the Space Bar, is that you get...I can't remember what its called...I'll just call it "key lock up".

If I am pressing space, I can't also move diagonally at the same time, because most keyboards are not able to handle certain key combinations at the same time.

 

[SgtMoose]

New Release 0.2.1

Download Link: http://gamejolt.com/games/odd-infinitum-work-in-progress/222744

Odd Infinitum Version 0.2.1 Release Notes:

• Added Powerups and assigned them to the 1,2,3 and 4 keys
• CTRL can now be used to fire lasers
• Shortened time length of tutorial sequence
• Medium asteroids now spawn further to the right of asteroids moving left and further to the left of those moving to the right
• Changed PLAY to MISSION
• Changed OPTIONS to STATUS
• Fixed player collision issues with room boundaries in Mission and Infinitum mode

Per request by @IndianaBones and @Pisces I attempted to fix the issue in which the smaller asteroids spawn too far to the left of a bigger asteroid once it's destroyed. Truth be told, the smaller asteroids did actually spawn where the bigger asteroid was, but due to their faster movement speed and the explosion animation they appear to spawn to the left of the big asteroid. Now the smaller asteroids are guaranteed to spawn a distance away from where the big asteroid was destroyed in order to give the player some opportunity to destroy the smaller asteroids.

@IndianaBones I appreciated the videos you gave me a link to; they will certainly be useful for this project and for my future games too! One of the most requested features by my playtesters was powerups, so I added some of those in an attempt to spice up the game. Let me know what you think of them!

 

[KaiXtr]

I've played the game, it's really cool and fun to play! The music and sound effects are amazing too! But I think the "mission cleared" window should be bigger and have more information, and game over instead From a window, a colored text with a different font. Speaking of this, I think they should create their own font for the game, using the function "font_add_sprite_ext", many small asteroids come out when I break one, I think that instead of a 4 or 6 together they should get 3 separated from each other. Another thing is that the sprite of the missile is shining only on the sides, above and below not, should set this. And the sprite of the healing box is kind of generic. And to finish, the red screen with a cyclone in the middle, indicating that there will be a boss appears without transition and delay to pass, and why I can't go closer to the boss? But outside all this the game is pretty cool!

 

[SgtMoose]

New Release 0.3.0

Download Link: http://gamejolt.com/games/odd-infinitum-work-in-progress/222744

Odd Infinitum Version 0.3.0 Release Notes:

• Updated Player Sprite
• Updated missile sprite for Player, alien enemies, and Overlord Thorik
• Added explosion to Overlord Thorik's missiles upon collision with Player
• Added glowing lasers
• Tutorial in mission mode is now skippable
• Added missile attack on Overlord Thorik
• Added camera shake to Overlord Thorik's missile attack and to the end of the laser attack
• Added temporary pause whenever an asteroid or alien enemy is destroyed
• Reduced number of small asteroids that are spawned when a medium-sized asteroid is destoryed to 3
• Infinitum Mode is unlocked after deafeating Overlord Throrik
• Retro Mode is unlocked after deafeating Alien Queen
• Powerup icons added to UI
• Added flare effects to alien laser attack (both common enemy and boss)

Note: In the bottom left corner of the menu is a gray triangle (which was used as the original sprite for the player spaceship). Clicking on it will lead to a room with a parallax background. If anyone testing this game would give just a second to try out that room and comment on how it affects/doesn't affect gameplay I would greatly appreciate it!

 

[SgtMoose]

Hey everyone,

If you've been following this thread, you may have been wondering why I haven't updated in a while.

Well, there are two reasons:

First, I've been busy quite busy with school work and a job so I haven't been able to work much on Odd Infinitum.

Second, I've run into several technical issues. I've been developing the game in GameMaker 8.1, and (probably) as a result, have run into technical problems including a recent file corruption. I also haven't been backing up regularly, so it would take a long time for me to reload the most recent backup and get it back to the state where I left off.

Because of these reasons, I've decided to stop working on this game for a while. I feel that I've spent way too long on this one game when I could be focusing on developing my other game ideas.

I still will not give up on this idea because I believe that it has potential, but I will wait until a future time to bring it back from the dead.

I thank all of you that have offered advice and support on this project!