Zordak [NEW DEMO - 2022-04-23] [WINDOWS/LINUX]

M

Misty

Guest
The power suit looks too much the same colors as the environment.

Like I get, that soldiers in real life have camouflage. But the whole Call of Duty ghillie suit thing I'm not a big fan of.
 

Apapappa

Member
The power suit looks too much the same colors as the environment.

Like I get, that soldiers in real life have camouflage. But the whole Call of Duty ghillie suit thing I'm not a big fan of.
Sure, the player may blend a bit with the environment sometimes, depending on the current area.
But, assuming you looked at the new gif, the gif format ruins colors a bit and it's also small, when playing the game in fullscreen or a larger window this becomes less of an issue.
 

Apapappa

Member
I've been working on room layouts and the world of the game this week so not much has changed visually.
Almost all room layouts for the entire world now have a design and I've rerouted a lot of the "guiding path" as I would call it.
This path only guides the player to a certain point and then pretty much drops off completely to basically force the player to explore.

I've also changed/improved a few other already existing things such as:
There is now a "cutscene-like" effect when you enter a save station.
I've added glowing lights trying to tell the player where to go during the facility escape sequence.
Added a "legend" to the fullscreen map which shows what area you are in and it's corresponding color.
And some other smaller things.

Here's a gif of said save effect:

Anyway, if you have anything to comment on, please do so since I'm still looking for feedback!
 

Apapappa

Member
This week I've been finalizing the world map and designing bosses, so barely any visual updates this week either.

There's only two uncompleted boss rooms left on the map now.
Every single item in the game has been placed on the map aswell.
I've improved drawing performance a little bit.
Fixed a couple of issues.
Redesigned how some items work.
And other random things.

So the next steps would be:
Designing the two bosses.
Start actually creating and adding rooms to the game.

Guess that's it.

Here's a timelapse of me creating a room using my level editor:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/dy916kukke7jnh5/room_creation_timelapse.mp4?dl=0
 

Apapappa

Member
Another week has passed...

I've just done some random things this week so here a list of some of the changes:

Added some new tiles.
Added two more upgrades.
Improved player control responsiveness, mostly related to jumping.
Added a few rooms.
Updated a bunch of existing rooms.
Fixed a bunch of things.
Added a new enemy.
Re-worked ledge grabbing a bit, should be more consistent now.

Anyway, here's a gif of a WIP area and new beam sprites:
 

Lhargo

Member
Tried the game, it was really fun once I got the controls mastered. can you do a tutorial on how you did the crt scanlines shader please?
 

Apapappa

Member
Tried the game, it was really fun once I got the controls mastered. can you do a tutorial on how you did the crt scanlines shader please?
Hey, sorry for the late reply and thanks for trying the demo. :)

I don't really want to make a tutorial or anything but I guess I can try and give a very basic explanation of the shader.

Shader:
Vertex shader is default.

Fragment shader:
main void
{
sample the diffuse surface color and multiply it by the color tint uniform
multiply that result with the scanline function
send that result in to the dust function
set output color to the result of the dust function
set output alpha to 1 because i dont need it
}

scanline function:
{
sample scanline texture alpha
sample red and green with different x/y offsets for red and green from diffuse surface
with x being horizontal separation and y the vertical flicker position
subtract scanline texture alpha from red and green
return the color divided by 2 with some brightness additions
}

dust function
{
sample the dust texture with offsets
multiply that with the dust intensity
add it back to the base color
return that color
}

I realize this probably did not help at all, but I wrote a post in detail explaining the shader and then I realized, I don't really want to just give it away, I want it to stay unique to my game, if you understand what I mean.
So, sorry this probably didn't help much, at least you might have a slightly better idea on how it could be done now.





Anyway, here's a post for the sake of giving everyone an update on the game, a WIP new enemy:

I am actually working on the game even though it might seem like I'm not, I still have personal issues going on and I'm not a very big fan of spoilers so I have trouble deciding what I want to show or not.
I'm open to suggestions on what kind of things people want to see if anyone has anything in mind.
 

Apapappa

Member
I'll try it again
Very interested
Okay, nice. This helps a bit with motivation. :)
Daaaaaaaaaaaamn bro, this is looking very good! That shader is unbeliavable
Thanks, glad you like it. ;)

-------------------------

I'm trying to work on only demo related things for now but there is still quite a bit to do before it is ready.
The new demo will obviously be similar to the old one but a bit more "opened up".
It will feature countless changes to pretty much everything since the previous demo.
So hopefully it will feel fresh anyway, since there is a lot of redesigned areas and new ones with more opportunities for exploration.
 

Apapappa

Member
Redesigned that old Control Chip upgrade a bit:


I've come up with more things I want to put in the demo (as usual) so it's done when it's done.
The list is getting smaller though which is a good sign I guess.
This is one of the reasons why I won't give a release date or anything, since I always forget/come up with new things I want to add before releasing something.
Anyway, I'll get back to it.
 

Joe Ellis

Member
Nice to see more development! I know exactly what you mean about forgetting\coming up with new things. It's looking great though, who cares if it's released in 1 year, 2 years.. it'll be great whenever it comes out
 

Apapappa

Member
Nice to see more development! I know exactly what you mean about forgetting\coming up with new things. It's looking great though, who cares if it's released in 1 year, 2 years.. it'll be great whenever it comes out
Woops, forgot to reply earlier, sorry.

Yeah, there's too many things to do and so little time, it's hard to decide what has to be dropped.

Thanks and I *want* the full game to be done before the end of the year but we all know that: what one wants, never happens.
So it will probably take longer.

Anyway, thanks for the motivation boost. ;)
 

Apapappa

Member
The new demo is not done just yet.
*HOPEFULLY* it will be done next week, but don't take my word on that.

That list I was talking about earlier is pretty much done now except for a few things.
The problem though, is that those few things are quite substantial, so we'll see how this goes.

If all goes well, it SHOULD be done by next week, but if not, then the week after that I guess.
(this is why I don't want to do release dates)


Anyway, here's a new gif:
 
D

DirectShift

Guest
You should post material on subreddit "/metroidvania", people are going to love it, believe me! They like super metroid lookalikes a lot.
 

Apapappa

Member
You should post material on subreddit "/metroidvania", people are going to love it, believe me! They like super metroid lookalikes a lot.
Yeah, I'm going to try and start posting on more places after the new demo is finished, maybe like gamejolt or something aswell.
Some places just seem to hate "self-advertising" though, at least that's the impression I've got from reading random stuff.
Not sure how one is supposed to advertise their product without advertising their product....
Thanks for the suggestion anyway, I will probably post there when the demo is ready. :)
 

Apapappa

Member
So, the demo is pretty much 99% done BUT, I'm going to delay it one more week for final testing.

I also want to try and add some new music tracks as that is something I originally wanted to do but haven't had the time yet.

Also need to test gamepads since I haven't done that in a few months.


But anyway, the only way the demo doesn't release next week is:
either me or my computer explodes.


In the meantime, have some new/updated screenshots:



 

Apapappa

Member
The new demo is here!




DEMO LINK: https://apapappa.itch.io/zordak


This should more accurately represent the final product and as I've mentioned before, will be the last demo content wise.

There has been too many changes (over 6 months of changes) to post a changelog so you will just have to play it and see.

Looking for any kind of feedback as always.


Hope you all enjoy and please help spread the word in any way you can (not required of course) as it would be greatly appreciated.
I'm only asking because I pretty much need this game to "succeed".
Twitter (for anyone interested): https://twitter.com/ApapappaGames
 

John Andrews

Living Enigma
Ok now this game IS epic.

The graphics are sleek and on point, extremely good and pleasing to the eye, to mine at least, the lighting system is awesome! And if you could, I'd like to know how you did it!? Little details here and there make the game even better and eye catching, it starts off a little bit slow, but it doesn't stop you from playing as you begin to get into action fairly quickly, which I liked, as when I got to the first boss, it was awesome.

I got as far as the first boss and everything is really good so far! I'll keep playing to get more things and discover more about the story, if it has, and of course, I'll keep this game in my watch list because, it's really good, I liked it a lot, keep the sauce coming chief.
 

pixeltroid

Member
hey. playing your demo now....I just beat the slime boss and I thought I'd tell you what I think...and what can I say? Its looking great. Love the light effects of the robot enemies and the spikes! I also love the attention to detail, like the grass swaying when a bullet flies over it! I also like the level design and the enemy designs.

You have something awesome. Keep at it! :D
 

Apapappa

Member
hey Im not able to leave this room.
How do I leave the room?
Ive been stuck there for the last 15 minutes. Kinda losing patience.. o_O
This room is teaching you a fundamental part of the game. ;)
You have a new weapon, right? :p




I'll reply to the other two posts in a bit, just thought this one seemed more urgent for the moment.
I need to wake up and eat my breakfast. ^^
 

Apapappa

Member
Ok now this game IS epic.

The graphics are sleek and on point, extremely good and pleasing to the eye, to mine at least, the lighting system is awesome! And if you could, I'd like to know how you did it!? Little details here and there make the game even better and eye catching, it starts off a little bit slow, but it doesn't stop you from playing as you begin to get into action fairly quickly, which I liked, as when I got to the first boss, it was awesome.

I got as far as the first boss and everything is really good so far! I'll keep playing to get more things and discover more about the story, if it has, and of course, I'll keep this game in my watch list because, it's really good, I liked it a lot, keep the sauce coming chief.
Thanks a lot for the feedback.
Details are kinda my thing, or at least I'm trying to make it my thing. ^^
Story is not really the main point of the game but it helps to have some so the player understands a bit of what is going on.

As for the lighting system, I don't really want to go in full detail so I'll just say this:
It's basically a combination of multiple shaders, surfaces and blending, depending on what graphics settings are turned on.

Thanks again for showing interest in the game and I'll keep on working as long as I'm breathing. ;)

hey. playing your demo now....I just beat the slime boss and I thought I'd tell you what I think...and what can I say? Its looking great. Love the light effects of the robot enemies and the spikes! I also love the attention to detail, like the grass swaying when a bullet flies over it! I also like the level design and the enemy designs.

You have something awesome. Keep at it! :D
Glad you like the game. :)
As mentioned replying to John Andrews, details are kind of my thing, so hopefully the work is paying off. ^^

As for the enemy designs, *most* of them are variations of enemies like in super metroid so I can't take all credit there, I do try to make them different though.

With the level design I also try to take in as much good ideas and inspiration as I can from super metroid and then doing them my way with keeping some of their good designs in mind. (at least what I consider good designs)

So if it's not painfully obvious already, this game is *heavily* based on super metroid / metroid fusion. ;)
(mostly super metroid though)

Anyway, thanks for the feedback!
 

pixeltroid

Member
This room is teaching you a fundamental part of the game. ;)
You have a new weapon, right? :p

Hey. Im pretty sure I used the weapon against the green door (i remembered that from Metroid) but it didnt work. Also the enemies in the room dont spawn anymore of that weapon. :/
 

Apapappa

Member
Hey. Im pretty sure I used the weapon against the green door (i remembered that from Metroid) but it didnt work. Also the enemies in the room dont spawn anymore of that weapon. :/

Also....just a heads-up....

There is a character named "Zordak" in World of Warcraft.

https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/character/us/black-dragonflight/zordak

o_O
Just tested if the enemies in that room drop ammo on the same exe I uploaded and they did, not sure what to say about that.
Haven't tested the door yet since I've already opened it on that save file but it worked during all the testing I did before without changing anything after that.
So either there is some sort of bug or else I don't know. :(

Also, not sure how that WoW character could affect me but now I know I guess. :p
 

Apapappa

Member
So, I asked this on twitter but didn't get any response. (might have been a bad time or noone really cares)

The question is:
Is playing this game on linux something anyone would care about?

More specifically ubuntu 14.04 LTS (as some of you probably know), might work on others too, no clue.
I don't know much about linux but the game seems to mostly work in a virtual machine without shaders at the moment.

Mostly asking this to work out if this would be worth my time or not.
 

Micah_DS

Member
I saw the tweet but didn't respond because I don't have Linux, so I was just thinking, "Ah, doesn't apply to me, I'll leave it to Linux users to respond." I wonder if other people might have had a similar thought, so they didn't say anything?

Maybe wait until someone with Linux asks for a Linux version, and until then, don't worry about it?
Or perhaps find a way to reach Linux users: Perhaps tweeting a question with some kind of Linux hashtag next time, or perhaps finding a Linux forum where it's appropriate to advertise your game and such.
 

Apapappa

Member
I saw the tweet but didn't respond because I don't have Linux, so I was just thinking, "Ah, doesn't apply to me, I'll leave it to Linux users to respond." I wonder if other people might have had a similar thought, so they didn't say anything?

Maybe wait until someone with Linux asks for a Linux version, and until then, don't worry about it?
Or perhaps find a way to reach Linux users: Perhaps tweeting a question with some kind of Linux hashtag next time, or perhaps finding a Linux forum where it's appropriate to advertise your game and such.
Yeah sure, I figured only people using linux would answer, so most likely noone saw it.
"noone really cares" may have been a bad choice of words now that I think about it.

I had someone ask for a linux version a long time ago so that's why I wanted to try and ask some larger groups of people to see if it would be worth my time.

Turns out it wasn't that much of a hassle to get it to run anyway as I now have a mostly working version that looks and seems to run basically the same as the windows version.
(just haven't tested it enough yet)

And yes, you're right, I would probably have to ask around in some more linux oriented places, the tweet and the last post here were just a shot in the dark basically.
 

Apapappa

Member
A linux demo is now available. (experimental)
The demo has also been updated with some fixes and improvements based on feedback. (both windows and linux)



Link: https://apapappa.itch.io/zordak

The linux version has only been tested in a virtual machine, I can't test it any other way at this moment.
I have included a readme file to help get it up and running, so please read that for more information.


Any feedback is appreciated as always!
 

Apapappa

Member
Hello again, it's been a while.
If you want to know a bit more of why it's been a while, then you can check my twitter since I've posted a few short updates there.
https://twitter.com/ApapappaGames

Anyway, I'm back to Zordak again, added a basic localization system, some new areas and such things.
I don't really have much to say this time but I do have a new gif:

Maybe I will have more to say next time, we'll see.
 

Apapappa

Member
Hey again.

Pretty much only worked on aquatica for a while now so here's another gif of the area:

There will be new enemies and such in the area, I just haven't made them yet.

I've made some adjustments to the HUD, moved and removed some unnecessary elements to reserve space.
I've added a new menu option - Sharpness, this allows you to increase game screen sharpness to alleviate some blurriness.

These changes are not in the demo and probably won't be for a long time, just wanted to update you all on some additions/changes.

Anyway, that's it for now.
 

Yrbiax

Member
Hey, i tried your demo.

I really loved atmosphere. :)
zordak2.png
zordak3.png
I got stuck here though. Not sure if i missed something obvious.
 

Apapappa

Member
Hey, i tried your demo.

I really loved atmosphere. :)
View attachment 25387
View attachment 25388
I got stuck here though. Not sure if i missed something obvious.
Thanks for trying the demo.

From looking at the map screenshot I'm assuming the crumbling "bridge" is the problem.
This bridge has been removed and the room redesigned in the current version of the game as this part was causing problems for multiple people, it also felt a bit out of place anyway.
But here is what you currently have to do:
Start running from the previous room to the left and just keep running over the bridge.

As for the second screenshot, that item is not obtainable in the demo version. ;)

Thanks again for playing the game and glad you like it. :)
 

Apapappa

Member
Hello again.

It's been one of the best weeks in a long time.

I've somehow managed to create 18 new rooms and a bunch of other stuff aswell.
Pretty happy with that I guess.

New gif as usual:
Had to make this one quickly as I'm short on time today so it didn't turn out that great.

Anyway, until next time.
 

Apapappa

Member
Oh. I just played your new demo.

It's super cool. All you need is better character animation.
Thanks.

Could you go into more detail which animations you are referring to?

I know the crouching one might not be popular and the landing animation may be a bit abrupt.
I do have some things I would LIKE to do but it's a lot of work so it's going to take time.

Those would be:
Adding ledge grab shooting support in 3-5 directions (probably 3, straight and diagonal up/down).
Improving shooting animations overall to support more that just a freeze frame basically.
Improving said landing animation making it less abrupt.
Adding a ledge grab jump animation like the player pushing itself up.
Either adding another state for crawling or reworking the crouching animation into a crawl as this would help hitting enemies that are close to the floor. (Not excited about this one)
 

Arashi

Member
Thanks.

Could you go into more detail which animations you are referring to?
The same as last year. Crouching, running, kicking, haning. Pretty much everything. You should consider outsorsing character animation before release. Your game is very solid, I loved your bosses. But human animation is just not your thing.
 

Apapappa

Member
The same as last year. Crouching, running, kicking, haning. Pretty much everything. You should consider outsorsing character animation before release. Your game is very solid, I loved your bosses. But human animation is just not your thing.
*incoming giant post*

Okay so, I'll go over some of the animations since you said "pretty much everything".

Suit running animation:
I know there is some funky stuff going on with the legs (mostly because of the next part here) and the upper body should probably rotate a bit left and right.
And because it is not rotating a bit to the left/right at this moment it does look a bit stiff as well.

Non-suit running animation:
I don't really know what is wrong with this one though, it's not perfect of course but I think it seems to flow pretty well?

Crouching animations:
Here I can definitely recognize that there are some issues, it should probably be more like a crawl but one reason for not having a crawl is that you're not supposed to be able to go through 1 tile gaps.
If it was a crawl it would look/feel weird not being able to go through 1 tile gaps.

Another issue with it not being a crawl at this time is that it makes it harder to hit close to ground enemies.
I would like to be able to fix this I just have not found a good solution yet.

Ledge grab animations:
These were added very quickly when I first put them in the game so yes, they need an update at some point.

To add to this one, I'm probably going to add the ledge grab jump animation with the player pushing itself up as I mentioned before.
And also the ledge grab shooting support which I also mentioned.

Standing kick animation:
This one would probably benefit from more wind-up and making it look less stiff, otherwise, I don't know.

Crouch kick animation:
This one has more problems than the standing one, but that's mostly because crouch is the way it is right now.
It could probably benefit from the same things the standing one would.

Shooting animations:
They're not really animations at this point and more like freeze frames so as I said before, I would like to add some kind of animation to these but not sure if it's going to happen as this would be very annoying to add in the current animation system.

Landing animation:
Same as I said before, I'd like to make this less abrupt/snappy and only keep the abruptness for the hard landings.
I might add different stages of landing animation so all landings do not have to go through the whole animation that is currently in.

Animations overall:
There are issues of varying sizes everywhere, I want to try and fix most of them but it will be extremely time consuming and time is the one thing no-one has.
I probably missed some issues as well as I didn't really inspect the animations, I already see them every day.
(maybe that's why I'm not noticing some issues anymore)

About outsourcing:
I don't really want to outsource anything either since I want to do everything myself, outsourcing would also bring in even more complexity in making a game and I definitely don't want that.
I couldn't necessarily do it even if I wanted since money is not something I have.

Misc words:
I don't mean to sound "salty" or whatever I sound like, I'm just not sure how good is good enough when it comes to making a game these days...
I do understand there are issues, I just can't make it perfect because then the game will definitely never be completed.
And also, I do appreciate the feedback, any feedback is good feedback. (within reasoning)


Anyway, I'm glad you like the game and the bosses.
If you have any pointers on how you think I could improve the current animations, I'm all ears.
 

Apapappa

Member
Another week has passed so it's time for another update.

Since there recently were some animation talk in this thread, I decided to try and update at least one of them this week.
So here it is, a new WIP ledge grabbing animation:

Any feedback is appreciated.

I'm probably going to add an idle state after the transition from jumping/falling to ledge grabbing.

There is now support for 3 directional shooting while ledge grabbing as well.


I've also made some adjustments to the landing animation to allow for "softer" landing, meaning that the whole animation will not always play, just parts of it for faster continuation of movement.


Other work has also been done but it's mostly stuff I don't want to show yet.
I try to spoil as little as possible which is why I reuse old areas when showcasing animations and such.
(not a big fan of spoilers, as stated before)


Anyway, feel free to chime in about how you think I could improve any animation or mechanic or whatever.

You can take a look at my big post above, I've already mentioned some things I'd like to change about the animations there.
 

Apapappa

Member
This week I've done a few things:

Improved performance of multiple shaders, some big improvements and some small.
Reworked super missiles, they are no longer super missiles. (I'll probably talk about this more next week)
Reworked some parts of the world since super missiles have been reworked.
Added idle state animations to the new ledge grab animations.
And some other random stuff.

But the most important part for this week is:

I've added a "pseudo" auto aim to the player projectiles, if they fly close enough to an enemy they start moving towards that enemy, it can still miss though.
(may not be that easy to see in this gif)

This should generally make it easier to hit enemies.

So my question here is:
Is this auto aim feature something you think is good or bad?

It could be an option in the menu and not always activated if some prefer not having this.
 

Apapappa

Member
There's no problem with an auto aim as long as it's subtle like you have it. It helps speed up the game and probably enhances the experience.
Yeah I tried to make it very subtle, the whole point of this was to help hit close to ground / smaller enemies.
But I got some other feedback which seemed like this should not really be there by default.
The same person also suggested that it could be more aggressive and turned into an upgrade, which has been added to the list so something like this may or may not happen.
I also have plans for some accessibility type of things, this could be turned into one of those things as well, not sure yet.
Thanks for the feedback, I'll have to consider this feature a bit more.
 

Apapappa

Member
New week, new stuff.

Some things done this week:

Added a bunch of rooms.
Added 3 new enemies.
Added an option in the menu to completely disable controller/gamepad detection.
Also fixed a bunch of things, added new effects and such.

Pretty decent week overall.

I know I said I would probably talk more about the super missile replacement this week but I have decided not to and therefore leaving more things unspoiled. ;)
(until I accidentally spoil it or decide to actually show what it is)

This weeks gif:
Pira, a WIP new underwater enemy.
Still needs some tweaks but it seems good enough for now.

Still open for suggestions about the "pseudo" auto aim mechanic, I've got some conflicting feedback so far but I think I'm leaning towards possibly making it an accessibility type of option.

Anyway, that's it for this devlog, thanks for reading.
 
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