A Milliion Conquests. - in development

[Darckonte]

Hi!

After some time working in my engine + game + almost all i've come up with something that seems is going forward, and something I'm happy with.

I share here so I can gather some "fresh feedback" as I'm too much used to the game itself. In this trailer it doesn't show so much enemies but I'm checking if this is a graphic level that you may see acceptable for a commercial game.

as I'm solo developer (as most of you here), some times I could lose perspective.

Video Here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2r97_Cf7Xo

[clippa]

It looks decent!
The ship movement is awful though, is that analogue movement or inertia? You want it to be precise 1:1 start/stop digital movement.

I would change the play area to something more narrow. If you are going to use the full screen, make the ships really fast so you can have players whizzing from one side of the screen to the other to reach oncoming enemies quickly and add a focus button so they can slow their ship down for more precise dodging through dense bullet patterns.

I really like the look of it, looks like it's got great potential!

[Sumez]

I love the visual style of the game, it's very competent. Agreed on ship movement, I'm guessing it uses analog sticks? While that works for some games, I'm not sure it's a good idea for something like this. It generally rarely is for "classic" shooters.

[Darckonte]

Thanks for your feedback.

Yes the controls are digital but at the moment "unity adds" some inertia to it. I've to work on it better but the controls will be 1:1 as you say.

I want to challenge myself to use all area of the screen. I've detected that using some patterns and movement side to side (like blocking with obstacles one side of the screen) and so, it could be narrowed but not constrainted.

That will be part of the level design challenge.

Thanks! I was challenging the visual style at the moment ! I'm glad you liked it! ^_^.

[ciox]

Thanks for your feedback.

Yes the controls are digital but at the moment "unity adds" some inertia to it. I've to work on it better but the controls will be 1:1 as you say.

I want to challenge myself to use all area of the screen. I've detected that using some patterns and movement side to side (like blocking with obstacles one side of the screen) and so, it could be narrowed but not constrainted.

That will be part of the level design challenge.

Thanks! I was challenging the visual style at the moment ! I'm glad you liked it! ^_^.

Looks like a good start. Widescreen vertical shmups can be slightly challenging to make, but you can look at examples like Mars Matrix or Snops Attack to see how they used all the screen space and kept things interesting.

For movement what you want to do is set the object's XY location yourself, relying on the engine for movement will almost always result in some kind of acceleration or smoothing, which annoys shmup players.

[casualcoder]

Keep building it out, but here's a few suggestions.

Tightening up player movement. It looks like is has some acceleration on it, possibly owing to reading inputs as floats+analog stick. Or perhaps you're using physics for movement? Don't do either.

Just on/off, 1/0 for movement. Nobody wants inertia/accel in shooters. This is extremely simple though so It's not a big deal to implement.

Maybe tone down the bloom effects. Lighting effects can definitely add some flare but beware of smudging up those crisp pixels too much.

Go bonkers with bullets and collectibles and a ton of crazy stuff going on in the screen and you won't have to worry about making your backgrounds all that interesting.

I know it's a battle, but just build it up bit by bit!

[n0rtygames]

hey man

If unity is "adding" some inertia - try the following:

1. Go in to your input manager settings and tweak the "gravity" setting on your horizontal/vertical axis to be something stupid like 9000

https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/class-InputManager.html

2. If you are using rigidbodies for your ships and controlling them through physics, play around with the drag setting.

Code: Select all

pseudocode

if (dir.magnitude > 0 )
{
     rbody.drag = 0;
     rbody.velocity = dir * speed;
}
else
{
     rbody.drag = 1000; // insta stop
     rbody.velocity = vector3.zero;
}

[Darckonte]

hey man

If unity is "adding" some inertia - try the following:

1. Go in to your input manager settings and tweak the "gravity" setting on your horizontal/vertical axis to be something stupid like 9000

https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/class-InputManager.html

2. If you are using rigidbodies for your ships and controlling them through physics, play around with the drag setting.

Code: Select all

pseudocode

if (dir.magnitude > 0 )
{
     rbody.drag = 0;
     rbody.velocity = dir * speed;
}
else
{
     rbody.drag = 1000; // insta stop
     rbody.velocity = vector3.zero;
}

Wow !! thanks very much for the feedback. I've got the step based movement but not in this video. I'll for sure give it a go for what you say! thanks.

[Darckonte]

Hi!

I've implemented some changes and here's the last devlog (It's in spanish, you can mute if that distracts you) but I was rushing to show you guys the new changes. I've added a new bossfight & new level + improved ship movement I think now its more dynamic and so.

I hope it looks lots better now.

Here's the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Elfe9pvZFUY

[n0rtygames]

I think you have the basis of a very good game in the making

The movement still looks like it accelerates towards the desired speed.

Perhaps this would be better for you.

Code: Select all

bool bLeft=InputManager.GetButton("L Arrow");
bool bRight=InputManager.GetButton("R Arrow");
bool bUp=InputManager.GetButton("U Arrow");
bool bDown=InputManager.GetButton("D Arrow");

Vector2 movedir = Vector2.zero;
if (bLeft) movedir.x -=1;
if (bRight) movedir.x +=1;
if (bUp) movedir.y +=1;
if (bDown) movedir.y -= 1;

transform.position = transform.postion + (moveDir*Speed*Time.deltaTime);

and again, set the snapping/gravity settings in your controls so the inputs are instant

[Darckonte]

I think you have the basis of a very good game in the making

The movement still looks like it accelerates towards the desired speed.

Perhaps this would be better for you.

and again, set the snapping/gravity settings in your controls so the inputs are instant

Thanks a lot for the compliements!! I've worked hard on this new build, still far from objective though.

What do you think is a good level number for first version? I was going to create the early access with 3 levels but I feel is too few for the majority? given that there isn't any metagame involved just arcade play...

Also, I'll tweak even further the movement. Thanks a lot for your feedback!

[Darckonte]

After lots of work I've prepared the early access preview page!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1129 ... Conquests/

please give it a go. And any feedback about the page itself is very welcome!! I expect to have the early access version of the game by end of September. but as this is a hobby project that I do in my free time it may take longer... you never knows.

Thanks a lot mates!

[Darckonte]

Well the game has been published!!

Please let me know your feedback: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1129 ... Conquests/

Thanks for all your support!!