As some of you have known I was very proud of my game Gun Ranger X when I completed it for release some time ago. I lost the original source and was pretty upset. 2 years later I am creating a second iteration using OpenGL and some better coding. I hope to not only match the first but present a better overall product. I've found that the cell count maxes out at around 105-129 cells depending on their position and side count,
I want this game to be viewed as both an artwork and challenge. I'm aware that the difficulty is inconsistent at the start due to the cell's random spawning but it does not warrant a change,
I've just finished implimenting a small program to set the colors for the game! The original would never let you save custom colors but you will see that it is now possible.
I've just been notified that the host sucked. I have uploaded to a new host in hopes of getting more thoughts/color schemes.
It would be neat if each interested member contributed their own color scheme and they would be in the final release. Just use your handle as a file name. All ".clr" files are transferable.
Some of the best shmups don't actually end in a vowel.
No, this game is not Space Invaders.
Thanks P_O, glad to see that you could get it working again.
I NEED really good shmupers to try and kill my game, seriously I need to establish how far the best possible player will get in the game to tweak difficulty.
Also, if you create a color theme you like I will include it in the next release. Just post the .clr file.
Here is the newest version with high scores and somewhat of a title screen. They might try it. One can run the setup program for custom controls and colors. The excite!
Got to Level 24 with 4.4 million. Nice game, though the jump in difficulty between dodging a wave that spawns at the bottom of the screen compared to one that spawns in the middle of the screen is drastic when you get to level 20+.
I have changed the way the cells spawn in the screen. They now heavily favor the center so not more point blanking the player at the edge of the safe zone. Also there is a bomb feature that you scrape to build. When you have scraped enough you gain a small dot marker under the ship.
This version has the future ideas for the game. You might do better now that it has a bomb. The bombs do damage to cells and remove all shots onscreen.
Ok well I have added some minor graphic updates. Also there is now a bomb gauge. Also I added sound and fixed a bug with the game restarting and leaving the player in the old position.
Here is the newest version with sound and some extra graphic effects. Still a while before I finish this.
I like how "not manic" this game is. It's sort of a zen version of Warning Forever. With WF, I always feel "on the bubble" where you just know you're going to get taken out at some point, but I don't feel that with this game - it's like it's very easy to anticipate death based on the easy shapes, so that gives it a calming effect, despite the screen full of bullets.
I saw no major problems, except when you die, it's hard to tell except for a sudden clearing of the screen of bullets (but I know this is because the game's at an early stage of development).
Good stuff. One thing I noticed, which I believe was present in the original as well, is that the hitboxes seem almost too small. Many times I was weaving through bullets thinking I should have been dead. I do like the fact that grazing is to tight. Even when the screen gets cluttered you have to intentionally graze to get anything worthwhile.
Stage 25, 4.8 million. Probably would have done better if I had read this page and found out about the bombs.
I don't think I want to use textures, I want the graphics to be simple but pleasing. I may add proper levels too and some normal enemies, leaving only the large balls of cells as bosses. It takes a traditional 80's approach of just making the game endless and ever more challenging but I fear the modern player wants some form of closure in the game so maybe the game should have 6 or 7 proper levels. Of course the modern player is a sugar fed idiot that wants an 80 hour long game full of minimal challenge. But I digress...
Infinitely long?-80's style (endless scoring challenge, endurance required for high scores)
or
Proper semi-scripted levels with end bosses and a definite endpoint?-90's style (memorization required for high scores)
I cannot make the game longer that 6 or 7 levels. To a proper shoot em up player, that is just about right with 2-3 minute long levels. Nobody wants to be stuck on a score based game for more than one sitting of about 30 to 45 minutes. The whole game should be a digestible full expearance in that time.
Some of the best shmups don't actually end in a vowel.
No, this game is not Space Invaders.
Same level and score as Damocles(Also didn't use bombs). I like the small hitboxes though. Are you planning on putting the kamakaze corpse enemies back in? Their absence makes the game less frustrating but takes away some the originality of the game. You should put them back in even though I had a bit more fun without them. Go with the 80's style, the other way is overdone nowadays. Not only that but developers like ABA game's and Hik Ware have kind of made that style more comfortable to freeware shmup fanatics like me. I also 2nd the no texture option. Current ship speed works for me.
Awesome game.
I did great so much water and milk that I threw up when I was little.
Thanks for the toughts, I DO plan on adding the falling dead cells back in. This time I plan to make them destructible (or you could bring down the entire wall of cells with a bomb).
Some of the best shmups don't actually end in a vowel.
No, this game is not Space Invaders.
Made it to stage 28 with 5.8 Million(used bombs this time).
If your going to make the Kamazaze enemies destructible you should only make them killable with scathing shots. Make them very easy to kill with them and make the scathing shots auto lock to them. This will encourage risky play and make them more manageble a the same time. It will also make the final pattern for each level more difficult. Also perhaps you should encourage people not to bomb by making scathing while still on their first bomb grow as they play. So you will have a scoring strategy that encourages heavy scathing and relaince on bullet dodging over a short amount of levels. Or one that get's high scores based off of sheer amount of levels gotten through. The fact you have only three lives and each level becomes more vailable will help this out even more. Also you should only stop awarding the point bonuses only if they use a bomb, dying shouldn't matter. Also give the player a bit more recovery after bombing or dying, make it so you can't bomb instantly after dying or die instantly after bombing. This lead to fustration once where I had not pressed the bomb button in time so I lost both a life and a bomb insantly.
I did great so much water and milk that I threw up when I was little.
This time I plan to make them destructible (or you could bring down the entire wall of cells with a bomb).