This will be one of the last major demo updates for awhile, as now I need to focus on improving bosses/enemies to create a balanced, but also bullet filled environment, my goal with this game.
www.gamestone.co.uk/cavadius/
New features include the new stage, completely redone explosion system, music support, offline ranking, and a new boss that doesn't rely on random crap like the Trial Boss.
I'd like to know what you all think of this boss, as he uses a couple ideas from the first one I made, but now he doesn't have any randomness, his patterns rely on set attacks, the only thing that varies is when he fires them, as he'll either shoot after moving a set distance, or when you're in front of him.
-BOSS HINTS-
-There's a lot of safe spots. Find them, and victory will be moments away.
-The initial attack is indeed fierce, but there's an opening right in front...
-What seems like the most dangerous place when you're surrounded by pink death may actually be the safest...
-Sometimes, the best thing to do is just stay where you are...
Good luck!
New Cavadius demo (Stage 1 Demo)
New Cavadius demo (Stage 1 Demo)
YOU ARE APPROACHING THE TARGET OF ATTACK! THE MISSION STARTS NOW! ARE YOU READY?!
Looks good, although it reminds me of how much I completely suck at manics. 
A few suggestions I can think of off the top of my head: (had to run downstairs and use the family comp to play)
1) I, at least, find it horrendously difficult to start a combo. You basically have to kill two or three enemies in a 10-20 frame span to even be able to start it. Can this be tweaked a little?
2) I also find the lasers (at least at levels 1 and 2--didn't manage to get to 3) very difficult to control, and there also seems to be a rather large, obnoxious gap between laser firings which makes lasers in general rather weak in comparison to other ships.
3) When I got a highscore, I was using the Power type but the rankings said I was using Edit. Minor bug at best.
4) There doesn't seem to be any boss destruction points (As in Time: 43sec, bonus 42,500 or whatever the case might be). Is this intentional for the demo release or just a bug?
5) This is just a nitpick, but with Rotation options, I just think it looks odd when you get your second one. Normally the second is opposite the first, but on Cavadius it adds them in a circle. While this isn't nearly as game-breaking as the others, I just find it visually annoying.
Definately looks good at this point, keep it up. I look forward to watching this develop.
~EI
P.S.: One last thing: Where's the classic Gradius "let's give you four or five rows of enemies to get you started" intro?
EDIT: Oh, I forgot to mention...I like the music. Did you compose it yourself?
A few suggestions I can think of off the top of my head: (had to run downstairs and use the family comp to play)
1) I, at least, find it horrendously difficult to start a combo. You basically have to kill two or three enemies in a 10-20 frame span to even be able to start it. Can this be tweaked a little?
2) I also find the lasers (at least at levels 1 and 2--didn't manage to get to 3) very difficult to control, and there also seems to be a rather large, obnoxious gap between laser firings which makes lasers in general rather weak in comparison to other ships.
3) When I got a highscore, I was using the Power type but the rankings said I was using Edit. Minor bug at best.
4) There doesn't seem to be any boss destruction points (As in Time: 43sec, bonus 42,500 or whatever the case might be). Is this intentional for the demo release or just a bug?
5) This is just a nitpick, but with Rotation options, I just think it looks odd when you get your second one. Normally the second is opposite the first, but on Cavadius it adds them in a circle. While this isn't nearly as game-breaking as the others, I just find it visually annoying.
Definately looks good at this point, keep it up. I look forward to watching this develop.
~EI
P.S.: One last thing: Where's the classic Gradius "let's give you four or five rows of enemies to get you started" intro?
EDIT: Oh, I forgot to mention...I like the music. Did you compose it yourself?
Hey, on key release event (anykey) for object objSideZoomer. sound does not exist.
also the warning sound before the boss hangs, problem with destroy event for that sound
it's really cool to see you doing stuff like this in gamemaker. it's a really a great tool, even though it could be hard to believe sometimes when you look at stuff in the GM-forum. I'm using it for my current shmup-in progress too and i'm amazed at what it can pull off.
i'll look into your game more indepth soon
also the warning sound before the boss hangs, problem with destroy event for that sound
it's really cool to see you doing stuff like this in gamemaker. it's a really a great tool, even though it could be hard to believe sometimes when you look at stuff in the GM-forum. I'm using it for my current shmup-in progress too and i'm amazed at what it can pull off.
i'll look into your game more indepth soon
Last edited by mrMagenta on Thu Sep 01, 2005 10:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Huh, I thought I took care of that...The error is actually, well...An error in and of itself, the error is occuring because it's looking for a music file that apparently doesn't exist, but I could have sworn I put in a check to only do music playback if a file exists...
And I just solved my own problem. I still have it set to PLAY music files even if they don't exist. Okay, that's definately a bug to fix for people who don't grab the BGM.zip file. Thanks.
And I just solved my own problem. I still have it set to PLAY music files even if they don't exist. Okay, that's definately a bug to fix for people who don't grab the BGM.zip file. Thanks.
YOU ARE APPROACHING THE TARGET OF ATTACK! THE MISSION STARTS NOW! ARE YOU READY?!
To answer your concerns and questions EI...
1)This is partially because of how enemies spawn into the level right now. I'm thinking of placing them closer together to help. Another trick is one straight from DoDonPachi...Wait for a larger group to appear first, THEN start shooting. The more you have onscreen, the higher your combo potential.
2)I'm still tweaking the standard Laser, the delay exists to keep you from being able to fire a nonstop barrage of beams. I do agree it could use work, and I'm trying to come up with ways to make it effective without being broken. I have been toying with the idea of making it fire a constant stream, and increasing width with each level, but as things stand right now, a laser with a constant stream would be INCREDIBLY broken. I might have to redo the enemy health system if I take this approach.
3)Odd, perhaps I made a mistake in the current script I use for highscores. Basically, it checks to see if Missile, Double, Laser, and Option are all the same type. If they are, it considers it that type, if any doesn't equal the other, it's Edit. Not sure why it's labelling Power Type as Edit Type, but I'll definately look into it, thanks.
4)Yeah, I forgot to add the timer and bonus for the boss. That'll be fixed.
5)I went with Gradius III style Rotating Options, which behave like these. Besides, even if you have them orbit with 180 degrees of distance, you STILL have an odd looking set of Options once you have three.
PS)I figured what I had did a good job of that...But perhaps I need to tweak the opening waves a bit. I'll look into it, definately.
EDIT)I wish I'd composed the music. Stage 1 is actually an unused track from Salamander 2, the boss theme is the second boss rush theme from Gradius Gaiden.
1)This is partially because of how enemies spawn into the level right now. I'm thinking of placing them closer together to help. Another trick is one straight from DoDonPachi...Wait for a larger group to appear first, THEN start shooting. The more you have onscreen, the higher your combo potential.
2)I'm still tweaking the standard Laser, the delay exists to keep you from being able to fire a nonstop barrage of beams. I do agree it could use work, and I'm trying to come up with ways to make it effective without being broken. I have been toying with the idea of making it fire a constant stream, and increasing width with each level, but as things stand right now, a laser with a constant stream would be INCREDIBLY broken. I might have to redo the enemy health system if I take this approach.
3)Odd, perhaps I made a mistake in the current script I use for highscores. Basically, it checks to see if Missile, Double, Laser, and Option are all the same type. If they are, it considers it that type, if any doesn't equal the other, it's Edit. Not sure why it's labelling Power Type as Edit Type, but I'll definately look into it, thanks.
4)Yeah, I forgot to add the timer and bonus for the boss. That'll be fixed.
5)I went with Gradius III style Rotating Options, which behave like these. Besides, even if you have them orbit with 180 degrees of distance, you STILL have an odd looking set of Options once you have three.
PS)I figured what I had did a good job of that...But perhaps I need to tweak the opening waves a bit. I'll look into it, definately.
EDIT)I wish I'd composed the music. Stage 1 is actually an unused track from Salamander 2, the boss theme is the second boss rush theme from Gradius Gaiden.
YOU ARE APPROACHING THE TARGET OF ATTACK! THE MISSION STARTS NOW! ARE YOU READY?!
It's possible to destroy an enemy at the very edge of the screen and have it drop a power-up out of range. Your ship can't move far enough of the right (don't know about the left side).
The regular music keeps playing when the boss music is playing.
Settings don't seem to save.
Joystick doens't work in menus and ship selection.
I've played about 5 times on normal and 2 times on hard and die in the exact same spot with the boss in the exact same state
I think your boss is a little too cracked out for 'normal' but pretty cool for 'hard'.
I totally loved the boss because it was like fighting a 3rd loop level 5 boss from Strikers 1999 - if one existed. Man does that fuck me up when it shoots the super slow spread of big bullets.
Haven't killed it yet though.
Love it.
The regular music keeps playing when the boss music is playing.
Settings don't seem to save.
Joystick doens't work in menus and ship selection.
I've played about 5 times on normal and 2 times on hard and die in the exact same spot with the boss in the exact same state
I think your boss is a little too cracked out for 'normal' but pretty cool for 'hard'.
I totally loved the boss because it was like fighting a 3rd loop level 5 boss from Strikers 1999 - if one existed. Man does that fuck me up when it shoots the super slow spread of big bullets.
Haven't killed it yet though.
Love it.
Thoughts in bold.ForteMP3 wrote:To answer your concerns and questions EI...
1)This is partially because of how enemies spawn into the level right now. I'm thinking of placing them closer together to help. Another trick is one straight from DoDonPachi...Wait for a larger group to appear first, THEN start shooting. The more you have onscreen, the higher your combo potential.
Yeah, but even if you wait, most of the time there's only four or so onscreen, making comboing still horrendously difficult. One possibility might be giving a "full meter", so to speak, on the first hit of a new combo to help allievate this.
2)I'm still tweaking the standard Laser, the delay exists to keep you from being able to fire a nonstop barrage of beams. I do agree it could use work, and I'm trying to come up with ways to make it effective without being broken. I have been toying with the idea of making it fire a constant stream, and increasing width with each level, but as things stand right now, a laser with a constant stream would be INCREDIBLY broken. I might have to redo the enemy health system if I take this approach.
If the laser had a constant beam, really the only thing you'd have to edit would be the laser's power. Another possibility is making it always behave like the standard Gradius laser and increasing width (or looks) and increase its power. This would also be similar to how Gradius Galaxies handled the 2-level laser--level 1 was a normal Gradius laser, and level 2 was the "Cyclone" laser, but they both behaved the same, level 2 just had more offensive power. (I haven't played Gaiden, so I can't comment on how that works)
3)Odd, perhaps I made a mistake in the current script I use for highscores. Basically, it checks to see if Missile, Double, Laser, and Option are all the same type. If they are, it considers it that type, if any doesn't equal the other, it's Edit. Not sure why it's labelling Power Type as Edit Type, but I'll definately look into it, thanks.
No problem.
4)Yeah, I forgot to add the timer and bonus for the boss. That'll be fixed.
5)I went with Gradius III style Rotating Options, which behave like these. Besides, even if you have them orbit with 180 degrees of distance, you STILL have an odd looking set of Options once you have three.
I just checked Gradius III SNES, and the second option is opposite the first. I remember Gradius III Arc on the PS2 pack behaving the same way. Yes, the third would take a position at one of the other two cardinal directions, making it look odd, but with two they're opposite each other. That's all I was asking to fix.
PS)I figured what I had did a good job of that...But perhaps I need to tweak the opening waves a bit. I'll look into it, definately.
You should also have the repeating "Power up" zone music. It's a staple.
EDIT)I wish I'd composed the music. Stage 1 is actually an unused track from Salamander 2, the boss theme is the second boss rush theme from Gradius Gaiden.
Ah, that explains why the stage music sounded vaguely like some of the music from Salamander 2. Good stuff nontheless. Use the stage 2 song next, it's wonderful.
Oh, by the by, that boss is REALLY hard for a first boss. Just thought I'd agree with everyone else and let you know.
~EI
Cavadius doesn't use BulletML, just simple instance creation. While BulletML might be great if you're using a ton of predefined patterns in GM, I dunno if it's that great for making your own.
Personally, I just use various statements, typically like these
bullet=instance_create(x,y,objSmallBullet)
bullet.speed=5
bullet.direction=270
Or for a spread, I might do a repeat like the following
aim=250
repeat(5)
{
bullet=instance_create(x,y,objSmallBullet)
bullet.speed=5
bullet.direction=aim
aim+=10
}
For handling when bullets are actually created, using an alarm event is one way if it's simple, but if it's more complex or you want to have more control over when bullets are fired, you can use timelines. For bosses, I STRONGLY recommend using a timeline to control patterns, though in some cases a combination can be used too.
For example, because the diamond spray attack of the first boss is a simple looping spread, I have an alarm handle it, but the timeline turns the alarm on and off. The other parts of the attack patterns are all handled in the timeline.
I really wouldn't recommend using BulletML in GM, because it would have to load and unload external BulletML files constantly, which could lag the game and system down quite a bit.
Also, are you using written code or drag and drop? While Drag and Drop is a good way to start out for any beginner in GM, I can say this from my year and a half of experience, learn to write code, you'll have MUCH more control over your game with it.
Personally, I just use various statements, typically like these
bullet=instance_create(x,y,objSmallBullet)
bullet.speed=5
bullet.direction=270
Or for a spread, I might do a repeat like the following
aim=250
repeat(5)
{
bullet=instance_create(x,y,objSmallBullet)
bullet.speed=5
bullet.direction=aim
aim+=10
}
For handling when bullets are actually created, using an alarm event is one way if it's simple, but if it's more complex or you want to have more control over when bullets are fired, you can use timelines. For bosses, I STRONGLY recommend using a timeline to control patterns, though in some cases a combination can be used too.
For example, because the diamond spray attack of the first boss is a simple looping spread, I have an alarm handle it, but the timeline turns the alarm on and off. The other parts of the attack patterns are all handled in the timeline.
I really wouldn't recommend using BulletML in GM, because it would have to load and unload external BulletML files constantly, which could lag the game and system down quite a bit.
Also, are you using written code or drag and drop? While Drag and Drop is a good way to start out for any beginner in GM, I can say this from my year and a half of experience, learn to write code, you'll have MUCH more control over your game with it.
YOU ARE APPROACHING THE TARGET OF ATTACK! THE MISSION STARTS NOW! ARE YOU READY?!
Haven't done it yet, but I'm going to start work on the 1st Stage boss, by which I mean I'm redoing some of his attacks. Here's what you can expect to see different next time...
#1-No changes, except possibly making the big blue lasers only fire straight down, instead of 3-way.
#2-Going to completely redo this one, except for the diamond spray. That will simply be tweaked (Bullets move somewhat slower, rate of fire decrease). Instead of the scissor sweep like attacks you guys saw, I'll be having the outer laser guns fire crisscrossing needles outwards to restrict the dodging area, while the inner guns will fire 5-way spread lines made of lasers.
#3-The big diamond spread will be reduced in bullet numbers, Diamond Spray will be tweaked (Just like #2's). 5 way spreads may be replaced with new clump like needle attacks.
I'll let you all know when it's done, but hopefully this will make the first boss managable without taking away the manic shooter feel I'm aiming for.
As for the other bosses, while I haven't started them yet, I have ideas...Here's a few notes to give you an idea of what I'm planning...
Big Core MkII (From Gradius II, the guy with more lasers than any other Big Core type)
Pattern #1-Fires several V spreads (Shots further outward in the spread move slower than the shots closer to the center) from the cannons, in crisscrossing motions (IE, outermost guns fire, then second outermost, third, etc, until the innermost guns fire, then go back towards outermost)
Pattern #2-Cores fire several 5 way spreads (Bullets in spreads will be close together) going outwards (IE, start firing straight down, then a bit to each side, doing counter and clockwise rotations) while the guns will fire lines of lasers at the player in pairs.
Pattern #3-More crisscross shots using large lasers that fire straight down only, while the cores fire large spreads. This will be done as the boss strafes left and right.
Final Pattern-This will begin when one of MkII's cores is destroyed, leaving one intact. It will repeat Pattern #1 endlessly, but with another attack added:Lasers fired from the cannons of the MkII in a manner similar to the 5 way spreads the cores fired with pattern #2, only these start aimed at a position relative to the player.
Tetran (From Salamander, the tentacle core of doom! Tentacles will be destroyable, but that may not be such a good idea...)
Pattern #1-Five way spreads are fired in a counterclockwise pattern in one direction and 180 degrees from it as well.
Pattern #2-Large circle of needles is fired from the core at a slow speed, another circle is fired afterwards that covers the 'gaps' of the previous circle. This repeats a few times and then moves onto Pattern #3.
Conditional Attack-If the player moves too far away from Tetran, it will begin firing scissor spread attacks that start aimed outwards from the player, but will curve inwards to hit them. Staying within a certain distance of Tetran (IE, within the tentacles) will prevent it from using this attack.
Final Pattern-Executes if the Tentacles are destroyed. The intake like objects on Tetran's sides will begin firing several 5 way spreads in a circle shape, the core will do this as well with larger bullets. Along with this, the laser cannons (which normally don't fire) will begin firing crisscrossing laser spreads.
Those are some of the ideas I have so far, they're definately not final however.
NOTE:People who aren't afraid to visit a site with adult image boards (though this particular thread SHOULD be worksafe) can visit the 4chan post while it's up. 4chan does have a few shmuppers on it, so I thought I'd stick up some images and see if I could get input from any.
http://zip.4channel.org/v/res/183620.html
#1-No changes, except possibly making the big blue lasers only fire straight down, instead of 3-way.
#2-Going to completely redo this one, except for the diamond spray. That will simply be tweaked (Bullets move somewhat slower, rate of fire decrease). Instead of the scissor sweep like attacks you guys saw, I'll be having the outer laser guns fire crisscrossing needles outwards to restrict the dodging area, while the inner guns will fire 5-way spread lines made of lasers.
#3-The big diamond spread will be reduced in bullet numbers, Diamond Spray will be tweaked (Just like #2's). 5 way spreads may be replaced with new clump like needle attacks.
I'll let you all know when it's done, but hopefully this will make the first boss managable without taking away the manic shooter feel I'm aiming for.
As for the other bosses, while I haven't started them yet, I have ideas...Here's a few notes to give you an idea of what I'm planning...
Big Core MkII (From Gradius II, the guy with more lasers than any other Big Core type)
Pattern #1-Fires several V spreads (Shots further outward in the spread move slower than the shots closer to the center) from the cannons, in crisscrossing motions (IE, outermost guns fire, then second outermost, third, etc, until the innermost guns fire, then go back towards outermost)
Pattern #2-Cores fire several 5 way spreads (Bullets in spreads will be close together) going outwards (IE, start firing straight down, then a bit to each side, doing counter and clockwise rotations) while the guns will fire lines of lasers at the player in pairs.
Pattern #3-More crisscross shots using large lasers that fire straight down only, while the cores fire large spreads. This will be done as the boss strafes left and right.
Final Pattern-This will begin when one of MkII's cores is destroyed, leaving one intact. It will repeat Pattern #1 endlessly, but with another attack added:Lasers fired from the cannons of the MkII in a manner similar to the 5 way spreads the cores fired with pattern #2, only these start aimed at a position relative to the player.
Tetran (From Salamander, the tentacle core of doom! Tentacles will be destroyable, but that may not be such a good idea...)
Pattern #1-Five way spreads are fired in a counterclockwise pattern in one direction and 180 degrees from it as well.
Pattern #2-Large circle of needles is fired from the core at a slow speed, another circle is fired afterwards that covers the 'gaps' of the previous circle. This repeats a few times and then moves onto Pattern #3.
Conditional Attack-If the player moves too far away from Tetran, it will begin firing scissor spread attacks that start aimed outwards from the player, but will curve inwards to hit them. Staying within a certain distance of Tetran (IE, within the tentacles) will prevent it from using this attack.
Final Pattern-Executes if the Tentacles are destroyed. The intake like objects on Tetran's sides will begin firing several 5 way spreads in a circle shape, the core will do this as well with larger bullets. Along with this, the laser cannons (which normally don't fire) will begin firing crisscrossing laser spreads.
Those are some of the ideas I have so far, they're definately not final however.
NOTE:People who aren't afraid to visit a site with adult image boards (though this particular thread SHOULD be worksafe) can visit the 4chan post while it's up. 4chan does have a few shmuppers on it, so I thought I'd stick up some images and see if I could get input from any.
http://zip.4channel.org/v/res/183620.html
YOU ARE APPROACHING THE TARGET OF ATTACK! THE MISSION STARTS NOW! ARE YOU READY?!
The laser sucks now. that is obvious.
to not suck it should fire again after the end of the beam leaves the screen. this is how the real gradius games do it. increasing the level should increase either it's sssstrengthl or it's speed. I'd go for strength.the laser is supposed to be for nuking colums of popcorn enemies, and for concentrating firepower on boss cores. it's lousy for both at the moment.
I also find the bullets hard to see for some reason, adn the epxlosions look rather bullet-like, whichb further confuses things. the grtadius stye bullets are meant to be over a black background with stars. they are not very visible over anything else.
to not suck it should fire again after the end of the beam leaves the screen. this is how the real gradius games do it. increasing the level should increase either it's sssstrengthl or it's speed. I'd go for strength.the laser is supposed to be for nuking colums of popcorn enemies, and for concentrating firepower on boss cores. it's lousy for both at the moment.
I also find the bullets hard to see for some reason, adn the epxlosions look rather bullet-like, whichb further confuses things. the grtadius stye bullets are meant to be over a black background with stars. they are not very visible over anything else.
I have the same problem. I lose the bullets alot. I need to try the "manic" color. The explosions do help to hide the bullets in some cases.zaphod wrote:I also find the bullets hard to see for some reason, adn the epxlosions look rather bullet-like, whichb further confuses things. the grtadius stye bullets are meant to be over a black background with stars. they are not very visible over anything else.