Zero Cross

[Udderdude]

Zomg new shmup. This is what XOP G was going to be, except I'm pretty much done with autoscrolling vertical shooters, so I renamed it and remade it into an arena shooter. I feel the gameplay mechanics I had planned for it fit this style of shmup much better. Also, it's using (or going to use) 99% of the art that was going to be in XOP G.

I'm also planning an arcade course where you play through the later levels in sequence, with limited lives.

Edit: Finished! http://rydia.net/udder/prog/zerocross/index.html

[shmuppyLove]

Woo I cleared easy mode with 30,800 points

[trap15]

I beat you by 200 points

[n0rtygames]

Fun

One minor annoyance for me was the fact that the switch focus didn't remember its state between stages, so I was always having to switch at the start of a round. I think having some kind of graphical representation would be good too - just a little icon to the right or something

edit: 28,800

[Udderdude]

Fun :)

One minor annoyance for me was the fact that the switch focus didn't remember its state between stages, so I was always having to switch at the start of a round. I think having some kind of graphical representation would be good too - just a little icon to the right or something :)

The circle around your ship changes color when the mode does.

Also, you get x10 points on Normal and x100 points on Hard.

[Lord Satori]

It's fun I suppose, but it's no XOP.

[Udderdude]

I agree the green and yellow levels aren't too exciting just yet. I have to add the large enemies and get to the harder (orange/red) levels before it starts getting really intense.

I also have to put some more balancing effort in. So far, I've added a 9 sec cooldown to the hijack shot after you use a black hole.

[Udderdude]

For those hoping for a way to play the game with a stick, I've added a basic mode that removes the need for mouse aiming. It also removes the hijack shot/black hole.

[Suslik]

Easy mode is definitely easy. I liked the music and everything else seemed okay too.

[Udderdude]

Yeah, your score is 100 times smaller than it would be if you played on hard, and there's no seperate highscore board for each skill, so there's really no reason to play on easy unless you're terrible at shmups.

[shmuppyLove]

there's really no reason to play on easy unless you're terrible at shmups.

[Udderdude]

[Udderdude]

Updated the test version with the first strong enemy, which appears in level 13.

[Rozyrg]

Although it took the larger enemies showing up for me to start getting into it, it's a pretty darn addictive little shooter, especially on Hard. Love the music too. Glad those sprites got put to good use after all.

[Udderdude]

Thanks, glad you like it so far.

[Udderdude]

I've updated the demo with level 14, and a new level goal in level 12. You have to seal rifts by sitting on top of them for about 4-5 seconds each.

There's also now a goal bonus for completing each goal. You can fail to get the goal bonus on some goals by waiting too long after the enemies stop arriving and the level will now automatically end.

[Udderdude]

One more update for today, I've added some more backgrounds and added the arcade course. Since it's just the demo/test version, it's pretty short, but it's in there!

Also, failing a defend friendly structures level is no longer instantly fatal. Instead, you don't get the goal bonus at the end of the level.

[BPzeBanshee]

I'm liking this a fair bit man. Shame about going with the arena route as opposed to a vert but whatever works, and this game does indeed work quite well.

One criticism so far: I don't see much point in the Black Hole feature, seeing as it takes some effort to actually get and has no value other than a bit of a bullet relief which I found to be less of an issue than running into enemies. Maybe if it turned bullets into small medals it'd be useful as a scoring mechanic as well as survival?

[Udderdude]

You already get points for cancelling bullets using the black hole. Maybe turning them into medals would be a cooler visual way of doing that, though.

Edit: I changed it so bullets are turned into medals. Also reduced the amount of black hole meter needed by 10.

[trap15]

I still think you should have a way to play the "advanced" with just a keyboard. Seriously, look into doing something like Shock Troopers, so that I can play without a mouse. Mouse control is the bane of my existence.

[Udderdude]

I'll look into it later, at the moment I've got to get the enemies shot patterns finished and then start on some more challenging levels and boss patterns/attacks, etc.

[BPzeBanshee]

Speaking of controls, why is it that the controls switch from WSAD/Q/E (which I thought was fine with mouse control) to ARROWs in fullscreen? Am I the only one who doesn't find this fitting?

[Udderdude]

This only happens in the demo/test version. Flash doesn't let you use anything but arrows+space in fullscreen in the browser.

In the full version you can use all keys in fullscreen.

Yeah, it sucks. I think Adobe may have recently did something about it, though, so I will have to check that out.

[BPzeBanshee]

Interesting, I didn't know that. I'm sure Warbird operated fine in fullscreen with Z key but it's been a while since I touched the Flash version. That was made under Adobe Flash CS4 if that helps.

I think this will definitely be a must-get when the full version is made. It seems really simple at first but it gets quite hectic later on and with the Arcade run more so. Really shaping up.

[Udderdude]

Yeah, the Flash version of Warbird is a .swf that plays in the Flash standalone player. It's also a debug .swf for some reason.

Glad you like it so far. I'm working on the Killer enemies now - basically the really big mid-boss enemies that cancel all bullets when they die.

[BPzeBanshee]

Hmm, I didn't even think it was a debug one. It has an FPS display which I put in myself but I don't recall putting any debug switch on for export. o_O

[Udderdude]

Yeah, easiest way to tell is load your .swf in a debug version of the Flash standalone player. It will prompt you where the Flash debugger is (localhost or remote).

Edit: Here is the fullscreen keyboard thing, but you need to target Flash Player 11 .. D:

http://www.leebrimelow.com/flash-player ... ard-input/

Edit 2: I added the stuff in there and it seems to be working, let me know if it's working for you.

[Udderdude]

Some progress : http://rydia.net/udder/!crap/zeroCrossKillerEnemy.gif

[shmuppyLove]

Some progress : http://rydia.net/udder/!crap/zeroCrossKillerEnemy.gif

sooo maaannnnyy booooolitssssss

also 8MB animated GIF win

[Udderdude]

I really need to find a good program for generating animated PNGs :p

Sadly, lossless animation isn't cheap!

Edit: I just found and tested it, and animated PNG is actually bigger .. shiiiiit.