S.U.A.V.E. released!

Community Forums/Showcase/S.U.A.V.E. released!

Al Mackey(Posted 2003) [#1]
I was gonna put this over in the gallery, but it was giving me errors.. So:



This is a screenshot from my first full Blitz3D game (and first shareware game since the old Amiga days) called Sport-Utility Assault Vehicle Extreme! More info and downloads are here.


poopla(Posted 2003) [#2]
Looks good.


Pazza(Posted 2003) [#3]
Looks great,but is unplayable on my pc (too Fast).

Are you using frame limiting?

Ive got a 2500 gighertz cpu amd and a Radeon 9600 pro 256 meg graphics card,using winxp and 1 gig of ram.


Al Mackey(Posted 2003) [#4]
It's supposed to be fast. Unless your milliseconds timer is running faster than it should be, it's going at the right speed.


Pazza(Posted 2003) [#5]
Errm every other game isnt like that,my timer is ok,this game is way too fast.


Rob(Posted 2003) [#6]
Excellent, I understand it's meant to be played at this manic pace. Pazza, try holding down the space bar.

Bullet Time is interesting. Not a bad game at all. Lots of drive, very good stuff. I liked it a lot.


Al Mackey(Posted 2003) [#7]
You can also go to the config menu and set the difficulty level to "easy".. this will slow the game down by about 10%.


Bot Builder(Posted 2003) [#8]
wow. This is a really cool game. I like your usage of delta timing, and the sound fx variation on slow mode. Using channel pitch I presume? Neat explosion particles too. They don't just fall through the ground, instead they bounce. The weapons are also very nice. Although I noticed one interesting bug/misc. feature. It is that in slow mode, with the plasma shotgun, it fires as many times as you click, allowing you to release 'death volleys' at your enemies.

This would be great in multiplayer.


ckob(Posted 2003) [#9]
this did run kinda fast on my setup as well but if you slow down the tank movement it would rock this game defintly is 8/10


JoeRetro(Posted 2003) [#10]
This game is amazing!! Very professionaly done!! What's more impressive is that ONE person, 'AL', created the objects, sound and wrote the code. I think you will have little trouble, if that, selling the game. Fantastic job AL!!


Bot Builder(Posted 2003) [#11]
Well, I think it's a little unreasonably fast on my system too, but the slowdown thing definitly helps with that and is very cool. 11885 BTW


Al Mackey(Posted 2003) [#12]
Thank you all for your kind words! I've been working on this for nearly half a year and it feels great to finally have it out there.

For those concerned about the speed, all I can say is that you'll get used to it if you continue playing. Once you get farther into the game and meet some of the more advanced enemies, you'll be glad you have it.


Bot Builder(Posted 2003) [#13]
hmm. how about a 'save' feature? or is that in the full version? I'm gonna play it some more... might even buy it....


coffeedotbean(Posted 2003) [#14]
Ah at last... i played the demo a while back, it is fast but you get used to it i suppose, maybe an option to slow the game down would satisfy the wimps amoung us.

Thinking about it if guys here dont like the speed then whats to say paying customer would be turned off by the speed?


coffeedotbean(Posted 2003) [#15]
Al Mackey I've got a list of around 25 popular shareware sites if you want them, most wont review but will give a rating out of 5 which can be useful to put up on the website and in the game its self. Take a google at my site to see how nice they are.


Perturbatio(Posted 2003) [#16]
Found a bug:

If you press escape when redefining the keys, you get a memory access violation.


Tom(Posted 2003) [#17]
Nice game, impressive work!

The time machine rocks!

It does play a bit too fast in my opinion, if I may suggest a tweak, when the camera is in overhead view mode, the mouse doesn't work as I'd expect, it feels like it's directional control, rather than rotational.

Tom


granada(Posted 2003) [#18]
Great game,played it alot

Changed screen reselution to 1024.768 after
that i got
(image failed to load,loading png)

Cant get back into the game to change anything

dave


Shambler(Posted 2003) [#19]
It does play fast but I soon got used to it.

Very enjoyable with a lot of nice touches.


poopla(Posted 2003) [#20]
I really liked it, nice work.


Al Mackey(Posted 2003) [#21]
Granada:
The same thing happened to me once.. if you look in the program directory you might see some .png files that were extracted, not read correctly, and not deleted. Delete those and it should work again. I'm not sure what's causing that. I may have to switch from DataPak to MoleBox.

If any of you have a Playstation-like dual analog joypad, you might want to try playing in overhead mode with joystick controls -- it works a lot like Robotron, where one joystick controls motion and the other controls fire and aim.


Bot Builder(Posted 2003) [#22]
32215 ;) I bow to anyone able to get that dang yellow key! The last defenders before getting it are soo fast! I have to turn on the slowdown just to hit them square and not get hit myself. Oh well. I'll try it again later. it takes along time to get all the way to that part.

Oh yeah, and their is a bug in the "brick and gears" level. some of the guys can shoot through the walls every once in a while. :(


Al Mackey(Posted 2003) [#23]
some of the guys can shoot through the walls every once in a while

Gah! I thought I fixed that bug.. twice!! Ever have one of those bugs that won't die?

Also, Perturbatio, I've been trying to reproduce the Escape bug you mentioned, but haven't been able to..


Bot Builder(Posted 2003) [#24]
maybe the gun is slightly inside the wall, allowing the bullet to go through? Oh yeah, and I beat it ;) To get the yellow key I just ran past everyone. Sometimes in slo mo.died just after I got the key.


Bot Builder(Posted 2003) [#25]
found another bug/wierdness. if you go full speed, and fire a short range missile, it goes behind you before speeding up.


-=Darkheart=-(Posted 2003) [#26]
Annoyingly too fast given the level of control but each to their own, nicely done anyway even if you do feel your supposed to have done at least 3 lines before you start.

Darkheart


Perturbatio(Posted 2003) [#27]

Also, Perturbatio, I've been trying to reproduce the Escape bug you mentioned, but haven't been able to..


start a new game, press escape to call up the menu, go to configure, click use, it asks me to assign a key to up (first bug), when pressing escape, it crashes with a MAV.


DH(Posted 2003) [#28]
Very fun game!@!!!!


Nebula(Posted 2003) [#29]
Top game. The indoor scene's are a little boring though.


Bot Builder(Posted 2003) [#30]
In extreme mode guys can shoot through walls on level 1.


(tu) ENAY(Posted 2003) [#31]
I love this game. I love the way it's too fast, but it makes me 10 times more exciting.


Al Mackey(Posted 2003) [#32]
Version 1.05 is up.. it fixes the "enemies shooting through walls" bug, and a bug related to improperly unpacked files.

I've even sold a few copies! This is so exciting!

The firing through walls bug was easy to miss. I'll spell it out here in hopes that it can help other coders from making a similar mistake. What was happening was enemies close to other enemies were pushing on each other with TranslateEntity as the code stepped through their types. Some enemies got pushed before they fire (and before collision detection had been run) so they were in the wall when they fire. Now I have a "shove" vector instead that gets added to until that enemy's move phase, then applied after the firing logic.

So, in short, shoving is the answer. Shoving will protect you.


EOF(Posted 2003) [#33]
Top gameplay. fast 'n furious. The nuke weapon ace!
Fantastic stuff Al.


Miracle(Posted 2003) [#34]
No, shoving will not protect you. Pushing is the answer. Pushing will protect you from the terrible secret of space.


Bot Builder(Posted 2003) [#35]
Cool, well i'm considering getting it.

I have several suggestions tho. maybe a half-slow time mode where it's still reasonably fast(but not so fast). This would take up a little more than half the time device power. Also, make the lightning effect only occur when you are hit by the enemy. I always get confused when it starts sparking and I think I'm getting shot at. Lightning is a classic representation of taking mechanical damage in games.


Al Mackey(Posted 2003) [#36]
Hmm, a time device that you can just have partially active is an idea I hadn't really considered before. What would be a good control for it? Mousewheel maybe? I'll have mess around with it.


Bot Builder(Posted 2003) [#37]
Hmm. yeah. mousewheel sets the power(displayed on the ui next to the time energy thingy). Then spacebar still activates it.


Apollonius(Posted 2003) [#38]
I played with it.. its impressive work :)
I like it... simple... fast and furious... but yet simple and so much fun!

I however can only play it top view since its to hard in the first view :P


Bot Builder(Posted 2003) [#39]
I however can only play it top view since its to hard in the first view

huh. For me it's exactly the reverse. can't see far enough in top view. well, I guess that's why the options there.


Apollonius(Posted 2003) [#40]
Yup.. its just i can see where im going with the controles... and I can evade bullets very quick... I have a hard time controling when in the first view :|


Dock(Posted 2003) [#41]
Very slick, nice work.
My main criticism is that the camera lets you see through walls sometimes in the indoor areas. However, this is pretty uncommon. It would be nice to see some more variety in the areas too... so that you don't get that deja-vu sensation, and worry that you're going in circles. Perhaps markings or landmarks.


TartanTangerine (was Indiepath)(Posted 2003) [#42]
Ummm "Texture Failed to load : Light1.png"

I can't even play the game!


eBusiness(Posted 2003) [#43]
I think it would be easyer if you rotate the vehicle slower, and accelerate slower. But very good game.


RayTracer(Posted 2003) [#44]
Love the game , great job on the NUKE :)


Anthony Flack(Posted 2003) [#45]
Finally got around to playing this one - and, it's GREAT!

I love the way the weapons work, with that flipping turret. And I love the speed too. I admit, when I first started up, I thought, "What the...? Surely this is too fast" but you soon get used toit and the fast pace is dead cool. I didn't know about bullet time until reading this thread through. I also didn't figure out that right mouse button picked up extra weapons at first. So, I think you should have more stuff that pops up to explain this kind of stuff. Make it so a complete moron can start up the game without reading the instructions, and still have everything explained nice and clearly.

I also think that the scenery does need a little spicing up. Not much, but a few extra textures or opjects here and there wouldn't go amiss.

Apart from that - superb. Good job.


Bot Builder(Posted 2003) [#46]
mmm. how about in perspective view you have a little frame in the upper right with top-down view, and in top-down view you have a frame of perspective view?


Midnight(Posted 2003) [#47]
Great demo Al - I think I will have to buy this very soon!

(was this announced earlier? this game sort of came out of nowhere!)

Quick comments:

The Good:
- the whole time slowdown effect is superb! (although I don't really use it much in gameplay)
- very addictive - you get a little further each time
- very nice explosion and particle effects (especially the big nuke - love how the blast seems to creep around corners - and the flame thrower).
- overall very professional - I'd say it's one of the better Blitz games out there! I do think it's still a little rough around the edges, so

Some suggestions:
- while you get used to the speed and the controls, you might still want to slow down the game. Especially given that you're going the shareware route, first impressions are vital. Not everyone will play a game more than a few seconds if they are turned off by the speed at the beginning. You might lose a lot of potential sales this way. You can always keep the current speed setting in "Hard" mode, or - even better - have a separate speed option (from "very slow" to "very fast")?
- Controls - this is sorta tied in with the above, but I find the controls somewhat cumbersome. What I would really like is one of (a) strafe mode (e.g. Q and E keys) or (b) mouse-lock mode (maybe middle mouse button?).
- I second Anthony's comments - a few help pop-ups in the first level or two might help.
- and I also second (or third, or fourth) the request for a save game. The "worlds" are just too large to have to start over all the time - again, this might turn off more casual players. Maybe allow the option of just one or two saves per world?

As I said, it's already a very good game, and even without any changes you'll probably get a sale from me, but I think you should also consider the wider market out there and make sure that a more casual audience can be reached as well.

Cheers,
Patrick


Al Mackey(Posted 2003) [#48]
Well, I'm working on a new version, and adding a few things.

- I've improved the particle engine a bit to allow for permanent debris when things blow up
- I'm experimenting with a few different methods of control for the time device, one of which uses the mouse wheel.
- I'm also trying out an alternate control scheme that's always relative to the camera, instead of relative to the tank, which should be much easier for novices to grasp
- There's definately going to be a tutorial map
- There's a new object called a "Shot Deflector" which reflects all kinds of weapon-fire, useful for tricky logic puzzle rooms (this will most likely just be for the registered folks)

There are a few issues I won't budge on.. Save Game is one of them. The style of gameplay is supposed to be reminiscant of a coin-op game, not a Quake-style game (hence the high-score list). The world is actually quite small compared to most Quake-style games, and if users were allowed to save and load whenever they wanted, a novice could reach the end in a very short time indeed.


Dirk Krause(Posted 2003) [#49]
I think it's great, especially because it's feature complete. I think the pace is great!

But I second third and N-th that it is too fast for the occasional player. Nevertheless this probem would be easy to solve - if the first levels were, say, half the speed, and you speed it up more and more as the game evolves, you'd have a even more appreciated game.

Regards,
Dirk

PS: oh btw, what's the story? Not that it needs it :-), but it is en-vogue.


Bot Builder(Posted 2003) [#50]
lets just say the robots took over earth and you planned to sneakly invade them. problem: they found out. So, already blocked from retreat you find a new model of a tank, superfast, two guns, and bends time. So with your new hardware you go into a full on attack of the enemy in an attempt to destroy the 'mainframe'.

okay. lame story, but anyway, glag to here your working on it!


Rob Farley(Posted 2003) [#51]
I never used the time device, I didn't really see the point.

I couldn't find any keys apart from B so I quit out. Have I missed something?

Plays really well, great fun, I love the independant turret. Although in the dark room I wish the turret had the spot light on it.


dangerdave(Posted 2003) [#52]
Dr. Av:
The old demo had a head light/spot light. I think it was controllable.

The time device can be helpful to get out of the way of some bullets, and it can be used to 'sneak up' on some of the bots.

It's an arcade shooter, so it's not going to have a lot of controls.
===============
This is one of the few games I've told my friends about.

we like:
- the ability to blow up some of the terrain.
- the tank and turret movement.
- the fact that you can drop a weapon and come back to it
with the same amount of ammo.
- the speed. (Runs great on an AMD 900, geforce 3 64mb video)
- the NUKE! Gotta like the NUKE!


Things we'd like to see improved:
- terrain and textures
- the tank react to some of the terrain, instead of being
always flat on the ground
- some more open areas with some more enemies! (NUKE area/levels)


We'd love to see multi-player, even just 1-4 peeps.


Beaker(Posted 2003) [#53]
Runs great on my AMD1300 and Matrox G400 (32MB). Wierd thing is that I can always smell burning when I play it.


Midnight(Posted 2004) [#54]
Weee, just finished it (33000 points). Two questions:

1. Are there other "pre-made" levels in the full version, or just custom made levels and the random generator?

2. Where the heck is the red key!!?! :)


Bot Builder(Posted 2004) [#55]
the question is, did yuo find the secret life in the first metallic level? :)


Midnight(Posted 2004) [#56]
Yes, along with that silly door... but no red key!?!


Bot Builder(Posted 2004) [#57]
WEll, I haven't been able to find that either. wonder whats behind it...


Al Mackey(Posted 2004) [#58]
Ack, sorry I haven't responded in so long.. busy holidays. To the issues:

Plot. There is none. Don't you think that plots just get in the way in shooter games? Bot Builder's plot is as good as (and probably better than) anything I would have come up with.

Smoke. This might be psychosomatic, since there's a lot of visual smoke in the game. Or, if you're running it at some odd resolution, you're frying your monitor.

Levels. There's quite a few maps included in the full version. They give quite a spread of difficulty, from fun levels where everything blows up, to a nasty map where every room is some sort of devious trap.

Keys. The default map in the next version is going to be a little easier to navigate and find the first two keys. It'll have more stuff to blow up along the way, but the puzzles later in the game will be mostly unchanged. The red key does exist, but it's hidden. It's in the caves east and north of the orange door.


Midnight(Posted 2004) [#59]
41565 points. But no sign of the red key. :(

I spent a good hour firing at every wall in the vicinty of the orange door with no luck. :(