Nebula Wars ... motivational

Community Forums/Showcase/Nebula Wars ... motivational

Jeremy Alessi(Posted 2006) [#1]
OK, this game ... I haven't worked on it in months. It was getting wacky and just out of hand. Anyway, can anyone have fun with this? It's really kind of over complicated ... sort of like True-Vol was way back. Now I'm thinking of simplifying it and doing it with BlitzMax but ... I need to hear some good stuff. I have like zero motivation right now.

Please explore the whole thing ...

http://www.leadfootproductions.com/tinkerblasterstrip/InstallNebulaWars.exe




Neuro(Posted 2006) [#2]
that giant finger took me by surprise...it would of been funny if it gave me the middle...lol....and i'm assuming that was you insulting me when i logged in..lol...
Interesting take on asteroids.....and you gotta love the MTV Music Generator!!


Jeremy Alessi(Posted 2006) [#3]
Did you build a ship?


Geehawk(Posted 2006) [#4]
Hmm. I'm liking some things and not others.

The whole giant hand interface is very quirky and strangely retro, but I do like it. There is need for a little more text at times e.g. the visuals selection all those bottons and sliders and no real explanation or indication of what effect moving them has.
Also the accuracy with which you have to click on some of them is strange i.e you cant click on the slider but next to it works.

The ship designer is a nice addition, but again could do with a little polish just to make it slicker. A few simple things like a mirror function so you can just design half a ship then mirror it to get the full thing. Lets face it most people are going to go for a symmetrical ship.
The controls, equipment sliders, buttons etc., would benefit from being similar to the visual controls though.

On to the game itself. I actually went all through the menus etc before starting the game and I was a little disappointed as to what I saw.
For a start it was all to blurry and many asteroids(?) very dark which made actually seeing what was going on difficult. I guess some of the blur etc can be dialled out in the setup screens ???
The control was strange. I'm not a fan of having a large intrusive crosshair blurring away. Also the ship rotated around its nose, or at least for the one I designed. I guess that might be down to the way I drew it???

The actual movement with the cursor keys was also strange. A simple rotate and thrust would be so much nicer although not very inovative.

In summary. I think the whole interface is a great idea, and with some tweaking would be a winner. Its just on clicking launch that I feel things fall apart a bit.
I would love to see a fast paced retro top downesque, shooter. or even a 2D, simulated 3D type shooter with a virtual @#!*pit to continue the giant hand theme.

Graham


Jeremy Alessi(Posted 2006) [#5]
Thanks for that! So the simple base game with complex interface doesn't really cut it for you? What I was thinking was that the simple 2D blast fest is fun ... but overdone with little innovation. I figured by letting players configure the ship along with everything else ... a large part of the gameplay would revolve around that interface as you said but that people could still keep coming back to that 2D blasting ... because by nature it's just fun. Then there's the leaderboard ... which shows off everyone's ship. Of course as usual ... I like to mix oil and water ... and it doesn't usually work. I can see it working ... perhaps it's just a matter of execution?

As for the ship ... yes it rotates about the center box in the coordinate plane so the way you draw it has an effect. You can control all the colors of the enemies etc... You cannot control the blur ... but you can control the size of the 'explosions' among other things ... so it's possible for example to black out the cross hairs if you like ... brighten the enemies and dial down the explosion size if you like.


blackbag(Posted 2006) [#6]
This looks pretty similar to my current (first) unnamed project. Looks a bit like asteroids, but with space tradey/ship upgradey stuff. A very early screen shot included below.

Love the big finger, I have just stuck in BCF GUI for the moment.




Liberator(Posted 2006) [#7]
Hah the finger! The interface was the best. It had a good feel to it. I like that 'first person in a lab' look with the friendly janitor telling you your design is bad. The part with all the dials and such is a bit overwhelming especially with no labels. But as a whole its kind of cool. As far as the game aspect, I think there should be a bit more of a challenge. Right now there's no reason to build different ship designs because your just shooting rocks. It's just as effective to use the simplest of ships, there's no reward for designing a cool ship. Mabye more of an obsticle course? Like you have to design the ship and it will do better at some parts than others and you can design it to suit what your best at. Just an idea :) Also, the blur stuff, though stylized, is a bit annoying. On my 32 inch monitor I found myself getting dizzy pretty quickly. I would keep working on it! It's a good idea! Just change a few things...

P.S.
Where you at GDC?


Stevie G(Posted 2006) [#8]
Just tried this. Personally I found the big finger too intrusive and it was a bit difficult to know what on earth you were doing in the ship editor :( I couldn't see any instructions ... did I miss them?

Once I'd launched my abomination of a ship I was also quite disapointed. The blur only served to make it harder to see what was going on and isn't pleasing on he eye .. or stomach ;)

I realise that the main game is at an early stage but a few suggestions :-

Have a reason for building different ships other than visual appearance. e.g. a thin ship could fit into gaps another couldn't. There needs to be benefits.

Have an action-point system when creating the new ships so that you can't just make an uber craft off the bat. So increasing the engine power means that the maximum in other areas is reduced etc.. Maybe this was already in there and I'm just blind?

Have you considered something similar to X-Pilot? I've read alot about it but never played it. It had a huge cult following and probably still does. The fuel / charging and weapon systems made for a very strategic game. Worth looking at for ideas.

Stevie


AdrianT(Posted 2006) [#9]
I liked the quirky retro feel and the big hand, which managed to be big without obscuring the controls. I also liked the background ambient chatter. All that stuff was pretty cool. The problem I did have with the ship building was the lack of instructions. It was a bit trial and error and took away the fun factor.

So I liked that bit, and think it could be great with some more polish. The game itself I didn't get really. The blury effect didn't seem necessary. I couldn't see my bullets either, allthough I guess the reticule you move with the mouse is what your aiming at, nothing much happened.

So for me at least the game part seems a bit disapointing. Also the ship is just a rigid shape, I feel like it should rotate to face where your pointing the mouse.

I suppose it just lacks polish really, and needs a lot more thought in how to make the ship and what have you feel like it belongs in the game. But its ok for a prototype. Needs a lot of work though.


Jeremy Alessi(Posted 2006) [#10]
OK, the point of the ship editor is find find out what works for you so you can get the high score (online rankings) and show off your creation.

The physics change depending on settings, big bullets equals less pressure so less damage ... small fast bullets cause the most damage but are hard to hit stuff with. A fast ship is easier to move around everything but can't take as many hits. You can change the game a lot by what ship you build.

The more joints you add the more mass the ship contains ... which also lets you have more firepower etc... However, the ship will be much slower and easier to hit.

The main goal was to use the simple age old 'high score shooter' base ... and then add an extra element ... which can possibly be more time consuming than the game itself ... which is build your own ship that fits your playing style.

Some people like big bulky ships that don't move at all and just have mass firepower ... and some people like little tiny ships that are fast and accurate ... with bullets to match.

I did realize that the whole GUI was really the more entertaining part ... at least initially ... until you start trying to beat people's leaderboard scores ;)


boomboommax(Posted 2006) [#11]
there is a game on gamedev, you build your ship in the same way but it also has physics,


Jeremy Alessi(Posted 2006) [#12]

Also the ship is just a rigid shape, I feel like it should rotate to face where your pointing the mouse.



It should face the center of the cross hairs.


Have a reason for building different ships other than visual appearance



There definitely is a lot more to it than the visuals. I said it was rough ... but I figured the people around here would figure out the physics part to building your ship.

Projectiles destroy based on pressure
Ship moves based on mass

All properties take away from the mass of the ship.