Bullet Candy

Community Forums/Showcase/Bullet Candy

jkrankie(Posted 2006) [#1]
I don't think i mentioned this when i released it a month or so ago, but some of you may remember it a CG_01 when it was still in full development. Kudos to Indiepath for the new name and the render2texture module.

You can grab the latest demo from the first page of my site, just click on either the windows flag thing or the shiny apple for the relevant version.

www.charliesgames.co.uk

I'm really keen to see what you guys make of it, so let me know of any issues you have.

Cheers
Charlie

some screenies:








puki(Posted 2006) [#2]
Well, the screenies look eye-catching.


TartanTangerine (was Indiepath)(Posted 2006) [#3]
This is a cool game, we'll also have a web version for all you lot to play soon as well :)


Dreamora(Posted 2006) [#4]
Looks like a guarantee for a color flash ;-)

But a quite nice colorflash after all :-) (like geometry wars with high qualy and filled screen :D )


boomboom(Posted 2006) [#5]
I think this game should come with a photo-sensative epileptic warning :)


NoBoDo(Posted 2006) [#6]
I downloaded and played it, it is a pretty cool game!

I have to admit, though, that it wasn't until I read comments from others that I even realized this was a game. When I read the original posting above, I thought this was some type of explosion particle system!


Boiled Sweets(Posted 2006) [#7]
Whats the render2texture module and where to get it?


big10p(Posted 2006) [#8]
Pretty cool Robotron-esque game. Not sure I'm too keen on the mouse+keys control system, but then again, I don't have a dual analog controller, so it's better than all key control. :)

BTW, why are 640x480 and 1024x768 screen modes supported, but no 800x600?

The music plays very crackly on my win98 machine.


TartanTangerine (was Indiepath)(Posted 2006) [#9]
Web version is uploaded to the eXigo test server : http://www.exigolive.com/exigo/

Username : test_user
Password : test_user


Blitzplotter(Posted 2006) [#10]
Very impressive little game, superb eye candy, the frenetic sounds add to it , but they are a little crackly on my XP machine. It does not detract from the gameplay however.


ImaginaryHuman(Posted 2007) [#11]
Hey, I had no idea this was available for Mac's as well. Just played the demo. It really is a fun game, and brings back many fond memories of similar games such as Llamatron. The graphics are pretty nice and I *did* notice the presence of the more basic form of my realtime blobby objects, used particularly on the hi-score screen :-) Cool that someone found a use for it in a game. The framerate was around 20fps when really busy but up to 35 or so otherwise. Pretty nice, and good use of an accumulation/feedback effect.


jkrankie(Posted 2007) [#12]
Glad you like it.

Cheers
Charlie


ImaginaryHuman(Posted 2007) [#13]
Did you use my blob concept or did you just think to draw balls in lightblend?

I'm presuming that the balls you're drawing have a blobby curvature rather than linear?

Are you planning on another version?


jkrankie(Posted 2007) [#14]
for the explosions i had been using balls with a gradient for some time before you posted your tutorial, i hadn't realised that if i made the balls bigger i could produce all sorts of cool effects. The hi-score screen i added after i had seen your tutorial, so thanks for that.

I have a new update coming out in the coming week or so, but a lot of the effects have been adjusted and the hi-score screen has been changes for consistency.

Cheers
Charlie


jkrankie(Posted 2007) [#15]
Actually, i've just looked in the readme, and i thought i'd given your tutorial a plug in there, but it seems i've only got Tim in there. I'll make sure you get a mention inthe forthcoming update. Do you have a website/blog i could link to?

Cheers
Charlie


Fuller(Posted 2007) [#16]
I say this game a couple times before and I have to congratulate you on a job well done. So far this is the best game made in Blitz i've run across.

Downloading newest version...


ImaginaryHuman(Posted 2007) [#17]
I don't have a website or blog at the moment. You don't have to mention me but that's cool if you want to. I was pleasantly surprised to see you making use of it.

Looking towards testing out the new version.

I agree this is a good game, Fuller. I would say it's easier to control and somewhat more fun than gridwars. I prefer your control system than trying to handle two sets of keyboard keys at once. I seem to remember in llamatron you just played with one joystick - if you pressed fire it set the current shot direction to the direction you're moving and then you let go of fire it keeps autofiring in that direction even as you move around. Only problem with that is you have to move towards an enemy in order to shoot towards them. I like that with the mouse you can let the cursor hang over an enemy and let all the bullets find their way there while you focus on dodging stuff.

I did also try playing at 640x480 instead of 1024x768 and the framerate seemed to be more or less identical, which I found surprising, so presumably it's more to do with how many objects you have and the overhead for that, than the texturing speed.


jkrankie(Posted 2007) [#18]
The resolution doesn't make much impact on performance in the current build. My latest lets you choose from any you have available, in both windowed and fullscreen mode, but that's mostly to make the graphics look sharper, framerate only bemoes an issue if your running at a hi-res widescreen resoulition.

I'm glad you like the game Fuller, i'll post again in this thread when i have my new update out.

Cheers
Charlie


ImaginaryHuman(Posted 2007) [#19]
When you have a higher resolution are you using larger textures or just the same set? I've heard that higher-res textures would slow things down.


jkrankie(Posted 2007) [#20]
It's the same set of graphics, but they are scaled according to the resolution.

Cheers
Charlie


Geehawk(Posted 2007) [#21]
This is great fun, superbly executed.

My only gripe is that whilst in game playing is all fine with no percieved slowdown, menus and the end of level stats displays grind to a halt on my PC.

I'm guessing it something to do with the fancy overlaid and rotated faded repetitions of the full screen??

EDIT: For the first time got an invincible powerup and that kills my machine too.


jkrankie(Posted 2007) [#22]
The forthcomning update fixes the slowdown here.

Cheers
Charlie


jkrankie(Posted 2007) [#23]
I've just put the new demo on my website, let me know if there are any bugs you spot.

Cheers
Charlie


Geehawk(Posted 2007) [#24]
Completed the new version demo on Normal first time!
So it must be easier than the previous one?

It all felt noticeably slower than the previous version, but still playable.

Prefer the new menu system.

Think an option to reduce the number of particles would be a nice touch.


ImaginaryHuman(Posted 2007) [#25]
Will give this a try later.

[edit] Nice!


ImaginaryHuman(Posted 2007) [#26]
I played the new demo. Very nice. Nice changes. I did find it to be generally faster although that led me to discover that I had been playing it at apparently half speed. At 800x600 it now runs at 60fps and is much faster than I was used to, so I didn't last very long! I deliberately set the resolution to 1024x768 so that, because you have a vsync, it drops to 30fps all the time. This made it somewhat easier to play and to see what I'm doing ;-) It's pretty frantic at 60fps - but the point is, you don't have any code to adjust the speed based on the framerate.


Sonic(Posted 2007) [#27]
Great stuff, a little too much going on perhaps? I find it hard to differentiate what's dangerous and what's not and which things I'm meant to shoot. But definitely Minter-esque, a good thing!


jkrankie(Posted 2007) [#28]
I'm really pleased with Bullet Candy, i've made some great contacts and friends in the last 9 months since i released it proper (there are still a few miles left in it too, with a bunch of new distributors getting the game this month), and i've learned a few things about what works and what doesn't work for PC games. If there is one peice of advice that i can give you all it's that you shouldn't design a game for PC/mac that is ideally controlled with a joypad. While the keyboard and mouse controls work ok, you really can't get the most from the game with out a gamepad of some sort, and you end up putting people off with initially complex controls.

Cheers
Charlie


ImaginaryHuman(Posted 2007) [#29]
I play it with mouse and keyboard, it is a little bit awkward but not too bad.


jkrankie(Posted 2007) [#30]
That's the thing though isn't it, control schemes should be transparent to the user, not even a little bit awkward.

Cheers
Charlie