Star Opus (W.I.P)

Community Forums/Showcase/Star Opus (W.I.P)

John Cage(Posted 2008) [#1]
Hi,

Check out my very first BlitzMax- game called Star Opus I. This is a retro-type shooter inspired by Omega Race. No music & FX yet. Demo contains only 6 first jumppoints.





Download demo

Regards,

-jc


plash(Posted 2008) [#2]
Lots of polish! Get some sounds in there!
Kind of weird bouncing around though.


John Cage(Posted 2008) [#3]
Thanks - I'm currently composing some music tracks and scripting new scenes.

Here's the video with some intro music:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMekbsxNCCg


Taron(Posted 2008) [#4]
Hey John,

very nice first game! I think you should, however, consider mouse control for the ship and therefore finer subdivisions for the rotation. It's one of those redundant handicaps for a game, if your rotations are locked to such quantizations.

Another aspect, although perfectly arguable, is the idea of "drag in space", hehehe... it's one of those brilliant little things that happen to have been in pretty much all astroid games, that they never really lose their inertia. For effects that's ok, because different powers could be claimed to be working, but on pieces like astroids, you might wonna consider just letting them fly at their initial momentum with little to no loss to drag. Just an idea.

The overall design is very nice. I'm not the biggest fan of the effect blur/glow blobs, but it's more a taste thing, of course. But I love the fine fireworks particles! They bring a nice elegance to it.

SO, yeah, man, rock on! Really nice start!

Cute music, too, but a little disconnected to the subject, don't you think? Sometimes you have to jump your shadow a little bit and allow yourself to reduce things to what they really want to be. Otherwise it becomes too appearant, that you're itching to show off your "rich" fascettes, ignoring that it shouldn't be about you, but about your creation! It happens easily... much like as if it was slipping through your fingers. If you have the chance, too, try not to fantasize for just about a few minutes and look at the game as what it is and not as what you want to see, or how well it deserves your pride (because it really does, great, great start!). But instead, for your music, consider the actual look, be cheesy, don't be afraid to be cheesy, really! Marry your instincts with your subject, because you do have what it takes to make loads of great things! I'm already congratulating you! :)


John Cage(Posted 2008) [#5]
Thanks Taron for your brilliant comments. This kind of ideas & comments I really need.

- tc


Geehawk(Posted 2008) [#6]
Love the graphical style, although I'm sure you could come up with something just a little better than an arrow for your ship ;-)

Really not keen on the bouncing off the walls stuff though. With the hint of realism with jump points and the stage select screens the bouncing off walls just feels "cheap" and a bit of a cop out IMO

I'd like to see a larger than screen play area, with a bit of a seek and destroy theme going on rather than be quite so trapped.


LineOf7s(Posted 2008) [#7]
Based solely on the screenshots thus far, I'm really digging the (restricted use of) colour! Less is more, baby!


John Cage(Posted 2008) [#8]
>I'm sure you could come up with something just a little better than an
>arrow for your ship ;-)

This 'arrow' is holy and divine retro-ship used for example in Omega Race:)

'Arrow' - Live long and prosper (Dup dor a'az Mubster) -:)


Taron(Posted 2008) [#9]
OHhh yes, don't u dare touch that arrow, hahaha! 8)))
Couldn't agree more...

...I've been thinking about a fancy little space adventure and realized, too, that it's either a crazy perfectly lit coolness ship, if not 3d directly, or this exact arrow! :}

...tough decisions...


John Cage(Posted 2008) [#10]
The "Adventures of the Untouchable 'Arrows'" - maybe I'll change the name-of-the-game.;)


_PJ_(Posted 2008) [#11]
Ahh drag in space, yeah...

but think how many games would be 'broken' when oyu accelerated infinitely towards lightspeed :D


John Cage(Posted 2008) [#12]
New demo available:

- 60 fps support - smoother action
- 30 fps support available for older machines
- new player ship
- fixed several fx- issues
- mouse support (actually I'dont like mouse control in a games like this)

Download demo

p.s. Don't worry about the 'Arrow' - it's not gone forever:) There is a possibiliy to choose the player vehicle in a next version. The legendary 'Big Mama'- ship is also available. Hehe:)


John Cage(Posted 2008) [#13]
And the new demo is available again:

- changed player ship / effects (thanks Taron for the idea of blastin' grenades;), asteroids, physics, shooting and grenades

- the first ambient track included. No fx yet.

If you like retro feeling and some serious Ambient / Symphonic Electronica music, check this out. Otherwise, keep away. This title will include about 8 tracks of music soon:)

Download demo


Axel Wheeler(Posted 2008) [#14]
This is gorgeous. My only quibble is with the way the ship falls into the jump point. Looks too much like a static animation. Maybe it should keep the existing spin as it falls through, or accelerate less.

Great job JC!


John Cage(Posted 2008) [#15]
Thanks Axel. I am currently trying to animate some new 2d-animations for it:)


Yahfree(Posted 2008) [#16]
Cool game!

Some critque:

-Make LMB fire... Currently if you use the mouse then you'd have to have three hands to control the mouse, the up arrow key, and the space bar
-More actiony sounds/music, the music puts me to sleep
-Less bounce when you hit the walls, its quite extreme.


boomboom(Posted 2008) [#17]
yea, the ship is quite hard to control, too much bounce and prob best to increase drag/friction a little?

I love the simple graphics, but really ornate music.