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|-+ kdmiller3's entry: Buzz Kill (done)

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Read December 09, 2008, 04:49:31 am #0
kdmiller3

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kdmiller3's entry: Buzz Kill (done)
I'm going to try to get something done for this.  I've never seen the bullet graze play mechanic in an arena-style shooter, so I'm going to try it that way.


Buzz Kill

Unfortunately, the game didn't turn out as cool as the title would suggest.  It ended up very similar to my previous entries because I wasn't able to spend as much time on it as it deserved.  Still, the graze-to-upgrade mechanic works as advertised and provides a nice change of pace.  I've found that the first few upgrades aren't hard to achieve, but holding onto them is trickier than it would seem.  The most common enemy in the game is an obnoxious little thing... Grin

The controls are the standard WADS to move, mouse to aim, left-button to fire.

As usual, be sure to install the Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable Package.  If the application fails to start, installing this usually fixes it.

Blast away!
« Last Edit: December 23, 2008, 05:18:46 am by kdmiller3 »
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Read December 22, 2008, 03:26:03 am #1
kdmiller3

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Re: kdmiller3's entry
OK, I'm slowly making progress.  I have the basic graze mechanic charging a gauge that upgrades the player ship when it fills, which is pretty cool on its own.  It even creates spark particles from the bullets.

Next up are protective shields and special attacks which drain upgrade levels and... actual gameplay.  Grin
« Last Edit: December 22, 2008, 03:30:07 am by kdmiller3 »
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Read December 22, 2008, 04:56:26 am #2
the2bears

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Re: kdmiller3's entry
That background really works for me.  Great looking and abstract Smiley

Bill

the2bears - the indie shmup blog
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Read December 22, 2008, 01:52:34 pm #3
kdmiller3

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Re: kdmiller3's entry
It's the same one I used on Rocket Bomb.  If it aint' broke... Grin
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Read December 23, 2008, 04:13:43 am #4
kdmiller3

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Re: kdmiller3's entry
I've got something resembling a game, though the enemy patterns are entirely too similar to pretty much every game I've submitted before.  The player ship upgrades nicely even though I never got a point multiplier or special attack working for it.  The firepower increase and protective shield work reasonably well on their own.

The main downside right now is the ferocious difficulty level...
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Read December 23, 2008, 10:37:13 am #5
worstplayer

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Re: kdmiller3's entry: Buzz Kill (done)
Wow, this game is great, and difficulty level definitely isn't a downside.
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Read December 23, 2008, 02:16:54 pm #6
kdmiller3

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Re: kdmiller3's entry: Buzz Kill (done)
Glad you like it, though I always feel like I've cheated when I recycle previous work...
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Read December 23, 2008, 05:08:45 pm #7
Ablach Blackrat

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Re: kdmiller3's entry: Buzz Kill (done)
I found it easiest to just go in reverse and blow everything up, rather the going towards the enemies.  Still a heck of a lot of fun though.  I'm afraid I was too busy getting shot at to notice the bullet grazing effects.  I have to play it some more and get good at it to see what's going on.
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Read December 23, 2008, 06:09:30 pm #8
kdmiller3

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Re: kdmiller3's entry: Buzz Kill (done)
While it wasn't entirely deliberate, the most common enemy bullets move at the exact same speed as the player ship so you can "draft" them for quite some time.  It's a good idea to clear out most of the enemies in the vicinity before doing that.

By the way, destructible enemy projectiles (missiles, fireballs, and mines) cannot be grazed because they use the exact same collision category as enemy units.  If the player could graze those projectiles, they could graze enemy units as well.  Even if I allowed that, the projectiles hit the player ship's large outer collision shape instead of the tiny box in the middle.  I need to separate out that collision category because Firebombers (the spinning yellow and orange enemies) are way too deadly right now--they evade quickly, aim perfectly, shoot rapidly, and hit too easily.  They used to inflict three damage points before I cut that to one for Rocket Bomb.
« Last Edit: December 23, 2008, 06:14:15 pm by kdmiller3 »
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Read January 01, 2009, 08:37:48 am #9
hima

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Re: kdmiller3's entry: Buzz Kill (done)
This was a lot of fun!  I like how grazing is the only way to keep you alive and power up at the same time. It is also hard to graze during the mid game since the enemies are more and more aggressive. I've never seen an arena shmup with grazing mechanic so kudos for that too! It turns out to be challenging yet not impossible but fun game. Smiley  I have nothing to complain XD
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Read January 02, 2009, 12:54:16 am #10
kdmiller3

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Re: kdmiller3's entry: Buzz Kill (done)
Glad you like it.  Grin

I went with the arena-style shmup because I had never seen the graze mechanic in conjunction with that style.  It would have turned out better if I had been able to create custom enemies and spawn patterns, but at least it gave a taste of how such a game would work.  I need to revisit this along with my prior entries and give them the attention they need.
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Read January 02, 2009, 11:34:28 am #11
Owen Butler

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Re: kdmiller3's entry: Buzz Kill (done)
I enjoyed playing this.  It felt smooth to play and scaled up well in intensity which kept me interested.  Overall it was very solid.

http://blog.owenbutler.org
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Read January 02, 2009, 02:26:48 pm #12
worstplayer

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Re: kdmiller3's entry: Buzz Kill (done)
I just wanted to say, I apologize for saying this game doesn't work with gamepad. For some reason I had switched primary and secondary joystick. It works perfectly now. Very good game.
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Read January 03, 2009, 04:57:27 am #13
kdmiller3

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Re: kdmiller3's entry: Buzz Kill (done)
Ah, don't worry about that.  While I was a bit baffled for a while, I sort of forgot about it.  Grin

The sad thing is that the game progression works so well because it's the same game progression I've been using for the better part of a year now.  The balance finally came together with Rocket Bomb, so it's hard to get away from it and do something new.  Still, I need to put more effort into original content for the next session.
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Read January 03, 2009, 03:10:28 pm #14
Edge

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Re: kdmiller3's entry: Buzz Kill (done)
The buzzing mechanic did work well in an arena shmup for me. The gameplay all in all feels pretty smooth, also the graphics are and effects are pretty nice.

Only thing that felt a little frustrating was the difficulty to recover after a death. As the level was still flooded with all the enemies which killed me before. So with only standard laser I felt it very hard to survive. Maybe it was intended that way, but i just thought that it might be easier to recover when the enemies and items on the level get reseted after a life loss.
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