Trouble In CloudLand (Full Version Available!)

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Trouble In CloudLand (Full Version Available!)

http://www.battlezero.com/cloudland

Jony and I are very proud to announce that our AutoFire 2007 competition entry is complete! We have enjoyed both working on our project and watching the other games develop as well. We feel that Shmup-Dev.com is a great game development community that has much to offer for developers and gamers.

Please visit our website to download Trouble In CloudLand (9.39 Mb)

As per the judges request, a zipped version of the game is attached to the first post in this thread: Trouble In CloudLand-Install.zip (10.6 Mb)
After extracting to the folder of your choice, run main.exe and enjoy!

Screenshots:

Another day of fighting in Cloudopolis.

The player making use of two power ups at once.

« Last Edit: January 28, 2007, 10:20:51 pm by Joshua »

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November 12, 2006, 11:30:08 pm

#1

Adigun A. Polack

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Re: BattleZero (Working Title)

Well, *truly* delighted to have you and Jony, Joshua!! Wink

I want to make you two as welcome as possible into this competition here at Shmup-dev.

Best of success to you both on your entry, and that screenshot is looking mighty good!! Grin

=b

November 12, 2006, 11:35:01 pm

#2

jony

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Re: BattleZero (Working Title)

Hey all! Good to be here.

I'm jony (in case you hadn't noticed), I'm writing most of the AI, world structures, and other game play elements. Josh is the artist and doing much of the mechanics. As he mentioned we're a bit lacking in the music/sound effects department. We're really looking forward to hearing feed back on our game design, especially once we get a demo out there for you all to try out!

November 19, 2006, 05:27:23 am

#3

Joshua

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Re: BattleZero (Working Title)

Here is a Google video preview of me playing for about 20 seconds.

The capture quality is a little rough, but it should give you a feel of how the game plays.

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November 19, 2006, 05:58:59 am

#4

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Re: BattleZero (Working Title)

I really like those colors! Keep up the good work. Grin

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November 19, 2006, 12:27:58 pm

#5

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Re: BattleZero (Working Title)

what shmup category is this? horizontal, vertical or arena?

because the orientation looks vertical but the action seemed to belong in the arena genre...

i'm quite confused about how it controls. dual analog (right stick for aiming)?

Keep up the great work.

November 19, 2006, 07:56:49 pm

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Re: BattleZero (Working Title)

Tim - For the most part I would say that it is an arena style game. The background does scroll but has no real effect on gameplay.

As far as the controls, the player's movement and firing are controlled by the mouse movement alone. It started off as a bit of an experiment, but I liked the simplicity and kept it.

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November 19, 2006, 08:54:37 pm

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Re: BattleZero (Working Title)

i was asking because the scrolling background is a bit disorientating if it's an arena shooter.

arena shooters work better if the player can control both ship and firing directions, but i'll reserve judgment until i've had my hands on it. personally speaking, i like simplicity myself.

November 21, 2006, 06:02:15 am

#8

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Re: BattleZero (Working Title)

Thanks Tim, I certainly appreciate feedback.

It appears my partner in crime (Jony) is busy with his classes, so I will be flying solo until the semester ends.

Obligitory screenshot!

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November 21, 2006, 06:35:19 am

#9

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Re: BattleZero (Working Title)

This is shaping up to be a great contest, there's such a variety of cool styles that I like. This one included of course, especially the subtle colours used.

Bill

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November 21, 2006, 05:00:11 pm

#10

Pixel_Outlaw

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Re: BattleZero (Working Title)

Yeah the saturation level of the colors is quite pleasant.

Aviator sunglasses are pretty much the shmups of the sunglasses world.

November 21, 2006, 11:28:14 pm

#11

jony

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Re: BattleZero (Working Title)

Yeah classes aren't nearly as much fun but after spending this much money trying to get a degree I figure I should finish up!

As for the shooting be a bit... unorthadox.. well it is. We do get comments about it, and they always say that 'it takes some getting used to.' But the learning time seems to be about thirty seconds to a minute so I don't really think thats bad. Forceing the players to move towards their targets while they shoot at them adds a new type of challenge to the game that isn't in any other arena game that I've seen. Not more, not less, just different.

December 22, 2006, 06:03:54 am

#12

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Re: BattleZero (Working Title)

Now that the semester is over I'm back to full time programming! Heres little update on all of the features currently in the game.

Options to disable music, sound effects, and particles, this is very helpful on slower computers.
Multiple worlds which are 'unlocked' as the player beats the one before it allowing them to go to which ever world gives them the appropriate challenge.
Six unique AIs for the basic enemies.
Two unique boss enemies.
Four collectables including two power ups.
Multiple lives which the player can earn by gaining points.

Its mostly just finishing touches that are left though I am hoping to develop a couple more monster types!

December 23, 2006, 05:15:45 am

#13

Joshua

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Re: BattleZero (Working Title)

Jony and I have been very hard at work (and school!) and BattleZero is progressing rather well. Here are some of Jony's new enemies in action!

Proof!

December 24, 2006, 04:49:13 pm

#14

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Re: BattleZero (Working Title)

The Rokubi (heart shaped guys) hid behind the Bokkos (the square guys) and jump out at you when you get close to them. The bokkos wander around the screen and push you around, they really get in the way and make it hard to move and to shoot (but not too hard... at least if they're aren't too many on the screen. The battos (upside down tear drop) 'flock' in a line and move together as a group.

Hopefully Josh will be able to come up with some new art work soon for the rest of the new AIs I've developed and we can show them off as well!

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December 25, 2006, 10:43:57 pm

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Re: BattleZero (Working Title)

i love the style you guy got going there looking awsome so far,

January 04, 2007, 07:22:58 am

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Re: BattleZero (Working Title)

Jony and I are still cranking out 1's and 0's!

January 17, 2007, 02:00:13 am

#17

jony

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Re: BattleZero (Working Title)

Almost done! Here's what the game includes so far:

11 Unique AIs
3 Unique Bosses
4 Point related pickups
4 Pickups that effect how the player shoots or the stars that he shoots
1 Pickup that causes an explosion of stars
3 Unique Worlds
1 Tutoral World in addition to the the real worlds
4 Unique Songs

We're both (Josh and I) very excited to get this finished up and ready to submit here in the next week or two. I'm busy finding bugs to squish (as far as we know its bug free which means that its bound to crash as soon as anyone else tries to play it!) and Josh is busy finishing up the art work for the Bosses. With any luck it'll be out before the school starts back up!

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January 17, 2007, 08:24:28 pm

#18

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Re: BattleZero (Working Title)

I love the art! Nicely Done. I just curious what tools (vector art program? animation program?) you are using to create those cute characters? Just curious.

January 17, 2007, 11:18:18 pm

#19

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Re: BattleZero (Working Title)

Thanks Greg!

I am using Adobe Photoshop CS2 for all of the art in the game. Due to time constraints, I am only doing basic animation(also done in CS2). I would be happy to share my process with you if you would like.

« Last Edit: January 17, 2007, 11:21:24 pm by Joshua »

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January 18, 2007, 08:52:21 pm

#20

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Re: BattleZero (Working Title)

Joshua, I would be interested in knowing about your process. I mostly use Paint Shop Pro for the stuff I do, but it would be similar to Photoshop.

January 19, 2007, 01:11:34 pm

#21

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Re: BattleZero (Working Title)

Its amazing to watch Joshua work! He has millions of layers in each image I swear.

January 22, 2007, 10:20:11 pm

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Trouble in CloudLand

Joshua and I have two announcements today!

First BattleZero has been offically named Trouble in CloudLand!

Secondly Trouble in CloudLand will be released on Sunday the 28th! You will able to fight the trouble or causing it, which ever gives you more joy!

January 25, 2007, 04:35:20 am

#23

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Re: Trouble In CloudLand (Formerly BattleZero)

New Movie!

This movie shows me playing the final version of Trouble In CloudLand.

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January 25, 2007, 08:18:20 am

#24

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Re: Trouble In CloudLand (Formerly BattleZero)

It still maintains that great style to it. Do the eneimes shoot back at all?

Aviator sunglasses are pretty much the shmups of the sunglasses world.

January 25, 2007, 08:45:14 am

#25

relsoft

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Re: Trouble In CloudLand (Formerly BattleZero)

Cool!!

Hello

January 25, 2007, 09:22:23 am

#26

Valle2

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Re: Trouble In CloudLand (Formerly BattleZero)

Wow, looks like a fun game and the style is awesome Cheesy

!

January 25, 2007, 03:24:35 pm

#27

Joshua

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Re: Trouble In CloudLand (Formerly BattleZero)

Thanks for the kind words!

@Pixel_Outlaw: No enemies shoot. Each enemy type has its own attack pattern, so they will chase you in different ways.

January 28, 2007, 09:53:40 pm

#28

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Re: Trouble In CloudLand (Formerly BattleZero)

http://www.battlezero.com/cloudland

Jony and I are very proud to announce that our AutoFire 2007 competition entry is complete! We have enjoyed both working on our project and watching the other games develop as well. We feel that Shmup-Dev.com is a great game development community that has much to offer for developers and gamers.

Please visit our website to download Trouble In CloudLand (9.39 Mb)

As per the judges request, a zipped version of the game is attached to the first post in this thread: Trouble In CloudLand-Install.zip (10.6 Mb)
After extracting to the folder of your choice, run main.exe and enjoy!

Screenshots:

Another day of fighting in Cloudopolis.

The player making use of two power ups at once.

« Last Edit: January 28, 2007, 10:21:44 pm by Joshua »

January 28, 2007, 10:32:26 pm

#29

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Re: Trouble In CloudLand (Full Version Available!)

I know this is an issue for some people so to let everyone know the game plays in full screen at 1024x768.

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January 29, 2007, 12:16:13 am

#30

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Re: Trouble In CloudLand (Full Version Available!)

You guys aren't entering it for the Piyo thing? If you are planning on doing so, then you forgot to add the banners and splash things that are required Cry

See here:
http://www.shmup-dev.com/forum/index.php?topic=943.0

Oh, and the game was pretty sweet. Only problem is that there was very little content. Static sprites, plus the fact that there was only one enemy, one boss, one... Uhm, obstacle, and one level being recycled over and over makes it a bit monotonous. Good job on the power-ups though. And the engine was solid and the graphics were very stylish and cute.

« Last Edit: January 29, 2007, 12:19:06 am by cactus »

January 29, 2007, 12:51:08 am

#31

jony

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Re: Trouble In CloudLand (Full Version Available!)

That sounds like you were playing the tutorial and then the first world. There are two other worlds were there are a myriad of different enemies and those each of unique bosses. ... will check the zip exe to double check that there isn't a problem with it.

*EDIT*
I checked both version (with the installer and the zip) and both are working fine on my computer. If the first world is too simple for you then you should play the other two worlds where multiple AIs and different bosses. Personally I find the first world a bit slow but its perfect for my mother and my nieces and many new players. Once thats easy for you then you move up to the harder difficulty levels.

« Last Edit: January 29, 2007, 12:59:54 am by jony »

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January 29, 2007, 12:55:59 am

#32

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Re: Trouble In CloudLand (Full Version Available!)

Yeah, I only played the tutorial and the first three "levels". Seems like I quit too early, I didn't know there were worlds too... Sorry for making early assumptions, I'm doing my best to finish my game on time while studying for an upcoming exam so I don't have a lot of time over for trying the other entries here Cry

January 29, 2007, 01:03:38 am

#33

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Re: Trouble In CloudLand (Full Version Available!)

You can directly access any of the worlds straight off after you hit play. Nightmaria is pretty good for gamers, Cloudopolis is good for for non-gamers.

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January 29, 2007, 07:13:42 am

#34

relsoft

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Re: Trouble In CloudLand (Full Version Available!)

Dang! My system can't handle your min specs.

AMD Duron 750 with GF2MX 400

;*(

Hello

January 29, 2007, 02:20:32 pm

#35

jony

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Re: Trouble In CloudLand (Full Version Available!)

If you haven't, you should try downloading it anyway, we know that it can run on the system reqs that we put up but we don't know how much slower a computer can be before it stops running fast, also turning off particles gives a decent speed boost to the game. So give it a go and let us know if it runs so that we can figure out exactly what can and can't run it.

« Last Edit: January 29, 2007, 08:56:16 pm by jony »

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January 29, 2007, 09:46:51 pm

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Re: Trouble In CloudLand (Full Version Available!)

I just played it and it's awesome

!

It ran very smoothly on my (slow) Laptop and i loved the graphical style (very neat!).
the gameplay is also fun. For me it was a bit too hard, couldn't get past Level 2 in Nightmaria^^.
I should try to get this kind of neatness in my games Cheesy

!

Which programming-language did u use for this game?

January 29, 2007, 10:20:05 pm

#37

jony

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Re: Trouble In CloudLand (Full Version Available!)

Thanks for the kind words!

We used python with the pygame libarary. Python is an awesome and very simple to use language, especially when you use pygame, though you need to look into some other plug ins (like psyco) if you want it to run at all fast. Also the IDE that comes with python is a bit lacking, however Eclipse is a great IDE to use and its pretty easy to make it usable with Python.

I have to think that one of the hardest parts of making any game is balencing the difficulty! I tried to provide a slow and steady increase in difficulty as the player progresses but after playing the game so much it became harder and harder to know if something was too hard or too easy because it was all getting progressivly easier for me. On the list for future games is dedicated beta testers who hopefully can help us out with that problem.

The Python Programming Language
Pygame

Note that currently pygame only supports upto version 2.4 of python. Although they have been saying for a bit now that a new version of pygame is going to be coming out soon.

February 01, 2007, 05:16:05 pm

#38

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Re: Trouble In CloudLand (Full Version Available!)

Many people have expressed an interest in linux and mac versions,and we completely agree with you! I can't say when they will be ready, but we are working on it. Grin