Shoot 'Em Up Prototype

WIP games, tools & toy projects
#21

The next build is ready for testing, if anyone would like to try it out. Overall I’m not very pleased with it, simply because the audio system is far from solid. I’ve noticed some spikes while playing, it’s possible it may even crash due to too many sounds trying to play at once. I tried my best to prevent this by limiting when certain sounds play, after about 30ish play tests I haven’t encountered a crash since limiting it. Most actions now have a sound. There’s also some music now.

I apologize for not having any new gameplay for testing. Between some recent family matters, Easter dinner(Oh lord I was full), and starting a new job, I haven’t been able to spend as much time as I want working on the game.

Please let me know if the addition of audio in its current state makes the game too unstable for you to play, be it dropped frames or (hopefully not) crashing.

Credits for sounds used:
http://www.freesound.org/people/aust_paul/
http://www.freesound.org/people/Robinhood76/
http://www.freesound.org/people/Nbs%20Dark/
http://www.freesound.org/people/timgormly/
http://www.freesound.org/people/bubaproducer/
http://www.freesound.org/people/fins/
http://www.freesound.org/people/smcameron/
http://www.freesound.org/people/kennysvoice/
http://www.freesound.org/people/Benboncan/

Credit for music used:

Download for current build:
http://www.filedropper.com/spaceshooterv021

EDIT:
Also, I’m still looking into adding controller support with JInput. Not sure about completely switching to LWJGL yet, but I’m reading up on the documentation for JInput, LWJGL 2 and 3.

#22

I just wanted to give an update of sorts. This project is not dead, I add to it from time to time. However I’ve been in a funk as of late that I can’t shake off. Between raising my son, family life and this new job, I’ve had trouble maintaining motivation to program with what free time I have.

I hate that I let it slip as much as it has. Has anyone else reached this state at some point? I genuinely love designing games even though I’m not very skilled at it. It makes me sad that I can’t bring myself to suck it up and program through this.

Enough of that, I WILL release another build eventually. It won’t be until I feel it’s a full-fledged game however.

Thank you for your time,
-Ryu

#23

Hi Ryukyjinishi

Don’t worry, you’re not the only one. I’ve lost motivation to code lots of times. One time I took a 4 month break and that helped a lot. Just try and relax a little and I’m sure the coding bug will return soon :slight_smile: best of luck and I hope to see more of this game soon

#24

Thanks Sauron, I’m glad I joined JGO. Previously I was alone with only my tutorials I’d read and watch, with this strange family of JGO I have people I can talk to. Programming sure does get lonely at times when no one in your family understands it. You will be seeing more of this game soon, best of luck to you and your endeavors!

#25

Finally! I got around to doing something. Granted it’s technically not the main part of the game. I wanted to try a versus mode. So after some…questionable code that I definitely have to clean up later, here it is, a demo showing a possible game mode.

https://photos-4.dropbox.com/t/2/AAAV_LKfbJPp4TkvedoftOlPcwYUgTULNZ2ipEmA5gHf3A/12/319094119/png/32x32/1/1432490400/0/2/VS%20demo.PNG/COf6k5gBIAEgAiADIAQgBSAGKAEoAg/dVc_7Ruqn_eqzgP2H3e99XbjxVPw0QrqvboyVbshjSE?size=1024x768&size_mode=2

Since the last time I released an update, I’ve changed a few things behind the scenes(nothing visible on that end). Sound’s still terrible, sound programming is an area I need much improvement on. I implemented VERY simple alpha blending, which will be most noticeable when opposing big blasts start colliding.

Now for the ugly part. I haven’t yet figured out how to get past the input limitations of the standard keyboard(I believe I can have 3…or maybe it was 4, Keys pressed before no other input is read.)
Basically I’m pretty sure if I want to actually implement this as it should be, I’ll have to finally cave in and really get to know JInput well to add controller support. About a month and a half ago I had started toying with LibGDX and got their Rain Catch tutorial game working using my wired 360 controller. However I couldn’t find a simple way to actually get a list of a controller’s input options.

All right, I rambled long enough.
Controls for player 1 are mostly the same as before, however they lost the arrow input to player 2.
Input for player 2 is Numpad keys 4, 5 and 6. An issue with that for now is laptops. Fairly certain most do not have one. If it makes it unplayable for anyone on here, I don’t mind uploading a version with the controls squeezed closer together. Just be ready to cuddle until I can muster up the willpower to tackle Controller input. Here it is.

Versus Demo: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ni747sg03g2tey9/Excalibur%2085%20VS%20Demo.jar?dl=0

If you can manage to get someone to try it with you, I appreciate any criticism, as always.
Thank you for your time!