Star Four

WIP games, tools & toy projects
#1

Hello guys. I’m new to JGO and I’m also quite new to java game development. I started to learn programming java games a few month ago. My framework of choice was LibGDX and I am still working with it.

Here I want to present you my very first attempt of developing a more complex game than tetris, snake etc. The name of the game is Star Four which is a 2d Sci-Fi RPG. At the beginning of the game you have to find your way out of a bunker-like building. Since the game is in a very early stage of development, there is still a lot of work to be done. This is why i cant provide you a playable demo yet. But I hope the Video and pictures can give you an idea on how this game will look like.

At this point I want to say that Im not a native english spaker and Im sorry for possible mistakes.

Download the most current version of Star Four: https://www.dropbox.com/s/8zdmhkf5dvau22u/StarFour_0.1.jar?dl=0

Screenshots

http://imageshack.com/i/kqEIQUaAp

http://imageshack.com/i/idhHpphKp

Video

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#2

I think it looks like you’re off to a very good start.
Well done, keep it up!

#3

Those graphics actually look pretty cool, with some sci-fi-esque lighting it’d look even better :slight_smile:

#4

Thank you for your feedback. To implement lightning would be great and i thought of it already. In the next steps of development I want to integrate and improove the game mechanics and add more content and graphics to the game. Since I never worked with lightning, i dont know how elaborate this would be to implement. Do you think Box2DLights would be a good framework to do this?

#5

Box2DLights is pretty easy to implement so I’d give it a shot, but you should probably have your collision set up using box2d, if you don’t already.

#6

Love the artwork you’ve got going on! And Jimmt was right, Box2DLights is a fantastic library. Don’t worry about your English too much, we won’t kill you for a missed apostrophe or whatever.

#7

Hey,

in the last few days I managed to implement Box2D physics. Basicly I recreated the whole project. I also integrated box2dlights, which was really easy to set up since the world is a box2d world. Now I have to learn how to use it correctly. I think I can show you something later at the weekend.

#8

It’s the weekend, show us something already! :slight_smile:
Make it a playable demo, I want to try it out.

#9

So, lightning is now working. How do you guys think this looks like?

http://giant.gfycat.com/UnequaledFrighteningImperialeagle.gif

I have one major problem (but this was already before I implemented box2d/lights). The game always drops from 60 to 30 fps after some time and then goes up to 60 again. But I dont think this is a problem of the game. Because when I, for instance, run the game from this tutorial http://youtu.be/ACQaU2Vr1ao the same problem appears.

I will also post updates on twitter https://twitter.com/GQ_Games, if you are interested in the game.

#10

I’m currently working on a first demo level. But there is still much to do, like for example the GUI, interaction with objects and lots of graphics. When I have a playable demo (I think in 1-2 weeks), I will share that with you guys. Here is some impresseion of what you can expect:

#11

The last days I’ve been working on menus and the HUD. I also made some progress in the interaction with objects and shooting animations. Here is a gif that shows something of that. I will upload the demo level at the end of next week. I hope you can give me some feedback, so I can make this game better.

#12

As promised, I uploaded the first version of Star Four. This version contains a playable demo level. To control the game you have to use the keyboard: Move the player with arrow keys, press E to open doors or pick up items and spacebar to shoot. In the level you can find a weapon and some ammo. You also have to find a chipcard to get to the end of the level.

The next steps are the integration of enemies, more items, an inventory and more details in the level.I’m looking forward to hear some feedback.

Download: https://www.dropbox.com/s/8zdmhkf5dvau22u/StarFour_0.1.jar?dl=0

#13

Right, I’ve tried it (sorry for taking so long to do it after having nagged you for a playable version :persecutioncomplex:) and I like it.
It has an eerie feel to it, emphasized by the lack of sound (except when firing the weapon) that made me fear some monster coming at me at any moment, even though I know enemies weren’t in this version :slight_smile:

Get the guy a flashlight and allow him to dynamically light up dark areas and you’ll have a horror game on your hands.

Well done, keep it up!

#14

Thank you for trying out the game. Originally this wasn’t supposed to go in a horror or survival game direction. And honestly, even now I’m not sure what it will be at the end. Unfortunately the next 2 -3 weeks I will have almost no time to work on the game. But nevertheless I’ll try to make some progress and post the results here in this thread.

#15

I think what you have can go in pretty much any direction right now. The only reason I got the horror-vibe was the deserted environment and the lack of sound.

Cool, I am looking forward to seeing your next update.

#16

Looks good so far! The characters movement seems a bit slow for me though, it takes a long time to walk between areas.

#17

Thank you. You are right, I will increase his speed. I will also make him able to walk and attack in 8 directions. I hope in the next week I will will find some time to work on the game.