(just to be clear, 'Name to Follow' isn't the name of the game. Though I kinda like it!) Hello Denizens of the Touch Arcade Forums (or DOTTAF as I affectionately call you in my head)! Hope you're all well! Sorry I've not been around much - I've been very busy learning new stuff and polishing the old, but I'm finally happy to say I've got a new game in the works and it's coming along quite nicely! It's an 'on rails' sci-fi shooter! *ears prick up* Who said 'yuk!'? *peering into the crowd* Was it you? Hmmm... well, don't fret! I've got lots in my head for this game which will hopefully make you think more 'oooh, this is fun!' rather than 'oh, it's an on-rails shooter' Think of it as a cross between the original Star Wars arcade machine (the sit-down one) and Namco's Starblade (I love both those games btw - the first is possibly still my fave arcade machine ever!) The game has what I think is a really lovely lovely look to it - but I'm saving that for when I'm ready to share! In the meantime, I've released a few screenshots that give nothing away on Twitter! Like this, for example: That's basically the 'HUD' - you move the target around and pew pew pew Here's a turret test: This is important because I want people to feel like they're in the middle of a big battle, in a universe that's alive. Having capital ships firing on enemies etc, even in the background, will hopefully help with that! Little details matter! Here's a test for asteroids in the rings of a planet: There's actually *counts* about 100,000 of those in there. *faints* And here's an early 6 second Vine vid of testing out the weapons: https://vine.co/v/eWZ10nueV0t Today I had a bit of a breakthrough - the simple simple task of changing colours This was a 'must have' feature, as anyone that's tried my previous games will know, and gave me the confidence that yeah, I can maybe do this! I also want the mission structure to be something similar to this: Which the, er, elder gentlemen and ladies will recognise as the course map from my fave racing game, Outrun "So what kind of state is the game in?" I hear a little voice at the back ask! Well, little voiced person, I am desperately trying to get a 1 level 'proof of concept' build done before the end of the month. If I can manage that, then I think everything will be a-ok! Having said that, there's no eta on this. I'm learning Unity at the moment and it's all in 3D and I get confuzzled easily, so there's that as an added time sink, and I really have no idea what I'm doing \o/ But hey, it's fun, and I hope you'll enjoy reading about how I'm getting on with it all! Thanks for looking! I'll update when I can with new screenshots and progress reports and stuff like that! QS =D
Great news, but I am especially intrigued by the space station on your desktop... I still have my SegaCD copy of Starblade (and Star Wars Arcade for the 32x, though it is not the original arcade game...)
"Think of it as a cross between the original Star Wars arcade machine (the sit-down one) and Namco's Starblade (I love both those games btw - the first is possibly still my fave arcade machine ever!)" I had to google for both, and i immediately wanted to play Starblade with that cool and intense atmosphere, indeed. I hope you do well and find your new curve with Unity fast enough. Looking very forward. Edit: Vine doesn't work for me.
This is AMAZING news!!!!!!! It looks so awesome already QS! The asteroids around the planet are beautiful! I am so excited right now, glad to have you back, and look forward to any new news as it becomes available! *sheepyhugs all around*
Fixed that for you (or at least I tried to - it doesn't seem to accept an extra pew - how odd!) You're very kind, thanks *sheepyhugs* I'm excited to unveil the look - I've shown just one person and they were like 'woah'. They're old like me though, so your mileage may vary! You can actually play Starblade *right now* on your iOS device via Namco's free Namco Arcade app - you get 1 free go on any game every day, or you can buy them outright. The Starblade port is wonderful apart from a couple of issues I have with it: 1. It's not 'full screen' 2. The controls... well, they're not really suited to the game Give it a free go if you like! :O That was made by a new artist friend of mine called Craig Stevenson - he usually does ZX Spectrum stuff and we've been chatting about a possible future collaboration. He's like a clone of me, but very good at arty stuff. I believe the actual station is from this article which he illustrated http://readonlymemory.vg/the-unsolved-mysteries-elite/ Also: I have Star Wars on the 32X too, and a copy of Starblade for the 3DO I think! Happy days! The original Star Wars machine is still the best though Thank you sir! *curtsies* I'm excited! And I'm very happy to see you all here, because it's what I've been missing these past few months! The motivation to keep going starts in this place Thanks all for the kind words, and speak soon! QS =D
Well, it's the thought that counts But woah a new QS game!!! Holy sheep this looks amazing! The capital ships look so cool! Can NOT wait to see more of this because this looks bloody fantastic! You jus keep one-upping yourself QS, you're like a green mushroom!
Man oh man - my favourite game of all time (including the future) will always be Defender but it's so damn closely followed by the sit-down Star Wars Coin-Op. I was 12 when our local Arcade got it and blowing up that Death Star for the first time was phenomenal. Properly excited about this. Take your time too, QS, I always enjoy the anticipation and build up. Absolutely magic stuff.
*bows* thank you *makes one-up sound* The capital ships won't look quite like that in-game - hopefully they'll look better! But you can see I'm still dabbling with the colour changes (red in that case!) which I love so much! I'm going to see if I can add a bit more to it than just that though W00t! This game was made for you it seems! I am really bloody excited to show what it looks like, but I want to be sure I can actually make it by getting a complete level done first! Then I will have oh so many screenshots to show you Hello! *Fingers toes and eyes crossed* Thanks all - you've brought a smile to my sheepy face! And though I'm heading to bed now for an 'early' night, I'm excited to get back to work on this tomorrow! Toodles! QS =D
Hey all, hope you're having a good Saturday! Mine was a bit panic-fuelled :O My MacBook wouldn't start up... *cries in the corner* It's ok now - I took the back off, fiddled with the battery, prayed to the Sheepy Gods in the grassy field in the sky, and I've got it working. Kinda. The keyboard's completely screwed now, and I have to use a bluetooth connected one, as well as an external mouse. You should have seen my little sheepy face though! :O My whole life is on this laptop, and though I back things up to an external HD, if this little fella failed, I'd have to... well, I don't want to think of what I'd have to do :O Fortunately, I've put a little money aside to get a new laptop/computer as the current one is about four years old I think, and it is slowly (and sometimes quickly!) dying. Basically I'm waiting for Apple to announce the new MacBook stuff, which will hopefully be this year (sooner the better, Apple!), before I upgrade! I hope the laptop lasts that long :O So, what about the game, I hear someone that's NOT giggling at the back ask! Well, it's ok. I am essentially making the player object right now and working out what I want to affect it so that I can make it once and use it everywhere else! This includes planning to see if I want to/can make weapon changes based on the ship you choose, for example. Or, change the colour of the whole screen, which is a sheepy thing to do! I mentioned in an answer earlier in the thread that I was hoping to do something more, so I'm looking at being able to add various effects to the game that will change the look dramatically depending on what you choose, and maybe a combination of what you choose. Here's a look: I'm going to try and work out how to get this done as I think it's a lot of fun and gives you guys a lot of stuff to aim for, unlocking wise I also worked out how to turn scanlines on and off - I kinda like the look of the game either way, so having the option there is nice (also: Every Good Game Deserves Scanlines) I know this sounds like basic stuff, but do bear in mind I'm still learning lots. What would normally take me an hour or so to do takes me a day :O But I'll get faster and better, promise! (as long as the laptop holds out!) Anyway, just thought I'd give you a heads up as to what's happening! Hope your weekend is a lot less panic inducing! QS =D
Thanks for this tip and yes, awful little screen and only playable with a pen, but the intense action and atmosphere...if you can achieve this, oh boy, i'm a very happy customer, again! I had to re-dl Taito's Raystorm, an on-rail shooter with a cool lock-on system besides the normal shooting. Any thoughts about lock-on stuff, too? I also had to check Defender, which let me re-dl Syder Arcade again, a top side scroller in the vain of Defender. I'm swimming in nostalgia here, hope you don't mind, QS !? \\// live long and prosper, laptop.
See, this is brilliant! I'd forgotten about RayStorm, and I hadn't heard about Syder - forgive me, and thanks for that! Thoughts about lock-on stuff currently are: I have no idea how to do that! :O But I'll explore it - I'm not averse to the idea at all - I loved Rez, for example, on the lovely Dreamcast (and later on Xbox of course) - but I really can't promise anything as of this moment! The influences I've mentioned didn't use Lock-on stuff at all, and while I'm not limited to those influences, they really are the bare bones of what I'm trying to make. And I think there's a noticeable difference in lock on vs. straight shooter games. We'll see! As to the atmosphere, I don't think I can afford to have voice over work done to be fair, though I may look into it. If there's any story, it'll be done in text for now. Also, the music is pretty damn atmospheric. I think you'll like it - no chip tunes this time around! :O And because I'm going for the old Sheepy monochrome look, I think the visuals will bring their own atmosphere, as will each colour. I showed a friend a video of exiting the hangar straight behind a couple of capital ships, and he was just :O for a few seconds, which was lovely! I'm so excited to show you all! Swimming in nostalgia's fine! COME ON IN EVERYONE, THE WATER'S LOVELY! The laptop is acting a bit strangely still I'm afraid. I failed in trying to incorporate the different effects, but I have a few ideas I'd like to try out still. I *did* manage to set up three player ships on Saturday evening though. The current thinking is: Fighter (starter ship) - good all round ship, short range laser bolts, strong health Interceptor - long range laser beams, medium health Bomber - slow loading bombs/missiles (but can take out capital ships maybe?) low armour That's the initial idea anyway - there'll be a lot of balancing of everything of course with regards to alien hit points, player weapon damage, enemy weapon damage etc etc. It's something I really love doing! \o/ It's true though! Every time I put scanlines on a game I feel so much happier! I do realise of course that it's not to everyone's taste, so having the option to turn them off was important! Fortunately I've managed that I think... Still. Scanlines! *dances* Also - I'm really happy with how it's looking, visual wise. Because I'm making it on PC, there's a daydream I have in my head to one day play the game on PC based arcade machine I somehow build. I think that would be fantastic fun. But hey, I have to finish this first! Off to bed now and will be playing boardgames with friends tomorrow! Will show them what I have so far, see what they say! Toodles for now! Thanks for the replies! QS =D
Awesome business. I remember hoping that QS would one day make a top-down vertical shmup, but I'm just as excited for an on-rails shooter. With all the Star Wars games and tie-ins and hoopla, I'm amazed that there's never been a port of that first, exceedingly excellent vector shooter. Sheep on.
Hey all, hope you had a lovely weekend! Mine's been a mix of fun and stressful! Yay, I think? Spent today playing board games with friends. It's brilliant, and if you can arrange it, I'd recommend doing that! I returned home to find I had Schrodinger's Laptop - you can never tell if it's alive or not till you try and turn it on. Had a big scare with it when the display started playing up - like this: https://vine.co/v/emIiUm59wL0 And then it just went blank... I have done various tests, and even declared the damn thing dead and 'quite silly' at one point, and then it just magically started working again :O The situation's far from ideal, but I will do what I can - the money I put aside for a new laptop may have to go towards a Mac Mini as a 'stopgap' solution, just so I can work without fear of losing stuff/interruption due to technical hassles. We'll see! So yeah, I thought I'd take this opportunity while it's *working* to say hello, and don't worry if I disappear! Either I'm cut off, or the Government finally found me... Anyway, let's see what we have in the thread today! Hello! How lovely to see you here! Thanks! I'm very excited about it - showed a video of it to my board game friends (who all work in the games industry) and they were very encouraging/excited by it! Also, I do still want to make a vertical shmup at some point, and have done for a few years now. I have to feel that I can make it 'special' though, and I'm still not confident I can do that quite yet. But making *this* game will (if I can pull it off) help give me some confidence to finally get round to making a vertical shooter. And having said all that, I have been dying to make an on-rails shooter for years and years. In fact, it was one of the first 'game types' I tried when I started making iOS games! Here's proof: That's a pic of a prototype I made for iOS five years ago :O It was done in 2D with enemies getting 'bigger' to simulate getting nearer - it's pretty awful, and I'm glad I didn't pursue it! And here's a new shot I posted on Twitter on Saturday: That's a space station, very far away - the big 'o' bit on the right hand side is big enough to fit capital ships - so yeah, it's pretty huge, and all in glorious 3D :O I think I can do this - and I think (hope!) I can make it fun for you guys - let's see what happens! Heh! One of my fave games from the Spectrum era was 3D StarStrike - a fab interpretation of the Star Wars arcade machine I thought! But yeah, on-rails shooters *have* been done before on iOS - but there's room for more, if I can get it right! Ok! I'm living on borrowed time with this laptop, so I'll say 'goodnight' for now, and speak soon (I HOPE!) :O QS =D
\o/ If you like space pew pew action, give my friend's game 'Starseed' a look here: http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=254525 I've been playing the beta and enjoying it - it certainly has its own 'feel' that's difficult to put into words As to my game, I've been struggling with the laptop as usual (it was painful just replying to this post as it was misbehaving badly!), but did manage to do a bit of testing on the bad guys shooting back at you! Here's a short Vine vid: https://vine.co/v/em0EM2nXhD9 As I said, it's just a test, and is still a work in progress. The idea was to get basic 'shooting at the player' working. I usually take Vine videos with my phone - they can be a bit rough, but give a good general idea I hope! There'll be lots of balancing and tweaking going on (usually right up to the last minute) just to make sure the bullets are big enough to see, how much health they take off the player if they hit you, that you have a chance to shoot them down, when they fire etc etc But these tests are useful! It's how you build a game! Thanks for looking and speak soon! QS =D
