Star Fox: 2D [Ver. 1.0.1]

[Tailsz]

As everyone knows I try to not reveal what I'm doing with bosses but this was just a pretty funny hiccup.

 

'Why Tailsz does not like particles #2'

 

Oh forgot to mention so far the particle count has capped at 50. So yay no overflows!

[Tailsz]

//Overall Progress

//9.sept

Drafted boss: "The Devourer"

The boss originally had a three burst shot instead of the stream laser it has now.

//10.sept

Begun coding and spriting of Devourer

Finished basic AI

Added particle effects

Finished complex AI

Readjusted various variables based on feedback

//11.sept

Added new features to the Devourer

Moved The Devourer from Sandbox to Live

Polished Devourer off, fixed any hiccups from transfer.

Fixed multiple overlay bugs

Fixed bug with check point preventing player from moving forward on Meteos

Fixed bug with arrays (array[0], array[1]) caused by recent GM:S1.2 patch

Fixed a bug caused on the map when transfering between stages;

Fixed a bug that caused the score to transfer between stages;

Fixed a bug causing the game to award double the normal points;

Removed "Practice" option; will replace with "Horde" option post story;

Added the secondary objective to get to Sector X.

Added a heal at the end of the stage.

Score is now halved upon death (current score, not final score)

Lives are now infinite;

Production has begun on Sector X.

// - - - - END

//BEGIN CHECKLIST

//

//LEVELS:

//CORNERIA [100%]

//SECTOR X [10%]

//METEO [100%]

//VENOM [0%]

//ENGINES:

//GAME ENGINE [100%]

//KEY BINDING ENGINE [100%]

//DIALOGUE ENGINE [0%]

//MUSIC/SOUND EFFECT ENGINE [0%]

//OTHER

//POLISHING [0%]

[Tailsz]

Fixed up old Sector X map imported from version 0.0.6;

Fixed up some minor issues with All Range Mode;

Added a minimap function to show where enemies are;

Drafted the Sector X mission;

- Basic Objective [100%]

- Allies Arwings [100%]

- Boss [100%]

Drafted new option: Survival (will be on the back burner until Story Mode is done)

- Survival is the run-of-the-mill Horde; (Survive waves of enemies)

- Three different maps; Corneria; Sector X; Venom; (Also three difficulties)

- Different varieties of enemies and point systems based on map;

[Tailsz]

 

- Added some rules to the All Range Mode for enemies so they do not freeze or deactivate outside the room;

- Minimap function slightly revised in appearance. (It was a little too much blue going on here);

- Slightly adjusted the position of Sector X so it isn't so... 'centered';

- Enemies are now 20% more accurate at hitting you now;

 

My apologies for the lackluster update. I was quite busy today (and for like an hour or so tomorrow) so I didn't get anything accomplished. Hopefully all works out.

 

(Mock shot of what the minimap looks like (it's really simple and I like it that way))

[Icy]

I've got to say, I like what I see! It's great that you're still working on this. It's got a lot of promise.

 

I've played the latest version and it's pretty fun!

 

One question, though: I messed up in the options and now a bunch of different controls are set to the down arrow, which prevents me from going back up and resetting the options to their original state. Is there a way to reset the settings?

[Tailsz]

I've got to say, I like what I see! It's great that you're still working on this. It's got a lot of promise.

 

I've played the latest version and it's pretty fun!

 

One question, though: I messed up in the options and now a bunch of different controls are set to the down arrow, which prevents me from going back up and resetting the options to their original state. Is there a way to reset the settings?

Of course! The settings are saved to "C:UsersUSER*AppDataLocal" and scroll down to either "Starfox 2D" or "Stargazer" (which ever one that build currently uses) and delete the file "options.ini". The game will automatically recreate the file and shouldn't give any errors when it happens. (I've tested it internally multiple times)

 

And on that note, I'll be sure to fix up the binding engine to check for other entries with a similar binding to prevent this from happening. (Or add a cheat key to reset all keys to default)

[Tailsz]

 

- Binding engine will now search for any keys that have the same bind.

- Added a disabled option on the title screen called "Swarm"

- Added new rules for the Arcada to follow in all range mode;

- Tested out new direction feature; didn't test well with the enemy ship, but it will be added to a new unit for Sector X.

- Create the spawning tool for Swarm/Sector X (normal spawners wouldn't cut it)

- Added a "Wave" counter. Mostly for debugging, but I'll leave it in for players to see their progress.

- Boss fight for Sector X drafted

 

Although wave 1 is just a little too slow... I'll be sure to make it so that if there's no enemy ships on the screen at all it'll automatically spawn as much as possible without going over the maximum amount.

[Tailsz]

I immediately regret giving my decision of giving Falco 100% attack speed and no turn speed.

Though this was actually a glitch; he was suppose to only shoot within a certain proximity but then this happened

[Tailsz]

 

I'm currently reworking how the tracking system works so I can implement it in game. I have successfully enabled the system to loop around perfectly taking into account multiple "What ifs" so that when a player passes through the "0" or "360" degree threshold for the direction variable, it'll know if passing through from 360 (which will automatically change to 0 degrees) will be more efficient or rotating all the way around to find you.

 

It's kind of essential because I don't want the fighter planes to be able to turn on a dive at you. (also enables for more customization)

 

Also I have drafted what each Ally will do to aid you on Sector X (though from my previous post that basically spoiled it, you guys know what Falco does.) These options will also carry over to the new Swarm game mode whenever I decide to put in the basic elements for that in. Oh and each ally has different characteristics and speeds for their ships to make them feel unique.

[Tailsz]

Eureka! I finished the snippet. If anyone wanted to use this for their own GML project I've left this snippet out to help for basic AI coding:

/*THE AUTOMATED TRACKING SYSTEM BY TAILSZ
REPLACE "mouse_direction" with your own variable
REPLACE "point_direction(x,y,*,*)" (replace the * with your object, such as (x,y,"obj_Arwing.x","obj_Arwing.y") without quotations.)

EXPERIMENT around to get a feel of the script!
*/

mouse_direction = point_direction(x,y,mouse_x,mouse_y)

if((direction >= 90) && (direction <= 270) && (mouse_direction > direction)) { direction += 5 }
if((direction >= 90) && (direction <= 270) && (mouse_direction < direction)) { direction -= 5 }


if((direction <= 90) && (mouse_direction > direction) && (mouse_direction <= 90)) { direction += 5 }
if((direction <= 90) && (mouse_direction < direction) && (mouse_direction <= 90)) { direction -= 5 }


if((direction <= 180) && (direction <= 90) && (mouse_direction > direction) && (mouse_direction > 90) && (mouse_direction <= 180)) { direction += 5 }
if((direction <= 180) && (direction <= 90) && (mouse_direction < direction) && (mouse_direction > 90) && (mouse_direction <= 180)) { direction -= 5 }


if((direction >= 270) && (mouse_direction > direction) && (mouse_direction >= 270)) { direction += 5 }
if((direction >= 270) && (mouse_direction < direction) && (mouse_direction >= 270)) { direction -= 5 }


if((direction >= 180) && (direction >= 270) && (mouse_direction > direction) && (mouse_direction < 270) && (mouse_direction >= 180)) { direction += 5 }
if((direction >= 180) && (direction >= 270) && (mouse_direction < direction) && (mouse_direction < 270) && (mouse_direction >= 180)) { direction -= 5 }


if((direction >= 270) && (direction <= 360) && (mouse_direction <= 180)) { direction += 5 }
if((direction <= 90) && (direction >= 0) && (mouse_direction >= 180)) { direction -= 5 }

[Tailsz]

Finished up the main swarm engine, and fixed up a few things with the AI.

Added unique characteristics to each ship;

Falco (CMD)

Peppy (SNT)

Slippy (MED)

I'll probably have to readjust how Slippy does things before I can release the next demo. I also haven't decided what to do when a ally ship dies, or how I should handle the enemies firing off screen. Though writing it out has given me time to think of some ideas like adding a counter to the swarm engine to signal when Slippy can do his thing during the transitional period between waves. Also, I'll probably add a new rule that allows the enemy AI to shoot lasers only if they're within a certain radius of their target. I'll also make them semi faster.

 

I've reduced the amount of points per enemy killed by the enemy AI (It's a 'team game' afterall) to 0.5. If you look at it my way, it gives you incentive to take out all the enemies before Falco can. Also doesn't make Route A seem like a bad choice... Though I'm going to make two different scores charts anyways. One for Route A the other for Route B.

Route A: Corneria - Meteo - Venom

Route B: Corneria - Sector X - Venom

 

I'll probably adjust Venom to have a different stage based on which route you're on. Because route A needs a all range stage and route B needs one more rail stage to balance both sides out. I'm already drafting out two different ideas in my mind for both sides, with route B is more of an Area 6 type stage where you fly straight towards Venom while route A is a free range "defeat the mini-boss" room. Alternately, I could make a free range "get to the end while destroying as many enemy ships as you can" stage instead which could deliver more flavour to route A. I'll think about it tomorrow when I finish Sector X.

[Tailsz]

Core elements to Sector X is 100% complete. All I have to do now is design the boss and be on with the final section of the game woohoo!

[Tailsz]

Adjust many pieces of Sector X again after playtesting a billion times for bugs and glitches;

Created most of the base components for the boss; made it easier to manipulate it's values.

 

I need to finish the last piece of the boss fight tomorrow which is mainly adding the Sequencer to the Arwing ships for the boss fight seeing as I don't think anyone wants to see the allies fly around in circles during the boss fight. (Although it was pretty funny. Sad I didn't .gif it.)

 

Not much progress was made besides fixes, adjustments, and the skeleton of the boss. I decided to do something different today and that was practice my piano skills. Speaking of which I don't think I've linked the recent addition to my Jo-basically-it's-a-blog-mostly-about-game-development-urnal. I played a rock song from Fatal Frame II entitled "Chou":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoTVvT90PBQ

Not sure if it's rock or alternate rock... Hmm... Oh well. If you listen closely you can possibly hear the "rocking" of the piano.

[Tailsz]

Latest push broke some things so I've been on the offence to fix these nasty bugs. I've also done sweeps of the code to fix some errors. I was using the wrong command for some instances and I'm surprised some things were even working as intended. Hopefully this'll be the last day I have to work on the boss. Programming this kind of AI is exhausting on the mind.

[Tailsz]

 

Okay, I've started progress back up! I have officially finished my newest piano piece: 'You're Not Here' by Akira Yamaoka and it's up on my YouTube page right now:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0L1qtXEVQw

 

This isn't the complete version; I recently added the last strum of verses to the song just after recording so at one point in time I'll have to add the new awesome slew of chords. Hopefully it'll have better light saturation.

 

Anyways, I fixed a bug today that caused the boss to not properly rotate through it's phases, so now I'll be moving onto polishing it off then I'm releasing the next demo, and then I finish the game off hopefully before 2014.

 

Still have no material idea of what to do with Venom. I have so many options available and I'm unsure what direction to go.