Twin Stick Shooter 'Fuzeotron'
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Fuzeotron is now up, id code: LL373MNG8D
One thing! I forgot to note in the comments that for the first 5 levels the screen border is safe, after level 5 it's lethal (but it flashes too as a warning)I hope you enjoy it.
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@SteveZX81 Brilliant work Steve! Really nice presentation. It looks just like a retro arcade game!
Its got your trademark mean gameplay (that's good btw). One to keep 😊
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I am so so very sorry everyone, there is a bug in handheld mode (I forget about that as I only ever use docked)
I have pulled it now.
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Steve, dear Steve Dearest..
This is a stupendously good game. It has everything. Lovely title and end screens. Awesome sounds, awesome game graphics (a word on that later), fantastic and very addictive game play.
It is in fact so good that I think it warrants criticism - simply because you have created a near perfect foundation for you to develop into a 'finished' product.
So please don't be cross with me for these suggestions:
I have played to the last level a few times but not got to the boss so I will not comment on that.
First off I think there's a joystick dead-zone issue with the movement. It might be intentional but either way it is the kind of issue where I end up blaming the game rather than knowing I just have to get better. I think the movement needs to smoother with a very small amount of acceleration and deceleration which will also provide smooth cornering.
It 100% has to have a persistent hi-score. You and me both know Defender (my favourite game of all time - can clock it), Robotron (I know a chap who was once 6th in the world) and of course Berzerk (my best 17k - not brilliant but hard to get there). Defender and Robotron 2084 defined the persistent hi-score - so you have to have it otherwise it would just be disrespectful to Eugene Jarvis to be honest!
I'd also recommend an attract mode - it would be more complete with it.
I would drop the swarmers from the first level then introduce one in level two and then more as the levels increase.
It is too easy! Ok, not at first but it doesn't take many tries to start getting to level 15 plus - basically you get good at it pretty quickly.
Because of this i'd suggest increasing the difficulty by bringing in new enemies requiring new strategies.
With an increase in difficulty you'd also be able to introduce the increasing values for saving humans - it is such an important part of Robotron's game play.And then just some additional thoughts:
More - more - more levels!
Boss challenges every ten(?) levels
More enemies
Bonus levels (obviously duh!)
More explosions & effects!
Evil Otto type (or Baiters!) if you're taking too long - for example, I am constantly trying to leave one or two enemies so I can clean up the pods and swarmers to max my score (that is a testament to the play-ability you have already created.)
A timed pod explode - maybe triggered when you get within a certain radius - counts down then explodes.And finally, and I know you'll hate me for this, but this game has to be in the Showcase gallery. The only problem is of course the graphics. The name is fine.
With the showcase in mind, would you willing for the team to work with you to accomplish this especially with the graphics but help with coding tips and the like.
I hope you won't be mad with me for the suggestions above or for mentioning the 'Showcase Gallery'.
On another note, have you played Blaster by Williams - we never had one in Minehead in the eighties so I missed it. I have been playing it lately - wow wow wow!
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@Jonboy Lol, Steve has raised the bar for Fuze games so high that we're now engaging in critical analysis of actual game design principles :D Progress!
EDIT: I should also note that I'm seeing some other incredible stuff in the game sharing thread. I really need to catch up on what people have been making. I've sort of implicitly been waiting on the Fuze Player functionality I guess, so I can just hit a button and browse a pre-curated gallery. Yeah, I'm lazy :D
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@Jonboy said in Twin Stick Shooter 'Fuzeotron':
First off I think there's a joystick dead-zone issue with the movement. It might be intentional but either way it is the kind of issue where I end up blaming the game rather than knowing I just have to get better. I think the movement needs to smoother with a very small amount of acceleration and deceleration which will also provide smooth cornering.
Unfortunately JonBoy as a Shmup dev I'm going to have to disagree with you on the acceleration and decelleration front. However, I will agree on the deadzone issue. I tend to find 0.2 to be a good deadzone, however others might feel 0.5 is better for them. Having an adjustable deadzone would be nice.
However there are some issues with adding acceleration and deceleration to your movement in a shmup:
-It can create imprecise movement, further exacerbating the control issues. This imprecise movement is due to a feeling of lag between pushing and releasing the stick
-Its unnecessary extra work especially when:
-Shmup players will rip you apart for it. Like viciously, you should find the arguements sparked over Super HydorahAnyway I hope that wasn't too harsh to Jonboy, or Steve. I think the game is great, and I thought I would give my two cents
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@Jonboy oh my, where to start.. okay let's take it from the top
"This is a stupendously good game. It has everything. Lovely title and end screens. Awesome sounds, awesome game graphics (a word on that later), fantastic and very addictive game play."
Thank you so much, that really means a lot to me.
"It is in fact so good that I think it warrants criticism - simply because you have created a near perfect foundation for you to develop into a 'finished' product.
So please don't be cross with me for these suggestions:"Go ahead and I'd never be cross, I might disagree but that's as far as it would go.
"I have played to the last level a few times but not got to the boss so I will not comment on that."
I'm glad because the boss had a bug in it (which has now been fixed thanks to Pianofire)
"First off I think there's a joystick dead-zone issue with the movement. It might be intentional but either way it is the kind of issue where I end up blaming the game rather than knowing I just have to get better. I think the movement needs to smoother with a very small amount of acceleration and deceleration which will also provide smooth cornering."
I think I use a deadzone of 0.5 but that was just something I saw here, I've never though about changing it but sure, no probs
"It 100% has to have a persistent hi-score. You and me both know Defender (my favourite game of all time - can clock it), Robotron (I know a chap who was once 6th in the world) and of course Berzerk (my best 17k - not brilliant but hard to get there). Defender and Robotron 2084 defined the persistent hi-score - so you have to have it otherwise it would just be disrespectful to Eugene Jarvis to be honest!"
That was one thing I really wanted from the start (you can see in the comments I wanted it) but I just could not do it at all, it's just beyond my skill level currently but I agree it would be a big improvement
"I'd also recommend an attract mode - it would be more complete with it."
again, would be great but I just can't do that kind of thing.
"I would drop the swarmers from the first level then introduce one in level two and then more as the levels increase.
It is too easy! Ok, not at first but it doesn't take many tries to start getting to level 15 plus - basically you get good at it pretty quickly.
Because of this i'd suggest increasing the difficulty by bringing in new enemies requiring new strategies.
With an increase in difficulty you'd also be able to introduce the increasing values for saving humans - it is such an important part of Robotron's game play."I think dropping the swarmers from the first level (or even the first three, is a very good idea) also increasing values for the humans was something I was going to do but simply didn't get around to it. I agree it would be better.
"And then just some additional thoughts:
More - more - more levels!
Boss challenges every ten(?) levels
More enemies
Bonus levels (obviously duh!)
More explosions & effects!"move levels haha, well I initially was going to have 30 but I kind of ran out of sprites to use. I had to scrap a few as they just didn't look good. challenge mode yes I like that and I wish I'd thought of it. Maybe something along the lines of Galaga's. oh I do like the idea of a timed boss arriving, using Otto too would fit the game as he's the end boss. ohh why didn't I think of that.
more explosions and effects? oh come now, you're asking a big much of me now. I'm old idiot Steve not a gaming god like mr Jarvis ;)
"A timed pod explode - maybe triggered when you get within a certain radius - counts down then explodes."
Now this is a great idea!
"And finally, and I know you'll hate me for this, but this game has to be in the Showcase gallery. The only problem is of course the graphics. The name is fine."
by all means but don't expect me to do the graphics lol
"With the showcase in mind, would you willing for the team to work with you to accomplish this especially with the graphics but help with coding tips and the like."
Sure but my god awful code will give them nightmares, it's like a blindfolded dyslexic six year old wrote it whilst spinning on his head.
"I hope you won't be mad with me for the suggestions above or for mentioning the 'Showcase Gallery'."
I'd never be mad, suggest whatever you like, you'll either get a "yes",a "maybe" or "you want me to do what? go away"
Blaster by Williams? that didn't ring a bell so I had to check it out and nope, I guess that one just passed me by. looks fun though and has the typical epic Williams sound effects!
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Fuzeotron v1.1 now live
code is NNNYXGND9DIf you have the original then please download this version as it fixes some gamebreaking bugs!
Thank you
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@SteveZX81 do you use a deadzone variable or is it hardcodes?
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Ok after playing for a few moments you have the old diagonal angle issue. Basically you move twice as fast on diagonals because it adds both values together. You need to normalize your diagonals. Which I honestly have no clue how to do, so my reccomendation is to look up how to normalize a diagonal or maybe someone else can chime in. Thats absolutely where your movement issues come from
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@Retrocade_media I use this (I believe I stole..uhm borrowed it from Martin)
'if c.lx < -0.5 and player.x > 30 then player.x -8 endif'
same for the other directions.
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@SteveZX81 if you don't mind I'm going to mess around with it and see if I can improve some of the movement stuff? I'll share it back to you and you can let me know if you like it
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by all means but I'll be cheeky and suggest you use the word improve rather than fix. as it seems to be okay for me. lol ;)
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@SteveZX81 said in Twin Stick Shooter 'Fuzeotron':
@Retrocade_media I use this (I believe I stole..uhm borrowed it from Martin)
'if c.lx < -0.5 and player.x > 30 then player.x -8 endif'
same for the other directions.
Ohhhhh!!!!!!
If you copied any of the movement code from YASS then that could explain a lot :P
I manually coded fake physics into that which won't be good for a twin stick shooter :)
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it wasn't YASS but I've no idea what it was from or even if it was a game. Sometimes you just throw code at me when I need help. ;)
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Ah good point!
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@SteveZX81 haha, will do
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I just played it, and it is very fun! Great job!
If you wanted to "normalize" the diagonal motion as discussed above, it should work to multiply your speed by c.lx and c.ly . Such as,
'if c.lx < -0.5 and player.x > 30 then
player.x -=8*c.lx
endif'I did not notice that being an issue, but I trust the judgement of the shmup aficionados!
Great job!
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Well done Steve this is excellent.
I'm dying all over the place but get a little further along and it keeps me coming back for more. -
I’m late to the party as usual but this game is fantastic! I made it to level 9 on my first go, but haven’t been able to get there again.
I think the classic retro baddies for each level is a great touch, as it really provides an incentive to do better. And the title screen is very professional and polished. You should be very proud!!
Edit: Level 19!! Another thing I like is how you have to think strategy. I now focus on taking out the spores, as the spawners are deadly
