Hello everyone!
After dropping off XNA, I have been working with Construct 2 engine which is basically some libraries put together in forms of behaviours and objects. In this way it's similar to XNA even though it's not exactly a free-form coding engine. Rather it is a visual editor + event scripter packaged together. Overall it's faster to use when doing basic things, but feels limited in freedom compared to XNA. Sometimes I miss XNA very much as I try to "construct" my own functions but generally it's a bliss to use as I can quickly start prototyping and find my way through there.
Anyway, lately I have been working on an advanced version of my Ludum Dare 48 entry "The Torpedo", and I was slowing down to a halt. Being the awesome person he is, Rb adviced me to take a look at this competition event and I am glad he did so. I hope to set myself goals during this event and share the results with other people who are fighting the same demons as me, so that I will find more energy and motivation and be the source of these for other people myself.
Wihtouth further ado, I present you "The Torpedo!"
(Screenshots removed as I lack the reputation to post links)
In "The Torpedo" you are the captain of a hand-made, one man submarine which can carry only one torpedo! The level's start with your submarine already in position, all you have to do is to program your torpedo computer and launch! You set an angle, speed and time and hit enter to insert a command. When executing this command, your torpedo runs with the entered speed towards the entered angle for the entered time(seconds). You can queu up to 8 commands this way. After you are satisfied with your program, you hit launch and watch as your torpedo flies through the given commands, hopefully hitting the target ship.
There are various npc's, like civillian ships, enemy gunboats and natural lifeforms moving around the environment. These are important because you can read their direction and speed, and use your HUD chronometer to keep track of times they travel between certain points. You can use these timings for estimations to create a program for your own shot!
Current situation:
-Main menu, level selection screen and 5 levels are ready with most basic functionality
-There is a single music, quite a varied sounds effects ready
-HUD is done and working; zooming and panning working. (also supports touch controls! yay! though menu does not yet:( )
-A single slot save/load system has been set up so you can continue from where you left.
Targets for the competition deadline:
-First two tutorial levels which show all the basics should be finished!
-All the 12 stages that make up the first sector should be finished!
-These levels include some new mechanis, like night-time, radar ships, ships with turrets that attack the torpedo, hidden underwater tunnels, fish schools etc. All these must be coded.
-Levels are going to have optional objectives which give additional score/xp. All the optional objectives for at least the first 6 should work, along with scoring system.
-Basis for the upgrade system should be laid out, even if not fully functional.
-2 player hotseat should start working, even if with only one multiplayer map.
-A new player submarine sprite: currently I'm using a non-commercial placeholder from low_seb from polycount forums.
You can find the link to current playable HTML5 version below, (ONLY RUNS PROPERLY IN CHROME) though beware, it might be buggy at certain points. I know it's a little bit hard to get into, especially without the tutorial levels, but try to fiddle around a bit and solve how the mechanics work. I would gladly apreciate any and all feedback, especially if patrolling entities go haywire and go beyond the boundaries of play area. Also if you get any significant, observable fps drop.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/233647282/TheTorpedoForRbWikidot/index.html
Already got the thrills, thanks in advance,
See you around, folks!