Pheon, OhYuss

Although I wanted to update the blog way earlier than... two months, I was waiting for Pheon to be completed. Now that it is, I actually have something to blog about. So let's talk Pheon:

Pheon was originally planned to be released with the conclusion of the second GameJolt Jam, however that didn't happen and it expanded to become a month-long project. It features neon/vibrant graphics with glowing effects.

As you can see, glowy-graphics; although, it looks better when played. Speaking of gameplay, Pheon's is relatively simple in terms of what you have to do. WASD keys to move, mouse to aim, and right-click to send out a bomb. The most difficult part of the game is dodging and anticipating the bullet patterns, while also destroying the boss. The longer you take, the more points subtracted from your final score.

Depending on your viewpoint of Indie Games, it can be short or long. Either way, Pheon has 10 bosses for you to fight through while also gathering up the 12 trophies. You can also login with your GameJolt account if you have one. Statistics, options, and trophies are also kept synchronized so you do not have to restart over with every different computer. In addition, there is a highscore list!

That said: PLAY! PLAY! PLAY!



In other news, I recently have been obsessed with Minecraft, so I have no idea when I'll begin my next game.

Innoquous .5 and Color Game

Recently, GameJolt held its fifth competition. The theme was Indie Game Demake, and I decided to demake NAL's popular Innoquous 3. The result can be found here. As for the results of the competition, Innoquous .5 (my demake) didn't place - not that I'm too surprised. For some truly awesomeness, Jack Brockley did a LP of I.5. You can find the first part here and the second part here! Now that the competition is over, I do plan on updating the game as there were a few glitches/bugs/other stuff. In addition to that, I'll be adding a speed run mode and GameJolt trophies (only for those in the closed beta though).

Anyway, after a few failing projects, I have decided to stick with the tentatively named Color Game. I will be, if I finish it, entering this game into the YoYoGames sixth Competition whose theme is Discovery. Color Game will be an free-formish exploration-platformer, where you, the player, use a color gun to shoot enemies of the same color and whatnot.

Screenshot!

As you can tell, it's in my usual basic style of graphics; however, as I actually plan on trying to place in this competition, they will most likely morph into something better by the end. As you can also see, there are red, blue, and green blocks. These blocks can only be destroyed if 1) you have gained that color for your gun and 2) shoot a bullet of the same color. Enemies, switches, and plenty of other things will also take the same concept of same-color activation.
Right now, the game consists of only a test room and not much else, but I plan on adding much to it.

As for Generic Platform-1, that is currently on hold or something. Might work on it or, probably, won't.

Generic Platformer + Comp6 Game!

I'm such a slacker. The lack of updates can be contributed to my laziness, school, and the beginning of summer break. Either way, I've got some stuff for two games. Generic Platformer 1 and my (hopefully) YoYoGames Competition 6 game.

Generic Platformer
Since I completed the boss of the grasslands since last update, I've ventured forth into the underground environment. It's pretty much finished and it has a different look than to the grass environment. The underground environment contains a lighting system which fits well into the game's graphic style. Screenshot of an underground level!

As you can see, the player and key have small circle lights, while the torches provide a bigger area of light. This lighting makes the player have to pay attention so they don't accidentally fall onto the devious spikes.
In addition to the lighting, I've programmed a new enemy type. This one just goes around corners and can be a bit more hard to avoid. It's the purple enemy:

The other thing I've gotten in is submerged movement for when the player goes into water. These underground water environments will be implemented in the later levels in the underground hub, which are the levels in the water.

Comp6 Game
I've not yet thought of a name for this game, but it will currently be referred to as Comp6 Game until I have a title. Anyway, this game is a platformer with a gimmick. The gimmick is that the player can place groups of blocks to traverse over the level or get over obstacles. These placeable items are found in the bottom part, where a symbol denotes the structure of the group. Currently, I only have bricks that can be placed, but later on I plan to add other types of items such as elevators, gravity switchers, and etcetera. Have a screenshot:

If you haven't noticed already, there is a bar at the bottom that holds all the items that you can place in a level. In the game, yellow bricks represent the bricks that you've placed yourself, so if you do make a mistake during a level, you can mentally map where you put the other structures.

The alpha part is the placer, which you move using the arrow keys when you're in placing mode. The red obviously means that the area is obstructed, and green is the opposite. You can also only use a structure once.
Other things I've gotten into the game are a pause menu and a somewhat primitive light-grid system. The light-grid system is just so I can keep some rooms hidden from your view that are lightened when you go through triggers. Comp6 Game will be a medium sized platformer-puzzle game, and I've yet to fully develop a story. Mind you, I do have a basic plot-line so I don't completely forget to make the game with a theme of Discovery.

Other Stuff
On a completely different note, I've begun to use FlashPunk using FlashDeveloper. Currently, I've done nothing with it as I just started using it two days ago. I'm planning on porting Prozo with more features (Prozo Expanded) so you might hear more about that in later blogs.
In an act to reteach myself the basics of C++, I've made a small command console "game" to practice structures, pointers, and the like. It's very simple, horribly inefficient, and probably isn't all that interesting. However, the source can be found here, and it was made in Dev-C++. You'll need a C++ compiler like Dev-C++ or Visual C++ to load it.

All in all, I hope to have Prozo Expanded started by at least next week or so. That is if I can learn how to work with FP. :P

Generic Platformer

Yes, today's blog post will be all about the wonderful GP-1. Over the past three weeks (in which I've failed to update), there has been much added and updated in the game. Let's start with a bang:

VIDEO
Yes, I made a short nearly one minute video of GP-1's first five levels. Here it is:



WASN'T THAT AWESOME?! :D

Level Updates
The biggest update in the field of level designing is that I finished the Plains environment. This means that I'll be moving on to the underground environment. Another neat update is that I got the first super-easy enemy into the game. All it does is move left and right; not much, but it mainly serves as a moving obstacle. Screenshot:



Yup, those little red guys that are smaller than the player. They move at nearly the same speed as the player too. Another small update is I made a semi-simple pause menu with while loops. Doesn't have anything other then the main page, but I think it works well:



The Boss:
The biggest, most awesomest update in GP-1 yet is the fact that I've made the first boss. It's a relatively simple boss-fight, but not so simple that it's boring. The boss itself is somewhat creepy looking, but that was the point. Screenshots:





That big white circle in the second screenshot is the attack you must avoid. The boss also follows you and jumps up if it needs to. I even added a screenshaking effect for when it hits the ground and when it roars.

Other:
One smaller thing that I've added is a death animation (which I unfortunately did not get in the video above). So far, GP-1 contains 15 levels and there's a bunch more levels to make.

Saturday Update

Two weeks in a row! Bonus points or whatever. This week, I've got three different games to talk about and another thing. Quick intro done, let's get to it.

Generic Platformer:

There hasn't been much done level designs wise, but I have gotten a few things complete. The shop, for one, has been more or less completed (I might still change a few things later on), but it works well enough! Also, I made the shop keeper have a paedo-smile, just because I can.



The shop being completed also means that I've constructed the main Hub section, so yay! Another small update that I've done is I made ladders... that work. In addition, I have sprited three different terrains from the two Grass and Void terrains.



In clockwise order, starting from the middle: Snow (Yes, I know it looks like clouds...), Void, Underground/Dirt, Grassy, Volcanic. I am still working on some scenery sprites for each environment, but so far I've enough to make it look nice in my own perfectionist opinion.
Some other environments I am planning:

• Desert
• Underwater
• Clouds
• Space

If you have any others you want to suggest, feel free to comment.

Gravita

A game that I worked on long ago that I've just recently picked up. It's almost complete, as I was about 50% done with it before I started again. Gravita itself is a basic arcade SHMUP scroller that includes power-ups, different enemies, achievements (GameJolt), and more. It uses the same style as Prozo, but with a tad bit more color. Screenshot!



The gimmick in Gravita is that it's all mouse. The circle ship, which is the player, follows a curved path depending on the x-coordinate of the mouse. This also allows the ability for those with quick mice to easily avoid the ships with a flick of the hand. The Stage is the stage of the player (the higher, the more bullets you can fire). The power-ups included so far are:

• Health - Regain 10 HP
• Shield - Regain 10 shield
• QuickShoot - Quicken the shooting pace for the player
• Stage - Add fifty experience points to the stage bar
• Repair - Regain 10 HP and shield
• Invert* - Inverts the screen (Not implemented and not sure if I shall as of now)

Same as with the environments in GP-1, if you have any suggestions feel free to comment.

CaveGame

Unfortunately, I've been so focused on working on Gravita and GP-1 this week that not a lot of work was done on CaveGame. That also means no demo (Sorry UG), but I have begun the procedural generation process, and that might take a lot of brainpower to figure it out. I'll try to get it all sorted out by next Saturday, but not promises.

GM Extended

GM Extended (or GME) is just a .gmk file that will include scripts and constants that will further extend GM's current functions. For constants, I'll be adding some common colors and I'm not sure what else at this point. Most of the scripts that I have made right now deal with real numbers and mathematics (Factorial, Pythagorean theorem, roots, etc...). The scripts I have so far:

• Factorial - n!
  
• Pythagorean theorem - a^2+b^2 = c^2
• Inverse Pythagorean theorem - c^2-(a^2 or b^2) = (b^2 or a^2 respectively)
• Root - The nth root of a number (e.g. cubic root of 27 is 3 since 3*3*3 = 27)
• Draw_self(); - Draws the sprite as it normally would be if the draw even wasn't being used

If you have any suggestions on what I should add and it's not in the list above, please comment. However, GME is not meant for a bunch of complex scripts like 3D Terrain and that type of thing. Mostly I want smaller useful scripts.

That's all for this week.

Saturday Update

Alright, I failed last week due to unforeseen events that stopped me from posting another blog. However, we're back on our regular schedule. Today I shall be continuing two games from the last Saturday blog (Generic Platformer and CaveGame).

Generic Platformer

As of last post regarding this game, it was in its early stages. Now it's still in the early stages, but has moved onto the level designing part! Spikes have been added, the level ending keys were also added (as well as the key part to the HUD), and I completed the beginning "cinematic" portion of the game.

As you can see from the amazing screenshot, there is a new area type. This is also the beginning room, where you meet Lenos. I won't say much as to who Lenos is (you'll figure it out in the game), but he is willing to use his powers for you if you can fulfill his requirements.

Here we're back at the Hub entrance, where the game is very simple and basic for learning experience and whatnot. The shop, in which you use the coins you collect, will not be available until you reach the main Hub. So far, I have all the levels finished for the Hub entrance. All that's left before the entrance is completed is that I need to make the main Hub and connect that to the entrance.

CaveGame

In CaveGame, I've made good progress sprite-wise. The player sprite was completed, and I now have eleven treasures sprited. In addition, I also have the treasure menu working correctly! Here's a screenshot:

I still plan on having 50 treasures, but I only have 30 planned out so far. Now I will work on the procedural generation of the levels, then finish up the treasures. If all goes well, I may have a demo next Saturday.

Saturday Update

Yay, the weekly Saturday update is just something I'll try to get in every Saturday (Obviously) and where I'll just show off anything that I haven't already (Screenies, game files, etcetera). For today, I'll just show off two platformer games and something else that I'm currently working on.

Generic Platformer

If you haven't already figured it out, the game is called Generic Platformer because (1) it's currently a tentative title and (2) the game is basically a generic platformer. Same as any other platformer, you control a... thing with a :3 expression and have to make your way across many levels. Some screenshoots:



Xero

Some of you might remember, if you were on YYG, a long time ago, I had an image advertising Xero in my signature. Since then, that idea has long been in the trash can, but I decided to reuse the graphics (and the name) to make a newer platformer.
In this Xero, you basically take the roll of an engineer whose goal is to repair the ship that you're in. It'll be slightly explorative, but it is mainly a puzzle game (And no, there are no Necromorphs). Screenie!



Cave Game
Yet another uncreative name, but the title is tentative also. Cave Game is basically a top-down hexagonal-grid based game in which you are searching for as many treasures as you can before you make it out of the cave. The cave itself is unbelievable (and by that, I just mean it's not very realistic), as it includes ice, water, and grass in addition to a normal rock floor type. Either way, I plan on having it procedurally generated with at least 50 different treasures. And now for a screenshoot (The player sprite has yet to be made):