SPector by Ace

[raw]
made by Ace for LD26 (COMPO)
So, I'm actually going to hop off early on this LD. Headaches and an inability to continue programming doesn't help when trying to polish a game.
There are only a 32-bit window and a 64-bit linux package, because those are the only two systems I have available at the moment. I might be adding a 32-bit linux package too if people want me to, though the windows version should work through wine/wineskin/cedega/etc.

Ah well, that's enough of that. Let me introduce you to SPector;
You are SPector, just another inhabitant of vectorworld, a small community of straight edges and sharp corners.
Recently lots of smooth circles without corners have started appearing in vectorworld, you do not like this.

Your mission is to pop as many of the circles as you can, using only your wit and your sharp corners.


The game is supposed to have a system where you can add more vertices and polygons on your player as you progress through the level, with meaner circles arriving and even gaining spikes to be able to counterattack. Sadly the player editor part of the game never got finished and so you can't really do any of that.

Regardless, I feel pretty good about the quality of the code I wrote for this LD, it's much cleaner and more modular than my earlier entries. And since my goal for this LD was to test out a different way to use an entity system, I'd say that I at least finished that.
I also managed to surprise myself with how easy it is to write optimized code when there's something in the background keeping you from shooting yourself in the foot.
LD23 comes to mind, that game ran down into single digit FPS with a mere 20 enemies in the world. And even when optimized with a quadtree, it broke horribly is the enemy count exceeded 50. This game has a base enemy count of 128 - 192 with an additional 1200 - 1840 background items that basically run the same code as the enemies.

Standard controls:
WASD - Movement
Shift - Hold and use movement keys to rotate/scale the editor view
Tab - Toggle between editor and game

Anyway, have a posix-ish list of switches you can run the game with:
-f Run the game in fullscreen mode
-r WxH Run the game in the specified resolution
-m Volume Set the volume of the music in-game, valid values are 0 - 100
-s Volume Set the volume of the sound in-game, valid values are 0 - 100 here too
-b Rebind all inputs before launching the game loop, it might look like the game crashes if you use this command, but look in the console and you will be enlightened. (It's also a good idea to keep focus on the game window)

Please try it out and comment on my choice of theme-interpretation.


TL;DR (Sorry, I get verbose when tired)
-----

This is an unfinished game, mostly a concept.
Try it, comment, maybe peek at the code.

Thanks.

Ratings

Coolness 24% 1800
Overall 2.69 1037
Audio 3.47 133
Fun 2.35 1090
Graphics 2.94 623
Innovation 3.06 608
Theme 3.65 437

Feedback

argo15
29. Apr 2013 路 04:05 UTC
I do like the concept, shame more isn't done.
eShredder
29. Apr 2013 路 19:46 UTC
It looks pretty good for what it is, but as argo15 said. Shame it isn't more done.
JohnnySix
29. Apr 2013 路 22:57 UTC
The controls were a little confusing at first as the expectation was relative movement torque / velocity ,asteroids style but it made sense in the end - the pop was quite satisfying haha. Hope you work on this a little post competition, would be cool to see it expanded, especially the edit mode.
JohnnySix
29. Apr 2013 路 22:59 UTC
I forgot to rate- gets points for concept and humour [ all the TODO: spam ] :D
馃帳 Ace
30. Apr 2013 路 10:58 UTC
You should check the code JohhnySix, there are more TODOs in there. :)
MRvanderPants
01. May 2013 路 11:20 UTC
I get this weird bug when I move to high. I liked the music in this game. The gameplay is a little too minimalistic, the game might be better with a little more mechanics.
Dark Acre Jack
02. May 2013 路 07:54 UTC
Glad to hear you're improving. Hopefully you finish the next compo with a more complete entry!
lanz
02. May 2013 路 20:47 UTC
Fun music. Liked shapes on the background. Great codebase, I always had thing for component/messaging systems. Don't let them seduce you into writing OS, keep writing fun games! ;)
dzebna
04. May 2013 路 12:05 UTC
I like the music, it's a pity the game isn't more complete.
Threef
07. May 2013 路 16:59 UTC
I was sick too, and know that feel. My game is also not completed... but it's finished. :)
This one is not, but I really love that you're satisfied with your coding! :D
csanyk
16. May 2013 路 04:54 UTC
Not bad for a start. Controlling and navigating needs work.