I’ve flip-flopped, and chosen a new idea.

The title of the game is Ladybird, and it is a Megaman clone.

My next post will have details.

—Mr.Dude

I’ve written up a design docs for my game.

I’ve posted it in its entirety after the break.

—-

Section 0 – Premise

In the, the play takes on the role of a Vulcan Industries Ladybird MKV General Purpose/Combat Android. Her name, for the record, is Luna.

Luna’s town has been attacked by eight Android Generals! It is up to her to save the city and be THE HERO!

(Why not another combat robot? Well, then Luna wouldn’t be the protagonist, would she?)

—-

Section 1 – Generals

Each android general’s equipment, once salvaged, can be turned into a new combat armor for Luna.

The Android Generals are:

-Lordi Kometo : Gives flight armor

-Craig Ballister : Gives gatling armor

-Matilda Kruhntch : Gives heavy armor

-Freddy Redrocket : Gives missile armor

-Viviana Tempo : Gives speed armor

-Ken Nirigatsu : Gives ninja armor

-Dr. Richard Pindt : Gives laser armor

-Cat Carlyle : Gives blaster armor

After defeating these baddies, Luna must face Reginald Fairlance, who will put her up against three levels of fortress, then all eight generals, then a couple more levels, then… THE FINAL BOSS BATTLE!

—-

Section 2 – Armors

The game’s nine (Including the default) armors are:

Ladybird Armor:
-Normal Stats
-Plasma Blaster | Grenades
-Jump Jets

Flight Armor:
-75% Defense, 125% Speed
-Machine Gun | Small Missiles
-Flight Jets

Gatling Armor:
-125% Defense, 75% Speed
-Gatling Gun | Machine Gun
-Jump Jets

Heavy Armor:
-150% Defense, 125% Ammo, 50% Speed, 75% Jump
-Heavy Plasma Blaster | Cluster Grenades
-Glide Jets

Missile Armor:
-125% Speed, 75% Ammo
-Rocket Launcher | Swarmer Missiles
-Jump Jets

Speed Armor:
-150% Speed, 75% Defense, 75% Ammo
-Laser Blaster | None
-Dash Jets

Ninja Armor:
-125% Speed, 125% Jump, 50% Defense
-Laser Blaster | Sticky Grenades
-Dash Jets

Laser Armor:
-125% Ammo, 75% Defense
-Heavy Laser Blaster | Pulse Laser
-Jump Jets

Blaster Armor:
-175% Ammo, 75% Speed, 50% Defense
-Chain Shotgun | Concussion Swarmers
-Jump Jets

—-

Section 3 – Weapons and Thuster Systems

—

Section 3.1 – Weapons

Notation:
-Ammo: (below) (type)
Energy: per-shot / maximum / charge-per-second
Bullet: per-magazine / reload-time (Seconds)
Explosive: per-salvo / reload-time | “Thrown”
-Damage: per-shot / radius (Splash) | (Non-Splash)
-Rate of Fire: per-second | “Reload”
-Speed: speed | “Hit-Scan”
-Special: flag_a | flag_b / args | …

Plasma Blaster:
-Ammo: 1 / 25 / 1 (Energy)
-Damage: 10
-Rate of Fire: 4
-Speed: 25
-Special: None

Heavy Plasma Blaster:
-Ammo: 5 / 50 / 2 (Energy)
-Damage: 25 / 25
-Rate of Fire: 2
-Speed: 45
-Special: None

Laser Blaster:
-Ammo: 1 / 25 / 4 (Energy)
-Damage: 5
-Rate of Fire: 6
-Speed: Hit-Scan
-Special: None

Heavy Laser Blaster:
-Ammo: 5 / 50 / 2 (Energy)
-Damage: 50
-Rate of Fire: 1
-Speed: Hit-Scan
-Special: Pierce

Pulse Laser:
-Ammo: 1 / 50 / 2 (Energy)
-Damage: 2
-Rate of Fire: 10
-Speed: Hit-Scan
-Special: Automatic

Machine Gun:
-Ammo: 50 / 1 (Bullet)
-Damage: 10
-Rate of Fire: 6
-Speed: Hit-Scan
-Special: Automatic

Chain Gun:
-Ammo: 150 / 2 (Bullet)
-Damage: 25
-Rate of Fire: 12
-Speed: Hit-Scan
-Special: Automatic

Gatling Gun:
-Ammo: 250 / 2 (Bullet)
-Damage: 10
-Rate of Fire: 16
-Speed: Hit-Scan
-Special: Automatic | Spread / 15

Chain Shotgun:
-Ammo: 25 / 1 (Bullet)
-Damage: 10
-Rate of Fire: 4
-Speed: Hit-Scan
-Special: Automatic | Spread / 30 | Shotgun / 8

Grenades:
-Ammo: 1 / Thrown (Explosive)
-Damage: 25 / 25
-Rate of Fire: 2
-Speed: 10
-Special: Thrown | Bounce | Timer / 5

Cluster Grenades:
-Ammo: 1 / Thrown (Explosive)
-Damage: 10 / 10
-Rate of Fire: 2
-Speed: 10
-Special: Thrown | Bounce | Cluster / 6

Sticky Grenades:
-Ammo: 1 / Thrown (Explosive)
-Damage: 40 / 25
-Rate of Fire: 1
-Speed: 5
-Special: Thrown | Sticky | Timer / 5

Small Missiles:
-Ammo: 2 / 1 (Explosive)
-Damage: 30 / 15
-Rate of Fire: 0.5
-Speed: 20
-Special: Homing

Rocket Launcher:
-Ammo: 1 / 1 (Explosive)
-Damage: 50 / 25
-Rate of Fire: Reload
-Speed: 15
-Special: None

Swarmer Missiles:
-Ammo: 8 / 2 (Explosive)
-Damage: 25 / 15
-Rate of Fire: Reload
-Speed: 25
-Special: Homing

Concussion Swarmers:
-Ammo: 10 / 2 (Explosive)
-Damage: 5 / 40
-Rate of Fire: Reload
-Speed: 25
-Special: Homing

—

Section 3.2 – Thruster Systems

Jump Jets: Jump in mid-air at 50% jump speed once per second

Glide Jets: Slow fall speed to 25% and move left and right at 50% run speed

Flight Jets: Fly in any direction at 2x run speed, ends on collision, collision stuns

Dash Jets: Dash in any direction at 3x run speed, collision with enemy damages player and enemy, collision with wall stuns and damages player

—-

Section 4 – Stages

The stages are as follows:

Introduction: Ruined highway, simple enemies and collapsing terrain

Generals:
Kometo: Airship armada, lots of little ships and a few bigger ones. Some areas inside of big ships. Boss fight on the deck of a small ship.
Ballister: Arsenal, lots of turrets and many small enemies. Boss fight in ammo dump. Fairly simple level.
Kruhntch: Demolished buildings, lots of fragile terrain that can be broken with explosives, but none critical to progress. Boss fight in ruined factory.
Redrocket: Factory, lots of moving platforms and hazards. Boss fight in engine room, which has moving platforms.
Tempo: Gauntlet, moving platforms, moving hazards. Lots of pendulum hazards. Boss fight on floating platform with moving hazards.
Nirigatsu: Dojo, level consists of waves of enemies. Boss fight is last wave.
Pindt: Research facility, level consists of several mini-boss fights. Boss is in last room.
Carlyle: Bunker, lots and lots of enemies. Many traps, but not near enemies. Boss fight in command post, many places to take cover.

Final:
1: Area outside fortress. Sparse level, fairly easy.
2: Base of fortress. Many traps, but few enemies.
3: Arsenal. Re-fight all generals.
4: Lifts. Elevators with waves of enemies.
5: Final Battle. Control room with final boss.

—-

Section 5 – Enemies, Bosses, and Mini-Bosses

—

Section 5.1 – Enemies

Basic:
Mr. Fodder: Little treaded robot with plasma blaster, 10HP
Private Kenny: Android with a shield and plasma blaster, 50HP
Private Suzy: Android with a shield and grenades, 40HP
Sarge: Android with a machine gun, 100HP
Sentry Turret: Little turret with a machine gun, 100HP

Kometo:
Mr. Aviator: Mr. Fodder, but flying, 10HP
Private Reese: Flying android with machine gun, 30HP
Private Rachel: Flying android with missiles, 40HP
Drop Beetle: Flying android that charges player and explodes on death, 5HP

Redrocket:
Mr. Grenadier: Mr. Fodder, but with grenades instead of plasma blaster
Specialist Marco: Android with a shield and rocket launcher, 80HP
Jugo: Android with small missiles, chases player, 40HP

Nirigatsu:
No Basic Enemies
Chibi: Tiny, quick android with melee, 10HP
Inu: Small robot dog, charges player and runs away, 25HP
Tengu: Flying android, dive-bombs player, 15HP
Private Kendo: Android with beam sword, 125HP
Private Akane: Flying android with beam sword, 100HP

—

Section 5.2 – Mini-Bosses

Ballister-1: Defender Turret
Gigantic gun turret. Does not move, fires weapons in sequence. Destroy weapons to defeat.

Redrocket-1: Stinger Swarm
Bees that explode on impact with player, weapon fire, or any explosion. Fly around randomly, occasionally charge player.

Nirigatsu-1: Hachi
Robot dog. Charges player and runs away.

Nirigatsu-2: Toshi
Small android with machine gun. Attacks player at a distance.

Pindt-1: Laser Crusader Prototype
Slow-moving mech with huge laser and swarmer missiles.

Pindt-2: Security Measure Alpha
Fast-moving android with laser blaster. Attacks player at a distance.

Pindt-3: Assembler
Machine that spawns small enemies. Stationary.

Pindt-4: Security Measure Beta
Three robot dogs. Identical to Nirigatsu-1, but takes turns charging.

Pindt-5: Security Measure Delta
Faster-moving version of Pindt-1, laser is less powerful, but has 2x health.

—

Section 5.3 – Bosses

Kometo: Android with Flight Armor. Attacks from a distance. Calls in flying minions.
Ballister: Android with Gatling Armor. Attacks from short range, retreats to reload.
Kruhntch: Android with Heavy Armor. Stomps and makes debris fall from above.
Redrocket: Android with Missile Armor. Attacks from long range.
Tempo: Android with Speed Armor. Attacks relentlessly from close range. Stops to reload.
Nirigatsu: Android with Ninja Armor. Attacks relentlessly, then retreats.
Pindt: Android with Laser Armor. Attacks from long range. Occasionally charges player.
Carlyle: Android with Blaster Armor. Attacks from long range, then takes cover to reload.

Fairlance: Android with Chain Gun, Rocket Launcher, and Dash Jets. Cycles between general tactics.

I got a late start today, so not much got done.

I wrote the design document (Which I posted earlier), first of all.

I also wrote a base class for game entities, and got most of a game agent class done. I’ve laid out a bit of other code, as well.

All in all, a slow day. But there’s still tomorrow.

For tomorrow, I plan to get the game agents and weapons working at the very least, and possibly get a basic level in place. This will involve making some artwork, which I look forward to doing. It will also involve some sounds, which will also be fun.

I’m happy to finally have something compelling to work on. It’s a nice change.

—Mr.Dude

I don’t have anything to show for my effort just yet, but I’m nearing the point of being able to demonstrate something.

Right now, I’ve got the world code mostly finished, and I have the majority of the code for the generic game agent.

I don’t have any artwork, and the first “Playable” thing I submit will be filled with colored blocks. Oh well, I want to get something I can play with, then I’ll worry about art. I was hoping to have the art for the default armor all squared away and have some baddies to blow up by the end of today. This is taking longer than expected, though.

By the end of today, though, I should have something playable. Don’t know that it’ll be pretty, but it’ll be playable.

Here’s hoping…

—Mr.Dude

I fell into an old trap. I put backend code before playability. As I’ve worked, I’ve gotten further and further from a playable demo. It’s a shame. I liked the concept, but I’d have to start over at this point.

Given that, I’m still going to be doing a game. It’ll hopefully be playable by Tuesday (That’s my personal deadline for having something done), and it might well be complete by then.

My concept this time around is much, much simpler. It’s a Rampage clone set in a fantasy/medieval world.

Instead of requiring mountains of hand-made content, this game will only require a moderate amount of it.

Each level will center around a castle that needs to be destroyed (The player, being a giant monster, needs to destroy these things, after all). Around that castle will be various towers (Including wizard towers), houses, and forts. The player will be assailed by wizards, cavalry, and footmen wielding all manner of weapons.

There will be three types of castle: White, grey, and black. White castles will have lots of cavalry, grey castles will have wizards, and black castles will have lots and lots of footmen. Also, white castles will be much bigger and have no houses outside (They will all be within the castle walls), grey castles will have smaller castles on the sides, and black castles will have numerous forts.

The player will have four monsters to choose from:

-Gregor – A hill giant with a club and big rocks

-Helga – An ettin with a hammer and big rocks

-Reginald – A dragon with claws and fire breath

-Alexis – An amazon with a sword and bow

I have lots of other ideas in my head, but this will do for now, I think.

At the time of writing, I just got done playing a game of Rampage in MAME. Very inspiring, and very, very cathartic.

Hookay, tomorrow. Tomorrow, I’m probably going to be at school ’till the early afternoon, but I have the entire day after that point, and will use it.

Tomorrow, I plan to get the tiles for at least one color of castle done. I will also try to get one of the monsters done. I’ll post a screenshot once I have a complete building.

I’m thinking that I’ll make the hill giant (Gregor) first. His art will probably be the simplest, and he’s also the reference point for the balance of other characters.

For the rest of the evening, I’ll be hanging out on IRC, and then I’ll go to bed.

Here’s to inspiration, and doing what we love!

—Mr.Dude

I have something to show for my efforts!

Download it here!

Click the building to damage it.

Left click is a small attack, middle click is a large but weak attack, and right click is a big, powerful attack.

Press R to reset the building.

It doesn’t fall down yet, and that’s for tomorrow, I think.

I’ve got a good feeling about this one.

—Mr.Dude

I’m releasing a new demo! (Grab it here)

Now, the building will collapse if it takes enough damage. Damage to the bottom affects it more than damage to the top, so it will collapse under its own weight if the bottom is more damaged than the top.

Also, the building is randomly generated.

I’ve got a good feeling about this one…

—Mr.Dude

I thought I’d take a break from coding, and share my next plan.

I’m planning a Java-based web game.

The premise of the game is this: It is a turn-based strategy game where instead of directly controlling your units, you must write their AI. There are more details about the game after the break.

Also, I’m looking for a host that can support the game. quin and demize have offered, but I’m still open to other offers. Support for Python on the site is definitely a plus, as I’d like to develop the site using Django. It’s not necessary, but it’s definitely something I want.

Units and structures behave individually in all ways, and there is no central control structure unless the person who wrote the AI implements it. This includes resources and movements, as well as communication between units. Units can run into each other and talk to each other. Also, producers (Both structure builders and unit factories) must be holding the necessary resources to complete the things they are trying to make.

Units will consist of a body (Such as a wheeled base or a boat base) and a turret (Ranging from guns to sensors to building tools) which can be paired arbitrarily. Additionally, some buildings can have turrets, and can have any turret, including builder turrets. This should allow for some interesting strategies, such as a line of regenerating defenses that has a direct chain all the way back to the source of the resources, allowing them to pass along materials to the front lines.

Initially, the game will only support AI being written in Python, but I may add support for other languages.

Having started and gotten bored with any number of projects recently, I’ve decided to go in a different direction.

Instead of big projects, I’m thinking minimalism.

My current project is titled “Dash”, and it will be a stripped-down platformer with randomly-generated levels.

I currently have the majority of the sprites I need done, and have most of my engine. I have the code to generate uneven ground, as well.

I do not have the code to generate a full level just yet, but that will come once I’ve got the code to generate the types of level segments I want. After that, a full level structure, and then scoring.

The game will feature sound, as well. The sounds will, as per usualy, be made in sfxr. If I find the motivation, I may also make music.

I’ve made a demo of what I have, which anyone who is interested can download here. (It requires Python and Pygame)

I’ve made some progress on Dash.

Spikes will now show up in some areas, first of all. Second, there are now floating platforms, complete with pits of death below them!

Next, I’m going to make sounds. That’ll be in the next release.

Anyone who’s interested can pick it up here.

Screenshots after the break.

This won't be easy...

I do believe that it's time for a flying leap!

Can our hero make this jump?

I’ve made a new set of sounds using the flash sfxr at superflashbros, after having issues with the sdl sfxr.

The new demo has sound! Jumping, landing, dieing, and starting each have a sound, and sounds for other events have also been made.

You can pick it up here.

I’ve got a new release done.

This time, the level generator is complete, and levels now have end points.

The rudiments for the scoring system are also in place.

The next release will be the finished product!

Pick up the latest version here.

Well, after 51 hours or so, I’ve completed Dash.

It has sounds, a splash with the Black Marble logo (If you haven’t downloaded an earlier version, that’s the name of my one-man game making effort), a title screen, scoring, and sounds.

Anyone who wants to play it can pick up a copy here.

Edit: pansapiens has provided me with a Windows build, which can be found here.

Post-mortem after the break.

Dash – Post-Mortem

What went well:

• Art style works well
• Sounds work fairly well with the graphics
• Level generator works reasonably well, and creates some interesting challenges
• Scoring works fairly well, rewarding player progress and giving bigger rewards for completing levels

What went badly:

• Some level segment types (Such as caves and tunnels) couldn’t be made to work without major world structure refactoring, and thus weren’t included
• Scoring system isn’t as sophisticated as I’d have liked
• Larger and more complex levels can cause some slowdown

This is the first complete game I’ve produced in a while! It feels really good to have made this game, and minimalism seems to be a natural way for me to operate.

The game came out pretty fun, and can get absorbing at times. Still, it is more of a time killer than anything, but that’s okay with me. There is a consistent aesthetic that carries through in the graphics, the sound, and the gameplay.

I kinda wish I was able to implement other types of terrain, though. I’d have needed to rip up the world structure and the collision detection to make it work, but it would have been a good idea, I think.

All in all, I think it came out well. It feels good to get something done for a change, too. 😀

I’ve released an updated version of Dash!

This version fixes most of the bugs from the last release, including some issues with scoring, some levels being unbeatable, and the glitch that causes the game to crash if you move left from the starting point.

I’ve also broken down the level into a spatial hash that greatly improves performance and allows for longer levels.

You can now perform a high jump, as well. This was originally a workaround for some bad level generator behavior that occasionally made the ending edge of a platform chain unreachable (An issue that has been mostly dealt with anyway), but is useful in other situations.

Also, there is a new terrain type: Pillar fields. Pillar fields are series’ of narrow, often tightly grouped columns of land. The narrow landing places and short gaps require a bit of caution to navigate.

There’s also a readme now!

I don’t have a Windows build just yet, but those with Python and Pygame can pick up the source here.

I like the idea of constraints on implementation.

I’ve decided that regardless of our constraints, I’m going to do the following (Provided that the official constraints don’t push these further):

• 4kb or less, including assets
• Developed in 6 hours (Only work time, not counting breaks)
• Rendering surface <= 100×100
• Some kind of procedural element

Here’s hoping!

—MrDude

Jeebus, HybridMind! I was only expecting ONE constraint! Hahaha…

Here’s what I’m doing. I’m applying my previous constraints, but:

• I’m using the input and color restraints without issue
• I’m not going to have sound, since my mic does not work
• Music isn’t an issue, I wasn’t going to have it anyway
• I’m going to compromise on. I’m going to render onto a much smaller surface, then scale up to that size.

Everything else will be in. Starting tomorrow, probably in the afternoon.

(And I’m not completely ignoring the sound constraint: I’m not using SFXR, either 😛 )

—MrDude

I’ve decided on my concept. Pentominoes in < 4k.

I’ve got my seven 1×1 images done, and am going to start on my code in a little while.

I’m beginning to see the merits of tiny code. I’m liking the challenge of it.

I’m going to be working in hour-long periods with breaks in-between. I’m not sure if I’ll do it all today, or if I’ll even use the entire 6 hours or if I’ll use 7 or 8. Part of the fun.

I’ve got the colors from the image matched pretty well, I think, and, well, I’m ready to go.

Also: If anyone here knows how to get an RGB (As opposed to RGBA) image out of Inkscape, I’d appreciate some instruction on the matter. )

Here’s hoping…

—MrDude

I’ve decided to make my views on the subject of games as art known.

The text referred to in the title appears after the rant. It is a self-descriptive piece, and very ranty, but I personally think that it’s a perspective that needs to be addressed.

It’s no secret, I don’t think, that I’m not sophisticated. I’m not high-brow, I’m not much for fine art, and I don’t like conceptual… Well, anything.

I don’t drink fine wine, nor do I want to. I don’t go to art museums, and never will if I have my say. I enjoy the works of the former Blue Collar Comedy troupe. (Who talk about such heady subjects as the anaesthetics given during colonoscopies and mole-covered relatives)

I played Passage, but found it incredibly dull, and didn’t enjoy Gravitation much more. (Okay, I admit, Silent Conversations was pretty fun) I like Metal Slug, Urban Terror, and Custom Robo.

I am here to declare my place in the indie game developer community. I am here to defend storyless shooters, here to preserve stupid fun, and to be a champion of  chopping up generic monsters in a generic dungeon as a classic to be revered. I am here to speak against haughty elitism, stories that pretend to be games but aren’t, and a-priori work simply for the sake of appearing clever.

I’m a redneck, and I’m proud.

Thank you.

—MrDude

I’m making a video blog this time around, because, well, I got some video recording software working. (Not good recording software, but it works okay)

I’ve made my first post right here. (I’m a little akward in front of a camera…)

My channel (Though at the time of writing, it only contains the above video) is here.