@Fengol pointed me towards bootstrap. So once I got the site a bit more functional I'm going to start work on a mobile version.
---
As for the vote on Greenlight: I agree that it should stand out, but the other crit I got was that I should make the download link more prominent.
So I do have the slight worry that it might end up just making all the link differing colours, which I don't want. But I'll change the link colour for those two and see how it goes :)
You're probably going to have to redo your design from the beginning if you want to take advantage of bootstrap. It's not a bad thing because the layout components are quite good
I don't really mind doing that when I get there, but considering I picked up CSS 4 days ago, I think I shall learn to walk before I starting running ;)
@Rigormortis New weapon modes are currently being implemented. These will be random item drops which further modify existing weapon layouts. All new weapon modes are still selected and modified the same way as the current standard weapons.
Gun mods: Flamethrower - short range, but sustained and high damage i.e. flame projectile continues to damage enemy until it burns out (completed and implemented); Explosive slug - low fire rate, slug detonates and spreads shrapnel (90% completed); Rapid fire shards - low damage but extremely high fire rate shard projectiles. (still to be implemented);
Blade mods: Acid blades - adds stackable poison damage counter to enemies (still to be implemented); 2 Unknown blade modes - still to be designed and implemented;
Hyper mods: Ultrablast - Similar to Hyperblast, but even more devastating. Not activated by a pickup item. While Hyperblast is activated, if player can fill up the 2nd meter, Ultrablast mode is activated. (still to be implemented);
3 New screenshots showing off the new UI, and 2 of the new weapon mods, Burner and Cluster. Both mods come in the same 12 variants as the standard weapon system eg. dual, 3-way, homing etc.
Randomized arcade levels now feature progressive difficulty curve. Game looping difficulty to be implemented soon. Also: New environmental hazard added. Destructible barriers that drip corrosive fluid. Located near bubbling waste pools in later levels.
@BlackShipsFilltheSky we've been doing that for a while. I think it was 4-5 updates ago where we completely revamped how the bullet pattern to colour mapping of the bullets worked: which I think has been a great help. Would love to send you a build of the game to get some feeedback on. We are planning on doing a bit PR push in a week or two, and hopefully we can keep a bit of a drip feed of press, or demo release until we launch in Jan.
I just got back from my cousin's wedding, I'm still in the UK, but I'll upload the latest build of the game to by dropbox, and email it to you as soon as I'm back in SA (really crazy ATM seeing a whole bunch of family I haven't really seen in the past 12 years) But I would really love to get your, and any one else at Free Live's, opinion on the game since the feedback you gave us at AMAZE 2012 was really great and helped us focus down quite a bit on the game, and a believe that quite a bit of the refinements we put into the game recently, thanks to @silvaring wouldn't have been possible without the feedback all those years ago.
So ye please email/send me a message on GTalk (probably email since I can't be certain if I'll get a message on GTalk), or just post/PM on the forums about us sending you a demo build :3 since I'd love to get some feedback from you.
---
@retroFuture and I will be posting demo builds of the game to the forums before we really send it out to the press for feedback, but the demo levels themselves need to be redone so I'll essentially be sending people a 'full' copy of the game for testing purposes so I hope everyone can understand why I'm not just dropping a link to a dropbox file and asking everyone to test since we really can't do that with what is essentially a release build ;)
So hope everyone will be interested in breaking the crap out of the game when I post the updated demo here :3
The plan is to get the damn thing finished. Luckily, (and largely thanks to @Karuji) we have a comprehensive Trello list that we are steadily churning through.
Big thing at the moment is poking @LexAqullia to get our paperwork done. And then I get to do more paper work, and then more paperwork, and then more paperwork.
Dev wise we're working on making the game give the players better feedback with what is going on in the game.
Biz wise we're looking into publishers and perhaps teaming up with one.
And finally I need to set up the new website for the company (with its new name) and the game with its not dev title ;)
The art in this game puts me in a trance. I can just stare at all the little details forever. Love the colour pallet and how the important information just pops from the background.
Lag isn't a designed part of the game since it's due to performance issues and those aren't consistent across various bits of hardware.
Trivia bit: in old-skool arcade shmups lag was part of the game and was designed in. It's also why emulating hardware limits is an important part of modern emulators.
We've done a couple of performance tricks since the last demo so the game should be running quite a bit smoother now ;)
Comments
Official site
And I have a little site that I'm putting some of the WIP stuff on link
Some feedback on the sites would be rather appreciated (Also I know the press link on the WIP site doesn't work :P )
Also, the blog seems to be aligned incorrectly on mobile (saw it using a tablet)
@Fengol pointed me towards bootstrap. So once I got the site a bit more functional I'm going to start work on a mobile version.
---
As for the vote on Greenlight: I agree that it should stand out, but the other crit I got was that I should make the download link more prominent.
So I do have the slight worry that it might end up just making all the link differing colours, which I don't want. But I'll change the link colour for those two and see how it goes :)
Also, for shits and giggles, I got a build 'working' on my cellphone.
(just noticed that the "level"element if off-center, will fix it.)
Gun mods:
Flamethrower - short range, but sustained and high damage i.e. flame projectile continues to damage enemy until it burns out (completed and implemented);
Explosive slug - low fire rate, slug detonates and spreads shrapnel (90% completed);
Rapid fire shards - low damage but extremely high fire rate shard projectiles. (still to be implemented);
Blade mods:
Acid blades - adds stackable poison damage counter to enemies (still to be implemented);
2 Unknown blade modes - still to be designed and implemented;
Hyper mods:
Ultrablast - Similar to Hyperblast, but even more devastating. Not activated by a pickup item. While Hyperblast is activated, if player can fill up the 2nd meter, Ultrablast mode is activated. (still to be implemented);
Will post screenshots and / or gifs soon(ish).
ZX rules !!!
Also:
New environmental hazard added. Destructible barriers that drip corrosive fluid. Located near bubbling waste pools in later levels.
I just got back from my cousin's wedding, I'm still in the UK, but I'll upload the latest build of the game to by dropbox, and email it to you as soon as I'm back in SA (really crazy ATM seeing a whole bunch of family I haven't really seen in the past 12 years) But I would really love to get your, and any one else at Free Live's, opinion on the game since the feedback you gave us at AMAZE 2012 was really great and helped us focus down quite a bit on the game, and a believe that quite a bit of the refinements we put into the game recently, thanks to @silvaring wouldn't have been possible without the feedback all those years ago.
So ye please email/send me a message on GTalk (probably email since I can't be certain if I'll get a message on GTalk), or just post/PM on the forums about us sending you a demo build :3 since I'd love to get some feedback from you.
---
@retroFuture and I will be posting demo builds of the game to the forums before we really send it out to the press for feedback, but the demo levels themselves need to be redone so I'll essentially be sending people a 'full' copy of the game for testing purposes so I hope everyone can understand why I'm not just dropping a link to a dropbox file and asking everyone to test since we really can't do that with what is essentially a release build ;)
So hope everyone will be interested in breaking the crap out of the game when I post the updated demo here :3
What's next? What's the plan now?
Dev wise we're working on making the game give the players better feedback with what is going on in the game.
Biz wise we're looking into publishers and perhaps teaming up with one.
And finally I need to set up the new website for the company (with its new name) and the game with its not dev title ;)
I give you zX: Pixel Perfect in 1080p!
<img src="http://www.makegamessa.com/uploads/FileUpload/b1/6de762fefa38e4468042cdea711077.png" />
Now if you excuse me I have a HUD to go and fix >_>
Also, Game Maker Developer high five!
And GM^5 :D
Trivia bit: in old-skool arcade shmups lag was part of the game and was designed in. It's also why emulating hardware limits is an important part of modern emulators.
We've done a couple of performance tricks since the last demo so the game should be running quite a bit smoother now ;)