D: Bounty Galaxy
(Original version) https://app.box.com/s/2qcw5alx95w48bcmdbuu
(Technically late version UPDATE AUG 11) https://app.box.com/s/l0djn3e0s9jzbd2qmcgz
(Ongoing development version UPDATE OCT 09) https://app.box.com/s/6tuf2pp1ab1jj1eekeys
I did something, G'hothlokhotek be praised!
Basically: Bounty Galaxy is a sorta Weird Worlds / Freelancer space adventure combat, trade, adventure thing ... you're a little spaceship who has little spaceship adventures while hopping from planet to planet. It's cute if you imagine it that way.
Controls are left and right. Hold both of them together to go forward.
Alternatively, use the left and right mouse buttons! Inverting your controls is also possible by hitting "i"
The ships have inertia dampeners, deal with it.
Have fun!
Comments
Edit - Like it! I'd like this as a mobile game - something easy to get into that I can play in the back row of the cinema while waiting for my movie to start (the only time I ever play games on my phone, heh). It's simple and has a nice range of things to do. ^.^
Dude I'm always amazed by the amount of content you get into your prototypes, this is good fun! I dunno how to deal with an armada of enemies, I pick them up like stray cats and whenever I stumble across them they chase me some more until the kite eventually catches me trying to fight a quest fight. Boom!
Seems perfect for mobile! In fact most of the stuff in this comp is perfect for mobile :)
I'm afraid that I didn't get very far -- my own entry uses the opposite control scheme, and being used to that resulted in my struggling to control the craft -- but from what I saw it looks well-done. ^_^
I love it!
Thanks for the feedback, chaps! I want to work on a little more content before the deadline -- right now it's very heavy on the standard dogfight combat experience and I'd like to build more of a general space adventure thingie: escorting trade caravans, mining asteroids, attacking space stations, stumbling across deep-space battles, setting up factional alliances, blah blah ...
This will also entail making the starting section a fair bit easier by providing you with some starting resources and weighting the surrounding planets to give you more equipment and mercenaries. :)
@Tuism:I know, I know -- but I can't help it if you lot have your fingers wired backwards! :P
@thaumaturge me and the rest of the world :P Actually I often have to play cross-armed on some PC games cos I totally want directions to left hand and others to right hand, and so many games (protos especially) default to arrow-keys instead of wasd. Then I play like a badass bauss :) I wonder if ANYONE has the same problem as I do :P
Sorry, Thaumaturge, looks like you're getting the chop. Maybe if we get on Nandrew's good side, we can lessen the punishment to something minor. I'm thinking an arm or a leg, or maybe a finger or two, most people have way too many of those... ;P
*pre-emptively meteor-storms Nandrew* :D
(In all seriousness, I forgot about that -- sorry, Nandrew!)
In this iteration, I've included a pair of trade ships near your home planet and enough resources to buy yourself a slightly better weapon and a drone ally. Get these -- they'll be super helpful to you while you're still learning the ropes (much less worth it when you're confident enough to set off without 'em, though).
Aside from general improvements, balancing and minor tweaks here and there, I've added a fair chunk 'o content as originally intended. The game now includes stuff like this:
- Nebulae which slow down ship movement
- Enemy starship launchers / bases
- Escort and blockade missions
- Trader ships (just a pair near the starting planet right now)
- Mineable asteroid fields
- Ram-capable ships
- ENEMY MAX SPEED DOWN when it's semi-far away, so opponents are easier to run from
- Ion weaponry
- Rail-gun "sniper" opponents
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It's happening during the first escort mission. Also dig the little helper ship :)
The only thing I didn't like was I found the controls more frustrating than fun, and would have stuck to the game longer if I felt I had better control over my ship.
I also loved the fading from purple to black. And zooming out is smooth and pleasing. Well done! Total fan!
Given your description, it also sounds like you started your play session INSIDE a nebula. I'm worried this misleads initial player expectations regarding ship handling, so I've made that generator wrinkle impossible now.
Other minor improvements made that I don't really think are worth listing.
The game has become a lot friendlier, a bit easier and somewhat expanded.
Perks include:
- Three kinds of ships with generous starting gear. Whizz around, tank up with drone support or just invest in really big guns and ramming capabilities
- Your ship's primary weapon system is no longer replaceable. Instead, newly purchased shooty-bangs go into a SECOND weapon slot for even more firepower!
- Balance tweaks and spawn adjustments should mean that the average galaxy run is longer and more survivable (though dangerous scenarios are still more than capable of emerging -- if you find yourself fighting in an asteroid field, get out!)
- Alternative mouse control scheme and an Invert option for those who need it
I like this version a lot more and I hope you do too. Update in first post.
Liking it though! Love the timing cut and thrust of the swerve and all that (personally I'd like the turning to be sharper, but then again when I do pull off the perfect turn to side shoot the enemy and pass unharmed it is pretty satisfying :) )
I'm actually heavily in favour of a Desktop Dungeons-esque approach, where I simplify the scenario and players can "unlock" more complexity as they win.
That said, Weird Worlds is becoming an increasingly strong model for how I'm approaching certain aspects of this game and it had a flat-restart sorta vibe going (though to be fair, there's nothing saying that I can't evolve this :) ).
- I've recruited the aural talents of @Gazza_N. Smile and wave, people. Smile and wave.
-- There's a full music track which shifts in mood and tempo according to how deep in the proverbial shit you are (HINT: you can get very very deep)
-- The game also sports a hearty number of sound effects, making each deep-space battle a unique orchestra of booms, zaps and phwooms.
- The game has once again become easier and more accessible.
-- The galaxy is now patrolled by an active and powerful police force known as the Enforcers. Yep, they're on your team.
-- Players have the option to recruit a Home Patrol Enforcer to help them around the early stages of the game.
-- In general, combat has been slowed down enough to not INSTANTLY MURDER the player. However, in the event that a particularly bold ship captain attempts to prove me wrong, players now have a three-second emergency shield to save them from death and provide valuable retreat time
- Important interface improvements.
-- I'm experimenting with screen layout and orientation to get a feel for mobile environments
-- Players have more information about their ship status and auxiliary equipment in the bottom panel
-- Planet markers are more carefully coloured and chosen to be smarter and extra useful (for example, the nearest fuel depot will *always* be indicated)
-- Attempts have been made to make everyday information clearer. Damage, special ship properties and other feedback aspects have been tweaked
- Parallax starfield!
-- Space now has a better sense of depth and distance
-- Holy shit, those stars look 3D, man!
-- Damn, son. Parallax nebular clouds too?
-- Shit, man!
-- Calm down son
-- You crazy
Link in first post. This build will also be present at the Cape Town MGSA meetup.
That said, thanks to those who sidled over and fired it up for a sesh or two. I've found patterns in player response that I can work on for another online version in a week or so, spare time permitting. I'm going to work on a *slightly* more structured story and definitive end goal for players struggling to find their motivation (this phrase finding an oddly suitable home outside the realm of unemployed actors).
Next update, expect a "main questline" and better economic orientation. I think it's time to move away from high score as a primary motivator.
Other thoughts!
"Ore" is Boring. Why not at least "Space Ore". Or "Unobtanium".
I liked that the combat was sort of auto-combat... but I felt like I didn't have enough input in it. Do you have choices over your gun configuration later in the game... like getting rear-firing rockets... or side firing guns. In any case, I would like a visual indication of what the gun is doing... A small rotating turrent I feel would help complete the fantasy that there are gunner crew-mates on your ship (rather than sort of wondering how much control you have over the shooting).
The music is pretty sweet, the elevated battle battle track is a lovely touch.
Is there Hyperspace? Quasispace? Metaspace?
I'm pretty certain I unironically brought up the "Yes" / "No" boxes at the meetup, and I survived being murdered.
I'm going to play a little more Bounty Galaxy now.
Though seriously, a valid point about experimenting more with weapon arcs. I'll address that at the same time that I experiment with ship motion (you currently have a "default" weapon and one available "aux" weapon slot that can be filled, but I have an idea for revising this). I have way more direct feedback to work with now than I did on previous versions and I've identified a few common areas of concern to blast apart in the cold vacuum of GM Script.
In related news, @Gazza_N found this on RPS. It looks sweet and there's a demo.
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/09/26/roid-rage-space-the-return-of-the-pixxelfrazzer/
It's very similar to what I had imagined for a "Black Ships Fill the Sky" game several years ago. (Though I didn't have the skill to make BSFTS then).
Now I want to rebuild BSFTS.
The problem with Pixxelfrazzer's health regen was that it was slow AND upgradeable. So it's possible to wait around and get health back if you have the patience. OR you can spend your hard earned money (that you have to spend time to earn) to make the health regen slightly faster, so that you require slightly less patience later.
Errant Signal brought up some ideas (which were new to me) about health regen:
I do prefer games where a mistake is clearly defined (like in Bounty Galaxy, which has a Halo-like shield with a nice beep beep-you're screwed sound effect when it depletes and instant recharge when not in combat).
And I also like games where health is a precious commodity (Half-Life, but especially like Spelunky or Binding of Isaac).
But Pixxelfrazzer has health that is a tediously regenerating commodity (in my opinion).
Cheers for the video as well! :D
Bounty Galaxy could almost be that game though... Maybe it needs an overarching story thing you have to try and find out while playing? Hmmm...
btw. When I played Bounty Galaxy a bit further I did in fact worry about fuel (on two occasions I nearly ran out of fuel, and one one occasion I glided into the refueling station on fumes alone). I had mentioned before that it could play more of a factor... but now I think the current balance is pretty good.
Here we see a freelancer ship of the standard "Rabid Dog" configuration. We know that this build is generally skewed towards close-combat, but note the module compartments listed on the left - we believe these latest models allow for a large range of modular modifications to fundamentally alter ship loadouts and capabilities. Also note the other ships in orbit - with the recent Orium shortages, we believe that freelance mechanics are roaming the spaceways offering module modification and upgrade services in exchange for the valuable mineral.
Here we see an example of a component module in action. This addon appears to have overloaded the ship's shields until they're barely stable, resulting in a tremendous release of energy when they're hit. While this is a potentially valuable technology in the war against them, we need to be aware that the pirates may be equipping similar systems on their own ships.
Occasionally a reckless ship may venture into the asteroid fields. This is tremendously dangerous for an unskilled or poorly-equipped pilot, but the potential Orium deposits that can be found in these asteroids means that freelancers and pirates alike are willing to risk it. Recent advances in specialised drone technologies also increase survivability in these areas.
We expect to see these new systems to be rolled out very soon, Command. Be vigilant, and be prepared.
Sadly didn't manage to hit particular milestones that I had in mind for this version, and there's definitely still a lot of work to do in many areas. But I think the basic game idea has greatly improved and general consensus is that combat feels much more satisfying. Also got some amazing secondhand feedback from the Joburg meetup last night -- already implemented one or two things in those areas, or at least the more easily-changed ones (thanks)!
Have the fun.
Just some small tweaks and more use for money.
https://app.box.com/s/6tuf2pp1ab1jj1eekeys