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GAME: Stormrunner v.3 - Need some help.

Started by Evil_Greven Jul 15, 2004 at 12:06 AM 16 replies 3.2k views
Original Post
Evil_Greven
Evil_Greven
Download Stormrunner rev2 here. EDIT: Download latest version here. I really need some suggestions on changing the difficulty.. it's very, very hard now that I've added in a few minor things. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to defend the Stormrunner, the flagship of the -Ites. You may select from one of nine fighters to accomplish this task, each differing in their handling, shields, hull, and weaponry. But if you OR the Stormrunner die.. you''ll have to try again. ----------------------------------------------------------------- The controls are mostly the same as before, but I''ll go over them again :) Added T-Wing, R-41, and modified missiles to have an explosion radius, as well as having enemy fighters seek you or the Stormrunner, plus the obvious changes to the menus (pretty, eh?). Also, the ''alternategraphics'' folder contains ships with a Purple instead of Red indicator. I did this because one of my testers is a bit red-green colorblind, and he said the purple works fine. Up to you :) Controls are as follows: CTRL - Fires Laser Cannons SHIFT - Fires Ion cannons if applicable * END - Changes Cannon link mode notesingle/double/quad for Xwing, for other ships it is simply single/double or single/triple) TAB or DELETE - Fires Missile weapons (if you have it) ARROW KEYS - movement up/down/left/right ESC - From Main Menu, exits. From Game Over or Pause, returns to game (new if game over), from anywhere else, it returns to Main Menu. *note on ion cannons: They are only effective against shields. They do 1.5x damage at the same fire rate that lasers would do to shielded ships, thus the reason the more bomber-like ships have them. However, they do 0 damage to hulls. OPTIONS - Here is where you select your ship and you can turn sound on/off if you want. Simply move your cursor over the ship you want, but if you click it will return to the main menu with whatever ship is not blacked out. However, you must use click to turn sound on/off, and in this regard it will not exit to Main Menu. Ship descriptions can now be found in the Options menu, where you choose your ship. *note: The A-Wing has a jamming device, which has a chance to prevent an enemy from firing briefly. POWERUPS (these are used instantly when picked up): Red M: Full missiles Red S: Full shields Red H: Full hull Red F: Freezes enemy''s time Blue S: Full Stormrunner shield Blue H: Full Stormrunner hull Blue F: Fires Stormrunner''s 6 turbolasers Red P: Fires several additional shots next time you pull the trigger. Your enemies will be as follows: TIE Fighter - 2 cannons, 50 hull, 20 spd TIE Interceptor - 4 cannons, 100 hull, 22 spd TIE Bomber - 2 cannons, Torpedos, 150 hull, 15 spd TIE Avenger - 4 cannons, Concussion Missiles, 50 shield, 100 hull, 24 spd Assault Gunboat - 2 cannons, 2 ions, Concussion Missiles, 150 shield, 150 hull, 18 spd TIE Defender - 4 cannons, 2 ions, Adv. Concussion Missiles, 100 Shield, 100 hull, 26 spd Bosses: Corellian Corvette: 6 cannons, 750 shield, 600 hull, 15 spd Nebulon B Frigate: 8 cannons, 1500 shield, 1200 hull, 10 spd Imperial Star Destroyer: 10 cannons, 10 ions, 2500 shield, 2000 hull, 5 spd --- Note on new gameplay: If you beat the first ISD, the game basically repeats - except it has the # of fighters as before, so theoretically if you get to the third ISD, you will be fighting 12 enemy ships at a time. Now that''s TOUGH! Names of various ships/weaponry is (most likely) copyrighted by LucasArts Entertainment Corp. Please let me know what you think. It's pretty hard right now, and I'd like suggestions on making it easier... so I hear, that's the hard part! -Greven [Edited by - Evil_Greven on July 21, 2004 3:34:24 PM]
sicilianfire
sicilianfire
that was pretty cool; good graphics and gameplay.
some suggestions :
1) increase the player's speed - faster = easier
2) increase the player's firing rate, probably by including/making more upgrades. something like double quad cannons or quad proton torps (would be cool); the point is to add (more) items that aid/protect the player in his objective, or at least tip the balance more toward his side.
however, it should be noted that the simplest solution is to increase the amount of powerups already in the game
3) increasing the amount of damage done per laser blast/weapon blast. the low level lasers are annoying. also, increasing the ammunition would go with that.
4) making the enemies fire in random directions (as opposed to hunting the player down).
so, do what you think best, its a pretty cool game as it is.
i know this is off-topic, but i'm curious; i was under the impression you can't use copyrighted material. you credit lucas arts in the end (for "sound"); did you get written permission, or are you just ignoring the copyright ? not that i'd have any intention of doing the latter ... i just wondered if such things applied to games like yours.
anyway, good luck.
Evil_Greven
Evil_Greven
Well, they aren't copies of it, from what I understand, but obviously the inspiration was from LEC's games (like this one), and really it's just a project for fun. As well, I have been looking for replacements, but the issue is.. if it doesn't really sound like the movies, why even bother making the game based off of if?

Just a project to help me make games better, heh, hope that doesn't sound too selfish. Thanks for the suggestions on it, I'll see what I can do.

-Greven
Evil_Greven
Evil_Greven
No other suggestions for fixing it? :/

-Greven
alnite
alnite
It runs pretty slow on my computer. :/

Pentium III 850Mhz
16MB ATi Mobility
256MB RAM
Windows 2000 Pro
Evil_Greven
Evil_Greven
Really? I've not heard from anyone else that it is running slow.. hmm.

I use Windows GDI for this, and I ran it on a 1ghz machine using WindowsME just fine... perhaps it is Windows2000 that is the issue. .. hmm. I'll have to look into that.

Thanks for the feedback.
-Greven
Gyrbo
Gyrbo
How about making your ship stronger? It's also nearly impossible to dodge attacks. Increasing the screen size/decreasing the objects could be a way to solve this.
fraKtal
fraKtal
maybe I missed it, but perhaps add a key to 'fire all' weapons?

and what sicilianfire said about increasing speeds of the players movement, and of the players weapons might be good.
wannabean333
wannabean333
nice.....

but seriously do you think people can stand the sounds in that game?

its like youve only got one sound buffer or something...

it sounds terrible

try having multiple sound buffers for the same effect and using unused ones when they are called for. itll improve it greatly

RipTorn
RipTorn
I was a wee bit dissapointed when it looped.. I expected something to happen after killing off the second star destroyer... but it just got even more rediculous and the storm runner got blown up... ohh well.

having some friendly fighters would be very cool.

lives also... it's very easy to get blown up by a single torpedo or such... having the game end just there is a bit annoying.

make it so you sometimes pass through both friendly and enemy mine feilds... (the type with turrets on them)

faster firing guns would probably help I guess too.
persil
persil
Good job!

You've got a working game and a working interface, it needs polishing, but it's already at a working state, which is good!

Personally, I really like the kind of "classic" feeling your game gives me. Your sprite graphics are good and the sounds, although appropriate, are damn loud and, like somebody said, too repetitive, you should add variance if you can.

Of course, you should add levels and diferent bosses/ennemies instead of looping if you wish to improve further. :) Perhaps have a fighter upgrade screen between levels, add access to better ships as the player progresses!

Anyway, t'was a fun couple of minutes :)
jmutch
jmutch
quote -
"perhaps it is Windows2000 that is the issue. .. hmm. I'll have to look into that."

Ran fine of my machine, and i'm running 2k.

As for tips to make it easier, maybe give the player a few bombs that blow up all the visible enemies. Great job.
Toolmaker
Toolmaker
Surrender the screenshots(ie, I am at work and I want to see)
 
Phoenix1_3
Phoenix1_3
running @ 1200 mhz, GF 2 64 mb, 512 ddr (!), winXP, and for some reason it is not going smoothly : /
"Computers are like airconditioners, they will crash when you open windows"
Evil_Greven
Evil_Greven
Sorry for the delay in responding, been pretty busy with work.



Here's a screenshot of me about to blow up an ISD in an E-Wing. Guess it's not much of a looker eh? Need to get a better one :/

Anyway, I have a newer version up, but this is kinda a test version. Upgraded player's rate of fire, and lowered laser speed slightly. Will work on it some more when I have time. Also fixed the K-wing graphic & likewise laser placement. Also fixed the uh.. messed up placement of the Sound on/off button.. the graphic displaying on/off was a bit lower than where the actual button was (oops).


For people having trouble with it; are you running any other programs in the background? If so, what are they?

Gyrbo,
I slowed the laser projectile speed down slightly, that might possibly help?

fraktal,
Other than missiles, you can switch the cannon link system with the End button; so you can fire ion/lasers linked together too if the ship ions. Missiles won't link together because of the limited supply.

wannabean333,
Yeah, that's one issue I'm definately going to have to work on soon is the sound. Been pretty neglected since I implimented it.

Riptorn,
You killed the SECOND Star Destroyer?? [wow] I usually can't get to the second Nebulon-B, and only beat that once or twice... the fighter swarm kills me then.. or kills the Storm Runner.

Riptorn/persil,
Yeah I need to work on adding more of..ah.. scripted levels, I suppose. Right now it's set up like so: Start with 1 enemy. Kill X enemies and get to fight first 'boss' (Corvette), then you have 2 enemies. Kill Y enemies and you get to fight second 'boss' (Nebulon B Frigate), then you have three enemies. Kill Z enemies then you have to fight the big boss (Imperial Star Destroyer), then beating that you get to fight four enemies -- and it just builds up to a theoretical 12 enemies... So, three loops basically, increasing in difficulty each time.

Levels.. yeah. Upgrades.. maybe. I'll see what happens with it.

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions!
-Greven
Toolmaker
Toolmaker
Looks cool Greven! You might need some better art, but it looks quite awesome! Keep up the good work or I come over to slap you ;).

You should code up a awesome looking HUD too! What are you using to display the text? A font engine? Or did you use images to create the text?

Oh, and it's kinda funny, that you get beaten on your own game ;). Perhaps you should introduce cheats(Either by preprocessor or by option) so you can test your maps thorougly! [grin]

Toolmaker
 
Evil_Greven
Evil_Greven
Oh, the text is actually hard-printed on those bitmaps. The numbers are printed on another bitmap. Far as cheats go... yeah I should probably impliment some for testing when I add levels.

And yeah, artwork is definately not my greatest talent.

-Greven
Evil_Greven
Evil_Greven
New updated Stormrunner version here

Changes:
-Decreased enemy damage. Previously, it was 3/4ths the player's damage, now it is 2/3rds.
-Added weapon convergence; this aims the shots to a point at the top of the screen (or bottom of the screen if enemy fire).
-Added toggle for weapon convergence; the Home key.
-Removed the ability to view the screen when you clicked on it while it was paused.

EDIT- Just added the ability to modify & save Key Configurations. It starts with default, and there is a default button to revert it to if you need to. Go to Options, then click on Key Binding, and then when you want to change something, click on one of the nine things at the top. The bound key will display on the keyboard at the bottom. To change it, simply press the desired key. Make sure you hit the Exit button to save your configuration. Hitting Esc will not save it.

About convergence, I think it makes the X-wing, A-wing, R-41, and K-wing much easier with convergence on, but a friend who was testing it didn't like the change to his X-wing, so I put in a toggle. You decide [smile].

By the way, should the "Paused" and "Game Over" screens go? I forgot why I covered up the screen, but it seems to me that they could just as well be blanketed over the screen.

As always, I welcome your comments and suggestions. I haven't had time to really rework the system for levels yet, but don't fret, I intend to.

-Greven

[Edited by - Evil_Greven on July 21, 2004 10:32:17 PM]

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