Extraterrestres

[deadlychicken22]

Well, the gp2x coding competition is over and I would like to get a little input from users about my entry, Extraterrestres.

First off, I know that there are bugs in the game, and I would like you to mention bugs that you've noticed in the game, but please don't repeat a bug that someone else has already mentioned unless you have something more to add that may be helpful. I may come back to this game later, but I am done working on it for the time being, and would rather know what you thought about the presentation, atwork, etc. so that I can apply your thoughts to my next game (which I am currently working on the story for).

Have you beaten story mode? Did you like the story? Did you like the way it was presented? Did you like the graphics? Did you like the music? Did everything seem to fit the games atmosphere? What did you like or dislike about both the story mode and the arcade mode?

And, finally, what is your high score in arcade mode?

(My high score is 587,567)

Thanks,
-ben

EDIT:
No responses at all? This is rather discouraging
Please respond if you tried the game out, don't worry, I won't bite

 

[SlackwareLinux]

Story mode was fun, although I have not quite beaten it yet. The graphics look really clean, good job!

 

[Goity]

Collision is mean

 

[vossy]

great game, i really liked it!

the graphics are cool and its great for a quick 10 min blast.

my highscore isnt worth posting as its pathetic

 

[jbrodack]

I enjoyed the whole design of the game. loved the presentation of the story mode. wish the small graphics bugs could be sorted out and incremental volume control could be added but still one of my favorite games on the gp2x. and still havent beaten story mode it gets so hard towards the end. still you definitely have people here that have enjoyed your game. there might not have been much discussion about it but im sure a lot of people have enjoyed it its just that you have said that you are pretty much done with the game and most discussion about gp2x games is alone the lines of bug reports and suggestions for future versions. I know I have enjoyed the game and hope you make more games for the gp2x.

 

[deadlychicken22]

Thanks for the responses, they really made my day!

Now, to address the issues mentioned:

1. "Collision is mean"
Well, I'm not sure exactly which aspect of the collision you are referring to, but the collision is meant to be rather precise, I don't like games where you appear to be doing something on screen but the game is reacting in a different manner.... I'm not sure if that addresses the issue you are having, your response wasn't very clear

2. Graphical Bugs
I am aware that there are graphical bugs but throughout my extensive tests I could not find the source of them. It seems as if they only appeared after I added sound/music to the game, but I may have just not noticed them before that.... however, to get rid of them you could try turning the sound off.... I may look into this one later but for right now I've worn myself out working on this game and need something new.

3. Volume Control
I originally had incremental volume control, but the volume would never reach 0 for some reason (it would never go away entirely). I found the problem behind this and thought that I had fixed it, but when I was testing it later, I found that the volume buttons would only affect the sound effects volume, but not the music volume. I looked throughout my code but as far as I could tell it should be affecting both. It was only a day before the competition deadline and I needed to get it working, so I decided it would be better to have a volume on/off switch than have only volume control for sound effects. As with the graphical bugs, I may look into this later, but for right now I want to do something new.

Thanks for the responses, please keep them coming.
Also, I would love to hear peoples high scores (even if they aren't great, don't let my insane high score scare you away). However, it sounds like most people are playing story mode right now so you may not have a high score. If that is the case, please tell me how far you have progressed in story mode. The story mode consists of 7 levels.

Thanks,
-ben

 

[MakavelianKode]

Awesome design, idea and presentation. I've got some critiques and whatnot but I want to play it a little more before I give em.

 

[jbrodack]

I've spent more time in story mode but my current high score for arcade is 186538

 

[jbrodack]

I finally beat story mode!!!! usually when i die in a fast level i cant really recover but this time i was actually able to aquire powerups after dying in some of the later levels and by the final level i had a good stock of powerups.

great game had a hell of a time beating it but it was worth the effort. now to try to come anywhere near your high score.

 

[deadlychicken22]

I finally beat story mode!!!! usually when i die in a fast level i cant really recover but this time i was actually able to aquire powerups after dying in some of the later levels and by the final level i had a good stock of powerups.

great game had a hell of a time beating it but it was worth the effort. now to try to come anywhere near your high score.

​

Great to hear that someone actually beat it! The key to beating the last level is starting it with a full supply of items and using them almost constantly. It has a lot of items so you should try and pick up an item every time you use one to keep your items at full.

About the high scores: They are largly based off of my combo system, so the easiest way to get a lot of points (just about the only way, actually) is to go past a LOT of columns in a single life. To get my high score I started off the game with a combo of 30 followed by a combo of, *gasp*, 566. That is where the bulk of my score came from.

once again, thanks for the comments,
-ben

 

[Goity]

I er... meant the collision was inprecise

 

[deadlychicken22]

I er... meant the collision was inprecise

​

In what way, specifically? What is it that is colliding that doesn't seem right? And what isn't right about it? I do have it slightly offset intentionally, but when I played it it seemed to work well....

 

[Goity]

I er... meant the collision was inprecise

​

In what way, specifically? What is it that is colliding that doesn't seem right? And what isn't right about it? I do have it slightly offset intentionally, but when I played it it seemed to work well....

​

as in you hit the walls about 5mm away from the walls, and it's annoying to get through the holes because of this.

 

[deadlychicken22]

as in you hit the walls about 5mm away from the walls, and it's annoying to get through the holes because of this.

​

Yeah, I'm aware of the gap between your ship and the walls. This is partly due to parts of the walls being transparent and partly due to the way I handle the movement of the ship and collision. If I go back and adjust some other stuff I will make sure I change this one as well. However, the distance that you are from the columns should have no effect on the difficulty of getting through the gaps....

 

[Goity]

How did you learn c++ and sdl anyhow?

 

[deadlychicken22]

How did you learn c++ and sdl anyhow?

​

I followed some guides on the internet and I also started reading/following a c++ book, but it was way too easy, repetetive, and boring so I quit it and just followed the online tutorials. After getting the basic syntax down I just started messing around making my own junk, most of which was never completed, but I learned a lot and then I checked gp32x and there was a coding contest so I decided to try that, and Extraterrestres is the result.

The main c++ tutorials I followed are HERE
The SDL tutorials I followed are HERE

 

[Goity]

Cool, I've been trying to follow C++ for dummies but the layout of the book is rubbish, with so much useless info. I'll give that a try tomorrow, cheers!