Progress Update 3

I've implemented controller support for gamepads on Windows and Mac platforms. The best part of this is that it will make porting to Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network more seamless as I can rapidly test and tweak the control settings and make sure they are fine tuned before compiling.

When using the joypad, I've made the dashing controlled by a seperate button + analog direction rather than a double tap, since it's not really practical to double tap a joystick.  It seems to work quite nicely.

Bugs:  I've fixed a bug where if you move outside the play area while your respawning invincibility is in effect, you could not get back into the scene. Apparently I disabled collisions with all objects including the borders, rather than just disabling collisions between the player and enemies/projectiles.

Feedback that I'm working on:  The homing missiles are jerks!  This probably won't be the actual first boss, so the difficultly is a little off scale.  I may make the missiles a little slower and allow them to damage the boss if you can steer them into him.  Maybe that's the only way to damage the eye, or maybe that's the way to bust the eye shield off?  Feel free to share your thoughts.

Android Release

I've implemented touch controls and fixed the problems that were preventing me from compiling onto the Android platform.  I think it still needs a lot of optimization as it has some performance hiccups on my HTC Thunderbolt.  Give it a go and see how it runs on your phone!

While on your Droid phone, go to this website, go to the downloads link, and download the Android version (roughly 14 MB).  It will then prompt you to install, then it should automatically run.

Enjoy!

-Update:  I've only tested it with my phone and all the GUI elements are scaled to fit the resolution of my phone's screen. If you have a higher resolution screen, the gages and buttons may be in weird positions.  I'll try to fix their positions to be resolution independent in a future release.

Pre-Alpha Build 4 Released

I've uploaded a new demo of the game, this time for both PC and Mac.  Go to the "Download" section to grab the latest build!

This version has a full level with a capacity discharge blast that can be used by pressing the right mouse button while you have at least two units of capacity in your meter. There is about a 2 second recovery time between discharge blasts (I expect Ryan will laugh when reading that last sentence). Having said that, I'm open to suggestions on renaming some of the aspects of the game. Hell, at this point, even "Aggressor" is a working title.

As always, feel free to post your feedback on the website or PM me on Facebook.  I hope you enjoy the demo!

Progress Update 2

So... I didn't meet my goal of finishing Pre-Alpha Build 4.  But I did make a lot of progress. The first level is about half-way populated with enemies and the first boss is pretty much done and a few effects have been tweaked.

To do before Build 4:

• Add another 30 - 45 seconds worth of enemies to the level before the boss arrives.
• Finish up the code that signals when the boss has been defeated.
• Create a discharge effect other than the melee attack.

I'll be pretty busy this coming week, so it will probably be next Saturday before this demo will be finished.

Progress Update 1

Fixed Bugs:

• A fully charged blast will no longer bounce off the top barrier of the screen.
• Pressing Escape will now return you to the main menu where you can quit the game.

Gameplay/Graphics:

• Bonus-Shot gage is more interactive and interesting looking.
• The acceptable margin to hit in order to perform a bonus shot narrows slightly after each success.
• Made the player's shots easier to see.
• Added a new scene to serve as the basis for Level 1 (see screenshot 5).

I'll try to have Pre-Alpha Build 4 out by the end of next week if things go really well.  I'd like to have a first boss and at least one capacity discharge ability implemented in the next demo.

Changes since Pre-Alpha 2:

 

Gameplay:

 

Dashing - By double tapping a direction, the player will rapidly move in that direction.

 

Melee Attack - If the player has energy in their capacitor, colliding with an enemy will discharge all energy, damaging the enemies within its range.

 

Bonus Shot Gage - A meter has been added to the HUD to display the correct timing to utilize the bonus shot, AKA cadence shot.

 

Credits - Number of credits are checked each time the player dies. If no credits available, the game will pause until credits are added. Credits can be added by pressing the "I" key.

 

Dying - As fundamental of a function as it is, only now can the player actually die. If capacity is exceeded or the player collides with an enemy while having no capacity, then the player's control will be disabled and a credit will be removed.

 

 

Graphics:

Hit Effect - When the enemies are hit by the player's projectiles, the enemy will flash white.
 

2D Sprites - Adapted a script to handle 2D animations from an atlas of multiple frames. This increases performance by reducing drawcalls while also making content generation easier. The script has been expanded to allow animation both forward or reverse, repeating and "ping-pong" looping.

 

Go to the "Downloads" page to download Pre-Alpha 3.5

Aggressor blog created to track development progress, host links to the latest build, and gain feedback.