uDG 2004: BugThug! (oct 29th build)

[aarku]

EDIT: Look at my most recent posts in this thread for more current details.

Hey folks. A few days ago on Saturday I decided that I should enter uDevGames 2004. So I started an entry and here is alpha5. You may have been following my diary (http://www.udevgames.com/index.php?option=com_mamblog&task=view&action=user&id=142). Anyhoot, I'll post a download link but the following things should be taken into consideration:


The help screen talks about features that are not implemented, and doesn't give enough help. For instance, you die after 1 bug leaves the screen currently; but, there will be a progressive scoring system soon where you must only keep one bug to advance. Also, you can control the bugs by clicking on them at the right angle. They will move away from your pincher.
There will be powerups (and powerdowns) added soon that will give you all sorts of cool things. Please post any idea for them that you'd like to share!
There will be Creatures that sometimes wander into your ring that you must pinch to scoot them away.
The game reportedly does not work on Jaguar. I don't understand that one. It's an AGL context using Carbon Events and the window is loaded from a nib all regular like. Sorry about this, I'll try and figure it out.
The game leaks some memory. I'm workin on it.
I'll put in lots of little sound effects and music when I get a chance.
I have made my significant other encrypt my project folder so I won't work on it until this weekend when I get my school work done. Darn university.
I'm tired here are some screen shots.


*snip snip* I'll post final screenshots soon.


--->> Here is a download link! (Under 600kb) (http://www.tc.umn.edu/~czec0035/files/BugThug%20build%202004092703.app.tar.gz)


Please be open an honest. I'm not afraid of criticism. Death threats are over the line though. . . it's just a game. Thanks!

-Jon

[ss2 cire]

for the loading on jaguar thing, try checking the compatability for the NIB, I think by default on 10.3 the NIB files only work on 10.3 try changing the to work with the oldest target you think will be used (in general 10.1 is good, altho not recomended ;) )

Great game so far!

Regards,
Eric

[ss2 cire]

please ignore my last reply... seems you already thought of that one.. anyway, great game so far

[JustinFic]

I had no idea how to control the bugs until I saw your post. It should be a little more intuitive- perhaps a click + quick drag to define the new direction.

Also, it needs to get harder quicker. Right now I noticed no difference between levels 1 & 2, and levels 3, 4, & 5.

Some powerups/downs that come to mind:

Bug speed increase/decrease
Bug freeze

Bugweed: Bugs that run over this will change direction randomly every once in a while

Bug pheromone/repellant: When a bug runs over this, other bugs will change direction towards or away from it.

Landmine (Bug bomb): BOOM in all capital letters. No more bug.

[aarku]

I had no idea how to control the bugs until I saw your post. It should be a little more intuitive- perhaps a click + quick drag to define the new direction.

Also, it needs to get harder quicker. Right now I noticed no difference between levels 1 & 2, and levels 3, 4, & 5.

Some powerups/downs that come to mind:

Bug speed increase/decrease
Bug freeze

Bugweed: Bugs that run over this will change direction randomly every once in a while

Bug pheromone/repellant: When a bug runs over this, other bugs will change direction towards or away from it.

Landmine (Bug bomb): BOOM in all capital letters. No more bug.

The bugs are purposely a little hard to control. Initially they went in a totally random direction when you pinched them. Now you have influence. I like it both ways. This way involves less clicking as some people wanted. It's hard to satisfy everyone :-( I think click dragging would probably end up being too slow for the speed of gameplay I intend.

The difference between those levels is the speed at which the bugs move. I agree the differences aren't good enough. Balancing this is hard! :-) I'm planning on adding more gameplay elements before I go nuts balancing it, because adding things would change the balance.

Nice powerup ideas! Thanks

-Jon

[aarku]

for the loading on jaguar thing, try checking the compatability for the NIB, I think by default on 10.3 the NIB files only work on 10.3 try changing the to work with the oldest target you think will be used (in general 10.1 is good, altho not recomended ;) )

Great game so far!

Regards,
Eric

It is just a self-centering blank window so it didn't come up with any incompatibilities with 10.1. I'm going to try and play with build settings and target SDK etc in XCode. Thanks

-Jon

Edit: I should probably say that the game reportedly loads fine in Jaguar. I'm guessing it would play fine too. The problem is that no mouse events are going through. No mouse-over, mouse-down, mouse-dragged, mouse-up. . . Weird, because they are just Carbon events. I hope it's just the target SDK thingy.

[aarku]

Hey folks. I've been working on hammering out a lot of gameplay ideas, and I've been working on some music, sound, and graphics.

A new version will be uploaded soon enough, but here is a little taste of what I've been up to:

http://www.tc.umn.edu/~czec0035/images/finaltitlescreen.jpg

BugThug one month development time is starting to hurt. Must. . .avoid. . .feature . . creeep!

-Jon

[JustinFic]

That looks way better. Minor nitpick but I say switch the Play and Vote buttons. The Play button looks odd all the way on the bottom with Quit.

[aarku]

There are a lot of things still unfinished, but there are a couple of things I'd like to test so I'm putting up a build.

Some new things:


Fullscreen and windowed mode now implemented. Any time while in BugThug, press Command-F or choose Toggle Fullscreen from the Window menu. One thing that isn't implemented is preferences so your fullscreen setting is persistant. That won't be hard, it's just not done yet. Please let me know how it works, and what resolution your monitor is set at.
Half implemented new titlescreen. See my previous post for what it's going to look like. It won't be hard to implement the rest, I just haven't done it yet.
Mouse showing/hiding is implemented. Let me know how it works. It's the best solution I could think of.
Random new half implemented graphics
Jaguar support should now work. Please let me know either way!


I apologize for the large file size. It is due to excessive use of png24. I am waiting until near the deadline to slim down assets and the file size.

--------->>>> Download new BugThug build here! (http://www.tc.umn.edu/~czec0035/files/BugThug%20build%202004101201.zip)

Thanks!

-Jon

[Andrew]

Haha, this is a funny game. Cool bugs. I actually encountered a bug—I think one of my 'wicked cool bugs' escaped into the main menu! It was weird.

—Andrew

[aarku]

Haha, this is a funny game. Cool bugs. I acutally encountered a bug—I think one of my 'wicked cool bugs' escaped into the main menu! It was weird.

—Andrew

Yup. Thank you! Luckily that bug is already fixed.

-Jon

[aaronsullivan]

Nice polish.

Deperately needs a timer for each level. On the early levels I just about click on the red window close button because it feels like I'll be there forever.

[aarku]

Hey folks. I have uploaded the latest version of BugThug. Let me know how the music is :-) and if you feel the in-game music needs to be longer, and if it needs more than one track. I'm considering lengthening it with a development section.

Only 7 things left to do! (i think) Powerups, creatures, fix pinchers, preferences, redo help graphics to be more current and helpful, a HUD, and. . . a few other things that I'm forgetting at the moment.

---> http://www.tc.umn.edu/~czec0035/files/BugThug%20build%202004102601.app.tar.gz

Thanks!
-Jon

[aaronsullivan]

Just wanted to mention that the music and animations add a lot of energy to the game. Good work.

[aarku]

New build, get it while it's hot:

http://www.tc.umn.edu/~czec0035/udevgames/BugThug%20build%202004102901.app.tar.gz

I'd like to mention a few things:

You most likely want to play in fullscreen mode. Just press command-f any time to toggle.

Quick powerup run down: nice seeds are + points, nasty seed - points. pink heart is + bounce, nasty heart is - bounce. green leaf means the bug will sit and chomp on the leaf.

Lots of tweaking to be done, don't worry :-)

Also I have to make music pause along with game. Sorry about that!

Biggest todo items left: preferences and HUD, and possibly a between-level point counting mojo thing.


-Jon