AtariAge Forums: Dave Neuman - Viewing Profile

I made some changes/additions to my First attempt and would like to get some
more feedback and or gameplay suggestions.

Thanks,
Dave

****GAME DESCRIPTION****

You are on patrol in the Gamma Sector of the Denebian Cluster.
Your mission is to destroy the supply convoys of the Gorn Armada.
The Enemy is not aware of your position until you begin your
attack. The Enemy will drop plasma bombs which you must dodge.
Activating your shields by pressing up on the joystick
will deflect the plasma bombs, but your shields will
overheat and cause a massive core breach after several
hits. If you disengage you shields they will cool off
very quickly and be ready to sustain another attack.
The Enemy Supply Convoys always come in groups of three.
When you destroy one of the group, the remaining ships in the
group raise their shields (signified by a "S") and that group cannot
be damaged again until another group draws your fire.
You have a limited supply of fuel and if you exhaust
it, you will lose core containment and your ship will explode.
It is possible to replenish your fuel from fuel pods released
by the Enemy Convoy as it breaks up. The enemy will try to
disguise these fuel pods as bombs until the last moment when
they turn color from bomb red to fuel pod green. Additionally,
your ship includes advanced sensors which indicate when it detects
a fuel pod. The display will indicate "Catch Fuel" when it is
safe to collect fuel. The fuel remaining displays at the bottom of
the screen and changes color from green to yellow to red as
your fuel is depleted. A warning message "Fuel Level" and
tone are activated if your fuel becomes critically low.
When all the enemies in the convoy are defeated, two morphing
Corelian Destroyers appear which you must eliminate before resuming your
next patrol. The Destroyers must be hit several times before they
will change size overheat and finally explode. The Destroyers do not
have any fuel pods to drop, so eliminate them quickly.
The left difficulty switch controls the size of your ship. A
smaller ship makes avoiding Enemy plasma bombs somewhat easier and a
larger ship makes avoiding the bombs harder.
The right difficulty switch controls the bomb speed. The bombs
fall at full speed on the more difficult setting.
There are four variations available from the main menu:

Option1 Standard Play
Option2 Steerable Missiles
Option3 No Shields
Option4 Disappearing Enemies

Hi,
I've incorporated the suggestions everyone gave me into my first game.
They were all good ideas and worked well. Thanks for all the input!
I now have a simple game that gave me hours of enjoyment (and frustration).
Where do I go from here?

Changes suggested and implemented:

Title screen improved (animation and color rotation).
Correct alien in group flashes and then dies when shot.
Alien projectile drops from lowest row of surviving aliens.
True identity of alien projectile is not revealed until bottom band.
Alien projectile transforms into either a fuel pod or a bomb in bottom band.
Dropping bomb makes a bomb dropping sound.
Three alien speeds per level slow, stepping, fast.
Four different enemy patterns as level increases.
Fuel gauge with low fuel warning sound and FUEL LEVEL warning message.
CATCH FUEL message synchronized with fuel pod drop.
Bomb/Fuel pod impact sound and ground flash for bombs.
Missile and Alien projectile collision pushes projectile upwards and increases score.
Alien row is shielded and appears as an "S" after being hit until another alien row is hit.

Thanks,
Dave



 SpaceBattlesBeta3rrr.zip (22.44K)
Number of downloads: 97

Hi,
My name is Dave and after reading the tutorials here and looking at code samples I have coded my first game. It's a simple rail shooter with 18 enemies. I have three game options Normal Play, Steerable Missiles and No Shields. Shields are available in options 1 and 2 by pushing up on the joystick. The shields can take a limited number of hits before heating up and exploding your ship. There is a limited fuel supply for each level, but it can be partially replenished by catching the white bombs from the enemies. Red enemy bombs cause your ship to explode, unless your shields are up. Each completed level increases you available ships by 1 to a maximum of 6. The enemy speed increases every level, but resets to default speed after every 6 levels. When you fire and hit an enemy convoy it explodes, the survivors spin and cannot be damaged again until you hit a different enemy. Any feedback is appreciated

Thanks,
Dave