I would like to share my current project code named “SD” to get your feedback.
“SD” is a space dogfight action game - I’m not sure if I phrase it right - anyway this is a game I have in my mind for quite a long time. And finally I reached a phase that I felt it’s appropriate to show it to you all.
At this stage “SD” still have known bugs that I need to iron out before I start the next phase. The project starts around late September 2014 and between family and daily works I hope to continue and finish this project, but it’s a long road ahead, so for now I’ll keep this short.
Changelog: 12/29/2014
Update spacedust
Update HUD: Omega Freedom
Update damage distribution ratio
Scripts clean-up
12/30/2014
Update pilot camera and flight control
Update Vulcan Cannon speed: 600 > 900
Update HUD: Omega Freedom
Update missile lock-on logic
12/31/2014
Update HUD: Omega Freedom
Update weapon mechanism
Regular web player demo update will be posted below.
This is the latest PLAYABLE web player demo. It has no sound at all.
A few notes before you try it:
Before playing, please read the latest post, there might be some help, tips or info about the game. If you encounters any error please let me know. “SD” Demo
Just updated the web player demo. It’s playable 5v5 battle. All ships use Vulcan Cannon.
These are the tweaks I’ve done for the purpose of this demo:
Player’s ship has been hardened to withstand more damage, but you are not invincible.
Vulcan Cannon ammo set to 1000 (originally 300)
There are many things that I’m not satisfied yet, so there will be major changes still.
The link is in the #2 reply. Please let me know what you think.
Hey man,
I’ve played the demo, the GUI is pretty well made and the controls seem responsive enough to have fun with it.
However though I couldn’t hit anything, rmb on a web demo just opens flash options for me so I couldn’t use that.
I hit the numbers to change weapons but I couldn’t fire anything else without the rmb.
I tried controlling the ship with deactivated mouse head turn it was very nauseating and even with it on it’s still a little, maybe make it as to turn more slowly? It could help some more if you added some planets or some objects as focal points in the sky so we could be orientate.
The throttle through the mousewheel feels kinda slow, maybe make it that you need 3-4 (I’d go with 3) strokes till full throtlle.
Also when they killed me the demo freezed and I had to reload it, this happened 3 times.
The lock on the targets and the GUI is pretty awesome though and the battle was intense, I only got to kill one though
Nice job though, can’t wait to see where you will get it, reminded me the good old X-Wing Alliance days.
Hi,
Thank you. I planned on dropping the cockpit cam and change it to chase cam. I already tried it, and i think it’s more fun. Best left auto aim on when dogfighting, it’s damn hard to hit because the AI keep moving.
Currently I’m working on new lock on for smoother and more integrated visual feedback. Revamping the HUD (personally this one too rushed).
I’ll work on auto respawn to stop pressing refresh page when your ship destroyed and yes I’m aware of the RMB issue, will change the binding also.
And xwing v tie fighter is one of the reason I made this Expect updated demo this weekend.
Hello everyone,
A new web demo has been uploaded. It is a 11 vs 10 battle. There are quite a lot of changes. HUD has been revamped, control, level, logic, effects and many more has been updated. As usual your ship has been toughened but not indestructible. I have not added auto re-spawn feature yet, please refresh page to restart the battle - sorry. No sound or music yet.
Please read the following before playing the demo:
Your mouse cursor will show as “X” if your target out of range. Also target indicator will spin when target in range of fire.
Press keyboard “X” to auto-match target’s speed, afterburner will not cancel it and will remain active until you change your speed manually via mouse scroll. No visual feedback to inform you whether its active or not - sorry
Now you can press keyboard “F” instead RMB to launch missile
Please read control keys and hud-preview at reply #2 before trying
Your survival chance is almost zero when there are more than one enemy chasing you hahahaha, the game difficulty is a little bit at the “hard” side because I made the AI to be relentless, so bear with it until I implement some difficulty selection option
Stalker missile is very good at tracking, but as long you are not moving straight and have enough speed, it won’t get you
Starfall rockets is for fun only here, you’ll be lucky to hit with it
If you survived the battle - most likely since its 11 v 10 - go hunt your teammates for practice, they won’t mind at all
Try to align your ship with the target to have a good shot
Mouse cursor is for helping you control the ship, not aiming, pointing your mouse cursor at target is not a guarantee hit
Play your music while playing the demo to help with the atmosphere since there’s no sound at all
If you have any question, suggestion or critics don’t hesitate to ask/tell me.
Thank you and happy hunting.
Liked the graphical update but for some reason I can’t make it move at all, even at full throttle I’m stuck in the same position. WASD doesn’t seem to do anything.
Oh just noticed the star dust, well those are very hard to notice, it’s kinda weird how everything just stick into place, that’s why I can’t understand that I’m moving. I’m guessing you are using a skybox for the planet right? Why not use a sphere with a normal map so as to be able to move around or some asteroids because right now it feels really weird and dizzy. Or make it like there is a big spaceship somewhere in the scene. You really need a focal point in the level so players can navigate through the level.
Yeah,
It’s hard to notice the space dust, maybe the size too small and too few. And yes I’m using skybox for planet (got it from asset store also). I will stick with skybox for planet because the concept I have in my mind, but will have asteroids further down the road. Capital ships also a feature I’m planning to have.
Current development phase is focused on these goals:
Solid AI (meaning they is no broken logic nor stupid AI), I’m quite happy with their progress but there’s room for improvement
Good player control, meaning player can move as they should, I’m also quite happy with current progress although I’m still playing around with the camera
Building a good framework, meaning once the I have a good solid working game framework, I can add more ships, weapons, visual effects, and game features a lot faster and easily, this is the hardest part and most time consuming. That’s why currently there is only one ship and four weapons to use, no music no sound.
I’m still undecided whether to bring the final game to either one of these since the framework is still in construction:
Scripted mission campaign
Open world game (the hardest goal and the most unrealistic one :))
Quick and fast game modes like skirmishes, battles, capture the flag/station or something like that (most likely this one)
Thank you for the feedback and keep watching!
Cheers!
I just watched my brother play this. I think “SD” is too hard for a lot of people. I intend to make “SD” a dangerous game, which mean, you can’t hope to go in all guns and be hero with most kills. I want player to play for survival also and not just acing most kills.
But I will play around with the game mechanics and logic to see how I can improve “SD” fun part. Until then please follow these guide to help you score your first kill:
Always gang up a target to kill it quickly, quantity over quality, no matter how good you are, in real battle, numbers wins it, also by staying in pack, you can help your teammates faster and vice versa
Be patience with the trigger, don’t waste precious ammo, unless you use energy base weapon (I know it’s not included yet), wait until you are closer and the angle not too steep
Don’t launch missile as soon you have a “locked on”, wait until you are closer, so missile will have more “chasing” time which will keep your enemy busy
Activate speed match “X” so you won’t be busy changing throttle in the middle of the fight, of course you still need to adjust throttle when appropriate
If you find yourself under attack by multiple enemies, dodge! Keep dodging, and pray that one of your teammates comes, it’s difficult to out-turn anyone because you all use Omega Freedom
Don’t turn off “auto aim” when dog-fighting, the feature is there to use when you up against capital ships/ bigger targets (future plan)
Use head turn feature - it’s on by default - (shift + spacebar) to help you aim and move smoother/easier
First, I want to thanks to the few people who sent their feedback and help me improve “SD”.
I’ve been running marathon in the past few days to get the game-play and HUD just right. There are a lot of updates, mostly HUD and player flight control/camera logic. Here’s the breakdown:
HUD
Revamped some sprites
Better overall visual feedback
All friends or enemies have visual marking for easier tracking
Selected target have clearer and better health indicator
Re-position some of the sprites for better information gathering
Added weapon hit area to help player aim better
Player Control/Camera
Dropped combined head turn + flight control movement (too hard to aim), you can still look around by deactivating flight control (“space-bar”)
Move the camera closer to ship center point for better aiming
Added aim correction logic and visual aid to help aim
Reduced movement sensitivity
AI
Reduced chance/probability of AI targeting player - it’s done by re-rolling target searching when AI picks you the first time, if you get picked again, then it’s your bad luck
Weapon
Increases Vulcan Cannon speed from 600 to 900
No auto restart/re-spawn feature yet.
As usual, links are on reply#2. That’s about it. Enjoy the new demo and hope to hear some feedback.
Expect updated demo this weekend.
- go hunt your teammates for practice, they won’t mind at all