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Topic: SuperMelee Clone (Beta II In-Progress) (Read 52593 times)
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evktalo
Frungy champion
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Posts: 50
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Good progress! Great to see. You wouldn't happen to need music for your game? Or was that tune in the video some in-game music?
--Eino
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xenoclone
*Many bubbles*
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Thanks for the comments. In fact, thanks in general to everyone whose been looking at this thread. It's neat to think there's as much interest as there has been on this forum.
@Eino:
The music is just royalty free music I plucked off the web. I thought it fit the theme, but nothing has been officially composed yet. I've got a friend who is in line to write the music. But I'd be interested in hearing what music you think might fit with the game!
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Bluhman
Zebranky food
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You're doing great, it looks like! Quick question though; do you have any solid ship design concepts down? If you do, I'd really like to know what they are.
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xenoclone
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You're doing great, it looks like! Quick question though; do you have any solid ship design concepts down? If you do, I'd really like to know what they are.
Since there are 9 species, each with 3 ship classes, and each ship with 3 configurations, I haven't come close to finishing that. I've done the most work on the smallest ship class. The names in * * are a temp ones that my fiancee has coined to describe them.
Ship 1: *Little Gray*; Weapon: Tesla Coil(s); Special: Self-duplication (wimpy clones)
Ship 2: *Cannon Ball*; Weapon: long range cannon; Special: Rear-fire hot gas
Ship 3: *Light Bulb*; Weapon: long range homing missiles; Special: teleport
Ship 4: *Popcorn*; Weapon: build-up discharge; Special: reconstructible side hulls
Ship 5: *Wedge*; Weapon: rapid projectile; Special: converts weapon impact to power
Ship 6: *Dragonfly*; Weapon: fire balls; Special: flaming/latching spores
Ship 7: *Razor*; Weapon: rapid projectile; Special: super speed boost
Ship 8: *Bat*; Weapon: distance-controlled blades; Special: cloak
Ship 9: *Steering Wheel*; Weapon: weapon-freezing, steady beam laser; Special: engine-freezing particles
So I think in that set you can get an idea of at least the weapons. Of course speed, turning, etc.. are all being tuned to maximize how in control a player feels when using each ship. For example, Ship 3 is slow, but can teleport away and fire long range.... so if you're smart, you don't let it get up close to something like Ship 7. I think if you skim it, there's a good deal of Star Control style weapons in there, along with a number of originals. I kind of liken it to how Mortal Combat is similar to Street Fighter. Some stuff is similar, but not a direct copy by any means.
As a side note, the code is setup such that weapons/specials can be mixed and matched with any ship. For example, just today I took ship 16's special and gave it to ship 3. And ship 3's specia went to ship 1. 
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xenoclone
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Eino:
Haha, ya, feature creep has hit me on the ships, that's for sure. But, hey, you've given me a great segue into my next topic:
There IS a beta, it WILL be public, it WILL be free, and it WILL be soon. I've got it online right now. The link is being passed around to a few trusted initial testers. If all goes well, the beta goes public very shortly. The plan is tol include the 9 small ships, fully upgradeable, and one level.
I'd love hearing from you StarCon pros on how it plays. I'll say Beta is public sometime this month, maybe even this weekend if I don't get any major bug reports. 
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guesst
Enlightened
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Ancient Shofixti Warrior
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(Waiting with anticipation.)
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xenoclone
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Just as a quick update, I'm basically waiting for one final "pre-beta" review to come in. Then I'll hammer out the major kinks that were reported to me and upload the fixed version. Most all commented that the camera/zoom wasn't working for them. And then there are some slight balancing tweaks to be made. Otherwise we're almost ready to rumble.
There was also a slight delay due to my wedding/honeymoon. An additional delay may come from me studying for an interview for a better job. So things are going a little slower than I'd hoped but you can expect a download of some sort soon.
BTW, if someone thinks they want to look at the pre-beta and give me feedback quickly, private message me and I'll give you the link.
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xenoclone
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Here's a sneak peak at the announcement that will be going up on Garage Games tonight or tomorrow. The picture being referenced is here.
Announcing the Xeno Versus: Space Melee Public Beta!
About the Snapshot
This is a picture of the bold pilot Ryoko, owner of the Razor -- a bullet-like vessel more rocket than ship. She's one of 9 brave captains set to do battle in this modern take on the Spacewar! genre. Her artist is the exceptionally talented Mauizu.
About the Development
Xeno Versus has been developed using a modified TGB v1.1.3. Easily 90%+ of its game code, however, is in script. It has been in development since the final weeks of the T2D Early Adopter program. It is a testament to the resources available on TDN and the forums.
About the Beta
Join the beta group here or subscribe to the mailing list at xenoversusbeta-subscribe@yahoogroups.com to get access to the beta. It is fully playable with a limited content set: 9 complete ships and 1 complete level. This is the first in a small set of staged betas. It is set to expire on October 7th.
So join up and discuss! Team xenoclone.com's goal is to make this the best "space melee" the world has ever seen-- a lofty goal that will take time and dedication to achieve. We need input at all levels: interface, controls, game-play, et al. All feedback, good or bad, is entirely welcome.
Please don't post the link here. I'm trying to keep track of users through Yahoo.
EDIT: Just use the link in the post below.
Thanks!
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« Last Edit: September 26, 2007, 10:27:24 pm by xenoclone »
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xenoclone
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Apologies for the double post. But beta-testers have been fewer than anticipated... maybe half as many as I'd hoped for.
Are there people here who want to try the beta, but don't want to join the Yahoo group?
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RTyp06
*Smell* controller
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Posts: 491
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Dude, I want to try your beta so bad.. I just don't want to have to jump through a bunch of hoops to try it. Sign up here, wait for e-mail there... Nah, I'll wait for an open beta.
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xenoclone
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Okie doke. Well I'll assume by the number of hits that there are a few people wanting to download without the hassle of the Yahoo group. So here's the deal:
I really, really, really need tips on getting the camera to work. The major problem is this: the yellow ship likes to fly into the corner and "wrap" around back and forth. It makes the camera go crazy. Any suggestions are fully welcome. Heck, maybe someone knows the algorithm that UQM uses?
Xeno Versus Beta Zip (WinXP)
I'd also love feedback on the game play, any bugs you hit, etc...
Oh, and since most of you are probably going to use keys, here's the keyboard map that's not shown in the game's controls section.
I want to submit this to the Independent Games Festival on the Sunday night deadline. This is a great chance to put 2D melee games back into the spotlight. So the sooner the feedback, the better!
You ask what's in it for you? Well besides the fact that you get a decent StarCon melee clone to fiddle with for a few days, you get to influence how the game is made. I've got a great track record with working with play-testers and integrating their feedback.
Plus, if I feel like the SC community is a big supporter, then I'll be more inclined to make the game mod-able (ie convertible to SC ships / art).
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RTyp06
*Smell* controller
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Posts: 491
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Thank you. I'll try it tomorrow though.
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