Update 12/14/2014

Starship Game currently 12_14_2014

Here's a view of my current version of Starship Game.
New features since last post:

• Ship Parts out the butt! - I have implemented the following ship parts (in addition to creating the general shippart system), shields, shield recharge, artillery gun, ion gun, bridge, engine. (I still need to create some more parts to really fill this ship up.
• Multiplayer - you can play it multiplayer. It can register 4 xinput controllers and, with a slight editing of characters, it can play up to 4 players. The controls also work for the inside of the ship. Meaning that you can run your character up to the bridge and start piloting the ship. or you can go to the artillery gun and start shooting, etc...
• Ship parts breaking and fixing - the players have a space wrench tool that can fix parts. Parts have a percent change to break when the ship takes damage, based on  how much damage was dealt and how much of that damage was absorbed by the shield.
• Shields up! - shields work, for both the ship and enemy ships. For enemy ships, the ion gun will deal more damage to the shields.
• New enemy basics. The new enemies have shields that are visible. There are also a few variants, such as enemies that have green shields that are only destroyed by the ion gun, and enemies with hyper armor, that is only damaged by the artillery gun. I also have to set up some more things like missiles There will be some enemies that can only be destroyed by popping their shield with a missile and then blowing them away with bullets.

Something missing...:
overall I have felt throughout the designing of this game that there is some crucial key element to the game that is not quite there. There is intended to be a lot of teamwork, and many of the mechanics are intended to supply the need for that, but I am worried that there is a certain sparkle to the game mechanics that is not present. I really have to play test to be sure, which is difficult to do since I need 4 players every time I want to do it. I have sat down and dissected the game several times and concluded a certain something:
This game is about communication and teamwork
One of the major components that this game has been about since the beginning is sitting down together with your friends and playing a game on the couch. That is one of the major reasons I wanted to include Couch Co-Op. In fact, really the game has been a tool to create such a situation. I have wanted players to be able to vest in their own character and express themselves through their play style and leveling options, and I have wanted to create a very close feeling between the team and the team being an expression of the players. One simple way this is done is by having the players name their team, and their ship, and choose team colors that each character will wear. So this is a crucial piece of the puzzle that I will be tackling.

Onwards, to space!

On Loraine:
I am still working on this project it is just low on my list of priorities. I have been trying to trouble shoot an issue where the actor won't accept any dialogue choices. To no avail so far. Looking into adding dialogue.


Ludum Dare # 31:
I entered it! ^^
This was my very first LD. The theme of this year's LD was "Entire game on one screen", so I created this game Game System. The game features an entertainment System mechanic. You are essentially playing video games on your old game system. You have three possible games to play Lava Mountain, Space Man, and Tree Runner. I won't say much more but there is a mechanic involving the different cartridges that you use to beat the game. This was my first LD, and many first time dev's (even some long time devs) don't finish their submissions withing the 48 hour time period, so I am already calling this a success for me.

I really enjoyed the competition and I plan to join again next compo.

And with the introduction of my submission to the LD comes...



Ludum Dare #31 feature!
I am going to just name a few games that I played from the competition that I thought were worth mentioning. I'm not claiming these games are good, just that they were unique or significant in some way.

Please note that in the Ludum Dare (pronounced Loo-dumb Dar-ray) there is the 48 hour compo(Left) where there is one developer and all assets must be created within the competition time-frame, and there is the Game Jam(Right) with as many developers as you wish, a 72 hour period, and you may use assets created from before the competition time-frame. Okay, now that that's clear, here we go!

Owls Ever After - Jam - 20 mins gameplay

A cute game about owls. You can view this owl family through out the Christmases of their lives, and uncover secrets about their past to find out how things have gone for them through out the years. Very cute.




WASD - compo - 15 - 20 mins gameplay
A very simple game where you play as a blip on a screen moving through a maze. As you move through the maze the path around you becomes visible. The developer has some very humorous text that you uncover and plays a lot with the player's expectations this entry is amazing to me because the developer was able to do so much with a simple game where your only interaction is moving.




CoinSlot - Jam - 5-10 mins gameplay
This game is more neat then fun. Essentially, if you've ever seen one of those movies where somebody puts a coin into a coinslot and then a Rube Goldberg of events happen inside with the coin, this is a game about that. You have to build a Rube Goldberg for the coin. Afterwards, you can upload your Rube Goldberg, and it is placed with all of the other Rube Goldbergs. At the link you can actually watch everybody's Rube Goldbergs together. It takes forever to load though the image of everyone's Rube Goldberg. It'll even slow down your internet if it's in another tab.

Orion - compo - 5 mins gameplay

This game is very short. It's essentially a shuttle launch simulator. There is not much you can do working by yourself in 48 hours. I really appreciate this game for the mood it creates within the development time limit. If you've ever wanted to simulate a shuttle launch from the cockpit, I recommend you give this a shot.




Leaving - Jam - 30 mins gameplay (some people said a lot less)
Leaving is an interesting game because it is fun, and has nice art. It also seems to make a statement on business. In the beginning of this game, you mine rocks with your hammer. Once you have enough money though, you start paying the villagers to dig for you. Eventually you can pay villagers to spread propaganda to each other, and abuse that propaganda to get the villagers to buy dumb things from you for outrageous prices. You even convince one villager to sell their house to you, by means of propaganda, all in an attempt to rebuild your spaceship and escape the crazy one screen planet you've landed on. So, I like this game because it's fun and it has real world statements, which is really hard to fit into a 72 hour dev cycle.

Labyrinthia - compo - 20 mins gameplay

This game I believe is probably gonna run for the top position for this competition. The game features an interesting mechanic. You are in a very dark maze like building and the structure of the building moves around when you turn your not looking. It plays with your senses and has a very deep mood of horror and confusion. At some points you just have to trust that the game will take care of you, which gives a feeling of unease until you verify to yourself that something will work. Also, multiple endings...


Lots of great entries into the Ludum Dare this Competition. I was very excited to enter for the first time, and I was amazed at how much content I was able to complete in the time set before me, including the 7.5 hours I spent working at my job. This competition has charged me to delve deeper.

Thank you all for reading my article! Feedback and other comments are really nice! I hope to talk to you all again soon!
-Catwheel