GBM Productions

And no game.  Figures.  I’m a failure.

I’ve just been busy, but, to be honest the game is pretty much done (Alpha that was suppose to be released at least).  Two problems holding me back..  First, I don’t have high scores set up yet.  And really, whats the point of playing a game if you can’t submit your high score at the end and see where you rank along with everyone else?  Thats a bit harder than I thought it would be to put together.  However, I really want it in this release so you guys are going to have to just deal with it.  The second thing that is not yet done is replacing the current bullets with less CPU intensive ones.  Right now they’re cubes, and thats fine and all, but I’d much rather turn them into sprites so that they render much faster and shooting a ton of them won’t be as big of a deal.  Those are the only things that are really holding me back at this point, so, I hope to get this out to you peoples much faster than before.  At least you get a kitten! Lets move on to other fun things of interest.

Moon Base Command – I’ve been thinking…

And, really, in the end, using a Minecraft style engine is going to be the way to go until a CERTAIN engine is released.  I put certain in caps not because I think the person in charge of that engine will read this, but because I will link to the engine I speak of in the links section at the end of this post.  Anyway, back on track.  Moonbase command.  Ideas.  Minecraft!  Yes.  Here is the deal, Minecraft is awesome. The engine it uses is awesome.  It is awesome because it allows very cool landscapes to be made, and because it is infinitely adjustable by the creation and deletion of the cubes.  And, for MoonBase Command, it makes perfect sense.  I mean, really, the whole idea is to dig moon tunnels and build moon bases.  So, cubes are great.  However, Minecraft cubes are too big for what I want to do, to be honest.  I know Minecraft is 1st person and therefore the cubes are about 1/2 human size.  Even if I scaled that back to an RTS format, with little guys running around doing your bidding, and made the cubes 1/2 their size, they are still pretty big. Not that there is anything WRONG with having large cubes, its just… Well, it looks weird, ok?  Its just strange.  And I don’t like it for my concept.  However, then I got to thinking of how Minecraft works.  It loads the world in chunks, and each chunk is a set amount of blocks in size (usually something like 64 x 64 x 128) and each block is stored as a simple bit, a 1 or 0.  If its a 1, the block exists.  A 0?  The block does not exist.  This works wonderful for Minecraft, and it will work fine in my game too.  Then, I got to thinking.  Minecraft is storing information of 8 blocks per byte, give or take.  If I were to take that number down by 2, I could store 50% less information in the same amount of space.  HOWEVER!  I could very easily add a second bit for each block, something I want to call an Expand-A-Bit.  This extra bit will let the code know whether or not that block is “Expanded.”  The expanded blocks will have their own chunk, that is much smaller, 8 x 8 x 8.  Basically, in the end, each cube that the world is made up of (like Minecraft), will have 64 little cubes within it.  No more levels than that, cause that could get messy VERY quickly.  However, having those extra cubes in there will allow the landscape to look a lot smoother and cooler looking, and it will look a lot nicer with little guys running around.  The plan is to keep most of the cubes large still, because in the end there is really no reason to have EVERY cube be split up into little guys. If that was the case, I’d just make the scale different and make every cube just be much smaller.  No; this way, a cube will stay large until for some reason it gets split up (digging, building, gunfire, whatever) at which point little cubes will appear.  I hope that makes sense to everyone.

Link please?

Just one link this week.  My inspiration for really making MoonBase Command a reality, and the engine I would love to use if it was available – Atomontage.  It is pretty sweet.  Check out the videos and the screenshots, its got lots of cool stuff going on.  And if you have money, donate it to that guy (or me?) to get that thing off the ground.  It is spectacular.

 

Cheers,

Marcin

Hello everyone -

Normally, I write these posts to you from a place of joy, talking about the game I love to talk about, and all the bunnies and candied unicorns one can imagine.  Today is a day of sadness.  So this post shall be written from a place of pain.  Luckily for everyone, it will be written before I fall into a vat of Whiskey.

 

SCO Variant 1

W00t!  SCO Variant 1.  Its new, and its sweet.  Its coming sooner than you might think.  Its going to be more awesome than you might think.  And I am very excited about it.  Lets talk about it!

Whats the point?

The point is, I am making a game.  And making lots of cool stuff for the game.  So I thought, why not make smaller games in the meantime with all the new features I am working on, and release those as standalone games!  That way, all of my followers will be able to play GBM created games more frequently, and with less resentment that they waited 8 months for some garbage.

What makes it so special!?

Well, its going to work on a very similar principle to the real SCO.  Except instead of having a ship (Space Command One, for those paying attention….) you get a space station.  The other guy gets a space station too.  And you hate him, and you want to destroy his space station.  It is ok, because he hates you too.  So, you have two space stations, seperated by an asteroid belt.  And you hate eachother.  So you decide to blow up his space station, but he had the same idea.  BAM game.

Makes sense.  How do I blow up his space station though?

Well, using missiles, of course!  Missiles that go BOOM and destroy his space station.  However, we have some issues with this plan.  Firing missiles from your space station towards his isn’t going to work too well, since there is an asteroid belt in the way.  So you, and your enemy, have created some space ships to hand deliver the missiles to your foe.  We’ll call these space ships.. Bombers.  So, you launch bombers toward the enemy space station.  He launches bombers towards yours.  Bombers are smart, they avoid the asteroids to get to the opposite side.  Once there, they launch volleys of missiles!  And hopefully destroy the enemy.  And hopefully before he destroys you.

Thats kinda cool, but sounds boring.  What else can you do?

Well I am glad you asked Marcin.  Having bombers flying at you, ready to destroy your space station, kinda sucks.  So, we have come up with new technology to destroy those pesky Bombers.  This new technology is Fighterships.  Fighterships will be launched from your space station, fly out, find the bombers, and destroy them! HAHA.  Problem solved.  Or so our scientists thought.  Turns out the other guys came up with the same idea, and sent their own fighterships to destroy our bombers.  This isn’t going too well. So each launch window, we now have an option to send out either a Bomber or a Fightership.  Fighterships protect our bombers.  Our bombers destroy the enemy base.  A balance must be established.  And you can only launch one per Launch Cycle.  How will you decide? Does it matter what the other guy launched?

That sounds pretty awesome!  Why do you keep referring to ‘the other guy’ though??

Well, here is the deal.  This isn’t going to be your run of the mill game.  Its going to have multiplayer.  That other guy, launching his own bombers and fighterships at you?  Thats your friend.  Sitting right beside you.  Playing the game with you.  BAM two player action.  Rock Paper Scissors gameplay.  Look at that, awesome.  Throw in some AI programming to allow different PC players with different playing styles and difficulties to fight against you if you’re alone, and you got yourself a mighty tasty game. If all goes well, I might even throw in some online multiplayer versus random opponents.  Don’t know yet.

Awesome.  Quick!  Give me a bullet point list of other awesome things coming!!!!

Ok!

• Ship stats!  Select them and check their skills!
• Ship upgrades.  Faster ships for every 5 kills they get, etc!
• Shields!  Your fighterships have them.  Your bombers have them.  Your base has them WAIT WHAT!?!?!
• Thats right.  Your base has multiple levels of health including shields.  Repair them, it doesn’t cost resources, but does cost time…
• Asteroid belt – I know I’ve said it before, but there will be destructible Asteroids which will destroy your fighterships
• Huge dogfights!  Currently planning to have up to 50 ships per side fighting it out.
• Awesome looks and clever tactics – View the action from any position, or focus on an individual fightership!
• Space Station defenses – You didn’t think we’d leave out the Turret Defense part of the game, did you??
• High Score list online!  Compare your results against your friends!  Maybe even Facebook integration…
• Achievements – You people want them :(
• Free hot dog with every playthrough*

Nice!  Anything else?

 

Being released here, at GBM Productions, on May16th.  Count it.

 

Cheers,

Marcin

 

*there are no free hot dogs :(

Hey all.  I know I haven’t posted in a few days, but I’ve been solidifying some ideas about SCO for the eventual online release.  Good news is things are going to change.  Not a lot to say right now, so here is a picture of Steve Martin with a kitten.

In addition, lets see what I can tell you about the future release, and whats going to be worked on first / awesome.

Real Space Command One News

Here is a sweet list of things that are incoming in the next few weeks :

• Turrets are being split into Offensive and Defensive.  Effectively doubling the amount of turret types available and changing the way they work
• Full on enemy capital ships with abilities similar to yours
• Regenerating shields are incoming to take the brunt of the damage, with minimal hull inpact
• Functional radar with enemy info
• Destructible aspects of your ship – If your radar dish is destroyed, you lose radar / enemy info.  If turret is destroyed, you lose all that crap you spent on it
• Salvage ships for upgrade points
• Repair ability
• More meaningful turret upgrades – Decisions will matter.

Thats all for SCO news this week.

In other news…

Fox news doesn’t know what its talking about.

Not really news to anyone, but still a good read to see how much they truly get wrong.

Cheers,

Marcin

Space Command One

Things are going well!  It appears I got a number of peoples to play the game, and am starting to get some awesome feedback.  A lot I already know, there are problems with it.  I am aware!  50 levels = way too many.  25 would have been fine.  Also, it seems doubtful you can win the game, as all turrets are maxed out by lvl 25 or so and then the enemy eventually just swarms you.  I’ll get it fixed, I promise.  In case you didn’t notice the below Post, I did update the game so you can pick different turrets without worry about canceling using escape.  Also, keep playing!  More feedback is always better.  But, I think the Alpha has gotten some good reception and I look forward to getting future versions out to you guys.

Space Command One Futures…

Lots to do. I want to get a better version done before the Kongregate Unity Game contest entry timeframe is up, but that leaves something like 2 weeks to get a lot of work done.  We’ll see if I can do it, but, for now I have a gameplan on what I want to do :

• Add another turret type, the Laz0r turret, to deal with enemy missiles
• Change enemies away from mindless cubes to full fledged motherships that spawn smaller enemies.  Kamikazi cubes will stay, but won’t be your primary concern anymore
• Re-visit fighter ships to create actually intelligent enemies, meaning machine guns will no longer just demolish anything that comes into range
• lots of turret tweaks
• re-working the upgrade / credit system to make more sense
• Add some levels, and apparently a tutorial, since no one seems to read my “how to play” within game
• Add sound effects / music

Thats all I got for this weeks plans.  Obviously I won’t get everything done on that list, but, if I can make some headway into some of the things I’ll try to release an updated build soon enough.  Keep an eye on the game version so you know when updates are here.  I’ll put in a Change Log of some sorts so people can track what happens between builds.

Interesting sites of the day!

Nothing too special again today, but I’m going to post some links that I think people will enjoy

• Cities In Motion is now in open beta.  I haven’t tried it out yet, but it seems like my kinda thing.
• Magicka is awesome.
• Zombocom

That is all.

Stay safe everyone, and if you’re covered in snow, just remember that the easiest way to not deal with the snow is to pay some kids down the street to shovel for you.  Let them develop the hernias.

Cheers,

Marcin

Current Game Creation Progress

Hey all.  I am now going to start using some headings so you can check each blog post for information about what you are looking for.  Starting off with my current game progress where I haven’t done much.  I am getting closer to getting the GUI working where I want and I am finally able to select turrets.  I haven’t gotten them linked to actual upgrades yet, but for now the GUI itself is showing up correctly and is becoming modular, making it easier to change the information displayed at any given point.  Stay tuned for more updates

Getting the Turrets to work

I have a little bit to go before I can get the Turrets working the way I want them to in game.  Here is my list of things to do before the alpha releases

• Selecting turrets brings up the “Upgrade Turret” UI form
• Turret spawning by either spawn point or menu option
• Turret images for the GUI
• Turret properties to allow for upgrading, Alpha Style!

Working the GUI

I have a lot of work left to do on the GUI, but everything is working pretty well so far.  Here are some of the things you can expect to see once I get everything done.  Some Screenshots will be released this upcoming weekend before the big day Monday with my release

• 4 display panels : Enemy Info, Turret Selection, Main Ship info, and a Communication panel
• Enemy Info will give you the wave you are on, the amount of enemies left, when the next ones will spawn, and other useful information.
• The Turret Selection / Upgrade panel will let you spawn new turrets and upgrade existing ones with a simple click!
• Main Ship Info panel will give you everything else you need.  Health readout for your main ship, the percentage complete of the level, your kills, and your resources.
• The Communication Panel will be above the other 3 Panels, long and horizontal.  It will give you tips as you go along about what needs to be done or other important information.

Turret Upgrades

I am working on getting the turret selection working, but I am also going to be including some semblance of turret upgrades within the Alpha.  For Machine Gun Turrets this will mean you can adjust the speed of the projectiles, the speed at which they fire, how many barrels your guns have, the damage they do.  For Missile turrets this will allow you to increase the amount of missiles you fire, the rate at which they are fired, their speed, and even their tracking abilities.

Other interesting reads

A new portion of my blog where I will give some interesting things I have read, not necessarily about gaming, but always interesting.  This week we have the A* Pathfinding solution for Unity created by Aron G.  It is something I am considering further in the game development process for not only the enemy AI, but for your own fighter ship AI.  Its a very cool software and I hope everyone gives the guy some hits, his solution looks ideal and if I can adapt it in SCO eventually, it will be sweet.

Thats all for this week, see you later in the week and come back for the Alpha on Monday!

Cheers,

Marcin

Hello!

 

Welcome to Wednesday, the day that is the mid week, and so, we shall have a mid week update.  Time.  Today, right now, wherever you are, whoever you are.  Today is the day that I will fill you in on what has happened and what will happen this week before the next Weekend Update come Monday.

Now, normally (kinda) I would tell you what I’m going to do this week.  And I will tell you, but, I actually have news on what I did since Monday!  W00t!  Its pretty impressive I was able to get in a few hours of work done, but really it just caused a bunch of problems that I will now have to fix.  So what happened, I am sure everyone is excited to know.  Edge of your seats, I reckon.  Well, I had this idea.  An Idea that a bug is present in my game without my knowing!  I thought…  If my enemies are moving toward my ship, and my ship is moving forward, we are going to run into some serious issues.  The most likely result will be that I’ll end up with a string of enemies behind the main ship with my turrets and all that stuff shooting backwards, taking them out, while the ship moves forward.  This can of course be easily circumvented by just not moving the main ship, but where is the fun in that?  Plus, once I get into the retail finished version, I’m going to run into much bigger problems since I want to allow ship movement in general, not just on a pre-defined path like I am doing it now.

So, being the clever goose that I am, I decided to test this eventuality.  Put some simple movement code on my ship, and press play.  SHIT.  Ship moves just fine, but my turret spawn points in all of their spawning glory just stay there, hovering, in space.  Alone.  Ship is gone. Panic sets in.  I need to attach my spawnpoints to my ship somehow.  How do I do it..  Easy, just make em child objects.  BAM.  Done, 2 minute fix.  Press play.  Everything moves together.  Success!

Wait?  What is this?  I can’t make turrets any more!?  How did this happen?  Did it happen when I made my spawners child objects?  Some quick testing confirmed that it is in fact the case.  This is no good.  I can’t spawn turrets if I want my ship to move.  I need to fix this.  How do I fix this?  Well… I need to make sure my clicks get through on the spawners.  What I need, is a user interface.  I need a big, scary, GUI on the side of my game (or bottom, as it will probably end up) to control everything.  This is a big project, much bigger than what I wanted to do this week.  I wanted a nice, easy week of doing some menus and some ship movement.  Now, my weekend is going to consist of a huge GUI re-write.  Fun.

So what am I doing this week?  (point of this post, afterall)

1. GUI.  Big project, but needs to be done.  Within that plan, I am going to split a GUI into 3 seperate parts, one for ship progress and info, one for turret spawning / upgrading, and one for enemy info.  This way I’ll be able to add a lot of cool functionality, such as spawning turrets on a spawn point, or, picking a spawn point and then a turret.  Both ways will work.  Get some turret upgrades done.  I don’t have much control over ammo and things like that, but, I think that I can set up very simple turret upgrades for the Alpha.  Things such as turret range, damage, etc.  Going to get all that working, have some enemy stats like number of enemies, wave, and some general buttons to skip to the next wave (if you’re feeling cocky) etc.  Also going to put in some general ship information such as Health, percentage through the level, current level path, etc.
2. That first one is a doozy.  What else am I going to do?  Staying with my GUI theme, I’m finally going to put in some menus.  For now I’ll put in a start menu, to start the game.  And an exit button maybe.  If I feel sure of myself.  Eitherway, this is the “small” part of my plan for this week.

 

And that’s basically all that I want to get done.  If I can get all of this done by Monday, I’m going to be in a REALLY good spot for next week.  After the GUI and such mess is cleared up, all that is left is getting enemy waves / stats / powers all cleared up and figured out.  But thats just playing around with numbers until everything works.  Get the resources system cleared up so everything matches the way it should.  Pop in some different levels.  For now, different levels are mostly going to be aesthetically different with different skyboxes and color schemes.  But, providing all of that works, we are well on our way for January 31st release.  And even if I only manage to get one level working, I’m still going to post it.  I think that’s what he would have wanted.

 

Until Friday, stay safe everyone.

 

Cheers,

Marcin