Marshmallow alpha test

[TOdorus]

Hey guys,

I've formatted my pc once again last week and found out that I didn't commit my latest build of Marshmallow to the repository. That was quite a setback, but I've been rebuilding it and it came out a lot better. All that aside, I'm curious at what framerate the game runs on other pc's/macs, before I start adding some more advanced AI.

Marshmallow ALPHA

WASD to move
Mouse to aim and fire
Z: frag grenade
X: incendary grenade
E: pick up weapon
Q: main menu

(if you really want to strain it, try starting some big fires with the incendary grenades)

1 Dec 2009:
- Added Soldatlike camera
- Added Placeholder sounds and dynamic sound

12 March 2010
- Added a bunch of stuff
- Tweaked the AI to be more forgiving
- Editor is very much a work in progress

[bluemagica]

the view changing based on mouse pointer is kind of annoying for me, also there are some depth sorting problems.the design itself is good, and I think this can do a great job when finished....but for now, atleast add a replay button, cause when the player char disappears and just the mouse pointer stays....it gets annoying!

[tonypa]

Not loading for me, the screen just remains blank.

[bluemagica]

it takes a bit to load, and probably no preloader....atleast i didn't get one!

[TOdorus]

Not loading for me, the screen just remains blank.

it takes a bit to load, and probably no preloader....atleast i didn't get one!

Yep, I tend to forget that. Added a basic preloader.

the view changing based on mouse pointer is kind of annoying for me, also there are some depth sorting problems.the design itself is good, and I think this can do a great job when finished....but for now, atleast add a replay button, cause when the player char disappears and just the mouse pointer stays....it gets annoying!

The game now restarts on death.

Thanks for the review bluemagica, did you get a framerate above 40? Yeah, there are still some obvious glitches, but I'm still thinking of cheap ways to check for them. The camera is the result of some heavy tweaking already That stuff is really hard to get right. I can't let the mousepointer leave the screen, so it is a bit sensitive. A sniper rifle will become even more unwieldy. If you have any suggestions please do post them.

[amcotterill]

Thats wicked, i love it. Like Bluemagica said that way the screen moves in relation to the mouse is very annoying. Any way the pathfinding is pretty good, love the ai. That could be one wicked game.

FPS tracker does work for me, it just count up to 40 something and then goes back to 0. Doesnt seem to do anything.

[Son of Bryce]

I'm on OSX and getting a steady 37 fps.

This game looks great man! Can't wait to see what it looks like when its finished.

[TOdorus]

Thanks for the love guys. It's much appreciated. Weird that the FPS counter didn't work for you amcotterill, but I assume no complaints = no lag, which is what counts.

I've tweaked the camera after playing some Soldat for inspiration on the subject. I've also added some placeholder sounds (the infantry guns are especially awfull), but no mute button yet, so please bear with it for now. I figure if it runs well with the added load of unoptimized sound, I can see if I can cram in some more in the update cycle.

[ImprisonedPride]

I'm averaging 32.9 fps on most tests, but seems much slower when two targets are firing simultaneously. I saw this in an early beta a few months back when you had a different problem. Personally though, I don't think I like the screen-to-mouse display. I'm not saying it doesn't work well; just that it doesn't feel "natural". Is there any hopes for health bars over targets' heads eventually, or do the spider things in the bottom simply not die for testing?

Either way, the thing ran smooth and looks great. Hopefully it turns into a nice game one day.

[TOdorus]

About the camera everyone: I understand completely. It has to do with overview. I started out with the camera fixed on the player, but the gameplay really needs bullets that travel a little faster and cover more distance, to give it that intense feeling of running from automatic fire (like I have any real-life experience). The problem this created was that characters could and should fire beyond the screen. I can't really make the screen bigger, because of performance reasons, but also because it would take up too much real estate on a page. The camera is my concession.

I'm averaging 32.9 fps on most tests, but seems much slower when two targets are firing simultaneously.

I had the same in the debugger since I've added sound. I've never done much with sound in AS3, but I think the game needs it, so this is a first stab at it. I have some ideas for optimization, but thanks for the heads up. I'll use my debugger for speed tests from now on.

Is there any hopes for health bars over targets' heads eventually, or do the spider things in the bottom simply not die for testing?

I was thinking about adding a sound of the bullet ricocheting to tell the player that it didn't penetrate the armor. A flash of a healthbar is a good idea too. They can be killed by a few frag grenades/mines btw. I just haven't created the anti-tank weapons yet.

Either way, the thing ran smooth and looks great. Hopefully it turns into a nice game one day.

Thanks, that's always good to hear. I'll give it my best.

[Awoogamuffin]

Urgh! I almost killed them all!

Anyway, sorry it's taken me so long to play this - I only became aware of the existence of this alpha after you mentioned the game on the dregs of war thread. Here're my two cents:

Personally, I like how the camera moves with cursor. I generally like the gameplay, with the one issue for me being the speed of the player. It just feels too slow - it's too slow to evade enemy bullets.

I figure this was done on purpose - it encourages a kind of cautious play-style where you really have to take advantage of the cover available to you, and if you run out in the middle of things, you'll quickly be dispatched.

Now I eventually figured out I could get around much quicker by jumping, which was fun because it was pretty challenging to pull off successfully, but gave me more leeway in how I wanted to approach things. The issue though is with the (cool-looking) insect tank things.

The issue is that if I'm moving with WASD with the left hand, and jumping with my left thumb, and aiming with the right hand, I run out of fingers for grenade lobbing.

And if I wait in cover for the tanks to get near enough for me to throw a grenade at them, I get really bored. But going out in the open results in instant death.

A simple solution to this would be switching the two grenade buttons to Q and E, no?

Maybe I'm not getting the technique right - any tips to clear the area of enemy scum?

I don't know if any of this is relevant, but I find this kind of feedback useful for Dreg, so I hope it's useful to you too!

[.hooligan]

Nice I didn't have any problems here besides the fact I suck at it 38fps

[TOdorus]

That demo really is pretty old. I've tweaked stuff to be easier and added a lot of features in the meantime. I've uploaded my latest somewhat stable version. This is less optimized (especially the editor) so please take that into consideration when testing. For those capable of loading it, try out Save C in the editor mode, I'm having a blast playing that one.

Q = switch between the main menu

Arrows are for traveling between maps
Flags can be captured to gain facilities

@awoogamuffin

Interesting, I wanted to create a game where you could approach the problem the way you want. Create entrances with explosives, sneak past, go in guns a blazin' etc. I've tweaked the AI that it has more trouble with a moving target so my main advice is to keep moving while in the open.

The main thing going against gun and run at the moment, is that the characters have inertia, disallowing you to switch direction quickly. I'm thinking about characters maintaining the size of their velocity when switching directions, but I'm yet to test it. The controls are a bit temporary. I'll switch grenade throwing to F and let the player switch between grenadetypes with another button.

The good news for killing spider tanks is that they now have an enemy: the rpg launcher. The bad news is that they've got one too. Keep moving

@ hooligan

Yeah that version was a bit hard. The game is a bit more forgiving now. I hope I can keep that framerate above 30 though. Luckily I've got some optimizations left.

[Awoogamuffin]

Hey there Todorus!

For some reason, when I press Q nothing happens. Is it because I'm on a mac, do you think?

Framerate still smooth for me!

[TOdorus]

Well, I finally got an update to this. Doing games in your spare time is a lot easier when you're a student and not a full-timer with a two hour commute.

It's a bit of a glitchy update, but I probably won't be updating it until I've fixed the leveleditor, so I'm updating it anyway. I've switched to a new map format and trigger system, making the editor a bit outdated and broken. More of this techno nonsense in my blogpost, for those interested.

For those looking for the current build:

1. Click the link
2. Let it load
3. Click Campaign
4. Double click on a save slot
5. Enjoy