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Contra Hard Corps (a platformer with guns)

Archive: 41 posts

I made a level! Or more likely a homage to the genesis version of Contra hard corps:

Contra Hard Corps (http://lbp.me/v/ycn4y7)

In this level you will find:

-a completely different handling sackbot, with higher (double) jumps, dashes, bullet-blocks and GUNS.
-two bosses with random attacks and two minibosses and a LOT of enemies coming from all sides. (well, left and right...)
-powerups and weapon selection!
-DEATH
-DESTRUCTION
-UNLIMITED CONTINUES (yay!!!) which resets score (boooooh!:'()
-and a handy dandy tutorial to help you with NOT using any continues.

and here are some pictures:

http://i6.lbp.me/img/fl/3d68afbc120a9e893ad632de0cc406c74c863ed3.jpg
There goes the neighboorhood...

http://if.lbp.me/img/fl/32f031b4d186e5249ac5f32cf551c0ecc924a3c0.jpg
Some big robotic-bugs will stand in the way...

http://i8.lbp.me/img/fl/6d8667a9ddafdc14743e5e8a4618c7e0e17b93e5.jpg
Have at you!

http://i2.lbp.me/img/fl/5823af5464c3e744350fa4ffae769aa9fca9876b.jpg
Who needs stairs when you have buildings!

http://i2.lbp.me/img/fl/d42807aee577d633e5f6bbec9d3c5ce86855a2cf.jpg
He's got a bigger gun!

http://i4.lbp.me/img/fl/eb4d7ce3fbbe36eef35441b58e10f2d5471344c0.jpg
Stop throwing CARS and fight like a man!!!

http://ia.lbp.me/img/fl/33ad33b8cfc7f5244d818b5c80fc8a92fbb07c0f.jpg
Go back to throwing cars! Go back to throwing cars!!!

http://lbp.me/v/ycn4y7		2011-03-02 10:21:00

Author:
Alphagaia
Posts: 64

Really cool level! Nice work on the centipede (..?..first boss!) and the grasshopper.
Didn?t get much farther. The bosses are a bit unfair... at least I think that you cannot actually stand some of their attacks so it's kind of a certain thing that you lose one or two lives fighting them. There seem to be slight inaccuracies to the aiming and shooting controls, like emitter not responding when enemy too close and directional inaccuracy.

I liked the simplistic level design. It pretty much resembles the level design of the classic contra (or probotector as it was called over here) series. It's simplistic but beautifully done...

What needs to be done is a redesign of the enemy sackbots. They looked kind of cheap too me especially compared to the well designed boss enemys.I haven?t been working with sackbots myself too much yet, so I?m not sure whether the following suggestion would work, but here I go:
Maybe instead of having hazardous plasma enemys you should add collision sensors to the player sackbot which are marker activated. Put the corresponding marker on the enemy sackbot and make the collision sensor kill the player sackbot. I think that way you could make some cool looking enemy sackbots without a plasma aura.
If this works, it should work the other way round aswell, meaning that you could give the player non-hazardous (non-plasma) projectile weapons with a marker on them, the corresponding collision sensor on the sackbot would kill the sackbot. This would allow you to give the player a repertoir of bullet or laser weapons without the need to make the projectile itself a hazardous object.... you get the idea?

Anyway, you need to work on the HUD aswell; at first it was a bit confusing to me to switch through weapon upgrades that I hadn?t collected. You should only be able to see and toggle through weapons that you have actually collected. Otherwise the player asks himself what?s the difference, if he?s only equipped with the basic weapon.

Edit: Something that adds to the difficulty of the level aswell is that the sackbot jumps differently than the usual sackboy. It's a bit difficult to get comfortable with the controls if you have something that looks like a sackboy but jumps differently. Not sure if it's essential to the gameplay, but if not, I would go with the normal sackboy movement and jump behavior... at least I couldn?t profit too much from the different jump behavior... it always felt somehow strange, unused to, unpredictable and difficult to control to me.
Good level, with the potential to be excellent... hearted it anyway.		2011-03-02 15:31:00

Author:
Chewbacca815
Posts: 12

Thank you for a very nice review!

Bosstroubles:
For the first boss: I recommend running between its legs, or jump and use the block button. This one should be easy.
For the second boss: use the dash and your block! Dont forget you can block red bullets with 'o' and jump dash to avoid his walking jumps. You can also use the flamethrower to destroy any red bullets that comes your way. I always kill him without getting killed but it might take some getting used to the controlls for that.
For the third boss: aha not gonna tell yet Just keep in mind you dont have to kill him to proceed. This one is not that hard.
The fourth boss: GOOD LUCK for this guy is HUGE! Shoot the eye when he is close, but dodgde everything he throws at you when he is in the back. Watch the arms to see which one is going to shoot at you.

Sackbots:
These were the first thing I made for LBP2 ever. I gave them the plasma glow to make them stand out, so you could see them easily. I could remove it and give them another suit. I'll look into it. Thanks for the advice about touching to kill! The second boss works that way, becoming a plasma danger the moment you touch him.

Good idea on the weapon select. I'll look into that!

As for the bullets, I figured since the creatinator has the same problem: not emitting when something is in front it, I would not adress the problem, but creating my own type of bullets could be interesting to do. I thought it was a thing I would do for the next level, but hell, why not try it in this one. That way I can remove the shield around the player which protects him from harm from its own bullets.

Again, thank you for the review and you made some great points!		2011-03-02 15:48:00

Author:
Alphagaia
Posts: 64

Right, you mentioned something about blocking abilitys... I admit, I didn?t do the controls tutorial and played right away, thus not using any kind of special ability... As a result my review on the boss fights might not be appropriate. I?ll try it again later with proper preparation. So far, thanks for this great shooter!2011-03-02 15:58:00

Author:
Chewbacca815
Posts: 12

Good luck! I noticed you talked about the speed and jumps alteration:

I always hated the floatiness and little jump of Sackboy. This way its closer to the actual controlls of a Contra game. You can jump over enemies and have a higer chance of dodging bullets thx to the second jump.
Its also vital for surviving the big blasts of the third boss.
You will need the speedboost for the bosses and tight spots.
Probably takes some getting used to.		2011-03-02 16:04:00

Author:
Alphagaia
Posts: 64

I fixed a bug with the tutorial. When you die in the tunnle bit you could not respawn because the wall is in the way. Removed the wall and added the hint about how you gain lives when your score is above a certain amount. Finetuned the last boss so he has a little less health. I'm still working on a checkpoint and a redesign of the sackbots, together with a different bullet system. Everything works just fine as it is now, but I like giving it a new style. Means I have to iron out a few bugs in the new gunsystem before I can reupload the level again.
Hope y?ll keep on trying to complete it: noticed I'm still the only one on the scoreboard!		2011-03-04 18:34:00

Author:
Alphagaia
Posts: 64

bug: the car killed me o.O for nothing... squeeze death... dunno why...
second bug: i was not able to leave the tutorial... dunno why o.o nothing worked

other than that it looks like a lot action! cool!
but needs a little bit more work on controlls.
as well the text is very small but thats my own fault if i don't use a HD tv so thats not your problem!
well. keep it up!

short f4f? thanks here plz: https://lbpcentral.lbp-hub.com/index.php?t=51868-Skunk-Bunny-Adventures-Swifown-Chronicles-%28long-single-player-english-german%29 thank you!		2011-03-04 20:08:00

Author:
ForcesWerwolf
Posts: 475

Thx for the report!

What car are you talking about? The first one? Front or the back? Could you tell me what happened?
The last boss throws cars which should kill you.
Could you be a little more precise whats wrong with the controlls? Maybe I can fix it. Weird the box did not transport you. All three have the same script in them. Though I did notice sometimes you have to wait for the level to load.

EDIT: added you level to my que!		2011-03-04 20:13:00

Author:
Alphagaia
Posts: 64

well all cars, even the "friendly" ones o.o (all red ones)2011-03-04 20:22:00

Author:
ForcesWerwolf
Posts: 475

Gonna hump me some cars tonight to see if I can recreate your death.

They can kill you if enemies push them. But most of the time they rather jump over them.		2011-03-04 20:24:00

Author:
Alphagaia
Posts: 64

it happened 3 times in a row but nvm x3 maybe it was just bad luck (normal lbp bugs for getting squeezed)2011-03-04 20:51:00

Author:
ForcesWerwolf
Posts: 475

Nope it happened to me too every time i tried to push against the front of the cars. I removed a sharp edge just above the headlight which was causing the death.
Thx for the catch. Usually, by the time I'm close to a car I already shot it to bits, so good find! Fixed it!		2011-03-04 21:23:00

Author:
Alphagaia
Posts: 64

Fun level. Loved the weapons upgrades. Very Conta like.

I really don't have any real recommendations for improvements. Helpful tutorial, and fun gameplay. What more could you want?

Go give this a try people. It's fun. 		2011-03-06 22:11:00

Author:
CYMBOL
Posts: 1230

Thank you the kind words!

I've updated again. Giving the player one more life and made a decent Game Over screen to boot. Hope someone manages to finish it now 		2011-03-11 20:56:00

Author:
Alphagaia
Posts: 64

F4F YES
4/5 Very fun and challenging. I hearted it and can't wait to come back and beat it on my next playthrough.		2011-03-11 22:52:00

Author:
LukeLukeLuke
Posts: 27

Thx for the 4/5, any tips for approving it to a 5/5?

How far did ya get?

Got any levels I can test for you?		2011-03-12 12:26:00

Author:
Alphagaia
Posts: 64

Added some pictures to the OP:

PICTURES:

http://ia.lbp.me/img/fl/b4a53dd4c0e9067e058392a68d9856e22340a30c.jpg

http://i9.lbp.me/img/fl/139c9a66a8887ffd61a70cb1b0443bd32e8b2922.jpg

http://i7.lbp.me/img/fl/75702afb92b21aedfd0660d5494514b1d7650b16.jpg

http://i8.lbp.me/img/fl/b38289acb46ea44f174575bd6ad2b9224c2fee19.jpg

http://i4.lbp.me/img/fl/7048876af06a319a449aa5552561633838dc969c.jpg

http://ia.lbp.me/img/fl/ffa75c89b87b88d35e45457de4a2e81364687765.jpg

http://i2.lbp.me/img/fl/d42807aee577d633e5f6bbec9d3c5ce86855a2cf.jpg

http://i8.lbp.me/img/fl/e88de990311edd1b88ae81093154c9892a4abd01.jpg

http://if.lbp.me/img/fl/32f031b4d186e5249ac5f32cf551c0ecc924a3c0.jpg

http://i6.lbp.me/img/fl/986c164686ea128206eb6e60296fb430adc5244d.jpg		2011-03-13 22:36:00

Author:
Alphagaia
Posts: 64

Great,another sackbot user brother!

Finished it,1st on ranking! Basically to reach the finish we are just me and you as now

Extremely nice retro feeling,great sub boss logic and even better boss logic
Frenetic action but more important GREAT learning curve (is correct on english?),every time i get a lil bit more far, every play i understand something new to go forward losing less lifes or wich weapon is more usefull!

Only two things that i may say you

Button config: i will find it more natural in that way: square-dash left / triangle-absorb / circle-dash right

walking speed: is absolutely NOT your fault,but LBP physic is weird,with a sackbot so fast(set on 150%?) sometimes is really hard be precise.... maybe slow down a lil bit OR add a lil bit of gravity (i did the second in my level) may help to make it more solid/controllable

Really appreciated this one(i've played i think 10 times in a row), i will play it again to improve my highscore!




For F4F try this
https://lbpcentral.lbp-hub.com/index.php?t=52094-Vagrant-sword
Is an old style adventure where 1 error is game over,and play after play you get better and go more far
You control a sackbot that can do sword attack and roll/dash, on the thread you read controls and all!		2011-03-14 03:51:00

Author:
GEK83
Posts: 163

Great Scott, someone FINALLY made it. I saw it took you 16 tries BUT you beat my highscore. Very nice! Kudo's to you, good sir! Thx for a great review. I'm currently deciding if I take a break from contra and create an R-type level or do the next level; for this and insert a new bulletssystem.
Gonna take your advice about sackboys walkingspeed and try to make it a tad less sensitive Its done with a mover so its easy to adjust. Controllwise I dont know yet. Gonna try it on my moon to see what I like it more. I think it depends on ones mindset.

Got your level queued but I probably have to wait till to tomorrow night before I can play it.		2011-03-14 15:37:00

Author:
Alphagaia
Posts: 64

I've played again,this level never bored me!

New record: 1290!

One suggestion: maybe set a precise limit to enemies emitter basically you can do infinite points in some points just staying and killing the blue neon sackbots

Again good job!		2011-03-14 19:50:00

Author:
GEK83
Posts: 163

I Love contra games, im gonna play this soon =).2011-03-14 21:55:00

Author:
Unknown User

Great, hope you will like it!

@ GEK83: the pointsystem can be abused very easily, because the little guys spawn infinite from the left and right during two parts of the level. I wanted to reward the player if they kill them, and could add a counter which turns off the points after 20 or so have been killed, but I never intended to create a leaderbord type of level and just want to have a high fun factor and easy way for the player to know they killed an enemie. The flying droids on the buildingtops spawn infinite too, to keep the player on ther toes.
Right now, I'm not sure what to do. I could do it, giving players a challenge who already finished this to play through it again but try and get a higher score. But this would mean inserting a boring grind to kill 20 baddies before moving on, insuring you can get the maximum points in the level. I think I convinced myself to insert it, its an easy fix, since its only two emitters emitting the same enemie during the whole level. Downside would be removing the points gained from red enemie bullets too, since this also could give you infinite points.		2011-03-14 23:07:00

Author:
Alphagaia
Posts: 64

I've updated this level again!


- created a continue system which resets score. Now everyone will be able to complete the level! Though with a lower score.
- enemies are counted now. After a certain amount you wont get a score for killing the unlimited spawning enemies anymore.
- powerups now glow according to color. Hopefully this will make them even easier to spot.
- added a final congratulations screen when you kill the big boss.

I think I ironed all the bugs out of this level.		2011-03-25 00:36:00

Author:
Alphagaia
Posts: 64

hey alpha
just got a chance to play your level (sorry i couldn't do it sooner, was at work all day)
dude your level is awesome. I thought you did a great job at your tutorial, and when i got into the game i felt pretty comfortable. I didn't think that you'd really give a chance to use the boost move, but you proved me wrong. It was fun and challenging

The only things I found that you might want to look at are:
- the purple shooter things I think have too much HP, at least when i have the weak gun, which is usually all i had XD
- I was spawned under a car once during the boss fight and i immediately died
- I noticed the green shots that come out of the boss wont spawn if my bullet is there, so I was able to avoid that pretty easily by just standing directly under and shooting... dunno if you really need to do anything there.
- i dunno if you'd consider also allowing L@ + direction dashing, I kept wanting to do that instead, and sometimes for some reason i forgot which dash was which and fought it in the opposite direction going nowhere... probably don't need to change that. that's just a me fail.
- the only other thing that confused me was the flame thrower, It's normally just a stream of red right? but in the tutorial near the end it was like a big fireball (which was way cool) but i don't remember seeing it again in the level. did I miss something?

anyways it was super awesome, i hope you make more, perhaps with a bit more platforming like some of your other levels. Oh and your other levels are cool too, you may consider going back and making the paintinator not droppable.
Great Work!		2011-03-25 23:52:00

Author:
fei0x
Posts: 61

Thx for the great feedback! I noticed you playing tonight and saw you had to use a continue to complete the level. (Your score is only for killing the last boss )

- Actually, the purple things are not meant to be shot. You have to jump(boost) over them to continue. You can kill them, but it takes some time and gives you only a few points. Luckily the other enemies take damage from them too. So, it's kinda intentional.

-I'll look into the flamethrower, perhaps there is a setting wrong in the tutorial or main game, because at first the flamethrower would kill yourself when you used it and boosted. I fixed this to make the bullets explode on your contact. Maybe thats what you saw?

- I wanted to do a one button directional dash, but it would only work if you press the left stick completely to the left or right. Since it was too dodgy for a quick move, i decided to use a different button for each direction. If someone knows a fix for this I WOULD BE SO HAPPY AND GRATEFULL AND HEART ALL YOUR LEVELS

-hmmm, I could program the players bullets to kill themself just before they hit the green bullets, but its such a little problem I might not bother. Actually, if people use this method I might perceive it as a skilled move to avoid damage.
EDIT: wait a minute, just tried it out and they spawn even when I shoot at the point they should spawn. Do you know the boss does not always shoots bullets? Its random.

-The crushing cars death during the boss dont happen often, but they are not fair. I'll fix this asap. The game gives your 5 seconds of invulnernability to bullets (crushing is hard to protect you from) but I can program the cars to explode on contact when your are invulnerable. I'll look into it if this works, otherwise I have to create a condition so the cars dont spawn for 5 seconds after you just died. Thx for the find!

As for my other levels... they are all from LBP1 and I'm kinda ashamed about them now, but they have some nice ideas which I will use for the second level of Contra. This levels is actually a remix of one of my older levels.		2011-03-26 00:19:00

Author:
Alphagaia
Posts: 64

hey, i managed to squeeze 10 more checkpoints into my level thanks to your idea! (but this isn't about my level xD)

yeah, i did die a lot, but that's ok, near the end i started dying on purpose to see what i could do with the green shots.
well, give you're tutorial a try and see if where you learn about the flamethrower blocking attacks looks any different. but I thought what I saw, and how it worked in the tutorial was kinda way cooler than the regular attack. a big short fat range constant explosion type deal.

and I accept your one button dash challenge. I'll get back to you if I succeed.		2011-03-26 03:01:00

Author:
fei0x
Posts: 61

hmmm so this is my findings:
the directional splitter when wired up from the Left Stick Left/Right (on my controller) will trigger fully when the stick is roughly 1/3rd of the way to the edge and in about a 90 degree range around the center (45 degrees above and 45 degrees below). The walking speed of sackboy at about that 1/3rd stick distance is a pretty big crawl, so I'm a little surprised that its not working like you thought. hmmm...		2011-03-26 03:29:00

Author:
fei0x
Posts: 61

Yeah, it's hard to get one button directional dashing to work even when you push the direction slightly. Maybe if I add a timer set to speed or something....

-Fixed the cars (the boss is throwing at you) crushing you when you should be invulnerable!
-also looked into the flamethrower but if I make it disregard player speed it will kill you when you dash (like in the demo), so I cant fix the looks. Aw well, gameplay first, right?		2011-03-26 15:04:00

Author:
Alphagaia
Posts: 64

hey thanks for queueing my level

forgive me please but I didnt know that there is a thread about this level
You changed many things since i played it but i can definitely say that i enjoyed it!

I barely managed to beat the last boss (you saw my score right ) and have to say that it was on of the hardest levels ive played so far.
But i expected this from a contra like level

I will play it again, its in my queue so i can give a more detailed feedback based on the things youve changed so far. Hopefully with a better score this time 		2011-03-27 16:06:00

Author:
DragonHunterEx
Posts: 84

Very nice! The bosses are outstanding. Are they remakes of bosses from Contra Hard Corps or did you design them yourself? Just like in a good Contra game the levels brings a challenge to the table, and just like in a good Contra game the spread gun rules

My issue was that the font size for the text in the tutorial was too small for me to read. (My TV isn't high definition) I ended up leaving the tutorial and just trying to figure out the controls on my own and I'm not sure I understood everything. What does the star effect do?

Some of the bosses were rather difficult, but whether that was because of me not fully understanding the controls I'm not sure, so I'm reluctant to make criticisms. I might go back and try again. I used to be very good at old school Contra games so I think I can get a better score on this....		2011-03-30 01:15:00

Author:
zabel99
Posts: 179

Very nice! The bosses are outstanding. Are they remakes of bosses from Contra Hard Corps or did you design them yourself? Just like in a good Contra game the levels brings a challenge to the table, and just like in a good Contra game the spread gun rules

My issue was that the font size for the text in the tutorial was too small for me to read. (My TV isn't high definition) I ended up leaving the tutorial and just trying to figure out the controls on my own and I'm not sure I understood everything. What does the star effect do?

Some of the bosses were rather difficult, but whether that was because of me not fully understanding the controls I'm not sure, so I'm reluctant to make criticisms. I might go back and try again. I used to be very good at old school Contra games so I think I can get a better score on this....

Thx for your input! You can get a higher score if you dont use any continues. (which resets score)

The bosses are remakes from the genesis version of this game, though I expanded a bit on them.

-For instance, the second boss only had a flamethrower attack and did not jump around in the original game.
-The third boss is brand new. I plan to make him recurring for each level, but each time with enhanced attacks.
-The last boss is a miniboss in the original, but only threw cars and did not jump back into the background from time to time. I gave him 4 more attacks, choosen at random and depending where he is (front or back).


Hmm, maybe I should replace the notes with magic mouths for the tutorial? Are those better for non Hd screens?

The star effect blocks RED (not green or purple) bullets, just like the flamethrower. Also, if you are having problems with the bosses, double jump and dash more with triangle and square.		2011-03-30 01:21:00

Author:
Alphagaia
Posts: 64

-Updated the looks of the block move so its the same color of the bullets, making it easier to remind you of its use.

-added an arrow to show where you are pointing your gun. While observing friends playing my level I noticed they did not notice they were shooting straight at the ground.

-also made some adjustments here and there but I won't go into detail about them, since these were very minor things.

I'm halfway done placing magic mouths in my tutorial to help people without Hd screens reading the texts.		2011-04-01 13:24:00

Author:
Alphagaia
Posts: 64

Just tried and let me say that it was really awesome

- I loved the simple but fun gameplay, the various enemies and in particular the two bosses with their interesting pattern.

-I've found a small issue when the sackbot dies: the green arrow stays on the screen for about 1 second and you can still shoot the opponent after getting hit so it's a bit weird.

-I don't really like the game over/continue screen, i believe it breaks the pace of the level and it doesn't look as good as the rest of the level. I believe having the continue appear in the same screen where you are currently playing would improve the old-school feel of the level.

-I believe you should give the powerups more often. Now a single death is enough to erase all of them, and due to their position in the level it's esay to end up doing a large part of the level without them. I believe it would be better if the powerups stayed until you are forced to continue.

-The final boss could have a bit more detail on him, but the fight is so good it doesn't really matter.

So incredible level i'll be looking forward your nexst one 		2011-04-02 10:45:00

Author:
Vergil
Posts: 155

Just tried and let me say that it was really awesome

- I loved the simple but fun gameplay, the various enemies and in particular the two bosses with their interesting pattern.

-I've found a small issue when the sackbot dies: the green arrow stays on the screen for about 1 second and you can still shoot the opponent after getting hit so it's a bit weird.

-I don't really like the game over/continue screen, i believe it breaks the pace of the level and it doesn't look as good as the rest of the level. I believe having the continue appear in the same screen where you are currently playing would improve the old-school feel of the level.

-I believe you should give the powerups more often. Now a single death is enough to erase all of them, and due to their position in the level it's esay to end up doing a large part of the level without them. I believe it would be better if the powerups stayed until you are forced to continue.

-The final boss could have a bit more detail on him, but the fight is so good it doesn't really matter.

So incredible level i'll be looking forward your nexst one

Thank you for your kind review!

-You are right about that continue screen. I made it the easy way and was in a hurry making it, because a lot of people could not finish the game I wanted them to at least see the end. I've replaced it with one that still shows the level, and you can select continue or end from it. Hope you like this one better!

-the arrow still showing is something I cant seem to get rid of. I've placed a tag on the sackbot and when its destroyed the arrow should be destroyed along with him. This works, but because of the plasma death it takes a second to register before it can be destroyed. Its not something that can be helped, but in the next level I will be making my own bulletssystem. As it is, it actually helps the player so I don't think that it is really a problem.

-Losing the powerups when you die is what Contra is all about, baby. Its in the original game and its your reward of being awesome. You already have unlimited continues (at the cost of points) so I don't want to give the player unlimited powerups. They spawn six times during the entire level, with one or two screen between them so I don't think I should add more. In fact with a little practice you can complete the entire level with the first powerup you find! I might look into programming it so you only lose the powerup you use at the time of death. That should be do-able.

-Yeah that last boss could use some more decoration. I free-ed up some thermo by removing the old continue screen, so I'll look what I can do. Decorating after logic is implemented is tricky though, so I will experiment with this before publising to get a beter looking end boss that still works.

The NEW continue system is working though, thx for the great review and tips!

EDIT: fixed the looks of the last boss too. Hope you will like it!		2011-04-02 14:14:00

Author:
Alphagaia
Posts: 64

Made some new pictures of the updated boss:

http://i4.lbp.me/img/fl/eb4d7ce3fbbe36eef35441b58e10f2d5471344c0.jpg
Stop throwing CARS from afar and fight like a MAN!!!

http://ia.lbp.me/img/fl/33ad33b8cfc7f5244d818b5c80fc8a92fbb07c0f.jpg
Go back to throwing cars! Go back to throwing cars!!!		2011-04-03 21:37:00

Author:
Alphagaia
Posts: 64

This is a pretty well done game. It's evident right off the bat that the player's sackbot has been modified to behave very differently from a standard sackbot, not just in terms of weaponry and the double jump, but evidently also running. I could be wrong, but this might be the first effort I've seen to completely revamp the way a sack moves, and it does a really good job of that.

The level design is classic platform "bullet hell" and pays tribute to the genre really well. The powerups seem well paced and in the action I often found myself forgetting that I need to march onward. I like the variety of bosses, especially the various forms and attacks of the final boss, and the ongoing updates are always appreciated.

I'd love to see a multiplayer version of these mechanics, if it's feasible. I'm guessing that friendly fire is a major issue, though. Regardless, great level!		2011-04-04 17:39:00

Author:
discokrakken
Posts: 108

Thx for the nice review!

actually 2-player action is feasible. The dash allows players to speed through their own bullets so I was already forced to make some kind of shield that protects you from your own friendly fire. Problem is, I dont have two controllers to playtest it enough to see what I have to change to still make it a challenge and enjoyable!!!
Obviously bosses need more health, more powerups and enemies should spawn and the right-only scroll should look to two players instead of one.
Another problem would be the other players shield blocking bullets, so I think I'll save two player for the next level after I finished my R-type level.

You a right about the modified sackbot: The sackbot I made for this level moves faster and jumps much higher compared to sackboy. He's also less floaty and doesn't slide as much. I needed to this for the gameplay as the small jump the normal sackboy has and his speed make it almost impossible to dodge anything this level throws at you. I wanted complete controll about your actions and if you die it should be because you made a mistake and not because of unfair level design. Again, thx for the praise!		2011-04-05 11:52:00

Author:
Alphagaia
Posts: 64

For two players i suggest you replace the plasma bullets with custom made holo bullets: they look nice and you can tweak them to decide what they can or can't hit. It's actually easier to create a complex level if you keep every element under control .2011-04-05 12:14:00

Author:
Vergil
Posts: 155

A very good suggestion: I'm using those for my R-type level and experimented with holo bullets for my (new) contra level.

I did have a small problem though: when a bullet killed an enemie the explosion still registered to the other bullets as hitting the enemy, meaning they dissapear until the smoke of explosion was gone. I'll find something to counter that, and replace all healtboxes with timers so different bullets can deal different amount of damage, but that's for my new levels. Once I get those working ? think it will be easy to understand how I should impelemnt it in this level.		2011-04-05 13:28:00

Author:
Alphagaia
Posts: 64

UPDATE TIME!!!!

-I changed the dashing script so you can do it all with one button. Had to change it a bit so you cant dash forever, and L2 or R2 can now also be used to dash.
-lifebar of the last boss now slides into view just liuke the first boss. Forgot about that!
-the continue screen now operates with the circle button. I noticed people accidently hitting X because they were avoiding stuff and pushing continue or end while only seeing the continue screen for a second. This should help.
-also fixed the emiter problem when enemies are too close so you can't shoot them.		2011-04-07 01:04:00

Author:
Alphagaia
Posts: 64

I've got a strange question: as of late the last 3 players seemed to get 0 points while finishing the level. Killing the last boss give you 1500 points and ends the game so this is a mystery to me.
I can't find anything wrong with the level. Could anyone be willing to check and report me of any issues I'm not thinking of?		2011-04-10 16:24:00

Author:
Alphagaia
Posts: 64


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