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SoCoder -> Showcase Home -> Shoot 'em Up


 
Jayenkai
Created : 18 February 2008
Edited : 09 March 2008
System : Windows
Language : Blitz

Alien Deathmatch

Kick some Alien's ...!

Download Alien Deathmatch
Latest Highscore Updates
Screenshots
 
Time to do some alien kickin'!

With multiple weapons at the ready, head into the arena, and don't come out until you're dead.

Controls
WASD to walk, Mouse to shoot.


View on YouTube

Multiplier
The left bar is your multiplier gauge. Collect the circle-star icons to increase the multiplier. If the gauge runs out, the multiplier resets to 1.

Weaponry
The right bar is your weapon gauge. The gauge decreases over time. Kill aliens to pump it up. If it hits the top, you get a better weapon. If it hits the bottom, you drop down one. Collecting weapon icons will also increase the gauge.

Latest Update

Version 1.0
Mostly joypad/keyboard menu based tweaks, but with the added bonus of there now being a pause button! (P = Pause)


Version 0.95
Release 4 = Version 0.95 = Same link, again!

Changes.
Scoreboards - Big Important Change.
Due to the way the level seeding has been rejigged, the old highscores won't really be compatible anymore. I mean, they would work, but they'd be all out of whack, and some levels with low scores might now be really easy, and vice versa.
Because of that, I've switched to a secondary scoreboard.
If you think we should reintegrate the old scores, let me know.. I can still do that!
In the meantime, the only remaining old-board is the Trainer level, since that wasn't started with a random seed.

Top Scores
Previously, your best scores were displayed alongside the level's title. Now that's changed. Instead, there's a little flag that says whether the level's been played or not.
There's also a little icon that appears if you manage to get 10 multiplier (which increases in stages as you get higher, up to 100 multi's.) There's also a counter for kills (up to 1000), too. Want an extra challenge? Why not try to get both topmost icons on all the available levels!?
(I was going to add a score one, too, but that's all over the place, depending on the level, so I gave up!!)

Controls
There's a "WASD - Mouse" display on the right hand side.
Clicking the left icon will select your walking controls, and will switch between WASD and a thumbstick.
Pick one, then click Redefine to change which button does what. (ie, if you're in WASD mode, and click redefine, you can switch to cursors, or IJKL, or even QAOP if you're in the mood. If you're in Thumbstick, then redefine, it'll let you calibrate your joypad.)
The right hand icon chooses how you aim in the game, and will switch from Mouse to a second key-set or thumbstick or even a single button.
.
... You'll figure it out!


Making a level
Draw a 64x64 pixel bitmap, just like before.
Save it as a .png file.
When the game loads, it'll convert the png to a new-style .lev file.
Give it a play.
If it needs tweaking, quit, tweak the .png, delete the .lev, and then reload.

Changing the Seed
The random level seed is built from the actual format of the level.
This seed sets up which aliens will start on the level, which weapon you start with, and a few other bits and pieces.
Previously, if you wanted to change the initial seed for levels, you could tweak the filename a bit, and it's change the settings. That no longer works as it did before.
I've added an extra bit of data to help you do that, though.
If your level is named "Me - My Level.lev", you can add an extra seed, by placing it in an extra dotted extention on the end of the filename... like so.
"Me - My Level.1.lev"
Any number you place in the last segment will be added directly onto the level seed. Play about with it, to try and find the balance you want for your level.

Don't click "Upload Scores" until you're happy with your level!
Once you're happy, Uploading the scores will also submit any new levels along with your latest scores. (New levels will take a couple of "Upload Scores" before their online scoreboards appear properly. This is due to me being lazy! It'll probably get fixed at a later date!)

More levels!!!
Every uploaded level will eventually find it's way to you.
If there are any new levels on the server, 5 of them will be downloaded.
If you re-click, it won't help. You won't get 5 more, instantly.
To get any more levels, you need to have at least bothered to play the levels you have. If that means clicking in, quitting, then moving on to the next in 2 secs flat. Then so be it.. Either way, once the "New Level" icons are no longer showing, you get to download some new levels.. But only if there's more online!

Additional info
This is "Nearly final" (again!), but we'll give it a couple of days to be sure there's no freakish behaviour, and I'll be on standby to fix any stupid bugs that are sure to pop up.
Friday (or thereabouts) I'll disable 0.9's scoreboard, and get it to send a message about the new release.

I'm still tempted to add some kind of multiplayer, but at the same time I'd like to get onto a different project for a while.
Maybe I'll come back to it in the future.. .. But we all know that never happens!


Version 0.9
Now featuring even more weaponry, a few extra spawn styles, a bunch more arenas, and Online Highscores.
Kick even more alien ass!!

Version 0.5
First real release, plenty to do, and you can even make your own arenas. Just draw a map like the one's in the level directory, and the game will do the rest.

 

Comments


Monday, 18 February 2008, 10:40
shroom_monk
|moan| Gah! When I try and run it fullscreen, it says 'Unable to set graphics mode', and when I try it normally it says 'Unable to create 3D scene'. Stupid, rubbish, useless, worthless Windows ME! |moan|
Monday, 18 February 2008, 10:48
Hotshot
Very good but it is abit hard.
I like when you move the mouse to turn around and moving the keyboard up or down or left and right.

wicked!
Monday, 18 February 2008, 18:43
Yo! Wazzup?
I agree with HotShot, it is hard.
Tuesday, 19 February 2008, 05:34
Phoenix
Great game! It feels quite polished even though it's just partly complete. I agree though -- the game is hard (with the exception of the first training level).

You might want to check your scrolling code in the level menu. If you scroll all the way up, and then down, you can go past the top limit if you go up again.
Wednesday, 20 February 2008, 05:56
steve_ancell
Peeking-Duck !, that's a hard game.
Wednesday, 20 February 2008, 05:58
Jayenkai
The difficulty is 100% based on the level layout.
Be aware than most of the levels are small and cramped. The only open-space one is the Trainer level, and that's the one you'll have scored big on.
Load up an image editor, and make yourself a nice uncramped play area, and you'll get some decent scores.

Feel free to send levels my way, for inclusion in the next release.
Friday, 22 February 2008, 05:35
Jayenkai
Updated to 0.9, with the online highscore table included, along with extra weaponry and a couple of extra bits and pieces. (Like the level loader loading things properly!)

---> Play it!!!!
Friday, 22 February 2008, 07:43
mole
The online hi-score system is great!

The game is great too, like, really, really great.
Friday, 22 February 2008, 09:08
mole
Forgot to vote!

Also, a volume control would be nice (not that your music is bad, its suits the game well, its just I like my 80s metal more ^_^
Friday, 22 February 2008, 13:11
Hotshot
how did u do SCALE FX when I click the map I want to play and I love it when the map zoom toward me....

it is wicked!
---
I vote for 5 for this game....very enjoyable and new gameplay too.
Friday, 22 February 2008, 13:12
Hotshot
Putting for the vote now.
Friday, 22 February 2008, 14:55
Jayenkai
The entire game is done with that nice "2D in 3D" thing I posted the other day.
The Zoom in effect, is actually done using the camera, as opposed to scaling all the sprites.
Because the 2D in 3D thing is all actually in 3D it was pretty easy to change the CameraZoom down to a really really low value for the far-out look, and then use the same command to zoom back up to the standard figure.

A pretty simple effect, created because of the 2D in 3D thing, which would've been next to impossible in real-2d.
Saturday, 23 February 2008, 01:13
shroom_monk
Would it be possible to change the screen mode slightly (or have an option to), because it still won't start for me.
Saturday, 23 February 2008, 05:52
Yo! Wazzup?
I can't draw my own maps, it gives me a weird map
Saturday, 23 February 2008, 05:54
Jayenkai
Make sure the map you draw is 64x64 pixels in size.
If the colors are causing issues, load up one of the ones already there, and use it for picking the correct colors out.
Other than that, make sure the name of your levels is of the format "Author - Levelname.png", otherwise it'll throw a hissy fit!
Saturday, 23 February 2008, 06:08
Yo! Wazzup?
I found my mistake.

Jay, I did exactly what you said, and it didn't work.

My mistake was, that I was tired when I made it and I thought that the grey was the walls instead of the floor, so I couldn't move I put the starting point on black

I have my level made and uploaded now, so it's right here.

It's my first level, so don't expect "fun"
Saturday, 23 February 2008, 06:39
shroom_monk
Now I have a working version, I must say, this is a great game! It even runs at a decent speed on my computer (not full speed, but still playable!). Excellent graphics and gameplay... all it needs now is a multiplayer...! OK, joking, but you've got to admit, that would be fun...
Saturday, 23 February 2008, 08:11
mole
Multiplayer... huge maps with loooaaads of enemies and opportunities for huge multipliers. Sounds cool.

(Just snatched a hi-score off Tam, btw )
Saturday, 23 February 2008, 08:27
shroom_monk
On the scoreboard, has anyone else played on Yo! Wazzup?'s level? Only, I'm the only one on there...

One possible explanation is that I removed the underscores, and replaced them with spaces, when I downloaded the file.

That's the trouble with downloading levels like that... still, when Jay put's level up/downloading in, it should be easier.
Saturday, 23 February 2008, 08:56
Jayenkai
OK, thinking logically, if I compress the level data, instead of leaving it as a .png file.. (and impliment a simple/effective level editor ingame)..
I can cut the level file size down quite a bit.
Currently there's 6 blocks.. Nothing, Floor, DoorA, DoorB, Weapon-floor and Start point.. Might as well fill up that last 1/2 byte of data, so I can fit another 2 block types into the level. Any thoughts on what the other 2 blocks could be?
Saturday, 23 February 2008, 09:23
shroom_monk
How about a door that only opens for aliens? Like the red door, but blue.

And what about teleporters, to zip between different areas of the level? That would be cool.
Saturday, 23 February 2008, 10:10
mole
A super alien spawn point! That seldom spawns and is like, well powerful. And possibly big. Yeah... HUGE!


Something unrelated: are there more power ups than the circle-star multiplier thing and the gun? Because I saw one thing that was slightly different, although may have just been a few circle star multipliers on top of each other....
Saturday, 23 February 2008, 11:41
shroom_monk
Since a mysterious alien attack long ago, the Shroomus IV space station has been left abandoned. Dare you enter its dusty hallways and exterior ventilation system?

socoder.net/uploads/56/shroom_monk_-_Old_Shroomish_Starship.png
(Remeber to replace the underscores with spaces once you've downloaded the file to keep the scoreboard the same...)
Saturday, 23 February 2008, 11:49
shroom_monk
Jay, something to fix in the next version: it seems that the doors only close if you are out of range of all the doors - if you run through a series of doors, as in parts of my level, they all stay open, even if you are clearly out of range.
Saturday, 23 February 2008, 12:45
mole
Those basic shapes are my bitches, yo!
Saturday, 23 February 2008, 14:01
Jayenkai
Stop shoving doors next to each other, then!!!
It's actually not a bug.
The door opening requires drawing to textures (the background being a huge 1024x1024 texture on an even bigger polygon.) and is really slow if it does too much at once.
Now, I haven't tested it thoroughly , but the fact that it leaves the doors open, should help it slowly filter through them again, to close them.

..

should!
Sunday, 24 February 2008, 03:38
shroom_monk
Looks like it's on Retro Remakes...
www.retroremakes.com/wordpress/2008/02/22/alien-deathmatch/
Sunday, 24 February 2008, 04:01
mole
Awesome, I commented the retro remakes page ^_^
Sunday, 24 February 2008, 09:24
Jayenkai
OK, getting into the core stuff, and it seems the level file thing's going to take a couple more days.. Plenty of tweaks to do!
In the meantime, enjoy the game as it is, and I'll let you know how all my data compression goes!
Sunday, 24 February 2008, 09:49
Jayenkai
As a quicky example of the new format..

Where the first line is the level data, and the second is it's checksum.

(Where Letter/{ = count, number = piece, } = last object, and < = 2nd to last object.)

When you're checking scores, you'll send the level+author name, along with the short checksum figure. The score-table script will check the checksum against it's copy of the level data to ensure you have the same level.

If it's different, the script will request the level data, along with a level + author name. It'll shove that information into the database, and create a whole new scoreboard just for that.
..
Nice!
..
Now I have to get that all working!!
Sunday, 24 February 2008, 10:39
mole
All we need now is a more active score board!


And a volume adjustment doo-dad.
Sunday, 24 February 2008, 10:41
shroom_monk
I'm often submitting scores... And out of interest, has anyone submitted scores for my level yet? Cos I keep checking, but I'm the only one on there. And what about Yo! Wazzup?'s level? There's only me and him on that...
Friday, 29 February 2008, 14:36
shroom_monk
I've noticed a problem with my Space Station level in this new version: for some reason, the column on the far right is being cut off, making whole sections inaccessible. I think it's a problem with the .png to .lev converter.
Friday, 29 February 2008, 14:52
Jayenkai
It's an issue I'm having with the level renderer. If I make it one way, it leaves big open gaps on the edges of levels.. If I make it the other it takes out chunks!!
I really need to get it working on both types, so I'm trying my best.

In related V1.0 news, the menu now works via joypad/keys, because when trying to play it with a pad, it got really annoying having to keep switching back+forth to the mouse all the time.

I'm also going to add an "Again!" option, for those certain levels that you really really like to play over and over, and I'm definitely going to add a sodding pause button, because people keep interrupting me right in the middle of a really long match!

Other thoughts are welcome.
Saturday, 01 March 2008, 00:57
shroom_monk
Well, it worked perfectly with the v0.9 renderer...

As for suggestions, are you still going to include two extra level items? If so, a teleporter or an alien gate (as I suggested above) would liven things up a bit.
Sunday, 02 March 2008, 04:32
Jayenkai
And it'll work with the 1.0 renderer.

New version now available.
Not much is tweaked, but P will now pause the game, and you can pick and choose levels using the the joypad/keyboard.

I haven't added either Teleporters or Alien Doors.
Reason : I didn't think they were all that necessary.
This is 1.0, and if I feel like going further with the project, teleporters, elevators, keys, and multiplayer would probably all go into it.
For now, we'll leave it as it is.

Enjoy, all!

It's a finished game!
Monday, 03 March 2008, 10:38
shroom_monk
Yeay! One question... can we copy our old Scores.dat file into the new version from the old one, or do we have to start again?
Monday, 03 March 2008, 11:47
TheMadProff
This is an absolutely awesome game, I love it, and i'm becoming addicted, homework can wait...

Except i have had a bit of trouble with the pause feature. It pauses fine, but then doesn't un-pause....
Monday, 03 March 2008, 13:33
Jayenkai
Yeah, the old score file works fine.

Not sure what's going on with the pause, though...
Tuesday, 04 March 2008, 00:06
shroom_monk
I've had that problem too. If you hit P, the game just locks up.
Tuesday, 04 March 2008, 12:20
power mousey
hey Jay, I have an idea.
Actually a borrowed idea from both mole and also playing
Might and Magic 4 and especailly Titan Quest.
Have genetic machines that clone and grow aliens and mutants. All sorts of these machines spread thru out the mazes and levels.
The smaller creatures grow faster from single celled to multi-celled to embryo/larvaes to baby creature. Some are let loose to guard and protect. Even larvaes are let loose at times...just in case for backup fighting and protection.
Others are left in their incubator tubes and platforms to grow and develop further. Then, they are released and are stronger,faster and more skillful too.
Knock these devices and incubators out. Along with the various creatures and their varoius levels of developmental stages.
hmmmmmmmm......depending on the level and area of each maze. Incorporate a little A.I. for the various mutant and alien creatures guarding and protecting the devices,incubators. The Mother hive.
Saturday, 08 March 2008, 04:51
Jayenkai
Released 6 - version 1.01

Definitely the final version..

..
Maybe!
...

A few tweaks to the titlescreen, along with a slight tweak to the score tables, and hopefully a properly working pause button!
Oh, and a readme file, too.
Saturday, 08 March 2008, 11:21
shroom_monk
Yup... pause button works now. Can I just ask... is it supposed to make the screen flash green with random unreadable text, or is that just my computer being stupid...

|edit| Ah, there's a problem. The little tag that tells me what my highscore is (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc...) is telling me that I'm a different position to what I am, on some levels. For example, I'm 1st at Cubby Hole, but it claims I'm 5th! |edit|
Saturday, 08 March 2008, 14:54
Jayenkai
Yes, it is indeed doing something strange with those little score-position indicators..
Not sure why, but I'll look into it.

And yes, the super magical alien paused text does indeed hold a very special secret!!!!
Sunday, 09 March 2008, 07:10
Jayenkai
Aaah, I found it!
I know what's up with the little score indicator thing, and have now managed to fix it..
So..
Yeay!

Didn't bother to change the version number, mind, since.. well, it works!

Online Highscore Updates