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Geronimo Alpha demo - UPDATED 11th March

Author:	DeadmanDines	Submitted:	3rd March, 2008	Favourites:	0
Genre:	Demo	Downloads:	188
Rated:

Edited By DeadmanDines on 3/11/2008

This is a little test demo, for some basic enemy AI.

The enemies are fishies, and they attempt to attack you.

KNOWN ISSUES:
- When going directly up or directly down, fish don't seem to notice you.
- Fish take a moment to notice you - not a bug, this is how they're designed, their line of sight process runs only once every 25 frames.

HOW THEY WORK:

All fish near or onscreen are selected and 'switched on'. Some states are tested, such as how far are they from the player, are they roughly facing the player.

If they're facing in the player's general direction, they will then run a Line of Sight routine, to determine if they can actually see the player.

Finally, based on their environment variables, the fishies will either swim idly, or chase you.

THINGS TO LOOK OUT FOR:
The main reason I'm testing this: Please see if you can find a way for fishies to escape the water and fly. The water is defined by a series of flat 'water' objects which line the surface of the water.

Currently, you cannot hurt the fish, nor can they hurt you.

CONTROLS:

Run = Left/Right
Jump = Shift
Punch = Ctrl (hold it down or tap it)

Any opinions, thoughts, suggestions would be appreciated.

(note: Screenshots are from an earlier version, the update looks a little better).

New In Update 11 March

Squirrels don't move yet, but do spot you and chase you. Their code is very much unfinished.

Problems with entering/leaving water should be resolved.

Review This Download

http://www.4shared.com/file/40442207/8c48e11f/Geronimo_Rewrite_2008_03_10_-_03a.html (3.4mb )

Posted by DeadmanDines

3rd March, 2008

Also, I'd like your opinions on the music. I've converted the MIDI into an MP3 using some soundfonts, but I don't know if you guys think it's worth it or not.

It sounds VERY much like a normal MIDI, just one or two instruments are a little clearer. I'm not decided yet.

Posted by -MacAdaM-

3rd March, 2008

Rated :

this is pretty good, but in my opinion the fish should move a little bit slower, it is impossible to outrun them. and after the fish atack you once, mabe they should swim away, then attack agian just to let the player get a chance to stay alive (if they could hurt you) but i like it, especially the turtle graphic

Posted by Cecilectomy

4th March, 2008

yay pixel art article turtle.

Posted by Dr Botox

4th March, 2008

Rated :

music rocks!!!!!

Posted by DeadmanDines

4th March, 2008

Lol, I can't claim any credit for the music alas, but do you think it's ok having it as an MP3 instead of MIDI? I dunno if the soundfont thing is worth it.

Adam: Thanks! That's a very good idea, I may just try that! Especially the swimming away thing.

An idea: Maybe they should swim till they overlap you, stop, bite, then chew for a moment before they swim after you again.

I'm inclined to keep their speed and just give the player a way to fight back. One aspect of the gameplay will be a little water firework you can use. You drop it in water and it fizzes around attracting the fish... while you jump in the other side. Could make it more tactical?

Posted by MBK

4th March, 2008

Rated :

I think you should make pirahnna and have them take bites outta the turtle.

Bitemarks would be funny. Doesn't need blood though,
as it would be cartoon-like, and comically styled.

If there is a way to take chunks outta active objects
like how you can with the background objects, that would be neat to see.

Whatcha think ?

Posted by DeadmanDines

5th March, 2008

Fraid it can't be done

Posted by -MacAdaM-

5th March, 2008

Rated :

if you need help with the swimming away thing i might be able to help, im not the best programmer but whenever my brothers need help they always make me do it

Ps. That water firework idea is awsome
Comment edited by MacAdaM on 3/5/2008

Posted by Ski

7th March, 2008

-The fish movement just looks like Always---> Look at turtle 0,0 at the moment...

Also their sprite is a bit off... not near the standard of the turtle sprite. Also if they pirahnnas they shouldn't look like goldfish >_< Mind you, you didn't seem to say they were, that was just MBK

Edit: Forgot to mention I don't like the large,fast camera movement when changing directions, made me feel kinda giddy.
Comment edited by -Adam- on 3/7/2008

Posted by DeadmanDines

8th March, 2008

Lol, yeah, that's exactly what the fish movement is

...but hey, it works!

I attempted to make the fish ok, but I know what you mean - I don't work well with characters of very very few pixels. The Tortoise was about as small as I'd like to get in terms of animated characters.

The intention was to make them look cutesy. So people will play the game, plunge into the water and think "Aww, cute little- ...AAARRRGH!!"

Posted by Ski

8th March, 2008

>_< well perhaps set the fish movement to 0 when he reaches the player so they don't just "vibrate" ?

Comment edited by -Adam- on 3/8/2008

Posted by DeadmanDines

8th March, 2008

yeah, I have done now, I'll upload the new version for comments

Posted by Ski

8th March, 2008

A fish also just followed me out the water

from the right hand side-opening.

Posted by -MacAdaM-

8th March, 2008

Rated :

haha

Posted by DeadmanDines

8th March, 2008

DOH. I may have fixed it, but I'm glad people are still testing this, cos it's only with rigorous testing that it can be resolved.

EDIT: New version uploaded, please test, ye all

Additions:
- Fish now chomp, to give you a chance at escaping.
- Fish don't crowd and buzz as much as they did when all together.
- Slightly altered attack animation.
- Graphics - new background, and a squirrel or two.
Comment edited by DeadmanDines on 3/8/2008

Posted by -MacAdaM-

8th March, 2008

Rated :

i cant d/l ..............

Posted by DeadmanDines

8th March, 2008

Works for me? Try again, if it still plays up, I'll try sorting it tomorrow.

EDIT: Just a note I forgot. The URL is different. I've updated the download details above, so just redownload it using the URL given above, and you should be ok.
Comment edited by DeadmanDines on 3/8/2008

Posted by -MacAdaM-

8th March, 2008

Rated :

oh it worked now, it was probly my internet acting up for a second.. sorry

Posted by -MacAdaM-

8th March, 2008

Rated :

haha nice, i think its a lot better! i like how you actually have a chance to get away from the fish in this verison, and nice squirels

but they just stood there, were they supposed to move or anything, just wondering

Posted by Ski

9th March, 2008

It was cool until I swum in the sky >_<

Comment edited by -Adam- on 3/9/2008

Posted by -MacAdaM-

9th March, 2008

Rated :

Posted by DeadmanDines

9th March, 2008

HOW, lol, my anti-swim-in-air routines- i thought there was something fishy about them...

Any ideas how?

Posted by DeadmanDines

9th March, 2008

LOL, NOW I remember! I really should have blocked you from walking offscreen, shouldn't I!!

Posted by -MacAdaM-

9th March, 2008

Rated :

hey you know how adam swum in the air? well once a fish followed me into the air...... 0.o

Posted by DeadmanDines

10th March, 2008

Yeah, it's getting annoying that. It never used to happen, now it seems to occur with more frequency.

The problem is very much with how I handle entering/exiting the water. You pass a small bar on the surface which basically handles the 'in/out' change.

Because of this, it's extremely hard to tell if an object is actually underwater or not, because if it somehow misses the bar, it's almost impossible to detect.

I think the real problem is with using so many fish, and the bouncing ball movement.

Posted by Ski

10th March, 2008

yes, the bouncing ball movement is probably it

Posted by DeadmanDines

10th March, 2008

Think it's fixed, I'll upload when I've done a little more to the squirrels.

Posted by -MacAdaM-

10th March, 2008

Rated :

another thing you could have done is make the bar that changes it in and out bigger..

Posted by Peblo

10th March, 2008

Um Dines, that's not a good camera movement.

Posted by Peblo

10th March, 2008

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a62/Peblo/dines.png

You can walk on the bottom if you hold jump while entering the water.

Posted by DeadmanDines

11th March, 2008

I quite like the cam movement, what's specifically wrong with it? Too snappy? Don't like how it looks in front of the player?

I think the water problems are all fixed now, and I've uploaded a new version

The squirrels aren't finished yet, so they just moonwalk at the mo...

Comment edited by DeadmanDines on 3/11/2008

Posted by Peblo

11th March, 2008

It feels very snappy and rough, very sudden.

Edit: but yeah, water works now

Comment edited by Peblo on 3/11/2008

Posted by -MacAdaM-

12th March, 2008

Rated :

i like a camera

oh and the cute wittle squiwwes, but i like it now i want to play the full game

Posted by MBK

19th March, 2008

Rated :

Dines, About your waterline ... Why don't you just test it to the vertical position the line forms at ?

-Mr. Sneeze-, I didn't say the fish are pirahnna.

I said he should make pirahnna, instead of those fish.

And also Dines, the biting thing Can be done, but it's tricky. You can't accomplish it in a normal way.

But you can get something that looks nice and I imagine close to the desired effect.

Of course you'd have to test position of the fish in relation to turtle, their biting attack animation, etc.

And then you'd need to make lots of extra "bitten" animations and combinations of them too that would play instead of the usual animations based on where bitten, ...

Well, doable but a pain in the arse.

I like the Screen movement like that btw.

It lets you see ahead a bit.

Author

DeadmanDines
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