Using a "dumb idea" for upcoming project

[xaver]

Hi all,
I'm using one of the "dumb ideas" for my next game. It uses the concept of the 2players playing 2D-shooter type games, with the screen split into 2. It is titled Zirconia 2: Battle, and you battle opponents indirectly. Each player starts with a deck (you pick from several pre-made ones) containing many cards. In order to use cards, you need to collect coins by defeating enemies. Players have a hand of up to 3 cards at once, and you use those cards to spawn enemies on the other side, or do various other effects like shooting a lazer beam down the other side. It is only going to be single player though with a computer AI.

It has been in development for a few months now and I plan to release it at the end of this month.
Here is a screenshot of what I have so far (click to enlarge):
I'm playing as the spaceship on the left, just shot a missile at some zombies :)

http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/6849/zirc2battle016um.th.png (http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/6849/zirc2battle016um.png)

[SpiderPumpkin]

Looks good so far. Did you make the graphics yourself? I'm puzzled on what the yellow thing on the right is supposed to be, though... Looks like cheese with a head on painted logs. Or something.

[pizza]

Nice graphics! :D
Which dumb idea btw are you using?
&
What are you making it with?
:shock: :D

[xaver]

I'm using the idea described under "Sol Hunt Training Simulator"

It is being created with the HGE (http://hge.relishgames.com) 2D game engine and using Dev-C++.

Most of the graphics come from reiner's tilesets (http://www.reinerstileset.4players.de:1059) (freeware), although there will be some programmer art thrown in, like the "cheese thing" on the right :lol: Actually that thing was meant to be a "cheaply built robot," an opponent on the first stage which is dumb (it just does random stuff).

[Devon Rose]

the screenshot was taking too long to download, you need to compress it better, use photoeditor or something better, paint isn't a good compressor.
your game looks very re-playable.

[Sokko]

Nice attitude. Just FYI, the screenshot is a PNG file, an excellent format which offers near-lossless compression, often at smaller filesizes than even the GIF format. It is rapidly becoming one of the most popular formats for images on the web because of its versatility and high quality. Graphics editing suites all the way up to Photoshop CS2 can save PNG files with a variety of options. In addition, this particular file is only 685KB, having a negligible download time for anything but a dial-up connection. All of which adds up to the fact that I wouldn't call Xaver's choice of image formats into question unless I could do it a lot better myself.

[blackmyth]

Just wondering, has this game been released yet?

[Mr.Onion]

Doesn't seem like it.

[xaver]

I'm finished with the content for the game, but still working out the testing and game balance (which is a nightmare!)

Anyways, it won't be released until Oct 31, I'll announce it in this topic at that time.

[drgamer]

Why not let a few people test it and see what's unbalanced and not?
Might speed up the process
:)

[Devon Rose]

Nice attitude. Just FYI, the screenshot is a PNG file, an excellent format which offers near-lossless compression, often at smaller filesizes than even the GIF format. It is rapidly becoming one of the most popular formats for images on the web because of its versatility and high quality. Graphics editing suites all the way up to Photoshop CS2 can save PNG files with a variety of options. In addition, this particular file is only 685KB, having a negligible download time for anything but a dial-up connection. All of which adds up to the fact that I wouldn't call Xaver's choice of image formats into question unless I could do it a lot better myself.

That's what I meant in a way. I know it's a PNG file that's why I said to compress it better. If I compress a bitmap to PNG using paint it'll come out to be let's say 65 kb. Then if I compress the same bitmap with photo editor it comes out to be 45 kb.

PS: All my games use PNG files. PNG has been around for ages why didn't people think of using them before?!?!

[regeneratorizer]

question:
why didn't people think of using them before?!?!
answer:
PNG has been around for ages

[xaver]

I've finally completed version 1.0 of Zirconia 2: Battle. :)

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/946/zirc2battle113lt.th.jpg (http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/946/zirc2battle113lt.jpg) http://img495.imageshack.us/img495/5080/zirc2battle103se.th.jpg (http://img495.imageshack.us/img495/5080/zirc2battle103se.jpg) http://img494.imageshack.us/img494/5288/zirc2battle089if.th.jpg (http://img494.imageshack.us/img494/5288/zirc2battle089if.jpg)

You may download the installer from the following link:
version 1.0 installer (16 MB) (http://www.gamedev.net/community/contest/4e4/17_Zirconia_2_Battle.zip)

View the manual here: Manual (http://www.z2games.com/z2bmanual/intro.html)

Info about the game:
2 players are playing 2D-shooters: you on the left and the computer opponent on the right.
The object of the game is to be better than your opponent by making him lose all his health!
At first, the computer AI is not smart at all, but it gets harder as you progress. The overall pacing of the game increases also, so at the beginning it's pretty slow-paced.

There are in-game instructions, but I'll go over the basics. Move around using the arrow keys or WASD. Press/hold spacebar to fire, and press shift to boost. Use cards by pressing the 1, 2, or 3 keys for cards in those positions, respectively. You need enough coins in order to use a card first (get coins from killing enemies).

You can change the key setups in the options screen. :)

[drgamer]

One day early?

[death]

THE GAME IS AWSOME!! :!:

[AtkinsSJ]

Pure class. Well done for creating such a great game!

[pizza]

11/10