Lovaders

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GammaGames
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Lovaders

Post by GammaGames »

As my first 'real' project in LOVE I decided to make an Invaders clone (hence the name) but it ended up being more like 1942 (which the bullet/enemy code is based off of a tutorial of making 1942 in LOVE) I decided to make it a little more interesting by throwing in a nice interactive menu and a 'smooth' transition between menu and game. There is even a nice little secret on the menu if you can find it :cool:

Be warned: The game code is not really DRY right now. The player and bullets on the menu are an almost exact copy of the ones in the game (the bullet colliding with enemies is changed to buttons, only other difference is names) so that definitely needs to be fixed. The menus are also pretty much clones also, so they are going to get a little retro-fitting. Any advice/criticism is much appreciated!
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scutheotaku
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Re: Lovaders

Post by scutheotaku »

While the game is very simple, I really like most of what you did here! It's a solid game that works and doesn't appear to have any bugs - so great job on that!

I do have a couple of suggestions though:
There's a slight oversight in the main menu, I think. You have the "help" screen there for people to learn the controls, but one has to already know the controls to get to the help screen. Granted, most players will be able to figure out to use spacebar, but I'm of the school of thought that the end-user shouldn't have to think or experiment to use a UI. So, it'd probably be best if you have a message like "press the 'spacebar' to select a menu option" somewhere on the main menu :)
Next, I would suggest adding a "game over" screen. It'd just be nice if the transition from dying and being sent to the menu was less abrupt, especially since there's no dying animation (which is fine for a game like this).
I would also suggest making the overall speed of the game (the bullet speed, player speed, enemy speed, etc...) faster. I suppose this is a personal preference thing, but I feel like it's a little too slow.

If you feel like experimenting with LOVE further with this game, a couple of features that'd be cool to add would be a score system, a lives system (including extra lives if the score reaches certain numbers), and a high score table. Different enemies would be fun too :)
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substitute541
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Re: Lovaders

Post by substitute541 »

Found the Achievements menu by shooting between the "Play" and "Help" button. :P
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josefnpat
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Re: Lovaders

Post by josefnpat »

I'm glad the tutorial was useful for you!

I keep saying this, but I reaaaaallly need to update it.

Regardless, clean game! What it really needs is some way to "win". Perhaps speed the boxes up over time?

Also, super cool idea of "shooting the menu". I like that a lot.
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GammaGames
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Re: Lovaders

Post by GammaGames »

@scutheotaku Ya I know the help menu is rather redundant, and I am planning to revamp the help menu so you can scroll through the text so I can fit more in when the game gets more complex, and just having something show on the screen when you start the game telling you how to move and shoot.

@substitute :awesome:

@josefnpat Oh so you made the 1942 tutorial? Thanks a bunch! And ya, I am thinking of implementing a way to win, but right now the only goal is too last as long as possible, because like in your tutorial the boxes start coming after one another faster (so much so that if you didn't die when one touched you, the screen turns white with enemies)
Also, if you found the hidden menu option (it's called achievements, but right now it is just stats) you can see how many enemies you killed, how many shots you have taken (only counts the in-game ones of course) and then shows you your accuracy :D
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Lafolie
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Re: Lovaders

Post by Lafolie »

I'd increase the player movement speed too.

I love the menu though, I was really impressed by it.
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GammaGames
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Re: Lovaders

Post by GammaGames »

Here is a small update, with a death screen showing basic stats on that round, and changed the player and bullet speeds so it feels more fast-paced (I can't remember if the enemies move faster or not though).
And as scutheotaku suggested the main menu tells you how to shoot now, so you shoot the help menu at the beginning of the game to learn the controls.
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Djent
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Re: Lovaders

Post by Djent »

Great job!

Perhaps on the death screen, have the player's shooting accuracy? I found that I could just go back and forth spamming the space bar, killing the enemies as soon as they spawn. This would give some motivation to actually aim at the enemies.
GammaGames
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Re: Lovaders

Post by GammaGames »

@Djent if you find the hidden option on the menu (right now incorrectly named the Achievements page) that has overall accuracy on it (from the time you opened the game, no saving yet), but I probably will add that rounds accuracy at the death screen now that you mention it :cool:
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