CastleNode - android demo

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jph_wacheski
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CastleNode - android demo

Post by jph_wacheski »

Here is the first demo of CastleNode. It will be a simple (?), quick to play, strategic type game. Currently you just tap the screen to launch a NodeDefender in that direction, the distance from the CastleNode sets the speed of the launch. The Defenders will move straight out till they pop into action and pursue the closest Attacker. They loose power constantly, till they die,. however if they touch an Attacker they will gain some energy back.

So defend the Castle Node! The scoring was just added, you get points for hitting Attackers (should add a combo bonus for multi-hits on a single launch) and also you gain points when the CastleNode is charged and you do not use it to launch,. . sounds (and everything) are still being worked on.

FPS is at bottom,. I get a solid 60-58 on the nexus7. Please report any issues.
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throwing-debug.apk
the .apk to install
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Rado1
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Post by Rado1 »

I like the idea. Absorption of enemies reminds me Osmos little bit. The game works fine, from 25-55 FPS during normal play, however, the destroyed state is too jerky on my mobile (unfortunately FPS counter is missing there, so I have no number).
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Post by jph_wacheski »

Thanks Rado1, I suspected as much,. I am refreshing the background object's mesh there and that eats cpu. Still just testing really, but it is almost a 'game' at this point so I thought I would share.
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y offs et
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Post by y offs et »

Yeah, I played it yesterday, and as usual it worked flawlessly. Shrunk down on the phone it works better with a stylus, and of course it is pretty tough to survive. :P
I noticed one thing. When the castle gets slightly shrunken by an invader getting through, it won't regain it's full size again while another invader is within it's initial size radius. To be expected.
However, if there are no invaders even within twice it's initial size, it still remains shrunken and unable to regrow to initial size. Seems odd, or is that deliberate?
Of course I'm too busy watching for invaders to examine what the score is doing during this phase.
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Post by jph_wacheski »

y offs et - ah yes the recharging/regeneration is vague at best,. I have added an effect to show when the castleNode is rebuilding, versus just recharging for a new shot. Also added two new attacker types,. well actually the first type will now randomly upgrade to the 2nd,. then the 3rd type. I am still just prototyping this so not sure what will change still,. I was planning a more strategic game play style,. but not much of this is built yet. I seem to do too much visual work while still prototyping, but the visuals do drive my design ideas, so whatever. I will just see how it develops organically, I enjoy surprising myself.

Latest demo attached. Let me know if the frame-rate is Ok,. I got rid of the random re-meshing of the large mesh structure when gameover. it did not generate interesting enough shapes anyway,. now i have a few I devised and just swap these,. seems more efficient. When I add proper levels these will be used for each,. to add a sense of prorogation. may even add some text story,. but I much prefer the pure abstractness of this.
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CastelNode-debug2.zip
.apk file
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VilleK
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Post by VilleK »

Great update. Enemy design looks nice and the background graphics too. Audio works well. It feels rewarding to hit a number of enemies at once. Stable frame rate on my older device.

It could be made clearer how long it takes to recharge. I find myself hitting blindly until a new shot fires :)
Also some music would add atmosphere. Maybe with same library that Rado1 used for Eater.
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Post by y offs et »

more complexity and flash

I found something interesting on the install. It would not show on my phone. After thinking a bit, I uninstalled throwing-debug, and then it showed. I'm betting you changed the final name but retained the inner name, or something like that.
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Post by jph_wacheski »

Ha! yes I have changed the file name,. and this does mess with the android updateing,. just delete the old ver. I will not change it again. Still coming to grips with the whole android system and app building.

Attached is the latest,. more hacks, I added a basic menu, seems the quit() function does not work? I know you can just use the os buttons but just thought to try it. The game got faster,. and more chaotic I suspect, still working out what it will be in the end,. I do think there is potential here but I have yet to sort out the gameplay.

Also, there remains some strange (bug?) when leaving and coming back to the app. the generated bitmap looses its alpha, or part of it, showing its squareness,. In this new version I have just saved it out, and loading the file, so it is not generated,. and this seems to fix it. (you should be able to replicate that bug on the older versions.)

Note; this is not using the latest update, with the tighter sound buffers,. I will update my zge for the next build. (been messing with SunVox too much ;) )
Attachments
CastelNode-debug3.zip
.apk in debug mode still.
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y offs et
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Post by y offs et »

Yeah, it's got potential.

For a phone, you will have to enlarge the font on the help screen. Even putting my glasses on I had difficulty reading it.
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Post by jph_wacheski »

Thanks y offs et,. still working on it so i thinks so as well,.

latest is attached,. I did actually change the folder structure name this time, so you should likely uninstall the old ones,. .

too many changes to list,. so some highlights; now a short TAP to launch, and HOLD to re-direct your defenders,. you only actually 'score points' on the launch currently,. still figuring the scoring system. There is now a MEGA combo if you can line up five or so on a single shot! This is the currently the center of the gameplay,. attempting to get MEGAs. I reworked the sound track extensively, much smoother now IMHO,. more ambient, perhaps. Anyway, I am still digging the zge sound system for non-rhythmic stuff on android. I added a level structure,. well a cycle really, the number in the bottom left is that, the spawning is based on this,. so there is some variation, and it loops and randomizes somewhat.., still thinking about how I want that to be, I have an idea for a free version and a paid one,. . high score is not saved yet.

This is probably going to be slow on some devices, it runs great on the n7 but not so good on the sony s last i checked, but I have optimized a bit since then so i will check that again,. let me know if the fps drops much below 50 for any length of time,. have fun.
Attachments
CastelNode-debug.apk
(308.47 KiB) Downloaded 965 times
an err dump screen,. these are nifty,. unfortunately they add the volume gui,.  any good screen shot video capture ideas?
an err dump screen,. these are nifty,. unfortunately they add the volume gui,. any good screen shot video capture ideas?
Screenshot_2012-09-19-19-16-59.png (167.16 KiB) Viewed 31799 times
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Post by VilleK »

Audio is great, especially with headphones.
I managed to get MEGA a couple of times :)
Full frame rate here.

Some ideas to make it more addictive:
- some really easy first levels to learn the play mechanics. They should be possible to by the player to complete in seconds.
- save highscore and completion time for each level, to give a motivation for beating levels again
(even if you have the possibility of unlimited procedural levels you can set a limit of 100 levels and just save highscore and times for those)
- just like in the Llamasoft games, a "resume best" function that let's you start the game from the highest level you have previously completed
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y offs et
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Post by y offs et »

I did actually change the folder structure name this time, so you should likely uninstall the old ones
Actually, I had two different versions playable (with the same name) for a while.

Cool graphics.

Still squinting at the help screen.
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Post by jph_wacheski »

I took some time and set up a proper font not the low-rez one I normally use,. I am quite happy with it now,. although there was lots of little tweaks needed as some letters clipped the edges of others leaving little line artifacts in the text. I only later realized, I could just leave more space around them, as the empty space will be compressed in the end anyway. Once again doing things the hard way is an additional challenge I seem to add to my work load.

Y offs et - let me know how this new font is helping with the text viewing? I have made all the text as large as I can stand it on my device's screen. Out of curiosity what is the res. is your phone? or is it purely a small size issue?

Is there a simple way to get the device res. so I can change the size based on it?

Many changes and updates,. I think this is a release candidate for my free version. I am going to do a CastleNode - 128k edition, and a CastleNode - unlimited edition. the free one lets you check that it runs well on your device and you can play till 128k points. the other will cost $2.33 (?) and have unlimited points and a highscore save.

I know a level progression is common in this market,. however I am liking the some what structured random cycle that is working here now,. This was intended as another simple/quick and dirty game and I have already spent way more time on it that I had intended,. but as always I learn a bunch, and improvements continue,. anyway I still have to jump thought all the hoops to set up the payment stuff on the store and this will be a test app for that. What I did so far is to add a "Get FULL" button to the menu,. and this just opens the PLAY store entry for Saucer Invasion currently, but I will change that to the payed version of CastleNode for the release. There is also a screen that pops up when you reach 128K that ends your game and has a big "Upgraded Now" button that will do the same thing. What do you guys think about this? If the name is the same for the paid version it will just replace the demo smoothly, right? This seemed the simplest method to handle a playable demo and a paid version,. anyone foresee any problems with this?

I had everything working great on the Nexus 7 so I sent a built to the Sony S and drat,. much slowdown when my nifty spark effects where on screen,. so I went back and added some; if (app.FPScounter <50) @RemoveModel(); type tests,. and this now plays better on both devices.

So barring and major issues (or great new ideas) I will start getting this set up in the store,. Ville, I will put you down for a 20% cut of any revenue this may generate.

Video; http://youtu.be/zIZba3yIyMY

(how to embed?)
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/zIZba3yIyMY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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CastelNode-debug.apk
release candidate ?
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y offs et
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Post by y offs et »

Ho, ho! That is freaking excellent, JPH! 34K second try.
I was frantically stabbing away, almost bruising my finger tip.

The help screen is just the right size font for my Galaxy Nexus - don't need my glasses.

Personally, I think the invaders are too pretty, and the castle is too plain - but that is just your everyday conditioned response. Enemies are supposed to be ugly, and we are beautiful - right?

Love it.

Hint: Castel is spelled Castle , unless your intent is a play on "casting" projectiles, for which perhaps Cast_hells Node, or something, might work.
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Ats
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Post by Ats »

Great game!
It's working very smoothly on my GalaxyS3. I realy like the novempus in the background and the simplicity of the touch controls. The fonts are beautifull and the Game Over screen is awesomely psychedelic :)

Speaking of design, I just have a little problem with the energy balls being the exact same green as the player. At first I thought that the player was moving when the energy ball was the same size as the player, but then I got used to it. It's a little weird.

EDIT: Also, I saw that the game icon could be changed, though I didn't try it yet. Is it possible to change it for the Android version ?
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