UPDATE 11-20-08: The game is nearly done. All gameplay elements are in and possibly final. Please check it out, I want to submit it by tomorrow.
UPDATE 11-14-08: I've made the following changes (refresh if it still looks just like the old one, apparently Flash gets cached):
- Blurred the background.
- Upped the contrast on the hero ship and the crystals.
- Added more stats and hit percentage.
- Reduced the hitbox on the player ship.
- Added visual feedback in the form of a red flash whenever a ship escapes.
- Made the "Enemy ships left until doom" display at the top larger.
- Changed the game over/stats screen (for better or worse). This is not likely going to be the final game over screen.
- The game now gets gradually harder every 5 seconds (but is easier at first). I'm guessing even Hado won't be able to withstand it for too long. Please, prove me wrong. I haven't had time to add the final weapon upgrade however.
- Added multiplier bonuses for each blast caught in succession that does not damage you. Right now there is no cap, so if someone played incredibly, they could be getting 200x plus multipliers every blast. Forgot to mention that catching a blast is worth 20 points, 50 points if it heals you. So a 200x would give you 4000 points each. That's the equivalent of shooting 40 ships.
I'm making a flash game for an online contest. The game is not complete, but it has most of the functionality/gameplay in. There is also at least one bug that I know of (can't shoot while moving diagonally up and left). Update: Apparently the bug is in my work keyboard, as I tried this on someone else's machine and it worked fine. I'm glad, because there's nothing in the code that should cause this!
Keep in mind:
- There is no end to the game. It will last as long as you do. The objective is to get the highest score (these will be posted on the Kongregate site once it's done). Eventually the game will get harder and harder the longer you play.
- There is no sound, as this will be added last.
- The game is meant to be skill-based and so is quite difficult at first. You'll get better and better the more you play.
- I will probably be adding minibosses.
- If the following play instructions seem daunting to you, just jump in and play and then come back and read them. They'll be easy to follow after you've played once or twice.
How to play:
- Arrow keys move, space bar shoots.
- You must kill all incoming ships. If 10 ships get past you, it's Game Over. The ship with a number next to it at the top of the screen is the indicator.
- Ramming ships kills them but you take some damage. Sometimes you need to ram enemy ships before they go off screen behind you.
- You only have one life.
- Red bar is health, blue bar is energy, which regenerates quickly. Shooting uses energy.
- You have an energy shield which absorbs enemy blasts from the front, preventing damage to you. This drains your energy bar. If you catch a blast while your energy is low you will take some damage. If you catch a blast while you have full energy you will gain back 10% health.
- Catching blasts and not taking damage (i.e. catching them with adequate energy left) gives you points. To max out points you must catch as many blasts as you can. I may add a large bonus later for players who catch all blasts.
- Whenever an enemy is killed, red crystals appear.
- Catching crystals fills your upgrade bar (the funky shaped bar in the middle). There are three tiers, each tier you reach upgrades your weapon, except for the last tier, because I haven't added that upgrade yet (if you have any ideas for a cool upgrade, let me know).
- Each crystal caught also refills your energy a bit. A good tactic is to grab a bunch of crystals to refill energy then catch an enemy blast to heal.
What I need from testers:
- I need to know how it runs on your machine. On my machine at work it runs perfectly in Firefox through my home connection and slowly through IE using my work's connection. My home connection is slower than my work connection so I don't know why this is. UPDATE: Upgrade to Flash 10 if it seems slow.
- Is it fun?
- Do you like how it looks?
- Any ideas for improvement?