AstroBreak - the final version

[thaaks]

No need to fiddle around. I installed the newest WIP and it's working great  :D

Thanks a lot, Kevin!

Tommy

[medwayman]

Just had a few goes and I really enjoyed it. Nice work :)

Have you released the version with ship control options? would love to give that a go, but i couldn't find anything.

[thaaks]

Thanks for the compliments - need to have a look at your game too!

The version with classic ship control is not yet available. I'm still working on the menu code.
Give me a few days then I will release a interim version on my website.

Cheers,
Tommy

[medwayman]

Sorry, I think I misread one of your earlier posts :wacko:

No rush, I'll look forward to playing when it's ready  :)

[thaaks]

Okay,
the (first?) interim release is finished.

Go and grab it here!

Changes/improvements:
- Classic steering mode (new default mode),
- improved collision checking (smaller bounding circles for asteroids, bounding triangle shape for the player ship),
- improved menus with sound and music volume control (see Options),
- minor issues.

Hope you like it. Now I will start with a high score list and new powerups and powerdowns.

Any feedback highly appreciated!

Cheers,
Tommy

[Tracy]

Wow. That's a HUGE improvement over the first version. I really enjoyed playing it, and everything looks really good. (Menu's, etc.)

The collision feels just about right, to be honest. I think you've nailed the collision radii for everything.

The ship has a little more acceleration power to it than traditional asteroids did, and I can't decide if I like that or not. While I find it cumbersome, I have a hunch I may really enjoy it after I get used it. I'll have to play it some more.

Love to see what it looks like with some more weapons and polish. Strong work.

[Big C.]

Tommy, the game becomes increasingly better... The classical control does not correspond to 100 % yet the original, however that one is also very triggy (attempts me myself just at that, so mine has, however, problem with the physics)...

Your Website is great... Pleases me already onto your first tutorial (like in german too  ;) )

until soon

Big C.

P.S.: Please, can you tell, why you make Tmp-Files (BMPs) from your Title-Screens? The sourcefiles are png. The tmp-files arn't deleting after exit the game.

[thaaks]

Thanks that you like the improvements.

Speed issue: Yes, I'm still playing around with it. Maybe I slow it down a bit - on the other hand you can get used to the speed. It's like driving a fast car: you have the speed if you need it (passing other cars), you just have to be careful with your gas pedal  if the roads are crowded :D

Big C.: Regarding the temporary bmp files: I am not aware of creating temporary bmp files. I do have a screen snapshot routine in - I will see what key fires it (Space key?) or if I save a screenshot of the title screen on startup. It's certainly not on purpose. Will look at the code tonight...if the bmp files have a trailing number (file1.bmp, file2.bmp) that would be a good hint for my snapshot routine  :rolleyes:

Regarding the tutorial: I recently read a nice Space Invaders tutorial for Java by Kev Glass (see Coke and Code). He is a very smart guy and has always good simple approaches to games.
While reading the tutorial I thought that it would be pretty easy to do something similar with PlayBasic. Even more as the code of Astrobreak is already following the approach Kevin Glass explains by using time based game updates and different game states.
Of course everything needs to be adapted to PB but the general plot could stay the same.

Cheers,
Tommy

[medwayman]

I get a short pause in the game when the player ship wraps around. Other than that the game played fine.

The new menu looks much better. The shaded background and shadows look great. :)

I enjoyed playing the game. The way the asteroids move when you accelerate takes some getting used to, but it's good fun to play.

Nice work  :)