itch.io

Update #3

I keep a running list of each change I make any day I touch code. Unfortunately, I don’t keep a running summary which would be fantastic for updates like this!

Let’s check the notes.

I worked on the line breaker ships, the ones that specialize in high damage at long range. I wanted them to have both visually and practically very different weapons. One of them shoots a large plasma projectile that does area effect damage and has a proximity fuse. The other ship features a twin-barrel railgun which can pass through multiple ships. You’d think this wouldn’t happen in the vastness of space, but little test combats show that it’s more common than you’d think.

For a while, exploding ships would have small explosions randomly spawn in their collider box. I felt that it lacked oomph so I added a final large explosion to each ship death. I think I need to scale the debris up and add more outward force to make them scatter more.

I finally added a resource counter to the bottom of the screen and animated it to reflect any changes (from destroying ships, building platforms, etc).

I added sound effects to most of the weapons! I’ve had to play around a lot with the spatial variables to ensure that weapon sounds from half a map away aren’t so prominent. That’s still a work in progress as ships that are farther in the map lose sound far too quickly.

The last change I made today was to begin fine-tuning the player ship variables and adjusting weapon variables to balance everything. I was having turrets fire at targets 2 screens away and ships flying around targets from too great a distance. Not exactly conducive to landing successful hits.

My next set of tasks are:

• to actually create the rest of the weapon platforms to go along with the player ships
• finish the collider event system that will be used in the objective system
• adjust the ship movement system. Right now ships can move too far beyond the camera’s bounds which makes it hard to select them and to see their glorious battles

While testing the new ship and weapon variables, I was able to get some pretty cool screenshots for your viewing pleasure. There’s also a short video showing the 2 generalist ships and a fire-support ship taking on a small fleet of hapless enemies.

Update #2

In between work and my personal life, I was able to get some coding time in. Enough to work on some features and adding some new units.

At the beginning of each level, the player has the option to choose from categories of ships. Two random ships are selected from the chosen category and the player is able to manually control them in defense of the planet, structures, etc. The player can also choose to randomly get two ships from the whole list.  The categories are:

• Brawler - specializes in close range, high damage combat
• Fire support - specializes in long-range support
• Generalist - mix of short and medium range weapons
• Ling breaker - specializes in high damage, medium to long range damage

There will also be capital ships that will be available during select missions. You can see the ships below.

I also started working on the spawn system wherein enemies arrive via warp tunnel:

Here's a video of the two fire support ships testing their turrets on a hapless drone target.

Hello, all!

I created this project almost two months ago but haven't gotten around to actually posting anything until now. Which is a shame because I'm making progress over here.

I've been working on the core features of the game such as:

•  the upgrade system for player ships and weapon platforms
• movement AI and behavior systems for player and enemy ships
• the UI system using placeholder graphics until I finalize the final look and feel
• some of the more "basic" weapon systems
• weapon platform selection and placement
• the shield system

I'm going to take the next few weeks to bang out some other critical systems such as:

• resource system
• adding sound effects for the UI, weapons, etc
• finalize the enemy spawning effects and system
• add some more weapon platforms using the existing weapons

You can watch the attached video to see what the current weapons look like. Plus there's a GIF showing the upgrade visual effect. A big issue with my last game was the lack of punch and visual cues. I plan on fixing that mistake with plenty of visual and audio clues so players know they did something.

I've been using this project as a way to reuse some code from my last game and refactor it to be more sensible and flexible to the needs of this project. I'm also taking the time to add more comments so I know what I'm looking at 2 months down the line. Codecks has been great at helping manage my workflow and planning sessions. It's also a great way to keep track of bugs and put down todo items so they don't get lost on my desk or in some commented section of code.

After a long time bouncing between dormant and active, I have finally released my tower defense game.  

This is a 3D tower defense game set in a fictional solar system. The system is under attack from an advanced alien race whose goal is to bombard and sterilize all planets. The player must build weapon platforms and resource stations around the various planets, moons, and asteroids.

Contrary to typical tower defense games, most build locations are not static. They rotate around their host object which in turn rotates around either its host planet or sun. This means you need to strategically place weapon platforms to ensure all areas are covered.

I have learned so much during the process. So much, in fact, that I learned to cut back on my original plan so that I could actually release something. Every lesson learned here will be a lesson carried forward to the next game. I would greatly appreciate any feedback or bug catches :)

You can download the game here: Download Orbital Defense

Just a bump 😃

Hello, all!

I've just updated a demo for my tower defense game, Orbital Defense. It contains the first three levels of the game. I think I've caught all the bugs I've created so far and it runs fairly well on my system but I'd appreciate any help and feedback you may have. 

For those of you who try it out, here's a word of advice: build new turrets on top of dying ones instead of waiting for them to disappear completely!

Demo Link

Man, it's been a while since there's been an update. This little project had to take a break while I started my own business (non-game related). Now that life has settled down, I've been able to put some new renewed effort into this game. After remembering what my code did.

I've been working on changing the camera and input system, lighting, adding new enemies, working on levels, and tuning variables to ensure some semblance of balance. The camera and lighting changes in particular seem to give the game a more cinematic feel, which I really like.

Take a look at the attached screenshots and trailer!

I know there isn't much you can tell from the screenshots and trailer, but I'd appreciate any feedback even if it's just on the looks, UI, etc.

After an annoyingly long time, I finished a proper demo of my current game! Download Demo

The game is called Orbital Defense and is a tower defense game set in space. Contrary to your usual tower defense games, your defense platforms(towers) aren't static. They rotate around their planets which in turn rotate around the sun or host planet. Enemies won't always spawn alone the same axis as your planets so don't expect enemies to come straight on. 

The goal of the game is to build platforms and defend your planets from an invading alien species. If all your defended planets are destroyed then it's game over and the aliens win. And it's not only enemy ships that threaten you. Space is also the home of comets and asteroids. While they are not likely to hit a planet, if they do then it's good-bye planet!

The controls are pretty simple:

W/A/S/D - pan the camera

Q/E - rotate camera

Alt - show the spots where platforms can be built

Left mouse - select platform spots, buttons

Right mouse - focus on a platform or enemy unit

Mouse wheel - zoom in/out

Escape - pause menu

Build platforms, defeat the enemy, defend your planets, and secure your place in the stars! Please provide as much feedback as possible. :)

Download Demo

I've been slowly working on creating new weapon platforms, revamping existing platforms, sound effects, etc. The base platforms are now done and I need to start working on the "special" platforms. These include things like repair platforms, a star fort, and an esoteric missile launcher.

Now that the basic platforms are done, I need to switch gears to planning out the levels and designing some new enemies. Creating interesting enemy behaviors will be both interesting and challenging. Who wants enemies that just move in a straight line? That's just boring. My initial thoughts are teleporting ships, stealth ships that uncloak once within strike range, ships that grab asteroids and fly them towards you. What do you think would make interesting enemies?

Here are videos of the new platforms

I've been slowly working on my tower defense game set in space. Unlike your typical tower defense with static weapons, your weapon platforms in this game move with the planets they're orbiting. This can lead to interesting tactics as you can build platforms geared towards the enemy spawn point closest to your planet. Protect your planets. Enemies will move like a swarm from planet to planet until humanity is destroyed! Enemies aren't your only threat. Various asteroids and comets spawn from the edges of the solar system. Though unlikely, it's possible they can strike your planets and doom them.

I finally finished working on the first level today which I'm using as a demo to get feedback. While the first window provides the basics in terms of controls, I'll post some information here about the weapons themselves to help you better decide what to build and when. Currently there are only 4 platforms but I will be expanding the number and type as I work on the game.

Basic Platform: Sports two cannons which deal low damage and have a medium range.

Multi Gun Platform: Each cannon sports three barrels to triple your offensive power.

Light Missile Platform: Sports two missile launcher launchers which launch volleys of short-range homing missiles. Good for swarming enemies that get close.

Cruise Missile Platform: Shoots several long range homing missiles. Great for softening up targets before they get into gun range.

This is a tower defense game, which means you need resources in order to build platforms. There are two ways to gain resources, destroying enemies and keeping your resource stations alive. Each planet has one and each station sends out cargo ships. Once the cargo ship reaches its destination, you'll gain the resources it was carrying.

Please try this demo out and let me know what you think and what can be improved.

Download Demo

While the enemies and weapon platforms are done for the demo, I figured I'd add some little features that add more life to the game.

The first feature is the destruction of weapon platforms. Initially, the platforms would just spawn a few explosions then delete itself. Boring. I then learned that the rigidbody has an explode method which is perfect for pushing the separate parts of the platform apart.

The other features are comets and asteroids which spawn outside of the level and fly through the system. It's highly unlikely that they'll hit anything important like a planet or resource station, but they'll do high damage if they hit.

This completes the work on the majority of the content for the demo. The last major component that's missing is the music and final boss.

Once the demo is released and I get some feedback, I can start working on new platforms, enemies, celestial objects, and more. Let me know what you think!

Hi, all. I've been slowly working on my tower defense game set in space. I've gotten most of the core code in place to govern things like weapon platforms, resource collection, etc. My hope is to have placeholder music and a nicer looking UI in place to post a demo within a week or so. 

Please check out my latest project post and let me know what you think of the visuals, platform placement, UI, etc. I appreciate any feedback! Dev post.

Here's a short clip showing one of the planets, its moon, and an orbiting resource station.

Again here's the link to the dev post, https://exo-entertainment.itch.io/space-tower-defense/devlog/823504/working-towa...

Thank you for any feedback!

Hi, everyone. I'm working on a 2.5D tower defense game set in space. You place defense platforms around planets, moons, and Lagrange points in order to defend your resource ships and planets from getting destroyed. Nothing is static; planets orbit the sun, moons orbit their planets. I've gotten the basic framework down and am starting to work on more platforms, enemies, etc.

I'd love if you looked at these shots and videos and told me what you think.

After several months of working, usually just a few hours a week, I finally completed a basic demo of my game. I’m still fine-tuning the controls since they do require a bit more thinking and dexterity than some other games. But I personally think it adds to the fun!

Demo Page

Here’s a refresher of what the game is. You’re an aggrieved man whose precious cat has been stolen by pirates. So hop into your ship and fly across space to rescue her! You'll have to face a variety and a large amount of enemies through empty space, asteroid fields, and celestial phenomena, etc.

You’re in space so don’t expect to fly your ship like you would your car. Remember what Newton said, an object in motion stays in motion. If you propel forward, you’re going to keep going in that direction until you change direction or decelerate.

While the beginning provides basic information on control, I’ll reiterate them here.

W/S – move forward and backward

A/D – rotate

Q/E – strafe

Left mouse – shoot cannon

Right mouse – shoot missiles

Tab – spawn powerup once the bar is full

Here are some important tips:

1. You can turn while moving forward, but the turn radius is large
2. You can perform quick turns by turning the engine off, rotating, then powering up again
3. While they hold lots of ammo, your PDCs will have to reload periodically. You’re at the mercy of missiles during these short periods

Here are some screenshots. Please give all the feedback you can! 

I like the style.It's really cute.

Hey all, I'm working on my second game. I was inspired by Enter the Gungeon and thought it would be cool as a top-down sci-fi game.  Some of the features of the game that I thought would be appealing are its use of inertia and multiple weapon systems. Those weapons include a cannon, missile launchers, and automated point defense cannons. There are also power-ups that alter the ammo for your weapons.

If you're moving in a certain direction, either forward, rotating, or strafing, you're gonna keep moving that way unless you counter that. This comes in handy especially when trying to direct your PDCs towards incoming missiles.

I'm a parent and have a career so I can't work on it as much as I'd like but I am making progress. Enough to have videos and screenshots! Let me know what you think based on what you can see here. What do you think could add a little more punch?

 Feel free to visit my dev page https://exo-entertainment.itch.io/point-defense

Hey all, I'm working on my second game. I was inspired by Enter the Gungeon and thought it would be cool as a top-down sci-fi game.  Some of the features of the game that I thought would be appealing are its use of inertia and multiple weapon systems. Those weapons include a cannon, missile launchers, and automated point defense cannons. There are also power-ups that alter the ammo for your weapons.

If you're moving in a certain direction, either forward, rotating, or strafing, you're gonna keep moving that way unless you counter that. This comes in handy especially when trying to direct your PDCs towards incoming missiles.

I'm a parent and have a career so I can't work on it as much as I'd like but I am making progress. Enough to have videos and screenshots! Let me know what you think and feel free to visit my dev page https://exo-entertainment.itch.io/point-defense

It took a little bit to figure out what the bug was. Turns out the player and flashlight inputs were fighting with each other and the mouse won.

I tested this build and it works on the two desktops I have. A note: the secondary animation isn't final so it's going to look a little funny. Plus I didn't have an end point. So you'll have to escape and quit manually.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1C-Nl4n0AtdyLeG3kFZFm3CkTLjXAEYMJ/view?usp=shari...

Hey. Have you had a chance to look at it?

I thought I had set the permissions properly. It's now set to anyone that has the link.

Hi, all. I've been working on a 2D platformer in my spare time. You play a small child who is forced to explore his repressed memories. Abused by those who were supposed to love and protect him, the child is forced to come to terms with his life and relive some of his darkest, and brightest, moments. This will be a platformer with a large emphasis on light and darkness, the basest fear of any child. Armed with nothing but a flashlight, you must explore your vivid imagination and bleak mental landscape as you uncover memories sometimes left unremembered.

You can download the demo from the following link: download. Here's a shot from the beginning of the demo. I look forward to any feedback.