5 FEB 2022:
- When does a level end? What happens if the player only damages an enemy?
I was able to answer both of these answers by introducing a Morale system for the enemy. As you damage and destroy enemy ships, their morale goes down. If it goes down enough, then the level ends. Basically, the entire level is a sort of boss fight where you are always aware of how far you are from the end.
For ease of interpretation, I made analog and digital versions of the current Morale.
- In this video you can see some of the newer gameplay in action as the player ship weaves in and out of the enemy formations.
- There is now a second battleship! This one can enter from the right side of the screen. Here is a list of the possible enemies that can be spawned:
A brace of three shield fighters or a long row of one.
A single bomber or two at once.
A single cruiser or two at once.
A single battleship from the left.
A single battleship from the right.
- Still much to be done, but this is perhaps the first time where I feel like the end is really in sight. Pretty much all that remains are boss enemies, level design, fine-tuning adjustments and bug-squashing.
Still here? Good, because I have two major announcements:
- I've been spending a lot of time thinking about what to do with Scrapship when it's done. This is subject to change, but my intent is to make Scrapship a free game. Completely, 100% free. No ads. No "extra-features" or skins you can buy. Just the whole game up-front. Why am I picking this release model? Sure, I could charge $5 for it and offer a free demo -- but let's be realistic here: Although Scrapship aims to be quite different, shmups are a very over-saturated genre. It's very hard to get people to play shmups to begin with. And in the end, I would much rather have lots of people play Scrapship for free than have only a handful of people play it after purchase. If people like it, then they're welcome to offer a donation. This will especially come in handy because of my second announcement:
- I have a new game idea for when I finish Scrapship! During the pandemic, I started watching sailing videos. There are already lots of sailing games out there, but most of them are focused on pirates, trading or racing. Most of these are very arcade-style with an emphasis on action. My new game will be heading in a different direction. I won't give out too many details, but my goal is for this game to be "a persistent and open world".
This is going to be incredibly ambitious, but I already have a lot of things figured out on paper and some aspects have even been tested in previous programs I've written. The key to getting this to actually work is to remain dedicated to an MVP (minimum viable product) and then scale from there. While a demo may be available in about a year or two, the complete game may take even longer.
Quote of the Week:
"80% of success is showing up." -- Woody Allen
Thanks for reading and have a great rest of your week!