itch.io

Keep the faith!  I've been revising the turn model over the past several months and while it's been a bit of a butt things are coming along.

Motorcycles will happen!  I've got some time set aside coming up!

Hi there!  Thanks for checking it out!  Yes, you are absolutely right that the balance ramps up a bit too far too fast.  This is an area that still needs some work.

However, just wanted to make sure:  Are you using repair kits to heal up on the fly via the gear interface?  If not, I might need to bring that feature a bit more into the spotlight.  Without any healing I would imagine those fights would be crazy tough.

Glad to know that Wine is working a little better.  I've been focusing on 16:9 aspect ratio but 16:10 is common enough for laptops and such that I should get those hooked up.  The system can really do anything but I've generally been trying to avoid losing sleep over real outliers like 4:3 or superwide because the UI gets very hard to maintain.  I'll do what I can to adjust.

Yeah I'll get some ala carte changes in, the video quality slider was the fastest to get in because it'll take time to restructure my options screen for a long set of toggles.  However unless your card is super-low-end (or if you are trying render at 4K) the issues are probably not graphics related, I've experienced some and I'm workin' on it.

Just for reference, the new version 0.6.61 was just released, and it has some optimizations (still more to do), but equally importantly you can adjust the video quality right there in the game from the ESC settings menu.  See if you can dial the quality to a level where your machine likes it best!

Hi!  This is good feedback, in the recent flurry of adds to the game, I need to step back again to make a pass on the frame rate.  Coincidentally I was just doing some optimization that I want to roll out in a build.  Also, I need to move the graphical quality settings into the in-game menu so you can adjust it there rather than from the main menu.  Thanks for checking it out!

None whatsoever!  Please let us know if you do!

I know you're hoping for it!  I've got a lot of work to do on the base version first, so this just isn't on my radar right now.  But I hear you!

This fall I'm hoping to officially give it the full Steam treatment, but I appreciate the support y'all have given in the meantime!

Hi!  The Kickstarter has not yet happened (the world happened instead, as it were).  We are working towards a long-awaited new update and a re-unveiling in the fall, at which time we'll consider whether a Kickstarter fits into our plans.

We absolutely appreciate your interest and support!  We haven't kicked off anything list a mailing list thing yet (it makes sense as game updates start rolling again), but I do keep track of those that supported the product and definitely want to do y'all right.  I certainly include the folk right here as an important part of our community and will absolutely keep folks here posted.

A peek

It is!  I know I've been quiet for a long time.  Working on some arena stuff right now...  It's been a long, long minute since the last build was released, but nothing can stop me on this game!

I wish I knew what the problem might be with WINE...  The game should put out a log that I might be able to use to better understand that issue.  In Windows it's C:\Users\<username>\AppData\LocalLow\Vertigames, LLC\AutoFire but I'm not sure where those logs go in WINE.  If you can locate it I might be able to help.

Got a nice long weekend coming up.  The goal is to get a build out then.  I'll then need at least one more if not two more builds before the Roguelike Celebration at the start of October.

Haha glad it's an exciting prospect!  I wish I could do it, but the controls just aren't built for mobile.  Maybe next project. :-)

Check out the new version.  It should use a language-agnostic method of reading in numbers, which I believe should solve the Russian computer issues.

It turns out that on a Russian-language computer all the numbers in my datafiles were being smashed to zero, so weapons had a range of zero, the map was empty, etc.  I hadn't completely made my file reading language-independent, lesson learned!  Fix found, should be handled in the next build.  Thanks to Drugon for trying so many possible solutions in one night!

More Discord conversation later and there's a possibility that a Russian-language computer might be the culprit.  I'm going to see what I can do.

Thanks for contacting me via the Discord (https://t.co/VVRd14Nb3P for those interested!).  It seems like you ended up with a weirdly broken build (your first encounter was a completely empty map with no exits).  I've successfully tested a version by extracting directly from the zip file on this page as you described, but for the least hassle I recommend the Itch.io app (https://itch.io/app) for installation and patching of the game.  It handles installs and upgrade patches really smoothly and don't worry, you don't need to keep it resident like Steam!

Everyone:  Please let me know either here or on the Discord if you run into a similar problem!  I'd like to deal with it as completely as possible.

I took it off PayPal for now.  Just enjoy the ride as things develop!

Funny, I checked my settings and while they had my PayPal email, the status said I was on a "legacy PayPal system".  I reconnected my account and maybe things are okay now?  Technologyyyyyyy!!!!

Yes!  I'm so excited!  And in no possibly creepy way. :-)

I saw that and appreciated the effort to get me some money!  From my end it looked like a payment was made, and then cancelled minutes later.  Was this through the Itch donate button or direct to my email?  I couldn't tell. 

Funny, back in May and June I got a couple of payments that were also cancelled in the same manner.  I thought those people requested refunds, but this problem is probably at my end somewhere.  I guess I should check it out with Itch.

Again, much appreciated, both for the attempt to donate and for helping me spot this issue.

Hey there!  I did just drop in gamepad support other player experience improvements as I head towards Auto Fire's showing at the Seattle Indies Expo, so I turned the donation button back on reflect the progress.  As always there's work to do, but I appreciate any tips!

Thanks!  You are incredibly generous!  I actually did have "Pay What You Want" activated, but it encouraged people to pay 2 bucks juuuuust a little more than I wanted given where the game was at the time (you can't suggest zero bucks in the interface :-)  I didn't want people to experience buyer's remorse because there was still a lot to do to make it rewarding to start out, and since it's not much money in the grand scheme of things I turned it off for a while.

That said, I'm doing a lot of work in the month of August to get that early experience more enjoyable so that if someone does throw me a couple bucks they'll be happy they did!  I'll probably be turning "pay what you want" back on before the end of the month.  I really appreciate your encouragement in the meantime! <3

I know I know!  I hope I can provide it in the future

Great job!

Hey there!

That's a bummer it doesn't work on WINE, I can't imagine a reason it wouldn't.  There are a number of graphic levels to try from the startup panel, you may want to try something with a lower setting and see if it helps?

Heh, I know that this genre and Linux in particular have a close relationship, so I certainly am considering Linux support in the future...  The engine builds for it pretty easily although I don't have a machine to test it on.  Regardless, things are still a bit early to try a second platform...  I'd want more stability and breadth of features in the base platform before moving pushing another one out.  

I appreciate the interest from any camp, so I hope I can accommodate you down the road.   Thanks for stopping by!

Hi there!  You can play with arrow keys to move and WASD keys to shoot.  For that combination you can use:

• Ctrl-Left/Right to hard turn
• Shift-Left/Right to Swerve
• Shift-Fwd to Boost.

I also put in an old-school layout for those with laptops or history with the crustiest of applications:

• I/comma:  Accelerate/Decelerate
• J/L:  Turn 45 degrees Left/Right
• U/O:  Swerve Left/Right
• M/period:  Sharp Turn Left/Right
• Space:  Wait/Coast

You can always get the controls info by pressing F1!  A remap screen is on my short list of upcoming features (also so you can control the volume :-)

I saw that last night and reallllly loved the parts.  The proportion of the cars are a little too Micro Machine-ish though.  However, I may pick it up anyway just for all the spike plates, tires, and mounted weapons.  Also the van and pickup aren't as stubby looking as the cars...

Yeah it's a bit of a balancing act with scale, and realistic scale isn't what I want of course, but I was rather shocked when I swapped in some realistic stuff and I started to feel like the game looked...  kinda dumb.

Yeah that sweet spot of good vehicles with clean silhouettes and a low polygon count is hard to hit on the asset store.  Any objects with "cartoon" on it is usually on the minecraft side, with a few exceptions like Toon Soldiers by Polygon Blacksmith (which is going for a TF2 look).  I've seen Simple Apocalypse but never looked closely at their vehicles because they put all the lego-styled characters front-n-center.  ...the vehicles aren't bad...  I could mayyyyyybe rough them up a bit in texture to help them match my other stuff (mostly Battle Cars from Evozon and War Cars from Havolk).  Actually the vehicles in Synty's Polygon Battle Royale pack might be better (although both would mean spending a fair amount for a small percentage of usable stuff).   

I'll bookmark them and check into them once I use up my existing cars.  Thanks for the steer!

Thanks!  Unity is pretty good at putting out Linux builds and of course it is popular in the Roguelike community, so I will want to get one out. For now (since I don’t have a Linux system handy) I will probably focus on Windows so that I’ll have time to get the game into a more complete state. It will probably come down the line. 

Oh hey I forgot to mention:  Yeah picking up loot is a slog but you can pick up all loot in adjacent squares with the radar equipment (pressing the [1] key).  That'll make it a bit more palatable. :-)

Thanks for the feedback! i'm glad to hear that my conversion to 3D was not a slap in the face to every roguelike fan!  :-)  

I know that the fancy stuff isn't what it's all about, and I'm eager to dig back into creating a satisfying game loop.  I must admit that 3D does slow down development quite a bit... slapping together some pixel art is one thing, but finding competent models and materials is really tough since I'm not an artist.

That said, a ton of my time has been spent on getting the feel of driving, and I do believe that 3D is paying off in that respect.  My biggest challenges is to remind the player when they are at speed and what exactly is going down when they start to skid.  That will probably be tweaked for quite a while in the future.

It sounds like you are playing with the cursor keys, which I added for laptop support.  Glad to hear it works.  One of the weirdnesses of orienting a grid diagonally is that you can't use 4-directional movement and hit every square...  I have some strategies for that in the long run.  For now, if you hold shift it will rotate the arrow movement when you press the cursor keys (I didn't have time in this release to show shift-diagonal feedback onscreen).  Also, the keypad and the 9-key cluster around JKL/UIO/M,. will work on all 8 directions.  Thank god for Rewired, it's pretty easy to add new setups.

It is my lament that I didn't set up enough of a content loop to allow you to acquire/sell/upgrade items for this update!   My focus was really to show a proof of concept to a bunch of people and provide hooks into the rest of the system.  The more I play myself, the more I want to shift focus onto the content loop...  luckily I set up a lot of equipment, enemy and quest infrastructure that I think I can make some good progress in coming months.

Again, thanks for giving it a spin!  It's been a bit nerve-wracking getting something I'm comfortable with out in the wild.  As you can see, I can only see "To do" stickys all over the place. :-)

So after 2.5 years, the first "public" work in progress release of Auto Fire is out there.  I'd been putting so much effort into core systems, feedback and feel that I didn't feel comfortable in people trying it.

There's very limited content right now, and I'm mainly getting a lay of the land if people can handle the control of both a car and roguelike combat.  Some things not yet done:

• There is a very limited progression arc.  You can fight vehicles and soldiers and get loot, but there's no real balance as of yet.
• Very limited set of weapons, equipment and enemies.
• Encounters on the overworld map are not fully operational (cargo, combat, faction changes)
• Boss fights that clear out a hostile area when defeated.
• The citadels aren't really a destination yet.  This is where you will have weapon stores, cargo missions, arena duels, and a bar for rumors.
• The home base isn't really a place to go either.  This map may go away and get streamlined.
• No fame and skill progression tracking, or media coverage of select combats.
• No proper handling of target painting, sustained fire, and other uses of radar (except for picking up items).

Please let me know what you think!

Check out Cardinal Cell here:

https://vertigon.itch.io/cardinal-cell

Cardinal Cell was created in 48 hours for the Ludum Dare 37. Yes, that might have meant an ugly mess, but I was pleased to find the end result easy and fun to play... cool enough that I plan to revise and improve this game over time. I've already replaced the graphics and sound and more will come...

Please give it a look and leave your feedback on the page so I can make it even better. You can play free right in your browser!