And so it begins!
by WesTT · 07/06/2008 (11:55 am) · 17 comments
Well it's currently 4:30am in the morning and I have been up all night working with a colleague on our game. That game is titled "Zompocalypse" and yes, it does indeed contain a myriad of zombie assailants for you to dispatch in a variety of ways, with a variety of "tools". It is a shooter, plain and simple, harking back to the 16-bit "Golden Era" (what that is will most like depend entirely on your age and preferences) of gaming. So far we have five weapons implemented, including a pistol, shotgun, machine gun, flame-thrower and rocket launcher... and a variety of gib and blood effects to go with it. We also have a variety of zombie templates that differ based on speed, aggressiveness, strength etc, and also graphical style. We've really hammered the TGB particle and physics system in some areas of the game, and I think we've come up with some excellent results.
Some other stuff we have implemented:
Rescuing damsels in distress. When you rescue a damsel, you score points and perhaps a better weapon to help you take care of the zombie hoard.
"Bonus" driving stages where you get points based on the number of zombies bowled over either in your pimping cop car or a rocking tank (based on the character you choose to play, McPain (the white redneck) or Sargent Smackdown.
Paul has done a wonderful job with the art work, bringing a real Metal Slug style to the game.
We've been through a variety of problems, but I really think we are getting into our groove. For now however, I think a picture speaks a thousand words, so here's 2000 for you.
We still have a loooong way to go. But we're getting there.
That's it from me, thanks for reading!
EDIT: Another shot from a development build. I had cars added ages ago, and at one point you could in fact hop in cars and drive them around and run over zombies. It was kind of cool, but has currently been relegated to the idea scrap heap until we can find a more workable solution. But that doesn't mean we weren't able to use that code to still have random cars driving past smashing into zombies and creating carnage! Hooray!
There's also some of our random pickups in there, such as hamburgers, hotdogs, TVs... you know, all the kind of things you'd obviously find on a zombie. *ahem*
Once again, thanks for reading.
Some other stuff we have implemented:
Rescuing damsels in distress. When you rescue a damsel, you score points and perhaps a better weapon to help you take care of the zombie hoard.
"Bonus" driving stages where you get points based on the number of zombies bowled over either in your pimping cop car or a rocking tank (based on the character you choose to play, McPain (the white redneck) or Sargent Smackdown.
Paul has done a wonderful job with the art work, bringing a real Metal Slug style to the game.
We've been through a variety of problems, but I really think we are getting into our groove. For now however, I think a picture speaks a thousand words, so here's 2000 for you.
We still have a loooong way to go. But we're getting there.
That's it from me, thanks for reading!
EDIT: Another shot from a development build. I had cars added ages ago, and at one point you could in fact hop in cars and drive them around and run over zombies. It was kind of cool, but has currently been relegated to the idea scrap heap until we can find a more workable solution. But that doesn't mean we weren't able to use that code to still have random cars driving past smashing into zombies and creating carnage! Hooray!
There's also some of our random pickups in there, such as hamburgers, hotdogs, TVs... you know, all the kind of things you'd obviously find on a zombie. *ahem*
Once again, thanks for reading.
#2
07/06/2008 (1:58 pm)
Fantastic artwork! I can't wait to see more. 
#3
07/06/2008 (2:09 pm)
Omfg, that looks awesome.
#5
07/06/2008 (4:44 pm)
It looks great, maybe you could deactivate the filtering on the sprites to have a better "old school" feeling.
#6
07/06/2008 (4:56 pm)
Thumbs up! Your civilians remind me of MS3 zombies.
#8
@Benjamin: Yeah, we've actually tried it without filtering, and the general consensus was that it looked better with filtering on than with it off. It certainly has a more retro feel without filtering, but overall we thought it just "felt" better with it on. Sprites would pixelate a little *too* much as we have a false depth of field effect at work.
@All: The Metal Slug influence wasn't actually intentional from the start, and the game was actually based on a smaller "demo" that Paul had whipped up in MMF. As time rolled on however, it just organically grew to show our love of the MS games. Both the art and the code have been through quite a few revisions as we both learnt what the system was capable of.
07/06/2008 (10:38 pm)
Hi guys, thanks for the positive feedback. @Benjamin: Yeah, we've actually tried it without filtering, and the general consensus was that it looked better with filtering on than with it off. It certainly has a more retro feel without filtering, but overall we thought it just "felt" better with it on. Sprites would pixelate a little *too* much as we have a false depth of field effect at work.
@All: The Metal Slug influence wasn't actually intentional from the start, and the game was actually based on a smaller "demo" that Paul had whipped up in MMF. As time rolled on however, it just organically grew to show our love of the MS games. Both the art and the code have been through quite a few revisions as we both learnt what the system was capable of.
#9
www.youtube.com/watch?v=w58dARGPsQQ
flaws in the system, i vote 5 stars haha, seriously tho, I hope we can get some more time to polish up the art and add more content beyond the demo, ill post more vids as we do them.
peace
07/06/2008 (10:46 pm)
hey guys, I just uploaded a vid from Wes n I's playtest.www.youtube.com/watch?v=w58dARGPsQQ
flaws in the system, i vote 5 stars haha, seriously tho, I hope we can get some more time to polish up the art and add more content beyond the demo, ill post more vids as we do them.
peace
#10
07/07/2008 (6:50 am)
That looks GREAT! Whoever's doing your art has a really good grasp on working with simple textures. Make sure you include a coin slot for me to jam quarters in, cause this seriously takes me back.
#12
It looks awesome and I can't wait to see more.
I think that I've watched the game play video 13 times already.
07/08/2008 (9:27 am)
Soooo ... when do we get our stubby little hands on a demo? :)It looks awesome and I can't wait to see more.
I think that I've watched the game play video 13 times already.
#14
I knew you were going to say that.
How Dare You :)
That is fine. Worth the wait.
07/08/2008 (11:04 am)
LMAO.I knew you were going to say that.
How Dare You :)
That is fine. Worth the wait.
#15
07/08/2008 (7:45 pm)
sall good man I joke :) We upto this point have been doing it a few hours outside our normal jobs, as much as we would like to do this for a living society says no. So Its realy hard to tell when the demo will be done since we cant invest as much time as we would like into game making, so hopefully soon.
#17
1.) Stages - We first expanded the game from a single screen shooter (originally) into a scrolling single "stage" or street, and now we have 4 streets (stages) per level that the players must progress through.
2.) Zombie Bosses - All bosses are now in. There's a few issues left with them, but the Pope of Harlem works pretty well and shoots his "Papal Hadoken" (as we amusingly refer to it) towards his current target. He's as badass as they come and will form the first stage final boss. There's two other mid-level bosses that you'll get to see at a later date, but they are in as of this point in time.
3.) Pickups - Lots of crazy pickups, including ammo and government cheese. No, we're not American, but we know all about the cheese. :D
4.) More background buildings: Paul has once again padded out the backgrounds with yet more buildings. As we added more streets we felt that they were a bit samey and needed more variety.
5.) Zombie HIT AND RUN: I couldn't help myself. Paul and I agreed on freezing features but I felt the universe tugging at me on this one. Cars now drive through the levels and wipe our zombies and players as they do. It's gold. GOLD.
You only get a brief view of it here (because it needs more work on my side) but there's also the driving level, which the title screen is based off. It's a sort of bonus/connector between each level of the game and you get to mow down zombies either in your pimping cop car or tank.
We're pretty buzzed at how it's coming together now, we really have our footing and direction. Hopefully, we can avoid full-time work for a bit longer and get this thing home. Otherwise, it's onto the government cheese for me! :P
07/27/2008 (8:50 pm)
Thank Paul. Some of the biggest changes here from the previous version:1.) Stages - We first expanded the game from a single screen shooter (originally) into a scrolling single "stage" or street, and now we have 4 streets (stages) per level that the players must progress through.
2.) Zombie Bosses - All bosses are now in. There's a few issues left with them, but the Pope of Harlem works pretty well and shoots his "Papal Hadoken" (as we amusingly refer to it) towards his current target. He's as badass as they come and will form the first stage final boss. There's two other mid-level bosses that you'll get to see at a later date, but they are in as of this point in time.
3.) Pickups - Lots of crazy pickups, including ammo and government cheese. No, we're not American, but we know all about the cheese. :D
4.) More background buildings: Paul has once again padded out the backgrounds with yet more buildings. As we added more streets we felt that they were a bit samey and needed more variety.
5.) Zombie HIT AND RUN: I couldn't help myself. Paul and I agreed on freezing features but I felt the universe tugging at me on this one. Cars now drive through the levels and wipe our zombies and players as they do. It's gold. GOLD.
You only get a brief view of it here (because it needs more work on my side) but there's also the driving level, which the title screen is based off. It's a sort of bonus/connector between each level of the game and you get to mow down zombies either in your pimping cop car or tank.
We're pretty buzzed at how it's coming together now, we really have our footing and direction. Hopefully, we can avoid full-time work for a bit longer and get this thing home. Otherwise, it's onto the government cheese for me! :P
Torque Owner Thak