hack3r Beta 0.90 Demo Released!

I have been working on this game for a while now, and hope to eventually sell it for profit. I'm looking for beta testers to test this game and tell me how good it is!
hack3r is an arcady action game. You control your avatar (cube) and shoot at the incoming bots (cones) for as long as you can hold out. The game has several different enemy types, ranging from standard bots that try to ram you to advanced bots that shoot back! To help defend yourself, grab the power ups that randomly appear for bonuses, ranging from invincibility, increased shooting power, to homing bullets and speed boosts!
The zipped game, along with all necessary files, is available free for download at this link!
It is a demo only, and stops working after 10 games. Of course if I update it, more demos will be posted with reset timers.
Please post here with comments, reviews, bugs, ideas, and anything else you can think of to help improve this game!
You'll need this password I (accidentally) assigned to it:
firstupload73
Thanks!

"The file/folder is protected by a password."

Sounds interesting though..

Sorry! I'll fix it right now!!!

I think I fixed it, but I can't tell...
I tried downloading it twice and it works fine here.
Please tell me if you can download it now.

It still has a password on it.

Also, post some screenshots.

Sorry. It's my first time posting a game and I thought the password was only for protecting the file, so no one could modify it or delete it... Now even I can't delete the file!! Anyway, the password is

firstupload73

[Gfk]: Yes, I will be posting screenshots shortly!

Thanks!

What does this have to do with hackers, or hacking?

Your security methods are quite silly, and I don't see why you would limit an unfinished game.

The menu background is VERY distracting, and the colour of all the zero's and one's make it hard to read the menu options.

The original inspiration for the game was a visual representation of hacking into a computer, with the enemies being security systems. Not ACTUALLY hacking anything, of course!!!



Because it's almost finished, and if all I have to do is make some minor tweaks here and there, why would anyone pay for the game? And why do you think they're silly?!! :-)



I thought of that... Maybe change the color of the binary text? Or maybe just ditch it alltogether... But then it looks funny without any background, and I can't think of what else to put behind there..
Any suggestions are welcome.

And Plash, what did you think of the actual gameplay?

*Has a tantrum* I want screenshots!

Because they are extremely easy to get around - if your really worried about security you should put some thought into it.

When you play the game it has an unusual background (warpy!), maybe something like a worm-hole, or similar to the gameplay.

[Retimer]: I uploaded screenshots to the gallery.
[Plash]: Do you have any suggestions for security?..

There is no solid form of security, and I would presume it is harder to do with Blitz3D.

For starters you should store sensitive files in the exe itself, and registry values to save the exact same information.
http://www.blitzbasic.com/codearcs/codearcs.php?code=880

If the user still has the original package he could just replace the exe and it would be back to 0 games, but if the game checks the registry for the same number of games played and they are not the same throw an error.
This is still easy to get around, but I don't think someone would try super hard.

There are still alot of things you could do to secure your game, but I'm not here to give a lecture.

[Plash]:
There aren't any really sensitive files out there, plus there's no way of storing, say, sound files in the exe. I'm obviously not going to reveal too much about how it works, but I do know (because I've tested this) that even if you do have the installer, replacing the exe will not restart the demo. Thanks for the input, though.
Would someone please comment on the actual game?? :-)

I wasn't referring to its current state.

hmm...

If you are planning to sell it maybe a texture or two on the player and the cones would be nice. I think you should use a modeling program and make the enemies and players look a bit more interesting.

how do you limit the plays to 10
I was thinking of making a demo for my upcoming game but I didn't know how to limit the number of times you can run it.

p.s. when you do the freeze thing where all enemies freeze, it is obvious you use pointentity or a similar method because they jump from their original orientation to facing you. good luck but I dont think it will sell in its current state it needs a little work. Maybe it would look good on Addicting games ;)

Wow. That's a slap in the face.

i didn't mean it like that ked

I meant in its current state it would be better off as freeware unless there was a little more work put into the models themselves and maybe in general adding more of a proffesional feel to it. The reason I mentioned addicting games was that I have played a game very similar to this one on addicting games. Who knows it could just be me. Sorry if this insulted you. It was just a suggestion. Good Luck :)

screenshots?

[Nate the Great]:

I kept the graphics simple on purpose. I was going for a simple, clean, utilitarian feel to the game. Any suggestions as to how to accomplish this while making it more professional are welcome.

Yes, I do use PointEntity, and in the next release I'll fix that bug. Thanks for catching that!

I've never heard of that before - is that a bad thing?

[t3K|Mac]:

I've uploaded three pics to the gallery - I don't know if they've posted yet.
Why does everyone keep asking for screenshots when I've posted the demo for free?? :-)
Seriously, screenshots don't do the game justice. You have to see it in motion!!

No it is not a bad thing. I just said that because I saw a very similar game on addicting games :)

[Nate the Great]:

Really! If you know where it is, would you post a link to it? I don't want it to look like I'm copying anyone..
Thanks!

Would someone please comment on the actual game?!! :-)
How is the control scheme?
How is the gameplay?
How is the difficulty?
Anything!!

I dont remember what it was called but it wasn't too similar. dont worry about it.



The controls are fine but maybe if you changed the entities from simple boxes and cones to more interesting shaped things. Maybe you could google hypertron. I think that is what it is called.

[edit] here it is

http://www.games4win.com/games/hypertron-2/


[edit] List of suggestions

more camera angles
use a modeling program to make the players more interesting
make the first levels a little easier
make the background less distracting
make the bad guys look like BAD guys



Take the 10 plays thing off please!!!

[Nate the Great]:
Thanks, I think I'm safe from copyright infringments...


You mean like different zoom levels? I think I forgot this in the docs, but you can zoom in and out with the - and + keys on the keyboard (near backspace). And if you mean rotate the camera, that would wreak havok with my controls. :-(


I use MS3D and Blender. I'll look into something that still fits with the overall theme.


Easy as in:
1) more powerups
2) less enemies
3) slower/dumber enemies
4) all of the above
Suggestions would be great.


Do you mean the MENU background (0s and 1s) or the GAME background (scrolling blue tiles)?
(If you mean the game background, it's much better than it was in the alpha stage. I had 0s and 1s scrolling down and across it... made people nauseous...)


Umm.. Could you be more specific? Should I put little angry faces on them? :-)


This is a DEMO. The game is nearly complete, and if I give away early versions why would people want to pay for only a slighly better version?
[edit]:
If everyone is so nitpicky about this, then what do you think of Vista? :-)

Thanks for the input!!

I thought the game was pretty fun :D
And there should be 1)more powerups
The menu was pretty laggy, and when the player explodes, it's laggy too. Homing missiles ftw!

[GIA_Green_Fire_]:
Thanks!!!
If you have any suggestions for powerups, that'd be great.
Also, if the menu is laggy, you can switch graphics modes to anything above 800x600, and the background is automatically switched off.
If it's laggy, it's most likely due to hardware... I'll add an option to reduce menu and particle effects!
I'm glad you liked it!!!

It works well on vista

yes you should put angry little faces on them :)

[Nate the Great]:

I meant that because Vista is so buggy.
But that's good to know anyway!


I can't tell if that's sarcasm or not... I think I'll add that anyway, with a menu option to contol it! :-)
Thanks for the idea!

It was not sarcasm :)

Then I'll get to work implementing that!
Hee hee hee! :-D

ages ago on the ST (and perhaps amiga too) there was a game called interface (st format released a demo and then the next issue or two the full game so perhaps the publisher pulled out)

the game was a wire frame cyber/physical world game
you the hacker of the virtual reprisentation of the pc had to destroy CCTV cameras or open close or lock electronic doors for your real life partner to traverse safely around the building for whatever reason it was

you got the usual catch terms as baddies, firewalls virus checker etc all shootable enemies, sometimes you had to turn a camera back on so you had to go to the 'factory' and create a new camera to plonk in its wireframe place

and also a few years back my brother was playing this 'hacker' game where you sold your skills to do espionage/sabotage and other things from your 'pc desktop' (all email other computers etc were just code in the game not real hacking etc)
go to the bulletin board and pick a job
install whatever hard/software needed
dial thier computer up (do all routing over satelites to hide trace)
copy files that they wanted or delete them
kill the server if need be

he quite liked the game for a while, you could speed up time as there may not be any decent jobs going for a week real time and fast forward it till you find one you like

[Ginger Tea]:
Interesting. I've never heard of either - although they do sound fun. Hopefully I won't be violating any copyrights with mine ...
What did you think of my game?
Thanks for the insight.
[edit]: If you know of anyplace I'd be able to find either game, I'd love to check them out!

i tried googling interface but seeing as its also used to define something else i wasnt having much luck
id have to ask my brother about the other one

not tried yours yet but i dont think it sounds like either (well the ST game atleast)

edit:
i thought it might have been misspelt "Interphase" was the ST game
http://www.atari.st/view.php?id=865

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interphase_(video_game)

[Ginger Tea]: Thanks! I'll look into that. Looks cool!

Usually the only copyright issues you have worry about is the name of your project and the media it uses. Usually stealing ideas doesn't get you in trouble, technologies.. depends.

I am making a game called destructo car. :)

Could the guy that made indestructo tank (on addicting games) sue me for stealing the name even though it is different.

[Nate the Great]:
Since the name is different, and your game has cars, not tanks, I think you're fine. I'd worry more about the developers of Twisted Metal coming after you. :-)
(Although there has been no shortage of knock-offs, so you're still fine.)
Have you tried my game yet?

yes I tried your game and ran out of plays pretty quickly but I liked it. remember my post above with all of the suggestions?

You haven't heard of Twisted Metal, yet you're planning a car combat game?!!!
Twisted Metal is probably the earliest car combat game. Although I've only played Head On on the PSP, it's a great series that started on the PSOne.
The concept is that there's this competition call (you guessed it) Twisted Metal. In it, drivers with 'special' cars compete to blow each other up using machine guns, missles, napalm, and tons of other pickups, special abilites, and enviromental weapons.

Thanks for posting your code - I'd heard of verlet physics for that kind of thing, as I've been toying with the idea of making one myself, but hadn't run across much code yet. I'll definately take a look at it!

Also, as soon as I get my website hosted I'll probably have V0.905 out with a reset timer. :-)
I'll keep you posted.

...

.

Ok finnaly I was able to dig up what I have been looking for. Here it is.

This would be a fun background and less buisy than your current one. :)

Graphics3D 800,600,0,1

cam = CreateCamera()
TurnEntity cam,90,0,0
lit = CreateLight()
TurnEntity lit,90,0,0
MoveEntity cam,0,0,-10

;cube = CreateCube()

Global texnum = CreateTexture(256,256)

SetBuffer FrontBuffer()

tmpfnt = LoadFont("Arial",18,True,False,False)
SetFont tmpfnt

Color 255,255,255
x = 0
y = 0
tmpvar$ = ""
For y = 1 To 80
	tmpvar$ = ""
	For x = 1 To 200
		tmpvar$ = tmpvar$ + ""+Int(Rnd(0,1))+""
		;Text x,y,Int(Rnd(0,1))
	Next
	Text 1,y*20,tmpvar$
Next

CopyRect 0,0,256,256,0,0,FrontBuffer(),TextureBuffer(texnum)

SetBuffer BackBuffer()

pln1 = CreatePlane()
pln2 = CreatePlane()

ScaleTexture texnum,-10,10

EntityTexture pln1,texnum
TurnEntity pln1,0,170,0
EntityAlpha pln1,.2
ScaleEntity pln2,.9,.9,.9

TurnEntity pln2,0,0,10
TurnEntity pln1,0,0,30

EntityTexture pln2,texnum
TurnEntity pln2,0,181,0
EntityAlpha pln2,.1


EntityColor pln1,0,0,255
EntityColor pln2,0,255,0

While Not KeyDown(1)
Cls

MoveEntity pln2,.1,0,0
MoveEntity pln1,.1,0,0

UpdateWorld()
RenderWorld()
Flip
Wend
End

@ Nate, the guy started this thread to showcase HIS game. Why are you using it to show us a worklog of your own coding attempts?! You should start your own thread.

@ Uber, I played the game. The gameplay wasn't bad although a little difficult to get going. It reminded me of gridwars although nowhere near as fun and frantic. You should add more variety in terms of enemies / attack patterns. You should add a better background. You should also add an option to use dual analogues - similar to gridwars (Personally I can't stand keys and mouse control ). I don't have much experience in selling my work but in it's current state it looks more like a prototype than the finished article - especially as you use primitives for all the game objects. It shouldn't be too difficult to create some better low poly meshes. The start screen is very unappealing for the reasons mentioned in other posts. In general, I think it needs alot more polish before you should even consider trying to sell it.

Stevie G I was giving suggestions for the background of the main menu wich currently gives me migrains sorry if I forgot to mention this.

Uber sorry If I was hogging your thread but I was just trying to be helpful

I will take down my unnecesary work :)

Hmm...
Maybe you could change the number of plays to 20 or 30 to let us get a better sense of the game.

[Stevie G]:
Thank's for looking out for me.



I haven't heard of gridwars. What do you mean it's hard to get going? Should I have the enemies come faster/in more numbers? Other said it was too difficult.. Maybe I'll put in mutiple difficulty modes or something.



Yes, I'm already planning more enemy types.
As for attack patterns, these guys are trying to ram you. If I have them start weaving around, they will be too hard to shoot (unless you have homing bullets, which could break the game..)



If you mean in game, then I'm working on that, too.



That was my original idea - left stick moves, right stick points and shoots. However, not all people have compatible gamepads on their computers - plus in Blitz3D there is no way to get the second set of JoyX and JoyY, like in BlitzPlus. If anyone knows of a way around that, it'd be very helpful.



It IS a prototype. That's why it's called 'beta', not 'full release demo'.



I've already made a better player mesh that's going in the 0.905 release. As for enemies... I can't think of anything yet.. Suggestions are more than welcome!



I've already fixed that, again, in the next release.



I know that - that's why it's only beta. :-)

Thanks!


[Nate the Great]:
Actually, thanks for putting that up (though next time use a code box so it doesn't take up so much room). And yes, you are being helpful!

Also, due to popular demand, the next release will have a longer demo!

Uber It is good to know that I am being helpful thanks but if you use my background in the final version of your game could you please mention my name somewhere in the credits. Hope it is not asking too much of you thanks

i've got a 360 pad working just fine in b3d. just look at the joy commands and run the examples while hit the buttons and moving the sticks, you'll quickly see which is the second stick. i might even upload my little joystick tester app, if i can find it

<<edit>> found it http://mtnhome3d.com/Documents/x360%20config.zip <</edit>>

Look in the code archives - there is a dual analogue joypad app made by Pongo there. My game Polymaniacs allows you to use any kind of dual analogue pad - including wheels + pedals so it is possible. Bear in mind that you can't always be guaranteed that joyx() & joyy() control the left stick.

By 'Hard to get going' I meant too difficult at the outset. Sorry should have made that clearer.

My interpretation of a Beta release is a feature complete program ( not a prototype ) so this is what I expected it to be - hence some of my comments.

[mtnhome3d]:
I've already written programs that do just that - I can only register the second stick in BlitzPlus. I use a Logitech 360-like gamepad, by the way.

[Stevie G]:

I searched all over the archives for it - no luck.
Could you post a link to it here? Thanks.


I've been tweaking the difficulty - it might be better in the next release.


Well, I thought most of the features were complete, at the time. Now I see I have a little more work to do - but that's great - it makes for a better game! Anyway, I called it Beta because the only thing before that is Alpha, which usually means that it's still in development, non-public. If there's a more-appropriate name that means "still in development but need feedback", I've never heard of it.

Thanks!

It's all a bit woolly but I'd call that an Alpha build.

Here's the joypad thing :

http://www.blitzbasic.com/codearcs/codearcs.php?code=1592

[Stevie G]:
GREAT program!! I've been trying to get that second stick working for months!
Cool interface also - a lot more than I was expecting! And Public Domain to boot!!
Definately going to be incorporated into the next release!
Thanks!!!

You should take a look at Kenta Cho games: these games are well known for having a retro look which delivers a lot in terms of style. They are an excellent source for gameplay inspiration since these games incorporate almost all shoot'em up concepts out there. Still about style, Darwinia springs to mind too, or of course games like Geometry Wars (Grid Wars was already pointed out though which shares the same style). Otherwise you could take a look at Mutant Storm but its style is more complex albeit wonderful.

http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~cs8k-cyu/index_e.html
http://www.introversion.co.uk/darwinia/


I usually play this kind of Robotron like games using the keyboard cursors for movement, and WASD for shooting. I am a lot more responsive that way than by using a dual analog controller or mouse + keyboard.

[Doiron]:
I thought of that, but I didn't think it'd be presice enough for aiming..
Maybe I should just put a bunch of different control modes in there?

What did you think of my game? :-)

I used this control scheme since Llamatron and I always found that the responsiveness far outweights the 45° fixed orientation issue. The first thing I look in games of this kind if they support this control scheme, so that I can switch to it (shame on Charlie's Games for not implementing it in Bullet Candy! ;) ). Of course it also depends on practice... I never was a joypad buff, having grown on the C64 and the PC and having embraced consoles only later.

[Doiron]:
Then I guess I'll put that in to appease the hard-core segment of my
customers/beta testers. :-)
By the way, I've never heard of these games - I thought I was inventing a genre, but, like trying to find an unused domain name for a website, everything's been done before...

I admit I played it only for a few minutes, so I'm sorry if in later stages some of the suggestions are implemented... however:

First of all, I would show the mouse pointer on screen to aid aiming the enemies.

Then I would make the player ship move faster (maybe with a tiny bit of inertia).

I would also make the enemies use very different movement patterns and use very different graphics and colors for each in order to let the player easily recognize them, and make each movement pattern require the player different techniques in order to attack and evade them (it shouldn't look like all the enemies are always pointing and moving towards the player like a hoard of zombies). Some enemy types could even react to player bullets in order to dodge them, or to the player position in order to corner him.

I would also change the respawn points of the enemies for each stage in a position scheme decided by the level designer, and add respawn points with hordes of enemies during game in order to spice things up (respawn points could also vanish when they have depleted their scope, i.e. when all the enemies exited it).

You could also add walls/obstacles later in stages which among with tactically positioned respawn points would force different techniques to beat the stages (though this suggestion could complicate coding quite a bit in terms of enemy behaviour/paths).

I also believe that a game designer shouldn't recur to lots of power-ups if the gameplay mechanics are well thought... an arena shoot'em up game just needs to let the player give a way to evade all the enemies while trimming down their numbers, and adding interesting ways to do it should be done without overcomplicating the mechanics or they would get in the way of the frantic action and decision making.

Hope these suggestions can be of help. :)

[Doiron]:


WYSIWYG.



Easy enough...



Semi-Easy, yet still doable...



WARNING! WARNING!! EXTREME AMOUNT OF WORK AHEAD!!!!! :-)
Yes, I had thought of all that..
I really can't think of any different enemy models.. Sugestions??
As for them dodging bullets, I'd have to make them move faster. I was concerned that that would make it waaaay to hard for the player...
And I was actually AIMING for that 'horde of zombies' thing! :-)



I had actually made a level editor for the game..
Except unexplained bugs, coupled with the sheer size of the program,
led me to abandon it for this clean, simple approach.
And all of this, I thought, to make it inacessably difficult.. I can barely last 3-5 minutes with this, and I wrote it!!!

As for the respawn thing, how would I let the player know that he's standing in the middle of where enemies are about to appear?
Seems like it'd lead to a lot of unfair deaths...

Thanks for the suggestions, though. Any ideas on how to implement them are more than welcome..

Thanks!

Here there are some movies which could be of help:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZXxnViANeA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xa_MPoXLGwA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIjTqJdHGxg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfM8o71N6vY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_8CSnooIt4



This genre exists since the dawn of gaming... Williams' Robotron started it all in 1982! However, it can be reinvented in lots of different ways and never become obsolete. :)



Naaah... it was done many times: just add an animation for the portal and let the enemies spawn after a three/four secs, so that the player has the time to get out of it.

You know...

A few really cool particle effects where the respawn points were and a few other random effects would spice it up a lot. :)

Also you can use the avoid entity function if you want to add walls and obstacles when this game is closer to completion.

http://www.blitzbasic.com/codearcs/codearcs.php?code=2282#comments

players now days seem to like action packed high resolution high particle effect games :) That just makes it harder on the programmers but programming is fun so it doesn't bother me.

The hack3r website is now up and runnning!!!

From this website anyone can download the latest beta!

I'll be starting a new thread of course, but in case anyone is still
reading this one the website is

www.UberGeekGames.com

Have fun!!