"Lords of Thunder: PC" (Updated 1/11/14 - v.001 released)

[Kitsunexus]

The next item I am trying to work on is expanding the amount of parallax in the engine without using too much manual code.  The original game has the appearance of many layers of parallax and without using manual code, I'm stuck with 3 layers in my engine.  One thing I might try to further the effect is to make the furthest mountains static since they would be so far away they shouldn't be moving in the first place.

Can't you just "borrow" parallax code from someone?  :-" 

[Pcenginefx]

Not in this case.  I looked all day on the Game Maker forums and nobody had the same issue.  I did post up there asking about my issue with parallax and was told that I'd have to code something in to make it work.  Trying this now.

[Pcenginefx]

Lords of Thunder: The Return of Landis - v0.1b

DOWNLOAD: http://www.pcenginefx.com/main/lottrol/LoTTRoL_001b.exe (2.5MB, Windows OS)

NOTES: In this release, all of the background graphics have been refined.  The purpose of this project is to not remake the original game, but to enhance/refine it while maintaining the spirit of the graphics/gameplay.  At this point in time, I'm happy with the gfx and parallax.  Changes include:

-Refined the score/life bar graphic to look more realistic.
-Sky/horizon now extends under the bottom of the score/life bar
-Both sets of mountain ranges now blend in with each other (a graphical mistake by me originally)
-Furthest mountain ranges no longer move.
-Totally changed the original sand texture from dots to something that looks like sand with depth of field.
-Ground layer now has transparent sections (shows new sand texture behind it) as well as extended ground texture curves to be more pointed.

[Keranu]

I love the depth of field effect!

One small graphic suggestion I would like to make is for the shades in the sand that don't blend in because they aren't yellow. Just swap them with darker shades if you can.

Are you talking about the bottom part of the sand where it is darker than the rest...or just smooth out the sand in general?

The part where it's darker. There is a green and purpleish color below and I think it would look nicer if they were replaced with darker shades of yellow/orange/brown. But the smoothing you did in the recent screenshot looks great!

[Turbo D]

Much better, I'm ready to play now 

[Kitsunexus]

Nice demo, definite improvement over the first. What's up with the 2.5MB file size though? It's not a problem in anyway, it just seems like it shouldn't be that big for 8 pictures and no sound. 

I gotta say though I really love the demo, this is going to be a kickass game.

The desert setting reminds me of that old 2600 game, Mega Force (but with better grafx, natch. ).

[Pcenginefx]

With Game Maker, the files needed to run the EXE without Gamer Maker installed is about 2MB or so - this is why with only 350kb worth of graphics, the file is 2.5MB.

If I think of any further refinements to the background graphics, I'll put them in.  I would like to fiddle with the buildings in the background some to make them more realistic... but otherwise, next up is inserting Landis into the mix.

[Pcenginefx]

Lords of Thunder: The Return of Landis - v0.2

DOWNLOAD: http://www.pcenginefx.com/main/lottrol/LoTTRoL_02.exe (2.6MB, Windows OS)

NOTES: After about 4 hours of copying code, figuring out bugs and testing...Landis is now in the game and is able to be moved around (no shooting yet!).  Even though I have my old game maker file to copy from, it doesn't copy 1 for 1.  Variables change, and the movement in the old LoT:PC wasn't totally fleshed out so I had to figure out how to fix the remaining movement issues.

MAJOR CHANGES:
-Addition of a controllable Landis.  Landis is a complex character - first off there are animations for flying forward/back, moving up/down, running on the ground, running fast on the ground to the right, flying backwards on the ground, and that's just for movement.  You can control Landis using the wsad or arrow keys.  No shooting as of yet.  If you find any bugs PLEASE let me know.

MINOR CHANGES
-Implemented a 4th layer of parallax! (now the furthest mountain range move...yay!
-Smoothed out the edges on the ground layer.
-This demo is not infinite (unlike previous versions) - it will end in a short time.

[Turbo D]

This is great progress Aaron  I like how he can be controlled with the wasd keys 

[Kitsunexus]

AWESOME.

[Pcenginefx]

1st post has been modified with updated goals and expectations for the project.  One cool item I want to point out is that I now plan to have a remixed soundtrack in the game 

I'm currently working on allowing Landis to shoot (hit two big logic bugs last night which I have yet to solve...doesn't help when you have a wife trying to get your attention with her...assets)...while I was doing that I found a bug that everyone can try in the current demo.  Want Landis to move faster?  Press the key in both WSAD and ARROW keys at the same time and see him speed up.

[Necromancer]

It's looking better and better, but screw Landis (he can wait when wifey calls).

[Keranu]

Aaron, he's an image edit I made showing what I had in mind earlier of replacing the green shade with a brown to blend in with the sand more:



Not sure if that's up your alley or not, but just my suggestion.

[Pcenginefx]

Keranu,

Oh, you mean the very bottom sand area (now I see it).  Yah, this is something I can change.

Now, I have a question for everyone.  Do you like me updating this post with smaller releases, or would you rather wait until I put in a lot of stuff for a more major release? (but taking longer?)

[Keranu]

I kinda like the smaller updates .