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Post by johnno56 on Jun 2, 2020 23:16:36 GMT -6
The competition is now closed. All the votes are in and the winners announced. Unfortunately, I was not included among them, but I 'did' do better than I had expected. Achieving a total of 4% of the votes!! How cool is that? I think it is... I expected zero... 4%!! I can live with that!
To all of you that helped, a HUGE thank you, because without you I probably would not have entered...
Another bonus was the review...
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"Initially confusing how some of the screens are set up. When going from title/game/game over for me. The game asked me if I wanted to play again after one game and then prompts me to enter my name for the score from previous game. A bit of a minor quibble but keeping a player in a game doesn't need to ask them if they want to play again. Just fire to restart.
Rotation of ship to shoot compared to the speed of asteroids appeared too slow for me. As was the movement of the ship itself, I thought.
Also thought the game was a bit difficult. That's not always a bad thing but there's only one life here and its not really playing fair. It's often impossible to avoid the incoming rocks as they move faster than you ever can without a complete loss of control.
A bit more variety in gameplay could have improved it a lot. The shield is a cool idea in giving you a bit of protection but the page up/page down keys are awkward one to reach for in a panic so i died more often than not looking at the keyboard to reach for it.
The only way the game moves on from beginning until players eventual death is due to more and more rocks being in play. Maybe a breaking scene between levels just to give player a bit of a rest every so often. I know this game plays like asteroids but the idea is to reboot the game you're recreating.
Music seems a bit faint on the title screen and doesn't fit the game.
I did like the speed and amount of bullets to give the game a faster pace.
It's an ok Asteroids game but I just think a bit more could have been done with it."
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Oh, some would see this as a "list" of "defects" or a list of potential improvements. I think I will choose the latter....
My only regrets are, not having enough experience in making games and as a result, not promoting RCBasic as much as I could. My apologies for letting you all down...
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Post by n00b on Jun 2, 2020 23:31:10 GMT -6
You definitely did not let anyone down. I think you did a great job on this. It is probably the most impressive game I have seen in RCBasic so far.
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Post by kennn on Jun 5, 2020 14:43:43 GMT -6
To all of you that helped, a HUGE thank you, because without you I probably would not have entered... Hello, Your participation in that competition is so important for this official forum. Sure! It is because your participation made our forum not too inactive. Your participation is a big help! ( The forum is always not active enough.    ) |
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Post by johnno56 on Jun 5, 2020 17:21:44 GMT -6
Thank you for your comments. Much appreciated.
As with the current trend, towards Basic, the activity or the lack of activity, will eventually be based on those that still have the desire to code.
As for me, I'm probably too old to learn another language, after all, I've been using basic since 1985 and I will probably continue to use it until either the eyesight or brain fails... lol
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Post by tbird on Jun 5, 2020 22:47:50 GMT -6
Well if your mind or eyes are failing...its not showing yet.
I find the comment kinda funny in saying the game is too hard, I found it way too easy, after 35000 points I just offed myself and then slowed the shots down and added more asteroids lol.....but that's what makes life interesting different opinions.
Kenn, I am very inactive lately due to a bad harvest last year which turns into a hellish seeding this spring...where I have to finish harvest before I can work the fields and seed, when I should be seeding, then vaccinating the cattle, fixing fences, moving bulls....etc.... I haven't looked at my engine code since my last update of multiple hit boxes....makes me a little sad but such is life. Rainy weekend coming so I might be able to sneak in a couple hours if I am lucky.
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Post by kennn on Jun 6, 2020 19:37:24 GMT -6
johnno56,Thank you for your comments. Much appreciated. Hello, I still have an interesting question. Why did the following game win the contest? Can this game be duplicated with RCBasic exactly??  youtube.com/watch?v=evLKLVTcSMQ tbird,Kenn, I am very inactive lately due to a bad harvest last year which turns into a hellish seeding this spring...where I have to finish harvest before I can work the fields and seed, when I should be seeding, then vaccinating the cattle, fixing fences, moving bulls....etc.... Ok...I see. You are very diligent!  If you are the leader of our community's entry in the 11th SyntaxBomb contest, the 11th contest will be a very excited contest. Sure.
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Post by johnno56 on Jun 6, 2020 21:10:55 GMT -6
Kennn,
Without examining the source code, I cannot say for sure that the game could be re-created exactly, using RCBasic.
From what I can see, the game uses a particle system (weapon fire hitting the Asteroids). I'm not sure if the rotating rocks are either images or 3D rendering. The number of options (11) on the main menu would imply that there is more to the game than the video shows... But I do like the menu... If he has used a "game maker style" frame work, then it may be difficult to recreate whatever optimizations that the "maker" uses...
Re-creating a 'similar' game would be possible but I would have to ask, "Why?". What is it, about that game, would inspire its re-creation? Just curios.
ps: If TBird wishes to lead then I will be keen to follow...
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Post by tbird on Jun 6, 2020 22:18:21 GMT -6
Kenn, can a game similar or better be created in RC, definitely! It's up to the developer. As for a lead goes on a comp, I thought it worked out great, Johnno had a to do list and everyone chipped in when and where they could....that's what a community is all about, it was fun. I doubt I would be good for a "lead" my availability is patchy at best, and johnno is the one who put in the motherlode of time and effort....and coffee lol. I would be glad to participate again, but dont have high expectations of what i can contribute  |
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Post by johnno56 on Jun 6, 2020 23:05:30 GMT -6
For me, the experience was terrifying; exciting; fun and stressful to the max... I doubt I will "put my hand up" to do another competition anytime soon. lol... This experience demonstrated just how much I "do not" know. Knowledge of good structured coding; use of third party tools; planning and co-ordinating... are not things that can be taken for granted. Venturing into a competition, or even starting a career, without the proper training is like a train wreck just waiting to happen.
I, for one, would like to see more RCBasic tutorials. Primarily concerning program structure. Crumbs, anything that will educate all of us in making better games and applications will be a BIG plus for future efforts. How to plan and or design games etc. I'm not suggesting heaps of video tutorials... Documents will do in a pinch... Anything that will cause the user to actually key in the code... although effective, copy and paste, does not offer as much "experience" to gain knowledge of 'how things work'. (in my opinion)
My apologies for 'rambling on'. My caffeine levels have dropped to an absolute low....
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Post by kennn on Jun 8, 2020 4:46:34 GMT -6
tbird,can a game similar or better be created in RC, definitely! It's up to the developer. Your above description answered my question. Actually, Validius and Asterocks are so similar! If johnno56 could add several interesting power-ups to Asterocks during the development period, johnno56 might easily become the champion of the competition! I see. johnno56 is a very suitable and competent entrant of this type of game programming competition. We look forward to the 11th competition.  I predict that the 11th competition will be held near Christmas. johnno56, But I do like the menu... Yes, agree. I want to see this type of menu in your future entries. I was only curious. Validius might be developed with some game creation software(not pure language). Therefore, I wanted to know whether an experienced RCBasic user was able to duplicate Validius exactly. Another question is: is it possible to finish making Validius with RCBasic within two months? Good! I believe that RCBasic will be famous very soon!
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Post by lordxerra on Jun 15, 2020 14:48:42 GMT -6
Hi guys,
I'm the author of Validius and just wanted to chip in here really to offer some encouragement to you guys, particularly Johnno56, for getting an entry into the Syntax bomb competition this time. I know Kenn has submitted one before but it looks like you guys are all pitched yourself up for this one.
The feedback review for Johnno's game was my comments and they possibly seem a bit harsh on reflection as his was the first game I was evaluating and I was trying to adopt a system of making quick notes as I played the games and ended up probably writing more about the later games in the end. I wasn't aware of what language it was written in but I know you guys have commented on previous competitions about some of my other games so I came here to see if I could get some feedback from the most recent.
Johnno, you definitely should be encouraged to carry on and enter further competitions. Perhaps you other guys too, if you feel confident enough. Nobody is going to slate your efforts and it's really good to see new people entering with more games to play. I feel like a veteran having done six of them now but even I wasn't there at the start. I consider these invaluable experience for making better games in the future and I'm certain in myself that my coding has improved massively since I submitted Envahi over two years ago now. Also it helps you get a game finished if you have a deadline to work to and I used to be dreadful at leaving incomplete games all over my computer over the last decade or so.
Just a few points about Validius that I'll answer from the comments above.
Firstly that video is a W.I.P build from about 3 weeks before deadline. I hadn't got around to submitting a final playtest video of the completed game. It's massively different in many ways from what you see there, if you've not played it already.
The game was developed with GameMaker Studio 2 - just as my other Syntax bomb games were.
I definitely believe it's possible for someone here to make a game in the same style as there's not much particularly clever about it. Some fiddly maths on the rotation and movement on bad guys but nothing that's not transferable in any variation of basic. My maths isn't the best when it comes to anything beyond the basics so I watched a few tutorials on how to get movements working properly. The AI is very simple really and just uses a simple gamestate for enemy's to change patterns and track you which is mostly based on how near you get to them. Johnno has obviously got how asteroids work done already. Title screen menus are easy to do and the particles that were mentioned are in-built ones from GameMaker and very simple to get going. You could also easily simulate them in any OO language that lets you work with a processing method.
The asteroids in Validius are just static sprites with rotation applied via the game engine itself. Nothing technical at all and the smoke coming out of the laser hits are just overlaid built-in particle effects. I did something similar with Damnation Alley where I had smoke coming from the crashed car.
As for why Validius won the competition? It surprised me for sure. I thought I might do ok as the game really came together during the last week working on it and I had some massively positive feedback from some testing friends and in the forums. In the end I was just glad to win the competition for a second time and actually come up against a lot more competing games this time. There's no better feeling than finishing and putting your game out there then just taking a few days away from the code to just play other peoples games knowing that your job is done :-)
Hope you guys all enjoy playing Validius and Johnno I hope you're encouraged by stepping up this time round. One day you and I could collaborate on something if you're up for it.
Best wishes, Tony.
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Post by johnno56 on Jun 15, 2020 20:41:38 GMT -6
Tony,
You are too kind... Thank you for the encouragement...
The review's 'may' have come across as 'harsh' but, that in itself is helpful, as it points out flaws in method, design and programming skills. Everyone loves to be praised, assuming that praise is what you are after, but honesty is a better way to help improve your next effort. Thank you for the reviews.
Entering the comp., for me, was terrifying. I do not enjoy failing and especially failing in front of a larger group. Now, seeing the 'pressure' is off, I am quite pleased that the game achieved 4% of the vote. It was 4% more that I expected... Bonus! I think I need to learn how to design and code better before entering another comp. Although 4%, in my book is great, more than 4% would be better... lol But, without the valued help of the guys here, I doubt that I would have entered...
GMS2 you say... I run with Linux and have run GM6, 7 without and problems. GM8.1 was a little flaky at times but all were relatively easy to use... I like easy. Some tutorials will use the 'click and drag' approach while others will use pure GM script as they say that 'script' will give them greater control... I could not get GMS or GMS2 to run. I did find the Linux based 'Enigma'. It is said to be almost 100% compatible for reading and writing GM script... Apparently Enigma will also load and run GMS files as well... I could have used Enigma but everyone else could not... We all have RCBasic so RCBasic is our 'weapon of choice'.
I need coffee...
Again. Thank you.
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) 
I predict that the 11th competition will be held near Christmas. 