Lander Commander : UA 2008 (Competition Version Done!)

Alright!
So after about a month of work I've finally come to a point where I think you all will like it. This is Lander Commander (I know its a silly name, but I'm commited, and its too much work to change it). This games controls are based on the old lunar lander games, but the format is that of an adventure game. Since my last post I've added 2 new beautiful planets to play on (screenshots below), a custom ship maker (its not just asthetic, it actually effects how it flies, so tune it to fit your playing style), and a cool little planet selection GUI. Its eventually intended for iPhone release so I had to keep all the polygons to a minimum. It goes to show how powerful Unity Indie is.

Controls:
Up and Down: Thrust Up and Down
Left and Right: Rotate Left and Right
Space: Shoot a missile (destruction is fun so you get unlimited missiles)

Any comments you have are more than greatly appreciated.

Something I need help with:
I cant for the life of me figure out how to get an alpha layer on the icon for my game, so rather than it be ugly im just leaving it out. Additionally, how do you add an image to that opening screen, where you select resolution?

Another note:
its about midnight right now and I havent had time to playtest this copy (I'm really excited about posting it), so if there is some really obvious bug put a post up and ill fix it tommorow morning.




Planet Foogle:

Planet Shartroom:

Planet Venus:

 

Guys I really do need some help figuring out how to make icons with an alpha layer and images for the opening screen.

Edit:
By opening screen i mean the rectangle above on the first window to open, where you can change resolution and edit used Inputs.

 

Didn't get too far, kept on blowing up. Maybe make the start a bit easier ?

 

How would you make it easier? A different control setup maybe, or just slow everything down a bit, or make one where left and right instead of rotate just moves you left and right, and up and down moves you up and down. Maybe i need to add a training level before having you jump right into it. Let me know what you think.

 

I love it!
How to make it better:
I think you should remove the text when you die, so you can keep playing faster. You should also have a training page. I would also refine menus, but that really isnt that necessary. If you get that this game should win!

 

Great game. Very addicting. One of the better quality games. Its a little too hard, but I agree with what the guy above me said. Good luck Gizzerd.

 

Great look, loved it...

The only thing that didn't fit to... the whole greatness , it was the hud.
Looked a bit out of place in comparison with the great visual style of the background etc.

Overall, it was amazing. Good luck with it...

 

Thanks everyone.
To TheWalrus (lol, great sn btw):
I quickly coded the auto respawn. I also have made the begginings of the training page. I will have it so that there is very little damage from hitting walls, and a bunch of pretty targets to shoot at, that will respawn after you kill them.
To soad667:
I would never have noticed it, but the HUD is really out of place. All shiny when the game is supposed to be tooney. I'll see what else I can think of.

Keep thinking everyone!

 

Actually, if you change the fuel/armor bars to something more toony (it doesn't have to be a bar, maybe dots or something)
and replace the fonts armor/fuel with some logos, i think it should do the trick...

Btw, here are some examples...
Fuel: one - two
Armor: one
With some filters to make them fit in the toony look you want to achieve and voila!

It's your call! :wink:

 

Thats exactley what I was thinking for the HUD. It'll be a little tricky remaking it, but I think It'll be worth the effort. Thanks.
I was also thinking I'd take after Starship Eleven and have 2 different control setups, lunar lander and typical arrow keys. For each I'll have a different ship customizer, which I'll finish tonight. That way those of you who think its too hard can play easier, and those of you up for a challenge will do it the better way. I still have to come up with concept art for this stuff, but I have some ideas.

New Update Tommorow! Check back.

 

I agree w/ soad. You should have the bars glow a bit when they're lit up, or just be tooney squares when they're not. They should also be set up in a semi circle, instead of a pile. I like your two different control setups idea. Im curious to see what you make out of that. I'll definately check back tommorow . Good luck.

 

Good fun! I have always loved lander games and plan to have a lander-minigame inside galactic fleet.

One suggestion, perhaps you could make the ship a bit smaller? It feels a bit cramped with little room to move about.

 

Alright Everyone. A little behind schedule but I got the new version done today. I have added a WHOLE BUNCH OF STUFF (easy mode, saves, more sounds, bugfixes, etc)! DOWNLOAD THIS, and TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK! The webplayer will be updated tomorrow morning.

How the missiles work in easy mode:
-The last direction key you pressed is the direction your missiles will fire. For example, if you jet upwards, then press space, the missile will fire upwards. Dont worry everyone, this was just a quick fix. A new version is coming.

Webplayer:
http://www.vampiricbunny.com/Lander Commander.html

 

As another unrelated topic, to Unity People:
I already entered my game in UA 2008, but personally think the title is one of the DUMBEST TITLES EVER! Am I allowed to change it midway through, w/ out being disqualified?

 

I like what you've done with this. Very quality work. The missiles on the Easy mode ship missiles are a bit confusing, and took me a little while to figure out. I also think you should make it automatically save and load things on quit and startup. Other than that good progress.

 

Everyone, how do I put an image in this white space on top?

 

In the editor go to Edit>>Project Settings>>Player Settings. From there, choose the Texture2D that you'd like to have as the "Resolution Dialog Banner"

 

Thanks man. Works great now. So what do you think of the game?

 

I had fun with it, though it's pretty difficult.

 

That's fair. I've tried to make it easier, but I think as a genre its just difficult. I've settled for making it good for what it is. Too late to start over for the competition. I'm confident it'll be easier on the iPhone, where rotating the phone rotates you. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

P.S:
I want to know what everyone thinks. It helps my ego to get told its a good game, or get things that I can change.

 

iPhone release is this week! This game will rock on the iPhone, if it can handle it. I'm so excited. Unity rocks! the guys who make it Rock! Life rocks! Oooooh. Annnnd I've got $700 to pay all the fees. So I can do this! Whoopie! Look forward to an iPhone release. rotating the iPhone will rotate the lander, but the ground will always face towards the actual ground. I've got it all worked out. Good luck everyone in the competition. I'm not sure I'll be on the podium. There have been some great games posted (some of them too late , but I'm sure the Unity guys will be lenient). I'm gonna go for a while, and get this all ready to go.

 

Oh, some great news there...
Congrats dude :wink:

 

as soon as I try to view the instructions, my webplayer always crashes and internet explorer closes;

bug ?

 

Uh oh. I have no idea why that would happen. It must be a Unity bug, but I don't know how I would fix that. Can you download the standalone?

 

is there a windows standalone ???

 

I'm only 14, so I had to save for like a month just to get Indie. Sorry. I will be getting an iPhone standalone though. I hope we can enter iPhone apps in UA 2008, cause this game will really shine on that platform.

P.S:
I hope the Unity Guys have a prize for me being so young and awesome! (I really want a copy of Pro, and don't think I'll win overall)

 

Well, you have certainly done great work and shown a lot of determination for someone so young. Unity seems to bring out something uniquely inspiring and motivating in today's youth.

 

I dunno about Unity specifically. I've always been drawn to programming, and game creation seemed like the most fun way to do that. I worked in Flash for a while, got sick of its limits, so then moved to Unity. I've been working w/ it for a month and this is my first project (I'm really happy with it, the iPhone port will be amazing).

btw:
You got any suggestions for this? I really could use feedback, cause none of the people I know will give me anything other than 'wow, thats amazing!'. I need suggestions for how to make it easier, specifically.

 

I'm a confirmed iPhone developer everyone!

New features for the iPhone release:
-I'm adding an actual tutorial level now
-More cutscenes to add some more plot
-You will be able to collect floating cutlery to unlock more and better parts for your spaceship
-There will be many more planets
-I'm doing my best on low poly effects, like snow for the ice level. We'll see if that works out

So stick around. It'll be AMAZING!

 

There's a lot I like about this game and my son really enjoys it (he's six) and has played it a lot. My main complaint is that the wall spikes destroy me when I have not even touched them (according to the graphics). I do think it could be a little easier to get through the levels and have other things added to give a greater challenge and more points to those with more skill. Maybe gentler (more gradual) motion with the ship would help so that it is easier to navigate more accurately.
We like the way you can customize the ships. It might be cool to take that further.
Keep up the good work on this!

 

Thank you! the colliders on the spikes were a little large. I fixed that. I am adding things for extra upgrades and unlocks (floating spoons and forks, which you can use for building your ship). I'm working on how to make points work. I've been getting everything all ready for the iPhone release, but it looks like it might not be till later October again, so I'm going back to traditional. I've added a tutorial level, which is working out well. I've made the first level easier. And I'm adding a WHOLE BUNCH more planets. I'm very excited.

 

iPhone release is tommorow for sure! Then it will take me the smaller part of a day to get everything on there (I've already redone all the artwork, added soft controls, and a bunch of other good stuff). Be excited everyone!

 

Nice - enjoyable game, well done (especially for your age group, amazing!)

Also, I'm really enjoying following this forum thread - your enthusiasm really shines through and serves to remind us oldies of the fun game-development should be...

Keep it up, and I really hope you can port this over to the iPhone OK and make a million!

kind regards.

 

Loved it. The instructions don't all fit on a windowed screen. And every time I shoot a space ship it would be nice to get some points - not sure why I need that, but just makes me feel better when I get something. I like a lot that I can shoot lots of times in all directions and never run out.

 

In the iPhone version I have an actual tutorial level, so that placeholder screen is gone. And thank you, I am glad you two like it. I have the infinite missile system in place because otherwise it is too hard. I'm trying to come up with a good way to have points. Just adding points doesn't encourage the game-play I want have have. I think it's harder to have to avoid shooting missiles, and dodge as much stuff as you can. Maybe every missile costs you a couple points, but every hit gains you back a bunch (and you can't go negative).

Thank you very much. It's really nice to hear that.

 

Alright everyone. With that new news from Higgy B (Oct 22???!?!?!? That's a whole month from now!) I reverted everything back to Mac controls and am cranking to get a bunch more levels done. I will have a new build up by Thursday at the latest.

 

Can I say "I told you so"? Well, I'm going to anyway: I told you so....

--Eric

 

How do you skip the intro text - and "surveillance" is double l

I'll give it to my kids to play - they are harsh critics though!

 

You can press 'esc' to skip the intro. I'd love to hear what your kids criticize. I'm still looking for improvements. I'll have 6 more levels out in a few hours from now. I'm very excited. I have a bunch of really cool places for you to explore.

 

Sounds great. My son has been waiting. Will saved games be enabled in this release?

 

Alright guys. I havent gotten a chance to test this, and I'm pretty sure atleast something wont work in atleast one of the levels. Please tell me what you find.

Note:
This is a work-in-progress version, and as such some things aren't finished (the vines on Foogle aren't complete). I do know about these issues, and will be fixing it tomorrow. Right now I'm going to bed.

Another Note:
I added a tutorial level. I want to hear what everyone thinks.

And yes, automatic saves and loads in this version. It even saves the last checkpoint you were on in that level! Very exciting.

 

THAT WAS INCREDIBLY BUGGY! Please if you downloaded it, delete it and forget about it. Here is a bugfix release. I'm sure it still has some small bugs, but everything should be in order. The last one you couldn't even unlock half the planets.

 

OK, from our 8-year-old (on the three level version): It's really quite good. It's not too difficult but sometimes you just get stuck. And sometimes the spikes get you when you don't hit them. But I only died three times on the second planet. Needs more levels and to be longer...

My question was: and would you buy it for the ipod touch? He said: "Yeah! It's not as good as Super Monkey Ball or Nitro Kart but definitely professional."

Believe me, this is a thumbs up!

I'll get your update.

 

Thank you very much! I'm really glad people think it's professional. I was nervous about that. You're gonna be happy with the new release. 6 new levels!

Is it just me or have I noticed something:
It seems to me that of all the people I get to play it, the younger (8-12) crowd seems to like it the most. Maybe younger minds learn the inertia games faster? I dunno. It seems like a question for Dr. Phil. lol.

 

Lander Commander: UA 2008,

The competition version is here! It's a releif to be at a good breaking point in development. I need a rest. I hope you all enjoy it!

Download below:

 

and heres a webplayer:
http://www.vampiricbunny.com/Lander Commander.html

PS:
I still want comments, even though its already entered in the contest. I need new ideas for the actual AppStore release in late October. I want everything ready before the Unity iPhone release comes out, so all I have to do is test it then its all good.

 

Congratulations! I hope you iPhone version is a real success.

 

Hi buddy tried to play your lander commander game but
it crashed in Firefox straight away.

Is it just me who is having this problem?
or is it just your latest build give us a nudge when you post a new build so can give your title a spin

 

Hey there, simply amazing!
Great improvement from the last webplayer version i played (no MacOS for me)...
Keep it up, congrats for this nice game. 8)

EDIT: Btw, i run it under FireFox3 on WinXP SP2 and i had no problems at all.

 

To solventfactory:
In some of the levels there are more than 500 transparent objects (for decoration, little 2D squares that are vines, mushrooms, icicles, etc, depending on the place). That seems to make loading a little long on the Mac version, and maybe it fills up the RAM enough to crash firefox. Are you running it on a fairly new computer?

To everyone else:
Thanks. For the purposes of you guys getting your full fun out of the game, I want to tell you all a cheat I put in. In the planet selection window, if you click in the top left hand corner it will unlock all the planets for you, if you ever get stuck and want to skip one.

Good luck!