Enyo Arcade
DEV LOG - 150503
I was caught up in the daily struggle of real life. Busking the streets of Munich with my ukulele, running from police and enjoying spring time and sunshine. Aside from that I also got a few things added to the game. I wanted to switch the size of the tilemaps to 32x32 pixels (currently they are made up of 16x16 pixel tiles). That however didn't turn out how I wanted it so I'm sticking to the 16x16 tiles. I've created some new tech-style tiles for indoor sections and also built 2 additional weapons that you will be able to test in the next update, that I hope to release sometime next week. Gamepad support is what I am currently working on and as soon as that works as desired I will post the update to steam so you can give it a shot.
So sorry again for the silence and thanks for your patience!
Kind regards,
James
Update - 150317
I've had a lot to do besides working on the game directly like:
-Refreshing the project website.
-Preparing things for PR.
-Organizing business stuff.
-there's a lot of things going on that I need to keep track of is what I want to say to my excuse for delaying the update.
Aside from that I have started contacting and have been contacted by publishers that would like to support me on amplifying my public reach. To me that is a great thing and I feel honored.
Now here's a few points to what the current update brings:
-Ambient audio: I've added a little ambient loop to tighten up the atmosphere and give you an idea of the sound scape.
-Stereo Sound FX: explosions and some enemies now have directional sound.
-Screen Shake has changed a bit.
-Shotgun is stronger.
-Sewer region of the test map has been rebuilt. (I'm still tuning the level creation process)
-Started working on a custom in-game level editor, but I can't promise to release it any time soon yet since it still needs a ton of work. But this is something that I definitely would love to give to you.
-Options menu framework added. It doesn't do anything yet but I've started setting up things on that end.
That's all for now!
Regards,
James
DEV LOG - 150314
Just wanted to let you all know that I'm working on a cool little update and can't wait to push it to steam. Here a few notes to let you know what I am up to:
Making audio had me occupied a while and I've added stereo sound fx.
The ENYO Arcade project website needed a few updates and preparation for press.
I've also rebuilt the sewer region of the test map. But it still needs some more work before I can publish the changes.
Screen shake also behaves a bit different now.
I hope to submit a new version within the next few days so stay tuned and thanks for your patience!
Update - 150228
Here are some of the changes that I can remember:
-Weapons now all have a little muzzle flash to make the shooting look more convincing.
-Rockets are now faster.
-Drone (green thingy) is faster. (BUG: don't hold fire while you have the drone and pick up a new weapon at the same time -> crash, I'll fix that soon!)
-Tweaked AI and added damage feedback to the zombie like cadavers.
-Started work on some of the story mode levels. (Not all connected yet)
-Optimized a few loops.
My current plan is to flesh out the story mode first and then I'll be working on the skirmish mode (that you might have played up to now).
About the modes:
Story mode is like it says, focused on around the story and level flow that I had built with the early versions of ENYO Arcade. In this mode you will unlock further game modes and power ups. Weapons will be permanent and switch able.
Skirmish/Sabotage (not sure about names yet) will be more of an arena type gameplay like the testmap that is currently in the game. There you will have different objectives and level specific gemeplay with focus on re-playability and steam online ranking.
However keep in mind that nothing here is 'final' until it is 'final'. I will change everything I need to change to make this game the best it can be. And I will listen to any feedback but I will not guarantee to fulfill anyones wishes or opinions other than my own. I have a clear vision of what I am creating on and am working very hard to make this vision come true. From what I see now, things are coming together very nicely and I am looking forward to adding all the missing pieces. Since the relaunch this version can't even technically be called a 'beta' because major gameplay elements are still missing. However I have built the blueprints of these elements in multiple forms and know exactly what I need and that makes my work a lot easier.
Untill then, I'll be looking forward to seeing a few more names in that little highscore list!
Kind regards,
James
UPDATE - 150224
-Added m000re enemies. However most of them are still pretty dumb and/or harmless.
-Started working on some of the AI so a few things do hunt you. And some are pretty nasty doing so.
-You keep the weapon after death. The weapon switching is just a cheat to help you test the different weapons. So keep that in mind.
-Splash damage of rockets and grenades has been reworked and should now deal damage (currently always the same amout) to targets.
-A few other minor fixes and changes.
-Leaderboards have been reset and need filling!
I will try to put together a small roadmap soonish to provide at least some public information on where this is going and when. My priority however is still the development and fleshing out of the vision I have and it is nice to be able to share the progress.
Kind regards,
James
UPDATE - 150222
The enemies now actually harm the player again. They are still just randomly placed and most of the AI isn't active yet, so they may act pretty stupid right now but that will change soon. I've just thrown in a handful to scare you a bit.
Tomorrow I'll spend some time on making the environment nicer and maybe have a go at some ambient background audio.
What do you think?
And I want to see a few more names on that leaderboard so go out and break those crates!
Regards,
James
RE-ENGINE CROSSDATE
There are still quite a few blank areas in the test level and the whole game framework still needs a lot of attention. But I wanted to get this update out there so I can start pushing new versions more frequently.
I won't get into too much detail about 'what has changed' because the whole game has been re-written. So basically this is a full re-boot.
Now the game should run suupah smooth and leave a lot of processor headroom for more effects and other cool stuff. On the other hand, this also means that I have to re-write all the code and I've chosen to re-create the levels too. So this is like two steps back to make a big jump forward.
Overall this update is more a tech-test, so let me know if you experience any crashes or slowdowns. And please excuse the re-unfinished state of things.
Steam leader boards should start tracking time and I need a few entries to start testing them. So try to break all 3 targets.
There is still a lot to do so I'll keep this one short and get back to re-work.
Thanks for letting me grow!
Regards,
James
PS: Gamepads are not fully configured yet, so better use keyboard and mouse for now.
FRESH ENGINE
So please forgive me the silence. I wanted to have things running before making an official statement. After testing and evaluating dozens of different frameworks and C++ libraries like SDL and SFML - I have finally settled for a tool that I think does the best job for my particular demands: Game Maker Studio.
Why GameMaker? Because it's fast and affordable and works great with all STEAM features. After re-creating ENYO in all those different environments I have learnt all kinds of different approaches to handle tilemaps and physics. Now, I am sure to bring you the smoothest and fastest platforming action up to date. Focusing on 'feeling' and fast action in a vivid game world.
Aside from the MASSIVE fps boost this step also allows me to be more flexible with game design choices in the near future.
Right now the character controls are close to finished, physics and collisions work effective and basic enemy AI works too (Snails). I have built a custom tilemap sorting to help me with level decoration as well as a new Nailgun that now instantly hits it's targets. The game now also has 22.5° slopes and muuuch smoother movement and framerates in general. I will continue to port the content into the new engine and send out the big 'crossdate' as soon as it gets close to the size of the current version.
I can't wait to let you have a go at it!
Kind regards,
James
FRESH ENGINE!
So please forgive me the silence. I wanted to have things running before making an official statement. After testing and evaluating dozens of different frameworks and C++ libraries like SDL and SFML - I have finally settled for a tool that I think does the best job for my particular demands: Game Maker Studio.
Why GameMaker? Because it's fast and affordable and works great with all STEAM features. After re-creating ENYO in in all those different environments I have learnt all kinds of different approaches to handle tilemaps and physics. Now, I am sure to bring you the smoothest and fastest platforming action up to date. Focusing on 'feeling' and fast action in a vivid game world.
Aside from the MASSIVE fps boost this step also allows me to be more flexible with game design choices in the near future.
Right now the character controls are close to finished, physics and collisions work effective and basic enemy AI works too (Snails). I have built a custom tilemap sorting to help me with level decoration as well as a new Nailgun that now instantly hits it's targets. The game now also has 22.5° slopes and muuuch smoother movement and framerates in general. I will continue to port the content I have into the new engine and send out the big 'crossdate' as soon as it gets close to the size of the current version.
I can't wait to let you have a go at it!
Kind regards,
James
LOOKING FOR TESTERS!
If you don't mind constantly changing content and 'strange things happening' then drop me a message here and maybe you are lucky!
I am looking for a few brave souls that dare to dive into a dangerous arena and return to share their story!
Current version is Windows only!