Initial Screenshots, Finally

Post date: Jan 19, 2012 4:5:57 PM

So I have spent another few weeks adding the usual basics such as menus, settings (with ample resolution support! 10 different resolution ranging from 800x600 to 1920x1200), customizable controls, dialog/confirmation boxes, and saving/erasing progress. A few more things concerning the farming stage are also complete, such as viewing inventory window, fillable stardust meter, updating event log, better asteroid/stardust generator, spawning and picking up items from destroyed asteroids, and more form-fitting polygons for collision detection. This farming stage is mostly completed; it just needs more items for spawning and some bug fixes.

Elaborating on the "farming/crafting/puzzle mix" mentioned in the last post, there will be 3 main areas of the game. The farming stage allows the player, the Prime Mover (or PM for short), to search for and collect low-level items needed for the crafting stage. This second stage is where the gathered items are crafted in the "Star Forge" in order to create mid- and higher-level items needed for the third stage. I'm bouncing around ideas of using stardust as a sort of "crafting agent" that drains with each use of the forge. The third stage is the puzzle stage, where items can be used or placed to solve a puzzle. I'm going to be really vague about this part because I'm still not sure how to design the puzzles exactly. I want it to be focused on discovery and mystery, where the player isn't sure of what to do and must experiment to progress through the puzzle.

Each puzzle adds a little to the overarching story, which is also shrouded in mystery and up to the player to uncover. I'll just let you know that it concerns the quest for finding some significance and order within the chaos spawning from the origins of the universe. Most of this story is still fluid too.

Keep in mind that a lot of these ideas are kept only in my head and constantly evolving haha. That said, please let me know via email or comments below if you have any suggestions, criticisms, or even ideas.

Now for the best part... screenshots!

(Note that these are all taken in "debug mode," so the FPS counter and polygon lines are drawn too. Also taken in 800x600 resolution setting.)

1) Main Menu: Exciting I know... figured I'd show off the layout and fonts at least.

2) Settings Menu: Another boring menu. Just showing the left-right scrolling of each setting option.

3) Confirmation dialog box: It's a REALLY COOL dialog window I made with highlighted buttons haha.

4) Player's sitting pose: This floating pose is shown when the player isn't moving around at all. Also shows off the terrific artwork my brother created, from space cloud to stardust to asteroid. Oh and the stardust meter too!

5) Player's flying animation: I know a short video or gif would be better but I'm lazy. When the player moves around, his beard flutters! (Yes I know there's no air, but it looks awesome.)

6) Player's attack animation: A short video or gif would also be good here, oh well. So here's an image of the attack mid-way through. Stardust flares and a flash of light for breaking asteroids!

7) Destroyed asteroid: This shot was taken just as the asteroid was destroyed, releasing the item inside... a Nebula Heart! If I wasn't lazy and showed you a video/gif, you would see the asteroid pieces break off in 4 different directions. You can also see the event log displayed in the top-left corner.

8) Inventory with items: This final shot shows how you can hit the Inventory key (default is tab) to view the inventory window. Each item appears in it's own box with name, image, and count. The maximum stardust you can carry is 100 (as also displayed in the stardust meter).