Here is the new entry in Nordenfelt‘s weekly development log.

Website Improvement

The Nordenfelt website got some important navigational buttons underneath the logo. It’s good advice to present the most important stuff above the fold.

Further on the page’s content was streamlined to a one-column layout. Now there’s no more distracting content beside the main message.

Google Analytics Code Struggle

Some days ago I became aware that Google now provides asynchronous tracking code. Thus I decided to update and improve all my website tracking. After installing the new code tests showed that event tracking (e.g. showing screenshots or clicking outbound links) is not as reliable as it seems. At one time it works, at another it doesn’t (testing the same link). Until now I could not find an answer for this on the net. Do you have a clue?

Squinting at Porting to Linux

Just out of curiosity I fired up Ubuntu and had a short look on porting Nordenfelt to Linux. The game was built with portability in mind so it should not be that hard to do it. The only problem is that I’m a Linux noob. It would take quite some time to port and test Nordenfelt on this platform. And finally there’s this fine excuse: Wine.

Version 0.5.1 is Coming Soon!

The next version is just around the corner and the corner’s imprint reads:

16th of September

Nordenfelt 0.5.1 will be preorder-only and will include the new equipment shop. Buying and improving your arsenal of weapons will be vital for scoring high.

That’s it for this week. Thanks to all the nice people who already decided to preorder Nordenfelt. You rock!

As ever feel free to subscribe to Nordenfelt’s RSS feed or follow me on Twitter at @black_golem. New insights every Wednesday.

Cheers,
Thomas

Let’s have a look on what happened during the last 7 days.

Equipment Screen Concepts

The equipment screen is still in experimental phase and therefore has just functional graphics. This is the second version I’ve made so far:

The list of available equipment is listed on the right panel. Buying and equipping the ship is done on the left panel. Everything works but it’s not as intuitive and fluent as it should be. More tweaking needed.

Live Positioning GUI Parts in Editor Mode

GUI part positions are hard-coded in Nordenfelt. This is quite bothersome when trying out different layouts. Therefore I’ve added the possibility to drag around GUI parts using the right mouse button.

Graphics Offset Bug Fixed

This was an interesting one, only visible at low frame rates. E.g. the player ship and its shield where out of sync when it was moved vertically.

Started Enemy Design

As mentioned here I’m working on replacing test graphics. The “first” model in progress, top to bottom:

More to come.

Made Machine Exhaust Definitions Data-Driven

Due to the steampunk setting there will be many exhausts blowing out steam and smoke. Their definition is data-driven now and can be set in the corresponding XML files.

That’s it for the first regular entry in the dev log series. See you next Wednesday for dev log 2.

In the meantime feel free to subscribe to Nordenfelt’s RSS feed or follow me on Twitter at @black_golem.

Cheers,
Thomas

Much silence on this site during the last few weeks. Man, I hate not having new stuff to show. There are enough changes under the hood. Nothing fancy but there is work going on all the time. So why don’t tell you about that?

Simply because there is nothing tangible to show. Just words.

Starting the Development Log

There are these great guys over at Wolfire logging every little detail to the public. They use videos to illustrate the changes which often are marginal. They don’t wait until they finished a level or completed a character model. Everything they do leaks to their audience regardless of importance. That’s not bothering people as I thought initially. It’s steady information. When you fire up your feed reader and don’t want to check out Wolfire’s changelog simply filter or delete each of their posts ending with “video changelog”. Information noise stopped.

Following Wolfire’s example I’m starting Nordenfelt’s regular development log. Wednesday becomes Nordenfelt dev log day! Don’t expect many videos and screenshots. Most entries will just be textual. When there is something new going on visually you’ll be the first to know.

Dev Log 0

A short summary what happened during the four weeks:

Automation of Power-Up Distribution

Why doing something by hand when you can automate it? Many shmups use fixed patterns for power-up distribution. Now there is a data-driven system which decides if a destroyed object leaves a power-up. No longer placing them via editor.

Flight Height Graph

Drop shadows of flying objects depend on flight height and position. The higher a plane flies the smaller and more transparent its shadow has to be. So the new flight height graph defines how drop shadows will look like.

Equipment Screen

Nordenfelt excludes equipment decisions from the battle field. Weapons, shields or bombs can be bought and equipped between levels. If you have earned enough cash throughout the levels so far.

Redesign Level 1

According to new equipment all levels have to be adapted accordingly. Nothing more to say at this point.

That’s it for the first entry in this dev log series. See you next Wednesday for dev log 1.

In the meantime feel free to subscribe to Nordenfelt’s RSS feed or follow me on Twitter at @black_golem.

Cheers,
Thomas

This old photo gave me the inspiration for a weapon covering nearby enemies with huge electric discharges. It shows Nikola Tesla‘s magnifying transmitter generating millions of volts sizzling through the air. Man, that rocks!

The first prototype of the “Tesla weapon” has placeholder graphics but it should illustrate the intention:

This weapon has the advantage of spreading damage over a wide area. A drawback is the need for recharge. Destroyed enemies can drop charge items which have to be collected like weapon upgrades. So the weapon has to be used tactically to get the most out of it.

I hope to find the time polishing the graphics up to the procedural level I have in mind. Then Nordenfelt can provide some wowing moments.

Cheers,
Thomas

First of all I want to thank everybody who provided feedback for Nordenfelt 0.4. The overall response was quite positive.

One important lesson I’ve learned from feedback so far is that tastes are different. This fact makes evaluating replies sometimes difficult. Finally it is important to have an own position and learn which opinions can and should be ignored. Otherwise there is little chance to get such a project done.

Anyway, thanks to all of you. I’m appreciating the effort you expended in testing my game. Thanks a lot!

Death of the Demo

Version 0.4 was an important milestone. It marked the end of the engine demo phase. Nearly a year of writing the engine was too long for my taste. This experience belongs to the category “if I only had known…”. In case of a sequel of Nordenfelt I’ll exploit this engine as much as I can. That should distribute last year’s effort over one more project. But that’s all still up in the air.

The next few months are dedicated to making the game itself. Thrilling times ahead.

Core Mechanics

After collecting and evaluating all 0.4 feedback from different sources I started designing the core mechanics for the game. By core I mean irrevocable features and rules. It’s quite hard to decide which of the many ideas should be set in stone. Finally it’s good advice to go with mechanics players are familiar with. Therefore I’ve fixed the following points:

Rank System

Many shoot ’em ups have a rank systems. It can be imagined as some kind of automatic difficulty adjustment. For example when the player beefs his/her weapon up to a high level the enemies start to get angrier, faster and stronger. This way the player is kept challenged. Experienced players exploit the rank system by keeping their equipment levels low. There are many more aspects in the game which influence the rank system. Figuring out what affects the rank is essential for beating the game as well as the highscore.

Score Hunt

This should be self-explanatory: get the best score, on your machine or online.

Equipment Selection

There will be a few types of equipment like bombs or bots which can be used for strategical play. Each game level is different and therefore should be tackled with appropriate equipment.

Upgrading Equipment

Equipment can be upgraded throughout the levels. This makes your ship stronger but also affects the rank (speak difficulty). Only equipment mounted on your ship will be upgraded in levels. Therefore you have to choose wisely what to take with you in each level.

Cheers,
Thomas