ZX fangame (Slow Progress small update)

[Trege]

(See 2nd post for update details and new download link)

Anyways I'm working on this fangame as well, both are helping me learn GML and I've been working on this one before the Legends one was even started, and it's had a massive engine update that fixes a lot of errors anyways I'm only posting a debug room of this game I'm keeping most of it a secret until the final version, there will be debug room updates though.

New Screenshot :
i88.photobucket.com/albums/k185/Alecsandar1111/Screen2.jpg

Download Link :
Mega Man ZX-EF

New Link in 2nd post

Current Features :
Dashing 100%
Wall jumping 100%
Water effects 50%
Combos 50%
Enemys 2% (3 of the same enemy currently.)
Slopes 100%


Controls :
Z jump (Hold for longer Jump, same with dash)
X Attack Press twice for combo.
C Dash
Arrow keys move
F4 Switch between full screen and windowed
You can resize the game window using the mouse.

Small part of the story :
(Story scrapped it's not that good I need to find a storywriter.)

---------------------------
Notes 3 Jan 6th :
More glitches have been fixed, and the engine runs smoother now, also a better death animation was added, looks more
megaman like wall jumping also acts better now.

Things I need to add

Debug Boss
Biometal Changing
Better Slashing animation for running
The world map
More enemys
and so on.

Current Bugs :
Left attack collision error
Sometimes the air slash floats in place
Hit state doesn't use slopes correctly
Wall sliding smoke still happens under water.


(This also means the legends fangame is on hold, considering I started this one first, and I need to learn some more about GML before I can fix some problems with the legends fangame.)

[Trege]

I wanted to make another post, because this one is a pretty big update, It's no longer debug it's a demo release of the intro stage for the first main character, this also means most if not all of the gameplays functions have been added, wall jumping dashing and such and It has very few glitches so far, and the first boss was added.

Download Link : 8MB
Old Link

New screenshot :
i88.photobucket.com/albums/k185/Alecsandar1111/Screen2.jpg

[JMC47]

Okay, please do not ever use popup boxes for dialogue, ever again. If you're trying to engross the player in the experience of the game, the last thing you want to do is force them to grab the mouse and click or reposition their hand to hit enter. Can't you make the text just... write out on the screen? or in a thought cloud, or something more like MOTB?

Sorry for being so negative so quickly... that just seemed like a horrible, yet easily fixable design decision. Given it's a demo, (not a beta, not a debug) you're supposed to represent the final game... and I'd hope that not be representative of it.

To the actual game, I have to say I expected worse. All the features you mentioned work to a degree, and the graphics were not bad when they weren't bugging up. There are a few major issues I had, that if you fixed would make the game a whole lot better.

AI: This is possibly some of the worst AI I've ever seen. One of them are just floating over a pit walking in place. The rest are walking in place throughout the rest of the level until they shoot at me. Sometimes, they're bullets just float in midair, not moving at all. None of them seem to work right, and just glitch around the area they were created.

Wall Jumping/Dashing problems: When I hit the dash key, I expect to dash. Nope, that'd be too logical. I have to HOLD the dash key to do any sort of decent dash or dash jump. My next issue includes the wall jumping. Dashing into a wall causes a nasty delay, and then when you are on the wall, you retain your dash... forever. Fix the collision box delay, and fix infinite dash. It seems like you're not using a collision mask, and if so, you should soon, not having one is causing a lot of problems to a decently featured engine.

Animation Glitches: While the game animated pretty well most of the time, much better than average, I could easily lock up the animations by doing several things
-Dash jumping onto a sloped surface.
-Running into an enemy
-Simply running one direction, stopping and turning in the other after the boss.

Oh, what a perfect way to come to my next point... the boss. I have no idea what was going on during the boss fight, I really didn't. A tiny ball of light flying across the screen at a million miles per hour. I have to get very close to hit it, but if I get too close I get hit. But it's moving so fast that it's impossible to do that. My whole strategy was to get hit and use the invincibility timer to allow me to get close enough to hit it. And why would you make the boss a bunch of specks. I mean, I understand what a cyber elf is... but if you're gonna have a battle with one you have to make it so the player knows how to fight it. when I first started the battle I had no idea whether I should attack it or just hide. And then it started moving at a million miles per hour so I thought it was a projectile, or something. And I swung my sword randomly, and slowly I realized that its health was going down. One of the worst bosses I've ever fought.

I'm not trying to be negative, I just figure you can do more with what I find wrong than with what I find right. I guess I'll go through several things I liked.

I did appreciate the fact that there was more than one way to go through the level.

The sword worked reasonably well, and didn't have many problems hitting what I needed to. Many games have spotty detection with weapons like that, but with yours I didn't have a problem hitting anything.

Dashing did look pretty good when it worked right, but, as a note, I found it strange that I traveled faster in air than on the ground.

Dash jumping huge distances felt, at the very least, right, and I did enjoy gap jumping with dash jumps.

The fact that you integrated a story (even though it was pretty bare bones) into the game, rather than a separate text file is very appreciated.

Uh, so, that's pretty much my first impression... there were other glitches I encountered, but I haven't pinpointed why they happened yet. I know a lot of what I mentioned is likely opinion, but I that's why you posted a demo, right? Anyway, good luck on the project, I like the engine and I hope you can perfect it to make it as good as it really can be.

[bdk336]

Good game engine and physics overall and good graphics too.
However a few things that really need fixing;
1. Put the text in the game not a text box!
2. Horrible boss design, can't hit it or dodge it if you can't even tell where it is.
3. Enemies walking on air
4. Graphics glitches, biggest one I noticed was when you wall jump on the right side of the boss fight.
5. Shots hanging in the air
Fix these things and your on your way to making a very good game.

[Trege]

I fixed a good amount of the glitches already, and the graphic glitch is more of an effect really, since I think it goes well with a corrupted elf if you get hit the camera flinches and if you wall jump, it only occurs in Boss fights with corrupted elfs.

Anyways I fixed some of the animation errors, I also made the AI better and less glitchy and they don't walk on air anymore
also I lowered the speed of the Boss from 40 to 5 so it's better now.

Wall Jumping/Dashing problems: When I hit the dash key, I expect to dash. Nope, that'd be too logical. I have to HOLD the dash key to do any sort of decent dash or dash jump.

If I recall correctly, in most Megaman games you have to hold the dash button to dash fully, Megaman ZX is a good example of that.

I got kind of lazy with the text boxes, They aren't going to be in the final version, just in the demo's, and I'm also using a collision mask some of the errors are in the engine itself.

I'm not going to release the next version of the demo until the 2nd character is added and some more glitches are fixed, so hopefully it turns out well.

I also don't mind harsh reviews it just means I can improve some
more, and it actually helps so thanks for the feedback. ;D

[bdk336]

If you fixed most of the problems then I'd say the game is coming along nicely.

However I still have a problem with the camera effects in the boss battle. The effect of getting hit was okay but when I wall jumped the length of the effect made me totally clueless as to what was going on in the battle for a second or so, which could have killed me when fighting a tougher boss. I suggest either changing that or, better yet, replacing the messed up view with something that just obscures the screen. A good example of this would be to create "static" (like you get when something interferes with your signal) that lasts for a couple seconds and makes it hard to pick out what each object is doing, actually I think I got this idea from one of the MMX games.

Regarding the dash function; I think that it is very good, at the moment I can't recall a Megaman game that didn't make you hold the button to dash. Not to mention that the dash (and the wall jump for the matter) takes you considerably farther than in many Megaman games. ;D

One more piece of advice. Since you brought up making multiple bosses with more or less the same "background." Make sure that each boss you make is unique in the way it fights and the strategy the player must use to beat it. I've played far too many games that had the fun sucked out of them when the designer(s) fell into the trap of using several carbon copies of a boss as "new" bosses by increasing the difficulty slightly and adding one or two attacks.
Then again maybe I'm a little too quick on the criticism and warnings since I've seen so many games, especially commercial ones, that looked promising fall on the rocks because a key aspect of the game's genre was neglected when too much effort was put into another aspect or unnecessary features were introduced.

Anyway, despite my complaints/ravings it sounds like the game is coming along nicely and I eagerly await the next demo.

On a side note; I love those Servbots.

[JMC47]

I realize I have to hold it for a longer dash, it's just that on a keyboard it's hard for me to hit too many buttons at once, so for a dash jump, it'd be easier to just press it and then jump immediately to do it. I'm not saying a tap makes an entire dash... that'd be dumb. I just think there should be a slight delay.

If the engine starts smoothing out, the game will end up decent, but it really has a LONG way to go.

[bdk336]

I see your point on pressing multiple buttons on a keyboard and, although not a huge issue, it would be a good idea to change it the way you described or to make it something you can easily press while doing something else like the space bar.

[in·clover]

I have to say this is much, MUCH better than your earlier attempts at a fangame. Unfortunately there are some negative bits that come with the improvements.

Collision... The sword attack seems to work as an extension of the players arm when you're attacking nothing, but when you get close enough to actually hit anything, the sword repositions your character some space behind where you were standing, and makes the RANGE OF YOUR ATTACK appear where you were once standing, making it pretty much useless. I want to attack WHAT'S IN FRONT of me, not where I AM.

It seems you've brought back the Main Character™'s ability to moon walk... nice.

Enemies can also walk on air, making their presence even DEADLIER than before! Look out Main Character™! Above you!


Positive additions I'd say include the dash and climbing ability. Very smooth and responsive. Also, nice level design! I thought I was doomed when I fell through a pit, but was pleasantly surprised to find a bonus room. Pretty cool.

If you can get rid of the bugs that you haven't fixed since your first game I'd say it's worth playing. It's probably best that you treat a demo as a DEMONSTRATION of how the end product will play. A snippet from a finished product featuring a polished engine. This seems like it's more of a WIP. If that's not the case then sorry for all the flack, but patience can get you anywhere, and I strongly suggest getting rid of any apparent bugs before making a demo. I'm sure these things can be fixed given some time.

[bdk336]

Even though it was called a demo think of it as a beta version. By putting out the first level before the engine is totally polished an author can get input from the people likely to play the game on what they liked or didn't like and what needs fixing. It's kind of like getting beta testers when you don't actually have a budget.

[in·clover]

Yah, I know. This isn't his first game though, and everything buggy that was in his earlier "demos" is present here. He's getting the same feedback he got before.

[Trege]

Well heres a small preview of the 2nd characters intro stage.
i88.photobucket.com/albums/k185/Alecsandar1111/Lake.png

Anyways I'm pretty sure I fixed most of the Animation errors now except for the attack ones and hopefully once I get the 2nd characters intro stage done, I can update the download link.

I'll also add a 2nd dash button so it's easier to use, I used C because I use that button a lot when I play Megaman games on my computer I'm also not entirely sure how to make a small delay for the dashing yet, but I'll figure something out hopefully.

List of total updates :
AI is fixed
Animation is mostly fixed aside from the attack issue. (This includes the lock up problems, which I'm pretty sure are fixed.)
I attempted to fix the delay issue when you dash jump into a wall, but I could only lower the delay a bit it should be easier though.

[Trege]

As the topic title states I'm having very slow progress,
anyways heres the updates.

Lumeira's intro stage was added it's incomplete though and so is the character,
I added it so you can get a preview of Her intro stage and some bugs were fixed aswell.

I also added a dash delay that was suggested so it's easier to dash jump it should be a lot easier to do that now

If you report any bugs please only use Lance.

Lumeira's stage isn't even ready for bug reports yet as most of the issues have been resolved in Lance's coding, which I need to use in Lumeira's coding.

Update list :
Lumeira's stage was added so was the character. (incomplete and glitchy)
Dashing has a delay now for easier use in dash jumping.
Wall jumping's delay has been lowered even more. (still a bit delayed though.)
You can't see the sandstorm when you enter the cave now.
------------------------------------------------------
Current Bugs :
Enemy bullets sometimes shoot the wrong way or turn around in midair...
Dash jumping from a wall sometimes doesn't work.
Annoying left attack animation bug still exists.
You die if you go outside the stage boundries even in the ceiling.

(Thats the list I hope I didn't miss anything, while I was updating the game.)

Download Link :
www.mediafire.com/?dnexgw5zyt1

Screenshot of the intro stage is in my post above this one.

As bdk336 mentioned I guess it really is just Beta right now, I wasn't even thinking when I said demo.

[lokoko]

There are some obvious stuff that you need to work on but you know what they are..

One of my suggestion to limit the dashing range.