Game
Gunship Souls
10 years ago

Here Comes a New Challenger!


Hi

Leaderboards are awesome. I mean it, I really think so. Some folks, like Pippin Barr for example, have made fun of them but I think they really do something important. A leaderboard, a little one, creates a community.

I’m not super concerned with holding the high-scores on my games, you know? Like, I don’t mind if someone beats me at the games I make or play. What I love, though, is the rally. I love when you post a score, and someone beats it, and then you come around and one-up them.

This happened with Super Plumber Bros: Vlad70 and TCrafter12Games vied for the top score, and the resulting arms race pushed me right to the bottom. I was convinced for a long time that ~130 points was really the max you could get in SPB. I wasn’t posting shoddy runs, you know!

This morning I woke up to a high-score in Gunship Souls that doubled mine. I couldn’t believe it! Another guy, at a party, has played a 16,000 point game, but 27,000 points was some next level shit! This evening, I sat down with a beer and really pressed into this, and after an hour of trying I managed to double that score. I seriously can’t wait for someone to post a score in the ~80,000 or higher.

5d0c31e99bc3c.png

At the same time, high-scores also make me aware of the flaws in my game. Gunship Souls was made in three 12 hour days, and it has great depth for such a quick game. However, the high-score getting technique that I’ve developed doesn’t lool like the game I want Gunship Souls to be. I didn’t record the run, but basically I spend most of my time “riding the bullets” to build up my multiplier, and then I spend the rest of the run firing blindly behind me a rain of bullets with enemies dying fully off-screen. I spent some time later in the run in the asteroid belt, but basically most of it was in deep space, weaving through a rain of bullets (and singing, around 40,000 points I started extemporizing the “I am the angel of bullets” song, much to my girlfriend’s dissmay).

In the post jam, this is the first thing that will change: dynamic camera work to keep enemies on screen, and tighter controls/better AI for epic asteroid dodging.

Thanks karunakaruna, you are an inspiring pilot!

z.

PS last day to vote! Vote for Gunship Souls!



1 comment

Loading...

Next up

skipskipskipskipskipskipskipskipskipskipskipskipskipskipskipskipskipskipskipskipskipskipskipskipskipskipskipskipskipskipskipskipskipskipskipskipskipskipskipskipskipskipskipskipskipskipskipskipskip TL;DR Think before skipping skippable text in games.

Outer Space 15 Drift alone, in the void of space.

Fixation (2D Array) When life feels like a puzzle-platformer

Soft Chambers A clever human can name the things we've always known in our hearts in a way that makes them new again.

A Pretty Odd Bunny A stealth game about navigating social pressures.

Have a good Boi

Shadow The Hedgehog X pixel art

Back in my art school days I used to ride the 710 COPSA line from Parque Del Plata to Montevideo almost everyday. This is the Marcopolo Viaggio G4 Mercedes Benz model from the late 80s, one of the older bus models that was running on the line.

A Shiny Mega Gengar 🌟 For @ManutkArt 's #ThreeColorsChallenge!