Defender, A 6DOF spaceship game

sdfgeoff · April 28, 2018, 4:54am

This game has been going on for about a month now, in my free time. It is based heavily on the Descent series, which I enjoy.
There is no real story-line, just heres a spaceship, here’s a twisty turny maze, and here’s some robots to kill…

This is done in blender multi-texture.

Minimum System Requirements:
Linux:
1.7ghz CPU
256 mb ram
runs at ~20fps

Windows:
Probably a bit more
Um, definitly a bit more.
Runs at 9fps on the above specs…

Some sceenies:

Title Screen. Picture in the “screen” changes every few seconds.
Buttons slide out when they are selected.

Place to get energy

Random place in the maze

There is also a start of enemy AI

File can be downloaded here

Attachments

sdfgeoff · April 28, 2018, 4:54am

1st post cont.

An image from outside the maze, showing it’s size

Anyone who wished to test this game for me can. I would like comments on:
Bugs (any errors, glitches etc)
Controls (setup of keys (F1 has a partial listing of keys))
Graphics/textures
Flight Dynamics (acceleration, collisions etc)
AI (suggestions etc)
Any other important thing.

If you have played it, and are commenting on one of the things above (particularly bugs) please give a description of the location

SolarLune · April 24, 2018, 11:13pm

That looks interesting, to say the least. It does seem like Descent. Nice job.

sdfgeoff · April 28, 2018, 5:07am

Right, I haven’t updated this in a while, but work has happened.

Weapon selection:
Now have a choice of class 1 Lasers, or plasma guns.

Texturing:
some more done on the map, still only a small section of the overall area.

Bots:
Well, thanks to a person over at the Descent Bulletin Board we have a new weapon. A deployable AI turret. A schematic follows:

The AI turret folds for storage in the Pyro GX’s limited bomb bay. It can be deployed by pressing F6, where it is released, and a few second later unfolds ready to shoot. It can be used to guard doors, act as some added firepower in a full on big room battle or be used as a remote surveillance drone. (flown) It has enormous shield and it recharges it’s energy from the Pyro’s main supply. So it must be returned to the ship every 10 minutes or so, otherwise you may have to go pick it up.

JavaLodge · April 24, 2018, 11:37pm

Wow, this game is fun! I was a little dubious about the control system but it works really well. However I do suggest that you change the roll keys from shift to Q and R. It seems odd to me to split up the roll movement between two hands. Just my two cents.

It would also be great to have a bit more in depth level design, something beyond just a cube based maze. I spent 5 minutes trying in vain just to get back to my starting position.

Am I just missing some textures, or are there no engine effects? I think the ship could really benefit from some cool thruster effects. The enemies are great, but they seem really buggy to kill.

All in all, I think this is similar enough to Descent to be called a clone, but that’s not really a bad thing! My brother and I wiled away a good many hours of our young lives playing this game. I really enjoyed the 5 minutes of gameplay I got. Good work!

sdfgeoff · April 24, 2018, 11:37pm

Wow, this game is fun! I was a little dubious about the control system but it works really well. However I do suggest that you change the roll keys from shift to Q and R. It seems odd to me to split up the roll movement between two hands. Just my two cents.

I agree completely. I thought of that a few days ago, and haven’t got around to changing it in the blend yet.

It would also be great to have a bit more in depth level design, something beyond just a cube based maze. I spent 5 minutes trying in vain just to get back to my starting position.

As I may have said earlier, this was made with a maze generator script, which is constrained to 90 degree angles. While this isn’t good from a playing point of view it is good for testing.
If you would like to make or suggest a level design feel free to do so. I will not focus on the level itself for the next while, as I am focussing on the AI.

Am I just missing some textures, or are there no engine effects? I think the ship could really benefit from some cool thruster effects. The enemies are great, but they seem really buggy to kill.

Quite right, there are no thruster effects. Do you want a glow? or a trail? I could do either.
The enemies are OK, but when killed they just vanish. And with the addition of the turret I have come into some interesting problems, like bullets accidentally going through walls. I will seek to fix this in the next update.

All in all, I think this is similar enough to Descent to be called a clone, but that’s not really a bad thing! My brother and I wiled away a good many hours of our young lives playing this game. I really enjoyed the 5 minutes of gameplay I got. Good work!

Thanks.

sdfgeoff · May 1, 2018, 11:22am

I’ve re-done the texture job for the players ship, with a baked AO pass, and it is looking way better:

This is a college of screenshots of the real-time model assembled in gimp.
There are still a few areas I need to patch up and fix, but it is looking way better.

I have revised the control setup so that it now doesn’t slide at the start. It also now uses Q and E to bank.

Anyone want to help?

sdfgeoff · May 1, 2018, 11:22am

I’ve re-done the texture job for the players ship, with a baked AO pass, and it is looking way better:

This is a college of screenshots of the real-time model assembled in gimp.
There are still a few areas I need to patch up and fix, but it is looking way better.

I have revised the control setup so that it now doesn’t slide at the start. It also now uses Q and E to bank.

Cluly · April 24, 2018, 11:49pm

I downloaded and had a play with this, It’s pretty damn close to the original Descent, good stuff so far. A nice texture, specular map and some normal mapping would make the ship look much better. But I guess this is a limitation with using the Game in Multi Texture mode instead of GLSL?

As for comments requested on the graphics and textures, I think this project would be a lot more interesting if it used current technology (Normal mapping, specular’s, higher resolution textures.) but held onto the gameplay and idea of Descent.

sdfgeoff · April 24, 2018, 11:49pm

Yep, it’s in multi-texture mode, so I can’t do normal or specular maps.
It even looks pretty good in texture face, but the hud and afterburner lose their transparency…

As for comments requested on the graphics and textures, I think this project would be a lot more interesting if it used current technology (Normal mapping, specular’s, higher resolution textures.) but held onto the gameplay and idea of Descent.

I had tried it with higher res textures, but then the download was far bigger, and it didn’t add that much. The texture res doesn’t affect the look of the game that much.
I think that adding in normal maps and specular maps would greatly increase the looks of the game, but the computer I am making it on doesn’t have GLSL, so I can’t.

sdfgeoff · April 28, 2018, 5:38am

Added a bunch of new enemies:

sdfgeoff · April 25, 2018, 12:10am

Finally got around to uploading a new version.

Just select the blend in the folder you extract it into called “Game.blend” Hit “P” and you should be away. If you want to see the game file, well, it is in the obvious place.