Friday, November 18, 2011

Zone 2 Art Concept

So I think I'm going to have zone two of the game set outside in the decaying industrial complex that the player was beneath during zone one. Came up with some concept/placeholder art for it so that my eyes don't bleed while I'm working on it. I kinda like the contrast between the peacful looking sky and the crappy, rusty old buildings (yes they're supposed to be buildings :P. They are meant to be old factories and such). When I have a working beta of the game I'm gonna redo all the art. So this isn't what it will look like in the end.
Anyway, a screenshot:

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Zone 1 Alpha complete

Hey guys.

So I've finally finished an alpha build of zone 1. So far I have got the following done:

  • Löve splash screen
  • Main Menu
  • Options menu containing:
    • full screen/windowed toggle
    • resolution options (800x600 - 1900x1200)
    • volume control
    • key binding
    • save settings
  • Level select screen
  • In game menu
  • 4 fully playable levels

By the way by "done" I mean functioning :P . Graphics and sound still need a lot of work.
Anyways, I couldn't resist making another video. So here's some old and new gameplay footage of zone 1. Enjoy :)

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Update

I'm still working on the first zone of the game. Originally I was going to have the player railroad through the levels and just play them as they come, but now I've decided that I want to add a level select screen. And for this to kind of make sense I'm adding a teleporter to the beginning and end of each level. When they hop in, they are brought to the level select screen where they can choose to move on to the next level or go back to a previouse one. So that and finishing the levels for zone one is what I'm working on at the moment. I don't have a huge amount to show at the moment, but I made a small video of some moderately amusing death sequences...enjoy :)

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Just a quick update. I added a feature that allows the player to move the camera by moving the mouse cursor to the edge of the screen while in energy mode. This allows them to see what's up ahead. This is more useful if playing the game in 4:3 or 5:4 aspect ratio, because slightly less of the level is shown than in 16:10 or 16:9. When the player exits the energy mode, the camera goes back to it's original position and follows the player as normal.

I also did some messing around with the löve.physics module (löve uses the Box2d physics engine) and added some swingy platforms to the level I'm currently working on.

Here's a quick look ;)

Monday, October 17, 2011

Progress So Far

So far I have almost completed the "first draft" of the first zone of the game. The Industrial Compound (Interior) zone. This zone has four levels (one of which is the tutorial). I have been concentrating more on the programming side of things, so sound and graphics are not in their final form yet by any means.

So far the player can:
  • switch between physical mode and energy mode.
  • move, jump (physical mode)
  • aim and fire an energy ball which impulses objects when it explodes (physical mode)
  • move objects(energy mode)
  • rotate objects(energy mode)
  • lock certain obects in position (i.e. make them static obects)
Here is a video showing a bit of gameplay.

Game Concept

Plazma Being is a 2D puzzle/platformer game that I am currently in the process of developing. 

Back-story: 
In the game you play the role of a plazma being (an energy based life form) who was captured, while journeying through space, by an alien race and taken back to their planet. There they experimented on him for many years until one day a cataclysmic event shook their planet, destroying them and their civilisation. The plazma being alone survived, but was left weakened by the experimentation of his once captors. So he waited until his energy started to restore itself, this again took many years, during which time the remains of the alien civilisation in which he found himself began to decay. Once his energy was restored to a certain point, he began to make his escape. However, being a creature from the vacuum of deep space, he found that he couldn't move himself while under the influence of the planet's gravity and atmosphere. But, he found that, using his energistic powers, he was able to bind himself to inanimate objects and use them to move himself about.


This is where the game starts. The object of the game is to make your way to the space port in the hopes of finding an un-wrecked ship or shuttle to take you off the planet. During the game the player will have to collect energy in order to power the ship at the end.

The game will feature four zones or stages, each containg 3-4 levels. Each time the player reaches a new zone, they will unlock a new energy power and a new type of physical object to possess. Each of these will give the player new abilities to use.