Nifflas' Support Forum

Being Creative => Development Showcase => Topic started by: vdweller on February 28, 2009, 18:39:19

Title: Metal Venture v1.03 [+Update] [+Youtube Previews]
Post by: vdweller on February 28, 2009, 18:39:19
Greetings,

After a year and a half in development, Metal Venture is finally ready. It's the largest project I've worked on so far. This game is a top-down shooter, inspired from the Robokill flash game, but different in many ways. A world with a story, consisting of 9 levels is included. Documentation covering the basic aspects of the Level Editor is available. I hope that people will have fun and be creative, making their own worlds, stories and custom graphics. Visit http://metalventure.forumotion.net and become part of the Metal Venture community!

Features :


Youtube Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G66wMAZfg5g

Screenshots:
(http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n251/myfefoyo84/mvcol01.jpg)

Game link:

Version 1.03 (74.78 MB 7-zip compressed self-extracting .exe):
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?dxtyzy0hthn

Version 1.03 PATCH ONLY (3.96 MB .zip, updates any previous version to 1.3):
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?4xizzuo2kqx

YoYo games page:
http://www.yoyogames.com/games/115140-metal-venture

GameJolt page:
http://gamejolt.com/freeware/games/action/...l-venture/1588/

ModDB page:
http://www.moddb.com/games/mental-venture

I know that the game size is repulsive, but in my book, 50 MB of original music from various artists (Rusty Studio,PartySan,ERH etc), instead of cheap ripoffs from other games, should compensate for the download size.


Technical Stuff:
The game starts in fullscreen mode. If you don't want this, open the options.ini file in the game directory, find the line:
fullscreen=1
and change it into:
fullscreen=0

Estimated Requirements:
Pentium 4 Processor or better
640 MB of RAM
Graphics card: NVIDIA 7600GT/ATI x1600XT or better with at least 256 MB of VRAM
Tested on Windows XP
100 MB free Hard Disk space

For nVidia fraphics card users: If graphics look glitchy, do the following:
Go to the nVidia display control panel, go to the Adjust Image Settings with Preview and move the slider to "Quality" preset. Alternatively, enable antialiasing in the nVidia display control panel. This is by no means a "Metal Venture" issue, but a "Game Maker 7" issue, I went through a lot of pain in order to determine the source of this graphical glitch, and then a few expert members at the Game Maker community told me what this was all about.


Credits:

Game design and programming - level editor:
vdweller - http://vdweller.awardspace.com (http://"http://vdweller.awardspace.com")

Music:
Voytek Pavlik - http://www.rustystudio.com (http://"http://www.rustystudio.com")
get the soundtrack: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/voytekpavlik (http://"http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/voytekpavlik")

Additional ambiance and sound effects:
www.freesound.org - special thanks to erh

Testers:
fago - heretic - lithium - magma24 - maroutas
minmay - Pet Smil - Razzorman - salmoneous

Special thanks:
h0bbel - kaietnap - kyle solo - mark overmars
tsg1zzn - xot
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: BloxMaster on February 28, 2009, 19:00:02
Very nice, vdweller! I'll have to play a bit more later. On a slightly off topic note, do you still that that rpg you made? It was on the old forum, but link was dead. Anyway, good job on this. It's visuals are very pleasing, and the gameplay is pretty unique, as far as I've seen.  :D
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: vdweller on February 28, 2009, 19:05:04
Quote from: BloxMaster on February 28, 2009, 19:00:02
Very nice, vdweller! I'll have to play a bit more later. On a slightly off topic note, do you still that that rpg you made? It was on the old forum, but link was dead. Anyway, good job on this. It's visuals are very pleasing, and the gameplay is pretty unique, as far as I've seen.  :D


Ahh...you mean the Grow and Decay RPG. Memories...
From my website:

"Note (21/9/2007) :
It's been some time since I last developed GADE. I am currently occupied with other projects, and further development of GADE (a large part of the game is already playable) is definitely not a priority right now. I have released a "playtesting" version for those who want to see the game so far (it's worth it, IMO). The characters begin at a high level, so that difficult battles won't prevent you from seeing the game so far. Who knows, maybe when I feel like I want to (and with enough support emails-motivation is always good!!), I will fully finish GADE."

Well the link is broken because both the playtesting version AND the uploaded file got deleted  X)


Anyway thanks for the comments!!
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: Kasran on February 28, 2009, 19:18:43
This is cool!

I can do ambient music. :3
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: Gorfinhofin on February 28, 2009, 21:24:56
Is it just me or does the second enemy type look rather daleky?
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: vdweller on February 28, 2009, 21:29:22
Quote from: Gorfinhofin on February 28, 2009, 21:24:56
Is it just me or does the second enemy type look rather daleky?

Maybe, I downloaded these models from Vanishing Point website, they have a Doctor Who section, maybe it's from there :)
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: StaticRomantic on February 28, 2009, 21:44:18
Looks incredible! Cant wait to try it out.
Its always cool to see emerging game artists.
Keep it up!
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: BloxMaster on February 28, 2009, 22:14:40
StaticRomantic, there is a link to download it.  :P2
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: vdweller on March 02, 2009, 18:35:53
I uploaded another version (see 1st post) and i require your assistance.

Please download it, run it and select "test world 1" to play. When the world is loaded and the robot appears etc. use the F9 key to get a screenshot. Next, exit the game COMPLETELY (and the menu,too) and re-run. Repeat the screenshot when "test world 1" is loaded.

Please post your screens here as following (scale them 50% down, I don't mind):
Run #1 (screenshot)
Run #2 (screenshot)
etc.

In this way you are helping me verify if the ambient lighting appears the same on all systems,  in every game run.

EDIT:Issue solved. Not that anyone bothered  X) sorry for being evil
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: vdweller on March 21, 2009, 02:43:58
Video update!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwA5y5zfJac
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: minmay on March 21, 2009, 02:59:43
Oh man this looks awesome and amazing.

Robots + RPG elements + destruction + level editor = a dream come true.

Cannot wait until it is done.
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: Pumpkinbot on March 21, 2009, 03:06:32
Heh, the top down view reminds me of The Legend of Zelda. :P
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: vdweller on March 21, 2009, 03:58:59
Just uploaded the latest WIP version! Play it and give me some feedback  C)p
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: Kasran on March 21, 2009, 13:33:38
I am reminded of Smash TV (http://www.sydlexia.com/smashtv.htm) from watching the video.
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: vdweller on March 26, 2009, 10:24:47
Made a lot of progress these days!

Added the feature of falling off ledges, for both the "Robot" hero and the enemies. Also, some weapons can knock back enemies, so in certain rooms one will be able to throw enemies into the void by firing at them.

Also, changed the way the "level-up" screen appears. Instead of the level up screen abruptly appearing every time enough XP are gained and the room is clean of enemies, a clickable "notification" effect appears at the bottom of the GUI. In this way I want to ensure that e.g. players are not hurt by enemy bullets still flying on the screen when the menu suddenly appears, making difficult to remember where is what after making your selection.

Also, saving/loading has been implemented!

Objectives have also been added. In the level editor, one can simply add the command addobjectivept(k) in the input box of an enemy instance. This adds an "objective point" in a specific objective (with an index of k). Typically, most objectives have 1 point because they need to be done only once. But for Objectives like "Destroy 3 power generators" we need multiple objective points. Objectives can be created by editing the objectives.txt file in the level folder of the world.

I'm gonna need some testers for all this stuff...
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: vdweller on March 27, 2009, 16:47:42
Uploaded a new version, with many many new features!

Please, please, try it and give me some feedback! I would really appreciate some help, especially when it comes to bug reporting!

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?4aklwnmymim

(15.02 ΜΒ)
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: minmay on March 27, 2009, 18:47:01
It's very nice (of course).

I don't like the highly psychedelic coloring in a few rooms, but aside from that the graphics are very good.  I was actually unable to find any bugs, so...I'm pretty useless really.
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: vdweller on March 27, 2009, 19:36:54
Quote from: minmay on March 27, 2009, 18:47:01
It's very nice (of course).

I don't like the highly psychedelic coloring in a few rooms, but aside from that the graphics are very good.  I was actually unable to find any bugs, so...I'm pretty useless really.

The current tiles/ambiance maps (lighting)  is merely a placeholder for the real graphics :)
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: Salmoneous on March 27, 2009, 20:14:30
Quote from: minmay on March 27, 2009, 18:47:01
I don't like the highly psychedelic coloring in a few rooms

I actually like it.

great game vdweller.
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: vdweller on April 18, 2009, 20:30:09
New WIP version out. Many many new stuff implemented make the trip to awesomeness even shorter! Teleporting works fine, customizable cutscenes are added, the main char and enemies can fall off ledges, transition to the next level doesn't happen instantaneously, messages and inventory tooltip messages are added, well, I must make more room and ambiance graphics, items, weapons, enemies, option menus and also add some music and call this chapter in my life as a game maker closed :)

I don't really have to remind you how valuable feedback would be.

Latest link (15.82 MB zip file)
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?1yqrwmxdqmf
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: vdweller on April 24, 2009, 19:36:16
All these days and no comments...what am I doing wrong? :(

I am not active on other boards these days, my internet connection is not so stable and I have to post to what I consider to be my "top priority" at each forum. I expected some feedback though.

Anyway, I am still making progress! Options and Credits menus are ready, inventory item icons were redone from scratch (in order to include alpha transparency):

Here are all item icons so far:
(http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n251/myfefoyo84/mvitems.png)

(Poser 7 Rules  ;))

Currently I am currently making new weapons/enemies. I'm going to leave audio to be the last thing.


I was wondering, many people here have written very good music pieces, is anyone interested in contributing some ambient tunes to use as background music for my game?
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: Kasran on April 24, 2009, 19:50:01
I might do some ambient music, if you'd like. :3
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: vdweller on April 24, 2009, 19:52:48
Quote from: Kasran on April 24, 2009, 19:50:01
I might do some ambient music, if you'd like. :3

I will PM you when I can about details, thanks :)
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: minmay on April 25, 2009, 01:27:51
I think the reason that nobody is posting is that nobody has anything to say.

Seriously!  This is the sort of thing that doesn't provoke a lot of excessive commentation.  Certainly, it's awesome, but there's just not a lot to say about it that hasn't already been said.

I should think that once the game is finished, there will be a lot more activity; also, the download link for the latest version wasn't working for me until now.

EDIT: Okay, I've played the new version, here are my comments:
-The standard GM effects (smoke, ring, etc.) do not fit with the other effects (and don't look good aside from that, either).  Replace them with proper particle effects please!  (Of course, they're probably just placeholders, like the psychedelic colors).
-The teleport effect is epic.
-The game lags slightly when there are large amounts of enemies on the screen (the bug room in level 2, specifically).  Although this isn't a major problem, it should be avoidable with improvement of AI code.
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: vdweller on June 10, 2009, 23:25:02
Aaah...progress...such an unavoidable thing...

Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: Kasran on June 11, 2009, 00:34:35
It's good that you got Louigi to do the music. :<
I'm really sorry about flaking out on you like that.
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: minmay on June 11, 2009, 03:39:19
Now would be a good time to say that I love the look of those floor graphics.  What method do you use to make the sprites?  Do you do actual 3D modeling, or do you just use the various texturing features in GIMP/Photoshop?
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: lilmanjs16 on June 11, 2009, 05:02:51
great choice on music composer.
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: vdweller on June 11, 2009, 15:08:34
Quote from: Kasran on June 11, 2009, 00:34:35
It's good that you got Louigi to do the music. :<
I'm really sorry about flaking out on you like that.
You shouldn't feel bad, since the music genre I asked you to compose wasn't excactly your field of expertise. Plus, you told me about Louigi, so actually you have my gratitude  C)p


Quote from: minmay on June 11, 2009, 03:39:19
Now would be a good time to say that I love the look of those floor graphics.  What method do you use to make the sprites?  Do you do actual 3D modeling, or do you just use the various texturing features in GIMP/Photoshop?

There is a Photoshop plugin called Filter Forge which makes good textures for walls,tiles,etc. Plus, one can google for an image with a rusty floor tile with wires and a running bunny and find it  XD But yes, Photoshop is my main source for tile making.
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: vdweller on June 23, 2009, 20:17:18
Update time! New downloadable version + video!

Link (WIP version 7 -  23 MB)
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?zzdial1dmgh

Youtube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCgeOmhc3wQ

If you want to test all weapons so far, open the "worlddata.ini" file located in the "worlds\World1\" folder.
Edit the values startweapon1,startweapon2,startweapon3,startweapon4, with a number from 1 to 12.
Weapon values are, so far,
1-Rifle
2-Flamethrower
3-Missile Launcher
4-Plasma Gun
5-Stinger Missile launcher
6-Gauss Rifle
7-Chaingun
8-Jammer
9-Stein 9001
10-Z-36 Bulker Flechette
11-Sonic Gun
12-Mass Driver Cannon

Also, if you press the number keys (not the numpad ones, but these might work as well-I'm not sure), enemies will spawn. So far, 0-9 and Shift+1/Shift+2 keys are used, for testing purposes of course.

Try starting the game with a Mass Driver Cannon (its weapon number is 12), spawn enemies near ledges and open fire at them!

Also be sure to test the Stein 9001 (weapon number: 9), it's very cool!!

So basically it's almost done...the difficult parts that is. What remains? More graphics,enemies,weapons (2 laser cannons whose projectiles bounce off walls, as well as as rare,stronger versions of existing weapons or totally new ones),decorations, audio (=BIG ISSUE),and a complete world of ~10 levels to distribute the game with. Phew.
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: minmay on June 24, 2009, 17:20:48
There are two things that I think this game could really use:
-More things to blow up.  As in, not just enemies; boxes, computers, even doors.
-More variety in enemy attack patterns; most of the ones present currently either run straight up to you or move around semi-erratically while shooting at you.
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: vdweller on June 24, 2009, 20:57:15
Quote from: minmay on June 24, 2009, 17:20:48
There are two things that I think this game could really use:
-More things to blow up.  As in, not just enemies; boxes, computers, even doors.
-More variety in enemy attack patterns; most of the ones present currently either run straight up to you or move around semi-erratically while shooting at you.

Boxes and containers/explosives, as well as monster spawners will be added soon. Also, as you can see in the "visual/misc" folder, there are many unused "decoration" graphics.

About enemies:
Place the cursor over an empty area, then press Shift+2. An enemy with an "original" attack pattern will appear. More enemies with different move/attack patterns will be added. For example, a floating mechanical sphere which can only be damaged when its surrounding shield is open in order for it to attack.

It's good to receive feedback :) Today I discovered two bugs in my latest release. An "item exchange" inventory problem, and a teleporter problem. It's difficult to find all of this stuff on my own, so even bothering for 10 minutes to play and see if things go smoothly can really be helpful.
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: vdweller on June 27, 2009, 13:04:23
Well, 2 new things added: Crates and craters  :P

Crates usually drop random stuff when destroyed (or one can specify what they'll drop in the level editor) , and craters are actually "bomb stains" left under destroyed stuff. And craters *stay* there if one exits/reenters the room.

(http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n251/myfefoyo84/crates_mv.jpg)

(http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n251/myfefoyo84/befaf_mv.jpg)

I am really excited about the progress of the game. Looking back almost 9 months ago, when all this was nothing more than a "hello world, I'm testing stuff" thing in Game Maker, I can now only sigh with relief that there is so much less to do compared to what has already been done.

What next? I always wanted to make a Ginormo Sword clone. Oh, and a roguelike.
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: The stickman on July 07, 2009, 03:59:48
Well, I booted it up, but I couldn't figure out how to start the game!
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: vdweller on July 15, 2009, 14:38:45
Progress report:

-Made several new enemies, including turrets, enemy spawners and a cool boss with a spinning shield and various deadly attacks!
-2 new weapons: Laser rifle and Dual Laser Cannon. The first one is a med-power weapon whose projectiles (red beams) bounce against solid objects (not enemies) a couple of times. The second is a very powerful weapon, firing laser green-blue beams (not bouncing), surpassed only by the Stein 9001 in terms of mass destruction :).
-Various new tweaks to the code, bug fixes, and overall speed improvement (loading time is still a concern though, as it is already ~22 seconds WITHOUT audio so far).
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: minmay on July 15, 2009, 23:02:41
GM's loading times are awful.  Horrible, intolerable.

Right now, the only way to get around that is to load almost everything externally (which you're already doing a lot of, it seems).  Ideally, you should load only whatever's necessary for playing the current stage/level/sector/map/whatever you want to call it, to conserve memory (something else that GM isn't too good at).
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: ChaosWolf on July 18, 2009, 06:52:07
Well, the loading time is a bit harsh but the game is great. The graphics in paticular. It looks 3d. The game play is good, altough I kinda suck at it. This game looks very promising. (on a side note why do the number keys spawn enemies? Is it for testing purpose?)
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: vdweller on July 19, 2009, 00:01:01
Yes, it is for testing purposes, and since no released WIP so far reflects the actual game, I saw no reason to remove them :)

It is a pity that Louigi Verona hasn't come up with something "game-ish" yet. In our last conversation, he found it hard to compose something for a game, or he lacks the inspiration for it, or he is a bit too bored :) he sent me a couple of tracks however. They're good, byt I'm not quite sure if they fit in such a game.

I really hope that someone, be it Louigi Verona or anybody else,will write some music for the game...
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: vdweller on July 20, 2009, 17:38:17
Well, after thoroughly cleaning the interior of my pc (that was *a lot* of dust) I finally understood why everything was slowed down in my system, including the game's loading time. There was so much dust that my system suffered from super-heating. Thankfully, now everything is OK, and the game's load time is about 10 seconds! Weeee!

Say, minmay, ChaosWolf and the rest, how fast does the game load on your systems (and what systems do you own)? Can you give me an estimate in seconds?
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: minmay on July 20, 2009, 18:07:56
It takes about 10 seconds total for the game to load on my system (about one second for the loading screen to pop up, three seconds for the game to start, and five~six seconds to get past the second loading screen).

My processor is dual-core; since GM doesn't support multithreading it runs on just the one core, which would be approximately 3 GHz.
I have 2 GB of RAM, but am currently using the Windows pagefile (which I have set to 8 GB) since I've been doing some extremely high-memory stuff recently.
My video card is the not-all-that-great NVIDIA GeForce 6600 LE, made even worse by its inclination to overheat, but since GM supports only minimal hardware acceleration, this doesn't mean much - and it certainly wouldn't affect the loading screen.

Finally, my disk transfer rate is rather slow, which is probably limiting the speed.  Unfortunatlely I don't know what it is exactly.
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: vdweller on July 29, 2009, 09:00:47
Video update: Some bosses

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkonyrjRz0s
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: ChaosWolf on July 29, 2009, 15:49:17
Sorry for the delayed reply. On my computer it took about 43 seconds to load. Although I would consider my pc to be an artifact at this point.
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: vdweller on August 06, 2009, 00:18:16
Alright. PartySan (http://www.ctgmusic.com/artist.php?id=1675) is inside the game, tracking bytes, writing music. Here (https://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=batch_download&send_id=722440166&email=2126db3fdd36156e527324b9d3e95604) is the first track I just received.

Damn, it's good!
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: vdweller on August 16, 2009, 22:37:31
Due to Rusty Studio and PartySan, I now have a complete soundtrack for the game! Hooray!

Feel free to listen to these tracks and tell me your opinions:

Main Theme:
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?o01wvyyjfcy

Invaders must die (boss music):
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?yjzt5yqwogu
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: Razzorman on August 17, 2009, 22:32:24
Awesmoe. :D
Now I'm looking forward to this even more.
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: vdweller on August 31, 2009, 14:59:19
After a small break making a birthday Game Maker Game/tribute to a friend, I can now resume my Metal Venture activities :)

Right now I am adding even more decorative objects in the level editor. Also, the super-cool super boss is done.

I am seriously thinking of adding dynamic lighting in the game. I am currently able to and it will be cool. However I'm not entirely sure it's that necessary.
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: minmay on August 31, 2009, 16:10:16
It would be very cool, though you should add the option to turn it off.
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: Salmoneous on August 31, 2009, 16:40:21
That sounds awesmoe. When can we get a version with the super boss?
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: vdweller on September 07, 2009, 14:14:30
Exterior areas rule. Although the game is designed mainly for indoor areas, outdoors areas add a more "navigating-on-a-planet's-surface" feeling. The level editor makes it very simple: You add objects which say eg "foliage", and the engine places random instances of it. Below are 2 screenshots, one of an Earth-like dying forest, and one of a sunset-lit alien planet. Yes, exterior areas rule.
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: Purple Pineapple on September 07, 2009, 19:26:56
Nice.
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: vdweller on October 07, 2009, 22:38:47
Lots of progress! Sound effects and music rule!

1 quick question though. Is the "sketch style render" of 3D images good for cutscene graphics?

I have attached a quick pisture using this style, and the same picture "sketched" over black.

Please do tell me you opinions.
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: Salmoneous on October 09, 2009, 14:40:35
I think the first picture was best.
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: vdweller on October 10, 2009, 02:48:53
Another sample of the artistic approach I'm talking about.
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: minmay on October 10, 2009, 03:08:35
I don't really think I like the "sketch" style that you speak of and show.  Could we perhaps see the same pictures without the sketch filter applied?
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: vdweller on October 11, 2009, 21:58:39
Quote from: minmay on October 10, 2009, 03:08:35
I don't really think I like the "sketch" style that you speak of and show.  Could we perhaps see the same pictures without the sketch filter applied?

Nah, that would be pointless, since the original 3D scenes have awfully few detail. A "sketched" 3D scene, however, offers a "de facto" minimalism, since sketches don't have to be a totally clear and detailed interpretation of a scene.

I understand your feelings though. Believe me, it's a desperate measure, because I don't have the time/skills to work my a** off to draw stuff for the cutscenes. I wish I knew someone that has the skills/eagerness to do it, but I don't.
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: minmay on October 12, 2009, 00:30:26
Ah, I see.

In that case, I agree with Salmoneous; the first one looks better.
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: vdweller on October 12, 2009, 21:31:15
New test version out! With sound!!
~28 MB
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?znverljmlnn

(http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n251/myfefoyo84/screenshot100.jpg) (http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n251/myfefoyo84/screenshot101.jpg)

(http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n251/myfefoyo84/screenshot104.jpg) (http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n251/myfefoyo84/screenshot105.jpg)

(http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n251/myfefoyo84/screenshot108.jpg) (http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n251/myfefoyo84/screenshot102.jpg)
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: vdweller on October 28, 2009, 23:26:49
Here's a screen of the Supercomputer, the source of all trouble in the game's included world, built with the level editor!
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: smeagle on November 20, 2009, 07:12:02
This game looks good!!
did you ever get that "bloody sprite" or a new tileset?
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: Widget on November 24, 2009, 13:47:54
A few graphic issues when I played it but I found it fun, in spite of being really bad at these kinda games  X)
I'd personally like barriers around some of the drops but as I say, I'm just hopeless so I'm sure noone else falls to their doom as much as me. Oh yeah, although I seem to be in the minority I love the sketchy style for the cutscenes aswell  :^^:
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: vdweller on December 22, 2009, 22:55:37
It is impossible to describe the amount of progress which has been made all this time. All that remains is level designing. I just can't stop adding more stuff, graphics, rare items, enemies.
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: Gorfinhofin on December 23, 2009, 01:43:44
Wow. That looks awesome. I'm looking forward to a new playable version!
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: The stickman on December 23, 2009, 05:17:08
Quote from: Gorfinhofin on December 23, 2009, 01:43:44
Wow. That looks awesome. I'm looking forward to a new playable version!
[british]My good sir, I fervently concur with your most astute opinion. You are indubitably of scholarly descent. I would feel honored if we were to discuss topics such as this over tea and crumpets nest Tuesday.[/british]
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: Salmoneous on December 23, 2009, 09:32:24
oh shit that is awesome I want it now stop fooling around and release it omg omg omg  :nuts:
Title: Re: [WIP] Metal Venture
Post by: vdweller on December 26, 2009, 14:44:07
I just uploaded a demo of the "official" world's first 2 levels, complete with cutscenes and stuff. I uploaded it  in order to show it to some close friends/testers of mine. Bad news are that it's about 75 MB in size (hey, what do you expect with 45 music tracks?).

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?j2jnwhemxuj

So, consider this a very unofficial demo release - I won't even put this in the front page of the thread. But you can download it if you like, see some of the new graphics and music, find glitches etc.

PS Testing controls (enemy spawning, infinite energy etc) have been disabled in order to test game balance.
Title: Metal Venture 0.9b!!
Post by: vdweller on February 06, 2010, 13:10:35
It's done!

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?f4tuaoxmmmy

(74,72 MB .7z self-extracting .exe)

Additional testing is required. The credits screen is still empty, documentation for the Level Editor and a tutorial level should be done as well. But hey, you can play the main world. All of it.

Feedback is imporatnt, especially bug info and overall game balance/difficulty curve.
Title: Re: Metal Venture 0.9b
Post by: Razzorman on February 06, 2010, 13:18:54
Great! :D
I'm downloading it now. I'll get back to you later.

Edit
There seems to be something wrong with, well, just look.
Spoiler: Screen 1 (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Screen 3 (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Screen 4 (click to show/hide)

Screens 2 and 5 seem to be fine, although I think 5 is a lot darker then it was intended to be.

I tried switching to windowed mode, to see if it was a scaling issue, but it did nothing.

Edit 2
Spoiler: I tried switching off ambient lighting, and this happened. (click to show/hide)

Edit 3
Spoiler: When I press Esc, everything looks relatively normal, though. (click to show/hide)
Title: Re: Metal Venture 0.9b
Post by: vdweller on February 06, 2010, 14:02:24
Do you have an NVIDIA graphics card? If so, go to the nvidia display control panel, go to the Adjust Image Settings with Preview and move the slider to "Quality" preset. Alternatively, enable antialiasing in  nvidia display control panel. This is by no means a "Metal Venture" issue, but a "Game Maker 7" issue, I went through a lot of pain in order to determine the source of this graphical glitch, and then a few expert members at the Game Maker community told me what this was al about.
Title: Re: Metal Venture 0.9b
Post by: vdweller on February 09, 2010, 14:13:43
minmay, salmoneous and razzorman were added as testers to the credits screen for providing me with feedback. Thank you! If I have forgotten someone from this forum, please let me know.
Title: Re: Metal Venture v1.00
Post by: vdweller on February 12, 2010, 03:32:21
Version 1.00 is finally here! Weeeee! See this
http://nifflas.lpchip.nl/index.php?topic=78.msg306#msg306
Title: Re: Metal Venture v1.00
Post by: AClockworkLemon on February 12, 2010, 10:02:46
Quote
Code: [Select]
[url=http://"http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?mmnmtzgtzwt"]http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?mmnmtzgtzwt[/url]
your link is broken.
try replacing it with:
Code: [Select]
[url=http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?mmnmtzgtzwt]Download Link[/url]what was with the http://"~"?
Title: Re: Metal Venture v1.00
Post by: vdweller on February 12, 2010, 11:35:28
Thanks! My bad. Fixed now.
Title: Re: Metal Venture v1.00
Post by: AClockworkLemon on February 12, 2010, 21:38:38
XD No prob

Played a bit of it whilst my wii was dumping, and this is awsmoe! really nice to play! I take it you are using GameMaker to make this game, so i would like to know how you made a level editor. Very Intriguing!
Title: Re: Metal Venture v1.00
Post by: AClockworkLemon on February 12, 2010, 22:59:49
Got a bit tired of the red orb icon, so i chucked this together in IcoFX
Nothing special, just made out of the ./visual/hero/ guy thingy (main charachter) =P

Oh, yeah, the 256x256 icon aint great, its a little blurry
Title: Re: Metal Venture v1.00
Post by: vdweller on February 13, 2010, 00:06:32
Well in my hurry I left the default Game Maker 7 icon (a red ball). Thanks for the icon! I was also considering the Metal Venture logo as the game icon.
Title: Re: Metal Venture v1.00
Post by: smeagle on February 13, 2010, 04:06:29
This game is real fun  :D


but the shop keeper.. he looks almost exactly the same as the obne from robo kill
over all the game is the same as robokill!
maybe a few layout changes would be cool, but making levels is AWESOME!
Title: Re: Metal Venture v1.00
Post by: AClockworkLemon on February 13, 2010, 05:08:10
Kewlies. Dont suppose you have a version of the logo without the text on it, anything smaller than 48x48 and the text looks crap.
XD
Title: Re: Metal Venture v1.00
Post by: The stickman on February 13, 2010, 05:46:54
Hurray! It's finally done! :]
Title: Re: Metal Venture v1.00
Post by: AClockworkLemon on February 13, 2010, 23:11:42
OK, Im a fair way into this now, and 'm really enjoying it. Brilliant game.
Just a few gripes, though (and possibly a glitch)
Title: Re: Metal Venture v1.00
Post by: vdweller on February 13, 2010, 23:46:27
Quote from: a clockwork lemon on February 13, 2010, 23:11:42
OK, Im a fair way into this now, and 'm really enjoying it. Brilliant game.
Just a few gripes, though (and possibly a glitch)
  • In the level where you have to deactivate the forcefield for the elevator (2nd forcefield i think), I have gone to the ! block that Says that it has turned the field off, but if I return to the elevator the force field is still on. Am I doing something wrong?
  • But Mainly: There are to many collectable dropped items! The items that are used when you touch them are fine, however I think that they should be destroyed when you leave the room. (otherwise if you die heaps of times in the same room, they just build up and up), and the items that go into your inventory... Yo spend half your life clearing your inventory. Basically I've had to fully fill all the shops in the game, and even then throw stuff out. Plus, because of this, I have Heaps of money. maybe It would be an idea to reduce the frequency of Item drops?

About the elevator/force field. It's a bug. If you don't visit the forcefield room first, it will not go down when activating the ! pad. I've fixed it and it will be OK in the next update. If needed now, you can override it in the level editor, by replacing the force filed door with a normal one.

EDIT: Clockwork lemon, if you have a save before hitting the ! switch use this:
Replace the game.exe with this one
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?yyzrwzygdzn
Also replace the file room013004obj.txt located in your "lvl7" folder of the "A dormant menace" world folder with this one:
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?jugmyjaj1z2
and see if this problem is fixed.

About the items: If upon completing the level you return to the level shops and sell all your items, you won't have any problems. Additionally, if you die several times, your amount of money will be greatly reduced, so because you *will* die at one point or another, you won't be finishing the game with, like, tens of thousands of money. Discarding items may also be needed (I never had to because I sold all my unnecessary items before exiting a level). The majority of testers said they had no problem with items and inventory management (their only complaint was the huge price of the Stein9001). However I'm taking your remark into consideration, and if similar conjecture arises again, a future version will be more strict in terms of "item flooding".
Title: Re: Metal Venture v1.00
Post by: AClockworkLemon on February 14, 2010, 06:54:07
Dont worry about it.
I just edited the door into a normal door as suggested and am pas that now. thanks all the same! C)p
Title: Re: Metal Venture v1.00
Post by: vdweller on February 16, 2010, 14:19:37
The Metal Venture forum link in the first post had an error, now it is fixed.

Also, version 1.01 will be uploaded soon. There were some minor (OK,one not so minor) issues fixed.
Changes from v1.00
-Removed the "DELETE" panel at world selection, which remained if you selected a world with a a saved game and then selected another world without one.
-Fixed the walkable void in the last boss room.
-Fixed forcefields not disappearing if remotely disabled unless having visited the room where they are first.

I know that the game size is repulsive, but in my book, 50 MB of original music from various artists (Rusty Studio,PartySan,ERH etc), instead of cheap ripoffs from other games, should compensate for the download size.
Title: Re: Metal Venture v1.00
Post by: AClockworkLemon on February 17, 2010, 20:20:12
would it be possible to RAR the audio folder, then have people unRAR it on their computer? that should make it smaller! Also, when you release the new version with the source, for those who already have the game, will you be releasing a source-only package?
Title: Re: Metal Venture v1.00
Post by: vdweller on February 22, 2010, 02:51:31
Quote from: AClockworkLemon on February 17, 2010, 20:20:12
would it be possible to RAR the audio folder, then have people unRAR it on their computer? that should make it smaller! Also, when you release the new version with the source, for those who already have the game, will you be releasing a source-only package?

Not sure I understand what you suggested. The audio is already compressed in the downloaded .exe (in .7z) format. I'm not going to further reduce the quality if the music (it's already too low for my taste). As for the source release, I'll simply upload the 2 .gmk files.
Title: Re: Metal Venture v1.00
Post by: vdweller on February 27, 2010, 21:14:02
Patch 1.02

Download here:
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?cnemvxhw4wz
(4.8 MB .RAR)
simply extract (and overwrite existing files) in the game directory.

Changes from v1.01
-Fixed the "A dormant menace" world level 4 not being beatable because the force field wouldn't go down.
-Added console support.
Title: Re: Metal Venture v1.00
Post by: vdweller on March 28, 2010, 20:08:24
Good news! Aside from a very good GMC review by Mark13673 at the Reviewer's Choice section, the game was also featured in the web version of the biggest PC games magazine in Greece (http://www.pcmaster.gr/content/show/7114)! The link is in greek though...unless you speak greek, don't bother visiting it :)

If you are interested in making your own adventures and need help, join the Metal Venture Community (http://metalventure.forumotion.net/) and get started!
Title: Re: Metal Venture v1.02 [+Update] [+Youtube Previews]
Post by: vdweller on May 06, 2010, 15:23:52
I have uploaded the source files for both the game and the editor. Just extract them in the game directory. You will also need the respective .gex extensions/DLLs - the game will tell you which ones you'll need, it's easy to google for them or get them from the official Game Maker community and their size is minimal.

LINK (2.71 MB .zip)
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?t5mmy4zmmyr
Title: Re: Metal Venture v1.02 [+Update] [+Youtube Previews]
Post by: minmay on May 06, 2010, 16:21:08
It still doesn't work well in WINE.  Well, everything "works," but it's unplayably slow.  :(
Title: Re: Metal Venture v1.02 [+Update] [+Youtube Previews]
Post by: vdweller on May 06, 2010, 22:53:29
Well, it's a GM game, so technically I can't do anything about it. Only the WINE team can :)
Title: Re: Metal Venture v1.02 [+Update] [+Youtube Previews]
Post by: vdweller on May 16, 2010, 12:20:57
Game added in ModDB:
http://www.moddb.com/games/mental-venture

EDIT:
Patch 1.03 released.

I do stupid mistakes. Many people complained about A dormant Menace level 8 not being beatable because the forcefield wouldn't go down. I did a little research and guess what! I didn't change the code in level 8 in order to match 1.02 commands! Way to go!

You can download just the patch from here (3.96 MB .zip):
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?4xizzuo2kqx

Or an entire repack (74.78 MB 7-zip compressed self-extracting .exe) (I plan to completely remove all previous versions)
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?dxtyzy0hthn

If you patched the game to 1.03 and had saved your progress in level 8, the forcefield probably will still not go down. Here is a way to get past the forcefield:
Find "options.ini" in the game directory and open it.
Find the line console=0 and change it to console=1.
Load your saved game and go to the room with the forcefield.
Press the T key. An input field will appear. Input the following line:
field_down(roomx,roomy)

This should work. If it doesn't, contact me. Again, sorry for any inconvenience.
Title: Re: Metal Venture v1.02 [+Update] [+Youtube Previews]
Post by: vdweller on July 30, 2010, 17:46:36
Yay for the first custom Metal Venture world!

http://metalventure.forumotion.net/completed-worlds-f10/the-celestial-rise-t16.htm

(http://i33.servimg.com/u/f33/14/93/36/18/th/mv110.jpg) (http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=8&u=14933618) (http://i33.servimg.com/u/f33/14/93/36/18/th/mv210.jpg) (http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=9&u=14933618) (http://i33.servimg.com/u/f33/14/93/36/18/th/mva_bm10.jpg) (http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=10&u=14933618)
(http://i33.servimg.com/u/f33/14/93/36/18/th/mvb_bm10.jpg) (http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=11&u=14933618) (http://i33.servimg.com/u/f33/14/93/36/18/th/mvc_bm10.jpg) (http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=12&u=14933618)
Title: Re: Metal Venture v1.02 [+Update] [+Youtube Previews]
Post by: TheDarkOne on July 31, 2010, 01:40:28
AWESOME I think I'll have a look once I get on the PC...
Title: Re: Metal Venture v1.02 [+Update] [+Youtube Previews]
Post by: vdweller on September 30, 2010, 17:27:00
The game will be featured in the next issue of Computerbild Spiele, a german PC Magazine, according to an email I received. Also, it made it into Softpedia, and I didn't even apply :)
Title: Re: Metal Venture v1.02 [+Update] [+Youtube Previews]
Post by: minmay on September 30, 2010, 19:37:38
Glad to hear the game is getting more exposure!  Hopefully I'll actually be able to play it at some point :P
Title: Re: Metal Venture v1.03 [+Update] [+Youtube Previews]
Post by: vdweller on November 18, 2010, 17:34:03
IndieDB is running the Indie of the Year 2010 competition. So, if you like the game, you can vote for it!
http://www.indiedb.com/games/metal-venture
Title: Re: Metal Venture v1.03 [+Update] [+Youtube Previews]
Post by: AClockworkLemon on November 18, 2010, 20:30:09
Quote from: vdweller on November 18, 2010, 17:34:03
IndieDB is running the Indie of the Year 2010 competition. So, if you like the game, you can vote for it!
http://www.indiedb.com/games/metal-venture

Just did :^^: