I think I've worked out why I've never really finished anything MMF wise. Lack of planning and I hate MMF. Didn't know that I hated it till I got Game Maker 7 Pro however. I like Game Maker 7 Pro. It's like programming for stupid people (in a way). It removes 70-90% of the hard stuff like drawing windows and graphics, and allows you to cut straight to making stuff while being powerful enough to make interesting stuff. It's removed most of the limits MMF imposed on me. I'll probably find some more later, but right now it's cool.

This is a quick and easy arcade top down shmup abstract thing based around time attacking a single boss. Right now it has no music. Was made in about a day. First Game Maker 7 Pro game.

You play a dot, and have to shoot the core. I want people to be able to play the game without much external instructions so I'll not post a wall of text.

I would like to know if anyone had any trouble understanding what was going on, if their are any bugs, if it runs well and if you think that it's too easy or hard. Or ugly. Also, scores would be nice. Be brutal. I'm not going to learn otherwise.

Link here

New version of KlikShot! YAY! As this is a rapid prototype, new versions should be very rapidly released.

With this game, you are the little white ship in the bottom of the screen. You have to assemble a war machine for the mighty empire, so that they don't kill your dog or something. But the empire never turns these things off, so as you create it, it's going to shoot at you. Get it? It will make sense when you start playing it, don't worry.

The main new thing is that when finished, the boss you made is evaluated. Each T Block is worth 10 points, and each stand alone turret is worth 20 points. If you have a lot of turrets groups right next to each other, you don't gain as many points from it. This should encourage players to try to build a framework out of T Blocks and then stick turrets onto it, rather than just shooting turrets at the starting core.

The name is a bad pun, as you shoot parts at the enemy that click together. Also, the product I am using is a Clickteam product, which are normally called "Klik" products.

Please be brutal in the comments. I'm not going to learn otherwise. Instructions are in-game. Keys used are arrow keys, Z and X (all cactus style, yeah!)

The .caa file is the source code, if you have MMF feel free to dick around with it.

Changes from last version are:
Better help at start of game.
Sound effects added.
When the game is finished, the thing you made is checked to give up bonus score. Each T piece is worth 10 points. Turrets are worth 20, unless they are close together in which case each turret after the first is worth 10 points.
Have added little rainbow score things that appear when you gain points. They are needed for anyone to make sense of the above.

Credits:
PenguinSeph - Game Design, Programming (I used MMF1, but it's still programming. In a way,), "Art"
DrPetter of http://www.cyd.liu.se/~tompe573/hp for making sfxr, which was used to create the sound effects.
Everyone who has commented so far!

So, I post here again. Don't ask why, just accept it.

I made something. It's not quite done yet, no sound, shit gfx and one or two bugs I suspect, as well as little balance in the score system, but we have the core of something here.

With this game, you are the little white ship in the bottom of the screen. You have to assemble a war machine for the mighty empire, so that they don't kill your dog or something. But the empire never turns these things off, so as you create it, it's going to shoot at you. Get it? It will make sense when you start playing it, don't worry.

Please be brutal in the comments. I'm not going to learn otherwise. Instructions are in-game.

New version of Grand Theft Shmup! YAY! As this is a rapid prototype, new versions should be very rapidly released.

This game is becoming a really weird shmup. I heard that dashing doesn't give good feedback to the player, so I added a trail, and I then wanted to show enemy bullets bounching off the dashing player, so I made it so that enemy bullets colliding with the trail are replaced with player bullets going the other way. This had the side effect of meaning that whenever the player dashes, he creates a shield from enemy bullets that lasts a second.

I think it's kinda cool, but I'm not sure if I should leave it in. Any feedback from you guys?

Also, I think I should make it move obvious that you can take over the enemy ships by touching them while not dashing and that you can destroy enemy ships by dashing into them, as not many people are going to try to collide with the ships on purpose. Maybe I could add a prober help screen next version? Or a tutorial or something?

Changes to v0.03 are:
Dashing now creates a shield that defects enemy bullets.
Dashing now make a noise.
You now cannot dash the whole time.
Sub Boss appears sooner, and is harder

Credits:
PenguinSeph - Game Design, Programming (I used MMF1, but it's still kinda programming), "Art"
DrPetter of http://www.cyd.liu.se/~tompe573/hp for making sfxr
Everyone who has commented so far!

The controls are:
Arrow Keys - Move
Shift - Dash (while in dot mode) or Shoot (while in Ship mode)
Control - Jump out of ship.

DOWNLOAD IS HERE

I think this is starting to come together. Once the prototype yields a solid, playable mini-game (I'm shooting for one level) I can start production proper. I guess I'll need some decent graphics at that point.

New version of Grand Theft Shmup! YAY! As this is a rapid prototype, new versions should be veru rapidly released.

Changes to v0.02a are:
You now have a life bar. The dot can take 3 hits before being destroyed.
After taking a hit as the dot, you are invunerible to damage for a few seconds, and all onscreen bullets are destroyed.
When you jump out of a ship with Control, all on-screen bullets are destroyed.
When hijacking a ship, all bullets are destroyed.
Mid boss added. Note that he hates people getting close to him. He appears after 45 seconds.
Number keys 1 to 4 place the player inside a ship. These are debug options I've left in for fun.

The controls are:
Arrow Keys - Move
Shift - Dash (while in dot mode) or Shoot (while in Ship mode)
Control - Jump out of ship.

LINK IS HERE

I think this is starting to come together. Once the prototype yields a solid, playable mini-game (I'm shooting for one level) I can start production proper. I guess I'll need some decent graphics at that point.

Also, I personally really like the idea of allowing players to steal mid-bosses. But I'm worried that players will just mindlessly dash towards the mid-boss, so I made it so that the mid-boss has a special attack he uses when the player get's close to him. I think it may be a bit overboard however right now. Any thoughts on this?

Also, does dashing while in dot form make sense? Is it useful?

New version of Grand Theft Shmup! YAY! As this is a rapid prototype, new versions should be veru rapidly released.

Changes to v0.01a are:
Shump misspelling changed to Shmup. Thanks UncleSporky at www.platformers.net!
Score now resets to 0 after player is killed.
"Spider" enemy ship (The one that fires a bouncing shot and looks like an upside down "U") is now easier.
Touching an enemy while dashing kills it.
Pressing Control while in a ship no longer causes an overload attack, but instead just destroys the ship.

Credits:
PenguinSeph - Game Design, Programming (I used MMF1, but it's still kinda programming), "Art"
The maker of sfxr (I will find out who it is for the next version. I promise)

Link is here!

After the success* of "Penguins Are Attacking Your Dude!" I thought I would get back into MMF "programming" again.

After a while, I got off my arse and started doing something.

An hour or two after that, Grand Theft Shmup v0.01 was born!

The gist of it is that you are the dot, and you have to kill bad guys. You can steal enemy ships by bumping into them, and then use those ships against the enemy! Like in that popular car-jacking murder sim everyone loves. ;)

The controls are:
Arrow Keys - Move
Shift - Dash (while in dot mode) or Shoot (while in Ship mode)
Control - Overload Ship (Destroys ship to fire many bullets)

As a prototype, it exists to create the outline for a project. The prototype should show that the finished game will fill in all the requirements. As I am mainly making the game as a hobby for myself as well as maybe a talking point for any interviews and stuff, the goals are:

- Game should be at least vaguely in the Shmup genre.
- Game should be enjoyible and complelling from the first go.
- Game should be pick up and play. To be more specific, the player should be able to play the game is short bursts.
- Game should use the ship stealing mechanic to good effect, using it to give the player many options in gameplay.
- Game should be deterministic. If the player enters the same input 5 times, she should get the same result 5 times.
- Game should have a high amount of polish, and should be bug free (note that the prototype will not have this point. It's only like a really small demo to show what the finished product will be like)

Download is HERE

Please tell me what you think of it!

*=I finished it, about 5 people played it, and no one has sued me or burned down my house yet, so it was a success!

So you've got to punch them in their faces. Right?

This was made for the KotM club Dec 2007. It feels good to make a game again. I'll have to crack open the MMF again. I kinda like some of the ideas in this, I may revisit some of the mechanics later.