Bionicle Fighter: Broken Virtues

[Arzaki]

That's my only complaint, this game is totally awesome!

No, everything is awesome.

[Makuta Luroka]

 

That's my only complaint, this game is totally awesome!

No, everything is awesome.

 

 

 

But seriously, panrahk, cordak blasters, and po-toa are Vorahk's worst enemies

[Katuko]

Holy cow, I just got it onto my PC and this game is amazing! I love the boss fights, even if they can be brutal the first time. A few things I dislike: Rahkshi of Shattering's explosion power. During the Rahkshi boss fight, I couldn't get anywhere close to Pahnrahk because it just kept blasting me away. When I did get close, it blasted me over. That's my only complaint, this game is totally awesome!

A major problem with balance is this game is that you currently can't block. Many powerful abilities were designed with the ability to block in mind, so that makes them almot impossible to deal with at the moment unless you got a projectile power of your own (or a Mask of Shielding). The intention is for you to be able to block quickly with a weapon or shield, to at least reduce damage. The attacks are also meant to have a few frames of warning before they fire, which they currently lack.

 

I have a Kanoka disk test project in the works for you guys. Adding different disk flight types where a bit easier than expected, so it's looking good for "proper" disk launchers in the future. While I put the finishing touches on the test, take a look at some new launcher sprites.

 

 

 

But seriously, panrahk, cordak blasters, and po-toa are Vorahk's worst enemies

And also mostly its only real enemies at the moment. Anything that doesn't knock it down it can just tank after getting in your face. Edited June 11, 2014 by Katuko

[Makuta Luroka]

...

But seriously, panrahk, cordak blasters, and po-toa are Vorahk's worst enemies

And also mostly it's only real enemies at the moment. Anything that doesn't knock it down it can just tank after getting in your face.

 

Which reminds me, my Vorahk character has set a new record.

[Hexann]

 

...

But seriously, panrahk, cordak blasters, and po-toa are Vorahk's worst enemies

And also mostly it's only real enemies at the moment. Anything that doesn't knock it down it can just tank after getting in your face.

 

Which reminds me, my Vorahk character has set a new record.

 

I think you might have beaten the all time record for Bionicle Fighter...now I've gotta beat that.

[Katuko]

Congratulations, you have demonstrated your skill at keeping D pressed for an excessive amount of time.

[Makuta Luroka]

Congratulations, you have demonstrated your skill at keeping D pressed for an excessive amount of time.

Not true... I did press 'E' some times whilst fighting fa-toa and fa-rahkshi. I've become attached to my staff despite the fact that I don't press 'A' or 'F'

[Katuko]

 

Disk Launcher test file (1.88 MB)

[ Download from Dropbox ]

 

WASD to move your launcher in space. Mouse to aim. Left mouse button shoots, hold the right mouse button to have the camera track the last disk you fired. Right-clicking is also the trigger for the blue Ga-Metru disk type's "mind control" flight path. Use Spacebar or the number keys to switch disk types.

 

- Red (Ta-Metru) disks have more force on impact.

- Green (Le-Metru) disks fly further before dropping.

- Blue (Ga-Metru) disks follow the mouse cursor on command.

- Orange (Po-Metru) disks home in on disks fired from the auto-launchers floating around.

- Light blue (Ko-Metru) disks will home in on the Makuta stone floating around, dodging rocks in the process.

- Black (Onu-Metru) disks return to you if they don't hit anything. All other disk types will drop after their timer expires.

 

Subject to refinement and change before actually being used as a BF weapon.

[TERIDAX941]

 

Disk Launcher test file (1.88 MB)

[ Download from Dropbox ]

 

WASD to move your launcher in space. Mouse to aim. Left mouse button shoots, hold the right mouse button to have the camera track the last disk you fired. Right-clicking is also the trigger for the blue Ga-Metru disk type's "mind control" flight path. Use Spacebar or the number keys to switch disk types.

 

- Red (Ta-Metru) disks have more force on impact.

- Green (Le-Metru) disks fly further before dropping.

- Blue (Ga-Metru) disks follow the mouse cursor on command.

- Orange (Po-Metru) disks home in on disks fired from the auto-launchers floating around.

- Light blue (Ko-Metru) disks will home in on the Makuta stone floating around, dodging rocks in the process.

- Black (Onu-Metru) disks return to you if they don't hit anything. All other disk types will drop after their timer expires.

 

Subject to refinement and change before actually being used as a BF weapon.

So when you choose a disk launcher in the full game, will you have a limited amount of disks to throw? Because if you do, then the Onu-Metru disks make more sense, where you get a free reload if you don't hit anything, while if you were to get an unlimited supply of Kanoka, having your throw return to you is very pointless. Just a thought for the full version lol

[Katuko]

I imagine there would be an interval between shots, and a returning disk would instantly cut it short. Regardless, having the Kanoka curve back to you could help you hit an enemy in the back that would otherwise have blocked the shot, or simply dodged it the first time.

Edited June 12, 2014 by Katuko

[TERIDAX941]

Ooo a rebound? That's super cool...

[Makuta Luroka]

How to create kanoka force field:

1) enemy fires disk

2) you fire many orange disks

3) they keep curving and hitting the one disk, continually knocking it, keeping it in the air indefinitely

4) it looks like the coolest thing ever

5) hide in it

 

EDIT:

Now with screenshots. Behold!

Edited June 12, 2014 by Kuan

[UngluedBike]

How's the actual multiplayer going?

[Katuko]

How's the actual multiplayer going?

Like a man with no legs. ;D

[UngluedBike]

 

How's the actual multiplayer going?

Like a man with no legs. ;D

Oh well, had to ask. Ill come back when its done

[Katuko]

Oh well, had to ask. Ill come back when its done

I'm currently working on a website where you can make a simple account and show off your characters. Nothing public yet, but it's one step closer to actual multiplayer, at least. Edited June 15, 2014 by Katuko

[Collector1]

 

Oh well, had to ask. Ill come back when its done

I'm currently working on a website where you can make a simple account and show off your characters. Nothing public yet, but it's one step closer to actual multiplayer, at least.

 

Now that would be a better way to save your characters. But it if it was used as the main way to save characters, that might cause problems for people playing the game offline.

[Makuta Luroka]

 

 

Oh well, had to ask. Ill come back when its done

I'm currently working on a website where you can make a simple account and show off your characters. Nothing public yet, but it's one step closer to actual multiplayer, at least.

 

Now that would be a better way to save your characters. But it if it was used as the main way to save characters, that might cause problems for people playing the game offline.

 

It's not necessarily a way to save your character, so much as sort of a gallery for your character.

[Collector1]

 

 

 

Oh well, had to ask. Ill come back when its done

I'm currently working on a website where you can make a simple account and show off your characters. Nothing public yet, but it's one step closer to actual multiplayer, at least.

 

Now that would be a better way to save your characters. But it if it was used as the main way to save characters, that might cause problems for people playing the game offline.

 

It's not necessarily a way to save your character, so much as sort of a gallery for your character.

 

What I was suggesting is that you can save and store your characters onto an account of some sort. Much like a cloud saving system.

[Katuko]

Characters are saved as simple text and numbers, so it's easy to adapt them to fit in a database. Ideally the site will allow you to upload a character file and store that character in the database, and vice versa pull a character from the database and save to a game-compatible file you can download. This should allow sharing of characters, and the ability to backup characters online. Uploaded files would naturally be screened to prevent characters with modified stats or profane names from appearing to the public.

 

Characters will still be stored offline in files, as I don't want to force people to have an internet connection to play a quick match.

 

If I can get it to work, it could potentially be possible to connect directly to the database from in-game and then load character data that way. We'll see.

[Some Random Phrase]

Are the matoran classes actually in development, or are they still in idea phase?

[Katuko]

Are the matoran classes actually in development, or are they still in idea phase?

A lot of things are just in the idea phase, Matoran included. That said, Matoran characters would use much the same code as any other playable character, and have less unique powers total. They should therefore be pretty quick to implement once I get rolling, so I aim to have basic versions of all species (Toa, Rahkshi, Vortixx, Skakdi and Matoran) ready from the get-go in the new engine. Most will just be sprite swaps with no special powers, but they will share enough code to be present, at least.

[ToaGhost]

Just downloaded and tried your game out. GENIUS!!! Couldn't figure out why the mask, armor, and weapon of my character where white at first, but I quickly figured out how to change it (I face-palmed when I realized my error ). Very nice.

Very nice indeed.

[keiththelegokid]

When is the next update?

[Katuko]

Just downloaded and tried your game out. GENIUS!!!

Glad you like it.

 

I know several aspects of the game can be a bit ambiguous; I blame that on myself. For example, there is no indication that you can change mask styles by clicking on the Kanohi icon on the character creattion screen; and the method to spawn the Karda Nui boss is perhaps non-obvious as well.

 

When is the next update?

I've been having some trouble with developing this game recently, mostly due to a lack of time. I now do have some time to program, but I plan to spend it on the new and improved version of the game's base code rather than stuffing more things into the old. I also need to use my old (slow and unstable) laptop to develop for the current game, because it can only be done in GM 8.0, and you can't register 8.0 on new computers after its licensing company quit. The newest versions of the program sadly cause errors when I move the game project over.

 

I'll be posting sprites and test files here as I go. The most recent one is a preview of how the various Kanoka disk types might work in-game.

Edited June 17, 2014 by Katuko

[Volatile]

I think you should put all the tests under a "minigames" section.

Edited June 17, 2014 by Toa Aeron

[Katuko]

You're right. I have added a section near the end of the first post in this topic.

Edited June 19, 2014 by Katuko

[Volatile]

I was talking about the game itself but I guess that works too.

[Some Random Phrase]

How do you modify the CHAR file?

[Makuta Luroka]

How do you modify the CHAR file?

You could do it with notepad.

[Shadowhawk]

 

How do you modify the CHAR file?

You could do it with notepad.

 

I personally prefer utilizing MS Word, but yeah, Notepad works too. Character stats are text documents, see, so anything that can open and edit such a document will work fine. In theory.

[Katuko]

Technically they are INI files, text files with a specific section/key/value setup. But yes, they can be edited in any text editor. If you modify your stats, do note that setting them too high can break the game. 50000 dexterity, for example, will either make you fly off screen or just crash the game due to the high value. Too high strength and you can't use throwing knives without them simply disappearing in the same manner; because the speed of the throw is linearly increased by the character's strength.

[JacobLazer]

 

Oh well, had to ask. Ill come back when its done

I'm currently working on a website where you can make a simple account and show off your characters. Nothing public yet, but it's one step closer to actual multiplayer, at least.

 

I like this idea! and once multiplayer is up, we'll all be like "hey I know that guy!" XD

[Some Random Phrase]

Technically they are INI files, text files with a specific section/key/value setup. But yes, they can be edited in any text editor. If you modify your stats, do note that setting them too high can break the game. 50000 dexterity, for example, will either make you fly off screen or just crash the game due to the high value. Too high strength and you can't use throwing knives without them simply disappearing in the same manner; because the speed of the throw is linearly increased by the character's strength.

I noticed that setting everything to 100 made the creation screen glitch.

Man, using a Le-Toa with all stats hacked to 50 and a Huna is fun You basically get a perpetually invisible Toa with death ray. The only way you can be destroyed is in crossfire.

[Katuko]

Here's one part of the new engine which I'm working on: Skill selection.

 

 

The current STR/VIT/DEX/ELM/MIND stat block will be removed, in favor of some nice icons and sliders. This (very much WIP) screenshot uses icons for everything, but I imagine that the basic stats will have sliders, and more definitive skills will have icons. Example: Max health will be a slider, pretty much mimicking the current functionality of the Vitality stat. Skills/perks like "Dual Weapon Training" (which allows the use of two weapons at once with no penalty) will be an icon. Both sliders and icons will use a point pool, like the current stat distribution does.

 

Currently, Strength affects melee attacks directly, and adds some extra power to Elemental attacks. The Element stat affects elemental attacks and influences your energy pool and recharge rate. The Mind stat affects Kanohi powers and the energy pool/recharge. Since the stats mix, and not all of them are as useful as the others, the new stats will look like this:

• Melee weapons (Sword, axe, staff, etc., as well as bare hands)
• Projectile weapons (Disk Launchers, laser weapons, etc.)
• Elemental Power (or equivalent)
• Movement speed
• Health
• Energy
• Energy recharge rate

By default, every character will be average in these stats. You can then add or subtract points as you wish. The skill pool allows you to customize your character's abilities, such as by making them able to walk faster while aiming/blocking, or by increasing armor effectiveness while also increasing its movement speed penalties. A defense-heavy build might spend a point on movement speed to negate this penalty, but that should still be balanced because that's one less point spent on health, or damage, or some other skill.

 

Each main power - like Fire, Plasma, Magnetism, etc. - will have a few unique skills that modify how they work, such as by adding extra burn time on flame attacks, or increasing the push force of a magnetic wave. Kanohi/other special powers will also have perks, primarily ones that modify duration and/or power (since the Kanohi will no longer be tied to the Mind stat, and they will also have their own energy bar).

Edited June 19, 2014 by Katuko

[Collector1]

Here's one part of the new engine which I'm working on: Skill selection.

 

 

The current STR/VIT/DEX/ELM/MIND stat block will be removed, in favor of some nice icons and sliders. This (very much WIP) screenshot uses icons for everything, but I imagine that the basic stats will have sliders, and more definitive skills will have icons. Example: Max health will be a slider, pretty much mimicking the current functionality of the Vitality stat. Skills/perks like "Dual Weapon Training" (which allows the use of two weapons at once with no penalty) will be an icon. Both sliders and icons will use a point pool, like the current stat distribution does.

 

Currently, Strength affects melee attacks directly, and adds some extra power to Elemental attacks. The Element stat affects elemental attacks and influences your energy pool and recharge rate. The Mind stat affects Kanohi powers and the energy pool/recharge. Since the stats mix, and not all of them are as useful as the others, the new stats will look like this:

• Melee weapons (Sword, axe, staff, etc., as well as bare hands)
• Projectile weapons (Disk Launchers, laser weapons, etc.)
• Elemental Power (or equivalent)
• Movement speed
• Health
• Energy
• Energy recharge rate

By default, every character will be average in these stats. You can then add or subtract points as you wish. The skill pool allows you to customize your character's abilities, such as by making them able to walk faster while aiming/blocking, or by increasing armor effectiveness while also increasing its movement speed penalties. A defense-heavy build might spend a point on movement speed to negate this penalty, but that should still be balanced because that's one less point spent on health, or damage, or some other skill.

 

Each main power - like Fire, Plasma, Magnetism, etc. - will have a few unique skills that modify how they work, such as by adding extra burn time on flame attacks, or increasing the push force of a magnetic wave. Kanohi/other special powers will also have perks, primarily ones that modify duration and/or power (since the Kanohi will no longer be tied to the Mind stat, and they will also have their own energy bar).

 

This would be great for Rahkshi characters. Since Kraata have stages/levels to them.

[Hexann]

I can't take it any more. I know I'm learning two programing languages already (Though Game Maker studio is far from being considered a programming language is it not?), but I'm gonna try to learn how to use GMS. I'm just gonna see what I ca do with it and maybe see if I can contribute to this programming-wise.

 

So, any tutorials I must know of XD

Edited June 19, 2014 by Damaracx The Mad Scientist

[Katuko]

Most programming languages are similar to each other in syntax. GML is an interpreted language with similarities to C, JavaScript, and some other languages. It's a bit more limited in some ways, and is slower to execute than "proper" languages. Still, improvements have been made in the last few years.

 

I dunno how much help I could get with scripting, as I dare say I'm fairly good myself. It just takes time to organize and write all the code, due to amount of stuff that needs to be programmed. I think I've mentioned before that I prefer to work solo on programming to avoid mess and misunderstandings. Still, if you have any experience with setting up an online game, I'd be glad to get some help in that department. I know the basics of net games (I'm going to make a new online demo soon) but the more complex they are, the more effort it takes to make it properly synchronized and playable.

 

And I still need help with graphics and sound effects, just to mention that. One thing that could be programmed for me would be fancy, lightweight particle effects and similar.

 

 

EDIT: I forgot to mention it earlier, but the crossbow test that is currently linked to in the first post includes Vortixx and Skakdi sprites. The mechanics of the test is exactly like it was before, but you get to see some sprites in action. Press Backspace to restart the test and randomize which character (Toa, Vortixx or Skakdi) you use.

Edited June 19, 2014 by Katuko

[Hexann]

I dunno how much help I could get with scripting, as I dare say I'm fairly good myself. It just takes time to organize and write all the code, due to amount of stuff that needs to be programmed. I think I've mentioned before that I prefer to work solo on programming to avoid mess and misunderstandings.

If I didn't know any better I would say 'two heads are better than one', however two heads can start pointless riots and feed off each others ignorance so instead I'll point out how point pointless this post of mine was and facepalm it away.

 

:Facepalm:

 

Well, anyway I've been learning how to create simple games with Python so I'll accumulate a bunch of tutorials overnight and apply thier concept though whatever makeshift program I manage to conjure up in the next few days. Let's see if I can even do that.

[Katuko]

You should be able to get the hang of GML pretty quickly if you have any sort of programming experience. In fact, you will probably cringe at how lax the language is with its syntax compared to most others - semicolons are technically not required at all, for example.

 

Two heads are indeed better, but until I got the basic engine down I'd like to do it alone. Speaking of the new engine, I am now setting up the basic animation system for characters. It will be a bit more solid than what I currently have, so hopefully I can allow myself to do a lot more with it too.

Edited June 20, 2014 by Katuko