Tech demo, videos and progress update.

A new tech demo is available on the side bar under current demos.

So far progress is going well in the conversion process.  Although there was some issues before with how the bullets would reflect off surfaces, but that's almost corrected now.  I may not have to re-write the process as I had previously thought.

Basic Controls
 Keyboard
   *Up = turn counter clockwise
   *Down = turn clockwise
   *Space = shoot
   *Escape = quit
  Mouse
    *Move up = rotate counter clockwise
    *Move down = rotate clockwise
    *Left button = shoot

As of this version I currently have the following completed:

*Hit, bust, speed and slap bonuses are working.
*Several powerups have been included.  (4-8 to activate a cheat for them, 5 does nothing so far)
*Some blocks have behaviors.  Currently the ones that need to be programed have not been included in this demo.
*Blocks burst into various pieces
*Shield decays and fuzzes out
*Tons of sprites with little slow down
*Mouse control added

Still to do is to add the actual powerup and bonus drops.  Also coloring for the bullet's glow effect.  Should range from orange-red-yellow-white.

Later on I'll be adding the special offensive blocks and pandora boxes.

Rewrite and Improve

A few years back I came up with Shield Breaker for a little contest at 64digits.  Then I started working on it again, adding features and experimenting with backgrounds.

All this was done using Game Maker 6.1, which was fine then.  It made putting out a quick and dirty version easy and allowed me to focus more on what I wanted to do then figuring out all the details.  Not to say a good amount of manual coding was used to create the first two versions.

Current available to play are versions titled Shield Breaker and Shield Breaker EX located on the side bar.  EX version contains a sample track by an artist named Black Hole who will possibly be contributing longer tracks in the new version.

The new version is currently being written in GLBasic, a coding language based on basic but with all the power of C++.  Inline C can also be used.  GLBasic compiles the final product into C and can also compile to OSX, iPhone, iPad, Win32, WinCE and Linux.

In addition to being able to compile to multiple platforms its allows for a cleaner faster engine.  Limits on objects on screen are way higher allowing for nicer visuals and increased game play potential.

However, unlike the previous versions I do plan to make this a commercial game, retailing no more then $10.  I've also considered the option of selling them pre-installed on custom usb sticks at the same price.  If created for mobile versions, the price will be lower for such devices.

Check back for future updates, tech demos and video capture.