A New Game

[CoolCorky]

I'm only posting here to ask for your opinion. I have an idea for a game I might make, and I just want to post the long and short of it here to get some feedback.

The game name is Piggy-Back Jousting, a game invented by me and my friends last year at school, and the game some of you may have seen on my Teens Gone Mad video on Youtube. The basic premise of the game is two pairs take position a set distance away from each other, with one person on the other's back and they charge. The "Jockey"'s legs act as jousting rods. The winner is the last team standing.

Piggy-Back Jousting is as much a strategy game as it is an RPG or 2-D fighter. When you begin the game, you get to choose a jousting team, from the 6 available. You then find yourself in the first area. You travel around the area, finding opponents to joust against. The game then enters the jousting screen, in which you set your speed and leg position for your jousting team, and you then charge! Each time you are hit, you lose health, and likewise so does your opponent. However, certain opponents have different strengths and weaknesses, so you need to adjust your figthing stats accordingly. If you lose, you lose a life and are taken back to the overview screen. However, if you win, the opponent is taken off the overview screen and you go off in search of a new opponent. If you defeat all the opponents in an area, a boss jouster will appear. Defeat them and you can move on to the next area. There are 4 areas in the game. Your ultimate goal is to become piggyback jousting King of the school!

Now, before you start calling me Ranmakkuu, this is a game I actually intend to make. I just want your feedback on the idea.

It will be made in gamemaker.

[Rhinoce Breakdancerus]

I'm not big on the whole "travelling around looking for opponents" bit. Then it just makes it sound like Pokemon. But then again, I can't play gamemaker games on my computer, so it isn't like I'd play the game anyways.

[CoolCorky]

robybang said:

I'm not big on the whole "travelling around looking for opponents" bit.

It won't be so much as an entire world, just a small area with a number of opponents in. So if you can't defeat one opponent, you can go and fight another, and come back to them later.

[boyue]

The piggy-back part kinda' reminds me of when my classmates do it running outa' lunch.

Lol, jousting with a leg.

[somebody probably]

Just go play that game in real life, it'd be far more fun.

[CoolCorky]

And more painful. Seriously, getting kneed in the crotch hurts.

[Rhinoce Breakdancerus]

...
I wish I went to one of your schools.

[boyue]

coolcorky said:

And more painful. Seriously, getting kneed in the crotch hurts.

Try getting beamed with a dodgeball in there.

[CoolCorky]

robybang said:

...
I wish I went to one of your schools.

Way to be instantly popular at school:
1) Lie on the floor.
2) Shout "Pile on!"
3) ?
4) PROFIT!!

[CoolCorky]

robybang said:

I can't play gamemaker games on my computer, so it isn't like I'd play the game anyways.

I just noticed something about that. You computer can't run .exe files?

Oh, and I've made a quick demo, just in case some of you are still confused as to what the game is like to play.

~Click Here~

Bear in mind this is an Alpha version demo. The sprites are nowhere near finished, and there will be more jousting options implemented. This demo is merely to show you how it works. You click the speed buttons to make your character move. The slower speeds deal more damage, but you'll also get hurt. Also take note of the fact that this is a stationary opponent. The actual ones will move, and damage you more. This setup will probably be for a tutorial.

[Interrobang Pie]

That field is way too long. You should make a bar, in which you press space on to stop to choose your power.

[CoolCorky]

I've changed the "Arena" to be just the 640 pixels wide. Power doesn't increase as you run, so it doesn't matter. And that bar would be a bastard to program.

[Space]

coolcorky said:

(stuff) And that bar would be a bastard to program.

The old Game Maker part of my brain saw that line and spat out some code.

Create Event:

Set variable StopTrigger = 0
Set variable MovingBar = 0
Set variable UpDown = 0
Set variable EndSpeed = 0

Step Event:

If StopTrigger = 0
{
If UpDown = 0
{
If MovingBar >= 100 //or whatever the max value is
UpDown = 1
Else
MovingBar = MovingBar + 1 //or however fast you want the bar to move
EndIf
}
Else
{
If MovingBar <= 0
UpDown = 0
Else
MovingBar = MovingBar - 1
EndIf
}
EndIf

<Space> Event:

StopTrigger = 1
EndSpeed = MovingBar
Etc. //Something here to tell the game that they can start the jouster, jouster object retrieves the EndSpeed variable

Draw Event:

Create rectangle
{
x1 = 0 //or wherever you want to put it
y1 = 0
x2 = (whatever x1 is + MovingBar)
Y2 = 10
}

I haven't messed with Game Maker for a while now, so this is just a prototype code, but it should work for a moving bar like what Scyphen described.

And after looking at said demo, I'd recommend displaying health as health bars. Easier for the player to keep track of.

[CoolCorky]

I plan to have the health bars eventually, but I just had the values at the top in testing.

And what does that moving bar code actually do in relation to my game?

[Space]

Well, like Scyphen said, a moving power bar.

The Step event makes the variable MovingBar move up and down between 0 and 100, as long as StopTrigger is 0.

The <Space> event sets the StopTrigger to 1, which stops the bar, and sets EndSpeed to whatever MovingBar was at the time. Then you put in something that will tell the player's jouster to retrieve the EndSpeed variable, and use it as the player's speed.

The Draw event uses the MovingBar variable to create a bar that moves back and forth, because of the Step event.

I could whip up an example, if you'd like.

EDIT: Here it is.

As you can see in the demo, the player flies off with a speed equal to that of the EndSpeed variable, after you press the spacebar. And the values in the powerbar object can be easily tweaked.