Sky Defender - Alpha 2
by Tom Ogburn · in Torque Game Builder · 03/28/2006 (7:07 am) · 11 replies
From my blog on Starlit Sky Games...
Sky Defender - Alpha 2 from Starlit Sky Games is now available for testing.
Defend our planet from the invading Mingian buggers. Upgrade your weapons and grab the shields and extra lives while pushing back the aggressors from Earth. As you successfully fight back you will go deeper into space where they have more ships and it will take longer to get upgrades to you, so get them while you can and prepare for an adrenaline pumping experience.
If you liked Space Invaders, you'll love Sky Defender. With updated graphics and particle effects, retro gaming has been kicked up a notch.
PC (5Mb): Sky Defender - Alpha 2 download here.
notes: This alpha version ends 2006 April 20. Online high scores are not yet available and I still need to polish the graphics.
--Tom Ogburn
Starlit Sky Games
Sky Defender - Alpha 2 from Starlit Sky Games is now available for testing.
Defend our planet from the invading Mingian buggers. Upgrade your weapons and grab the shields and extra lives while pushing back the aggressors from Earth. As you successfully fight back you will go deeper into space where they have more ships and it will take longer to get upgrades to you, so get them while you can and prepare for an adrenaline pumping experience.
If you liked Space Invaders, you'll love Sky Defender. With updated graphics and particle effects, retro gaming has been kicked up a notch.
PC (5Mb): Sky Defender - Alpha 2 download here.
notes: This alpha version ends 2006 April 20. Online high scores are not yet available and I still need to polish the graphics.
--Tom Ogburn
Starlit Sky Games
About the author
Owner of Starlit Sky Games, Senior Developer / Architect at Migration.Mobi
#2
With the bonuses, over time it should have 20% extra lives, 30% weapons, and 50% shields and when you've maxed out the weapons it goes to 20% lives and 80% shields. I'll try adjusting those for less lives and adjust the appear rate curve to slow them down a little more in the beginning.
03/28/2006 (8:07 am)
Thanks Dave. Can I ask what type of machine you have? On mine (hyperthread 3.2Ghz with 512MB ram) it became unplayable around level 37. I was hoping it was just my machine :), but since it's not I'll make sure I focus a lot more time on debugging that. With the bonuses, over time it should have 20% extra lives, 30% weapons, and 50% shields and when you've maxed out the weapons it goes to 20% lives and 80% shields. I'll try adjusting those for less lives and adjust the appear rate curve to slow them down a little more in the beginning.
#3
AMD Turion64 @ 1800 mHz 1gB of ram
I'll try it on my dev machine when I get a chance.
It's a 3gHz, with 2 gig of ram.
03/28/2006 (12:26 pm)
A laptop with an AMD Turion64 @ 1800 mHz 1gB of ram
I'll try it on my dev machine when I get a chance.
It's a 3gHz, with 2 gig of ram.
#4
03/28/2006 (12:41 pm)
Make it so you dont have to mash the spacebar so much.. that'd be a great improvement :P
#5
i could provide you original graphics and music if you could help me create something similar... i am looking for a mentor.
anyway listen to this
www.dakurv.com/samples
and look at this
www.dakurv.com/temp/
we could help each other out ;)
04/05/2006 (11:46 am)
Hey nice game, wow level 37 ! :) you played it alot... i noticed you reused the gfx from the TGB demo... i could provide you original graphics and music if you could help me create something similar... i am looking for a mentor.
anyway listen to this
www.dakurv.com/samples
and look at this
www.dakurv.com/temp/
we could help each other out ;)
#6
@Dave,
I'm finding I have the same problem of slowing down when I have other applications/processes open. I ran with Task Manager open and everytime windows gives processor time to another app it slows the game down. I also noticed when using encrypted zips versus non-zipped files, windows opens thousands of extra handles. I'm not sure why it's doing that yet, so it will take more research.
@Jason,
I plan to make it so you can just hold the spacebar down and it will autofire. I didn't have it working yet so it's commented out.
@Steve,
That would be great. I would be more than willing to help you with coding in exchange for graphics and music. I looked at your site and really liked what I saw and heard. I think something like Sine Waves would be a good theme for the start screen, and Analogue is almost perfect for in game with the fast pace and the sound effects. And the graphics are really good too. I could really use a non-programmer drawn company logo. ;)
04/05/2006 (8:53 pm)
Sorry for the slow responses. My day job has been really busy lately with getting ready for several major application launches this weekend.@Dave,
I'm finding I have the same problem of slowing down when I have other applications/processes open. I ran with Task Manager open and everytime windows gives processor time to another app it slows the game down. I also noticed when using encrypted zips versus non-zipped files, windows opens thousands of extra handles. I'm not sure why it's doing that yet, so it will take more research.
@Jason,
I plan to make it so you can just hold the spacebar down and it will autofire. I didn't have it working yet so it's commented out.
@Steve,
That would be great. I would be more than willing to help you with coding in exchange for graphics and music. I looked at your site and really liked what I saw and heard. I think something like Sine Waves would be a good theme for the start screen, and Analogue is almost perfect for in game with the fast pace and the sound effects. And the graphics are really good too. I could really use a non-programmer drawn company logo. ;)
#7
04/06/2006 (6:41 am)
Cool tom contact me, stevebisson (((@))) hotmail (((.))) com 
#9
My 2 cents:
*) enemies are too close to the ship - you may die even not seeing incoming bullet (dont punish your users ;))
*) on my AMD 3700+/1Gb/XT800GTO 256Mb the game can choke at level 12 - too many objects
05/31/2006 (7:54 pm)
Nice start.My 2 cents:
*) enemies are too close to the ship - you may die even not seeing incoming bullet (dont punish your users ;))
*) on my AMD 3700+/1Gb/XT800GTO 256Mb the game can choke at level 12 - too many objects
#10
I have also updated to TGB RC1 and made a lot of optimizations and I was able to play up to level 100 on my Centrino 1.6 Ghz/1GB/Mobility Radeon 9000. I'm currently waiting for my artist to finish up some of the graphics replacements, then I'll release Beta 1 with these fixes. Or if he's not done by this weekend I may go ahead and release it just to make sure the bugs are ironed out and get the graphics into a Beta 2.
As an aside, I'm trying to decide if I want to add online high-scores or not. Right now it's just tracking the players high score on that system. If anyone has a strong feeling or comments either way, let me know.
Check out http://www.starlitskygames.com/blogs/ for the latest info.
06/05/2006 (12:22 pm)
Thanks for the suggestion Alexander. I have now limited how close the enemies get to the player ship. I don't want to limit it too much or they would all be in a straight line, but you should have a little time to dodge them.I have also updated to TGB RC1 and made a lot of optimizations and I was able to play up to level 100 on my Centrino 1.6 Ghz/1GB/Mobility Radeon 9000. I'm currently waiting for my artist to finish up some of the graphics replacements, then I'll release Beta 1 with these fixes. Or if he's not done by this weekend I may go ahead and release it just to make sure the bugs are ironed out and get the graphics into a Beta 2.
As an aside, I'm trying to decide if I want to add online high-scores or not. Right now it's just tracking the players high score on that system. If anyone has a strong feeling or comments either way, let me know.
Check out http://www.starlitskygames.com/blogs/ for the latest info.
#11
06/17/2006 (9:53 am)
Have you ever played Atomic Tank? Its a game very similar in style to this but you control everything with just the mouse. Its also way fun, you might play the demo verson for some ideas. 
Torque Owner Dave D
Dave