Lightspeed

[Finch]

Hi there!
I'm currently working on space-rally game (based on idea of Star Trek: Voayger's epizode "Drive") and I have recently released an alfaversion.
You can download it from here: http://sfseries.scifiworld.cz/lightspeed.exe

Control is simple:
arrows - drive of your shuttle
space and left alt - fire primary and secondary weapons
tabulator - select target
Alt + F4 - quit

Suggestions are welcome. If you will try the game and write me at least your FPS and your CPU and graphics card (for testing compatibility and hardware requirements), I will be very pleased.

[Huehnerschaender]

High Finch.

I tried the game on my Centrino 1.7 Ghz ATI Radeon 9000 Mobility and got 60 FPS without any change during game.

But sometimes (especially when turning into curves) the screen seems to move unsmooth (it seemed that is got worser when flying more and more far away from the start point).

And now a little bug/problem:

I drove a little "off road" so that the arrow pointed me back to the path. When all 3 opponents were already in goal, I fired at them until they blow off (is this ok? Why can I kill opponents which already finished the course). Ok, while firing at the last of the opponents my computer crashed (bluescreen->reboot). Hmmm... not so nice, isn't it?

Nevertheless, nice little game... finish and release it

[Finch]

But sometimes (especially when turning into curves) the screen seems to move unsmooth (it seemed that is got worser when flying more and more far away from the start point).

It is possible, I haven't implemented all of optimalizations. I will check it out.

I drove a little "off road" so that the arrow pointed me back to the path. When all 3 opponents were already in goal, I fired at them until they blow off (is this ok? Why can I kill opponents which already finished the course). Ok, while firing at the last of the opponents my computer crashed (bluescreen->reboot). Hmmm... not so nice, isn't it?

It strange, because if all of your opponents finish the race, game ends with you at 4th place.

[{MSX}]

http://sfseries.scifiworld.cz/lightspeed.exe

What about a linux version ?

[Finch]

http://sfseries.scifiworld.cz/lightspeed.exe

What about a linux version ?

Sorry, there will be no linux version

[Huehnerschaender]

I drove a little "off road" so that the arrow pointed me back to the path. When all 3 opponents were already in goal, I fired at them until they blow off (is this ok? Why can I kill opponents which already finished the course). Ok, while firing at the last of the opponents my computer crashed (bluescreen->reboot). Hmmm... not so nice, isn't it?

It strange, because if all of your opponents finish the race, game ends with you at 4th place.

I can only tell you what I have seen
As I mentioned before, I had this triangle on my ship, showing me that I missed the road. Maybe there is a little bug which prevents the end of race when the player is in that mode?....

[Traveler]

I've tried your game. Its already quite good!

Some things I noticed.
At first I thought shooting wasn't working for me, because nothing seem to happen. It was only after pressing Tab (and after racing 3 games) that I could. For me as a player this seemed very unclear. I understand I have to lock on to a ship first, but you could somehow make it a bit more clear? Also I would make a primary fire modus, which always shoots straight ahead (and doesn't need a lock) and a secondary that does.

About the secondary (or primary, I'm not sure) the one with the torpedos, is it heat seeking or something? Cause I missed my second shot, but saw it fly by several times, its either that or it's somehow influenced by the controls. In any case, its a bit odd.

Your check for cheating is a bit incorrect. I understand you need to punish a player when he's taking a shortcut. However, what does surprise me is that I'm also getting punished for crossing the line on the outside of the turn.

Personally I like Startrek a lot, so I don't mind seeing Startrek themed games. However, I think I'm not too far off when I say that not everyone is going to think the same about that. Perhaps you'd be saver with a bit less 'famous' shipdesigns, which btw are very nicely done!

Thats all for now.

Looking forward to future versions!

[Finch]

I can only tell you what I have seen
As I mentioned before, I had this triangle on my ship, showing me that I missed the road. Maybe there is a little bug which prevents the end of race when the player is in that mode?....

I will do some testing. Anyway, thanks for warning

At first I thought shooting wasn't working for me, because nothing seem to happen. It was only after pressing Tab (and after racing 3 games) that I could. For me as a player this seemed very unclear. I understand I have to lock on to a ship first, but you could somehow make it a bit more clear? Also I would make a primary fire modus, which always shoots straight ahead (and doesn't need a lock) and a secondary that does.

In final version, there will be a lot of upgrades, including several types of weapons (pulse, beams, etc.), so player will have options to choose his favourite sort of weapon. But it will always be necessary to target opponent's ship first, beacuse of weapons' auto-aiming.

About the secondary (or primary, I'm not sure) the one with the torpedos, is it heat seeking or something? Cause I missed my second shot, but saw it fly by several times, its either that or it's somehow influenced by the controls. In any case, its a bit odd.

Yes, I know about this bug, I'll correct it in future version

Your check for cheating is a bit incorrect. I understand you need to punish a player when he's taking a shortcut. However, what does surprise me is that I'm also getting punished for crossing the line on the outside of the turn.

You are getting punished because you cannot leave the raceway. If you do so, you have to return back to the point from where you left the raceway.

Personally I like Startrek a lot, so I don't mind seeing Startrek themed games. However, I think I'm not too far off when I say that not everyone is going to think the same about that. Perhaps you'd be saver with a bit less 'famous' shipdesigns, which btw are very nicely done!

In fact, this game is primarily being made for czech "star trek games" community, and of course they want to see Trek in the game

BTW thanks for your opinion, it will help to make Lightspeed better

[Traveler]

In final version, there will be a lot of upgrades, including several types of weapons (pulse, beams, etc.), so player will have options to choose his favourite sort of weapon. But it will always be necessary to target opponent's ship first, beacuse of weapons' auto-aiming.

Ok, very good. But what I was trying to say is it possible to make it more visible to the player that a ship has been targetted. Because now, especially at the start, it is very unclear which ship is going to get hit.

You are getting punished because you cannot leave the raceway. If you do so, you have to return back to the point from where you left the raceway.

No offence but this sounds very unreasonable. By taking the turn too wide, a player is already in a disadvantage (be it his own fault), because in order to get the best lap time, or in order to gain time on his opponents, he should take the turn as short as possible. You are basically punishing him a second time.

Also, the means of punishment is IMO incorrect. I realize taking a shortcut is not allowed, but by making the player go back all the way to the point of his 'mistake' on his own, does not stand in relation with the 'crime'. The time it takes to correct his error simply takes far too long.

Normally in racing games you see an error corrected, by taking the offender instantly back to the point or place of error. This way the player does realize that his attempts to take shortcuts aren't tolerated, but he's still given a reasonable change to finish the race in time.

[Finch]

Ok, very good. But what I was trying to say is it possible to make it more visible to the player that a ship has been targetted. Because now, especially at the start, it is very unclear which ship is going to get hit.

Oh, yes, targeted ship will be marked with some sort of "graphic sight"

No offence but this sounds very unreasonable. By taking the turn too wide, a player is already in a disadvantage (be it his own fault), because in order to get the best lap time, or in order to gain time on his opponents, he should take the turn as short as possible. You are basically punishing him a second time.

Also, the means of punishment is IMO incorrect. I realize taking a shortcut is not allowed, but by making the player go back all the way to the point of his 'mistake' on his own, does not stand in relation with the 'crime'. The time it takes to correct his error simply takes far too long.

Normally in racing games you see an error corrected, by taking the offender instantly back to the point or place of error. This way the player does realize that his attempts to take shortcuts aren't tolerated, but he's still given a reasonable change to finish the race in time.

I think it is really pointless. Player is simply not allowed to leave the raceway. If he violate this rule, he is punished for it. Some function to take him automaticaly back on way sounds good, but IMO it is just pampering of player.