hey @yojimbo2000 - I totally missed replying to your first questions, I’m so sorry.
The first update got the autofire so every version now has that (and you can toggle it off or on).
Bullet grazing is a new concept to me, and its something I might bake in in later version. I was always more of a technical shooter SHMUP guy (Gradius, Salamander, R-TYPE, Dragon Spirit) and so bullet hell is something I never played much. In fact sometimes Starsceptre is the opposite with it being bullet heaven
Yeah over two years now, but to think all those early (and even latter) questions I’ve asked along the way and you all have been amazing contributing code ideas, explaining things and improving things. Its totally brilliant.
It’s funny the pause feature was one I thought would be a killer to code and it was quite straightforward and fairly quick to do in the end.
I think the most challenging thing has been around data with saving and reading different states and remembering if the game is a new game or a saved game. So funny to keep track of all the variables.
The new alternative control system allows you to choose Tilt or On-screen stick and I was quite adverse to adding that at first, but I’ve managed to do it in a cool way that faithfully plays like tilt but with the stick that a lot of gamers desire.
I was asked to do follow finger controls but I don’t like those. You hide the ship and its counter intuitive. The onscreen joystick version I have gives it a real arcade feel and also is smooth as glass (because its on glass – lol) but works with no horrible fingers missed the hit areas fails.
Anyway, thank you all for the amazing support and advice.
hey @mindless – thanks my friend! Yeah the on screen stick just seems to be so cool now I’ve got it working right. I’m torn between tilt and stick now, lol.
Nice ideas there. Touch/follow ship works for other games, and I had considered it, but as this game is about a ship fixed in the middle of the screen it won’t work, plus I find that my hands and fingers always cover the action on screen with touch/follow games
Hello again, Apple just approved v1.2 of Starsceptre and it now has two types of controls
• tilt mechanic as before
• new on-screen joystick that mimics the tilt gameplay beautifully
PLUS
• new end of level bonus point scoring system
• improved Laser and Wave weapons
@Majormorgan Congrats on the update! The onscreen joystick controls feel great, and I really like that you can change controls on the pause screen.
I did notice one issue: I was using the right joystick option, and after a time rewind, the joystick graphic draws behind the button on the left until the screen is touched. The joystick graphic then jumps into place. This does not affect control or game play, but I thought you might want to know.
@Majormorgan I love your game! I’ve been working on the third boss for a bit now but I’ve just downloaded the latest update and I’m getting a Codea crash inside the game. It happens right after I get the message saying I’ve beaten the second boss and I tap the third stage. I’ve attached an image with the error. Thanks for looking into this.
Hi @Attila717 I’ve had two other people come forward with the same thing. It looks like I’ve coded in a new variable that is saved and loaded but totally forgot to save the variable at start up so anyone with a previous save this is causing an issue for.
The good news is if you start a new game and get past this level it corrects. In the meantime I’m trying to get the update uploaded and try to get a quick fix approved.
I’m so sorry I’ve missed this. It’s because I had to delete the previous installs on my phone to test the new install and I totally missed seeing this error. Thank you so much ro flagging it.
If you do manage to start a new game and get back to the same point or the next level even can you let me know if continue then works ok?
There is an advantage to starting over, you can get an even higher score now with the bonus points system
Great question @UberGoober - I’m actually using plain of if statements to code hit areas so that the game sees if specific things hit in specific places. I’m sure I’m doing it way too complicated but I found it worked for me!
Hey @mindless - great spot my friend. I missed that. I’m gonna get all these bugs sewn up including the one in the ‘how to fly’ section where the joystick button backer is messed up, plus a couple of other minor things I’ve found too.
Good news, I’ve been able to recreate both the ship nil error and fix it, plus fix the right side joystick issue. Just have to upload to Apple for approval tonight. My apologies for this, and my heartfelt gratitude for helping identify the issues so I can resolve them!
So starsceptre Sunday madness is here! From now to 14th September Starsceptre is 50% off the normal price (depending on your local store price). So for this short time it will be available for £0.99/$0.99 instead of £1.99/$1.99
Hey @TokOut - totally, design and graphics is a big part of my daily skillset and I’ve always loved pixelart. If you ever need any advice on that drop me a line.
No I haven’t yet, the problem is that my dad doesn’t buy games that cost money. However I dreamed today how I would play this game (with some edits) and would score the worlds’ high score, however, sadly is what called above here, anyway, good luck in business!
Ps. I also create a lot of graphics, and I’d like some tips on how to make them better. Link to graphics:
@TokOut I find that graphics and art are best shared on sites like Instagram. You don’t need to show everything just one or two pieces each week to gain a following.
I DM’d you a free download code for Starsceptre - enjoy!
Hey, @Majormorgan
I just completed the game!!!
It took me a good couple days of playing but I really never got tired of it. I was really impressed by the final boss, but even though I felt he (actually she, wasn’t it) was pretty hard, I think you could add maybe an “expert mode” and make every boss even harder. I’ve got a few other suggestions about the bosses individually, but I’d rather not post spoilers so if you’d like some more feedback, I can DM you. Once again, great game! I really enjoyed playing though it and I’ll probably do another run soon.
Edit: By the way, that error only happens when I close the game after the ice/crystal boss. Any boss after that is fine
Okay, so as you wanted me to rate your game, it’s perfect! Graphics like the starship kipping when moving to right are made excellent. If I had to rate it, it would like 6 Stars from 5 Very well made! Animations were the best thing! I had some problems with the boss, but I found it out pretty quickly!
