Space Tunneler (MAGS December 2015)

CaptainD · Fri 01/01/2016 00:27:28

(Awesome title screen by Kastchey, pathetic in-game graphics by myself!)

Here's a bit of retro arcade fun - simple concept, pilot your spaceship through the space tunnels without hitting the walls too much - with a lot of tweaking of the controls and difficult level to hopefully make it more than what it at first appears.

Controls: Menus - up and down arrows, Enter to select

Ship - Up arrow accelerate, Down arrow decelerate, Left and Right do what you would expect.
Spacebar activates your Shield.

In0game: Return to Pause, Delete to Resume.

Your hull repairs itself, but only when your shield is fully charged. You can collect tokens which, after tunnel 3, you can use to buy upgrades for your ship.

Avoid gas clouds - they can either throw you backwards, giving you a little damage into the bargain, or reverse your controls until the end of the tunnel.

If you die, you automatically restart the tunnel you died in. There are 7 in all. Level 4 is pretty tough. Don't try the Ultra Hardcore level unless you are really confident!

Link to the MAGS theme "Depleted" - your ship gets damaged leaving you without your trusty autopilot as you get sucked into the space tunnels.

You can download it from GameJolt (will add a mirror tomorrow for those who can't use GJ for some reason).

Cassiebsg · Fri 01/01/2016 01:01:49

Looking forward to fly the Tardis!

Congrats on the release and being the first AGS published game of 2016!

CaptainD · Fri 01/01/2016 11:02:30

Ah man... I'm never going to live down this "your ship looks like the TARDIS" thing, am I?!?!?!?

Added to the AGS games database. Will probably put it up on Itch a bit later.

http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/2001/

sbnewsom · Fri 01/01/2016 13:17:35

Admittedly, I jumped in to play because "your ship looks like a tardis". I came out enjoying your little project very much!

Good job Captain with a big "D".

Kumpel · Fri 01/01/2016 14:49:05

So is this the end?

Spoiler

[close]

The game "stopped" here, when I rushed through. I can still scroll and push the shield button but nothing happens anymore. Or did I take a wrong turn?

Nice little game that made me mad a few times... The shield tool didnt make sense for me though because it just hinders my hull to be automatically repaired when used ^^

CaptainD · Fri 01/01/2016 15:44:38

@sbnewsom - glad you enjoyed it!

@Kumpel - gah, no... there are 7 tunnels to go through, this is the start of the endgame sequence:

I've not come across this in all my many hours of testing... sorry you found it!

The Shield is useful in some situations, not others - I like to think that it adds a little strategy to proceedings.

Er... did I mention that the shield recharges quicker when the faster you go, and doesn't recharge when you're travelling at the slowest possible speed?

CaptainD · Sat 02/01/2016 11:30:15

Well that was highly embarrassing. Turns out the reason for the bugs people have found is because somehow an old test version got uploaded instead of the finished MAGS entry. The proper version is now uploaded - http://gamejolt.com/games/space-tunneler/117114

Sorry about that foks!!!

Cassiebsg · Sat 02/01/2016 12:41:37

Still waiting for that mirror you promised...

Kumpel · Sat 02/01/2016 13:12:31

Yay! Made it! 1.579.576 Is that good?

CaptainD · Sat 02/01/2016 19:39:07

Quote from: Kumpel on Sat 02/01/2016 13:12:31
Yay! Made it! 1.579.576 Is that good?

Seems pretty good to me!

What difficulty level was that on? TBH I only implemented the difficulty levels and associated score multipliers in the very last day of development, so I didn't have much chance to really check what sort of scores you could get.

Hope you enjoyed your journey through the space tunnels!!

CaptainD · Sat 02/01/2016 19:42:45

Quote from: Cassiebsg on Sat 02/01/2016 12:41:37
Still waiting for that mirror you promised...

Okay, added - just put it on Dropbox for now. I've added the mirror to the game page but for quickness it's here - https://www.dropbox.com/s/jxyzz1elongr514/Space%20Tunneler.zip?dl=0

CaptainD · Sat 02/01/2016 21:54:03

Quote from: Kumpel on Sat 02/01/2016 13:12:31
Yay! Made it! 1.579.576 Is that good?

I just did a quick playthrough in Normal mode and got 1,176,028, so I'm guessing your playthrough was in Hardcore mode?

KodiakBehr · Thu 07/01/2016 20:06:45

I want my afternoon back.

I really loved how the game made me grit my teeth and push my hull to the limit because I know I'm going to need those shields to repair it later. Very interesting mechanics!

CaptainD · Thu 07/01/2016 21:55:32

Quote from: KodiakBehr on Thu 07/01/2016 20:06:45
I want my afternoon back.

Sorry no deal!

Quote from: KodiakBehr on Thu 07/01/2016 20:06:45
I really loved how the game made me grit my teeth and push my hull to the limit because I know I'm going to need those shields to repair it later. Very interesting mechanics!

Glad you enjoyed it! I'm really happy with how it turned out, my only disappointment was not having time to put something in the game that properly explained the mechanics, I'm not sure how many people will read the instructions on the thread first or be willing to find out by trial and error. If nothing else I want to do an updated version after the MAGS voting is finished to include this info.

Thanks for playing!

MiteWiseacreLives! · Fri 08/01/2016 04:05:54

I'm going to need a few more goes at this one!

Strangely addictive, have to retry when I'm a little more focused..
(controls are nice and smooth, btw)

Slasher · Fri 08/01/2016 08:46:29

Just started playing

Cassiebsg · Fri 08/01/2016 16:18:46

Please add a save game function!

Really like the game, but my dislike for this type of games is normally due to the lack of a save option so I can continue from why I left off. Having to start over means I probably will end up giving up on it, before I even reach the end.

Need to try the wimp mode, been trying to play it on normal and am stuck at level 4. $:-\$

Still very nice game, smooth controls and some ingenious traps (my favorite so far is the inverted controls.

). And it's fun to try and figure out which is the best path and how to get past it.

So, really the only glitch I have with this game is the lack of possibilty to save.

AprilSkies · Fri 08/01/2016 16:57:08

Just started playing it. very cool!!!!
I like a lot AGS being used this way ^___^

CaptainD · Fri 08/01/2016 18:33:22

@Mite - thanks, I'm really pleased with the way it plays. Glad you had some fun with it and that it was "strangely" addictive

@Slasher - hope you enjoy it!
@Cassie - Honestly, Level 4 is tough. One of the main reasons I introduced the Shop after Level 3 and multiple difficulty levels. It's such a short game that I didn't implement a Savegame function (the whole game can be completed in 7-8 minutes; also I seriously doubt that I would have the coding skills necessary to write a savegame script for this sort of game, as I presume the default one wouldn't work very well or at all here). Try being an UltraWimp and when you get to the shop, make sure you upgrade your Hull Repair Speed as much as possible, and don't use the Shield on that level unless you're sure you have some space to safely go fast and charge it up (Shield Recharge Speed is also a good buy!)
@AprilSkies - glad you're enjoying it! I also love seeing people use AGS to make other types of game, so it seemed fitting that I try to myself.

MiteWiseacreLives! · Mon 11/01/2016 17:17:01

Spacebar for SHIELDS!? I didn't know about that!!!