Last Starfighter video game project - COMPLETED

[DCB]

Wow great work so far. The Last Starfighter was one of my fav movies as a kid. I didn't even know the DVD was out - will have to track it down.

Originally posted by eaviii@Sep 27 2005, 02:57 PM
Missing a few-

"Enemy fighters detected sector . . ."
"Koh-Dan command ship dead ahead"
"Bad luck starfighter, insert another quarter please"

and a few others for between level transitions and gauges (things like "Hull critical" and "Laser energy depleted", etc)- Also just need to get clean loops for the weapons and explosions, etc.

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What about the "Good shooting Starfighter. Way to go." as heard when Alex gets to 900,000+ points?

 

[eaviii]

Had to contend with a bit of family illness over the past month- Game is still progressing- I will get screen caps from the command ship level to post- Working out the laser turrets right this second though the ship approach, fighter launch with new flight patterns (the swoop seen in the film), the flight around the ship, and explosion are all done- The laser turrets are working but I need to refine the subroutine for multiple firings and better define the geography so lasers don't burn through parts of the command ship- Had almost forgotten "Good shooting Starfighter . . ."- I have been studying the visuals intensely but have yet to dissect the sounds-

Doc

Edit PS- Have been meaning to add a few photos of this- One of the screen used (background) Star League helmets-

[image]http://www.fotoheap.com/image.php?on=207&an=1851&in=27134&t=i[/image]

 

[Rook 3]

Had to contend with a bit of family illness over the past month

Sorry to hear that. Hope everyone is feeling better.

One of the screen used (background) Star League helmets-

Do you own that? Pretty neat. I've never seen any props from the film come up anywhere. Anywhere besides other films that is.

Russ

 

[KitSmasher]

I found this a while back:

Grig costume

 

[Rook 3]

Thanks for sharing that link. Decent set of reference pics.

Russ

 

[eaviii]

Just a series of screen caps from the final level- Took a while to get the laser subroutine working but integrated now- Takes a while to all load-

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[eaviii]

and the remainder . .

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Getting there-

Doc

 

[Kassbek]

***Okay, having an issue hosting this file, its taking me longer to get it to host then it did to make :lol , can anyone host it for me? It's only 160kb

As if your plate wasn't full enough already. I had an idea about and attract mode that would be quasi-canon. I threw together a little anamatic with sound that gives a rough visualization to my idea.



Obviously "The last" wouldn't be included in the title but it is somewhat canon to the movie since we know the "real" game had the gunstar take off as part of the attract mode. And you do need the title (why not use the one from the trailer) the only thing that wouldn't be canon would be the music, but I thought it would a fun homage if the movie theme was included in 8-bit.

Of course it is a lot easier to throw together aniamatic from a few pictures then it would be to scratch build an entire attract mode. Just an idea I wanted to throw out there.

I rewatched the movie and noticed a few things. Does anyone know what the second button is for on the tracking joystick? I was thinking that it was just a static one, but it's on the "actual" gunstar. Also another thing that wasn't ever shown about the game was how it ends. Is that all it does is flash "record braker" Kinda dissappointing after playing hours upon hours. (of course theres not much excitement in a trailer park ) And What is written on the plaque in between the two joyticks? I imagine they are instuctions on how to play the game but there are no good shots to read whats on it.

How are the levels progressed in your version? Are there just a set number of enemies before the level is over (like in the demo) or is it just a loop of enemies until your score reaches a certain point (making it harder to reach the command ship level before 900,000 points) and are you still kicking around the idea of having death blosom a toggle thing?

The demo is awesome.... It makes me want the cabinet right now. I think these will be one of those "a what ever cost" props

 

[eaviii]

Originally posted by Kassbek@Nov 11 2005, 03:41 PM
***Okay, having an issue hosting this file, its taking me longer to get it to host then it did to make :lol , can anyone host it for me? It's only 160kb

As if your plate wasn't full enough already. I had an idea about and attract mode that would be quasi-canon. I threw together a little anamatic with sound that gives a rough visualization to my idea.



Obviously "The last" wouldn't be included in the title but it is somewhat canon to the movie since we know the "real" game had the gunstar take off as part of the attract mode. And you do need the title (why not use the one from the trailer) the only thing that wouldn't be canon would be the music, but I thought it would a fun homage if the movie theme was included in 8-bit.

Of course it is a lot easier to throw together aniamatic from a few pictures then it would be to scratch build an entire attract mode. Just an idea I wanted to throw out there.

I rewatched the movie and noticed a few things. Does anyone know what the second button is for on the tracking joystick? I was thinking that it was just a static one, but it's on the "actual" gunstar.  Also another thing that wasn't ever shown about the game was how it ends. Is that all it does is flash "record braker" Kinda dissappointing after playing hours upon hours. (of course theres not much excitement in a trailer park  ) And What is written on the plaque in between the two joyticks? I imagine they are instuctions on how to play the game but there are no good shots to read whats on it.

How are the levels progressed in your version? Are there just a set number of enemies before the level is over (like in the demo) or is it just a loop of enemies until your score reaches a certain point (making it harder to reach the command ship level before 900,000 points) and are you still kicking around the idea of having death blosom a toggle thing?

The demo is awesome.... It makes me want the cabinet right now. I think these will be one of those "a what ever cost" props 

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Cool man- I had hoped to include the theme in the game and have a midi somewhere for it I think- You never see attract mode for the game per se so I figure it could easily go in and I agree it would add to the game overall- I was going to stick to the ending with Record Breaker flashing and then transit to a Hiscore entry table- Will definitely have the text "Starfighter" in the attract in proper font as well as the Star League emblem- Will likely do a multifaceted attract mode (the intro, ingame demo, high score screen, and a couple of other easy things) to create a 10-15 minute loop- Death Blossom may actually be easy to do as an earned bonus- Envision it as a toggled feature as it wasn't actually included in the in-movie game- Thought it would be a wild spinning of the camera view with a semiacurate depletion of all weapons then a very fast recharge to full capacity- There will be a diagnostic mode setting with all the options including variable difficulty, death blossom feature, and a level planner of sorts- Specifically after the target drone level, you can set the number and order of levels to the end of game so that the duration can be easily planned-

The next demo is coming along very nicely and already fixing/identifying new bugs-

I will look for the animatic- Sounds like a cool idea-

Doc

 

[eaviii]

Just a brief update- Main game loop is done and includes 7 playable levels (8 if you include the command ship finale as 2)- Working on the outer loops (attract mode) and diagnostics/options- also reworking the meteor gun level and likely adding an optional level that will make use of the death blossom-

Will post pics and a new demo soon-

A couple of things- A lot of folks have asked to help and I have mentioned this before- If anyone wants to help with game sounds, that would be cool- I will try my hand at it soon but suspect someone might have more experience with this than I- Also if anyone wants to help with the external HUD cleanup that would cool although the general internal shapes cannot change in size or position (shapes need to remain the same for all the internal gauges and scanners mapped to there)-

If anyone is interested (esp game sounds), let me know-

Thanks-

Doc

 

[eaviii]

Basically a bump- Have completed much of the attract mode (hiscore tables, animated instructions on gameplay, an animated logo, enemies demo, ship flying through space, and flashing text)- Working on the self play demo but may skip this- Need to finish the diagnostics but then the game loop is basically done- Also fixed the reticle and the Koh-Dan fighters- Still need to fix the HUD (clean up graphics) and a couple of other debugs-

STILL ASKING FOR HELP ON SOUND AND VOICE- IF ANYONE CAN HELP ME GET SOME CLEAN SOUNDS FROM THE FLICK OR HAS VOICE TALENT FOR PRESTON, PLEASE PM ME- Otherwise, the missing voice segments will be mine and the sound effects will be the best I can do-

Doc

 

[eaviii]

Game beta is nearing completion and wanted some constructive input on things-

I have a few emails out to voice actors regarding a good Preston voice impersonator-

I have very clean tracks for:

Greetings Starfighter . . .

Prepare for target light . . .

Record Breaker

A game? Maybe you thought . . .



The following are a mix of screen used lines, lines intended for the Atari proto (some of Grig's dialog), and game functional lines. The lines I was going to submit for recording are:

Get Ready. Prepare for blast off.

Interstellar, my boy. Interstellar.

Good shooting Starfighter. Way to go.

Excellent work Starfighter.

Enemy missile locked on.

Hull Temperature Rising.

Hull temperature critical.

Hull temperature down, life support good, weapons charged.

Xurian scout ships detected near asteroid.

Koh-Dan Spy Ships. Kill them.
or
Xurian spy vessels. Kill them.
or
Xurian spy vessels escaping. Kill them.
or
Xurian gunships escaping. Kill them.

Koh-Dan command ship detected at the Frontier.
Intercept meteors before impacting Star League base.

Enemy fighters detected in next sector.

Enemy squadrons closing fast.

Koh-Dan fighter convoys. Intercept and destroy.

Koh-Dan Command Ship dead ahead.

Ko-Dan command ship entering Kill Zone.

Hit the laser cannons, Starfighter.

Bad Luck Starfighter. Insert another quarter please.

Until the next dimension, Starfighter.

You have been defeated. Insert 25 cents more please.

May the luck of the Seven Pillars of Gooloo be with you at all times.

Anything else anyone can think of?





Also getting down to dipswitches/diagnostics/options- These are below and I will be working on integrating these features this week-

DIAGNOSTICS/DIPSWITCH

Difficulty settings-
--------shields
--------enemy accuracy and number
Level planner- Allows a unique repeated sequence of levels between intro and end
Hi score reset to default
Death Blossom level- Toggle on/off
Between level text- Toggle on/off
Refresh rate
Contines enabled-toggle on/off
Free play- Toggle on/off
Control
---------Keymapping and Mouse control on or off
---------Control check
Music toggle during attract

Are there any I have forgotten?



Doc

 

[Rook 3]

Free play- Toggle on/off

Were you planning on having configurable coin settings, or were you just planning
on a basic 1 coin to start, 1 to continue?

Were all coin settings going to be 'coin' or 'quarter'? What about European coin settings? My Gauntlet which is from that same era just has the coin settings as 'Insert Coin' as opposed to 'quarter.'

Also, in the beginning of the film, when Alex turns over the game to Louis, and louis dies, The game says "You have been defeated. 25 Cents more please."

Looks great otherwise. Owner/Operator selectable key configuration rocks.

Russ

 

[OldKen]

how do you run space paranoids after install?

i opened it and its just a bunch of files. :confused im PC illiterateforgive me.

 

[eaviii]

I was going to leave it in American currency though the game attract mode has "insert coin." I was going to leave it that way because of the specific reference to 25 cents. I can certainly configure it to require more than one coin per play if operator chosen but would leave the dialog the same.

Oldken- In the Space Paranoids folder there is a silver grey block named "sp 3-0" or "sp 3-2"- Double click that. The other executable (grey block) is a sets the display resolution for the game and is not the game itself. Also, there is a pretty extensive readme text file in there as well (There was also the 100+ pages of code in there as a text file as well though my webmaster may have removed that from the download). For what it's worth, the Starfighter program will have really only the executable in the main folder to avoid confusion.

Doc

 

[Rook 3]

I was going to leave it in American currency though the game attract mode has "insert coin." I was going to leave it that way because of the specific reference to 25 cents. I can certainly configure it to require more than one coin per play if operator chosen but would leave the dialog the same.

Sounds good Doc. :thumbsup

Russ

 

[eaviii]

Well here comes a lot of pics- Just to make sure no one thinks I'm yanking their chains- Game is moving along quickly now- Still some to go but light at the end of the beta tunnel is getting brighter- The game is now with all playable levels, endgame, high score table (saves to file for perpetuity), and a full attract mode- The photos below are attract mode captures- They are from the isolated subroutines (I did not want to insert numerous fotocap algorhithms into the Starfighter full demo)- The only difference is a "Insert Coin"/"Press button to start" at the bottom of the screen in the integrated game- also fixed a few things, the frontier is better, issues with scale are fixed and some lighting tweaks to match the look of the missiles to the film- Diagnostics/settings algorhithms underway- The first voice actor who got back to me wanted $3000 to read the dialog so I may attempt them myself (I've been practicing) and use a voice imitation software (VIR- Anyone have any experience?)-

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Composite of a logo demo using VegasVaders emblem and Trixter's font-
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DEFINITELY GETTING THERE-

Doc

 

[KitSmasher]

OMG, I cannot wait to have this on my cab.

I guess I should start building the cabinet. :lol

 

[Rook 3]

Awesome Doc. Wish I could do more to help than just offer words of encouragement/feature suggestions.

Russ

 

[trixter]

great job eaviii, it makes me even more excited to play now.