Scud Stopper is a game based on the classic "Missile Command" for the Atari 2600. It has all those elements, and more, while being within a total 3D environment. It is written in DarkBasic Pro for a current "Retro Game Programming" competition. The deadline is April 7th, 2003. Feel free to download the latest version and try it out.
The source code is included in the zip file, as well as all media. Nothing is encrypted or omitted because I would like this to be a fully working project where new programmers can hopefully learn something. (UPDATE: This game was written in DBPro version 3.1 or thereabouts, so it won't compile with the current version of DBPro.) The media is public domain. Sounds were downloaded from public domain sites via findsounds.com, and the royalty-free music loops were downloaded from echovibes.com. Models and textures were made by me, except for the "bunker" texture which came royalty-free on the DBPro CD.
Please let me know if this game is helpful to you. paul_apgar@hotmail.com
Much to my surprise people have told me that they are unable to hit any missiles. Maybe since I've been playing it the whole time I've been programming it I've gotten good but maybe there are some techniques to share.
Early Screenshots can be found Here.
New Screenshot (3/26/03):
New Screenshot (4/3/03):
New Screenshot (4/5/03):
April 5rd, 2003
I guess a game isn't finished until the programmer is dead! After putting the game on the message boards it was brought to my attention that the game was buggy and that it was way too hard. I added missile shadows which unfortunately are just little black balls which hug the ground, they are not missile shaped at all. I tried making realistic shadows out of a missile object but couldn't get the angle correct when it slid up/down hills. The shadows only work on Easy mode too. I also fixed the bugs with the mouse control.
April 3rd, 2003
Well I'm all finished with the game! Only thing I left out of the design was Joystick support and the ability to use a "mega bomb". Other than that it's a complete game in its own right. I ran out of time otherwise I probably could have accomplished those goals. In any case, I'm happy with the results. The more I use DarkBasic the more I like it.
I would like to thank all the beta testers who helped me with the bugs. I pretty much took care of them except for a problem someone has with an optical mouse. Other than that it's pretty solid. Not bad for 2599 lines of code!
The game will be submitted to the competition tonight!!
Mar 26th, 2003
All of these changes were made in a marathon coding session over the past weekend but this is the first report of it. I made graphical fonts so now the game has more of a retro look to it... no more pathetic Arial font unless you check the game info. High Score screen is built, high scores are displayed properly and highscores are stored in a file and read from it. The only problem is it doesn't check to see if you should be getting a high score yet! That bit of coding is still left to do
I made the title screen graphic tumble over itself (another retro look) as well as making functional buttons. Well, it's all functional except the Joystick option. You can change difficulty levels, turn sound on/off, music on/off, etc. I've also added a super cheesy graphic of "PookySoft" which would be my game company if I had one. I also have a cool scrolling text line that gives some info, just like the arcade version does. Difficulty levels are done... I can get past Zone 3 if I pay attention. Perhaps the game will be more doable when I do the mega-weapon thingie that destroys all the missiles on the screen at once. Also, scoring inbetween levels is done... fancy!!
Mar 19th, 2003
So many changes made and still so far to go!! After struggling for two hours I was able to get mountain ranges to blow up. They will blow up if a) player bullet hits one, and b) missile hits one. It will lower the mountain a bit. It does this on the title screen too which I think is neat. I fixed the textures on the map so that anything higher than ground level should be textured (darker) as a mountain. Makes the landscape look more clean.
I made it so the game can be "flipped", where it will cycle through the different graphics for the zones indefinitely, but the difficulty will remain at zone 6. It's incredibly hard at zone 6 so not sure if I'll tone it down a bit or what. To prevent players from sitting on one city and riding out the storm I made it so 50% of the time the missiles pick a random city spot, and the other 50% they will pick an existing building. This means that if you have 2 cities and there are 20 missiles left, 10 of them will go after your cities and 10 have the chance to go off into nothing.
Mar 17th, 2003
A lot of changes, none that you'd really notice, though. New screenshot of a textured Missile. I made the fins and cone a darker gray. Not exactly inspiring, but maybe I can come up with something better later (it will definitely help the high score screen... where a closeup missile shot will be displayed.) I fixed the leveling and endgame portions so that it works much nicer. I also fixed the "pause" problem whenever it created a new missile... it makes the missiles all at once now and hides them later. I may have to do this with all the objects if they get modeled and textured as the X files are pretty big.
Point system is done as well, it now gives bonus points depending on what zone you are currently in. Missiles speed up as well. It's tough on the later zones. I also fixed a slew of bugs which plagued me for a couple hours (some DBPro's fault, some mine.) Time is running out!
Mar 13th, 2003
No more gray french fries dropping from the sky! I fumbled around with MilkShape 3D and built a simple Missile model. Fantastic! I still have to figure out how to texture the model though! I also added a Title Screen with missiles dropping down randomly. The image used for the text is horrible and will be replaced with something much nicer, and I'll most likely try to do some fancy animation such as having the title zoom in or drop down or do something active. I've also built in the level-system so that you move through levels and zones. No points or change in scenery yet, that is next.
Mar 6th, 2003
A little more work on the game. I now have the buildings blow up (big red explosion) as well as bullet counts at the bottom of the screen. If your gun tower is blown up it erases your bullets and you can't shoot any longer. Missiles also blow up if they hit the ground. Oh, and I did a workaround to the get ground height() bug, so now the aiming cursor shadow works properly!
Mar 3rd, 2003
After a three hour long battle with the particles system, I was about to give up.
But posting a question on the boards at www.realgametools.com
allowed me to find out that there is a BUG in the particles system for DBPro.
Well, a user named "Drake" gave me a workaround that did the job.
That, and another hour to learn how to really use the system properly and we are a "go" with
the missile contrails. The missiles still look like gray french fries, though. I'm working with
Milkshape3D to make a real rocket but that can wait until after the main game is done.
I seem to not be able to make a non-red particle emission, strange. I'll probably
ask on the board if its possible or if it is another bug. In the meanwhile, should
the contrails disappear if the missile is destroyed or should it linger as it currently does?
Let me know!!!
Feb 27th, 2003
The game is starting to be playable. Missiles come down every 3 seconds or so. And you can shoot them down. They explode if they hit the ground. Made the matrix large so you can't see the edge, and setup the buildings. Missiles come down now!!
Feb 6th, 2003
Started work on the game, randomized the matrix so hills are generated. Got screen rotation working. Turret in the middle shoots the bullets.