Space Toads - avenge the Burger of Truth in this free shooter for Chrome

[touch_the_sky]

Hi Everyone,

 

 

It's my first post here, so yeah - hello:)

 

I've just finished my very first game for Google Chrome - Space Toads (not for mobile).

 

It's a classic, top-down, arcade space shooter - Galaga-style. Your main goal is to try to survive and get the highest score, which is not always easy as enemies are relentless and powerups can be rare. To save your score, get ranked etc you need to sign it with Twitter, it's not necessary to enjoy the game at its fullest though.

 

It's a total one-man job - as in I coded it, I did all the artwork, sound & music. Techwise, the game uses Canvas2d (no WebGL) and webkit web audio context, hence the Chrome requirement - might work fine in Safari or other webkit-based but Chrome is recommended.

 

You can play it here: 

http://space-toads.com/

 

You move with Arrows, shoot with Space or Ctrl - more info can be found on the website

 

Hope you like it:)

 

Feedback most welcome,

 

Thanks,

 

L.

[rich]

That was fun but insanely hard!

[Travis]

Impressive amount of work for one person!

 

While I really liked the graphical style, I feel like the gameplay was a bit stagnant. Adding more variance would go a long way here. 

 

Perhaps add more scripted events, or procedural elements to make the AI work differently.

 

 

EDIT: My first playthrough I got ZERO powerups. Just my luck. Played it again, got some cool powerups, it was much better Although I still think you could make the AI a bit more interesting.

 

I know, easier said than done, but overall great job!

[Finnegan2100]

Yeah, I agree with Travis. Very attractive game and very well-done, but I think some sort of illusion of movement besides just stars floating past would make the game a million times more appealing.

 

It would be great if there was some sort of destination to reach that you could see scrolling below you like in schmups like 1943. It would give the game a psychological push and make the player feel that they were getting somewhere, that something unknown was waiting for them. In that way, every minute or so of screen scrolling becomes a sort of Christmas present and keeps players even more engaged. This background could also tell a story of its own. 

 

But excellent job! I think this is a fantastic departure point! Keep it going!

[touch_the_sky]

Thanks guys,

 

I've got a new game which I'm starting on soon (Space Toads sequel:) where the gameplay would be more like Lifeforce / Salamander (NES) type shooter, so there will be levels (varied) and destinations to reach.

 

I think I'll keep this one "arcade / endless" style though - but I agree it could benefit big time from some more variety.

 

There is a little planet you pass by (deep in the background) shortly after you start the game, so I'm probably gonna have more of these and randomise a bit so it's not always the same. I could perhaps add some nebulas, etc you pass every now and then. So if I do it right, you should be getting the sense of travel, going somewhere - despite the fact the only destination is the hi score table when the toads wear you down eventually:)

 

I like the idea of events too, need to think about that one as well. Ideally, they would be a bit unpredictable, actually may be a good idea to look at Diablo where they've got stuff which can but doesn't always happen. Hmm

 

Anyway, that was some good feedback, if anyone has anything to add, post it here - I'll keep an open mind

[Mike]

Yep this game looks cool, but not very playble in a longer term.

 

I like the style, also I'жe several times hit a bug where all canvas drawing disappear it happens:

1. on retry after dead

2. on window resize

 

And overall good work, and happy coding in the future.

[touch_the_sky]

Thanks Mike,

 

The game has a minimum screen width requirement - above 1200px. The window size also affects the canvas size and the density of toads. There is couple other things related to canvas width,  basically the canvas kill on resize was put in be me deliberately:)

 

I tried to replicate the 'retry after dead' error, but it worked fine for me every time. Could you try again without resizing the window please?