Enfora Star - Welcome to read the project's devlog

TheAspen

Hi folks,

I'd like to share my devlog website, where I do blog posts about my game project called Star Defender, a top-down arcade-like shooter game. I use Godot 3.5 to develop this project.

The current stage screenshot:

Some pre-alpha screenshots:

The game is in a very early stage, so if you are interested in reading about the development process from the very beginning, feel free to visit the devlog

I will probably post here when I publish a new post on the page.

Here is also a short demo of the current progress:
(

Feel free to give feedback and thoughts here in this forum!

-TheAspen

MikeCL

Cool project! It reminds me a bit of Geometry Wars (I love that game). A "pro tip", if you just post your youtube video URL it will become embedded instead of a link 🙂

TheAspen

MikeCL

Thanks for the tip!

The enemies (and the player) layout will probably change to starships, robots, or something like that. Geometric enemies were just a placeholder. At the very beginning, I had plans to just use geometric shapes, but now, I don't know, it feels a bit "cheap."

TheAspen

A new blog post was published. I’m focusing more on the Godot in this post and the reasons why I chose the Godot engine for the project.

Link to the post

-TheAspen

MikeCL

Nice story! I can definitely relate to how you found your way to the engine 🙂

cholasimmons

Hey there, I'm about to begin working on a similar style game too but most likely using 3D elements instead.
Any tips to share with a beginner? (Not a total beginner)

TheAspen

cholasimmons

I usually like to start to build up with the background functionality firsts, like basic game states, saving & loading systems, basic menus. I found that way to bit easier in the long run. And it is easier to debug these when you already have build the core functionalities and you find out bugs way easier. Maybe a bit boring way to start, because at least I want to see something cool on the screen very fast, but this will pay off later.

And also remember to focus on the game play elements; even the coolest thing in your game won't mean anything if the core game play is boring. (This was also the note for myself.)

TheAspen

Yo!

I have published a new post

I have finally got something visual to show up: some weapon concepts!
Also talking about other stuff too. Feel free to visit!

TheAspen

TheAspen

A new blog post is published!

Now I have some enemies to show up!

Please go and check them up!

Link to the post

TheAspen

Heya!

I created a trailer of the current progress:

Share your thoughts and feedback!

Here is also the new blog post

TheAspen

housatic

TheAspen Nice!! I'd make the player ship more distinct from the enemy ships, e.g. make it a completely different color or add an outline, it's a bit hard to keep track of when there's so many similar looking ships, especially when zoomed out!

MikeCL

TheAspen Nice!

I agree with housatic .

Also to add to that. Not only will the colors make the ships stand out more, but since your FX and background are pretty saturated, having grey ships also makes them look a bit dull. I loved the look/colors you had in your first pictures. Felt more vibrant and had more clarity to it.

TheAspen

housatic

Not a bad idea at all, thanks for the feedback!

housatic

Looking at the thumbnail again, the enemy ships and background blend into each other a bit too.

I recommend stepping away from the screen and looking at your game from a distance every once in a while, it helps notice issues with contrast/clarity :-)

TheAspen

Nice to get some feedback! 🙂

I have already started to plan new color schemes for the enemies. I first thought the "eye colors" were enough, but obviously I was wrong.

Thanks!

TheAspen

Yo!

I'd like to share the new color palettes of some enemies. On the left is the old, gray color palette, and on the right is the new, more colorful palette. Do you prefer the old ones or the new ones?

xyz

TheAspen Let's see how they work inside the game.

TheAspen

xyz

I made a short demo. At least the red one is a bit blurry, in my opinion. However, the background is still a placeholder, so maybe when I change it, the blurriness will decrease?

Here is the demo:

MikeCL

TheAspen The colors on the enemies definitely made them pop more. I know the background is a placeholder. But I can't tell if the player is moving or not (perhaps it's designed to be stationary?). Maybe some visual detail to indicate the ship is moving.

TheAspen

Hi all!

Here is a fresh blog post about the project!

https://www.theaspen.blog/posts/7/

Introducing new colorful enemies and the very first background.

Happy readings!

TheAspen

TheAspen

MikeCL

Thanks for the feedback! I also find that the enemies are now popping more out of the background.

I have plans to do parallax background elements to indicate the movement more clearly. Also, the flame from the thrusters will grow larger when the player's velocity goes higher.