Been working on my first Pico 8 game for the last few days. Thought it was finally "okay" enough to share!
This is Friendly Fire! An arcade-y SHMUP like game where you control 2 ships at once in reverse directions. Enemies come at you from the middle pointing either left or right, it's your job to stop them from reaching either border, and to also not ram into your own bullets.
Bullets cannot hurt the border, that includes enemy bullets and your own, but they CAN hurt everything else, including you. Basically, don't hit yourself, and don't hit the enemies.
Controls:
Up/Down arrows - Move up or down, both ships move in opposite directions to each other
X - Use powerups, not yet implemented but coming soonTM
Z - Fire
There are 3 ships to choose from. Hopefully they're all balanced and fun enough!
The game also features a sort of dynamic soundtrack. As you do well, more instruments are introduced, when you collide with an enemy or an enemy collides with the border, it resets.
Right now the game has 4 enemies, the game gets progressively harder with more spawning at once, as well as a mechanic thrown in starting from wave 3. Of course, being WIP I plan on updating this frequently with more enemies and stuff, so if you're interested keep an eye out.
The code is a bit messy and not very consistent. I come from a GMS background and while I consider myself alright at programming, I thought I'd rather focus on getting something done than focusing on efficient token usage and stuff like that.
I made the music myself but personally I think I'm pretty crappy at that. Sorry if it's ear burning!
Okay, this is a really good arcade game! The premise is interesting, the controls feel responsive and the game is easily readable (except for the player health, maybe), even with all the great and juicy effects going on!
By the way, the music is really nice, so don't give up like I do with my games. :)
One suggestion (if you have the tokens to spare): Maybe some sort of tactical element, for example the player would get bonus points if they shoot an enemy going towards you instead of it's behind? Sometimes I found it easier to just camp towards the top/bottom of the screen, since the bullet firing radius is so high.
Thanks for the advice! I'm glad you enjoyed it!
I plan on adding a multiplier and stuff yeah, I'm thinking of making it so that if you miss a shot it'll go down but I'm not sure how it'll work yet.
Changing the bullet lifespan is a bit out of the question since you won't be able to collide with yourself. I was hoping the bullet walls that start from wave 3 would help prevent camping.
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