Hell yes! The forum's back!
Progress on Iji... well, there's a public alpha demo over at
my homepage, set in a small test level with two weapons and two enemy types. Not to mention teleporters, a reload bar, customizable controls, pause key, Megadokyo music, improved AI, yadda yadda.
What you see in that demo isn't all I've been doing, though. It was released quite a while ago. I've made the
weapon combining interface, implemented the system for saving and
loading (the text file that keeps track of your save files and configs is only 307 bytes large and protected by a potent checksum, as well as in-game measures to prevent bypassing it), I've also begun working on the
level clear screen (the little image of Iji is temporary, it will be replaced by a full hand-drawn image) with animated Matrix-style effects on the text and background. The clear screen also shows your kills, damage taken, successful cracks and failed cracks, and the level sequence system works too. I've worked on a technical detail that lets me build larger levels with no slowdown, which in turn lets the game concentrate more on the action; here's a shot of me fighting
50 enemies at full FPS to demonstrate what the engine can handle now.
The most recent feature is turrets. These spring out of the ground when you get close (but can also be visible from the start) and can fire four kinds of weapons, three more to be implemented. When they turn around to face you, the cord hanging down the turret's backside twists around the support pole that holds it up. You can shoot the turrets, which makes them explode, or you can crack them, making them sink back into the ground, never to be activated again. Rambo-people will favour the third way of beating them, though - just walk up to the turret and kick it straight off its support pole, sending it bouncing around the room. You can then play some turret football with it if you like, or destroy it entirely. Meanwhile, the support pole that held the turret just stands there looking silly. By the way, there's going to be a short series of secret alien logbooks which discuss a sport called Hyper Turret Game, invented by accident during a raid on a spaceship where a turret was knocked loose. Whacky logbooks like these will not be as common as ones concerning the rather serious main story, but I'll inject a dose of humor where appropriate, mostly in secret areas.
I've written all of the in-game chat sequences and scripted the cutscenes (but not all of the alien logbooks strewn across the game's levels). Next, I'll do the cutscene system, and draw the two first cutscenes. Then, it won't be long until the "real" demo of the game, with the full first level (or two??) appears.
Megadokyo is doing great on the soundtrack, eventhough many songs are just tests, I can't wait for the soundtrack the game will eventually have.
