Space Evolvers by Kurama_Youko

[raw]
made by Kurama_Youko for LD24 (JAM)
A new alien species began to reproduce rampantly and threaten peace in the galaxy! What's worse, they evolve very quickly! It's up to you to destroy them before it's too late!

Controls:
Mouse Move: Move spaceship towards cursor
Mouse Click: Shoot

*** Google Chrome is strongly recommended! ***

Technical note: I've used a simplified form of genetic algorithm (only mutations) combined with a single layer neural network. As for the game engine, I've used Crafty.

*** Changed to Jam: didn't read the rules carefully and used some Creative Commons content from OpenGameArt =/ ***

Ratings

Coolness 81% 2
Overall(Jam) 2.60 213
Audio(Jam) 2.56 147
Fun(Jam) 2.54 186
Graphics(Jam) 2.74 182
Humor(Jam) 1.95 165
Innovation(Jam) 1.97 248
Mood(Jam) 2.35 197
Theme(Jam) 2.37 179

Feedback

sanojian
27. Aug 2012 路 06:33 UTC
It is crashing after a few seconds in both Firefox and Chrome.

Error: "Uncaught ReferenceError: kong is not defined"
馃帳 Kurama_Youko
27. Aug 2012 路 11:31 UTC
Thank you very much, sanojian, I'll check it ASAP, although it's hard to debug because it runs fine in my browsers!
馃帳 Kurama_Youko
27. Aug 2012 路 11:36 UTC
Oh, just found it, actually this specific bug is happening to me to, I didn't saw it yesterday because my last experiments were on Kongregate and kong is defined there. As soon as I can (I'm at work now), I'll upload the fix (just commend 1 line).
DaveDobson
27. Aug 2012 路 17:12 UTC
The game seemed neat - action-packed, with good graphics for the ship and explosions. It's nice to see another CraftyJS project. The game slowed down a bit for me when a lot of stuff was going on (oldish computer with Windows XP, running in Chrome). I liked the combos and bonuses (the face-to-face bonus was fun), but I'd have liked if there were some more variety in enemies or action. Good sounds and music. Nice work!
馃帳 Kurama_Youko
27. Aug 2012 路 18:17 UTC
@sanojian: done!
@DaveDobson: thanks for playing!
theomnis
27. Aug 2012 路 19:49 UTC
I thought it was a little too easy to get killed after respawning.
kyyrma
27. Aug 2012 路 19:57 UTC
The game was maybe a bit too easy. Rapid firing by alternating between Mouse 1 & 2 and flying back and forth I was able the keep the screen almost clear of enemies.

I actually stopped shooting them to watch their behaviour. They were sweeping down diagonally as if not even trying to kill me. Are the mutations random or traits passed on if the enemy succesfully killed the player / survived to the other edge of the screen?

This is actually the kind of stuff I was intending to do for my own game, but failed miserably... :b
馃帳 Kurama_Youko
27. Aug 2012 路 20:07 UTC
@theomnis: there an invincible time after getting killed (which is not visually shown, had no time to implement). But sure, maybe it should last longer.

@kyyrma: Yeah, if you keep shooting like mad, it will be "easy", but then watch your score! The highest bonuses are given for combos, so you can't miss! There are also bonuses for killing them at short distances. And yes, they start with random behaviors but they evolve based on the best aliens alive on the screen (best = older + closest to you). If you try to achieve higher scores, maybe you'll start to see evolution happen :). (I know, not a great excuse... but it's there, I swear!)

I'll play your game now and will comment there. :)
馃帳 Kurama_Youko
27. Aug 2012 路 20:08 UTC
BTW, top score on Kongregate currently is ~7k.
Frozen Fractal
27. Aug 2012 路 20:44 UTC
Server seems to be down at the moment? Would love to play this though -- I considered naming my entry Space Evolvers but thought it was too obvious :)
Frozen Fractal
27. Aug 2012 路 20:51 UTC
Ah, the Kongregate version still works. Great game! As we seem to have worked from similar ideas, I'm really curious about the details of your genetic algorithms and neural networks. See my posts for a write-up of mine.
RARoadkill
28. Aug 2012 路 20:23 UTC
Very fun shooter game. i would have liked the enemies to come down toward me rather than go off the sides though
馃帳 Kurama_Youko
28. Aug 2012 路 20:39 UTC
@RARoadkill: let them evolve and they will do that!
BumpkinRich
29. Aug 2012 路 15:24 UTC
Nice. Only problem is the graphics threw me a bit.

The ship and invaders had a different style which would be ok but then the astroids were different again.

Fun to play though.
Rex Peppers
29. Aug 2012 路 16:33 UTC
Not bad, though wish I could blow up those damn asteroids...
gnx
30. Aug 2012 路 08:00 UTC
Evolving space invaders seems to be the emergent genre in this LD :D

This among the better ones though. Sound is bringing a lot to the feel in this. Suggestions I'd have include making it keyboard controlled, also combos don't seem to have a timeout so you can score combo hits quite far apart :)
TheGameMaker
31. Aug 2012 路 20:00 UTC
Very good graphics!
goffmog
31. Aug 2012 路 23:25 UTC
Really like it! It tickles a special part of my game appreciation organ.
KhaoTom
01. Sep 2012 路 20:53 UTC
Nice crunchy explosions. Accuracy is a fine scoring system, and gives time for the enemies to evolve. I'm a fan of shmups and this one has some nuance. Makes good use of the theme.
N0W33t0rs
02. Sep 2012 路 11:18 UTC
Good game an fun to play. Its sometimes a bit laggy here running chrome. And the "game over" screen should stay a little bit longer. I din't notice it looked like a bug (in fact i had started a new game).
The scoring mechanic is great!
Milo
03. Sep 2012 路 14:44 UTC
This is a really cool use of Conway's Game of Life. Although it's (usually) not a gameplay thing (except when you own bullet spit gliders out), it makes for some neat graphics.
馃帳 Kurama_Youko
03. Sep 2012 路 14:50 UTC
@Milo: Are you sure this comment belongs here??
juaxix
03. Sep 2012 路 17:19 UTC
Sir, I had a good time playing your game, I made a similar one, here -> http://www.xixgames.com/games/rock-bam/
and I know you worked hard, congratulations!
馃帳 Kurama_Youko
03. Sep 2012 路 19:33 UTC
@juaxix: Thanks for your kind words, Sir! Checked your game and it's great!
Qaterknan
13. Sep 2012 路 16:48 UTC
similar to tyrian, but I like the space invaders shapes and it is quite fun too.
airdeck
15. Sep 2012 路 03:59 UTC
Fun game!
pardue
16. Sep 2012 路 22:49 UTC
Nice complete game, the sounds are good and the gameplay is fun. Good job!