ZX Buster (Work in progress)

[Chirp]

What is ZX Buster?

ZX Buster is a Sidescrolling Action Platformer Game that I am working on by myself. It is made in C++ using the SDL library.

The game is inspired mostly by a japanese SNES game I played called 'BS Kaizou Choujin Shubibinman Zero.' (I think that's the name)

It is currently still a bit of a work in progress but I do have a playable version of the game. I intend to have up to 27 or 30 levels when/if I ever finish it. Right now, Version 0.1.4 has like 17 levels kinda roughed out, although I intend to redo some of them.

On Version 0.1.5 now.


The Game

The objective of the game is to get through the levels and reach the Advance Arrow to progress to the next level. You start off with some basic moves at first, but you learn more moves later on as you progress through the game. Here's some controls.


Controls

Z = Attack/Confirm Selection
X = Jump

ArrowKeys = Movement/Duck

ENTER = Pause/Unpause


Combat Controls (The basic moves you can do at the beginning of the game)

X = Jump

Z = Punch (Fast)
Z while crouching = Sweep Kick (Knockback)
Z in air = Kick (Fast)
Z rapidly against target = Z Buster (Knockback, Powerful)

*Z Buster can break stronger blocks! (To use Z Buster, press Z repeatedly against a target)


Detailed Description

Spoiler

Title Screen

When you start up the game, you will be presented with a Title Screen (Or a Loading Screen). Move the cursor to START with the [UP] and [DOWN] arrow keys and press [Z] to start the game.

Game Screen
During the game, there will be enemies and obstacles in your way. Most enemies will not do damage to you on contact (exceptions for maybe spiked enemies or traps), but they will attack you when you get close, so try to attack them quickly with [Z].

If an obstacle is in your way, in most cases you can try to find a way around it by jumping [X], or try to break it [Z]. Sometimes, you may have to use a special ability to get through.

*Levels are done in Stage Sets. The 1st level of a set will be a Normal Stage containing a Special Ability. The 2nd level will contain a Max HP upgrade somewhere. and the 3rd level will be a boss stage.


You have a HP bar displayed in the top left corner. It will decrease by 1 bar everytime you take damage. If you run out of HPs, you lose, and will head over to the Gameover Screen.

Gameover Screen

At the Gameover Screen, You can choose to RETRY the level you lost on with full HP or QUIT to quit to the Title Screen. Use [UP] and [DOWN] to select an option and [Z] to confirm.

*You are not given a prompt for clicking QUIT so be careful.

Item Pickups

You can also find item pickups throughout the levels. They will bob up and down to differentiate from normal tiles. Most pickups will heal you on contact, but some can be dangerous. (You won't encounter any dangerous pickups until later in the game) Special Ability pickups will grant you a new ability.

*Be on the lookout for Red Z's! They permanently increase your Max HP and will be helpful on your adventure! They're on every 2nd level of a Stage Set.

Bosses

On every 3rd level, you will face a boss. Each boss has their own unique attack pattern and will walk around the map and fight you, using their own tactics. They have their own HP bar displayed in the top right corner of the screen. If you can reduce their HP to 0, you will be able to advance to the next set of levels.

*If you attack a boss too frequently, they will do a special Sault action to counter you. Each boss has their own special Sault Action that can do different effects.

Debug Mode

Spoiler

There is also a debug mode which you can toggle with SPACEBAR. With debug mode on you can view some things like, collision boxes, player and boss stances. It was only created to help me debug random parts of the game that weren't working right but maybe you want to mess around with it too. Keep in mind that some displays are inaccurate as I changed a few things hastily to check certain stances

Here's the additional controls with debug on

PGUP = Move 1 level up
PGDOWN = Move 1 level down
K = Hurt Player
H = Heal Player
D = Stun Player
C = Toggle CrazyParticles on/off
QWERTYUIOP = Toggle Abilities on/off (P turns them all off)

Actual Screenshots

Spoiler

Version 0: Earliest prototype ever

Version 0.1: The game, kind of working

Version 0.1.4: Recent update

Version 0.1.4: Boss Battle 1

Version 0.1.4: Player using ZShot/Fireball Ability

Other Notes

I started learning C++ on December 17, 2012 and started coding this game on December 22, 2012. This is essentially my first attempt at making a game with C++, probably a little too early as I still don't understand too much about programming but I wanted to try anyway. My actual coding skills are still a little sketchy.

A lot of the code I learned to make this game is from Lazyfoo's tutorials.

The sprites are a bit sketchy right now but I'll work on that later. Like way later.


Anyways you can give the game a try down below if you want.


Download (bolded link is the newest release)

ZX Buster Version Alpha 0.1.5 (Visuals update)
Version Alpha 0.1.4 (17 levels roughed out)


Setup Instructions

You just have to download the .zip and from there, you can extract it to anywhere or whatever you want. (It will be put in it's own folder) Then just double click on the ZX_Buster.exe application inside the folder.

*I think I accidentally left in some unnecessary files in there but I was kinda in a rush, sorry about that.

SDL is cross-platform, but I have no idea if the game itself will work on all OS/Platforms.


Notice
Coding has kinda halted though due to all my time having to sink into job search since I have been trying to find some way to afford internet for about... I don't even know how long, 8 months at least? That and my laptop is bad. But I'm still trying whenever I can.