#BLASTEROIDS

[retrocgads]

USA 1990

[n11283688-gdevelop]

Blasteroids Postmortem

Readings

Chapter 6 and 9 of The Game Design Workshop by Tracy Fullerton helped inspire my design process during the development of Blasteroids. The brainstorming challenge ‘Come up with a game that makes interesting use of only one control’ provided in chapter 6 helped inspire one of the unique selling points of my prototype.

Chapter 9 of the Game Design Workshop assisted me greatly when it came to playtesting my prototype, as it allowed me to get valuable feedback from naïve play testers.

Development

If I redeveloped the prototype, I would try to implement sound effects, as I feel that they are very important in terms of providing feedback to the player directly. This would help with one of the biggest problems with my prototype, the fact that players don’t register that they got hit. If my prototype had sound effects, that wouldn’t be an issue.

Design

If I redesigned the prototype, I would put a larger focus on the variety of upgrades the player could obtain, as the current selection is highly repetitive, and the game becomes not interesting after a while. If I could develop the game further, I would also implement a shop in the menu where players can buy upgrades instead of collecting them from asteroids, and make the game have a longer, permanent progression system. Players would use their accumulated score gathered during gameplay to purchase them, giving the score a practical application.

Sources

Fullerton, T. (2018). Game Design Workshop: A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games. ProQuest Ebook. Retrieved from: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/qut/reader.action?docID=5477698

[lohstandfound]

i think acting in a show again would fix me

[metalby]

Blasteroid [Crypts of Mind]. 2024. Bandcamp, Spotify, Facebook, Amazon, Youtube. Twitter(metalone). Artwork : Dan Goldsworthy.

[thegabitype]

I have two Galaxu related questions, feel free to ignore one or both if you don't feel like answering though. If the Greens / any other characters had their own Galaxu monsters, which ones do you think would suit them best? Also, did you come up with any Galaxu ideas you liked but never made it into the show?

These were some early concepts I did for Galaxu. Originally I had them more BCG-looking, but then was told to go more anime with it. (which I was more than happy to do) Cyberliger never made it past this phase, but the others did. Starmadillo was changed to be larger and tougher looking, and I made the little version its pre-evolution, Starhog, which u can still see on the card and theme song in the episode. Blasteroid was renamed to Asterogue, and Orbiturtle and Twiknight were changed to look less like Gramma and Vasquez (I think that was originally an attempt at foreshadowing their irl battle at the end)

SOMEWHERE there is a rough board I did of these two sun and moon shaped Galaxu "space bandits" who look a lot more pokemon-ish than in this drawing. I'll post if I can find it. It was rly cute. They battle the protag and send out their own Galaxu.

AND to answer ur first question... I rly like Orbiturtle for Remy and Starmadillo for Cricket. I think Tilly would have Nebulamb and Gloria would have Froglem.

SPEAKING OF FROGLEM!!!! He is not space-themed because it originated as me saying "No froglem" instead of "no problem" around the office. Shane thought that was soooo dumb hahaha. So, I snuck it into this episode as a joke. Remy did say Froglem's name at one point but I think it was cut before the episode went to air.

[fly-pow-bye]

From Blossom Vs. The Blasteroid, a Powerpuff Girls Plus You choose-your-own-adventure book. Art by Christopher Cook.

[pumpkin-bread]

His name is Blasteroid

[monkeymindscream]

Anyone remember Kid vs. Kat? I recently did and I’ve decided I feel like talking about it – what was the deal with Kat and the Kommander?

Because on the surface it seems pretty standard – Kat’s the main antagonist of the show, the Kommander is his boss who acts as the Bigger Bad. We see multiple instances of Kommander giving Kat orders, and threatening him with violence if he fails. And these aren’t empty threats; not only are Kat’s reactions extremely telling, but we see Kommander follow through on these threats with any and all underlings in his immediate vicinity. People are (rightfully) terrified of this cat.

So okay, abusive cartoon Bad Boss is cartoonishly abusive to his henchmen – fork spotted in kitchen. 'Bout as cut-and-dry as you can get, right?

Nnnnnno, actually. Because for as awful as the Kommander is to Kat specifically, Kat – again, SPECIFICALLY – seems to have some level of a non-hostile relationship with him.

Let’s look at the timeline, at least in terms of the original air dates of the episodes: We first see him, the Kommander’s ordering Kat to send food back to homeworld, with threats to disintegrate him if he fails (and then, when Kat does fail, it’s only through luck that he doesn’t end up getting blasted). Then, in quite literally the very next episode the Kommander appears in… Kat’s calling him to chat on his way to work??

And this isn’t like “Kat happened to call to give a status report while he was in transit, but it’s still pure business,” because look at them for God’s sake:

There is nothing “professional” about this, Kat straight-up called to shoot the shit with him. And they both look very pleased/content to be able to do so.

Even further, Kat’s shown to be in Kommander’s personal contacts on his silly little 2000s cellphone (implying that the above is a mutually-instigated occurrence):

And he has an actual physical picture of Kat (yeah it's among others and he destroys it several seconds after it's shown in frustration, but my point stands):

And then, the final nail in the coffin of “what are you two to each other??” in the Christmas special, we see Kat repeatedly pining over these pictures:

He's clearly shown to be deeply upset that he’s separated from the ones in it with him. It's heavily implied being that the cats in the photos are, in fact, his family. The Kommander is featured prominently in both.

Also, because I’m on a roll and I feel it bears mention, there might be evidence that the Kommander worries for Kat when he thinks he's in legitimate danger. In Blasteroid Blues, he sends in a spybot to check in on Kat. He then misinterprets the TV show Coop's watching (featuring a space-hero human violently dispatching a cat alien, damn you serendipity) to be reality. He's terrified.

Cut to later, he's shown pacing back and forth, clearly fretting as he waits for the spybot to send him more information. This is the next image he's sent:

He promptly flips his shit. Exchanges some very panicked words with a nearby henchman, and then decides to send in a laser to vaporize the area where the debacle is taking place (in this case, a store holding an event for the same TV show he'd mistakenly caught a scene from earlier).

Now, could this be meant to be interpreted as the Kommander being worried that whatever was happening could somehow leak over to where he was situated, and his worry was entirely based in self-interest? Absolutely. Frankly, given how Y7 kids’ shows aren’t especially prone to giving their villains much nuance (and since we’ve established Kommander is a grade-A asshole), I’d argue that to be the most likely intention of this scenario, especially considering the disregard he'd been shown to give Kat. 

However, “writer intent vs. what’s actually depicted” isn’t always simpatico when it comes to shows/books/what have you. Think of every character that it was obvious the writers just loved that fans had justifiable problems with. That in mind, I would like to point out that the Kommander’s fretting carries a definite air of urgency to it, whether or not that was the intent of the writers/animators. It's as if whatever danger he’s concerned about is an immediate threat. Which, considering he’s presently several galaxies away from the debacle, it very clearly isn’t. To him.

Kat, on the other hand, is presumably on the frontlines of whatever this shitshow is, and would be in immediate danger. You’ll notice that the image of him seemingly being attacked is what finally prompts the Kommander to send in the laser to try to nuke the location.

“But Kat was in the line of fire of the laser, if it had gone off properly he would’ve gotten blasted too,” I hear you say. “And when Kat saw  the laser, he was terrified, which suggests he knew he was about to get blown up.”

Fair points, but Kat very easily manages to get out of the laser’s firing range. How? By just. Leaving. Millie and Burt come out, tell Coop they’re going to wait for him out in the car, and then they do. And just like that, Kat’s safe. In fact, as soon as it becomes clear he would be leaving the store, Kat’s delighted by the presence of the laser, because now it’s Coop’s problem. 

It could therefore be implied that the Kommander figured Kat would vacate the area as soon as he saw the laser. The only reason Kat didn’t, and was therefore afraid of impending pain, was because Millie was still in the store, and he had no way to get her out without blowing his cover.

"And what if Kat hadn't been able to leave when he noticed the laser, wouldn't Kommander have thought of that if he was actually worried for Kat-?" Probably not, no. The planet he and the rest of his species are currently living on is the fifth one they've taken over/basically destroyed through lack of care in ten years. Forethought doesn't seem to be a strong point of these people.

Maybe I’m being a little fast and loose with my interpretations of things, but I maintain that nothing I’ve pointed out thus far is factually incorrect.

Also, food for thought, for as violent as Kommander is, nothing he does seems to be permanent. Usually, he threatens to disintegrate Kat (or anyone else who displeases him) in some way, but that… doesn’t really seem to be a fatal condition for this species. We see it happen to Kat several times over the course of the show - he gets turned into a pile of ash through wacky shenanigans, then gets right back up. He's usually groaning in pain, but that's the extent of it of the ill-effects he seems to go through. 

And then look, the Kommander zap-fries this one poor bastard (for not getting him a good enough birthday gift, the brat):

and then here's the same guy a few episodes later:

Now, this is undoubtedly a result of this being a Y7 show from the 2000s, and the network was reluctant to depict one of their characters successfully (permanently) murdering another character, even if said murderer was a villain. But whatever the behind-the-scenes logic was, it nonetheless demands reasoning from the characters within the resulting narrative. Kommander’s a violent asshole, but we don’t have any actual evidence that he’s murderous.

So yeah, it’s obvious that Kommander is connected to Kat somehow, in a much deeper way than just an abusive boss and his beleaguered underling. I just don’t know how specifically. Is he supposed to be an evil uncle or something? Harsh dad? Bullying older brother? We’re not given any real clue.

Complicating this whole situation further is a couple of factors: First, Kommander canonically has a son. Who, despite not showing up anywhere prior to his introductory episode (not in the background, not in any of the “family” pictures we see, nowhere), Kat clearly knows. When the kid turns up on earth, Kat immediately knows to call his dad to let him know he’s there.

The problem is we're not given any indication as to whether it's as simple as "I recognize that's my boss's son, oh no," or if it's a case "whyy the fuck is my little cousin/brother/nephew/whatever here? Go back home kid I'm working." By all accounts, it seems to be the former, but how can that be when the show's taken pains to hint Kat's also part of the Kommander's family in some way? Shouldn't they have also taken those same pains to impress his son was Kat's family too?

Next, this would make Kat part of – essentially – his planet’s royal family. There’s some canonical proof of this, as when he successfully takes over earth in the bad future episode, he becomes “King Kat” of the entire planet. But if that’s true, why’s he constantly treated so shitty? Not just by Kommander, either - there’s this bitch

who mocks him when Kommander says Kat’s failed too often and needs to come back home to face the music. That might be your prince (orrr duke? depending on his relation to the Kommander? someone who understands royal titles better than me please weigh in), why are you being such a fucker to him??

I have headcanons for this whole situation, obviously, but as for anything concrete? Total blank.

[gammaraydeath]

still working through my ungodly armax arena credit farming scheme but since i now have a Lot of hours put into it (less than 100 maybe) i can say with full confidence that fatal error is the best map with blasteroid as a close second

[hunter-sylvester]

For the ask game: 3. Favorite musical artist / group you started listening to this year?

Ooh, that's a hard one, since I'm not sure which artists I strictly only listened to for the 1st time this year. However, I would say I only really got into Mastodon this year and I've really been loving them. So I'll say Mastodon.

(+ random Mastodon song cause why not 🤘)

Thank you for sending ^-^

[stfmp]

Specialist practitioner research

Considering my game is inspired my Battlezone, it felt right to do some research into one of its main developers, Ed Rotberg. Along with Battlezone, he also helped design Asteroids sequel Blasteroids, S.T.U.N Runner, and Steel Talon.

Although I wasn't even conceptualized when this arcade game was around, I still fell in love with the game when I played an online emulation of it in my spare time, the tank controls limited how hard the game could be played, so it gave you some time to plan out how you would play, that type of gameplay is something I want to replicate in this project with my game. It wont be easy, but it wont be hard either, I think it'll be up to how 'buggy' the final project could be.

Similarly to Ed Rotberg, Ed Logg was another influential game designer, not just for Atari, but the whole videogame industry as a whole. Along with Lyle Rains, he was responsible for the development of the iconic arcade game Asteroids, aswell as other well known titles like centipede, super breakout, and gauntlet.

With the amount of games he has helped develop, I think its really cool how versatile he is with the variety of different games he has designed and developed, which is something I hope to be able to do myself in the future, though the only way I'll be able to know if I've succeeded in that or not is going to be down to what happens in my future.

Moving into the current era, the other person I'm looking at goes by the name of 'Malban', they're well known in the Vectrex community for making a whole heap of new games for the console, most notably (for me atleast) Vectorblade aswell as helping make a bunch of extra devices for the game, things like the VecFever and PiTrex, aswell as the creation of vide (Vectrex Integrated Development Environment)

I think the games they programmed are quite cool, being way more detailed and intricate than anything GCE had released back in the 80s and the amount of work everyone in the Vectrex community has done to support an old, unique console is really inspiring. Its something I could aspire to doing in the future, though my less than extensive knowledge of things like circuit boards nd such makes me feel that It'll be a long while before I'd be able to make anything of my own for that console.

[darkarfs]

1) Leprous - The Congregation

2) FIRE-TOOLZ - Breeze

3) WRVTH - WRVTH

4) Akira Kosemura & Lawrence English - Selene

5) Jaga Jazzist - Starfire

6) Blasteroid - Crypts of Mind

7) Shining - Blackjazz

8) Amorphis - Tales From the Thousand Lakes

9) Erik Wøllo - Sources (Early Works 1986-1992)

10) Seven Spires - A Fortress Called Home

11) Kayo Dot - Coyote

12) Azure - Fym

[n11283688-gdevelop]

Blasteroids Playtesting

In Chapter 9 of the Game Design Workshop by Tracy Fullerton, playtesting is outlined in great detail, including recommended methodologies and who should playtest the prototype at what stages of development. Fullerton recommends to playtest the prototype yourself during development, to get the game to a functional state. I achieved this while developing the game already, and any major bugs have been fixed.

One of the things I felt while playing was that the ship felt stiff when controlling, as an instant force was being applied to it when the player moved. This was remedied by changing the instant force to a permanent one, which made the ship seem a lot smoother, due to it having inertia.

Fullerton then recommends to playtest with confidants to get an outside perspective on the project and identify issues that you have overlooked. Later on in the chapter, Fullerton also gives a recommended methodology to follow when conducting playtesting, which I will use for mine.

Create the prototype

Previous posts I have made outline the development I've accomplished on the prototype.

Prepare your Questions and Script

Script

Welcome Playtester, and thank you for assisting me in the development of my prototype. I am Ethan, a student studying a Bachelor of Games and Interactive Environments, and I am developing a prototype for a game. Today, you will playtest the prototype and provide feedback on it, which I will use to make improvements to the game. A questionnaire will be held after your playtesting session relating to your thoughts and feelings on the game. It is important that the feedback you give is honest, as that has the best chance of improving the game the most. Also keep in mind to try to verbalise all your thoughts while playing the game. You may now begin your playtest.

Questions

What are your overall thoughts on the game?

What were your thoughts about gameplay?

Were you able to learn how to play quickly?

What is the objective of the game?

How would you describe this game to someone who hasn't played before?

Now that you have played the game, is there any information you feel would have been useful before you started?

Is there anything you did not like about the game?

Was anything in the game confusing?

Recruit Testers

For play testers, I chose two of my roommates, as they were the most readily available people I had, and both had the capacity to be very honest. One was extremely knowledgable when it came to video games as they had plenty of prior experience, and the other was less experienced.

Playtesting

Playtesting was conducted by having each player read the script above, then begin their playtest. Notes were taken during the playtest about the testers actions and thoughts as they played. The answers to the end questionnaire were also recorded.

Summary

Both play testers enjoyed the beginning moments of the game, appreciating that the object colours helped indicate what each object does, as well as the simple shape outlines being pleasing to look at.

Both play testers found the health and energy UI hard to keep track of, recommending that they be placed closer to the centre of the screen.

The playtester with less experience found it difficult to understand how to move, and didn't associate the 'boost' tutorial on the menu screen to mean movement.

Both play testers also had difficulty understanding what each upgrade symbol meant before picking them up.

One play tester wished that the upgrades had limits, as a bit into the game the ship became hard to control due to the speed and hard to see due to the large amount of bullets being fired.

Changes

To attempt to fix the energy and health UI issue the play testers experienced, I created health and energy bars located at the top of the screen, hopefully giving players an idea about how much energy and health they have relative to their maximum values.

As shown above, the bars scale relative to their centres, as both play testers spend most of their time in the centre of the screen. The energy bar also grows in size when an energy upgrade is collected, providing player feedback

To further fix the issue of players not understanding what the upgrades do, an upgrade menu was added to explain what each one does, which can be accessed through the main menu.

Sources

Fullerton, T. (2018). Game Design Workshop: A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games. ProQuest Ebook. Retrieved from: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/qut/reader.action?docID=5477698

[robotsmonstersvideogames]

Videogame: spaceship shooting at asteroids, while UFO shoots at player. This is what Dalle-3 thinks Atari Asteroids looks like. Truthfully, this looks kinda like Blasteroids.

[fly-pow-bye]

From Blossom Vs. The Blasteroid, a Powerpuff Girls Plus You choose-your-own-adventure book. Art by Christopher Cook.

[icarusthelunarguard]

This Week’s Horrible-Scopes

It’s time for this week’s Horrible-Scopes! So for those of you that know your Astrological Signs, cool! If not, just pick one, roll a D12, or just make it up as you go along. It really doesn’t matter. Better yet! Check out “Heart of the Game, Fredonia” and see if they can sell you those D12’s with the symbols on them. Tell them “Shujin Tribble” sentcha. And “Hail, Hail, Fredonia!”

This week… yeah, we’re going back to the music collection’s shuffleboard - but we’re limiting it to the Sound Effects section! You thought musical cues was bad before? Well folks.. Ya ain’t heard NUTHIN’ yet!

Aries 

Although yours is listed as “Arcade”, it includes the sounds of some driving game and Asteroids. The best part about Asteroids is… there were sequels that were actually better than the original in almost every way. Asteroids Deluxe replaced Hyperspace with a shield; Space Duel gave you co-operative ship gameplay, and Blasteroids replaced the vector graphics with sprites, spaceship morphing, and an actual BOSS to beat! This week… find a bowling alley with an actual arcade and PLAY! 

Taurus 

You get the sounds of a car door opening and shutting. No locks, no latches being clicked open, nothing except that. Which is exactly how your week will be, Taurus - all business, no pleasure. This week find your pleasure where you can in food, ‘cause you sure ain’t havin’ fun any other way. Pick up cheap Chinese takeaway on Friday - you can make your own fried rice for breakfast on Saturday Morning.

Gemini  

This one is fun. Listed as “Tank Army”, it sounds less like a tank and more like a 70 year old tractor with a lawn mower attachment under it trying to hold on for dear life. This is your way of knowing that you need to get more exercise; and you have no excuses this time; Mall Walking is still a thing. So lace up your Converse and head out to the food court.

Cancer Moon-Child 

Your sounds are the ambiance from the Cafe’ Pecs in southern Hungary. For over three and-a-half minutes all we get are the overlapping Hungarian voices, where not a single piece of silverware can be heard. No spoons, no cups and saucers, no one walking around… Just chatter. This week have a sit-down and just listen to the voices in your head. Some of them would like to have a word with you.  

Leo 

The randomizer just picked for you…. “Two horses pass at trot on gravel”. Truth be told, we’ve got no real idea on what to think about this one. There’s the old adage about how “Inside you there are two animals”, but of all the animals they might be, we’d never pick horses for you. This week… Honestly, we don’t know. How about you go find a Brannock Device and put it to good use. 

Virgo 

Oh, perfect. You got one of the shortest sound effects in the collections. At BARELY 1 second worth, it’s Big Macintosh from My Little Pony Friendship is Magic saying, “...eeyup!”. No, we’re not suggesting you watch the show - though you could do worse than that one. This week try agreeing with everything for just one day solid. After all… What’s The Worst That Could Happen?

Libra 

Apparently a bunch of you people are celebrating a BUNCH of birthdays this week, so without wasting any more time, here are the names…  Michelle (Susan) Jean (Mark) Fran (Carrie) Jay (Phil) Cirus (Theo) Stephany (Noah) Erica (Wolfgang) Timothy (Aaron) Jerry. Happy birthday to you all. And if you didn’t hear your name called, stop being so selfish! It’s their birthday too, you know. Learn to be more… you know.. Less Like ‘You’. 

Scorpio 

You get the sounds of Telex And Typewriter. You’re so young you probably don’t even know what Telex was used for, but you enjoy the fruits of its technology. We know you know what a typewriter is, but we’ll bet you’ve never changed a Daisy Wheel even once. This week, get your fingers dirty on red and black ribbon ink.

Sagittarius 

NOW we’re talkin’! From the Star Trek Original Series Sound Effects CD… Yes, that’s an OFFICIAL CD out there! With 69 tracks no less! (*NICE!*). You get “Enterprise Doors Open Into Transporter Room”. And before you think that’s not a cool sound… DUDE! It’s a background warble that’s just all KINDS of soothing at night. Turn that on for a Repeat Forever when you go to sleep, and you’ll totally sleep like a baby. This week… Find the track on YouTube and play it. You’ll see we’re right. And you need the sleep. 

Capricorn 

Some of you are too young to remember this sound effect. Most of you likely know the old AOL Dial Up sounds, but we’ll bet you don’t know the difference between K56flex and X2 handshaking sounds. If you thought you can tell the difference, you’re kidding yourself. Unless you worked I.T. in some capacity you wouldn’t know which was which. This week… be proud if someone calls you a “Phreak”... spelled with a P-H.

Aquarius 

You’ve got a sound that isn’t annoying on its own, surprisingly. The sound of an ATM and its internal mechanical parts at work, like the receipt printer and the money counter. The annoying part is that you… Ok, look.. We promise this isn’t personal, OK?! –you keep saying “ATM… Machine”. PLEASE! Please, just… just stop saying that. It’s just an “ATM” or “Cash Machine”. It’s not an “Automated Teller Machine Machine”, ok? This week.. Just.. stop talking so much. 

Pisces  

You’re gunna get a sound effect that almost everyone, everywhere, will recognize. Kids have been imitating it for YEARS, and we’ll bet you have too! No, it’s not the Six Million-Dollar Man Bionic sound, you know.. Like the Eye? That goes (DOO-DOO-DOO-dahh-dahh-dahh-dahh). No, you get the one that goes, “Vr–VOO-Vah-vah-VEE!” That’s right, you get the sound of The Transformers changing from their robot to vehicle forms because… DAMNIT! We’re STILL pissed off about Rodimus Prime last week, OK? We’re NOT letting that one go! Just… Just deal with it, ok? (*DUDE! Take it easy, man!*) I’m fine! I’m ok, ok… So.. This week, Pisces… Uhm… Buy more boxes of tissues.

And THOSE are your Horrible-Scopes for this week! Remember if you liked what you got, we’re obviously not working hard enough at these. BUT! If you want a better or nastier one for your own sign or someone else’s, all you need to do to bribe me is just Let Me Know! These will be posted online at the end of each week via Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook and Discord.