Gameplay Mod Fury's Sky: Vagabond (AKA Fury's Sky 2 - GZ-based flight action game) - v0.3 Released!

[Johnny B. Getgoode (The Guy)]

 

Greetings and salutations! Welcome to the development thread for Fury's Sky: Vagabond, the successor to my older GZ-based flight game, Fury's Sky.

 

 

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FAQ

 

Q1. Why a new game? Why not just finish the old one?

A1. There are a couple reasons for this. A large part of it was that the code base for FS1 was an unmaintainable mess of spaghetti that was only going to cause problems and induce aggravation going forward. This is largely because, when I started work on FS, I had been seriously programming for less than a year. Mistakes and bad practices were bound to happen. While I'm overall pleased with the work I did, especially considering my lack of experience, it was time to move on. Another reason was to just start from the drawing board creatively and come up with newer, more interesting scenarios and gameplay.

 

Q2. What's gonna be different about Vagabond?

A2. Vagabond will be a vast improvement on the FS concept in terms of gameplay and feel. Even in it's relatively early state, it still has a number of unique features such as an auto-targeting system that reveals enemy health and provides a target for lock-on weapons, a more in-depth and streamlined weapon system for easy development and prototyping of aircraft weaponry, improved controls and handling, and, like I was aiming for, a more streamlined codebase. Further down the line I'm gunning for a more non-linear mission structure, multiple plane classes, and a LOT of weapons.

 

Q3. What are some returning features in Vagabond from the original?

A3. A lot of the basic controls and gameplay functions are still the same. Steering is still done with the mouse, throttle is still manually controlled, players can still somersault and barrel roll by holding Shift and tapping one of the WASD keys, and the airbrake is as functional as ever, with the energy shield and all.

 

Q4. Are there any playable builds available?

A4. As of this writing, not yet. Vagabond is still in a very early stage and it will be a while before a single mission is even in the game. Good news is, the game is progressing quickly, and I might just have a build out sooner than I think. In the meantime, follow this thread for development news and check out some early screenshots. Vagabond public builds are now available! 0.1 was made available as of January 20, 2024. The download link and the changelog can both be found below.

 

Fury's Sky Vagabond DL Link: (Current Version 0.3.1, released April 27th, 2024)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/16L-pDb6H3B47y5vlI3yioxQOrG2wnmIo/view?usp=sharing

 

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Changelog:

 

0.1: 

-Initial release. Has one plane (F/I-8 Enforcer) with starting weapons, 200 Combat Points for an upgrade, and a playable level.

 

0.2:

-New missions, DESTROY.wad, ASSAULT.wad, and ESCORT.wad added to the game. They will become available after clearing ARRIVAL.wad, and all three will be available at once. They each have their own completion rewards as well.

-New planes, the Aries and Taurus, are now available for purchase in the hangar. They are available at the start of the game.

-New weapons: Bolttongue and Flak Shards are now available as post-clear rewards in the weapons shop.

-The Revier Pirate Enforcer has been renamed to Revier Pirate Grunt.

-New enemy types: the Revier Pirate Bomber, Revier Pirate Thug, Revier Courier-Class Transport, and Revier Imperator-Class Frigate are now in the game.

-Adjusted lighting in the cave on ARRIVAL.wad.

 

0.2.1 (Hotfix)

-Fixed a bug that caused missions to be added to the mission list more than once after dying and going to the hangar.

 

0.2.2 

-Lowered energy costs of Homing Darts and Force Missile

-Doubled Bolttongue's projectile damage.

-Increased combat point yield from slain enemies across all difficulty levels, for all enemy types.

-Added materials for MUD and WINDOWS2 textures.

 

0.2.3

-Increased starting energy capacity and energy regeneration rate for all planes, as well as energy cap upgrade gains. 

-Increased health, health upgrade gains, and shield timer upgrade gains for all planes.

-Increased damage factor on Advanced mode by 1.1 and Veteran mode by 1.25.

 

0.3

-A new level, UNCOVER.wad, has been added to the game. It is available after completing all 4 prior levels, and has its own completion reward.

-Revamped the hangar map to have guardrails and obstacles to prevent accidental falling, as well as slowed down the pilot. This is to allow easier control on Delta Touch.

-Added AI wingmen into the game. They will be available for certain missions, such as UNCOVER.wad.

-Replaced AI command "Cover Me" with a new command "Attack My Target." This will be reflected in game and in the keybinding menu as well.

-Exposed additional graphics options to the display menu.

 

0.3.1

-Tweaked obstacle detection for plane AI.

-Adjusted enemy placement in UNCOVER.wad to prevent them going into off-limits areas.

 

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How to run: 
1. Download the most recent version of GZDoom from www.zdoom.org

2. Download the FURYVAGA.ipk3 file from the link above.
3. Extract GZDoom and place the iwad file in the same folder as gzdoom.exe (Windows), or whichever directory GZDoom reads IWADs from on other OSes.
4. Select Fury's Sky Vagabond from the IWAD selection dialog, if it appears.
5. Enjoy!

 

How to run (Delta Touch on Android):

1. Ensure Delta Touch app is up-to-date and GZDoom Dev is the selected engine.

2. Download the FURYVAGA.ipk3 file from the link above.

3. Place the Vagabond IWAD in the games/IWAD folder set by Delta Touch, NOT the mods folder. 

4. Create a control config for either gamepad or touch, setting the following axes and functions: 

-Fly Up/Down (Allows pilot to walk and controls throttle)

-Strafe Left/Right (Controls pilot strafing and tilt)

-Look Axes (Controls camera panning for pilot and steering for planes).

-Attack and Alt Attack (Primary/Secondary Weapons)

-Use (Lets pilot access objects in hangar)

-Jump (Controls airbrake)

-Custom 1-10 (Needed for maneuver key, NPC commands, repairing key, and camera toggles; set them as preferred in the in-game keybindings menu).

5. If using touch, crank up look sensitivity and general sensitivity, as planes may feel sluggish otherwise. Cranking up mouse sensitivity in-game may also work. 

6. Run FURYVAGA.ipk3 from the list and have fun! 
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Model: F/I-8 Enforcer

Equippable Weapon Types:

Primary: Cannon.

Secondary: Missile.

Top Speed: 65 UPT

Maneuverability: 0.5 deg/T

Health: 140 units

Energy: 300 units

 

Model: F/A-22 Taurus

Equippable Weapon Types:

Primary: Pulse.

Secondary: Missile.

Top Speed: 60 UPT

Maneuverability: 0.4 deg/T

Health: 180 units

Energy: 400 units

 

 

Model: B-9 Aries

Equippable Weapon Types:

Primary: Pulse.

Secondary: Bomb.

Top Speed: 50 UPT

Maneuverability: 0.35 deg/T

Health: 220 units

Energy: 450 units

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Screenshots and media: 

 

 

 

Edited April 27 by Johnny B. Getgoode (The Guy) : New version!

[LorddRaptorr]

Wow! Nice look!

[Johnny B. Getgoode (The Guy)]

Just updated the thread with a basic video and some info on the current player planes. Check it out!

[Johnny B. Getgoode (The Guy)]

REAL SHIT GUYS 
 

 

[Johnny B. Getgoode (The Guy)]

 

So yeah, weapon and plane upgrade systems are coming along nicely. I might as well take a minute and explain how they work.

 

1. When the game boots up, you're dropped into a room with a mission computer. Accessing the computer and choosing a mission will allow access to the hangar, which is where aircraft and weapon handling is done.

2. There will be props of the individual craft in the hangar for planes you have unlocked. Interacting with them will bring up the menu shown above. 
3. Using the menu will allow you to upgrade the plane, choose a primary and secondary weapon, as well as buy new primary and secondary weapons. Note that only weapons that are compatible with the plane you've chosen will be displayed for purchase. 

4. Once you're done, hitting the button that says "Sortie with this aircraft" will launch the mission with the plane you've chosen.

 

And that's it! 

One last thing; weapons come in four types so far (Cannon, Pulse, Missile, and Bomb), and planes can only have certain kinds of weapons in their primary and secondary slots. For example, the Enforcer can only have a cannon in its primary slot and a missile in its secondary slot. Another example; the Aries can have missiles and bombs in both primary and secondary slots. Go ahead and experiment!

[Johnny B. Getgoode (The Guy)]

Made some renovations to textures and materials. Check out the new screenshots!

[Johnny B. Getgoode (The Guy)]

 

Development is going well. Note that I will be updating the stats of the player planes in this thread with the new speeds and handling.

[Johnny B. Getgoode (The Guy)]

Merr after-Crimbo! Hope you guys enjoyed the holidays. I sure did! 

 

Now, back to work...

[Johnny B. Getgoode (The Guy)]

 

[Johnny B. Getgoode (The Guy)]

Happy new year one and all! Today saw a large smorgasbord of UI improvements to Vagabond! Follow me on X for the goods! 

[Johnny B. Getgoode (The Guy)]

Alright, so in the interest of transparency, I feel I'm getting very close to being able to release a public build of FS:Vagabond. There are still a few more things I need to do before it's ready. These are listed below: 

-Develop a tutorial level and a sample level.

-Add environment materials to facilitate these levels.

-Polish the mission menu and add some graphics.

-Add materials/skins for friendly units.

-Get a texture and model for the mission computer.

 

Once all that's done I should be able to have a rudimentary build up and running. I'll be sure to inform you all if any complications arise...

EDIT: striking off tasks!

Edited January 20 by Johnny B. Getgoode (The Guy) : Progress update

[Johnny B. Getgoode (The Guy)]

 

It's coming...

[Johnny B. Getgoode (The Guy)]

 

[Johnny B. Getgoode (The Guy)]

IT'S HERE!

 

This mod can now be downloaded and played! Check the updated thread for more details!

[Johnny B. Getgoode (The Guy)]

 

New level is in development!

[taufan99]

I'm so gonna enjoy this on Delta Touch!

[Johnny B. Getgoode (The Guy)]

12 hours ago, taufan99 said:

I'm so gonna enjoy this on Delta Touch!

Yeah! Delta Touch is fun, but setting this mod up for it can be...complicated. Make sure you're using the latest GZ version and have renamed the file to have a ".wad" extension. Delta does not see ".iwad" files for some reason. 

I'll probably have a more detailed guide soon.

EDIT: ...OK, Delta Touch is way dumber than I thought. It does not even detect that the game is an IWAD and complains that there's no game, even though there are GAMEINFO and IWADINFO files in the archive. So basically you can disregard my previous advice for getting it set up.

Edited February 26 by Johnny B. Getgoode (The Guy) : Delta Touch is dumb

[taufan99]

3 hours ago, Johnny B. Getgoode (The Guy) said:

Yeah! Delta Touch is fun, but setting this mod up for it can be...complicated. Make sure you're using the latest GZ version and have renamed the file to have a ".wad" extension. Delta does not see ".iwad" files for some reason. 

I'll probably have a more detailed guide soon.

EDIT: ...OK, Delta Touch is way dumber than I thought. It does not even detect that the game is an IWAD and complains that there's no game, even though there are GAMEINFO and IWADINFO files in the archive. So basically you can disregard my previous advice for getting it set up.

At risk of sounding dumb, have you tried using the ipk3 format instead?

[Johnny B. Getgoode (The Guy)]

1 hour ago, taufan99 said:

At risk of sounding dumb, have you tried using the ipk3 format instead?

I have not, though that probably would make more sense. The archive is basically structured like a .pk3

Not sure if that'll actually work though. Merely changing the file extension does not seem to be enough. 

EDIT: Well slap my ass and call me Sally! Changing the extension to .ipk3 actually got it to work. I'm simultaneously delighted and weirded out.

[Johnny B. Getgoode (The Guy)]

Alright, it's been a little bit since I shared dev progress here (But I've been whoring the game on TwitterX though. Check it out at @getgoode), so I might as well shed light on my current plans. 

Here's basically what I want to have happen with the next update: I want to have three new levels, all available once the player clears the first level, and can be played in any order. There will be unique rewards at the end of each level, either weapons or extra in-game currency. In addition, two new planes (Aries and Taurus) will be purchasable. On top of that, there will be new enemies and objects to accommodate the level scenarios. 

 

The levels themselves are pretty straightforward. One will be a mission where you seek and destroy three enemy transports that spawn randomly in the map. They must be downed before they reach the escape point, or the mission fails. Another mission has the player storm an enemy base, with multiple different paths leading to it. This particular mission has a boss fight with a large airship at the end. Finally, there will be a mission to escort a friendly transport through hostile territory, and keep it safe from enemies. 

Two of these levels are 99% done, with just a couple fixes and tweaks needed. The escort mission still needs to be made. When this level is added, and other fixes are made, the update will be released with version number 0.2. The archive will be in ipk3 format (for compatibility with Delta Touch), and a new download link will be provided. 

 

Good things are heading to this project! Stay tuned!

Edited March 6 by Johnny B. Getgoode (The Guy)

[Johnny B. Getgoode (The Guy)]

VERSION 0,2 IS OUT YOU GLORIOUS MOTHERFUCKERS.

DL and enjoy! :)

[Johnny B. Getgoode (The Guy)]

...OK, I'll bite. Am I doing something wrong with this game or something? 

[taufan99]

8 hours ago, Johnny B. Getgoode (The Guy) said:

...OK, I'll bite. Am I doing something wrong with this game or something? 

Might as well be blunt, now that I've tried the sequel (only played this on my crummy laptop because Delta Touch native touch controls don't seem to like this one for some reason). It's still as exciting as the first installment, but I've come to get some grips regarding where you can improve.

• Energy resources are extremely scarce, if not downright non-existent. This makes doing missions feel like a chore, even at Normal. I know you might want to give some challenge, but even the first level took me a few times to properly beat. I know points system exists to upgrade the ship, but first efforts won't be enough to properly soup up the player's ship.
• Levels' architecture feels a bit too simplistic, although that's not to say all of them look dull. In an engine where a myriad of fantastic-looking maps exist, I think it wouldn't hurt to have at least a little bit of scenery. Doesn't have to be complex like others, I know you might prefer stable framerate over eye-catching looks (as in my case of a potato of a laptop), but consider adding some good-looking scenery, no matter how little.
• The three missions after the initial one might need a few more allies to help the player. I must admit, it's hard without their help at the battlefield. :(

Hopefully you can consider these three as a starting point. I too don't really understand why others aren't really interested in this. Sure, it's not exactly Descent/Freespace, but it's worth playing for the different gameplay style alone among other GZDoom-based stand-alone games.

Edited April 21 by taufan99

[Johnny B. Getgoode (The Guy)]

6 hours ago, taufan99 said:

Might as well be blunt, now that I've tried the sequel (only played this on my crummy laptop because Delta Touch native touch controls don't seem to like this one for some reason). It's still as exciting as the first installment, but I've come to get some grips regarding where you can improve.

• Energy resources are extremely scarce, if not downright non-existent. This makes doing missions feel like a chore, even at Normal. I know you might want to give some challenge, but even the first level took me a few times to properly beat. I know points system exists to upgrade the ship, but first efforts won't be enough to properly soup up the player's ship.
• Levels' architecture feels a bit too simplistic, although that's not to say all of them look dull. In an engine where a myriad of fantastic-looking maps exist, I think it wouldn't hurt to have at least a little bit of scenery. Doesn't have to be complex like others, I know you might prefer stable framerate over eye-catching looks (as in my case of a potato of a laptop), but consider adding some good-looking scenery, no matter how little.
• The three missions after the initial one might need a few more allies to help the player. I must admit, it's hard without their help at the battlefield. :(

Hopefully you can consider these three as a starting point. I too don't really understand why others aren't really interested in this. Sure, it's not exactly Descent/Freespace, but it's worth playing for the different gameplay style alone among other GZDoom-based stand-alone games.

Thanks for your feedback! I can see where you're coming from with all your points. Especially regarding energy resources. It's just kinda tough to know what to do when you're the only one working on it. 

In any case, I'll see about working on it. And I'll also see about a guide to get it running on Delta. You may be having trouble because it needs a special control config on Delta to comfortably playable. 

[Johnny B. Getgoode (The Guy)]

just added a guide on how to run the game in Delta Touch, underneath general install instructions. Check it out!

 

EDIT: Also, regarding energy concerns, I'm probably just gonna say "fuck it" and increase the default energy cap of the planes by 1.5x or so. Will need some testing afterwards, but that should be sufficient to address the scarcity problem.

 

EDIT 2 Electric Boogaloo: Just pushed forth a new balancing patch. Check it out, duderinos!

Edited April 21 by Johnny B. Getgoode (The Guy)

[Johnny B. Getgoode (The Guy)]

Hey, so about that feedback regarding allies? Well...

 

https://streamable.com/6uulrf?src=player-page-share

[taufan99]

1 hour ago, Johnny B. Getgoode (The Guy) said:

Hey, so about that feedback regarding allies? Well...

 

https://streamable.com/6uulrf?src=player-page-share

Much better! Brings me back to the first Fury's Sky, in a good way.

[Johnny B. Getgoode (The Guy)]

New version out! Comes with some goodies. Check out the patch notes in the main post for the salient points. :3 

 

Enjoy!