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Project Spikes is a physics-based platformer in which the player needs to solve a series of creative physical puzzles to progress. As a physics game, the puzzles will include the use of the Force Gun, which enables you to pick up and drag objects around the level, including laser turrets and special cubes. As a platformer, it will test your platforming skills with moving and rotating platforms, disappearing ledges, and good old jumping puzzles.

Post news Report RSS Dev Blog #5: Fields and Laser Improvements

The fifth update for Project Spikes brings new fields (or, laser arrays) that blitz whatever comes through them, improvements to laser turrets, a new tutorial level, and a few other tweaks and fixes!

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Time for another update! To kick this one off, I'll introduce a new feature: fields!

Project Spikes Update #5 - Images
My laser arrays are much purpler than yours.


The red laser fields harm the player, while the purple ones destroy physics objects such as cubes and turrets. When the player goes through a red field, you die instantly too, so it's probably best not to let that happen. These new fields are ripped from the old project mostly, but with a new appearance and a bit of new functionality, both of which slot nicely into the other game features (it's lasers all around here). There's also another tweak to lasers - I refer you to an image from last update:

Project Spikes Update #4 - Images
Entanglement. I ain't having no quantum physics going on here!

As you can see, the laser beams don't line up correctly and look like something MC Escher would draw. But I've changed the lasers to use a different shader, so they're less solid-looking than before, and render correctly, giving a more subtle look. Talking about tweaks, the Force Gun provides force in a different way than before, in that it doesn't really apply a force, it provides an impulsive... well, force I guess. Physics nerds will probably understand the difference, but for the average Joe, that just means the movement of objects is a bit more instant.
To accommodate the fields, I've split Tutorial 2 into two, and tweaked them a bit, so there's basically a new tutorial level to stop the tutorial feeling like an avalanche of features and instructions.

Project Spikes Update #5 - Images
Things are starting to look a lot more colourful!

In the background are the red fields that kill you. You'll also see part of a TV screen at the top of the tower - remember back in the real early version of the new project, when screenshots were added? You could press F5 to take a screenshot, and it would render the image to a screen in the level. That's been added back, but this time the screens have a simple model. Every tutorial level has at least one screen, so you can see your last screenshot whenever you want.
I'm also partway done with the turret texturing job, which is taking much longer than anticipated. I've tweaked the angry turret face, and made one for destroyed angry turrets.

Project Spikes Update #5 - Images
No, Steve, noooo! I'll get revenge for you!

Next update is going to be a big texturing/modelling update, because I've been putting off replacing placeholders for a long time (the Force Gun springs to mind, however hilarious it is). You can find the update on the downloads page once it's uploaded/authorised, so have fun playing! Don't forget, this update contains all the features I mentioned back in the Update #4 post, including better turret collision and different textures on cubes based on how damaged they are.
-Daniel

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