http://lefty2shoes.com/blog/index.php Copyright 2010, Marc Marc en-US SPHPBLOG 0.5.1 http://lefty2shoes.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry090801-091837
Here are some screen shots from the game:














Please take a moment to try the new version and let us know what you think.

http://lefty2shoes.com/

Thank you.
]]> News, Announcements, New Features http://lefty2shoes.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry090801-091837 Marc Sat, 01 Aug 2009 15:18:37 GMT http://lefty2shoes.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry081119-071309
The following images show some of the new screens:

New Welcome Screen


Player Section


A mock up of the Space Dock


Mission Selection Screen


Gameplay has seen several new features as well. Among these are the floating text messages for in game events. Currently, they apply to only two events, but they will eventually be used for more. There will also be an option of turning them off through the Options Menu. Next is the Power Up system. After completely destroying an asteroid and all of its pieces, a Power Up will appear. These power ups are limited to weapon and ability recharges now, but many more will be created in the future. There is a third type of power up that has been introduced as well. They look like the ability recharge, but their floating text message will say something about an item being discovered. These are Item and Technology power ups. They are used in the Shipyard and the Space Dock for customizing your vessel. This feature is in progress and we hope to have it out in the next or following update.

Floating Text Messages In Game


Find Power Ups among the Asteroids


Find Special Items and Technologies


As always, if you have any comments or suggestions, please feel free to let me know.

--Enjoy]]> Announcements http://lefty2shoes.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry081119-071309 Marc Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:13:09 GMT http://lefty2shoes.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry081107-070202
We have also successfully deployed our first Web Start. This is very exciting for 2 reasons. First, the Web Start is much more reliable than the applet so many people who had trouble might find this works better for them. The second reason is we were able to build the Web Start with the same jar files currently used by the applet. Going forward, we will be able to support both versions of the game with ease. The Web Start is now available on the main game page or it can be accessed from this link: http://lefty2shoes.com/xspace.jnlp.

New Web Interface showing the choice between Applet and Web Start:


The best news is the addition of a new contributing member to the team. Jens, who joins us remotely from Europe, is a java programmer by profession and has been making games as a hobby for a long time. Not only does he bring a profound understanding of Java to the team, he is also a talented artist. He has been making his own models and textures for his games and has already made some beginning assets for XSpace. He is also the designer/developer for the Front End system, Nifty GUI, which XSpace employs. As if that were not enough, he is also familiar with composing music and sound tracks. As you can imagine, XSpace is very lucky to get Jens and we look forward to seeing and hearing great things from him soon.

Jens' first model:


With all the recent changes XSpace will finally be moving to version 0.1. Unfortunately there are no new features to announce, but stay tuned. As more art resources come online new ships and weapons will become available. Also, the Web Start should work for many of the players who were having trouble with the applet so please, give it a try.

See the latest version here.

--Enjoy]]> Announcements http://lefty2shoes.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry081107-070202 Marc Fri, 07 Nov 2008 14:02:02 GMT http://lefty2shoes.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry081020-195725 http://lefty2shoes.com.

Special thanks to Jens and his Nifty GUI Project that has made the Front End migration so quick and easy.

In the next round improvements will be made to the error handling and logging system in an attempt to learn why so many of you are having trouble getting the game running. If you are currently have difficultly with the game that does not include difficulty with asteroids, please let me know. There is a discussion board for troubleshooting. Just take a moment to explain your problem and hopefully it will be dealt with very soon.

Thanks,
--Marc

Screen - Front End Screen - Main Menu


Screen - Front End Screen - Logon


Screen - In Game Pause Menu

]]> New Features http://lefty2shoes.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry081020-195725 Marc Tue, 21 Oct 2008 01:57:25 GMT http://lefty2shoes.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry081018-084718


The most notable change is the round shape. Less noticeable is the object clipping that occurred on rare occasions when an item was transitioning from one region to the next. This is easier to see later in the game when the asteroids become significantly larger.

This is the first part to the planned radar revisions. Other revisions include multiple radar styles such as a sonar type pulse and a radar sweep. Each type of radar will have different features such as extended range, threat analysis and invisibility detection.

Stay tuned for the next release to see this new feature in game.

--Marc]]> New Features http://lefty2shoes.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry081018-084718 Marc Sat, 18 Oct 2008 14:47:18 GMT http://lefty2shoes.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry081012-134625
This new system uses a generic statistics system to monitor the game and tracks certain events which are then used to build a score. Currently it tracks an arbitrary asteroid shooting score, accuracy based on the weapon energy usage and a play time.

The system maintains three aspects of each stat. The first is the current statistic. This is accumulated during play. The second is the best so far. When a game is over, the current is compared with the existing best determine the highest achieved stat. Finally a career stat is tracked by summing the results from each game.

The last part of this feature is a web page which pulls the user and stat information from the database and shows the top ten from each category. The page can be found here http://lefty2shoes.com/highscores.php This way you can track your best score, your overall accuracy and compare them with your friends.

As new features are introduced new stats will be created but for now, lets see how well you can do and if you can make your way to the top of the list.

Enjoy...]]> New Features http://lefty2shoes.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry081012-134625 Marc Sun, 12 Oct 2008 19:46:25 GMT http://lefty2shoes.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080905-075100
First is the Front End system. We've recently added FengGUI to the project. At this stage, the Front end is VERY basic. There are just a couple of screens for registering and logging on. Now that this is in place more work can be done on screens for customizing and upgrading your ship.

Logging in is another feature that has recently been introduced. This will eventually control recording your ship information, progress, inventory, score/stats and accomplishments. Right now, it does nothing.

The game itself has changed a little. Getting further from the level based system, the game now spawns asteroids at a regular interval. As time goes on there are more and more. The goals is to see how long you can last before you are overwhelmed by the ever increasing number of asteroids.

As always, send me any and all feedback you have.

Enjoy,
--Marc

PS. There is some new art work. This was borrowed from http://digitalblasphemy.com/. The original piece is called the Crucible. The artist is not credited on the site.]]> New Features http://lefty2shoes.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080905-075100 Marc Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:51:00 GMT http://lefty2shoes.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080721-094145
First we have split the weapons into primary and secondary. Primary weapons are controlled by the 'ctrl' keys and the secondary is the 'space bar'. Second, we have given the Tie Interceptor some more Imperial weaponry. It has been outfitted with a pair of heavy blasters and a heat seeking photon torpedo.

Finally these weapons have been tied to the energy system. There are a few side effects because of this such as the occasional single shot from the blasters as there is only enough power for one of them to operate. There maybe some other issues as well. If you happen to see any, please let us know.

Enjoy,
--Marc
]]> New Features http://lefty2shoes.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080721-094145 Marc Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:41:45 GMT http://lefty2shoes.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080716-095047
Troublesome asteroids proving hard to catch? Well, not anymore. Pour on a little nitro with the new Speed Boost Ability. Currently the left and right shift buttons will engage the boost. Use with caution. The faster you go the harder you stop when you run into an asteroid.

Enjoy,
--Marc
]]> New Features http://lefty2shoes.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080716-095047 Marc Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:50:47 GMT http://lefty2shoes.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080713-171240
To activate the Repair Bots, find a safe spot and hit 'del'. You're ship will come top a stop and the bots will swarm around and slowly repair the vessel. Be patient. Any movement or blaster fire will interrupt their work and you'll have to order them out again. Once they have completed their repairs they will disappear and you can carry on turning asteroids into space dust for the Empire.

PS. I apologize to MAC user who don't have a 'del' key. I am in the process of supplying an alternative button and perhaps even a key configuration window. For the time being, fly safe, or get a PC. :P
]]> New Features http://lefty2shoes.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080713-171240 Marc Sun, 13 Jul 2008 23:12:40 GMT