Xero - The Last Hope for Mankind

[jbanes]

[size=20pt]Introduction[/size]
Listen up puke, you've got work to do! As of 0800 hours this morning, a fleet of unknown alien ships arrived in our Solar System. They quickly proceeded to decimate our entire shell of outer defenses. It's now up to you to intercept and destroy this foe before they can reach Earth.

Your Xero fighter will launch from the United Space Carrier Indianapolis in precisely one hour. Due to the number of attackers, you'll be flying solo rather than in formation. Your objective will be to reach your assigned target as quickly as possible, and destroy it. Once your target is destroyed, you'll assist the other Xero fighters in destroying their assigned capital ships. [Read More]

[size=20pt]Get the Game[/size] Webstart JAR Download Manual High Score Club [size=20pt]High Score Club[/size] So you think you're good, huh? Well, prove it! Get a score of 50,000 points or better and you could find yourself admitted to the Xero High Score Club! All you need is a screenshot showing off your great score, and an optional avatar for your entry. Post your entry here in this thread, or email it to jbanes@gmail.com. Fame and fortune await as you prove your piloting skills to your peers! (Well, at least the fame part. You'll have to work on the fortune yourself.)

[c_lilian]

sorry, jnlp error on mac : won't start (wrong JRE version) (what's this 1.4+,1.5+ ?)

Lilian

[jbanes]

sorry, jnlp error on mac : won't start (wrong JRE version) (what's this 1.4+,1.5+ ?)

That should tell Webstart that it can use either 1.4 or 1.5 to run the program. The JNLP file works on Windows, so I'm not quite sure what the problem is. I'll look into it. In the meantime, you should be able to use the JAR download to play the game.

Edit: Try it again. I think I've got it fixed.

Games published by our own members! Check 'em out!

[c_lilian]

yup it works with jar, but wayyy too fast , does the game needs a specific frame rate ?

[jbanes]

yup it works with jar, but wayyy too fast , does the game needs a specific frame rate ?

Define "Way too fast"? The game is frame limited, but it's designed to run at a very high speed. So if it seems just a bit faster than you think it should be, it might be correct.

[c_lilian]

well, let's say I'm wayyy too slow !

Some ships move real fast and are very hard to avoid (the ones with an "S" wave).

Great entry btw, just too hard for me.

Lilian

[jbanes]

well, let's say I'm wayyy too slow !

Some ships move real fast and are very hard to avoid (the ones with an "S" wave).

Hmm... you should have time to move out of the way once the Detonators begin diving. Is the starfield whizzing by, or is it keeping a fairly good pace with bits of debris passing them up? (If you answer "whizzing by" then there may be something wrong.)

Just so your aware, my 5 year old could make it to level 3, and my 3 year old could make it to level 2. (Kid tested, father approved! ) So it should be possible to make it to the second level without getting killed.

Great entry btw, just too hard for me.

Thanks! But let's see if we can make sure it's actually your hand-eye coordination and not a technical glitch.

[noblemaster]

Yeah, that's great. However, I agree, should be little bit easier at the beginning!

[c_lilian]

Well... apart from these 'S' things, the game is playable and enjoyable (been to level 3 this time). The trick is to never stop firing, which I didn't do at first play...

Lilian

[nonnus29]

Yeah, I made it to level 3, it is pretty hard.  Nice graphics, gameplay gets a bit repetitive after awhile though.  That's to be expected with a 4k game though.  Nice work!

Games published by our own members! Check 'em out!

[jbanes]

Yeah, I made it to level 3, it is pretty hard.  Nice graphics, gameplay gets a bit repetitive after awhile though.

Just wait until you reach level 4....

MWHAHAHAHAHAHA! 

[x30ice]

The ship moves faster laterally than vertically. The left/right speed is good, could the up/down speed be increased to make all equal?

[jbanes]

The ship moves faster laterally than vertically. The left/right speed is good, could the up/down speed be increased to make all equal?

This was intentional. Sort of a poor man's physics designed to simulate the fact that your craft is travelling under maximum power already. The rear engines are at maximum power already (thus why moving up is slow) while the retros are simply less powerful than the lateral thrusters. (A spaceship wants to go forwards, not backwards. ) I could change it all to match, but I fear the gameplay might not be as interesting.

Has anyone got to level 4 yet?

[Anon666]

Does that stinkingly huge boss die?!! 

good job, very nicely polished.

p.s.
Are the score/lives text bits supposed to use the same Color as the explosion?

[jbanes]

Does that stinkingly huge boss die?!! 

I've beat him many times. So yes. But I definitely didn't make it easy. 

Let me know when your score goes over 50,000 and I'll add you to the High Score Club.

good job, very nicely polished.

Thank you.

Are the score/lives text bits supposed to use the same Color as the explosion?

I thought it was a nice attention-grabbing effect that didn't cost any extra. What do you think? Should it stay or go?

[Malohkan]

Couldn't play on Linux.  It started to change the display and then boom got this.

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java.lang.UnsupportedOperationException: Cannot change display mode    at java.awt.GraphicsDevice.setDisplayMode(Unknown Source)    at Xero.main(Unknown Source)    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(Unknown Source)    at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(Unknown Source)    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Unknown Source)    at com.sun.javaws.Launcher.executeApplication(Unknown Source)    at com.sun.javaws.Launcher.executeMainClass(Unknown Source)    at com.sun.javaws.Launcher.continueLaunch(Unknown Source)    at com.sun.javaws.Launcher.handleApplicationDesc(Unknown Source)    at com.sun.javaws.Launcher.handleLaunchFile(Unknown Source)    at com.sun.javaws.Launcher.run(Unknown Source)    at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)

[x30ice]

al last I could beat the boss (to end killed 2 waves later...), but a bar or some kind of indication (hits left, energy left ?) would be good 

[jbanes]

Malohkan, read the manual.

x30ice, good idea. If I get a chance, I'll see what I can do.

[Hansdampf]

level 5, two and a half waves after the boss, score was 38140

I think the boss should give more points

kind of easy once you collected the well hidden homing missiles 

[x30ice]

  homing missiles?? where??

[jbanes]

level 5, two and a half waves after the boss, score was 38140

I think the boss should give more points

The boss gives, (lemme see here) a total of 2,560 points. You get 10 points for each hit you score on the boss.

kind of easy once you collected the well hidden homing missiles 

Say what?

[Hansdampf]

homing missiles?? where??

ok,ok. You can stop looking for them. I just wished there are some... after 40 min of playing (my heart goes slowly back to normal frequency)

[jbanes]

ok,ok. You can stop looking for them. I just wished there are some...

LOL! That was actually pretty funny. Poor x30ice was probably looking frantically for them.

after 40 min of playing (my heart goes slowly back to normal frequency)

I take that to mean that my patented Andreline Booster(TM) is operating correctly?

So, now that people have beat the first boss, anyone reached 50,000 points yet? My personal best is somewhere in the range of 64,000 points. I know for a fact that there are players out there who are better at playing this game than I am at programming it.

[Morre]

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# # An unexpected error has been detected by HotSpot Virtual Machine: # #  EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION (0xc0000005) at pc=0x6d0b646e, pid=3540, tid=3844 # # Java VM: Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (1.5.0_06-b05 mixed mode, sharing) # Problematic frame: # C  [awt.dll+0xb646e] # # An error report file with more information is saved as hs_err_pid3540.log # # If you would like to submit a bug report, please visit: #   http://java.sun.com/webapps/bugreport/crash.jsp #

Crashes on my machine. :/

[jbanes]

Crashes on my machine. :/

Now that's just not right. Which OS and Graphics Card are you using? Have you tried rebooting to clear the problem?

[arne]

Malohkan, read the manual.

No Linux , WTF!! That'll be a minus for sure!

Why can't you make it run also in windowed?

[jbanes]

I get this error, when I ty to run it with webstart

On Linux, right? The manual explains this in the FAQ section.

I'm considering a special windowed version for Linux-only, but I really hate to break up the codebase like that.

According to the bug database, Linux will be fixed in 1.6.

P.S. You can get the latest Mustang builds from here: https://mustang.dev.java.net/

Testing the new fullscreen code will help ensure that Linux is (*finally!*) ready for serious gaming.

[Morre]

On XP Pro, Geforce FX5200. Haven't tried rebooting yet - will tomorrow.

[jbanes]

On XP Pro, Geforce FX5200. Haven't tried rebooting yet - will tomorrow.

That configuration should work fine. I think rebooting is probably your best bet. Java sometimes screws itself up when dealing with graphics modes.

[kappa]

no linux support 

yes its fixed in 1.6 but competition is aimed at 1.4, besides i like to play in windowed mode, especially with the boss around the office.