> Good to see some cool stuff coming from CA homies.

Thanks.

> As you may perhaps know, I write Flash games for a hobby (albeit I almost have
> no time to do much nowadays)... so maybe I can make some suggestions.
>
> Do you use DirectX8 directly? I've heard it can be frustrating, and that it's
> best to use a wrapper. Or even another graphics library. Personally in C++ I've
> used Allegro, but SDL is very famous as well (just google for the links). A side
> benefit is that your code will be more portable as you don't depend on code from
> MS.

Well, i used the ms sdk, which is what i know how to work which, iīm not sure what you mean by 'wrapper' so i can be misreading your question.
I was thinking about learning sdl, i need some time to read the docs on it, and etc.

> Check out Paint.Net for a great alternative to MS Paint...
Yeah, i used paint.net. great little software.

If you are after a
> retro style, you could use a limited resolution and zoom by 2x or 3x to get a
> pixellated look.

I thought about doing this, and is something i will do later on, but i was just trying to get a game going and done.
But yeah, the 2x or 3x scale would give it a better luck.

> The bullets are a bit monotonous... they all fall at the same speed and
> direction.
> I don't know what kind of animation code you're using... if it's object-oriented
> it will be easy to change. For example you could have a "spread" gun by shooting
> three bullets, and have the movement code move them like this:
>
> 1) y-=2, x-=1
> 2) y-=2
> 3) y-=2, x+=1
>
> Or for more fancy effects, a bit of math can go a long way. For a wiggly bullet
> you can add a counter, then apply a formula like:
>
> counter++;
> x = Math.sin(counter/1000)*50
>
> where "50" is the amplitude (how many pixel the bullet will wobble between), and
> /1000 is just to make the input counter have decimals (otherwise the animation
> won't be smooth).

Bosses lasers do 'wobble' a litle and i have tried to make enemies movement more interesting, but i will be adding some spread guns, for sure. Nt sure what i will replace, however. But itīs something i have thought.

> Oh well I could go on an on... I will stop here bc I don't want to bore you with
> details as I don't know what direction you want to take the game. Just ask if
> you have a question and I may be able to help.

Well, no direction, specficly, i just trying to get some coding done, and trying to finish something. After a lot of time starting and stopping. But yeah, i will send you some pms, be sure of that.

> Myself, I mostly concentrate on programming, I need to team up with somebody to
> have nice graphics, otherwise I end up with horror graphics such as this:
> http://newsdee.com/swf/babeball.php :-)

hehe, well, now that i have some code to show, i might be able to get someone to do me some nicer graphics, we will see.

> My upcoming game is nicer than that (real graphics, Babeball is drawn by code)
> but I don't want to link here yet as it's a W.I.P. and it's not just my game.
> But if you or anybody wants to take a peek let me know and I'll PM you a link.
>
yeah, i will pm you, but i can only test stuff at lunch breaks or at home, so i wonīt be bothering you for at least a couple of hours, haha.

Thanks for the detailed input.