Space Ruckus: The Official Site

The Great Invasion: Design Document Release

Mike

I hope that everyone is in a reading mood. A first draft of the Story Documentation and Gameplay Documentation for Space Ruckus: The Great Invasion is now available to the public. But that is not all! A 2009 rewrite of the core story, better known as the Storyboard Documentation, is also now available. It expands on the original document, and even contains handy pictorial links for further illustration.

The Great Invasion: Media Release #3

Mike

At one time or another, some may have questioned if we were actually designing a 3D game, or for that matter, if we were designing a game at all. With today's Model Release, it is my hope that, at the very least, the former of those two questions will be put to rest. In addition to this, a number of now ancient Programming Assets have been unearthed. Also, as long as you are here, feel free to check out the new Media Center, where you can preview various types of content from Space Ruckus: The Great Invasion.

As a side note, this will be the last of the major releases, but I will continue to release minor things, such as design documents, plot outlines, and other stuff that has accumulated dust over time.

The Great Invasion: Media Release #2

Mike

Do you hear what I hear? It is another set of assets from Space Ruckus: The Great Invasion. This time, I have released the Music Compositions. Namely, some of the early recordings (both live and synthesized) by Eigen Lenk and Oliver Rull.

Samples:
July 26th, 2004 | Synth Theme - Test #4 (Eigen Lenk)
October 11th, 2004 | New Theme - Test #1 (Eigen Lenk)

The Great Invasion: Media Release #1

Mike

I have released the first in a set of assets from Space Ruckus: The Great Invasion. This one focuses chiefly on Concept Art that was created for the project, and it begs an important question. Why DID the chicken cross the road? It may be that he was running away from these chicken scratches. Okay, I am only kidding (to a certain degree). There are a few gems among these drawings. For example, Micheal Cross' stuff is simply ace.

General: Galactic Struggle

Mike

In 2004, I had an idea for a simple arcade game that would appear in the break room aboard the orbital base. I literally just threw something together one night in The Games Factory, and the next day, showed it to the other developers. Most of them cringed at it, but the 1970's/1980's era graphics were intentional. Those of you that have played the minigames in Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People will know what to expect. Also, if you wait around long enough on the title screen, the scoreboard will appear, and it features the names of fleet personnel. Bill Grig is not listed due to the fact that he is a new recruit, and has not yet had time to explore the break room's entertainment venues.

Download Game (243KB)

Tip: to remove the black borders, be sure to toggle "Run in 640 x 480 screen resolution" in the Properties/Compatibility panel for gstruggle.exe before launching the game.

Oh, and because nobody reads manuals anymore, here are the controls:
Ctrl+C - Control Menu
Escape - Quit Game (you will definitely want to remember this one!)
Left Arrow Key - Move Left
Right Arrow Key - Move Right
Shift - Fire

Footnote: Galactic Struggle spawned a somewhat amusing page about Galactic Struggle II, and the downfall of Space Monkey Software. It can still be found at http://spacemonkey.spaceruckus.com. Also, I would later use this in a four-part story known as A Day at Gridline Games. The company, in one last attempt to succeed, steals Space Ruckus: The Great Invasion's source code, and gives it a new name, Galactic Struggle III. Yes, we have officially broken every fourth wall known to man.