Would you like to test a game I've made ?

[vector.spectre]

You remember "StarForce" by Tekhan don't you ? - 1984 a 2D top-down shoot-em up made in Japan.

Well, My game is a homage to that really and before I release it to a well known gaming platform ( called ITCH ) I thought would you like to try it and then give me some feedback on it, it's free... has an on-line leader-board ( so you can show off ) - it's got no cut-scenes... the story is very flimsy indeed and basically its a score grab... the more weapons you get the easier it is.

I would try the "easy" option first then progress up, there's nothing to it really, I spent an age making the game on & off over eight years would you believe... changing things, finding bugs, moving home twice... a pandemic ahh... anyway some of you may like it as it's dripping in arcade nostalgia.

Haven't really released it yet, posted it on a couple of other forums where the feedback I had was great, so why not give it a go...

You know to be honest with you it's not the best shoot-em up in the world... I've been the one-man show behind the scenes, like I'm the director and cameraman and sound recordist etc till you reach the point you end up spinning plates... but I held it together and got as many bugs as I could find out of it to make it a reasonably enjoyable pick up & put down shooter... I'm 54 almost so you'll see where it all comes from once you run it... and where do I get this marvel I hear you cry ?

UPDATED LINK BELOW

Galaxy Pilot by BeDazzled

Arcade style blaster based on "StarForce" from 1984

galaxypilot.itch.io

An older custom-cabinet version (Windows 32bit) - https://mega.nz/file/nY92HAYa#8QE0FZ5B7y8Wf6odL8iuEASNE29_UcL03g_KI6RSOgY
-V

 

[TheDaddy]

Looks cool , I will download and have a crack at it at weekend.

Dave.

 

[sherr03]

Just been playing it, Well done its really good. Hard but very good!

 

[kingtreelo]

played it for a little bit, its not really enjoyable as it is in its current state for me, few things:

1. It's too fast..why on earth does everything move that fast?

2. It seems near impossible to kill some enemies without taking lots of damage

3. Its too fast

4. I think it needs slowing down a lot

5. I was also unable to pick a power up as it was too far forwards, and it dissapeared

 

[pubjoe]

New 15k game? I'm in!

I've only had a few goes but damn it's ruthless. Died immediately first go. I had to pound the fire button to survive at all. Power ups appear but they're gone in two seconds and I regularly died while trying to dive for them. Asteroids bombarded and destroying them sent lethal debris hurling straight at me. I got to stage 2 and received an autofire power up, then quickly overheated the weapon.

I love it!

I clearly have a lot to learn to get any good at it.

After changing settings I noticed the viewpoint button.

Awwwyeah!

Power ups trickily drop at the top edge of the screen because I'm panic shooting the enemies that dispense them, but I'm sure with experience I can better manage this. However in the angled mode the power ups can appear in the distance beyond my movement parameter, then disappear before I've had any chance to collect them. If this is a feature, then fine, I'll just have to get better. It did hurt my feelings though.

The s1 Boss was a strange relief. With the bullet damage system it barely did me any harm. I love the fruit machine spins between stages.

The sound effects all through are just awesome!

In 15k there seems to be just a slight scaling issue that causes only a few crushed scanlines, as thought it's scaling to 49% instead of 50%. See the bottom blue line of text in the image below. It's six pixels tall instead of seven pixels like the others, making some letters like A and R illegible. I'm nitpicking but there it is. When launching on 15k the vertical resolution configuration in settings.txt seems to get ignored but maybe that was just me. I didn't try for long.

I haven't played enough to offer anything actually helpful.

I really enjoy it though. True old-school arcade rock solid challenge that I wasn't expecting. It was a nice surprise.pubjoe2022-07-21 19:27:34

 

[John Bennett]

It's got potential for sure.
I think my one query is why you have a damage bar for bullets that hit you, but you're destroyed instantly if an enemy hits you, which is very frequently with them blasting around the screen? I kinda felt taking a chunk of damage for a collision (and maybe bouncing back a bit) would be more fair.

 

[ZeroSum]

Thats real nice.

 

[FrancoB]

Great game! Thanks for sharing!

Did you share this or a version of it a while back? I seem to remember playing something very similar that was hard as nails too!

My feedback thus far from setting up the game to getting my ass handed to me....

Setup:

I'm using a Brook UFB PCB as a control interface in XBONE mode. I couldn't seem to get the Custom Arcade version or Windows 64 Bit version to register the POV/Hat Switch inputs. I ended up downloading JoyToKey to get round it but it was an extra step I would rather avoid. Maybe it's just be doing something wrong. Let me know if that's the case.

Game play:

*Absolutely brutal at first!

Like many I think my first couple of credits lasted a few seconds. It does seem to get easier after a few goes though. Saying that, some of my later credits were only a minute or so too

I'm pretty pants at shmups but I definitely improved after a few goes. Anyone else playing just stick with it!

*Changing the view point to top down perspective seems to make the game feel easier. I don't know if changing the view allows you to look further ahead down the play field but it certainly feels that way. I need to have a few more credits to play but the top down view is definitely my preferred way to play currently.

*In a lot of shmups you are rewarded for killing enemies quickly at the top of the screen but in this you are often punished for doing so as the dropped bonus and weapon pick ups often float at the top edge of the screen and it's not possible to move your ship all the way to the top. I suggest either letting your ship travel all the way to the top, increasing the danger, or make the pickups float/meander a little further down the screen.

*I like the bonus reel between rounds but I feel this can have a massive effect on a run, especially if competing for score. Maybe you could have a 'competition' mode where you get points for destroying the 'reel tokens' on the levels but there is no bonus reel between rounds. That would level the playing field a little.

All in all a great game and very addictive! I'll certainly be playing it some more

Best score so far on normal, FRN | 1948857 | Stage Delta

Once again, thanks for sharing

 

[sclark]

Hi,

First, very nicely presented. Shiny visuals, great soundtrack and fx always go down well.

I've only tried it briefly on a keyboard here, but will hook it into a cabinet tomorrow for the full effect.

It definitely has that great 'just one more go' feel about it, so I'll aim to get better and I can see that I will (eventually).

For now though, I think maybe the first stage needs to be a bit tamer. The enemy (and in fairness the player) are super fast, a lovely pairing, though I think the shots are a bit too fast, at least for the first level. It almost feels like I'm thrown into the middle of a bullet hail game, but without the patterns due to the targeted response of enemies.

I think the main thing to remember is that you (the person who has built this game) have got very much more used to playing it than anyone else, and are at the moment probably the world's most experienced player. Us newbies are comparatively sluggish lumps of slime at the controls.

Definitely coming back for more though, even if it is kicking my backside right round the room.

Excellent work and as others have said, thanks very much for sharing.

PS Just been to the site and seen your Galaxy Pilot machine which looks amazing!

sclark2022-07-21 22:36:12

 

[Flinnster]

Oh this looks cool. Time to dig out the mame pc

 

[cliff_poole]

That is some excellent work. It is great to see there is still so much demand for this sort of game. The best games always are really hard. Reminds me a little of Xevious 3DG.

 

[vector.spectre]

Galaxy Pilot by BeDazzled

Arcade style blaster based on "StarForce" from 1984

galaxypilot.itch.io

Hey, thanks again to everyone to checked out my game, three years ago that was... I finalised the game late last year, the link to download the latest Windows version is above and in the original thread, along with a Windows 32bit version for custom arcade cabinets etc.
I've also attached a picture of the Arcade version of my game, just like a real machine, it has a service menu and a coin counter etc, runs very well, I hope to share it one day, I know a few people down here in Brighton that might host it at their events or whatever.
Anyway thanks again, check it out again if you haven't already, I de-bugged it to buggery but I know there'll be some oddities in there.
Hopefully it won't be another three years before I'm back to check on this thread, hope you enjoy it for what it is, cheers

-V

 

[agent4125]

Well done for finishing a game mate. Been there myself and it's quite an achievement. Be proud! 😊

 

[Hurray Banana]

Getting across the line is the hardest part