Aqua Kitty - Defender style shooter on Steam

[tikipod]

Hi, this is a cross post from the Development forum (I should have posted here really).

Our game is a Defender style shooter (cute-em-up?) we originally released on Vita then XBLIG, has finally been released on Steam last month.
It's made in the visual style of an Amiga or PC Engine era game, but drawn at 720p with some additive style effects you wouldn't see back then.
Audio is also a homage to that era, a with nods to Huelsbeck and Hubbard.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/263880/


Here is a quick summary of the game:

You play as a cat piloting a submarine, defending milk mining kittens deep under the sea.
The core game is like Defender but with quite a few changes and optional 2 player co-op.
Your core weapons are the basic gun and a turbo fire which recharges - the key to the game is managing your turbo fire.
Branching map progression allows some choice in the levels you play.
Depth based powerup system where the depth of the powerup dropping enemie determines what is dropped.

Also there is an additional `Arcade` mode, which plays like a mix of Defender and Gradius - where you need to collect Gems to upgrade you submarine, and these carry through to successive levels.

Also there is an infinite mode, where you just survive as long as possible and don't need to worry about saving miners.

If you want to learn more please check out the Steam page + reviews, or the game website:

http://tikipod.com/aquakitty/

things we could have done/do better:
It could ideally do with more bosses (we have only one end boss), but on balance thats more than Defender ever did
We did not make Arcade mode clear enough in the menus, so a few people seemed to miss it.
Currently we have no joypad remap capability (is in the works though).

[spadgy]

I've a night in on my own tonight, so I really will try this, after all that promising to you (I talk with tikipod on Twitter fairly regularly; top person!).

The visuals look great, and the word 'Amiga' has me keen.

[tikipod]

I've a night in on my own tonight, so I really will try this, after all that promising to you (I talk with tikipod on Twitter fairly regularly; top person!).

The visuals look great, and the word 'Amiga' has me keen.

Cool! Be sure to try out Arcade mode. Its quite different to Easy/Normal mode - but I think we stuffed up and didnt make that fact clear enough.

Easy/Normal mode let you play levels at a time, you upgrade your main (turbo fire) gun at the end of each area - but powerups are contained within each level. (this lets you dip in and out easily as well as retry for highscores)
With directional weapons found here (via a silver fish enemy), you can reset their timers by collecting other direction fire before they run out - a handy way to maximise their use.

Arcade mode is basically Gradius meets Defender with branching level choices. Upgrades continue onto successive levels, as do lives, and when you die you need to start from the beginning.

Oh and play with a 360 pad if you have one

[spadgy]

Oh and play with a 360 pad if you have one

Is the game arcade stick-friendly/suitable? That's always my preferred shmup controller!

[tikipod]

Oh and play with a 360 pad if you have one

Is the game arcade stick-friendly/suitable? That's always my preferred shmup controller!

Should work fine! Analogue stick control has a slight advantage over `dpad` control (allows for more subtle control).
We dont yet have a remap config, does the stick have xbox 360 buttons?
It's just that the menus are xbox based.

EDIT - checking the steam forums one person had an issue with a "Razer Atrox". Hopefully you won't have such an issue (it seems VERY rare).
But just in case - they needed to add a small command line fix which is explained in the manual and below:

To add a command line option you need to go to you library in steam.
Right click on Aqua Kitty from your game list.
Choose Properties.
Click on the button named `Set Launch Options`.
And in the new pop-up window you can input text.

then add this text:

-use_xna_pad

[spadgy]

I've got sticks coming out of my ears (including 360 ones) so I should be fine; but, of course, remapping options are always appreciated!

[Jeneki]

Greetings tikipod. The old Aqua Kitty topic is here if you want more impressions.

And yeah, my cat still goes bonkers when he hears this game.

[Pretas]

Cats shouldn't be mining milk. Most of them are lactose intolerant, and it damages their digestive systems. You should have done your research before making this such a central element of the game.

[tikipod]

Thanks for the link Jeneki - sorry to have upset your cat!

Pretas, indeed real cats should not be drinking milk, but we thought it an excuseable premise in the game due to:
1. you never actually get to see a cat drink milk ingame.
2. the miners are kittens, and it is suitable for kittens to drink cat milk (we never say the milk is cows)
3. the game is quite silly

[Pretas]

Whenever you say "milk," people assume cows. Would you make a game about dogs mining chocolate? I think this is only seen as acceptable because there is a long established cultural history of cats drinking cow milk and cream, due to them being readily available, and people not knowing any better since the harm isn't readily obvious.

[BulletMagnet]

For whatever it's worth I think it tends to vary by individual cat; my former feline used to occasionally get treated to bits of cheese and whipped cream and never had any problems. I've also heard of some dogs who have at least some degree of tolerance for chocolate, though I couldn't provide firsthand experience for that one.

Anyways, I don't think anyone's going to change their cat's diet due to having played this game.

[xfullmetal17]

Another one I see the giveaway for on Twitter and *just* miss it. Looks rather fun though, might pick it up and give it a spin.

[Oniros]

I won this! YAYAYAYAYAYAY

I will, give it a go over the weekend, I'm super busy this week.

[Oniros]

I tried this out today, definitely dug it, the visuals are awesome.

Does anyone know how the scoring works?

[tikipod]

I tried this out today, definitely dug it, the visuals are awesome.

Does anyone know how the scoring works?

I do

Robo Jellyfish score nothing.
Most enemies score 1.
Gold fish - Silver fish and the `Super` fish (large paleo and dodger) score higher.

Kill enemies to up your chain counter.
The chaining then affects (multiplies) the score of each kill.
Eg - get a chain of 20, a basic enemy kill is then worth 20.

ALSO to stop your chain dropping, having your bullets just hitting enemies (eg Jellyfish or tougher multihit enemies) will stabilise your chain temporarily.

So to maximise your score - you want to keep the chain as high as possible, and kill the higher scoring enemies when the score is as high as possible.

The only other thing to affect score is how many kittens are saved by level end (you get a bonus)

ALSO - if playing Normal/Easy mode, you can boost the direction fire pickups (dropped by silverfish) by picking up others before the timers expire - that way you can really stretch out their use.
In Arcade mode the game plays out quite differently, with a Gradius style shop system.

[Acid King]

This game looks adorable. I'll check it out.

Whenever you say "milk," people assume cows.

Even when it's in the context of sentient felines using advanced submersible and deep sea mining technology to mine it from the sea floor, you assume it's cow's milk? That's your thought process? Is that where it's traditionally harvested? Maybe it's just me but my first thought would be "How the fuck is a cat piloting a submarine?" Shit, if they're smart enough to build all that hardware they're probably smart enough to not mine a form of milk that's going to kill them.

[BulletMagnet]

If anyone's interested, Limited Run Games is doing a physical release of this later this month.

[sorhp]

Very cool, thank you!

[Tokyo-J]

This is out now on Switch.

[sorhp]

Excellent, thanks for letting us know

[Bastich]

Great game plays perfectly on NVidia/AMD however on some Intel GPUs (tablets / low spec) refuses to go full screen or if it does it loses sound if running via HDMI. This is as far as I know down to soddy Intel drivers as I have seen other games do the same