Steel Empire on Steam Greenlight

[quarxpl]

Hi there!

Steel Empire is now on Steam Greenlight http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/f ... =774260172.

The game is developed by Japanese Mebius, who also created the 3DS port.

Full disclosure: I work for the publisher of this game. It's pretty damn good (I had opportunity to play the alpha version), so if you want to see it on PC, please help out.

[MaXXX]

Looks fun, I've upvoted it

[Necronom]

Unexpected candidate for a steam port...looks nice though.
I quite liked the 3DS port! Will the steam version come with anything that wasn't in the 3DS port? Arrange mode? New ship?

[quarxpl]

It'll come with some Steam goodies (Leaderboards, Achievements, Trading Cards).

The developers of this game (and they are the same guys who made the 3DS port) want to stay close to the original game. They don't port the game pixel-by-pixel but they want to have the same "feel".

Anyway, if you have any suggestions, I can pass them through to the Japanese developers. If they don't use them in the original release, maybe they will be added in an update (I work for their publisher, but they have a lot of freedom - it is their project after all).

The key thing is, I think Steam community is a bit wary of Schmups, so I believe we will need your help to get approved. We actually have a direct contact to Valve, but they still wanted the game to go through Greenlight. I think it is because the genre has started to be overrepresented (correct me if I'm wrong .

[Kaiser]

I don't know, shmups get less flak than VNs or boob-filled anime games, the only thing I would suggest is to offer the option of being able to listen to the original soundtrack because from what I've seen, the 3DS's soundtrack is awful.

[quarxpl]

Oh, and one more thing. The price will be waaay lower than on 3DS. The reason it was so high in the eShop is there was a long chain of companies involved and strong pressure from some of them to establish a high price point. The whole chain is now way shorter and the price will be very reasonable.

[quarxpl]

I don't know, shmups get less flak than VNs or boob-filled anime games, the only thing I would suggest is to offer the option of being able to listen to the original soundtrack because from what I've seen, the 3DS's soundtrack is awful.

I will take a look at this. I think they might have adjusted it to Nintendo 3DS and maybe it went awry (some platform limitations maybe?).

This is off-topic but is there any Japanese shmup game you would like to see released (and maybe revamped) on Steam? Our company has a Japanese office and we can directly approach devs.

[Mortificator]

Hmmm... the 360 revamp of Radiant Silvergun, perhaps? Treasure's other vert, Ikaruga, has a positive reception on Steam. Or maybe Under Defeat HD; it had some issues compared to the original version that a PC port could clear up.

[Oniros]

I literally played the 3DS version once lol. Well, always happy to see more shmups come to Steam.

[AxelMill]

I second Radiant Silvergun and also suggest Border Down.

Ugh, doesn't let me upvote on my phone, though it worked every other time. Will do it later.

Oh, and damn that's a nice artwork.

[Observer]

Well, if you are looking into 3DS stuff maybe Liberation Maiden and Kokuga could be ported? Or Nano Assault Neo?

Ditto about Radiant Silvergun. Surprised Treasure hasn't already ported it yet but that may be because of Microsoft.

Agreed on having the original Genesis music available since I bet it'll be a nice addition.

G.Rev has already ported Strania but we hadn't heard more news from them since. I hope they are working on their back catalogue though...

[Gespenst]

G.Rev has already ported Strania but we hadn't heard more news from them since. I hope they are working on their back catalogue though...

Isn't G.Rev currently doing DBCS' Cave & Raizing DLCs?

[Oniros]

Considering that both Treasure and G. Rev dipped their toes on Steam and didn't feel like putting more games like Radiant Silvergun or Under Defeat, I see very little chance of them bringing more stuff to PC.

This is off-topic but is there any Japanese shmup game you would like to see released (and maybe revamped) on Steam? Our company has a Japanese office and we can directly approach devs.

A game that I would like to see on PC and definitely improved (since the X360 port was so abysmal) is actually be Sakura Flamingo Archives by Klon. It's a 2014 collection of all of the late MileStone shmups. While not great, they were pretty charming.

It it proves complicated to port 5 games at once. Perhaps Radirgy Noa Massive would be a better candidate? For years it was rumored that a Windows port had actually been created but I never saw confirmation of that: http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=41881

[Mortificator]

Considering that both Treasure and G. Rev dipped their toes on Steam and didn't feel like putting more games like Radiant Silvergun or Under Defeat, I see very little chance of them bringing more stuff to PC.

We could probably shoot down any suggestion over speculative reasons. Maybe Klon doesn't have the interest or ability to release games on Steam, considering they never have. Rather than second-guessing, we might as well put idea out there, and Teyon will float or pitch what they want to.

[theclaw]

Considering that both Treasure and G. Rev dipped their toes on Steam and didn't feel like putting more games like Radiant Silvergun or Under Defeat, I see very little chance of them bringing more stuff to PC.

This is off-topic but is there any Japanese shmup game you would like to see released (and maybe revamped) on Steam? Our company has a Japanese office and we can directly approach devs.

A game that I would like to see on PC and definitely improved (since the X360 port was so abysmal) is actually be Sakura Flamingo Archives by Klon. It's a 2014 collection of all of the late MileStone shmups. While not great, they were pretty charming.

It it proves complicated to port 5 games at once. Perhaps Radirgy Noa Massive would be a better candidate? For years it was rumored that a Windows port had actually been created but I never saw confirmation of that: http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=41881

Very strange. No pictures of the disc or gameplay, nor a sign pirates have leaked it.

This is some kind of advertisement page/flyer.
http://blog02.mi-ka-do.net/?eid=1033815

And here's system requirements.
http://ebten.jp/p/4560193520267/

[FunktionJCB]

This is off-topic but is there any Japanese shmup game you would like to see released (and maybe revamped) on Steam? Our company has a Japanese office and we can directly approach devs.

I’m glad you’re asking.

First of all, I would personally prefer releases close to the original, not “revamped”.

There’s not many shmups I can think of that you can realistically bring to Steam. Degica has been great bringing many titles to Steam, so a number of publishers and developers are already covered by them.
Maybe Bullet Soul -Infinite Burst-, which was recently re-released for the Xbox360. It would be nice to have it on PC. And Raiden V as well, which is currently an Xbox One exclusive.

So I’ll go fully for the unrealistic route, and suggest a few “dream” releases:
-the 8ing catalog of shmups
-older Taito shmups (the Darius series, the Ray series, Metal Black, …)
-the Irem catalog of shmups (R-Type series, Air Duel, Armored Police Unit Gallop, Kaitei Daisensou (aka In The Hunt), and while not shmups, the side-scrolling action shooting games from the GunForce series)
-PC ports of the Hamster Corporation Arcade Archives (which includes numerous genres, not only shmups)

Speaking of arcade re-releases, outside of the shmup genre, I’m a big fan of “old school” beat 'em ups, a genre that is sadly very underrepresented on Steam. If you could re-release any older arcade titles in the genre, it would be awesome.

Since it’s not likely you can license titles from companies such as Capcom, Konami, or SEGA, I have a few random suggestions for titles in the genre from other companies:
-Night Slashers (Data East)
-Shadow Force (Technōs)
-The Combatribes (Technōs)
-Undercover Cops (Irem)
-64th Street: A Detective Story (Jaleco)
-Rushing Beat series (Jaleco)
-Denjin Makai series(Banpresto)
-Gaia Crusaders (Noise Factory)
-Knuckle Bash (Toaplan)
-Demolish Fist (Sammy)
-Knights of Valour series (International Games System)
-Oriental Legend series (International Games System)

[quarxpl]

Thank you for all the tips, that's really awesome feedback.

We will research these games further.

Since you all love this genre, can you suggest a fair pricing point for good PC shmups? Would you like to see these games on PS4 as well? And would you like to see these games boxed or you prefer digital-only releases?

Finally, what are your thoughts on Kickstarter?

[FunktionJCB]

Thank you for all the tips, that's really awesome feedback.

We will research these games further.

Since you all love this genre, can you suggest a fair pricing point for good PC shmups? Would you like to see these games on PS4 as well? And would you like to see these games boxed or you prefer digital-only releases?

Finally, what are your thoughts on Kickstarter?

-In terms of pricing, it depends on the content; I would say $14.99/14.99€ is a perfect price for an impulse purchase, $19.99/19.99€ to $24.99/24.99€ is a fair price for a release that includes a decent amount of modes and content, but I have no problem dropping more than that for a good release (Dariusburst: Chronicle Saviours costs 45,99€ on Steam, and I had no regrets nor hesitations buying the game, and all its DLCs on day one).

-At the moment, I'm a PC gamer only, so I have no desire to pick up any of these titles on PS4; one thing I will say: consoles frequently have re-releases of older titles (like the PS4 has), that never make it to PC; I think its tougher to stand out on the PS4, when various other genre efforts are easily available, than it is on the PC, but again, that's my biased opinion

-I have no problem with physical releases (and I'm sure many people would prefer to have a physical edition over a digital release), but I'm perfectly happy with digital releases, it saves me physical space;

-as for Kickstarter, while I had negative experiences in the past on some crowdfunding campaigns, if a crowdfunding campaign is what it takes to materialize a cool release for a title I want, I will gladly chip in, especially if the prices are reasonable.

[TransatlanticFoe]

DRM free release please.

I have this on MD and it's nice albeit a bit sedate with the generous health system. I honestly don't care about a remaster enough to buy on Steam but if it gets a DRM free release I'll back it.

[The Coop]

This is off-topic but is there any Japanese shmup game you would like to see released (and maybe revamped) on Steam? Our company has a Japanese office and we can directly approach devs.

Thunder Force IV
Gley Lancer
R-Type Dimensions
Radiant Silvergun
Thunder Force III
Gradius Rebirth
Undeadline
The older arcade releases of Darius (1, 2, Gaiden and "G")
Under Defeat (HD or otherwise)
Raiden V

[Magma Dragoon]

This is off-topic but is there any Japanese shmup game you would like to see released (and maybe revamped) on Steam? Our company has a Japanese office and we can directly approach devs.

* Raiden V
* Gradius V
* R-Type Final
* All Shikigami no Shiro titles
* Neo-Geo Heroes
* Caladrius
* 1942: Joint Strike
* Under Defeat

DRM free release please.

THIS. If you can get this an any possible future release on GOG I'd definitely buy them.

[Necronom]

The developers of this game (and they are the same guys who made the 3DS port) want to stay close to the original game. They don't port the game pixel-by-pixel but they want to have the same "feel".

If I remember correctly the levels are quite long. Playing it on the 3DS I always wished for some sort of streamlined boss rush mode that could be played in short rounds...just an idea.

Considering your question about other potential candidates for a Steam release. A PC port of the stellar 360 version of Radiant Silvergun would probably sell quite well. G.rev's back catalogue would also be welcome:
Border Down
Under Defeat
...and how about a spiced up version of Kokuga with online multiplayer, would love to play that!

Anyways, good luck with Steel Empire and keep us updated if possible

[gameoverDude]

I voted SE up on Greenlight. I'm in when this shows up in the Steam store.
Border Down would be another fine pick. I'd take it even as a straight Dreamcast port, with options for enhanced rendering and display resolution options. Rendering at 5K and downsampling to 2560 x 1440 would be nice. Since it's a 4:3 game, the vertical areas on the left/right of the screen could be wallpapered. Online leaderboards for 1-credit runs would be appreciated but not necessary.

[The Coop]

Gave this an up vote. Hope it gets greenlit.

[quarxpl]

I have noticed quite a lot of votes from this forum, thank you! FYI we are already at 66% (edit: somehow it is 78% now) to top 100 within just a few days, based on some Internet research nowadays it is likely we will be greenlit at about 80% (if not, I will directly ask Valve about it).

Continuing the round of questions for the genre fans - how do you usually buy shmups? Is it indeed Steam, or other stores as well? Which one is preferred by you?

[clippa]

I prefer steam.
Looking forward to this!

[Necronom]

Continuing the round of questions for the genre fans - how do you usually buy shmups? Is it indeed Steam, or other stores as well? Which one is preferred by you?

1. Steam
2. PSN Store
3. Nintendo eshop

[Kollision]

This is off-topic but is there any Japanese shmup game you would like to see released (and maybe revamped) on Steam? Our company has a Japanese office and we can directly approach devs.

Burning Force (I dream of a proper console port for this one)
Phelios
Dangerous Seed
R-Type Leo

[Oniros]

Continuing the round of questions for the genre fans - how do you usually buy shmups? Is it indeed Steam, or other stores as well? Which one is preferred by you?

I prefer Steam, but Steam supports DRM-free games. So if possible please make the game so. Good stores where to sell your games are GreenManGaming, GOG.com, and itch.io.

[FunktionJCB]

Continuing the round of questions for the genre fans - how do you usually buy shmups? Is it indeed Steam, or other stores as well? Which one is preferred by you?

Most of my releases are from Steam. The rest are mostly bought from the Humble store.

On a side note, don't even bother with GOG, because apparently, they don't think the shmup genre is worthy of their store, and constantly deny release to genre titles. Publishers like Degica attempted to bring their titles to the store, and have been constantly denied.