Star Hunter DX from 1CC Games on Steam, Switch, PS4 and Xbox

[dan76]

Star Hunter DX is our new game and is out now on all platforms!
As some of you already know JDE and I have been working on this for a while as our follow up to Space Moth. This time its a hori, with 3 selectable characters, 3 difficulties and a Bullet Time scoring mechanic.

A Steam demo is available HERE

Some screens and a trailer: https://youtu.be/puWAZLNNv5U
Updated trailer: https://youtu.be/DTG46IFkHSI





Strictly Limited Games are doing a physical release, though they have pretty much sold out on all platforms.



Included with the SLG release is our new revamped version of Space Moth now titled Space Moth: Lunar Edition. More details to follow, but it will be getting its own release this autumn across all platforms. Sneak peak trailer here: https://youtu.be/yung0tJr2wY

There is also a DRM free physical edition of Star Hunter DX for PC from HUEY available HERE

As some of you took part in the Beta test last Summer we will be getting Steam keys to you in the next couple of days.

EDIT: Star Hunter DX has been updated to v2.00, with these changes:

- Error with end of stage bonus for astronauts fixed.
- Performance optimisation.
- A few graphic glitches ironed out.
- Optimisations from console builds applied to Steam version.
- Steam screenshots now save correctly.
- And most importantly... a new jellyfish sprite in Stage 3!

[ATTRACTS]

Loved Space Moth, really looking forward to this, congrats on the new release. Grabbing the physical!

[donluca]

Same here, I loved Space Moth as well! Looking forward this one.

[ATTRACTS]

As someone who thinks Espgaluda 2 is the best shmup ever made because I'm a huge sucker for canceling bullets into gold ingots/more points, this satisfies that itch very nicely. Balancing the grazing to build up bomb meter on top of canceling attacks into big chunky gold pieces is really nicely done. I also really love the late 70's Buck Rogers/Battlestar Galactica vibes, great use of color and the ship designs are sweet. Playing on the Switch, it's performing nicely, very little lag so big props for that! Each selectable ship feels unique (and fun!). My only real complaint about the game is I think more environmental/terrain hazards would have helped to keep things more engaging for players who are more old school/less bullet hell fans. It feels like head on enemy wave after wave after wave in this giant real estate with nothing outside of the scoring mechanic to engage a player. For me, as a scoring focused guy, I can eat it up but I'm not sure it will suit everyone. For what it does (the bullet time focus with some really killer bullet patterns), it does wonderfully, I also like the fact that the default difficulty is a pretty nice challenge. I feel like a lot of times, indie devs aren't sure where difficulty should lie so they make their shmups way too easy (Raging Blasters/Barrage Fantasia etc.), this isn't the case here. Also of note, you have lovely UI/menus, very nice scanline options, practice and challenge modes, re-mappable controls, a meter at the top of the screen to see when your next extend is coming! and some very slick nods to Gradius Lovely presentation. Feels like a complete package. Congrats on this new release.

also: it would be killer to see an online leaderboad (right now there is a local one) eventually. With the possibility for such huge scores, it would be great to see how others are doing numbers wise.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

I noticed that Starhunter DX appeared (finally) on the USA region Nintendo Switch eShop site at 6:00am PST this fine morning, 8-05-21, with a respectable (and easy on the wallet/purse as well) $14.99 usd price tag. It's a mere 141mb d/l indeed & is at v1.63 as of right now. Love the slick retro early 1980s Saturday morning sci-fi cartoon overall visual aesthetics/vibe presentation. SH-DX has the obligatory sliky-smooth 60fps arcade-spec framerate going on.

Will Starhunter DX get the eXA-Arcadia treatment as well?

And will Starhunter DX be Xbox Series X/S enhanced also?

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[banjoted]

I picked this up on Steam today. Only had chance for a quick go this morning but it seemed really promising.

[BulletMagnet]

Had a go at the Steam demo a little ways back and generally liked what I saw; any chance of an eventual DRM-free digital release, like Space Moth got back in the day?

[Astro City II]

Good luck with the release this month.

And thank you for supporting Xbox, We're under-served as a group of shmup fans.

[pwningnewbs]

Grabbed a copy hope to stream it some later this week. As far as the Xbox is concerned it's a PC with a walled garden that is middle manned to death, it's closer to a laptop than a console. I don't even consider it a platform anymore.

[BloodHawk]

Picked this up on Steam and am liking it so far. This could REALLY use online leaderboards though.

When it comes to brand new shmups, sharing the experience by learning and comparing scores with everyone else as you are getting better makes a huge difference. You could just screenshot the high score page and post it after a run (Edit: I just tried taking a screenshot through Steam by pressing F12 and for some reason it won't work in this game) or start a thread in the high score section of the forums here, but because that involves extra steps I don't think as many people will actively participate that way.

I ran into the same issue with Super XYX last year. I really enjoyed playing it but without on online leaderboard and only 1 or 2 others even posting anything at all on the community hub I lost interest quickly.

Small rant aside, you guys did an excellent job as this looks to be very well made.

[Astro City II]

Grabbed a copy hope to stream it some later this week. As far as the Xbox is concerned it's a PC with a walled garden that is middle manned to death, it's closer to a laptop than a console. I don't even consider it a platform anymore.

Well thank you for that incredible hot take Karen.

Let's file it for future reference...



Sorry OP!

[dan76]

Just to let you all know the Switch patch is out now. Make sure you download the update as performance is now much better, especially for the Bullet Hell difficulty. The title screen should read v1.66 FULL. Enjoy!

@ATTRACTS and BloodHawk - I agree online leaderboards would be great. We aren't ruling it out so we will see how it goes. I noticed Star Hunter is on RestartSyndrome.com so you can post some scores there, or I might start a high score thread here if there's enough interest.

@PC Engine Fan XI - We would love to see it on an arcade platform. It's been designed as an arcade game so that only seems right. We've got some cool ideas for an arcade exclusive... As for the Xbox X/S it will run but it won't be enhanced.

@BulletMagnet - For a DRM free version there is the HUEY USB cassette edition. It might go up on GOG at some point, no plans right now though.

[ATTRACTS]

Just to let you all know the Switch patch is out now. Make sure you download the update as performance is now much better, especially for the Bullet Hell difficulty. The title screen should read v1.66 FULL. Enjoy!

@ATTRACTS and BloodHawk - I agree online leaderboards would be great. We aren't ruling it out so we will see how it goes. I noticed Star Hunter is on RestartSyndrome.com so you can post some scores there, or I might start a high score thread here if there's enough interest.

@PC Engine Fan XI - We would love to see it on an arcade platform. It's been designed as an arcade game so that only seems right. We've got some cool ideas for an arcade exclusive... As for the Xbox X/S it will run but it won't be enhanced.

@BulletMagnet - For a DRM free version there is the HUEY USB cassette edition. It might go up on GOG at some point, no plans right now though.

Man, I played this for 3 hours last night after work and then immediately demanded my buddies on Insta try it as well. Seriously, nice job on this game. There are so many little touches that could only have come from shmup players who understand the tiny quality of life things that really make things enjoyable. I LOVE that meter at the top of the screen that tracks how close you are to a 1UP, I love all the little sound cues for bomb restocks and the differences in audio that the various sized gold medals make. The circular clock that ticks down when you are in bullet time around your ship...I know it's been done before but it's just really cool to see everything has been thought about with the player in mind. I supported the physical copy and double dipped on the digital and I have zero regrets. Truly excellent little game.

Also: just played a few credits with the new patch, nicely done. I thought it was pretty smooth before but I can feel a noticeable difference on some of the more congested parts.

[Darkseed_5150]

Just got it on Switch. It's a 60 fps game in handheld mode. Might be some dips I haven't yet encountered, but at this point it won't matter. Great showing. Loving it.

[Redfox]

I got it. Tons of fun, feels like a nice challenge! I love the soundtrack! Very Kool

So I gotta ask now, hehe when is Space Moth hitting Switch?????

[Yoshinoya]

Bought it yesterday, been playing it on the Switch, having great fun with it!
Nice addictive loop (*＾▽＾)／

(just wished there was a sensitivity option on the input/controls - as the on the go sometimes its a little difficult to put steer the right amount- but thats on the hardware)

[MX7]

Grabbed this for Switch. Only played it in handheld so far but it runs brilliantly, even when the screen is completely clogged up with pink and yellow. The bullet cancelling and grazing for bombs feels intuitive and ridiculously satisfying. Space Moth was great but in terms of mechanics and scoring this feels like a big leap forward!

[banjoted]

Excellent news about potential online leaderboards. I'm really enjoying the game - very solid, awesome mechanics.

[Blinge]

[ATTRACTS]

I have this game pumping through some hefty speakers when I play and there are times when the music and visuals really reach a very zen state. The part in the Aquatic Base level when you move through the jellyfish into the submarines and then the dense, almost hypnotic minefield section…the way the music changes during that transition is fuckin brilliant. Great stuff.

[dan76]

Because of a ratings mix up Star Hunter has been taken down from the Switch EU shop. It should hopefully be back up by the weekend. Nightmare.
Good to see people enjoying the game. I've been testing the PS4 build for the last few days. Anyone having fun with that Jellyfish challenge?

[Blinge]

I've made a quicklook/ showcase vid

https://youtu.be/cLvz88B3wdc

[dan76]

I've made a quicklook/ showcase vid

https://youtu.be/cLvz88B3wdc

Nice. I think we need you on the next one for sound fx. Edgar on Bullet Hell difficulty next please.

[GFoyle]

The Switch version still has some performance issues. When I get to stage 3, there is clearly additional slowdown (not sure how much of that is intentional) quite right from the beginning and what is weird, is that it feels like it doesn't really go away completely after that, and even weirder, after my game is over and I start the game, the slowdown is then from the very beginning. If I close the game completely and restart it, the problem goes away. Feels like it doesn't properly release some resources or something.

I do like the game a lot though, just hoping this get's fixed.

ps. I played on the lowest difficulty setting

[dan76]

The Switch version still has some performance issues. When I get to stage 3, there is clearly additional slowdown (not sure how much of that is intentional) quite right from the beginning and what is weird, is that it feels like it doesn't really go away completely after that, and even weirder, after my game is over and I start the game, the slowdown is then from the very beginning. If I close the game completely and restart it, the problem goes away. Feels like it doesn't properly release some resources or something.

I do like the game a lot though, just hoping this get's fixed.

ps. I played on the lowest difficulty setting

Have you updated to the latest version? The title screen should say v1.66 FULL. Shouldn't be any additional slowdown there.

[GFoyle]

The Switch version still has some performance issues. When I get to stage 3, there is clearly additional slowdown (not sure how much of that is intentional) quite right from the beginning and what is weird, is that it feels like it doesn't really go away completely after that, and even weirder, after my game is over and I start the game, the slowdown is then from the very beginning. If I close the game completely and restart it, the problem goes away. Feels like it doesn't properly release some resources or something.

I do like the game a lot though, just hoping this get's fixed.

ps. I played on the lowest difficulty setting

Have you updated to the latest version? The title screen should say v1.66 FULL. Shouldn't be any additional slowdown there.

Yeah, I have the latest version 1.66 FULL. Just tried it again and same, but this time it didn't happen on first run (or even second), but after awhile it started again, occasional stuttering/slowdown, and like before, after it started, it also affects new runs from stage 1 onwards too. Reminds me of something like memory leak / garbage collecting not working correctly, resources not get released etc.

ps. I'm using scanline filter and I'm also restarting runs occasionally after smaller mistakes as I'm trying to learn scoring better (if that info helps to replicate the problem)

[Blinge]

This morning I practiced Stage 5 some.. and ended up getting the normal clear with Luna

Then had a throwaway stream in the afternoon..
First time I've really tried Edgar

Cleared Normal with him too!

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1122068966

8:32 run starts

[dan76]

This morning I practiced Stage 5 some.. and ended up getting the normal clear with Luna

Then had a throwaway stream in the afternoon..
First time I've really tried Edgar

Cleared Normal with him too!

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1122068966

8:32 run starts

What happened at the end of stage 4!?! Still, you got the clear. That's the thing with score based extends, you can still pull the run back.

[Blinge]

Haha complete meltdown / choke apparently..

Yeah good shout on the score based extends! I always preferred that in shmoops

[CRP]

Because of a ratings mix up Star Hunter has been taken down from the Switch EU shop.

Is it back up again ?