ZeroRanger (formerly FINALBOSS) - New DEMO out now!

[BPzeBanshee]

Ditto. I'm loving the title.

If you guys need a hand with TATE get in touch with me. I've "shoehorned" it into quite a few GM games and I'm sure Final Boss should be able to support it. Handy for devices where forcing Windows itself to rotate causes issues, or where it can't rotate at all.

[tiaoferreira]

Please, what is the newest version for download?

[BPzeBanshee]

Pretty sure it's one listed in the first post, mate.

[Ebbo]

Third demo is finally out. That means the third stage is complete and we've added some exta touches to other stages as well.

There are still some things we're going to patch out relatively soon. I guess we're simply too eager releasing this version after such a long break...
So have at you!

FINAL BOSS - Eve of Destruction


DOWNLOAD LINK:
http://www.mediafire.com/download/flyqz ... 032014.rar
TRAILER:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYl74LiIvRY

Please don't place the new executable in the same folder as the old version's save files.

Any kind of feedback is welcome as always. Enjoy!

[mice]

Yay! You just saved my Sunday!
Brilliant work all around!

[Dave_K.]

Lock on lasers and mecha attacks! Great update guys!

Just can't say enough good things about this game, so many detailed animations, FM soundtrack, classic look and feel.

My only suggestion would be to add a screen rotate feature so I can play this in a cab proper.

[Zaarock]

Amazing work guys. The third stage is great and I really like how the second loop works. Liking the crazy amount of references to shmups as well heh. I've only stage selected through all stages but definitely going to try and clear the demo properly

I have just one technical issue, this is on Windows 8 with a core i7 and Nvidia GT750M: The game freezes for a few seconds sometimes, mostly when a lot of things explode at once. Seemingly no glitches when it resumes though.

The Player 2 charge bomb seems a bit too powerful to me. I really like how it works but since it's so powerful and destroys bullets it makes the 4th weapon feel sort of pointless for most encounters (especially the stage 3 boss).

[n0rtygames]

My only suggestion would be to add a screen rotate feature so I can play this in a cab proper.

^^^^^

People will really love you for this

[ptoing]

Really nice game. I love how many cool setpieces it has, especially stuff like the snake in Stage 3. Keep up the good work

[Ebbo]

I'm glad to hear you've enjoyed it!

The Player 2 charge bomb seems a bit too powerful to me. I really like how it works but since it's so powerful and destroys bullets it makes the 4th weapon feel sort of pointless for most encounters (especially the stage 3 boss).

Some of our testers did prefer charge weapons over the lock-on variants. I can certainly see why, since both charge weapons are more oriented towards survival. But I wouldn't write off lock-on weapons just yet either, since they are more versatile when scoring comes to play especially during 2nd loop. They just require some extra practice. Or maybe that's just me I do believe each weapon has its place in a way or another that may not be instantly obvious for beginners.

Nevertheless, we're still tweaking the weapon balance constantly so keep us updated on what you think about different weapon combos.

[ZarroTsu]

I'm finding the Player 2's version of charge shot to be way, way too powerful. Every single boss in loop2 goes down FAST when using it (Except Pandemonion, but for obvious reasons).

Heck, Grapefruit can't even stand a chance unless he decides to ram the bottom of the screen for some laser fireworks. Since he and his source of fire are so condensed, the 'bomb' absorbs everything he tries to throw at me, while also knocking off half the health bar.

Some solutions I can think of:

1) When it detonates over the player, have it last only a few moments instead of the entire length of the blast.

2) When the player is rendered unable to use it after it having detonated over them, maybe double or triple the time in which you can't use it again?

3) Maybe the blast fades faster the more damage it deals to enemies, and/or the more bullets it absorbs.


I don't have as much of a problem with P1's shot, since it quickly leaves the screen and it's difficult to absorb enemy shots consistently from in front of your ship alone.

EDIT: I may have spoken too soon on the homing shots. P1's is rather versatile with how the enemies themselves are laid out, and it seems a bit more powerful. Still feels like you have to put yourself in a lot of danger for the reward, though.

[miggles]

I have a major complaint with the controls for activating ranger mode: they don't work. They simply don't. I press Z+X+C all at once, but it just won't let me change. It will register 2/3 of the keys, but on the control indicator at the bottom, one of them is always unpressed, and it's never the same one.
I can only activate ranger mode by mindlessly - literally - bashing on my keyboard and praying. I've gotten it to randomly activate sometimes by doing that, but there is absolutely no reliable way for me to activate ranger mode otherwise, and it really ruins the experience for me. I managed to damage my desk's keyboard tray because of how I had to mash on the keyboard for it to work. (Of course it really isn't your fault because to be fair I was being rather violent; I was frustrated.)
Please fix this - either figure out why this happens, or bind the ranger mode activator to another button altogether, or both. Both would be the best option, IMO.

[eebrozgi]

Sad to hear that, miggles. I will add the bind-all-key to the upcoming patch and maybe an option to let it activate by pressing only two buttons.
In the meantime, you could try mapping some of the buttons into Ctrl or Shift, they might handle the simultaneous presses better. One other way around it would be pressing each fire button individually in a very fast succession, kind of like "rolling" your fingers.
As for figuring out why this happens, I would blame your keyboard, but that hardly sounds normal on a keyboard that lies individually on a keyboard tray and not as a part of a laptop. We'll see.

Thanks for the feedback, you all!

[trap15]

Most modern keyboards are shit in that regard. Very few like moe than 2 'normal' keys at a time.

[miggles]

Sad to hear that, miggles. I will add the bind-all-key to the upcoming patch and maybe an option to let it activate by pressing only two buttons.
In the meantime, you could try mapping some of the buttons into Ctrl or Shift, they might handle the simultaneous presses better. One other way around it would be pressing each fire button individually in a very fast succession, kind of like "rolling" your fingers.
As for figuring out why this happens, I would blame your keyboard, but that hardly sounds normal on a keyboard that lies individually on a keyboard tray and not as a part of a laptop. We'll see.

Thanks for the feedback, you all!

I use a Razer BlackWidow, so I don't know why it wouldn't work, as I thought those were pretty high quality keyboards.
Thanks for the response!

[BPzeBanshee]

Razer and Logitech aren't as great as they make themselves out to be. For all their hype on being gaming keyboards I've seen a lot of them fail to do basic Arrow Up + Arrow Right + Z (optionally + SHIFT/X/whatever), which if they were really serious about the keyboards being anti-ghosting would not occur.

I fail to see why such a keyboard costs $200 when my Microsoft Wired 600 keyboard costs $20 and does a better job - so much better in fact that after my iMac's keyboard and mouse went kaput YET AGAIN within a 6-month period I got fed up and bought a Microsoft Wired 600 combo which ironically has perfect compatibility and is more durable.

[miggles]

I guess it's paying for the brand and the ~cool aesthetic~ of the product.
My keyboard and mouse, which are both Razer, were both gifts, and they're pretty alright regardless.

[mastermx]

I just downloaded the demo for this game today. Awesome game guys. I can see so many influences in this project and I love it. This is perhaps the most retro shmup i've played in a while.

[goober]

Hi I like the music a lot and the game is kind of fun too

[Ebbo]

FINAL BOSS - Scoring Basics

More gameplay footage, this time giving some insight on the basics of the scoring system. Also shows off a small graphical enhancement

[Ebbo]

FINAL BOSS - Weapons 101

[laxa88]

I just saw the videos and I am stunned at the quality of the game! It looks so much like a complete game already -- I can't believe it's not out there. Looking at the timeline of your game development beginning from 2009... It's almost 5 years! The art, the feel of the game, the weapons, the gameplay -- they're all totally amazing. If you're ever putting this out on sale, consider me sold.

[Loris Biaggi]

Looks really good!

[Cagar]

Holy ****ing shit.
This is the coolest shmup that I've ever played.

[buko-studios]

Loved every second! Will be heading back in for more!
Thanks guys great job, incredible use of the palette and plays so well!

We are featuring it on our Shmuproom group.

Very interested to see what you have planned next.

[Ebbo]

FINAL BOSS - Zero Ranger

[nasty_wolverine]

FINAL BOSS - Zero Ranger

WORDS
Too inefficient to explain how awesome this looks....

[S20-TBL]

FINAL BOSS - Zero Ranger

The only way to play Type D is to believe in the you that believes in yourself.

[guigui]

This game is amazing, congrats.
I play it via Wine on Linux and encounter two problems :
- no sound
- flickering background when I switch to fullscreen, not stretched.

Any idea how to solve this ?

[eebrozgi]

Thank you!

Problems regarding emulating with Wine are beyond my understanding, since I haven't even tried it. Maybe someone of the forum's Game Maker gurus have answers to this?
I only have a wild guess answer for the flickering: try turning off the BG dimming option from the visual settings. It just draws a transparent rectangle over the background, though I have no idea if that's actually the source of the flickering, so do prepare for disappointment.