shmups.system11.org

Updated thread title, shift in direction for game.

So...is this going to be any different or similar than the XBLIG release?

Long time no see. Is this a sequel to the original from years ago?

Very much so - brand new game.

For starters, it's 3D and the game alternates between vertical and horizontal play - hence the title Dimensions. Unfortunately Chronoblast:Salamander Edition didn't have quite the same ring to it.

We have a pretty dynamic camera system which allows us to go full Eschatos if we want - but we're using it tastefully.

The game is NOT 3:4 - it's 2019 and one of the target platforms is Nintendo Switch. It's 4:3 gameplay space, with scrolling and side borders for pilot/powerup/score information.


Sort of! The original XBLIG release was a $1 release that was really me just going through the motions of properly releasing a solo title, complying with console guidelines and so on that I normally wouldn't have had to deal with. Now I'm older, wiser and have a lot more skill, so I can make a much better and unique game. That's what I hope this is.

I see! However, I'm not sure if I said this before in the forum here, or otherwise someone else did, but I wonder, has SkyRavens been shelved? It was supposed to come out on XBLIG but never did. I wonder if anything leftover of that title exists in some form? This has been bugging me since after the XBLIG was discontinued.

It's not been shelved. Thanks for your PM btw, I guess I should give people a bit of an update here.

So, after Chronoblast - I went in to full time work for a company where I worked on a big title and an unreleased title for about 5 years. I, along with a few others, were let go and replaced with juniors who are cheaper. During this time there was an intention to do Chronoburst and Skyravens but those fell between the cracks because I simply had to focus on putting the day job first. Since then, XBLIG closed and that became a dead end - so production halted on things. None of these projects are dead, they will be completed and we have plans to do so.

I've spent the last 3 years or so equipping and training Kitz and he's gone from creating tiny not-so-good sprites to being able to get his head around 3D modelling. So we're at a point now where the two of us can actually start pumping things out. It's just taken us a while to get there. Sometimes you just need someone on the same wavelength and it's always been a bit of a toss up. Finding someone who is a good artist doesn't mean they're going to understand the arcade nature of games and why its important to make bosses modular so parts can be blown off etc. Finding someone who understands the genre you're working on might mean they need a bit of practice on the art front.

So, things got set back quite a bit. Like, a BIG bit. But I'm still planning to release the games.

The other caveat is that officially - as a company - norty games is renaming to "Team Norty" for silly reasons.

I see, so some things just kinda...happened. But at least you're still around, and good thing its still in the works if it comes to chance. But yes, I'll be looking forward to your future titles as well, such as this very topic of a game, looks to be good in pre-production at the moment.

Update time.

Been working away with Kitz for a few weeks now - we still have all our 3D models (some are used in game) but we're using an entirely orthographic camera that flattens things out. Not too dissimilar from Aka To Blue, except the only instance of 3D models in the game are for our pickup tokens that would have to many frames of animation for us to worry about. Later, they will probably be pixelled over too. Maybe. They look okay right now.

So, we're shelving "dimensions" and pushing that back until after this release, following on with a direct sequel to Chronoblast that means bullets, explosions, more bullets and more of a Cave inspired game.








So there you have it.

Also: Switch release unconfirmed, focussing on getting the game done for PC now - although I do have it running on the switch there's some optimization and jiggery pokery required so, that's not a priority right now compared to making the actual game.

I was only thinking the other day about this follow up game. Good to see it's back in development. +1 for a switch version after pc one!

I do have a switch devkit, although I make no promises about release timeframe! Optimization and debugging is tricky on the EDEV since it doesn't offer the same debug functionality as the full fat kit (which I'll get later).

I am also talking to ID@xbox for an xbone devkit

Absolutely no word on Sony though, that's a long ass process involving static IP's, VPN's and stuff.

tl;dr - buy the pc version so i can get devkits!

I'm just gonna come out and say it, those bullets look unnervingly like dildos.

Any chance of a pc port of the first game, or would you rather leave that in the past and move forward? This looks great, can't wait!

One day I will tell the story of Gus and the first game.

<3 Gus.

And yeah at this point I want to leave it in the past. It's had its day. I no longer have the original codebase for the Chronoblast version that was released on 360 - only versions that are modified and tweaked making it a very different game. It also taught me a lesson in promising patches >.<

But I was younger and more foolish.

One concern with announcing it as a sequel will be the questions about access to the first game. Instead of appending the number 2 to it you could retitle it something similar to make it clear it's a follow-up game, but it's the start of its own true series in terms of representing how far you've progressed as a game dev.

Chronoblaster or something like that.

You might be right about that Roo, it does have the subtitle "Maximum Force" so maybe we'll just go with that and ditch the number

Maybe at some point you could put those up somewhere? As an "extra" on chronoblast 2, perhaps? I remember the Batrider inspired team system. The rest of the madness is just a hazy memory.

All stuff that I intend to bring back at some point, its quite easy. I've been reworking the base stuff/gameplay in Unity since all the old code was XNA and not really usable anymore.

Very close to a demo build for our testers soon, so things are looking good

The game look fantastic.
You say some model are 3D, but in the captures all look like pixel art. How you make it? some shader/filter?