Beyond the Storm - A "spiritual sucessor" to Tyrian

[leo150250]

Current version: Closed-Beta 0.5.0.0
Steam page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1473760/
This is a WIP so I'll update these info as long as we continue development
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Official gameplay trailer: https://youtu.be/NxBZ5L4jvZU

Official site: beyondthestorm.leandrogabriel.net

Indie DB: https://www.indiedb.com/games/beyond-the-storm/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beyondTheStormShmup/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/storm_beyond
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/storm_beyond/

Beyond the Storm is a brazilian shmup made by LeandroGabriel.net team. It is inspired on the game Tyrian 2000, made by Epic Megagames, remastering a lot of resources from it, from gameplay to graphics and much more.

Features:

• An "open-galaxy", divided in sectors, wormholes, nebulas, asteroid fields, enemy fleets and full of planets and stations, each one with it's own playable sectors
• Original music, inspired on the iconic soundtrack from Alexander Brandon
• Original graphics based on the original Tyrian art made by Daniel Cook, a.k.a. Lost Garden
• Lots of ships, enemies and weapons
• A lot of content lore-based, with a full readable database inside for more info
• Customizable weaponry
• A re-imagined energy generation system, allowing customizable ship systems based on energy redirection
• Fully voiced lines (in EN and PT-BR)
• Starfield Jukebox, for listening the OST with awesome visuals!

Screenshots:
WIP: The Tyrian graphics in these are being used only as placeholders and they'll be replaced with original ones

More screenshots:

Spoiler

Music:
Original soundtrack that mixes synthesizers and orchestra instruments, freely inspired on Tyrian's OST made by Alexander Brandon

• Beyond the Storm - Title music: https://www.bandlab.com/leo150250/beyon ... 1ac5b31de6
• Return me to Yrillis: https://www.bandlab.com/leo150250/beyon ... 1ac5b31de6
• Beyond the Storm - The level: https://www.bandlab.com/leo150250/level ... 1ac5b31de6

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[leo150250]

As on the original Tyrian, here's a glimpse of the Jukebox in-game, using the "Title Music" from Beyond the Storm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vE1wExHT0BQ

[leo150250]

Hi, everyone! Just doing a "heartbeat" here! The game's development is still going! Here's a gameplay video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwsQ98YkG0I

Some Tyrian fans on the facebook's page of the project noted how much the game has the "Tyrian" feeling. One also commented that this is a real "unnofficial remake" of Tyrian! Also, I recently had a chat with Jason Emery and Daniel Cook, which game me tips about how I could continue developing this, and they were very interested in it too! Jason himself told that he knows how much "Tyrian" needs a remake nowadays so, he was very interested in my project!!!! And that gave me a HUGE boost on developing it! HOORAY!

Also, now the game is on Indie DB too! Be sure to watch it there, to get the latest updates: https://www.indiedb.com/games/beyond-the-storm/

In a couple months I want to publish a demo, while the full release is scheduled to April 2022, on Steam. I'm still doing the Steam page of it, just need to make a lot of the content before that happens! Who knew that game development could be this hard!?

[leo150250]

Hi again! Just a BIG update: NOW WE'RE ON STEAM!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1473 ... the_Storm/

Be sure to add Beyond the Storm to your wishlist so, when the demo is published you'll be notified!

(Also, I've corrected some images... Somehow, the images of my website aren't displayed here hahaha)

[Ark]

This looks intense.
I like the action going on. Some enemies are hard to see against the background.

[leo150250]

This looks intense.
I like the action going on. Some enemies are hard to see against the background.

I've noticed this, when remastering a few graphics, that the contrast of the enemies with the background makes some sprites a little confusing. The task to change this contrast is part of the current roadmap! Expect a major graphic update near launch, when I'll have already every single sprite done!

[leo150250]

Hi, everyone! I've made a small article telling a little backstory of the development of Beyond the Storm, explaining WHY I chose to do a love-letter to Tyrian!

You can read the article here:
Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app ... 7784216132
IndieDB: https://www.indiedb.com/games/beyond-th ... -of-tyrian

[leo150250]

Hey, everyone! Just doing a "little" update: Official Gameplay Trailer is out! https://youtu.be/NxBZ5L4jvZU

Also, we've reached BETA state! For those who got it to test on Steam, in the next days I'll update the game there. It will come with A LOT of more content! Stay tuned!

[Verticen]

Good job keeping up with development, looks like you're not too far out from launch. That's quite a feat. The trailer gives a good idea of what this game is really like. The game looks like it still needs some polish, but is close to a good complete package.

I most visual elements felt a bit small; like they should be a bit chunkier. It feels Like most game elements should be scaled up ~8-12% their current size. Hitboxes don't necessarily need to get larger, just visual weight/size. Fonts could be larger to be more readable too, though perhaps may want adjustable font size options.

Enemy bullets need be more visible. In their current state they are too hard to see for how fast they can move across the screen. If there's one major change you need to make before your Oct launch it's this. As they, like most elements, could be a bit bigger, but I think that the bullet's main problem is their color/value. From the trailer footage, I don't think there is enough contrast. Sometimes bullets look like they would go relatively dark red for awhile. Here's a small re-creation of the 'hourglass' bullets, visible in your trailer at 0:17:

When it is As a good rule of thumb, you want a bullet to have a dark value shape and bright value shape bold and visible at any given time. Something like this:

That should be a bit easier to see at any given time. Either this, or just cycle the colors faster than they currently do.

The other thing I'd suggest is to make your GUI less like tyrain's. Don't be afraid to have your game be it's own thing outside of 'Tyrian 2'.

Also if you keep the 'momentum' movement mechanic like tyrian had, you should add a way to turn it off, or consider removing it entirely. Tyrian's Ice-movement controls was what turned me off that game the most. That sort of movement controls on an arcade stick feels like garbage fyi.

Also, one trailer edit I'd suggest: (0:41)
"More than 50 boss encounters to deal with" ('deal with' makes the game sound like a chore)
→ "Over 50 Exciting Boss Encounters!" (I'd make text size a bit larger too, people may watch trailer on mobile)

Keep up the work, Good luck!

[leo150250]

I most visual elements felt a bit small; like they should be a bit chunkier. It feels Like most game elements should be scaled up ~8-12% their current size. Hitboxes don't necessarily need to get larger, just visual weight/size. Fonts could be larger to be more readable too, though perhaps may want adjustable font size options.

I've tried to do that in the beginning but everything got too much big. I wanted something that could show how "vast" the possibilities are in this game, and the screen is one of them!

Enemy bullets need be more visible. In their current state they are too hard to see for how fast they can move across the screen. If there's one major change you need to make before your Oct launch it's this. As they, like most elements, could be a bit bigger, but I think that the bullet's main problem is their color/value. From the trailer footage, I don't think there is enough contrast. Sometimes bullets look like they would go relatively dark red for awhile. Here's a small re-creation of the 'hourglass' bullets, visible in your trailer at 0:17:

When it is As a good rule of thumb, you want a bullet to have a dark value shape and bright value shape bold and visible at any given time. Something like this:

That should be a bit easier to see at any given time. Either this, or just cycle the colors faster than they currently do.

Nice recommendation! I'm gonna do a few tests. Thanks in advance!

The other thing I'd suggest is to make your GUI less like tyrain's. Don't be afraid to have your game be it's own thing outside of 'Tyrian 2'.

I don't know... The primmarly objective is to recall Tyrian on the very first moment looking at it so, I've tried to imitate a lot of aspects of Tyrian. The GUI of Tyrian is, in my opinion, what nowadays you can see and make your brain shout "It's from Tyrian!" so, I don't mind if everyone compares this to Tyrian: This was the primary objective since the beginning!

Also if you keep the 'momentum' movement mechanic like tyrian had, you should add a way to turn it off, or consider removing it entirely. Tyrian's Ice-movement controls was what turned me off that game the most. That sort of movement controls on an arcade stick feels like garbage fyi.

Yeah, I didn't like it too. I made a little research in the beginning to know what were the bad aspects of Tyrian, and the momentum was by far the most annoying cited so, I've scrapped it since the beginning. Beyond the Storm has no momentum at all (except when you get hit. The momentum is a punishment! MWAHAHAHA)

Also, one trailer edit I'd suggest: (0:41)
"More than 50 boss encounters to deal with" ('deal with' makes the game sound like a chore)
→ "Over 50 Exciting Boss Encounters!" (I'd make text size a bit larger too, people may watch trailer on mobile)

My english is not so good so, I still have one word or another a bit off. I'll take this in other promotions of the game. Thanks!

[Verticen]

Yeah, I didn't like it too. I made a little research in the beginning to know what were the bad aspects of Tyrian, and the momentum was by far the most annoying cited so, I've scrapped it since the beginning. Beyond the Storm has no momentum at all (except when you get hit. The momentum is a punishment! MWAHAHAHA)

Nice! Tyrian's slidy movement was my biggest gripe against it. Like you said though, sliding around or difficult controls when you get hit for punishment is A-okay so long as you get some I-frames too. I remember dying several times in Tyrian by getting knocked into things that knocked me into other things in chain; kind of frustrating without a bit of invulnerability

Curious about control though, Tyrian did have mouse movement, which for a casual shmup I like the option of. I'd recommend seeing if you can support this. I would cap the max movement speed though; not 1:1 mouse position.

[leo150250]

Curious about control though, Tyrian did have mouse movement, which for a casual shmup I like the option of. I'd recommend seeing if you can support this. I would cap the max movement speed though; not 1:1 mouse position.

You're right. Although I didn't implemented it, I have plans to do mouse movement. Since the ship speed is determined on how many energy cells are dedicated to it (when on keyboard or gamepad), I'm planning to do the speed cap based on how many energy cells are connected to the ship's movement.