A City Sleeps (Harmonix / Steam PC)

[genjuro]

New Harmonix game announced at PAX ... looks kinda shmuppy. I guess Steam-only for now?




Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MY9dCRDUUVA

IGN article:
http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/08/28/ ... metry-wars

[CloudyMusic]

Not sure what kind of game this is really going to end up being, but it's nice to see the genre getting some attention from American developers, at least.

Currently known mechanics:

• Moving close to enemies will automatically activate a melee attack, which charges your special meter. This meter can be spent on bomb-like special attacks.
• Three "spirits" are available: one gives health, one shoots bullets, and one creates a damaging energy tether between itself and the player.
• Spirits can only be deployed at specific "nodes" in each level, and only one spirit can be deployed at any given node. You can choose which spirit to deploy at each node, and they can be swapped around if you change your mind.
• Enemy spawns and bullet patterns will be matched to the soundtrack

Steam store page

[BIL]

The player/enemy proportions and melee remind me of Cloudphobia at a glance (the ruined red city backdrop helps too).

[genjuro]

The huge floating dudes remind me of Sol Divide.

[Kiken]

The huge floating dudes remind me of Sol Divide.

That's the first thing that popped into my head when I saw the screen shot above... perhaps some Omega V/Forgotten Worlds in there too.

[chempop]

I liked the trailer a lot. Will keep an eye on this.

[BulletMagnet]

The huge floating dudes remind me of Sol Divide.

The human characters, side-scrolling perspective and "twin-stick" mechanics actually made me think of the Strike Witches game on the 360 (which IMO isn't quite as bad as it's made out to be, for whatever it's worth). I'm tempted to preorder this, if only to give Harmonix a little credit for taking a risk (not to mention I still feel a bit sorry for them since MS's sudden semi-abandonment of the Kinect), but I might wait for a bit more gameplay footage first...

[Patashu]

I have hopes for this one.

[DocHauser]

I bet the comments are...

PS4 players get The Last of Us, Xbox One, Rise of The Tomb Raider and PC gets... This Pfffft... What was that the PC Fanboys said about good games for PC? Hahaha #ConsoleMasterRace !!!

...yeah.

[DoomsDave]

lol I saw that. Made me giggle.

[Kollision]

Sol Divide DX

[Patashu]

I bet the comments are...

PS4 players get The Last of Us, Xbox One, Rise of The Tomb Raider and PC gets... This Pfffft... What was that the PC Fanboys said about good games for PC? Hahaha #ConsoleMasterRace !!!

...yeah.

'PS4 players get Xbox One'?

[Chacranajxy]

Played the game at PAX earlier today. It's interesting. It's a shmup, but it's a slower-paced one with some unconventional mechanics tossed in. And it's Harmonix, so it's not particularly surprising that rhythm plays heavily into the gameplay. The game's definitely got potential, though I'm not sure how much it'll resonate with people who are primarily just into shmups.

[Patashu]

Played the game at PAX earlier today. It's interesting. It's a shmup, but it's a slower-paced one with some unconventional mechanics tossed in. And it's Harmonix, so it's not particularly surprising that rhythm plays heavily into the gameplay. The game's definitely got potential, though I'm not sure how much it'll resonate with people who are primarily just into shmups.

What would you describe the target audience of the game like?
What's the skill ceiling looking like for survival and for score? / What's the scoring system like, is it deep?
Is there a category that would make sense to call the '1CC' of the game or is it all indivudal levels?
Does it have random elements or is it perfectly routable?

[Chacranajxy]

Played the game at PAX earlier today. It's interesting. It's a shmup, but it's a slower-paced one with some unconventional mechanics tossed in. And it's Harmonix, so it's not particularly surprising that rhythm plays heavily into the gameplay. The game's definitely got potential, though I'm not sure how much it'll resonate with people who are primarily just into shmups.

What would you describe the target audience of the game like?
What's the skill ceiling looking like for survival and for score? / What's the scoring system like, is it deep?
Is there a category that would make sense to call the '1CC' of the game or is it all indivudal levels?
Does it have random elements or is it perfectly routable?

Target audience of the game is hardcore gamers. Not necessarily shmup fans. Your character has a life bar, you can press a button to dash around, and the enemies aren't always coming from the right side of the screen. It's unconventional for a shooter, so purists might not be on-board.

Scoring system wasn't in place yet, but from what I understand, there's basically going to be a chaining system. Apparently, one of the designers is all about shmups, so I wouldn't worry too much about having some sort of interesting mechanic in place there. I tried playing the game on Nightmare mode, and there's a lot of bullets.

From what I can tell, it's a game that'd be 1cc-able. The levels all flow like a traditional shmup.

Too soon to say how random it is, but I'd assume it's completely routable.

[Patashu]

It's sounding pretty good so far! Deathsmiles did the 'enemies come from all around' thing already, so there shouldn't be any problem there.

[genjuro]

Harmonix played the game on a live stream last night...

Archive here:
http://www.twitch.tv/harmonixmusic/b/566557725

Actual gameplay starts around 29 minute mark.

[Ghegs]

I got some Omega Five vibes here and there (not a bad thing, I liked the game), but the music makes it quite different. And I was hoping to see environmental hazards, but to no avail. But I guess those could still come in later stages. The player's normal shot looks kind of weak and wispy.

I don't know, I'd have to play the game first, but the video didn't really pull me in. The devs talked about 1CC and things, so that's at least promising.

Also, I heard a new possible marketing buzzword for the 1CC game philosophy: "incremental gaming".

[Chacranajxy]

The default shot did feel pretty limp, but I'm guessing there are power-ups that will alleviate that. I haven't spent any real time playing the game, but I guess I could play a bit more of it later today or tomorrow.

[SePh1r0tH]

This comes out in a few days if anyone is still interested.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/316180/

[genjuro]

Pre-ordered!

[shmuppyLove]

Looks amazing, pre-ordered the deluxe edition to get dat soundtrack

[Iron Peach]

It's out, and 10% off! http://store.steampowered.com/app/316180/

[BulletMagnet]

Impression time:

- I'm using a 360 controller here; by default movement is mapped to the analog stick, though you can change it to the d-pad. I probably need some time to get used to your character's speed, which is somehow slow without feeling quite precise enough...you also have a dash, but it's fixed-distance and unlikely to be used often.

- Each stage has three sections, and each section's score is tallied separately and added up to form your stage total at the end. You have infinite lives, but dying sends you back to the beginning of the section you're on, resets that section's score, and tacks on a penalty. The primary scoring mechanic seems to be DDP-esque enemy chaining, which increases a multiplier as you attack stuff but depletes when you're not; taking hits and using the healing helper also reduces it IIRC.

- There are only three levels, though five difficulty settings are available for each (which change up both enemy placement and attack patterns); beating levels/difficulties will unlock new helper abilities/enhancements/etc, though you can simply unequip/not use the ones you'd rather not bother with. Enemies can sometimes appear with little warning and some attacks are all but impossible to avoid unless you know they're coming, so there's definitely memorization to be had here...I guess one could posit that it's another link to the rhythm genre and is akin to learning a song, but I'll leave that interpretation up to you.

- The beat of the background music influences not only your enemy's attacks (which can sometimes offer a hint as to when it's safe to rush in for a sword attack), but your shots and helpers too, both short- and long-range; most of the time it's not a huge deal, but on occasion a pesky popcorn will slip past your sword when the rhythm slows down, or a bugger you've been chipping away at will juuuust manage to cheat death and take one last shot at you during a break in the beat. I also found bullet visibility to be less than optimal at times, though admittedly I tend to be particularly sensitive to that.

- The screen can get pretty crowded even on "medium" difficulty, though I'd imagine quite a few of the players on here would have less trouble with them than I did, especially thanks to the life meter (and even moreso if they're not too proud to use the healer during the sections it's available).

Harmonix definitely deserves some credit for taking a bold step into niche territory here (especially for Western developers), and it's obvious that at least somebody on the team has some experience with and respect for the genre, but the budget and scope were obviously held back by those risks, and the genre hybridization can sometimes get in the game's way, especially for those accustomed to "purer", more finely-tweaked arcade experiences. It pains me somewhat to say it, but I'd imagine that most forum-goers would want to proceed with a bit of caution when considering this one.

[Remembrance]

From the videos, the enemies seem very bullet-spongy. Is it like that on every difficulty level?

[DoomsDave]

Thanks for the impressions Bullet Magnet. I was going to pick this up but now I think I'll wait for a sale/bundle. Spending way too much money on games this month so it's good to cut something off the list.

[AKAperly]

Hey guys,

Thanks for checking out the game; I've been psyched for players on this forum to get their hands on it.

I'm the creative lead on the project so please let me know if you have any questions or feedback. We are a small team of six people at Harmonix who love shmups. This game was about leveraging the parallels of linear song composition and classic shooter design.

I'm a sucker for slower, memorization stuff [pulstar], but this game is a bit of a hybrid with some newer school bullet patterns. It's got a bit of a forgotten worlds / sol divide vibe too with multi-directional shooting and sword attacks. The score system is similar to DDP, but beat based, and you can sustain your chain by milking melee strikes.

The IDOL/GHOST system; which is the power-up system of the game is completely unique to the genre and driven by the song midi. (actually, all of our bullet patterns are authored in midi)

Over time, because everything is music driven, song memorization will help to forecast enemy spawn locations, and assist you in making the right tactical choices.

This game has a legit difficulty curve, and I hope to see some of you guys on the "nightmare" leaderboards soon; which I feel is the real sweet spot for the game.

Thanks again, "give up the ghost."

_Perly

[MathU]

Anyone know if this is crippled with DRM? I see it seems to only be sold over Steam at the moment, but does it have Steam CEG?

[AKAperly]

Anyone know if this is crippled with DRM? I see it seems to only be sold over Steam at the moment, but does it have Steam CEG?

the game has DRM but not CEG.

you can play offline. (that will prevent your scores from being pushed to the leaderboards though)

[MathU]

That's very disappointing to hear. What is the DRM, if not Steam CEG? Can the game be played without Steam running? Are they any plans for a DRM-free release?