Broken Pearl

[mice]

Shameless pluggin', as usual.

XBOX 360:
http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/Produ ... 0258550eae

OUYA:
https://www.ouya.tv/game/Broken-Pearl/

PC demo:
http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=47725

[Kollision]

Looks interesting!

[Pretas]

I expected a pirate-themed STG with that title.

[ACSeraph]

Just bought the full version on 360, feels simple but good, and I like the music a lot.

Wanted to give you a heads up though, the game just crashed on me when I tried to adjust my control settings from the pause menu. I also noticed that the powerups continue to travel down the screen while paused and your ship can pick them up. This might have something to do with the bug.

[Strikers1945guy]

I expected a pirate-themed STG with that title.

haha me too. Someone should do a Vikings themed STG... *strokes beard*

[Damocles]

Twin Tiger Shark was good so I'll give this a go.

[DMC]

How is the difficulty level compared to TTS (both default)?

[mice]

Official PC release:
http://mix256.itch.io/broken-pearl

How is the difficulty level compared to TTS (both default)?

I'd guess the same. Having the blue ship is maybe kind of like having the green weapon in TTS...

[Stevens]

Just picked it up on the 360. Like Seraph said, It is simple and the music rocks. It is also a fucking steal at $1. I dig the choose your own bonus at the start of each stage.

[emphatic]

Just got my 360 cabinet controls hooked up again (been a long time coming ), updated the console software and then had time for 2 quick 1CCs of THIS WONDERFUL GAME.

Stuff that bugged me a bit:

* The blue ship feels almost like an easy mode compared to playing as the red ship. I no-missed with the blue ship on my first credit as it takes every mid- to large enemy (including bosses) down like butter, but with the red ship, I actually had to fight the bosses instead of having them flash a pattern that quickly got cancelled. It would be cool if only 50% of the pattern got cancelled when you take down a life bar from it.

* I uploaded the score after each credit, but only the first score (blue ship) was shown, so I guess only the top one is sent?

* The Bestiary has a counter of how many of each enemy you've killed so far. Is this showing the latest credit, or all credits combined?

Very nice work, man!

[finisherr]

Cool. Will buy.

[mice]

I dig the choose your own bonus at the start of each stage.

Thanks! I call them "modes". The whole setup is pinball inspired. Wanted a multiball in there as well, but I did't find a nice way to do it.
Partyl that's why your helper guys are formed a bit like...balls...

The blue ship feels almost like an easy mode compared to playing as the red ship.

Yes, with the blue ship the bosses become push overs and the stages got ok difficulty. And with the red ship, it's the other way around.
It's the only way for me to actually be able to clear the game...
But, nah, I don't know, any suggestions?

so I guess only the top one is sent?

Yes, only the highest scoring credit will be sent.

s this showing the latest credit, or all credits combined?

All credits combined.
Wanted someone to take a screen shot and say: "look, I've taken down a billion of these guys".

Very nice work, man!

Super thanks!
A pic of the game running in the cab is welcome this time around as well.
Still got the tts one as desktop bkg.

[emphatic]

I'll try to snap a photo later today when the Christmas tree is setup and lit next to it.

It would better (IMHO) if you were allowed to upload one score for each ship, as the difficulty is vastly different.

Scoring questions:

* What's more important, killing all enemies or picking up the green pearls they drop?

* I guess choosing X multiplier over power ups and bombs should be prioritized as well?

[mice]

It would better (IMHO) if you were allowed to upload one score for each ship, as the difficulty is vastly different.

Yeah, ptoing actually mentioned that a long time ago, don't know where that post-it went...

What's more important, killing all enemies or picking up the green pearls they drop?

I guess choosing X multiplier over power ups and bombs should be prioritized as well?

A perfect run would contain all of these (if my chain of thought turns out to be right):
* Select the mission with "Bonus X Held"
* Only pickup Xs
* Collect as many pearls as possible

This is really hard to accomplish, since your power will be very weak for the entire game.
Enemies not included in the selected mission or that drop pearls can be ignored.

So going for "Bonus +5X" missions and picking up a few Ps will give you a quite alright score and the risk is really low, nothing near the risk of a going for the perfect run.

For people only in it for the "fun", just picking up Ps and selecting the 1UP missions will make you feel like a god.

Well, this was what is intended to be, can't promise that it actually delivers or is seen like it, though,

[emphatic]

Interesting. How about bombing, does it affect scoring (except from helping you kill big stuff quicker)?

[mice]

How about bombing, does it affect scoring

When it comes to bonus, a bomb is worth 2 pearls. So, no, bombs aren't worth anything in comparison.

[emphatic]

My little boy was intrigued.

[ciox]

Really fun game, I like all the tapdodging, like some others I managed to get the 1CC first try with the blue ship but it was fun, still blue ship should perhaps be less strong against bosses. Will try a run where I pickup Xs more as I mostly stuck to P and B and you can tell from the score.
Me on the boards:

12 ciorel 3981890 1-ALL PC

ps nice twist with the last boss

[Aleksei]

Hey, good PC demo, first try 1cc heehee.
I noticed you use cyberrainforce for your tracks, on the versions that you are selling, are their tracks on there as well? If I recall correctly, Cyberrainforce stated that all the music can be used for free as long as it wasn't for profit, or perhaps it was that they wanted credit for it.

[mice]

ps nice twist with the last boss

Thanks! You're the first to mention it at all.

My little boy was intrigued.

I've got a new desktop bkg! \o/

like some others I managed to get the 1CC first try

Hey, good PC demo, first try 1cc heehee.

I thought it was a bit on the easy side, but not first try 1cc...am I that bad. Yeah, probably.

Cyberrainforce stated that all the music can be used for free...

He clearly states it can be used commercially. All he wants is credit.
I've actually mailed him asking him to set up a donation page, but he's just answering my mails once a quarter, or something.

[ciox]

I thought it was a bit on the easy side, but not first try 1cc...am I that bad. Yeah, probably.

Not necessarily, from what I remember seeing there's loads on the scoreboard who only got as far as stages 1-2.
What would I change to make the blue ship less powerful? Probably make it so boss bullet cancels are triggered only when the last phase of a boss is killed, not the early phases, then you don't need to rebalance too much HP/damage.

[Weak Boson]

Awesome game. Got the 1CC on my third run. My second run was with the red ship and suddenly the game had bosses! Maybe it's better for scoring since it's easier to exterminate enemies in stages. Is there a second loop?

[Alfred]

Nice one Mice really enjoying your latest STG and thanks for continuing to support XBLIG STG fans. Everyone on the 360 should buy this game and rate it 5 stars if they can. Thank you my friend

[mice]

Awesome game. Got the 1CC on my third run. My second run was with the red ship and suddenly the game had bosses! Maybe it's better for scoring since it's easier to exterminate enemies in stages. Is there a second loop?

Thanks! No second loop, in fact it's all just a wysiwyg game.

Thank you my friend

No, thanks you! You and emphatic are the only xboxers to actually upload a score.

Probably make it so boss bullet cancels are triggered only when the last phase of a boss is killed, not the early phases, then you don't need to rebalance too much HP/damage.

This is where I've tweaked it the most, it was much worse from the start. But not having a bullet cancel didn't feel right, I thought. I might try this again, then.
But I think I'll be separating the hiscore tables for the ships and introducing this, as a first step:



I want to include 2 more ships as well, just for the fun of it. Haven't figured them out yet, though.

[Aleksei]

Were there any enemies that came from behind? In other words, the third ships backward shots seem unnecessary, especially if someone discovers how to sit on the top of the screen with them.

[emphatic]

Yeah, separating the score boards would make red ship more attractive I think. Just by adding suicide bullets to everything, a loop would be possible if you feel like it, but IMHO, the game's current length is near perfect considering the old school touch of it. Just be sure to add a proximity rule to suicide bullets, so you can point blank stuff. You could also do a loop yes/no question and have a separate board for loop players. The tap dodging element of this game is so much fun!

[Stevens]

This game is a really nice surprise. I would easily recommend this to someone new to the genre.

Keep up the great work!

Edit - Cleared it with red. 5,800,790. Grabbed the extra ship on stage 1, and went with x5 on the other stages except the one where the x5 bonus is attached to not harming the water things. Way too hard to do with the red ship. You basically have to not shoot and I'm just not that good.

I may have also found a bug.

I paused the game on stage 1 with the red ship. I went into options and increased the music volume from default to max. When I did this the bullets began to move and I was killed but I was still in the options/pause menu. I haven't tried to recreate it, but I'll let you know if I'm successful in doing it again.

[guigui]

Also had a great time with the game.
Is it possible to upload score without using that QR code ?

[mice]

I may have also found a bug.

Yes, ACSeraph also saw that. I found it on the day of the release and it was fixed for the PC version.

Yeah, separating the score boards would make red ship more attractive I think.

I've just finished the implementation of this. The title screen now has a rotating hiscore list with each of the ships.

Were there any enemies that came from behind?

No, but I constantly end up with ships behind me, since I go the the pearls as soon as they appear.

if someone discovers how to sit on the top of the screen with them.

Could be an issue, but I've tried a few times and it really doesn't seem possible.

Is it possible to upload score without using that QR code ?

Not on the xbox version, no. No contact with the interwebs is allowed from the xbox.

[emphatic]

Awesome stuff!