Z-Exemplar - a retro, side scrolling shooter

[Suminell]

Hello all, I'd like to take a moment to introduce our next game titled Z-Exemplar.

Z-Exemplar is a side-scrolling shooter in the tradition of R-Type, Gradius, Nemesis and other classic arcade games from the past. Borrowing its aesthetic from the computers of yesteryear (specifically the Sinclair ZX Spectrum) Z-Exemplar combines bright, bold, 8-bit pixel art with frantic action and an epic mission to conquer a galaxy of almost 1000 planets.

It will be released on PC, MAC and mobile later this year.

Thanks for your time,

Suminell.

Z-Exemplar trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrYNHJMxntc

[Ghegs]

The stage design and weapons seem to be heavily inspired by R-Type, with a Gradius-like power-up bar added in. Something like G-Type, then? That's just fine with me.

I have no nostalgic feelings towards the Spectrum, but I have no problems with the art style. However, the movement of the player and enemy ships, and bullets seems really jarring and not smooth. Is that a deliberate choice or something that'll still be changed? Maybe there's an option for smooth/blocky movement?

[Suminell]

The stage design and weapons seem to be heavily inspired by R-Type, with a Gradius-like power-up bar added in. Something like G-Type, then? That's just fine with me.

I have no nostalgic feelings towards the Spectrum, but I have no problems with the art style. However, the movement of the player and enemy ships, and bullets seems really jarring and not smooth. Is that a deliberate choice or something that'll still be changed? Maybe there's an option for smooth/blocky movement?

Yes, the art and character square movement is very influenced by the spectrum (and in particular the 8-bit conversion of R-Type which in my opinion is an almost perfect game). I know not everyone has the same fondness for the spectrum's quirks as I have so it's highly likely there will be the option to switch from 'original chunky spectrum' flavour to something a bit smoother.

Suminell.

[tiaoferreira]

Man, take my simple contribution: I have a project called "GRADIUSFan", and I've recorded some voices, with help of my daughter. You (and other people who interest) can use it free.

In addition, I've recorded some exclusive voices for your project Hope you enjoy!

http://www.mediafire.com/download/3a3ah ... voices.rar

[Suminell]

Man, take my simple contribution: I have a project called "GRADIUSFan", and I've recorded some voices, with help of my daughter. You (and other people who interest) can use it free.

I addition, I've recorded some exclusive voices for your project Hope you enjoy!

http://www.mediafire.com/download/3a3ah ... voices.rar

Hey thanks, man!

Very much appreciated!

Suminell.

[tiaoferreira]

For this feature, the trick that is the program AUDACITY, a powerful sound editor, totally free, easily to find on cyberspace.

What I've made:

1st - With AUDACITY, I said the words and recorded them;

2nd - I applied an effect called "noise reduction";

3rd - I changed the tone, changing my normal voice to a thicker voice;

4th - I applied an effect called "reverb", to give the robotic effect a la Darth Vader. For your personel preferences, test the values, results can be different, according original voices. it's simple and fun!

Note: My daughter has 12 years old, with steps related before, I changed her voice to an adult woman voice! Enjoy!

[Suminell]

Hello all, 
 
A new trailer for Z-Exemplar is up here - https://youtu.be/0NFc4brAYqM
 
Also Z-Exemplar is now on Steam Greenlight which means it needs votes and plenty of them. If you have a spare couple of seconds it would be tremendous if you could pop over to…
 
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/f ... =504350865
 
…and lend us your support by voting YES. In return you’ll have our eternal gratitude.
 
 
Thank you for your time.
 
Suminell.

[Suminell]

Hello everybody,

It’s been a wee while since the last update so I’ll rattle through a few points of progress here.

But before I do I just want to say a huge thanks to everyone who has voted for Z-Exemplar on Steam Greenlight so far - your support is massively appreciated. If you like the look of Z-Exemplar and think it is something you’d like to play then please consider giving us a Yes vote over at…

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/f ... =504350865

Okay, appeal over! On to the news…

Intro

Z-Exemplar now has an intro… of sorts. In keeping with the game’s general aesthetic it has an understated 8-bit approach but, I hope, with a bit of humour thrown in. It sets out a very simple premise for the game - there’s no point getting bogged down with convoluted backstory with what is, after all, a shoot-em-up - but it sets the scene for the task to come quite adequately, that being one pilot on a solo-mission to conquer a galaxy of increasingly hostile planets.



Anyway, take a swizz at…

https://youtu.be/39ufHtm-gj8

…and make up your own mind. Oh, there are no sound effects added just yet.

Levels

Work is progressing well here - the levels that have been completed are being continually refined and work is underway on getting the remaining levels finished. Implementing the smooth moves option had a bit of a knock on effect with some of the enemy patterns and that set me back a little but everything is back on track now.













I’ve been doing a bit of work on level endings also. I want the level endings to be as varied as possible. Some will, of course, have end-of-level bosses but others may end with with a reward of a load of pick-ups, an enemy ambush or even an appearance by the mysterious beings that take an interest in the player’s mission and provide a bit of narrative drive.



Perks, Missiles, Buddies and Probes

All the ships attachments and power-ups are all but complete and the load-out selection screen is done. That makes me happy! I’m really pleased with how the weapons have turned out - I think for this type of game it is vital to get these right - and I think there is a good variety of weapon types that make for a range of different play experiences. My hope is that each player will have their own favourite load-out configuration that may be wildly different from another player.

Perks have also been implemented giving the player shields, damage multipliers, power-up head starts, speed ups and the like.



That’s all for now,

Thanks for reading and I’ll be back with more updates soon.

Suminell.

[Ghegs]

Looks good, I'm digging the stage design. I trust the environmental hazards kill you on touch?

[Suminell]

Looks good, I'm digging the stage design. I trust the environmental hazards kill you on touch?

Indeed they do!

Suminell.

[Suminell]

Hi all,

Suminell here with a quick update on our new game, Z-Exemplar.

We have new trailer which can be viewed here... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oEtroc_gg4!

And I’m excited to say we have produced our first demo - a pre-alpha work-in-progress that we would love for you to play (and hopefully enjoy) which is available for Mac or PC (mobile coming soon!). You can get it here... http://suminell.itch.io/z-exemplar

We are working hard to get the game finished and it is our hope that we can eventually get it onto the Steam platform. We’re currently going through the Steam Greenlight process so if you like the demo and you have a spare moment then heading over to… http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/f ... =504350865 ... and giving Z-Exemplar a YES vote would be massively appreciated!

Also, we love to get feedback that can improve our game so if you have any suggestions or criticisms or we'll accept both with equal gratitude.

Thanks for your time,

Suminell.

[Herr Schatten]

Tried the demo and liked it.

However, you might want to consider making the difficulty curve a little steeper. On the planets with lowe hostility ratings, there's not very much to do, as enemies are sparse.

[Suminell]

Tried the demo and liked it.

However, you might want to consider making the difficulty curve a little steeper. On the planets with lowe hostility ratings, there's not very much to do, as enemies are sparse.

Thanks for playing.

Yes, the first levels are fairly easy - and maybe there isn't enough to do. Thanks for the feedback - it's certainly something I'll look into.

Suminell.

[Ghegs]

It seems every enemy bullet (at least the ones we see in the demo) are destructible by the player's own shots. That will seriously diminish the game's difficulty. And like Mr. Schatten said, the demo feels quite barren, it would be nice to feel the slightest bit threatened.

The thing I love about horzies is that their stage design/environmental hazards give each stage a distinct personality. Like how Gradius' Moai stages or R-Type's Battleship stage are instantly recognizable and memorable. This feeling wasn't really there in the stages we see in the demo, they felt generic and interchangeable, aside from the one with the asteroids. The ones we see on the gifs you posted earlier look far better, I hope you can inject the same kind of design to all the stages.

Overall though, I think there's a lot of promise. I even liked the graphics, and the Loadout Bay should be interesting to tinker with.

[Suminell]

It seems every enemy bullet (at least the ones we see in the demo) are destructible by the player's own shots. That will seriously diminish the game's difficulty. And like Mr. Schatten said, the demo feels quite barren, it would be nice to feel the slightest bit threatened.

The thing I love about horzies is that their stage design/environmental hazards give each stage a distinct personality. Like how Gradius' Moai stages or R-Type's Battleship stage are instantly recognizable and memorable. This feeling wasn't really there in the stages we see in the demo, they felt generic and interchangeable, aside from the one with the asteroids. The ones we see on the gifs you posted earlier look far better, I hope you can inject the same kind of design to all the stages.

Overall though, I think there's a lot of promise. I even liked the graphics, and the Loadout Bay should be interesting to tinker with.

Thanks so much for playing and for the feedback! Invaluable!

The levels are modularly created which from a seed number which is probably what gives the early levels a bit of a generic feel - the harder level sections (which tend to be those that best give each level a distinctive character) are held back for more hostile planets and those aren't encountered til a bit later in the campaign.

But that's no excuse for giving the player a generic experience - I will revisit how the levels are put together and the take another look at the modular sections and try to inject a bit more character into them from the get go!

Thanks again!

Suminell.

[Suminell]

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to share the great news that Z-Exemplar is complete and is available on Steam at http://store.steampowered.com/app/434750/ now!



It's been a long time in the making and the final few months pushed our small dev team to its limit but we are really happy with the finished game and we think those that invest the time will have a great time playing it.



Anyway, thank you to everyone to has taken an interest in Z-Exemplar since I started posting here nearly 2 years ago.

I hope you are able to check out our game. If you do and you have any thoughts or opinions then we'd be happy to hear from you.


All the best,


Suminell.