REPTILIANS WORLD WAR - [Kickstarter LIVE] - Now with DEMO!

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Darckonte
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REPTILIANS WORLD WAR - [Kickstarter LIVE] - Now with DEMO!

Post by Darckonte »

Hello!

I'm doing a Shmup game with some humour and ww2 alike, in the theme that reptilians invade earth after the ww2, now we must crush them. I'm running a kickstarter campaign and I plan to go to greenlight in order to publish it in steam. You can see here useful links and a sample of visuals at the moment.

Image

DEMO:
https://rainbirth.itch.io/reptilians-world-war

Kickstarter has gone live as I need some funding to better finish the game
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ra ... indie-game
Last edited by Darckonte on Sat Aug 27, 2016 1:05 pm, edited 12 times in total.
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xy2_
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Re: Reptilians World War - Concept in development.

Post by xy2_ »

Please god no indirect mouse control. This is the worst control scheme you could pick for a shmup..
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bkk
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Re: Reptilians World War - Concept in development.

Post by bkk »

Ditch the cutscenes as well, you don't want to interrupt the action. Also consider a narrower playfield.

Looks promising otherwise. The upgrades might be interesting if you can pull it off (and disastrous if you don't). Curious to see how this progresses.
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Re: Reptilians World War - Concept in development.

Post by Darckonte »

xy2_ wrote:Please god no indirect mouse control. This is the worst control scheme you could pick for a shmup..
Yeah!, thats just to get the prototype going, I plan to support gamepad + keyboard too, I just give options.

also each scheme has a completelly separate code so they dont interfere.
bkk wrote:Ditch the cutscenes as well, you don't want to interrupt the action. Also consider a narrower playfield.

Looks promising otherwise. The upgrades might be interesting if you can pull it off (and disastrous if you don't). Curious to see how this progresses.
Yeah that's for testing the level, they will trigger at start and end, but will never interrupt action, do you feel I should competelly remove them from the level and do a briefing before starting?
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Re: Reptilians World War - Concept in development.

Post by Darckonte »

Weapons, tanks & firing system :)
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Re: REPTILIANS WORLD WAR - Concept in development.

Post by Darckonte »

Weapon & bullet script system working, open the spoiler to see the gif. any feedback welcome :) I'm working on the patterns for the bosses so I'd welcome any feedback related to this matter.
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Re: REPTILIANS WORLD WAR - Concept in development.

Post by S20-TBL »

I like the simple, straightforward graphics, it helps the special effects stand out much more.

Boss pattern looks good with the alternating fast and slow spreads. Will you be adding more attacks for this boss?
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Re: REPTILIANS WORLD WAR - Concept in development.

Post by Darckonte »

S20-TBL wrote:I like the simple, straightforward graphics, it helps the special effects stand out much more.
Boss pattern looks good with the alternating fast and slow spreads. Will you be adding more attacks for this boss?
First of all thanks for answering and I'm glad you liked it :). regarding the pattterns, right now, I'm working on the system that generates the patterns a visual kind of BulletML that I'm creating to generate bullet patterns. This boss right now is a test. but as it is right now, I thought in making the pink bullets rotate a bit when they go out, and then add from time to time one player directed shot, to avoid lateral staying, also I need to cover better all regions of the screen to give different gameplay depending on where you stand to fight the boss. But I think is a good start.
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Re: REPTILIANS WORLD WAR - Concept in development.

Post by Darckonte »

Here, the first level, I'm still missing some extra enemies, and the level design is still mockup, but you can see where this goes :)

Video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jx6IwVkVeEM
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Re: REPTILIANS WORLD WAR - Concept in development.

Post by Darckonte »

Well I've made a Kickstarter for this game :) any feedback / help / spread the word is very very very welcome! :)

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ra ... indie-game
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Re: REPTILIANS WORLD WAR - [Kickstarter LIVE]

Post by Darckonte »

!!DEMO!!

Image

Here's a link for a demo I'm still working on it but I think right now is showable. I'm looking for feedback and to improve it in order to prepare a greenlight + kickstarter demo that is a bit curated.

I appreciate all your feedback, and any support on kickstarter are very welcome!

The controller works only in the gameplay, keyboard + mouse for menus (atm). the level has only the first area, and the final boss. That lenght will be extended in final version with subboss , an aereal fight area, and then final boss.

Here's the link to download it:
https://rainbirth.itch.io/reptilians-world-war
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Re: REPTILIANS WORLD WAR - [Kickstarter LIVE] - Now with DEM

Post by wgogh »

I dont know if its my pc, but this happened
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Thought that you would like to know
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Re: REPTILIANS WORLD WAR - [Kickstarter LIVE] - Now with DEM

Post by S20-TBL »

So far I liked what I saw. The scoring system feels like a tweaked version of DDP, and I like how the point items help extend the chain counter so it doesn't drop off immediately. My only advice there is to keep a careful eye on your enemy distribution if scoring will depend on stage-long chaining (which is what you seem to have in mind), but otherwise I think you have a good handle on things.

One gripe I have about the demo would be the keyboard controls for menu functions. I was trying to pause the game and open a menu but nothing worked, and the window that popped up before I started the game (where I could change the resolution and control scheme) seemed to have been for a different game altogether. What is "Titans"?

Also there seems to be no way to exit the demo apart from Alt+F4.

One suggestion I'd make is to add tooltips on the menu screens, particularly character select so the player knows what to do.

EDIT: I'm confused as to how exactly the small planes drop powerups. I had thought that you either needed to speedkill them or destroy all the planes in a single wave, but it appears to be random or something. What does the player need to do in order to get one?
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Re: REPTILIANS WORLD WAR - [Kickstarter LIVE] - Now with DEM

Post by Darckonte »

wgogh wrote:I dont know if its my pc, but this happened

Thought that you would like to know
Thanks, I'll look into it, it seems something regarding your PC memory, as the background texture seems not loaded, maybe memory issue, is your PC high end?
S20-TBL wrote:So far I liked what I saw. The scoring system feels like a tweaked version of DDP, and I like how the point items help extend the chain counter so it doesn't drop off immediately. My only advice there is to keep a careful eye on your enemy distribution if scoring will depend on stage-long chaining (which is what you seem to have in mind), but otherwise I think you have a good handle on things.

One gripe I have about the demo would be the keyboard controls for menu functions. I was trying to pause the game and open a menu but nothing worked, and the window that popped up before I started the game (where I could change the resolution and control scheme) seemed to have been for a different game altogether. What is "Titans"?

Also there seems to be no way to exit the demo apart from Alt+F4.

One suggestion I'd make is to add tooltips on the menu screens, particularly character select so the player knows what to do.

EDIT: I'm confused as to how exactly the small planes drop powerups. I had thought that you either needed to speedkill them or destroy all the planes in a single wave, but it appears to be random or something. What does the player need to do in order to get one?
I'll iron it a bit, because some menus are missing, and the artwork for the menus should be some 50's propaganda like, so I was waiting to finish the menus. Regarding the planes, yes you need to kill the entire streak of planes, I'll make them different color or something as in 1942 to make sure the player understands it.

Regarding enemy distribution, I need to extend this level and make sure I make all the enemy spots thought and well placed, as you say, if the combo chain depends on killing all enemies.

Also THANK you very much for playing and providing me some feedback! I really appreciate, because doing it without partners means you sometimes lose focus. :)
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Re: REPTILIANS WORLD WAR - [Kickstarter LIVE] - Now with DEM

Post by wgogh »

Darckonte wrote:Thanks, I'll look into it, it seems something regarding your PC memory, as the background texture seems not loaded, maybe memory issue, is your PC high end?
No, it's an old Vaio, kind of weak for today
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Re: REPTILIANS WORLD WAR - [Kickstarter LIVE] - Now with DEM

Post by Darckonte »

wgogh wrote:
Darckonte wrote:Thanks, I'll look into it, it seems something regarding your PC memory, as the background texture seems not loaded, maybe memory issue, is your PC high end?
No, it's an old Vaio, kind of weak for today
Well, I'll optimize it either way, so you can also enjoy it :)

BTW the game is now on Steam Greenlight, if you feel like voting for it I'd be very grateful! :)

And here's the link:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/f ... =744887180
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Re: REPTILIANS WORLD WAR - [Kickstarter LIVE] - Now with DEM

Post by Darckonte »

Image

I made some pixel art work on the "La Mancha" level, and this is the look for the new art, some animated sprites in the background, and more trees, new ground, and some color adjustments.

What do you think?
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Re: REPTILIANS WORLD WAR - [Kickstarter LIVE] - Now with DEM

Post by S20-TBL »

Very nice! I like the animated sheep and the cracks on the ground especially, although my criticism would be that that cracks look a bit too large for that distance.
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Re: REPTILIANS WORLD WAR - [Kickstarter LIVE] - Now with DEM

Post by Darckonte »

S20-TBL wrote:Very nice! I like the animated sheep and the cracks on the ground especially, although my criticism would be that that cracks look a bit too large for that distance.
Thanks for your feedback, I'll try to adjust some of the cracks that highlight a lot, and give this feeling, I'm still missing some elements in the map, like small grass and some rocks scattered over there, that will help give a more global vision. Also missing fences and roads... I guess once I finish the entire thing, it will look better.

I'll keep your feedback close, so I make sure all looks integrated.
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Re: REPTILIANS WORLD WAR - [Kickstarter LIVE] - Now with DEM

Post by Darckonte »

The game has been GREENLIT!!

Thanks for all your help and feedback! I'll keep working on it to get it to the store asap. :)
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Re: REPTILIANS WORLD WAR - Greenlit

Post by Darckonte »

Hello guys!!

Since the game was greenlit I've been a bit off, and not able to work on reptilians but recently I have recovered the encouragement to continue developing my shoot em up game,

I've reworked the base resolution and the background style, I've to work out the units though...

What do you guys think about it?

Image

Regards!
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Re: Reptilians World War - Concept in development.

Post by BareKnuckleRoo »

bkk wrote:Ditch the cutscenes as well, you don't want to interrupt the action. Also consider a narrower playfield.
Cutscenes aren't a bad thing as long as they're skippable at the push of a button. Giga Wing is basically the best example of how to implement cutscenes in a shmup (you press the start button and you immediately skip it and start the next level). Cutscenes can be in a good shmup without being intrusive as long as they're skippable (otherwise you have to rewatch them over and over).

Also, hori widescreen vertical scrollers are totally doable. Just needs to be designed around it in terms of shot type, enemy attacks, etc.
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Re: Reptilians World War - Concept in development.

Post by Rozyrg »

BareKnuckleRoo wrote: Also, hori widescreen vertical scrollers are totally doable. Just needs to be designed around it in terms of shot type, enemy attacks, etc.
Yeah, it's really down to your shot's screen coverage, correct enemy placement and not making the player move too much horizontally. Something about being more conscious of horizontal movement just makes a shooter feel unusually slow. You also ought to be able to react to threats immediately without having to factor in a travel time of several seconds.

Game looks gorgeous, by the way. :)
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Re: REPTILIANS WORLD WAR - [Kickstarter LIVE] - Now with DEM

Post by Darckonte »

Thanks guys for your kind words! very much appreciated :), yeah the wide screen level design is proving to be hard. but I think I can come up with something that's playable.
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Re: REPTILIANS WORLD WAR - [Kickstarter LIVE] - Now with DEM

Post by BareKnuckleRoo »

What I'd suggest for your game would be to have shot types with lock-on or homing functionality, shots that can help cover the entire screen. I haven't played many widescreen verts, but they do exist - Score Rush for XBox 360 Indie and the newer PS4 version both use the right stick to fire so you can shoot 360 degrees (it otherwise plays like a standard bullet hell vert). I don't think the 360 degree firing would be appropriate for an airplane though, unless you designed it with some kind of mounted turret on top!

Cropping the game to 4:3 aspect ratio would be a solution, but that's like a last-resort, nuclear option.
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