Iridescence

[TripleTremelo]

12/7/18 - NOW AVAILABLE ON STEAM!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/792190/Iridescence/




Iridescence is a 'polarity shmup' with a color-changing mechanic, where you dodge and absorb many
different colored bullets. It features a painted watercolor theme & inventive chaining system.


•Dodge & absorb 4 different bullet types
•Risk/reward chaining system
•Unique watercolor aesthetic
•Tough, dynamic boss fights
•5 main levels & 30 challenge levels in final version

The scoring and chaining is done by simply by destroying an enemy while you are close to it. You also do more damage
the closer you are to an enemy, which makes for a nice risk/reward experience. There is much more to the scoring such
as grazing, quick killing bosses and taking advantage of your super meter. It all combines into a more puzzle-esque type
of shmup. As you play the main game you will receive credits that you use to unlock 30 varied challenge levels.

I've made many changes since I uploaded this, but here is a demo up on itch.io that has the 1st level and first 5 challenge levels: https://polaritybear.itch.io/iridescence

[Square_Air]

This is somewhat intriguing, but Ikaruga is kind of a tough act to follow. I feel like there isn't really much room here for polarity mechanic shmups since Ikaruga (and to a far lesser extent Dimahoo) has such a grasp on that niche. That being said, there's something simple yet charming about the style of this game, and it seems like it brings something kind of different to the table with polarity shmups.

The problem is that it's difficult to really understand the system of how the scoring will work from the first stage alone. While I understand that the first stage needs to be welcoming to new players, it's hard to grasp more than how scoring would theoretically work since it doesn't really showcase many complexities, and we just have to assume the later levels will make up for it. The addition of a third polarity and a fourth shot colour that needs to be dodged is an interesting mix up, and proximity scoring mechanics seem like they might be a good fit. The art style leaves a bit to be desired, but it's certainly not bad, just pretty minimal.

A few very basic non-gameplay suggestions:
1. It would be nice to have screen size option that properly touches the top and bottom of the screen when in full screen, since currently the size that seems like it was meant to fit that bill cuts off the bottom bar and possibly a bit off the top.
2. It would be nice to have Z & X work as select & back as opposed to escape being back, just for simplicity.

[TripleTremelo]

Hi, thanks for giving it a try.

I think of Dimahoo, and especially Ikaruga as like the inventor of the sub-genre 'polarity shmups'. While I consider Ikaruga to be a near perfect use, the mechanic is so great there's still room for more games to use it. I wanted to expand on it a bit with different colored bullets, the aesthetic, among other things.

The chaining system was also sort of Ikaruga inspired in a less obvious way. As in something that could mostly be ignored by a player initially, but once they actually try to play for score they realize every enemy was placed for a reason. So it is possible to complete all the levels, killing every single enemy, absorbing (almost) every bullet, never breaking the chain. Boiling down to risk/reward. Risk getting dangerously close, rewarded to do more damage and get more points. That's about all there is to it, it's not much more complex than that. Of course it gets a lot more difficult to do that later on.

The first level was meant to be similar to a tutorial. Introducing concepts one at a time. Closeness = more damage >> popcorn enemies >> blue bullets, then red, then both at the same time, etc. Trying to ease people into how it should be played. The goal for it was to be pretty easy to beat without dying after a few tries, but a decent challenge to get an S+ or S++ ranking. There have been updates to the UI since the demo that make it more obvious when you are chaining.

[TripleTremelo]

I have got my Steam page up and thrown together a trailer, check it out if you'd like.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/792190/Iridescence/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RKTI15e43A

The demo on itch.io has been updated as well.

[simm033]

I'm not able to start the demo. Only the Steam page shows up...

[TripleTremelo]

I believe that will be a simple fix, sorry bout that

Give me a bit.

EDIT: OK it should work now. Forgot to un-check a box. If you would like to reach me quickly with any questions/bugs/etc. you can try me at twitter (https://twitter.com/polarity__bear) or email me (polarity_bear@outlook.com).

[TripleTremelo]

My game Iridescence has been released on Steam, check it out if you get the chance.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/792190/Iridescence/