Operation STEEL is a shoot-em-up with roguelike elements (procedurally generated levels.)
I released it a couple of days ago on Steam and itch.io!
I tried to keep fun arcade-style shooting while adding a bit more randomness and variety to your standard shmup.
If you're interested in trying something a bit different I'd love if you gave it a go and leave some feedback.
There's a free demo available on each site if you want to try it
Hey dude. I've had my eye on this game but to be honest with you, the thing that stops me pulling the trigger is the procedurally generated levels. Shmups live or die on their level design and I struggle to imagine how well everything can work without being deliberately and carefully crafted? Best of luck with the launch tho, mate. I always love to see new shmups do well x
banjoted wrote:Hey dude. I've had my eye on this game but to be honest with you, the thing that stops me pulling the trigger is the procedurally generated levels. Shmups live or die on their level design and I struggle to imagine how well everything can work without being deliberately and carefully crafted? Best of luck with the launch tho, mate. I always love to see new shmups do well x
Thanks for the well-wishes
I agree it's definitely not for everyone, but there is a demo if you're curious to see how it plays out. The levels are made of waves of enemies, and the waves are generated based on a few rules to attempt to make them interesting. I've had some good feedback about how the waves feel more hand-crafted than just random (but y'know - people are nice!)
banjoted wrote:Hey dude. I've had my eye on this game but to be honest with you, the thing that stops me pulling the trigger is the procedurally generated levels. Shmups live or die on their level design and I struggle to imagine how well everything can work without being deliberately and carefully crafted? Best of luck with the launch tho, mate. I always love to see new shmups do well x
I agree I am a larger fan of static, memorizer levels. I have an R-Type avatar, kinda says it all. But I played Steredenn, which is procedurally generated, and it works better than it has any right too (with no cheap sections as far as I could tell). I'm always up for people trying to push the genre forward. Best of luck to the OP.
I picked this up last night on Steam and am enjoying it so far. I know there are certain trade-offs that have to be made when you go with procedurally generated levels. Going into it I was worried about things like the levels being "too bland", but after the first couple stages I see where you mixed in some hazards like fire streaks, worms, and volcano boulders coming out of the ground which helped keep things interesting.
I only played about an hour and managed to get one clear, but my only complaints so far are trying to distinguish coins from some of the enemy bullets when the screen gets busy (I probably just need to get more used to it) and some of the bosses seems to be on the "tanky" side. I know the Dragon is one of the last stage bosses so it should be a longer fight than usual, but even with my shot upgraded to max power it felt like that fight went on longer than needed. This was with the "default" shot though, maybe once I unlock more powerful weapons down the road it will help offset that.
After reading the background in the ending credits and seeing this is your first game, I think you have done a good job. I myself lately have been getting burnt out on STG's to the point where most of them are starting to feel like "Memorizers" more than usual and this seems to be a nice change of pace.
UPDATE:
Played for a few more hours and unlocked all of the weapons. Having some leveled up damage-dealing passive abilities paired with a maxed out primary shot helped address the boss tankiness in the later stages so it feels right.
BloodHawk wrote:I picked this up last night on Steam and am enjoying it so far. I know there are certain trade-offs that have to be made when you go with procedurally generated levels. Going into it I was worried about things like the levels being "too bland", but after the first couple stages I see where you mixed in some hazards like fire streaks, worms, and volcano boulders coming out of the ground which helped keep things interesting.
I only played about an hour and managed to get one clear, but my only complaints so far are trying to distinguish coins from some of the enemy bullets when the screen gets busy (I probably just need to get more used to it) and some of the bosses seems to be on the "tanky" side. I know the Dragon is one of the last stage bosses so it should be a longer fight than usual, but even with my shot upgraded to max power it felt like that fight went on longer than needed. This was with the "default" shot though, maybe once I unlock more powerful weapons down the road it will help offset that.
After reading the background in the ending credits and seeing this is your first game, I think you have done a good job. I myself lately have been getting burnt out on STG's to the point where most of them are starting to feel like "Memorizers" more than usual and this seems to be a nice change of pace.
UPDATE:
Played for a few more hours and unlocked all of the weapons. Having some leveled up damage-dealing passive abilities paired with a maxed out primary shot helped address the boss tankiness in the later stages so it feels right.
Thanks for giving it a go!
I think I will err on the side of caution and reduce the boss health a little in later levels. There is always hard mode if it gets a bit too easy
Procedurally generated shmups can be a gamble, but it sounds like you've struck a good balance between keeping things fresh and offering that sweet, sweet STG challenge. BloodHawk's point about memorization burnout is real, so having a roguelike twist is a great way to mix things up.
For anyone on the fence, especially those who like their shmups on the go, this sounds like a great pick, particularly with the launch discount. I'll have to check out some gameplay footage to see how those procedurally generated levels hold up!
This Operation Steel stg title is a mere 229mb d/l (currently at v1.4.7) and runs at a silky-smooth 60fps framerate overall presentation -- looks great running on a OLED Switch setup. Leaderboard support seems to be local based only and not online (even if Switch's wi-fi is activated).
I see that the Steam version got a price match to coincide with the release of the Switch port of Operation Steel -- both at $9.99 usd (the Switch port is on sale for $7.99 usd right now and save $2.00 off of the initial regular asking price).
You, initially, start off with the "Cid Cobra" fightercraft and after spending some time with it, the locked "Pignon" fightercraft is unlocked to be used at your disposal. Collect coins dispensed within various stages to spend on upgrades in the shop type of deal.
You can pause the OS stg by simply pressing the "+" button on the right-side JoyCon, press button A to resume gameplay.
Button Y activates your main weapon while button X unleashes a devasting "Bomb" attack (I like the subtle nod towards Toaplan's Truxton's "bomb aplomb" visual nod/tribute when it's deployed). By releasing button Y, you automatically collect all coins, crystals & powerups in your general vincinty.
Up to eleven letters and numerals maximum can be entered at the Game Over screen and saved for posterity. Select "End" command prompt to register your high score initials with button A.
The more you play this OS stg, you'll unlock the "Plasma" weapon within a few sessions indeed (as indicated by a blue colored status bar shown on the Game Over screen -- when the status bar is filled up to the max on the right side portion, a new "unlocked" item becomes available at your disposal).
Upon destroying an end-stage boss, you can pick one of three items to best benefit you on the next stage (including "repair" which raises your health bar up a notch as you have three health bars altogether at the start of a new session, if maxed out at three bars, the "repair" option won't make an appearance period). This particular "three item selection" after a boss is defeated, is featured in the Crimson Clover stg also.
