Sektori (Steam / Switch 2 / PS5 / Xbox)

[gimblll]

About Steam Deck, yeah it "should" work. But I only have the lowest spec device, not the OLED one so I'm not 100% about everything. So many weird pieces of hardware and only one me. And yeah, I tried to make it support any aspect ratio from 4:3 to as wide as you want, but again I have limited hardware to test anything.

In 4:3 the menu screens (esp. leaderboards) are not really respecting overscan/safe areas and are going a bit wide. In-game should be fine.

About Switch. I did try port to Switch 1, but the CPU was just too lowspec for me to make it to 60fps with reasonable effort. Esp. as most of the CPU time goes into Unity overhead which I have very little control over. And then Switch 2 devkits aren't yet available to devs like me, so I can't really do anything about that.

Also, how does the strike combo mechanic work? I get doing the combo with the second ship, but is it possible to do it with the default ship? Just strike bonus pads and keep going?

The key is the free strike reload when striking tokens. So strike tokens and pads in sequence, and you'll get it going. If you strike without getting a free reload, the strike combo is usually over.

[MJR]

I finally had a go at this myself on sunday, and it is super delicious. Thankfully others think so as well, so no one should suspect me of bias

Funny thing happened though, for the little time I played, I was so focused and tense, and probably locked in a silly position, that as a result of playing I got a very notable cramp on my legs and thighs - nearly fell down when I stood up from the chair. I don't remember when was the last time a game had made me do that

[it290]

I finally had a go at this myself on sunday, and it is super delicious. Thankfully others think so as well, so no one should suspect me of bias

Funny thing happened though, for the little time I played, I was so focused and tense, and probably locked in a silly position, that as a result of playing I got a very notable cramp on my legs and thighs - nearly fell down when I stood up from the chair. I don't remember when was the last time a game had made me do that

This game definitely does a number mentally/physically! After playing for a while I was seeing little golden triangles after closing my eyes. The super contrasty graphics are what give the game its visual appeal but they're also rough on the eyes. I might have to dial back the contrast/brightness on my TV a bit when I play this.

[guigui]

About Switch. I did try port to Switch 1, but the CPU was just too lowspec for me to make it to 60fps with reasonable effort. Esp. as most of the CPU time goes into Unity overhead which I have very little control over. And then Switch 2 devkits aren't yet available to devs like me, so I can't really do anything about that.

Thank you for the input gimblll. Shame about Switch 1 port, but this was predictable. Maybe consider trying to port to Switch 2 when possible ? NSW2 is already compatible with most NSW1 shmups, so better make the shmup console continue living through its successor.

[it290]

The key is the free strike reload when striking tokens. So strike tokens and pads in sequence, and you'll get it going. If you strike without getting a free reload, the strike combo is usually over.

Thanks for the tip, gimbill! One thought about the game balance—I think it would be preferable to just lose a shield if you happen to get caught out in one of the red zones rather than an instant game over, which feels too punishing. I've had many a run end because I boosted a little too far at the wrong time, or because I didn't notice the red immediately and my ship was too slow to make it out in time. It's also rather difficult to see the red when the rainbow powerup is active, particularly because the floor is already red at that time. Maybe it should be a different color at that point?

[Nugs]

Only had time to play an hour of this last night, definitely a "just one more run" type of game.
Could only get to the fourth world of the campaign on the lowest difficulty so definitely not going to breeze through it.
Plus the added tactics with the upgrades and decks.
I only had a quick look at all the extra modes.
Think this will be one of those games that is permanently installed, I can see this eating a lot of my time.

Works and looks great on the Xbox Ally X as well.

[gimblll]

Thank you for the input gimblll. Shame about Switch 1 port, but this was predictable. Maybe consider trying to port to Switch 2 when possible ? NSW2 is already compatible with most NSW1 shmups, so better make the shmup console continue living through its successor.

Definitely will try to do a Switch 2 port if/when I get my hands on the devkit in the future. When that future is though, I have no idea.

Thanks for the tip, gimbill! One thought about the game balance—I think it would be preferable to just lose a shield if you happen to get caught out in one of the red zones rather than an instant game over, which feels too punishing. I've had many a run end because I boosted a little too far at the wrong time, or because I didn't notice the red immediately and my ship was too slow to make it out in time. It's also rather difficult to see the red when the rainbow powerup is active, particularly because the floor is already red at that time. Maybe it should be a different color at that point?

Yeah, it's a bit of a controversial design. I personally like it, so I don't think I'll change it. There are also practical reasons, like if you would only lose one shield, I would have to teleport you back to a safe spot and that is really disorienting and feels bad (or let you fly in the out-of-bounds area, which is even worse). Then you would need to reorient to the situation really fast and so on. And yeah, definitely more dangerous in when Rainbow Mode is activated, I need to see if I can bring some additional clarity when that is active.

[Nugs]

Played some more last night and at the end of a 30+ minute run my eyes were dry because I don't think I blinked for a long time.
Very intense. Very good.
Well done gimblll.

[Steven]

Got this last night (yeah, I know I'm always a week or two or three or eight late to the party) and played it for about 90 minutes. Was concerned about visibility before playing but it actually is fine. I have long lamented the lack of my beloved Super Stardust HD (or Ultra I guess) on PC, but now I think I feel better about its absence. Excellent game, and best new game of the year, most likely.

Might test Steam Deck OLED battery life out of curiosity, but for now it looks like it runs at 90 FPS flawlessly at all times, even 30+ minutes into the game with a giant glorious mess of stuff all over the place.

[repoman]

I like it but the difficulty spikes are a bit much at times. I finished the campaign mode on the easiest setting but it took a real effort and I was reasonably competitive on the Geometry Wars 3 leaderboards back in the day.

I can see it discouraging a lot of casual players.

But, at the same time, it's gorgeous and plays well.

[m.sniffles.esq]

the difficulty spikes are a bit much at times.

I concur, but...

I'm firmly a difficulty ramp person (as I've probably said on this board over my 10 accounts a few hundred times), and feel like the sculpting of a good difficultly ramp is kind of an art unto itself. But I also realize I'm probably a minority nowadays.

I began to realize this a few years ago when perusing user reviews of various games and couldn't help but noticing the frequency of seeing 'bitch-slap' as a positive ("I thought I was doing real good, then 'blank' boss COMPLETELY bitch-slapped me. It was awesome!") while at the same time, noticing comments about other games not delivering enough challenge quickly enough ("the first two stages are a complete joke. The third stage is okay, but things don't get really challenging until the fourth") with the same frequency.

In other words, that thing I thought was good? Well, most people think it's bad now.

So yeah, I think there's some pretty outrageous difficulty spikes. But, I've also accepted that most people regard them as awesome.

[Some-Mist]

Spent 4 hours playing today, and I got addicted

Made it to stage 5 in experience mode and haven’t made a dent in the leaderboard (in the 400s )

Game rules

[Nugs]

Spent 4 hours playing today, and I got addicted

Made it to stage 5 in experience mode and haven’t made a dent in the leaderboard (in the 400s )

Game rules

You really have to prioritise keeping the strike combo going if you want to score well.

[BulletMagnet]

Kotaku's Indie of the Week.

[it290]

Thank you for the input gimblll. Shame about Switch 1 port, but this was predictable. Maybe consider trying to port to Switch 2 when possible ? NSW2 is already compatible with most NSW1 shmups, so better make the shmup console continue living through its successor.

Definitely will try to do a Switch 2 port if/when I get my hands on the devkit in the future. When that future is though, I have no idea.

Thanks for the tip, gimbill! One thought about the game balance—I think it would be preferable to just lose a shield if you happen to get caught out in one of the red zones rather than an instant game over, which feels too punishing. I've had many a run end because I boosted a little too far at the wrong time, or because I didn't notice the red immediately and my ship was too slow to make it out in time. It's also rather difficult to see the red when the rainbow powerup is active, particularly because the floor is already red at that time. Maybe it should be a different color at that point?

Yeah, it's a bit of a controversial design. I personally like it, so I don't think I'll change it. There are also practical reasons, like if you would only lose one shield, I would have to teleport you back to a safe spot and that is really disorienting and feels bad (or let you fly in the out-of-bounds area, which is even worse). Then you would need to reorient to the situation really fast and so on. And yeah, definitely more dangerous in when Rainbow Mode is activated, I need to see if I can bring some additional clarity when that is active.

Maybe blue background + red? That would probably work well.

[it290]

I like it but the difficulty spikes are a bit much at times. I finished the campaign mode on the easiest setting but it took a real effort and I was reasonably competitive on the Geometry Wars 3 leaderboards back in the day.

I can see it discouraging a lot of casual players.

But, at the same time, it's gorgeous and plays well.

I didn't find there to be any real spikes. Each level has its challenges but they are pretty predictable and there are multiple strategies to deal with them. Nothing smacks you in the ass. Probably the harder thing to deal with is the randomization of bosses on each run. Some of them are a real bitch. I find it kind of amazing that I'm consistently better at this game than my friend who has multiple #1s on the leaderboards of various games I've introduced him to. I'm not OCD with gaming at all but this one settles into the groove perfectly.

[Zaarock]

I've been putting a lot of time into this and really love the game. Not sure yet if high score chasing will hold up super well long term with the stage randomness but everything else is just spot on. There's a ton of modes overall to play similar to Geometry Wars so it's kind of a winner regardless.
The difficulty spikes between stages (new nasty enemies, new bosses..) remind me of arcade scrolling shmups more than anything and the run duration matches (30-40min) so it's a perfect fit if you're a shmup head and also into twin-sticks. So certainly this forum...

There's a really big jump between all three difficulty modes. Though as an in-between you can play Arcade runs where you discard the roguelike card system element which lowers the power and max shields you can gain.

I beat the Revolution difficulty with two of the three ships so far, this is really challenging and up there with some of the hardest shmup 1CC:s I've ever gotten (especially with the Defier ship). Challenge difficulty is around the easier end of arcade shmup 1CCs (think one of the easier Cave games), and Experience is a good starting point for anyone being accessible for most people. There's a very high skill ceiling for 'survival clears' here and if you play a mode slightly outside your comfort zone it's engaging immediately from Stage 1.

I think people just aren't used to seeing a twin-stick game like this be so challenging (depending on the mode) while also having arcade-structured half an hour long runs where in 'normal' shmups it's obvious/commonplace. But there's nothing preventing a twin-stick being made more in line with arcade shmups, someone had the balls to do it and here we are. It's designed well and holds up. Definitely gets near bullshit levels at a few points in the highest difficulty but overcoming a bit of that is part of the charm in any super difficult game IMO, you have quite a few tools on your end with the player ships & card system available to fight back on top of just player skill.

VERY important note about the gradius powerup system: using any powerup reloads your dash instantly, so it's not purely an UI button. This gives reasons to pick a powerup you werent aiming to activate in a tight spot and is an interesting evolution on the system.

If you get past Challenge mode the final difficulty does add some new elements and surprising changes, it's worth a look and isn't just a throwaway difficulty slider adjustment. Same goes for Experience & Challenge or the three player ships which play quite differently.

PC has a 1.0.1 beta build which gets rid of the colored floor during Rainbow mode by default, should be on consoles within a couple weeks from what I hear. Also adds a manual fire button for controller which can make the 3rd player ship more comfortable to use.

[MJR]

I am actually progressing in this game, even though I felt I was like total crap in the beginning. Once I got the full build the easiest difficulty level started to feel.. easy. But the last boss still roflstomped me, like bosses tend to do.

[it290]

VERY important note about the gradius powerup system: using any powerup reloads your dash instantly, so it's not purely an UI button. This gives reasons to pick a powerup you werent aiming to activate in a tight spot and is an interesting evolution on the system.

Thanks for this tip! I don't think the game tells you this anywhere and this is definitely super useful info.

[Zaarock]

VERY important note about the gradius powerup system: using any powerup reloads your dash instantly, so it's not purely an UI button. This gives reasons to pick a powerup you werent aiming to activate in a tight spot and is an interesting evolution on the system.

Thanks for this tip! I don't think the game tells you this anywhere and this is definitely super useful info.

It is mentioned in one of the hints you can see on game over but that's silly for such a core mechanic. Your dash also reloads if you take a hit. You can use one of those two to recover your strike chain if it's about to drop and you're going for score for example.

On the 2nd ship you can start using the 'score' upgrade to reload your triple dash once you feel like you've gathered enough firepower. That ship can chain single strikes for multiplier after 3 strike upgrades, but that forces you on a strict timing and is far worse for survival than triples so has its own risk/reward.

[beer gas canister]

shoutout to gimbll for his appearance on The Secret Lives of Games https://eggplant.show/150-making-it-gre ... en-sektori

[jandrogo]

Awesome game! Really addictive and fun… great work @gimblll

In 4:3 the menu screens (esp. leaderboards) are not really respecting overscan/safe areas and are going a bit wide. In-game should be fine.

I tried 640x480 resolution and seems the texts have something wrong with transparencies, because the text background color shows some kind of alpha or tint. 1280x960 seems to not have this issue.

It looks like Minter with a smidgen of slickness. I'm down
Unfortunately, my geforce 1030 isn't...

I am running it flawlessly in an i5 12400 and a geforce 1030 (at 1920x1080 and 60hz thought) in win11

[AGermanArtist]

Just got this. Pretty great. I was a little apprehensive about picking it up, because I remember Super Stardust HD taking almost 90 mins of play to get to a level where it would feel challenging, which was kinda off-putting. This definitely isn't that.

[m.sniffles.esq]

Just got this. Pretty great. I was a little apprehensive about picking it up, because I remember Super Stardust HD taking almost 90 mins of play to get to a level where it would feel challenging, which was kinda off-putting. This definitely isn't that.

No, this game kills the shit out of you early and often

I am running it flawlessly in an i5 12400 and a geforce 1030 (at 1920x1080 and 60hz thought) in win11

Since the 1030 was under the minimum recommendation, I held off (Steam has become jerks about returns in the past couple years, so I've pivoted to a 'when in doubt, don't buy' stance with them). It's fine, as I needed an excuse to hook up the xbox anyway

[gimblll]

I tried 640x480 resolution and seems the texts have something wrong with transparencies, because the text background color shows some kind of alpha or tint.

Yeah the fonts start breaking down a bit at really low resolutions (Unity's font system isn't that great), I've tried to make it better on the coming 1.0.1 patch but the lowest I truly "support" is the Steam Deck's 1280x800.

Also, about the system requirements. I actually have no idea what the minimum requirement truly is as I really have no practical way of testing that, I just put 1050 TI there as that's what I have and it seems to run it easy on at least 1080p/60hz.

[beer gas canister]

1050 TI... so it would run on the Switch 2 just fine then...

There's really no competitor in the Switch library, this would do numbers for sure

[m.sniffles.esq]

Ars Technica names Sektori one of the best of the year

(not too shabby seeing they did a "best rougelike-lites in recent memory" article like two weeks ago and it wasn't mentioned. That's a pretty big impression in a short period of time)

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Playing the Steam port of Sektori and battling against random end-stage bosses sure keeps me on my toes. It still hands me my ass as the tension factor never decreases. Plays awesome on a dedicated 4:3 LCD monitor setup with 640 x 480p format.

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A Switch 1 port of Sektori (assuming if it could be heavily optimized to run at a consistent 60fps framerate presentation) would be ace, especially on a Switch 1 Oled setup.

The Switch stg title of Shinorubi from dev team "Last Boss 88" still has a dreaded 30fps framerate issue to contend with despite no 60fps framerate patch/upgrade in sight, especially in the 2025/2026 timeline -- it is what it is.

The Switch stg title of Pawrumi originally came shipped with a 30fps framerate presentation and the dev team worked on it for an entire year to get it to run at a silky-smooth 60fps framerate presentation (they released the 60fps patch "free of charge" a whole year later upon it's initial debut on the Switch gaming platform and mentioned the extreme difficulties in getting Pawrumi to run at the ideal 60fps benchmark/target but they managed to pull off the impossible with it) -- it certainly does play better with the upgraded framerate indeed.
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PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Some-Mist]

finally got the challenge difficulty clear with redeemer at around 34 hours of time played. based on my time played the past month, the game is still wildly fun

[beer gas canister]

this game is amazing and i've been recommending it to every gamer i know. jeez