Eden's Aegis and ver 0.50 is out!

[Observer]

Version 0.50 is finally up. Going to test it in a moment.

Gogogogo download now!

[MX7]

Awesome, downloading as I type. Vector downloads are sloooooooow

[MX7]

Right, just played a cheeky credit, and I can confirm it's pretty awesome. Stage 2 is, as expected, a rip-off of Mushihimisama 2's stage 2. And it's good fun. I didn't really sit up until stage 3 though, which is very manic, and has a lot of scoring potential to say the least. The boss is quite tough too: I tried to continue and was sent back to the start of the stage. Still it was my first go, and X.X games are, at least from past experience, notable for being very easy indeed, so I think when I suss the Mushi style bullet mazes I'll be awlright.

Given the seemingly exponential chaining system that this game offers, I can see some pretty high scores being achieved. Perhaps X.X should take this on board, and add another digit to the score to avoid an embarrassing counter-stop?

[kengou]

Looks like I have a new favorite PC shmup! Also the scoring system of Aegis is one my favorites ever, like a fantastic mix of ESPRaDe and Galuda.

[Kiken]

Strange... Windows recognizes my Otomedius Gorgeous stick (Hyper Stick Pro) but Eden's Aegis doesn't seem to. Is there a specific option buried somewhere to switch between keyboard and joystick?

[kengou]

Have you tried joy2key or xpadder?

[MX7]

Hmmmm, that would cause lots of slowdown though... Sometimes certain games just don't recognise certain joysticks Hopefully Version 1.0 will iron this out?

[ZOM]

heh finally gave it a go...NICE!
I also like the "put your own wallpaper" customization.

EDIT: hmm...A tate option would make this game perfect - I have to play it in a very tiny window since my monitor is in permanent-tate. Oh well, time to hook up the 32" HD panel.

[Observer]

Tried it. Got to Stage 4 boss in one credit and I have to say the game is very challenging in Original mode without being complete bullshit, requiring constant per-half-a-pixel precision moves, or filling the screen with simply unavoidable danmaku. You have to move, chain items and time the secondary shot to rack up hilariously huge amounts of changing numbers and arcadey noises for the eternal glory.

I appreciated the fact that you can change the colour of the items to something more subtle but I would've loved to change the bullet color too. I'm not much of a fan of purple/pink after Mushi and DDP DOJ.

I noticed the guy has improved a lot with the enemy and boss designs and the sprite of the 3rd boss is actually quite nice, although a bit confusing. Same thing for those damn trident/hand-like/Esp.Ra.De rip off bullets.

All in all, looking forward for the final release! I mean, this is free and already kicks just as much ass as commercial stuff.

x.x stuff and Stella Vanity (TLB right on Stage 2) are surely what could be defined as "Cave for PC". (and I'm still hoping for that de facto Ketsui doujin version...)

[Aru-san]

Aru-san turns off auto-guard in Eden's Aegis.

If I get hit, the item counter resets to ZERO. I might as well lose a life rather than get screwed over whilst not losing one.

Also, we should post up our custom wallpapers here if we make any! Hmmmm....

Aru-san steals the shmups Twitter backdrop.

Not to mention...you forgot to mention this news on the shmups Twitter.

[Raizen1984]

I like it. Really fun and heavily inspired by CAVE (hey, if you're gonna take something from someone to make a shmup, may as well be from them). Really hard too; having a hell of a time beating the 3rd stage.

[Mischief Maker]

Can someone explain the effect of the special shot on scoring?

[Observer]

The secondary shot IS the scoring system. You have to time it carefully, use it for everything. Hitting enemies with the secondary shot, like in Esp.Ra.De, will 'splash' the enemies, turning their bars and colour into blue (or whatever colour you pick if I'm not wrong) and when you kill them, all their bullets are cancelled for point items and you get a much higher score bonus for destroying the bigger enemies. You just have to make sure enemies are under this effect or when you own them, not only their bullets will stay on screen, you won't get any bonuses.

It's the usual risk/reward stuff: let them fill the screen with bullets, "wow, what a sight to behold", splash the crowd with the shot, fire, boom, cash in. Pretty numbers everywhere. In fact, the blue items are the only thing that adds to your score. And if you die in the middle of the stage... well, time to restart the game as dying resets your counter.

Bombing doesn't break the chain (tactical BOOMBARRR allowed?), turns all bullets on screen into point items, lasts quite a lot and, from what it seems, you should bomb at least that stupid third boss with everything you have. I can't believe I'm finding that one harder than the last boss.

edit: if there are any other quirks and tips to make our lives easier, they are more than welcomed. Especially the third boss. I think it's the trident/hand like bullets, which are also animated. That always gets me.

[Aru-san]

The secondary shot IS the scoring system. You have to time it carefully, use it for everything. Hitting enemies with the secondary shot, like in Esp.Ra.De, will 'splash' the enemies, turning their bars and colour into blue (or whatever colour you pick if I'm not wrong) and when you kill them, all their bullets are cancelled for point items and you get a much higher score bonus for destroying the bigger enemies. You just have to make sure enemies are under this effect or when you own them, not only their bullets will stay on screen, you won't get any bonuses.

It's the usual risk/reward stuff: let them fill the screen with bullets, "wow, what a sight to behold", splash the crowd with the shot, fire, boom, cash in. Pretty numbers everywhere. In fact, the blue items are the only thing that adds to your score. And if you die in the middle of the stage... well, time to restart the game as dying resets your counter.

Bombing doesn't break the chain (tactical BOOMBARRR allowed?), turns all bullets on screen into point items, lasts quite a lot and, from what it seems, you should bomb at least that stupid third boss with everything you have. I can't believe I'm finding that one harder than the last boss.

edit: if there are any other quirks and tips to make our lives easier, they are more than welcomed. Especially the third boss. I think it's the trident/hand like bullets, which are also animated. That always gets me.

Any comments and bug reports you may have about this game...feel free to post on his BBS. Judging from previous posts, he's probably okay with English posters, but more likely than not he runs things through a translator first before replying.

BBS posters UMBRA, xaoc, and Gao have been bug reporting this game, it seems.

[Observer]

Well, one bug I found is that the midi music tends to randomly not play. But that might have to do with my sound card so perhaps it's not a bug. Seems another person reported this too. Using mp3 might help this.

Thanks for the info. I might try posting there sooner or later. Hope they don't mind scary english.

[ZOM]

Yes, add another one with the midi playback problem. Strangely enough it *always* works if I do a retry...

[Observer]

Yes, add another one with the midi playback problem. Strangely enough it *always* works if I do a retry...

The problem with this is that if you select retry it won't save your high score and replay... So, for mistakes, it'll be better to select Title and start over. Maybe this is a bug too or intended?

[ZOM]

Nah the "not save stuff because of retry" is surely intended; like in Mushi.
The problem is that if I go back to title & then start the game anew, the music still doesn't work but if I select retry it always works. I hope this gets sorted out.

[Aru-san]

I just sent a message in Japanese to x.x Game Room's BBS.

［えーと．．．］ゲームページで、Eden's Aegisのバージョンをアップデートすることは忘れています。

（良くない日本語が申し訳ありませんが。）

［また．．．］時々、ゲーム中でＢＧＭを演奏しません。バグでしょうか？

[Uhmm...] on the game page, you forgot to update the Eden's Aegis version.

(Sorry for my not-so-good Japanese.)

[Also...] sometimes, the BGM won't play during the game. Could this be a bug?

And guess what? Looking at the comments, x.x Game Room's considering mp3 for version 1.00.
Fun Fact: this will also be the first Eden game to have mp3 playback.

If and when this support happens...I'm preparing my OSTs for the madness.

-----

In fact, the blue items are the only thing that adds to your score.

Not true. According to the manual (which I'm currently translating), enemies do give score. Here's the chart, according to the manual:

Regular enemies ----- Counter value x 10pts.
Mid-bosses --------- Counter value x 100pts.
Stage bosses ------- Counter x 200pts.

And if you die in the middle of the stage... well, time to restart the game as dying resets your counter.

True. In fact, when I die, I just stop playing for a little while.

Bombing doesn't break the chain (tactical BOOMBARRR allowed?), turns all bullets on screen into point items, lasts quite a lot and, from what it seems, you should bomb at least that stupid third boss with everything you have. I can't believe I'm finding that one harder than the last boss.

Also true. You're better off panic bombing than losing a life, though you may be too busy trying to score well and cancel a lot of bullets that you forget to bomb...and then it's over.

Yeah, I loathe the third boss so much...maybe x.x should swap the last boss with the third boss. Just a thought.

[fraggore]

the download on the vector site is down gutted

[clp]

downloading here as we speak

[Taylor]

I think I was going to bitch about the chain drop being too harsh but I don't think that even matters to me right now... Bloody 'ell this is difficult compared to other x.x games.

Love it, though.

[LtC]

Great stuff. Very glad that I no longer get huge frame rate drops in this version.

I keep ramming into things, I can't seem to figure out my hitbox or the enemy hitboxes. Also, damned forks. Maybe it's just me though since I haven't played anything for a while

Anyway difficulty and patterns are pretty interesting, specially lovin' stage 5. Otherwise it's way too easy since you get ridiculously many lives in this game so even with not so scoring runs you'll extend well over 10 times or something so it sort of ruins the challenge in it. I hope it gets changed in the final version.

Also stage 5 first boss seems to be kinda easy, way easier than most of the midbosses in the game, same with stage 4 boss' last pattern.

[Sandlegs]

how many points to extend in this game?

[kengou]

how many points to extend in this game?

First extend is 7 million. I generally get it right after killing the stage 2 boss. Not sure how quickly it's possible to get to, though.

Edit: Next extend is at 14 million, which I achieve in the middle of stage 3 (GREAT stage for scoring!). I think it's safe to assume that extends are every 7 million.

[Aru-san]

how many points to extend in this game?

First extend is 7 million, I believe. I generally get it right after killing the stage 2 boss. Not sure how quickly it's possible to get to, though. I don't know about any extends after the first one because I haven't played that well yet.

7 million points for every extend. Good players can max the remaining life counter to 9, which requires 49 million points if you can manage to 1LC your journey. Too bad that jerk of a 3rd boss will most likely spoil it.

[Observer]

how many points to extend in this game?

First extend is 7 million, I believe. I generally get it right after killing the stage 2 boss. Not sure how quickly it's possible to get to, though. I don't know about any extends after the first one because I haven't played that well yet.

7 million points for every extend. Good players can max the remaining life counter to 9, which requires 49 million points if you can manage to 1LC your journey. Too bad that jerk of a 3rd boss will most likely spoil it.

You could try your luck and save ALL the bombs (the three by default+three bombs collected up to stage 3) to bomb the fuck out of her (triggering two per pattern should guarantee to breeze like the cheapest chap through this boss battle, hooray for lame tactics!) and then trying to get to the last boss with the remaining two bombs that lie around for panic-bombing/peace of mind.

I think the main problem with this boss isn't the patterns per se but the stupid animated bullets and the trident ones (which are just as bad as the supernatural hands from Esp.Ra.De), which also caused me a lot of pain in Mushi. They keep pulsating and meld a bit with the background so it's confusing to see what the hell is coming until the tip of one touched the hitbox and, blam, we go to the other thread about losing the life stock to share our despair.

[LtC]

how many points to extend in this game?

First extend is 7 million, I believe. I generally get it right after killing the stage 2 boss. Not sure how quickly it's possible to get to, though. I don't know about any extends after the first one because I haven't played that well yet.

7 million points for every extend. Good players can max the remaining life counter to 9, which requires 49 million points if you can manage to 1LC your journey. Too bad that jerk of a 3rd boss will most likely spoil it.

I bet you can get like 10 extends in stage 5 alone, you get ridiculous amount of the score multiplier items in the beginning so I guess you'll be getting +200k (or even more) per popcorn enemy near the end of the stage.

With this scoring system I suppose if you want to play ideally you should use all your bombs each stage and suicide in the beginning of the next stage for max score. I really hope the scoring or at least the extend system will get changed in the final version.

[Aru-san]

I bet you can get like 10 extends in stage 5 alone, you get ridiculous amount of the score multiplier items in the beginning so I guess you'll be getting +200k (or even more) per popcorn enemy near the end of the stage.

With that said, I won't be surprised if the guys over on x.x's BBS haven't broken 100 million points on Original Mode. If that's the case, then Heaven will, of course, have crap scores because less bullets = less points. On the other hand, Hell Mode will have large scores around 200-300 million if done properly.

With this scoring system I suppose if you want to play ideally you should use all your bombs each stage and suicide in the beginning of the next stage for max score. I really hope the scoring or at least the extend system will get changed in the final version.

The extend system could use a lot of work in this game. Maybe he can set it back to the old formula of two score extends only (with different score requirements, of course) or he can raise up the current extend settings (original mode give an extend per 12 million instead of 7 million). I really hope he fixes this extend situation on the final release, though.

[MX7]

Anyone else got the fixed extend on the ST3 midboss? I think you need to destroy the two parts of its body using the B shot before destroying the main body using the B shot. I can't work out if you can bomb or autobomb during this, but I know if you mess up, you can suicide, a la Dai Ou Jou. Even then, I've only ever got it once