Vampire Rage - XBL Indie - 80 pts

[Afterbirth]

I would suggest a scanlines option - just to give it that arcade look.

[Observer]

Agreed on the scanlines.

Xbox Live Indie games can have achievements and such? I know that stuff tends to attract people not too fond to shooters just for the hell of trying to unlock them. Perhaps adding that to the PC release will attract some extra people. But that's fluff more than anything else.

Game-wise, maybe an Extra/Phantasm Stage ala Touhou (maybe with different names) plus, if it isn't already, an Arrange Mode with heavier/denser barrages and/or with different scoring mechanics (more aimed to those who cleared the game and want a whole new, crazier take on the game), that kind of stuff.

Vampire Rage Black Label! Hopefully, putting updates, adding or fixing stuff should be easier and they give a forum for the game too.

Either way, good luck with this!

[Square King]

I would say keep it as simple as possible on XBLIG and add a few more options as needed/requested if you can get VR on Steam.

Looks great! I'll definitely pick it up. Just don't pull a Duality on us.

[Klatrymadon]

Aye, this is really impressive stuff. I'll be checking it out, for sure. Best of luck with it, tricktale!

[E. Randy Dupre]

Xbox Live Indie games can have achievements and such?

Nope, they're retail/XBLA only.

[Matsunaga]

It's out. #1 problem: No arcade stick support! Please add that and a button config. The scoring system isn't too hard to figure out. It's kinda short, only 4 levels.

[Afterbirth]

Only REALLY minor gripes.

1...You can skip the intro but not the minor tutorial (its very small though - about 10 seconds)

2..."Soul Returns" for want of a better word - they're huge and can obscure the playing field.
Also....what do they do? They return to you but for what reason?

3...Hit boxes appear quite large, although this is somewhat voided the fact you can see large unblockable bullets. You've just got to remember the AI that fires them.

================

Other then that its very nice. 5 stars from me. Sure its small but RAGE mode is quite hard.
The score system, whilst simple and used before, works very well.

The great thing is that I'm not sure if theres an ideal score path in there because its all about timing - firstly allowing more shots to spawn (which is not uncommon) but moreso the direction their moving at at the time they're "sword struck".
The framerate is rock solid too.

I love the fact the "smart" bomb is guided. Kinda ironic.

A no brainer really and a nice Xbox indie Danmaku.

[Square King]

Woo! Currently #1 for normal. Let's see how long that lasts.

[Kyle]

It's out. #1 problem: No arcade stick support! Please add that and a button config.

+1. My 360 is inside a cab. No dpad support = can't move. Fix this and you'll get my monies.

[system11]

Woo! Currently #1 for normal. Let's see how long that lasts.

What's your GT? I'm seeing my scores from last night still at the top 4 places.

[system11]

I think I've played it enough to give an opinion now.

I really like it, the sword mechanic works. I did think maybe it would be better if the sword charged rather than needing a sudden influx to get a bomb, but that would remove the timing aspect, which is useful for increasing score. The frame rate is excellent throughout, I think I saw maybe one or two dropped frames across a whole playthrough of Rage mode (I've reached the boss final pattern in Rage but not yet beat it). Point by point suggestions and improvements (I realise it's unlikely that you'll put significant changes in, so bear these in mind for future titles):

1) Graphics are still 200x better than anything I can draw, but the stills in the intro/etc could do with being a bit better. Backgrounds could do with being a bit more varied instead of many repeated tiles - it gives the player a visual cue to help them memorise the levels and plan attacks more easily. Add a few more frames of animation for the player sprite banking left/right - but remember this should be visual only and not affect the current speed or immediacy of movement.

2) Music could do with being a little more up-tempo in game. I love the title screen/score chart tune though and the boss one is good.

3) Controls - slow button is pretty much useless - since the controls are analogue you can move slowly anyway, and the concentrated fire is something I found myself using frequently, which also slows you down. D pad support would be nice, then slow might be useful. Not sure how arcade stick players plan to aim their bombs though so maybe this is a moot point, I can't see how you'd support that. I like the bomb aiming!

4) High score chart needs to be separate for normal/rage modes, or if this is a limitation of XBL Indie games, you could always cheat and filter it to present different score tables.

5) A couple more levels would be nice! I was surprised when I reached the end the first time.

6) Gameplay tweaks - perhaps bombs should still require an influx of bullets, but allow the player to release them manually. This might be by design, it might make the game too easy to max out in scoring, I don't know. Did you try that during development? I wasn't able to trigger the bomb at all in Normal mode as there aren't enough bullets - again was that by design?

7) Features - lots of players really like being able to save replays, especially if they can share them - not sure if that's possible within Indie titles. Just being able to replay your last game would be nice as it helps people make video playthroughs without having to record every single attempt. Allow players to turn down the screen shaking - it didn't bother me but other people seemed to not like it as much.

I look forward to your next game based on this one - nice work!

[Sined]

Good shmup

Vampire Rage reminds me Shoot 1UP (some ennemies, big plasma) ...it's a little bit strange

About Online Ranking, surely better to make the hightest score appear that all scores from the same player.

[system11]

Yeah - that Tempest GT is me. I kind of spammed the score charts a bit. Just retaken the #1 spot but I don't imagine it will last for long

[Matsunaga]

I think I was the first one to buy it, there were no other scores but mine on the charts.

[Square King]

Yeah, I'm F1fthLogic up there. Like I said, didn't last long at #1. I'll have to keep trying on Rage.

Great game! Dig it a lot.

[tricktale]

Hi all,

Thanks for checking the game out.

Thanks for the detailed post bloodflowers, it's really appreciated.

I responded to Afterbirth on another forum, but I'll post here for others to see.

Only REALLY minor gripes.

1...You can skip the intro but not the minor tutorial (its very small though - about 10 seconds)

2..."Soul Returns" for want of a better word - they're huge and can obscure the playing field.
Also....what do they do? They return to you but for what reason?

3...Hit boxes appear quite large, although this is somewhat voided the fact you can see large unblockable bullets. You've just got to remember the AI that fires them.

================

Other then that its very nice. 5 stars from me. Sure its small but RAGE mode is quite hard.
The score system, whilst simple and used before, works very well.

The great thing is that I'm not sure if theres an ideal score path in there because its all about timing - firstly allowing more shots to spawn (which is not uncommon) but moreso the direction their moving at at the time they're "sword struck".
The framerate is rock solid too.

I love the fact the "smart" bomb is guided. Kinda ironic.

A no brainer really and a nice Xbox indie Danmaku.

We'll definitely continue to make bigger and better shooters. We have two sequels planned already for Vampire Rage. We've got too many ideas to stop now

To answer your questions:

1/ That's a good point.

2/ We call them blood orbs . They are just a visual thing. I'll see what I can do.

3/ I'm going to place some sort of animation in to show when larger non-returnable projectiles are about to fire.


Apologies to everyone that's trying to use a stick with the game. At the moment in-game responds to analogue only, but stick support will be in for the first patch, which will be up ASAP.


There are already a few other issues that are already planned for the first patch:

1/ Allow only one highest entry per player into the online scoreboard.
2/ Split the highscores into seperate Normal / Rage boards.
3/ Not distributing scores between players over live if they are in-game. This can cause the game to lag briefly.

Toby.

[Matsunaga]

Can you make the d-pad also control movement? I would like to use my stick.

[Klatrymadon]

I've only had time for one little go, but I noticed the Live leaderboard looked exactly the same as the Local one, for me (i.e. only showing my own first attempt). I have a Gold account, too. Am I doing something wrong?

Seems like an excellent game so far, anyway.

[tricktale]

I've only had time for one little go, but I noticed the Live leaderboard looked exactly the same as the Local one, for me (i.e. only showing my own first attempt). I have a Gold account, too. Am I doing something wrong?

Seems like an excellent game so far, anyway.

Thanks Klatrymadon

No you're not doing anything wrong. It's the way the highscore sharing works. It's peer - peer, so you will share highscores with other players that are playing the game at the same time. It's not ideal and doesn't work as well as a dedicated server, but unfortunately it's pretty much the best solution us xblig developers have to work with at the moment.

Toby.

[tricktale]

Can you make the d-pad also control movement? I would like to use my stick.

Yes, the D-Pad will work for movement after the patch as well as a stick

Toby.

[Matsunaga]

Can you make the d-pad also control movement? I would like to use my stick.

Yes, the D-Pad will work for movement after the patch as well as a stick

Toby.

Awesome, thanks.

[emphatic]

Yes, the D-Pad will work for movement after the patch as well as a stick

Toby.

Awesome. This was a deal-breaker for me.

[Kyle]

Can you make the d-pad also control movement? I would like to use my stick.

Yes, the D-Pad will work for movement after the patch as well as a stick

Toby.

Thanks for the quick response on this! Please let us know once it is available.

[iluvmonsterz]

ditto to the above statement!!

[Rozyrg]

Definitely one of the better Indies I've played.

Still, I have to agree with some of the previous posts:

-I don't really care for the unskippable tutorial either (especially if I'm going back to level 1 *every* time.)
-I agree the music could be more up-tempo, too; but it's still pretty epic as it is, so I can't really complain.
-Graphics are quite nice in-game; but outside of it, definitely less so (the title and game over screens are slick, however)

Other issues:

-I love the sfx... except for the one used for the main shot. Ew.
-I can't really explain this very well; but VR has this weird 'slow' quality I've seen in a few other homebrew shmups recently. Rage difficulty improves the overall pace a bit, though. Probably just my own taste.
- the unblockable purple sawblades. I HATE them. Especially when I'm stuck in a corner and have to eat one point blank. They really ought to be the most visible thing on the screen, too.
- speaking of that, ground enemies are really bad about letting off a big burst (and/or a sawblade) right before they leave the screen. If I have to do a quick cleanup after killing some larger enemies, this almost always spells certain doom for Mr. Vampire Guy. I never can tell if something just slipped through the sword's path or it ended too soon to deflect it or what.

Hopefully I'm not coming off as too negative, just my thoughts after playing this a decent amount this afternoon. It really is encouraging to see something of this quality on XBLIG.

[FIL]

I bought this last night, quite impressed by it. The brooding grimdark protagonist and sword swinging remind me of Homura a little.

I agree with the purple things, I hate them so much.

[2dvertical]

There is no reason to not get this game for an effin dollar.

[tricktale]

Thanks for the detailed post Rozyrg. It really helps us to make the game (and sequel) better with all of the suggestions that are being made.

There is no reason to not get this game for an effin dollar.

Thanks We really hope a lot of people agree with you.

The boxart will change in the first patch as well as it's getting a really bad rep over at Destructoid. We just hope it doesn't discourage too many people from trying the game before it's changed.

Toby.

[TodayIsForgotten]

I'll chime in and say as well, that this is a very nice little game.

Skipping the tutorial would be nice. Those purple things aren't so bad once you understand their mechanic and how to stop them.

Really enjoyed what i played so far. Got pretty far into 3 on rage.

[DJ Incompetent]

@TodayIsForgotten

Lemmie know if you knock out my score. Play Rage only. I dunno how well the leaderboards update because it says I'm #1. I'm pretty sure you can't let that happen.

You beat me yet in Retrofit Overload?