New Heavy Metal Scrolling Shooter

[evanlctr]

Thought you guys might dig this: My band has been working on a video-game concept album for quite some time now with indie developer, Tom Vine and pixel artist Francis Coulombe. Both do amazing work in the indie game scene. Tom has even had his games "Plasma Warrior" and "Paroxysm" noted by 1up, indiegames.com and several other sites as some of the best indie platformers. After a ton of work and absolute determination to make this crazy idea a reality you can finally play the first stage/song of "Level 2" the interactive concept album. The game is a dual stick shooter/platformer in which the music and lyrics are directly linked to the gameplay. Check it out lastchancetoreason.wordpress.com




The music is Progressive metal with big focus on futuristic sounds, wild harmonies and polyrhythms. It features a blend of both clean and harsh vocals. If you dig the band or the game and want to support the project you can pick up "Level 2" the album, which was just released through Prosthetic records (home of Lamb of God, All That Remains, Animals as Leaders, Scale the Summit, Gojira and more). If you want to support this project visit LCTR's merch store, the only funding for the game comes from the band. http://www.shopbenchmark.com/lastchancetoreason

[Ghegs]

The pixel art is pretty damn nifty and the game could be fun but holy crap it runs bad on my computer. I mean really, really bad. Like 10 frames per second bad. Why, I don't know. It's not like this computer tends to choke at something like this and it greatly exceeds the recommended system requirements. And yes, I do have the latest DirectX installed.

What I could play of the game it looked decent enough. Switching between flying around and suddenly having to deal with gravity again was a bit weird, but not unpleasant. Will certainly give it another shot if it's ever updated to run properly.

[evanlctr]

I recently experienced something similar on a computer that is WAAAAAAY more powerful than required. Not sure what the deal was. If you get a chance to try it on a different pc please do. The only other thing I could recommend is re-installing or installing directx (possibly an older version).

[Krimzon Kitzune]

Runs fabulous on my end, and holy cow, this game is AMAZING. I've just played this demo five times over.

Now, this is what caravan shmups are supposed to be like! I will be buying this once I get the opportunity to do so, the very first chance I get. Will this game/album be available in retail stores?

[evanlctr]

We're trying to find a publisher or some kind of support for finishing and releasing the game. The album just came out April 12th and should be available in most retail outlets. It's also available through itunes, amazon and all that jazz.

amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Level-2-Last-Chan ... 693&sr=8-1
itunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/level-2/id425469519

[TodayIsForgotten]

You guys are pretty good. The slow singing parts remind me of Gruvis Malt and im waiting for the lounge breakdowns...only there are none (:

[Aconcit]

Hey I'm a prog nut and really enjoyed it. The music syncs perfectly with the various objects and events (The singing along head really got me). I think I'm sold, good work.

[evanlctr]

Thanks guys!
Todayisforgotten: That's cool you heard some Gruvis Malt in there, not many people have heard of them it seems. They're actually one of our big influences!

[mice]

Just awesome!
And the singing heads are sooo nice!

[Observer]

Ah, the joys of surreal awesome PC gaming! Consoles? Pads? Those are for sissies! We play with the keyboard and the mouse! I think it's a mix of a run 'n' gun with some STG touches. Definitely awesome. You guys get this on Steam and you'll trump the competition, the platform is really lacking on the shooter department.

Now I'm tempted to buy one of those limited packs from the site... Good lord, I need a job right now this goes on my top priority list. "Now it's personal." *insert more 80's action movie one liners*

Hell, I'm not even fan of harsh vocals and such but they are well placed here. The sound is top notch as well. Zero complaints on the musical side, you guys rock.

Also, the enemy designs truly reminded me of the Strogg from Quake. Gotta love those nasty cyber-fleshy demons. The laser weapon feels like you are out there in hell, purifying existence! Awesome.

Now some technical info: it ran like a charm here. It ran slowly during a couple of seconds on the first boot but then it began working properly.

But, yeah, see if you guys can put this on Steam or even make a small, limited retail version along with the album (some sort of super-special thingie, we love that kind of stuff here, lol).

edit: I forgot to mention this, don't you even think about DRM... NEVER EVER. In fact, if a retail version is coming, it would be nice to have it DRM free. The least I want is another Zeit2 with 3-4 songs at most and TAGES infecting my system...

[Udderdude]

Rant time!

The sprite work is good but the monotone color scheme starts to get really boring. Everything just starts to look like a giant mess of blue and purple.

There's way too much random screen clutter with objects all over the place that have no effect on the game but just get in the way. Sometimes falling rocks, explosions, etc. completely obscure the player.

Way too many cinematic 'Screen shaking while random explosions happen' events. There's also way too much dead time when the player doesn't have anything to do. I can understand this is to fit with the music, but the player should have something to do at almost all times.

The transition from flying to jumping is far too abrupt and the player is given no clue when it's about to happen, or even that it happened (aside from the player suddenly helplessly falling). Some transformation in the player's appearance would help a lot here. There also doesn't seem to be any reason the player should die when hitting the bottom of the screen in jumping mode.

The parts with the giant heads shooting enemies was boring as you can just sit in one place and mow them all down, jumping over platforms occasionally.

About the only part I really liked was the boss at the end. Reminds me of something from Contra Hard Corps.

I honestly didn't even think the music matched the visuals that well. Maybe it was all the purple. :P

I'm not sure what's up with the ending but it seemed kind of sudden, it fades out and you can still see crap coming from the bottom of the screen (Seems unfinished)

I recorded my first attempt at playing and hopefully you can see some of the issues I pointed out : http://rydia.net/udder/!crap/level2runC.avi

Also, you should read this: http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=36231

[TodayIsForgotten]

Thanks guys!
Todayisforgotten: That's cool you heard some Gruvis Malt in there, not many people have heard of them it seems. They're actually one of our big influences!

I wasn't expecting this response but I was expecting you to know of them. They were a great band that unfortunately never took off.
There is another band that sings like this and I just can't place it (heavier band).

I can also tell there are meshuggah like guitar influences on the quarter notes of the up and downbeats of sections. Probably some dream theater influences in there as well. A few other influences but i can't place my finger on who at the moment.

As for the game its not bad. I do agree with udderdude but i also don't think this is suppose to be a full-fledged polished game. If they do decide to take it to steam - I would expect a lot of what udderdude responded with to go into consideration.

[evanlctr]

Awesome- thanks for all the feedback here guys. We definitely need this kind of criticism working on the final game. We're naturally our own worst critics so most of the complaints are not a surprise. Right now we're just hoping to drum up enough buzz with the album and the demo to gauge interest in the game and figure out exactly what our next step is. It'd be a dream come true to bring this together as a full-fledged steam game. Anyone know how to get Gabe Newell on the phone?

[Udderdude]

Call up Valve and disguise yourself as a Krispy Kreme delivery guy .. >_>

[Observer]

Or tell them the game will feature a free Heavy Metal hat for the Heavy in TF2, as well as a Portal 2 "metal plating" for the two robots or something. That could work too, also boost up the sales a whole damn lot and maybe in turn convert some people to both STGs and heavy metal at the same time!

And please check this: http://www.steampowered.com/steamworks/ ... tarted.php

And this: http://www.valvesoftware.com/contact/

There you can also find all the info on how it works.

Don't forget to check Gamersgate if you plan on a digital DRM free release.

Good luck with this! In the meantime, I'll see if I can save up to get one of those nifty packs.

[rancid3000]

The sprite work is good but the monotone color scheme starts to get really boring. Everything just starts to look like a giant mess of blue and purple.

There's way too much random screen clutter with objects all over the place that have no effect on the game but just get in the way. Sometimes falling rocks, explosions, etc. completely obscure the player.

I definitely agree with this. I have trouble telling what is in the foreground and background at times. So I just wind up shooting everything.

The transition from flying to jumping is far too abrupt and the player is given no clue when it's about to happen, or even that it happened (aside from the player suddenly helplessly falling). Some transformation in the player's appearance would help a lot here. There also doesn't seem to be any reason the player should die when hitting the bottom of the screen in jumping mode.

I also had trouble with this and wound up dying a few times from it. I'm actually in a Contra mood lately but I feel like there were way too many parts where you would die if you didn't know what was coming next.

The parts with the giant heads shooting enemies was boring as you can just sit in one place and mow them all down, jumping over platforms occasionally.

This was pretty easy buy I liked how the heads were singing the lyrics.

Overall I really enjoyed it. The way I see it is that this is a game to acompany the music and I think you guys did a very good job with it. If the goal is for it to be a full fledged game with precise controls then you have some more work to do.

I also really liked the music. I normally listen to punk and hardcore along the lines of A Wilhelm Scream, Strung Out, Bane, Pulling Teeth and BAd Religion. The only metal I listen to is Municipal Waste really but lately I've been really into Between the Buried and Me. No I know absolutely nothing about metal let alone prog metal but I think your band fit with my current Between the Buried and Me phase.

I look forward to the full game and buying the album.

[evanlctr]

Thanks again for all the feedback guys.
Observer- thanks for the links, they shall be put to good use.

rancid3000- We get compared to BTBAM quite a bit which is really an honor since they're such an important and awesome band in the prog scene. We actually have worked with the same producer, Jamie King, on our last two releases.

[captpain]

People are still doing the devil growly voice metal shit? I guess a lot of folks haven't gotten over 7th grade, but it's the year 2011. Oh well. BTW, the game is a cluttered mess and holds no value gameplay-wise as either a shmup or a platformer. Nice sprite art, sometimes. If that matters.

[TodayIsForgotten]

People are still doing the devil growly voice metal shit? I guess a lot of folks haven't gotten over 7th grade, but it's the year 2011. Oh well. BTW, the game is a cluttered mess and holds no value gameplay-wise as either a shmup or a platformer. Nice sprite art, sometimes. If that matters.

jesus christ man. angst much? (: I thought it was a cool idea for an album. Keep in mind its a concept game for an album. I wouldn't expect it to be gold.

[Siren2011]

People are still doing the devil growly voice metal shit?

Totally, man. That stuff is retarded. Second only to Fred Durst in the "trying too hard to be hardcore, yet coming off as a joke" realm of music.

[rancid3000]

People are still doing the devil growly voice metal shit?

Totally, man. That stuff is retarded. Second only to Fred Durst in the "trying too hard to be hardcore, yet coming off as a joke" realm of music.

It took me a long time to get used. Kind of like Dodonpachi DOJ =P

Most of the bands I listen to I can at least make out what they are saying since they aren't so cookie monster like. I'm really into Between the Buried and Me now and I liked their music a lot but their semi cookie monster vocals always bothered me. Once I sat down and listened to the album while reading the lyrics I loved the deep vocals. So yea, much better when you actually know or care about what they are saying.

Also this is prog-metal so I don't the vocals are too indecipherable. For that you would have to listen to some death metal or maybe some Norwegian black metal.

[Drum]

Pros:
Some nice pixel art
I like mouse-and-keyboard platform-shooters and am glad to see another one.
Synching up the animations of the disembodied heads with the lyrics was rad

Cons:
A lot of the time it is impossible to tell what is a threat and what isn't until it is hitting you, and sometimes not even when it's hitting you. Make a clear delineation between background and foreground objects. I guess audio cues for hits are out of the question as the music is supposed to be the star, but something visual would be good.
Transitions between free-flying and platformer sections not immediately clear. Character needs some sort of jet exhaust or something. In the back of my head I am kind of bothered by the lack of explanation for the transition too - if the flying sections were falling sections, it would kinda make sense but that's not the case. It's kinda higgeldy piggeldy.

[rancid3000]

Thanks again for all the feedback guys.
Observer- thanks for the links, they shall be put to good use.

rancid3000- We get compared to BTBAM quite a bit which is really an honor since they're such an important and awesome band in the prog scene. We actually have worked with the same producer, Jamie King, on our last two releases.

I can definitely see that. You guys seem to use more synth, vocal effects and other atmosphere-y sounds than BTBAM. I like it though.

[AntiFritz]

People are still doing the devil growly voice metal shit? I guess a lot of folks haven't gotten over 7th grade, but it's the year 2011. Oh well. BTW, the game is a cluttered mess and holds no value gameplay-wise as either a shmup or a platformer. Nice sprite art, sometimes. If that matters.

Just because you dont like it doesnt mean others don't. Don't be so singleminded.

[evanlctr]

Observer- can you tell me more about Gamer's Gate? They have actually already contacted us about wanting to distribute the game.

[TrevHead (TVR)]

I played this a few days ago with a mouse and keyboard as it plays like Konjak's Chalk game. As a shmup in its own right is isnt that great but as a concept albumn it works really really well as everything synched and working together really made an enjoyable experience and much better then if ild of just listened to the music on its own. If you want to make the concept albumn into somthing more like a shmup that us guys here are into then check out videos of Cave's games especially DDP DFK plus Yotsubane's Crimson Clover on Original and Unlimited Mode. Both these games have that action packed over the top art style and game play.

Im looking forward to buying the full albumn if you guys ever release it

[Observer]

I like how the boss kind of dances with the music too. The album is already out if I'm not wrong?

As for you, guys, I would take some of the advises listed here. One thing was done perfectly: the game has no inertia. Good start. It needs a clearer visual damage feedback to know when to move away from threats.

Gamersgate is a service based on Europe (so it's pretty fairly priced for them) and accepts several types of payments, including PayPal. I bought Zeit2 here when it was on a sale. This game requires Steam to run but you could have a separate, DRM free version along with a proper Steam releases (you might get asked if the game will include achievements or leaderboards, those can still be added later on/post release anyway, as well as patching/updating and getting feedback from the game's forum).

It's a fairly solid service, although nowhere near as big as Steam but, in turn, it means the publishing of a game is slightly easier (and faster, Valve can take its fair share of time to reply).

The FAQ holds most answers: http://www.gamersgate.com/info/faq

The delivery methods, as I mentioned, vary heavily from game to game. Some are DRM free and just download the installer, some come completely locked out with DRM (I think a Visual Novel I wanted to buy had SecuROM, one of the worst! Really, you don't do that to a Visual Novel...), others might require Steam or other 3rd party programs. That info is usually displayed on the game page so the user is warned before buying.

There is also the, now Gamestop owned, service Impulse: http://www.impulsedriven.com/

It defaults to my local currency and is based in America so it might be useful as well. I didn't try (I will the minute I get a stable job, which should hopefully be way sooner than later) but it looks neat too. Like Steam, it seems that it requires some sort of 3rd party program to run the stuff.

Good luck and looking forward to try the full game!

[Ghegs]

If you want to make the concept albumn into somthing more like a shmup that us guys here are into then check out videos of Cave's games especially DDP DFK plus Yotsubane's Crimson Clover on Original and Unlimited Mode.

Disclaimer: Not everybody on shmups.com are into Cave and bulletspam. Fuck yeah for more Forgotten Worlds-type of games, there's not nearly enough of those.

[mice]

Lots of scary comments here.
This is an experience more than a game.
The color scheme is superb. Don't change a thing.

[TrevHead (TVR)]

^^ You might have a point there Ghegs, I didnt make myself clear enough as I too wouldnt want the game to become just another bullet hell shmup, but I certainly think ideas can be taken from those games to help turn things up to 11 without resorting to using a million bullets all at once