Satazius (Astro Port)

[captain ahar]

Couple questions, I enjoyed this game quite a bit, but never beat it:

1) Obviously this game cribs from Gradius A LOT, but does it also loop for more difficult fun-ness?
2) Does anyone know if they will be keeping up on the patches through Steam? Wondering how much of a pain it will be to keep the game up-to-date...

[Iori Branford]

UPDATE: Just because i'm quite damn nice i tested it for you, The game will launch without steam on, I can confirm you it's totally DRM free, Go buy it, It's lots of fun.

Just don't run it with the "desktop shortcut" Steam creates, which is really a Steam command and not a true .exe shortcut.

[Ghegs]

@captain ahar

1) There are no loops. Clearing Normal difficulty unlocks Hard, clearing Hard unlocks Insane. You can even creditfeed to unlock the harder difficulties.

2) There's only been one patch for Satazius, which fixed a problem with saving your score after clearing the final stage. I don't know if this has been included in the Steam release (I would assume it has), but I don't think there'll be any more patches.

[bsidwell]

It seems more like Darius than Gradius to me -- or the first stage does, anyway. I haven't gotten around to the rest yet.

[Moniker]

It seems more like Darius than Gradius to me -- or the first stage does, anyway. I haven't gotten around to the rest yet.

I'd say it's sort of a mash-up. The game is full of Gradius-esque environmental level design, but the weapons and their effect on enemies are more reminiscent of Darius - bigger spread, less need for positioning while shooting, and so forth.

[NZA]

My only gripe is not having any options for resolution. I'm reduced to using windowed mode in order to really see every bit of the screen.

[GenkiPatton]

Hi guys!

Seon from Nyu Media here. After a flying start by Steam and GamersGate, SATAZIUS officially releases today and will be rolling out across Direct2Drive Impulse, GameTap and the Capcom Store.

I wanted to drop in to say hi and a huge thanks for all the support from so many people on this board. The initial comments on this thread actually contributed to our decision to work with ASTRO PORT (great guys, btw!) and this title, so we owe that to Shmups posters too. THANK YOU!!

Of course, I'll be happy to answer any questions if anyone has any?

Cheers!

GenkiPatton aka (Seon King @ Nyu Media)

[MathU]

Of course, I'll be happy to answer any questions if anyone has any?

Just so we're absolutely super clear, this game has no DRM, right?

[GenkiPatton]

Of course, I'll be happy to answer any questions if anyone has any?

Just so we're absolutely super clear, this game has no DRM, right?

Capcom is making the call on DRM and I understand that it will vary depending distributor. I haven't got final confirmation of what applies to each distributor, but I can confirm there has never been any SecuROM on Steam - there was a typo on the product page to that effect, but it has since been fixed.

[Estebang]

As I mentioned before, that typo could have very well cost you hundreds of sales, from people who immediately disregarded their purchase after seeing the DRM notice and never checked the game again. These mistakes cannot be repeated with future releases...I'd rather not sound harsh, but this is crucial to the futures of both your company and the doujin creators.

If you're taking suggestions: Have you looked at Crimzon Clover and Gigantic Army? These are both designed on a professional level, have wide appeal and would be great candidates for Steam releases.

[Moniker]

A localized Hellsinker would be something grand too.

[GenkiPatton]

...that typo could have very well cost you hundreds of sales

You're absolutely right and we're fervently hoping that isn't the case.

If you're taking suggestions...

Always!

Have you looked at Crimzon Clover and Gigantic Army?

I'm pretty sure that the Yotsubane guys said that they were already working on localizing Crimzon Clover with someone else when we (very briefly) chatted at C80. I'll take another look at that.
Incidentally, we're really excited to see how GARUKILLA turns out - it looks like a maSHMUP (did you see what I did there?) of Crimson Clover and Reign of Fire. That could be amazing!

Gigantic Army is definitely not available for us to work on. I'm still gutted about that... If that doesn't pan out for whatever reason, we'll be over it like white on rice.

A localized Hellsinker would be something grand too.

We looked at this for the first slate, but passed it over in the end. I'll put it back on the table for our second slate.

Thanks for the suggestions - they are always welcome!

[Uzumakijl]

Well, If you guys were able to localize Hellsinker i'm pretty sure everybody here would give the game a deeper try, also, it would make the game even more popular since it's one of the most meaty doujin STGs out there.

I'm mostly interested in Crimson Clover but it's nice to hear it is getting a localization somewhere else.

I would like to ask if Nyu Media has plans on localizing and getting more games on steam, I would buy and recommend every single one of them.

Also... Will the games ever get some "extra"?, It would be really nice to have leaderboards in the games and this shouldn't be that hard to implement with SteamWorks.

[GenkiPatton]

I would like to ask if Nyu Media has plans on localizing and getting more games on steam, I would buy and recommend every single one of them.

Thanks for the support!! Listing on Steam is decided by the Steam guys on a case-by-case basis, but we would like to have every single one of them on there!

Will the games ever get some "extra"?, It would be really nice to have leaderboards in the games and this shouldn't be that hard to implement with SteamWorks.

Funnily enough, I actually answered pretty much exactly the same on the Steam forum earlier, so I'll copy & paste my response below:

We discussed implementing some kind of added value to Satazius with ASTRO PORT, but it would have taken a very long time, given that the game wasn’t built with that in mind and at the time ASTRO PORT weren’t familiar with Steamworks, etc. We’ll continue to look at adding these types of features to future releases wherever possible. On a related note, out of our current slate, Ether Vapor Remaster has online leaderboards and Fighting Fairy (working title) has achievements and leaderboards – please check them out!

[Observer]

As a suggestion, for the love of god, please keep Fairy Bloom Freesia as the original title... And, yep, I echo the sentiment and hopefully the SecuROM terror-mistake won't happen again, heh. But other than that, no complaints, congratulations on bringing more awesome doujin titles to Steam!

[GenkiPatton]

(Getting off topic for a moment...)

As a suggestion, for the love of god, please keep Fairy Bloom Freesia as the original title...

As we see it, the rationale for changing the name (i.e. making it relevant to players of the genre who aren't aware of what the game is) is far more compelling than any reason we can come up with for keeping the name (sentimentality?) We're open to being convinced otherwise, but changing just seems like the better option to help the game get out there and sell.

Anyhow, we will open up a forum on our a website soon and anyone will be welcome to pitch in on the decision.

congratulations on bringing more awesome doujin titles to Steam!

Thanks!!

Edited to remove ugly quote flub.

[Estebang]

As we see it, the rationale for changing the name (i.e. making it relevant to players of the genre who aren't aware of what the game is) is far more compelling than any reason we can come up with for keeping the name (sentimentality?) We're open to being convinced otherwise, but changing just seems like the better option to help the game get out there and sell.

While I would never compare you guys to XS Games, this is the same train of thought that led to abysmal localization jobs like Mobile Light Force. Wouldn't an oddball, girly-sounding title attract more attention than something that sounds like a generic iPhone game? What's so important about customers knowing exactly what the game is about the instant they read the title, anyway? This is the internet; a wealth of screenshots and videos are immediately available to anyone considering a purchase, and I'll bet the average Steam customer spends more than thirty seconds deliberating them. Would R-Type have been more successful if it was called "Alien Space Shooter?" I think it would have had the opposite effect.

[GenkiPatton]

Wouldn't an oddball, girly-sounding title attract more attention than something that sounds like a generic iPhone game? What's so important about customers knowing exactly what the game is about the instant they read the title, anyway? This is the internet; a wealth of screenshots and videos are immediately available to anyone considering a purchase, and I'll bet the average Steam customer spends more than thirty seconds deliberating them. Would R-Type have been more successful if it was called "Alien Space Shooter?" I think it would have had the opposite effect.

Just to clarify, Fighting Fairy is just a working title - it won't be the actual title, either way.

Fair points and agreed, a generic iPhone game name would be terrible and it doesn't have to describe exactly what's in the game - that really isn't what we have in mind. Having said that, it does need to attract the *right* kind of attention, i.e. it shouldn't put off people who will like the game and shouldn't mislead people into thinking its a 'Flower' or a cutesy platformer.

Likely, it's going to come down to us having the right (not necessarily 'say what it is') title and presenting the game correctly to help the people who will enjoy it, but are coming to it cold, understand what it is.

[Observer]

It's not sentimentality. Chantelise or Recettear changed to Running Girl and Store Seller doesn't sound that compelling either. EGS plays a lot with the game titles. Well, I'm still wondering if Territoire has a mix of names too.

I could admit something like Rockin' Android changing QUALIA to QLIONE due to some crazy licensing problem with Qualia being already registered all over. No really big tragedy there. If that's the case here too, then so be it.

Hanasaki ka yousei Freesia is the japanese title. Blooming of Freesia could be an approximate title. But japanese is such a bloody language where 70-85% is NOT said and you have to infer it... Yousei is the equivalent of a fairy in japanese, right? You would be effectively eliminating the main character name out of the title and the whole meaning behind. It's been a while since I played the game but doesn't this go from Freesia being a careless or happy-true-la-la fairy in the Rita Forest (or that's what I read, "Rita no Mori") until things get serious business? The whole blooming must be some sort of reference to the RPGish levelling system as well. It kind of brings HanaSAKU Iroha to my mind too, another one treading this whole "transition" theme. Or Ano Hana. So much "hana" in japanese, heh.

Picture if Alan Wake would've been called "Running guy in the forest" or Max Payne (which is a whole english word game) was "Angry cop shooting".

One middle ground solution would be to call it Freesia, the fighting fairy. Or Fighting Fairy Freesia. There you have it, triple F! Marketing Master Engage! That kind of solution that usually creates two sides, lol, but it's better than fusillading the original title entirely when it was already in some sort of "english" (heh).

Ok, enough off topic. Looking forward to see suggestions forum!

As for how to present it, titles aside, a nice trailer showing Freesia punching the hell out of everything while double jumping and using those fairy wings to punch even MORE, now that attracts gazes! Luckily, Edelweiss put out some nifty effects in their games.

[GenkiPatton]

One middle ground solution would be to call it Freesia, the fighting fairy. Or Fighting Fairy Freesia. There you have it, triple F! Marketing Master Engage! That kind of solution that usually creates two sides, lol, but it's better than fusillading the original title entirely when it was already in some sort of "english" (heh).

As for how to present it, titles aside, a nice trailer showing Freesia punching the hell out of everything while double jumping and using those fairy wings to punch even MORE, now that attracts gazes! Luckily, Edelweiss put out some nifty effects in their games.

All great input, thanks and yes, if ever a game warranted a punchy trailer, this would be the one

We'll get that forum up this week - come drop in later, please!

[Jeneki]

Or Fighting Fairy Freesia. There you have it, triple F!

I think F3 is already taken by a hentai.

[JGcontraman]

This game is an awesome throwback... It was really hard to find this game without paying for it. :X I may think of buying a retail verison in the future but I'm pretty broke ass right now after buying a 3DS especially. DEFINITELY a game worth buying though. Don't waste hours trying to pirate this game if you got the money!

[Remembrance]

Final Fight is rising in profile again, isn't it?

Call it Fairy Fight, then since you're already working with Capcom get them to agree to market it as a spinoff.

Can a roster spot in Marvel vs. Capcom 4 be far behind???

[GenkiPatton]

Final Fight is rising in profile again, isn't it?

Call it Fairy Fight, then since you're already working with Capcom get them to agree to market it as a spinoff.

Can a roster spot in Marvel vs. Capcom 4 be far behind???

Interesting ideas, but it's not the same kind of beat 'em up as FF and while Capcom is publishing, it's not a Capcom title, so there won't be any mixing of brands.

Ta

[Estebang]

It's pretty obvious that Remembrance was joking, Genki.

[GenkiPatton]

It's pretty obvious that Remembrance was joking, Genki.

Ah, thanks. That helps me tune in on the Shmups forum SOH

[Uzumakijl]

Wait wait wait wait, just saw this on steam forums

Is anyone interested in Crimson Clover?

Did something change from this?..

I'm pretty sure that the Yotsubane guys said that they were already working on localizing Crimzon Clover with someone else when we (very briefly) chatted at C80. I'll take another look at that.

Because if it is what i'm thinking... OH GOD DO IT PLEASE I'LL BUY AND GIFT 10 COPIES TO MY BUDDIES AND RECOMMEND IT EVERYWHERE /Hype (On steam, But i would still buy it retail)

[GenkiPatton]

Wait wait wait wait, just saw this on steam forums

Did something change from this?..

Sorry, no change! Just polling the Steam forums for a second opinion.

[TheSoundofRed]

After picking up and thoroughly enjoying Satazius, I'm really looking forward to the future titles you guys decide to localize.

I'm guessing it would of been a nightmare to try and add 1920x1200 fullscreen support? I don't mind the resolution of the game, just the obnoxious black bars on each side. Fullscreen mode with wallpapers would of been more inline with what we've come to expect from STG releases. Minor gripe though. Keep up the good work!

[GenkiPatton]

Hi TSoR,

Thanks for the support and really happy to hear you're enjoying SATAZIUS!!

Sorry, 1920x1200 is a bit rich for the shmups on our current slate but JFYI the eXceed games will support up to 1200x900 and Ether Vapor Remaster with go up to 1600x1200.