BlastZone 2 - 2D/3D shmup for Steam and Android

[EagleEye]

Hey guys! I wanted you all to know that BlastZone 2 is now available for Steam and Android! This game is the culmination of 8 years of blood, sweat, and tears and I hope you guys like it! I look forward to any feedback and there are free demos to try out.

The website is: http://www.BlastZone2.com
Trailer link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XbzsCBblfs

BlastZone 2 is a fast paced shmup that uses 2D controls but has several 3D gameplay elements. One of the big standout features for this game I think is online multiplayer. All the tests I've done over the internet show that it works very well and has very low latency. Local multiplayer is supported as well, with options for keyboard, gamepad, and mouse controls.

Here is a list of features for the game:

-2D controls, but with hazards moving around in full 3D space
-An 8 level cinematic campaign
-A Classic gamemode that plays similar to the original BlastZone, but with numerous improvements
-Survival mode to go for the high score
-Blitz mode, start with a fully powered ship to take out massive amounts of enemies, moreso than any other game mode
-Cooperative multiplayer support for all game modes, both local and online
-Difficulty levels designed for new players up to genre veterans so everyone can have fun
-4 unique game play environments
-7 selectable ships, each with vastly different play styles and weapon loadouts, including fast light ships, heavy weapon ships, and close quarters melee ships
-15 weapon types and including beams, power bolts, cluster grenades, and a force field
-Hundreds of different enemy types, each with different behaviors and stats
-A Turbo mode for most of the game modes modes for hardcore gamers
-An online leaderboard to see how you stack up against the competition

Steam Store Page:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/349260

Google Player Android Store Page:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... BlastZone2

And here are a few screenshots and videos:
http://www.blastzone2.com/screenshots/bz2screen5.jpg

Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XbzsCBblfs

Gameplay walkthrough:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zI-nUbhep8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqUAEQeeQrc

I hope you guys enjoy the game and I would greatly appreciate any feedback!

-Matt (Lead Developer)

[BPzeBanshee]

I recommend you make good and appropriate use of this thread, along with the forum it resides in. Just looking at the trailer reveals there's been a lot of good thought put into the fancy 3D graphics and not a lot into what irritates players, the specifics of which you can find in Development here.

[EagleEye]

Hey guys, I'm bumping this post because my game BlastZone 2 has been released on Steam!

You can find it here:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/349260/

There is a free demo here:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/349620/
or if you prefer a direct download without steam:
http://www.blastzone2.com/downloads/Bla ... taller.exe

All that said, thank you BPzeBanshee for linking me to that thread. I've looked through every point on there and the vast majority of them aren't an issue with my game. The big one that BlastZone 2 does have is a health bar. I think the game is fun to play even with it, but I could understand why people wouldn't like it. I may look into adding a "hardcore" difficulty to address this.

I would be very grateful if anyone could try out my game and give me some feedback on it. I am open to any constructive criticism and I value the critique of this community much more than any other for my game.

For reference, the shmups I've played the most over the years and had the greatest influence on the design of my game are The Guardian Legend (the most by far), Ikaruga, and Ether Vapor.

Thanks guys and I look forward to any feedback!

[EagleEye]

While this is an old thread that I revived to highlight recent developments, it seems this may be better suited for the "development" section. Could a moderator move this thread to that section? I could just create a new thread there, but I don't want to clutter up the forum with duplicate threads.

[BPzeBanshee]

If it's released and not considered WIP anymore it belongs here. That way you'll get more feedback.

[DoomsDave]

How did you bypass greenlight and go straight to the steam store?

[FRO]

I am waiting delivery on an Android set-top box, and am wondering if the Android release of this has controller support ala Ouya? I'm actually getting a Matricom G-box Q, but you can pair a PS3 or Xbox 360 controller (or any Bluetooth controller, really) to it, and now that the Ouya market is available on other devices, I'll be scoping out a few shmups that are available for it. This looks like it might be kind of fun, so it might be worth a download, if it has controller support.

[EagleEye]

If it's released and not considered WIP anymore it belongs here. That way you'll get more feedback.

Okay great, thanks for clearing that up. I wasn't sure how to interpret your previous post. Anyway, while the game isn't WIP anymore, I am open to reworking portions of the game if the feedback here compels me to do so. The goal here is to have the shmup people really want to play

How did you bypass greenlight and go straight to the steam store?

I did go through Greenlight, and the process took about 2 and a half years to pass. I realize now it would have been smarter for me to post the Greenlight information here when I first entered my game though. Here is the url if you're curious: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/f ... d=93865956

I am waiting delivery on an Android set-top box, and am wondering if the Android release of this has controller support ala Ouya? I'm actually getting a Matricom G-box Q, but you can pair a PS3 or Xbox 360 controller (or any Bluetooth controller, really) to it, and now that the Ouya market is available on other devices, I'll be scoping out a few shmups that are available for it. This looks like it might be kind of fun, so it might be worth a download, if it has controller support.

The android version of BlastZone 2 doesn't have official controller support yet, unfortunately. However, I have seen people with the NVidia shield get their controller working anyway by mapping touch locations. Also, I recently purchased a bluetooth gamepad for my android device and I plan to add official controller support in the very near future.

Thanks for your feedback!

[arcadehero]

I noticed this pop up on Steam the other day. Looks interesting, I will have to check it out sometime soon.

[EagleEye]

Hey guys, I just released a new update to the Android version of BlastZone 2. This update includes several improvements such as better sound quality, graphics improvements, updated level designs, and Moga bluetooth gamepad support.

@FRO: Thanks for your interest in trying out BlastZone 2 on your new set top box. I've been working hard on getting gamepad support working on Android and as mentioned above, it works with Moga branded gamepads now. I've also spent a lot of time working on general gamepad support, which should work on devices like the Ouya and it's about 90% complete now. Unfortunately, I don't currently have a test device that works with the generic gamepad api, only a Moga gamepad that requires its own specialized API. I'll be able to obtain one soon to get it working.


I'd also like to note that there is a Steam version update to be released within the next few days that adds Steamworks Multiplayer support. The game already has directIP support for internet multiplayer, but Steamworks will be much more convenient for connecting with friends. I've noticed that very few shmups support internet play, so I hope people enjoy this.

[EagleEye]

Hey guys! I just wanted to let you all know that I've released a huge update for BlastZone 2! It adds 9 new weapons to the game for a total of 15. I reworked the weapon loadouts for all the ships in the game, which greatly diversifies the gameplay styles of each ship. Some examples are short range power bursts and cluster grenade shots for melee fighters, and high speed machineguns for the light fast ships.

I encourage everyone to try it out and let me know what you think! The update has been released for both the Steam and Android versions. The demo versions have also been updated to include some of this new content to try it out.

Here are a few videos illustrating the new features in this update:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqUAEQeeQrc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zI-nUbhep8