Astro Port did it again! This looks like the spiritual successor of Gigantic Army.
http://www.interq.or.jp/saturn/takuhama/ss.html
Steel Strider
Re: Steel Strider
Awesome. Most anticipated game of 2013 right there.
No matter how good a game is, somebody will always hate it. No matter how bad a game is, somebody will always love it.
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Re: Steel Strider
Hell yes. Gigantic Army remains one of my favourite games ever, I'd hoped they would return to the mecha sidescrolling subgenre.
Check out the inventory bar, looks like you can carry a lot more gear than GA's one primary + special weapon. I wonder if they'll go more for a Leynos 2 gear unlocking + customisation angle. That laser sight looks badass, and useful.
Interestingly, the player mech resembles one of GA's enemy units, and that appears to be a giant version of GA's Saladin mech in the second pic down, right side.
Train stage in bottom right!
Check out the inventory bar, looks like you can carry a lot more gear than GA's one primary + special weapon. I wonder if they'll go more for a Leynos 2 gear unlocking + customisation angle. That laser sight looks badass, and useful.
Interestingly, the player mech resembles one of GA's enemy units, and that appears to be a giant version of GA's Saladin mech in the second pic down, right side.
Train stage in bottom right!
光あふれる 未来もとめて, whoa~oh ♫
[THE MIRAGE OF MIND] Metal Black ST [THE JUSTICE MASSACRE] Gun.Smoke ST [STAB & STOMP]
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MommysBestGames
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Re: Steel Strider
Giant bladed wheel train thing... huge mechs in 2D.. I love it! Good stuff in GA, this is looking very cool!
Making a run 'n' gun with a transforming grappling hook: ChainStaff. Also made a shmup with multi-ships: Shoot 1UP DX, and more .
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hermit crab
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Re: Steel Strider
Played through the trial... cool game. Is the full version available yet or just this demo?
Make a missile snap a bone gristle.
Re: Steel Strider
STEEL BONER
Will be checkin this 2NITE
Will be checkin this 2NITE
光あふれる 未来もとめて, whoa~oh ♫
[THE MIRAGE OF MIND] Metal Black ST [THE JUSTICE MASSACRE] Gun.Smoke ST [STAB & STOMP]
Re: Steel Strider
I'm...actually a tad disappointed. I was not expecting they'd use a control method like this. You can now control the aiming with the mouse while moving the mech with WASD or arrow keys. It's still possible to use a pad, but since mouse is much more accurate and fast there's little point to. And you can't aim in one direction while walking towards another with a pad without firing at the same time. Weapons have limited ammunition now, except the starter peashooter and the very powerful energy blade, so you don't want to waste them needlessly. With mouse controls you can. For the record, you can't use a 360 controller and have the second analog stick handle the aiming.
Oh, and about the weapons - you can only choose the next or previous weapon, you can't jump directly into the one you want. You only have four weapons in the trial, but with a max. amount of eight in the full game I'd much appreciate the possibility to go right into the one I need without having to scroll through half of them.
The control method isn't necessarily a bad thing, I just personally don't like controlling 2D games with WASD + mouse as much. I'd prefer to use my Saturn pad, and I was expecting Steel Strider to be more like Gigantic Army in that regard.
Speaking of. The first stage, which we see in the trial, wasn't as fun as GA's equivalent. Most of the action takes place in an underground bunker, so it's a lot of similar hallways and green boxes, and no cool battle happening in the background. Kinda boring, visually at least. And a pet peeve of mine makes an appearance, the "lock the player into a room until he defeats all the enemies, then the door into the next room magically opens" -feature. It wasn't a one-time occurrence either. I really don't like those, and there was none of them in GA.
There are two boss fights which are decent enough, even if they are near carbon copies of certain Contra and/or Metal Slug bosses.
This is actually a very different game from GA in many regards. There's no dashing or shield either, and not much that makes me feel I'm controlling a mech. Unfortunately, the trial seems to have lowered my expectations for the game.
Oh, and about the weapons - you can only choose the next or previous weapon, you can't jump directly into the one you want. You only have four weapons in the trial, but with a max. amount of eight in the full game I'd much appreciate the possibility to go right into the one I need without having to scroll through half of them.
The control method isn't necessarily a bad thing, I just personally don't like controlling 2D games with WASD + mouse as much. I'd prefer to use my Saturn pad, and I was expecting Steel Strider to be more like Gigantic Army in that regard.
Speaking of. The first stage, which we see in the trial, wasn't as fun as GA's equivalent. Most of the action takes place in an underground bunker, so it's a lot of similar hallways and green boxes, and no cool battle happening in the background. Kinda boring, visually at least. And a pet peeve of mine makes an appearance, the "lock the player into a room until he defeats all the enemies, then the door into the next room magically opens" -feature. It wasn't a one-time occurrence either. I really don't like those, and there was none of them in GA.
There are two boss fights which are decent enough, even if they are near carbon copies of certain Contra and/or Metal Slug bosses.
This is actually a very different game from GA in many regards. There's no dashing or shield either, and not much that makes me feel I'm controlling a mech. Unfortunately, the trial seems to have lowered my expectations for the game.
No matter how good a game is, somebody will always hate it. No matter how bad a game is, somebody will always love it.
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hermit crab
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Re: Steel Strider
I used an Xbox 360 pad, the analogue stick... worked well. Don't like Abuse-style keyboard+mouse combos either.
Make a missile snap a bone gristle.
Re: Steel Strider
Just burnt two hours clearing Insane without continues (went straight into it - as usual with Astro Port, "Insane" means "Gamer"). Overall, had a blast, and definitely looking forward to buying the retail version. There are a few caveats, though. It's certainly not Gigantic Army 2, for mostly positive reasons.
+ Digging the KBM controls and dedicated melee button. I'd hate to play something ultra-quick and precise like Ninja Gaiden this way, but being able to target and maneuver independently is perfect for mecha sidescrolling's heavier-handling action. I also like that it's not some lame Flash "click to kill" system - you still need to compensate according to the chosen weapon and the target's position+movement, or you'll miss by a mile. Like GA's pilebunker, the sword is both a risky power attack and a quick and dirty response to nearby threats, but having its own button and wider arcing range makes SS more of a genuine gun+sword affair.
+ I found the new enemies more interesting than GA's effective but limited roster. The Metal Slug 3 bomber bugs that are a death sentence to attack with the sword, the Metroid-imported dashing floaters, the airborne mines that'll spot you and aggressively dive, and the flying bombers that are lethal if shot down carelessly. Also liked how not only can suicide bomber-type enemies set off chain reactions if close enough to each other upon death, but they'll also kill other enemy types (try letting a flying bomber hit a blue melee mech in the cargo elevator). There also seemed to be way more large enemy types onscreen simultaneously even in this early stage - the canyon battle is excellent.
+/- Having the full GA arsenal available is cool and useful, and managing their ammo creates a stronger incentive to make shots count and sword-slash where possible. As Ghegs said though, lack of direct switching may become an irritation with a full complement.
+/- The omission of dashing and shielding is a major WTF at first, like they've gone a step forward with the aiming and two back with maneuvering. I think this may have been a balance decision with the sword being so devastating. At first I was wanting to zip in close, block the reponse, then pound away as is already useful in GA. Having said that, I adjusted quickly to their absence. This still feels absolutely like a mecha sidescroller to me, with the constant tug of war between gravity and boosters, and the need to always think a step ahead. Being able to crouch and instantly halve your vertical profile while returning fire is a surprisingly fun and subtly useful addition.
- Anyone who's played Satazius will know of a certain lame IWBTG-esque sudden death. I don't know if it's because I was playing on Insane, but there's a similar bit here involving a falling ceiling above a surrounded elevator. I hope it's an anomaly like in Satazius - it's already poor design, but with AP's usually excellent standards it really irks.
- Found a really nasty bug. Try hovering while aboard any moving elevator, just a tad above touching down on it. *BOOM* instant death. Will ask around about emailing AP just in case this goes unspotted, it's really not something you want to deal with.
(Liked the "Dark Hell Company" initials all over the place, haha!)
+ Digging the KBM controls and dedicated melee button. I'd hate to play something ultra-quick and precise like Ninja Gaiden this way, but being able to target and maneuver independently is perfect for mecha sidescrolling's heavier-handling action. I also like that it's not some lame Flash "click to kill" system - you still need to compensate according to the chosen weapon and the target's position+movement, or you'll miss by a mile. Like GA's pilebunker, the sword is both a risky power attack and a quick and dirty response to nearby threats, but having its own button and wider arcing range makes SS more of a genuine gun+sword affair.
+ I found the new enemies more interesting than GA's effective but limited roster. The Metal Slug 3 bomber bugs that are a death sentence to attack with the sword, the Metroid-imported dashing floaters, the airborne mines that'll spot you and aggressively dive, and the flying bombers that are lethal if shot down carelessly. Also liked how not only can suicide bomber-type enemies set off chain reactions if close enough to each other upon death, but they'll also kill other enemy types (try letting a flying bomber hit a blue melee mech in the cargo elevator). There also seemed to be way more large enemy types onscreen simultaneously even in this early stage - the canyon battle is excellent.
+/- Having the full GA arsenal available is cool and useful, and managing their ammo creates a stronger incentive to make shots count and sword-slash where possible. As Ghegs said though, lack of direct switching may become an irritation with a full complement.
+/- The omission of dashing and shielding is a major WTF at first, like they've gone a step forward with the aiming and two back with maneuvering. I think this may have been a balance decision with the sword being so devastating. At first I was wanting to zip in close, block the reponse, then pound away as is already useful in GA. Having said that, I adjusted quickly to their absence. This still feels absolutely like a mecha sidescroller to me, with the constant tug of war between gravity and boosters, and the need to always think a step ahead. Being able to crouch and instantly halve your vertical profile while returning fire is a surprisingly fun and subtly useful addition.
- Anyone who's played Satazius will know of a certain lame IWBTG-esque sudden death. I don't know if it's because I was playing on Insane, but there's a similar bit here involving a falling ceiling above a surrounded elevator. I hope it's an anomaly like in Satazius - it's already poor design, but with AP's usually excellent standards it really irks.
- Found a really nasty bug. Try hovering while aboard any moving elevator, just a tad above touching down on it. *BOOM* instant death. Will ask around about emailing AP just in case this goes unspotted, it's really not something you want to deal with.
(Liked the "Dark Hell Company" initials all over the place, haha!)
光あふれる 未来もとめて, whoa~oh ♫
[THE MIRAGE OF MIND] Metal Black ST [THE JUSTICE MASSACRE] Gun.Smoke ST [STAB & STOMP]
Re: Steel Strider
My retail copy of this arrived in the mail yesterday.
Weapons are assigned to the number keys by default, so you can now directly switch to whichever weapon you need, provided that it's in your arsenal and you have ammunition for it. I still prefer using the mouse wheel to quickly scroll through them because I don't feel comfortable letting go of the WASD keys in the heat of the action, but the option is there now.
The point at which the trial ends is not the end of the first stage. This game seems rather long, but you can save your progress. I played it for around 30-40 minutes and only managed to get through the first two stages, without dying much, before I had to take a break. I suspect that there are 4-5 stages in all. I was very confused at first because there are so many sections where you think you're fighting the stage (or final, in one case) boss, only to have the game simply continue on once it's defeated; it's Astro Port's sense of scale at work.
Like in the trial, the stages are compartmentalized, divided into smaller outdoor and indoor sections. There are plenty of set pieces and obstacles for you to contend with in addition to swarms of varied enemies, such as moving platforms, alarm systems that call more enemies if triggered, and other things that I don't want to spoil. Of course, there are plenty of large enemies and bosses as well. I think the game does a good job of staying fresh. My initial impressions are such that I would say that the trial is rather dull compared to what comes later. There are quite a number of rooms where you have to kill every enemy to proceed, however, but they do become quite hectic so you do have to tackle them with some sort of plan in mind--and I'm just writing about Normal difficulty here.
Weapons are assigned to the number keys by default, so you can now directly switch to whichever weapon you need, provided that it's in your arsenal and you have ammunition for it. I still prefer using the mouse wheel to quickly scroll through them because I don't feel comfortable letting go of the WASD keys in the heat of the action, but the option is there now.
The point at which the trial ends is not the end of the first stage. This game seems rather long, but you can save your progress. I played it for around 30-40 minutes and only managed to get through the first two stages, without dying much, before I had to take a break. I suspect that there are 4-5 stages in all. I was very confused at first because there are so many sections where you think you're fighting the stage (or final, in one case) boss, only to have the game simply continue on once it's defeated; it's Astro Port's sense of scale at work.
Like in the trial, the stages are compartmentalized, divided into smaller outdoor and indoor sections. There are plenty of set pieces and obstacles for you to contend with in addition to swarms of varied enemies, such as moving platforms, alarm systems that call more enemies if triggered, and other things that I don't want to spoil. Of course, there are plenty of large enemies and bosses as well. I think the game does a good job of staying fresh. My initial impressions are such that I would say that the trial is rather dull compared to what comes later. There are quite a number of rooms where you have to kill every enemy to proceed, however, but they do become quite hectic so you do have to tackle them with some sort of plan in mind--and I'm just writing about Normal difficulty here.
Re: Steel Strider
Excellent, glad to hear there's the option of numerical select. That kill bug is hopefully fixed too, Takuhama emailed me back to say thanks for the report I sent (very cool).
光あふれる 未来もとめて, whoa~oh ♫
[THE MIRAGE OF MIND] Metal Black ST [THE JUSTICE MASSACRE] Gun.Smoke ST [STAB & STOMP]
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Obiwanshinobi
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Re: Steel Strider
I wonder how it compares with Walker.
The rear gate is closed down
The way out is cut off
The way out is cut off
Re: Steel Strider
Got my copy from rancor today, and just finished it. Did my first playthrough on Easy so I could see all the stages quickly.
I do like it better than the trial, no question about that. So many boss fights, I love that. They're easily the highlight of the game for me. The stages get much more interesting in the later parts as well with some fun environmental things to deal with. Loved all the references to Gigantic Army and, surprisingly, Satazius. I wonder if all three games are supposed to take place in the same world? Cool little detail if so.
The stages' compartmentalization with very common (though very short) loading times between the compartments and the "lock doors, release enemies, unlock doors when destroyed" setpiece which gets repeated way too many times for my liking brings the overall experience down a notch or two for me. There are fun stages to go through, but there's also fairly generic corridors with nothing environmentally interesting going on. If there was a boss rush mode, I'd probably just play that. Not just because of the stages, but also because of the game's length. There are only four stages but they're lengthy at about ~15 minutes per stage. I imagine playing the game on the proper Insane difficulty would only lengthen the process since you have to move more carefully and can't just go in guns a-blazing.
The full weapon arsenal is fun, and I did end up using the scroll wheel to change weapons quite a bit. It's more convenient in the heat of battle. I was, at times, overwhelmed by amount of weapons available though, and had to pay more attention than I'd like to make sure I'm choosing the right one quickly. The game takes a step away from a traditional 2D action game with the ability to save mid-game to the start of the current section, probably a concession for its increased length. The game also doesn't have lives at all, and you can fail and retry the current sections as much as you want. It does hurt your end-of-stage bonus, though.
This creates a matter that's not exactly a problem, but felt a bit annoying to me nonetheless. The game remembers the amount of health and bullets for each weapon you start a new section in, and they aren't restocked even after restarting that section. So if you happen to start a section with low health and no ammo for your more powerful weapons...well, bummer. You either try to get through the section with minimal resources until you find a healthpack and more ammo, or you restart the whole stage. I understand this is so that you'd learn to play the game properly and manage your resources, and being able to restart the stage and try the whole thing from the top negates any real problem, but it just feels weird to have something like this in a 2D action game.
For me, Gigantic Army is still the best one of Astro Port's mech-games. My problems with Steel Strider are mostly due to my preferences on how I like my action games. I'm not sure if I'll play the game seriously, but I'll at least try 'n beat the harder difficulties even if I'll have to use saves.
I do like it better than the trial, no question about that. So many boss fights, I love that. They're easily the highlight of the game for me. The stages get much more interesting in the later parts as well with some fun environmental things to deal with. Loved all the references to Gigantic Army and, surprisingly, Satazius. I wonder if all three games are supposed to take place in the same world? Cool little detail if so.
The stages' compartmentalization with very common (though very short) loading times between the compartments and the "lock doors, release enemies, unlock doors when destroyed" setpiece which gets repeated way too many times for my liking brings the overall experience down a notch or two for me. There are fun stages to go through, but there's also fairly generic corridors with nothing environmentally interesting going on. If there was a boss rush mode, I'd probably just play that. Not just because of the stages, but also because of the game's length. There are only four stages but they're lengthy at about ~15 minutes per stage. I imagine playing the game on the proper Insane difficulty would only lengthen the process since you have to move more carefully and can't just go in guns a-blazing.
The full weapon arsenal is fun, and I did end up using the scroll wheel to change weapons quite a bit. It's more convenient in the heat of battle. I was, at times, overwhelmed by amount of weapons available though, and had to pay more attention than I'd like to make sure I'm choosing the right one quickly. The game takes a step away from a traditional 2D action game with the ability to save mid-game to the start of the current section, probably a concession for its increased length. The game also doesn't have lives at all, and you can fail and retry the current sections as much as you want. It does hurt your end-of-stage bonus, though.
This creates a matter that's not exactly a problem, but felt a bit annoying to me nonetheless. The game remembers the amount of health and bullets for each weapon you start a new section in, and they aren't restocked even after restarting that section. So if you happen to start a section with low health and no ammo for your more powerful weapons...well, bummer. You either try to get through the section with minimal resources until you find a healthpack and more ammo, or you restart the whole stage. I understand this is so that you'd learn to play the game properly and manage your resources, and being able to restart the stage and try the whole thing from the top negates any real problem, but it just feels weird to have something like this in a 2D action game.
For me, Gigantic Army is still the best one of Astro Port's mech-games. My problems with Steel Strider are mostly due to my preferences on how I like my action games. I'm not sure if I'll play the game seriously, but I'll at least try 'n beat the harder difficulties even if I'll have to use saves.
No matter how good a game is, somebody will always hate it. No matter how bad a game is, somebody will always love it.
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Mischief Maker
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Re: Steel Strider
What's really going to blow your mind is that all three games take place in the same world as Meglilo the Witchborg!Ghegs wrote:loved all the references to Gigantic Army and, surprisingly, Satazius. I wonder if all three games are supposed to take place in the same world? Cool little detail if so.
Two working class dudes, one black one white, just baked a tray of ten cookies together.
An oligarch walks in and grabs nine cookies for himself.
Then he says to the white dude "Watch out for that black dude, he wants a piece of your cookie!"
An oligarch walks in and grabs nine cookies for himself.
Then he says to the white dude "Watch out for that black dude, he wants a piece of your cookie!"
Re: Steel Strider
What's going to blow your mind even more is that Vulkaiser and Armed Seven are also set in the same universe too.
NOW REACHES THE FATAL ATTRACTION BE DESCRIBED AS "HELLSINKER". DECIDE DESTINATION.
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Mischief Maker
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Re: Steel Strider
Yeah but it's funnier if you leave those links out of the chain.Observer wrote:What's going to blow your mind even more is that Vulkaiser and Armed Seven are also set in the same universe too.
Two working class dudes, one black one white, just baked a tray of ten cookies together.
An oligarch walks in and grabs nine cookies for himself.
Then he says to the white dude "Watch out for that black dude, he wants a piece of your cookie!"
An oligarch walks in and grabs nine cookies for himself.
Then he says to the white dude "Watch out for that black dude, he wants a piece of your cookie!"
Re: Steel Strider
Time to bump this for great justice! We've submitted a Steam Greenlight page for Steel Strider:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/f ... =491089631
There will be some revisions to the game, one of them being the improvement of the gamepad control support. Steel Strider has a twin-stick shooter control style that works fine with mouse+keyboard but it was really awkward with a pad so that should hopefully be fixed.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/f ... =491089631
There will be some revisions to the game, one of them being the improvement of the gamepad control support. Steel Strider has a twin-stick shooter control style that works fine with mouse+keyboard but it was really awkward with a pad so that should hopefully be fixed.
NOW REACHES THE FATAL ATTRACTION BE DESCRIBED AS "HELLSINKER". DECIDE DESTINATION.
Re: Steel Strider
Steam page's up
http://store.steampowered.com/app/404100
http://store.steampowered.com/app/404100
Re: Steel Strider
Had a run through this tonight on normal and I thought it was very good. I definitely prefer the control scheme and more heavy feeling of Gigantic Army but I'm happy to play this too as an alternative.
Re: Steel Strider
When I read Steel Strider, I immediately thought of Zyclunt.
In search of great justice, sailing on a sea of stars.
