XOP Ultra and XOP Black Ultra thread

[z0mbie90]

Nice. Downloading it right now. And so exited Keep on going, and I wait for the full release no matter how long it will take

[mjclark]

Loving this already and remembering how much I liked XOP Black a couple of years ago.
My normal shot and autofire both seem to be behaving identically though (narrow on constant and wide on tap).
Also what does "Focus" do as an alternative to "Speed"?

[Udderdude]

Not sure about your control issue, does this happen when you use the keyboard? And you should double check to make sure you don't have any autofire enabled software going.

Focus makes the ship slow down when the button is held, similar to Touhou.

[mjclark]

Thanks! All working now- turns out there was a problem with Button 1 on my humble Saitek P220. Any other button and autofire gives a default wide shot.
This is really compelling!
So here's a few more queries:
a) Is there any way to turn autoshield off?
b) What's the Perfect Bonus for at the end of each stage?
c) It feels weird that tate mode doesn't actually increase the playing area just rotates it so that it's cropped horizontally rather than vertically (but it does mean I can play this on my permanently tated monitor,so it's all good!)
d) The triggers on my Xbox360 controller aren't recognised.

[Udderdude]

a. It's on permanently on Beginner skill.
b. No-miss bonus. I should rename it, really. No-death bonus maybe? :P
c. Yeah XOP's screen area is actually 280x300 which is almost perfectly square, so it can be played in yoko or tate w/o any problems. (The full game area is 400x300)
d. I will plug in a 360 controller and test it later, but it's probably because they're mapped to the Z-axis or something silly.

[mjclark]

a. It's on permanently on Beginner skill.
b. No-miss bonus. I should rename it, really. No-death bonus maybe?
c. Yeah XOP's screen area is actually 280x300 which is almost perfectly square, so it can be played in yoko or tate w/o any problems. (The full game area is 400x300)
d. I will plug in a 360 controller and test it later, but it's probably because they're mapped to the Z-axis or something silly.

Thanks again! Thoroughly thoroughly enjoying this
Two last questions for now:
1) How is Destruction Bonus calculated? Is it based on percentage of enemies destroyed?
2) Why is this called "XOP"?

[ShmupSamurai]

Why is this called "XOP"?

Idk...looking at the title screen(which I have always thought of as your ship's bio-mechancial interface/cockpit, hence the crosshair), maybe it stands for Xenomorphic Overdrive Pighter(as a 'fancy' way of spelling fighter, like Phantasy Star). Like I siad before, idk really...since the story was non-existent and Udderdude had made a loli joke during the XOP 3 topic, I had asumed during subsequent playthoughs that the ship was Giger-esqe biomechanical and said loli was plugged into it.

That's just my observations.

[nZero]

2) Why is this called "XOP"?

official xop story

edit - 2000th post

[ShmupSamurai]

nZero wrote:

mjclark wrote:
2) Why is this called "XOP"?


official xop story

What story? I don't see a story....just name jokes, wild guesses, and vauge hints about a loli with a "history"

Oh...wait... SOOOO SORRY folks, had my Sarcasm Radar set on Auto mode.

The only thing closest to a story that we've been given is that the name XOP stands for "Xiayun's Oriental Paradise" and that the protaganist pilots the ship of her esteemed ancestors. No clue is give as to what she's fighting though.

[BPzeBanshee]

Any chance of a framerate display Udderdude? I have no idea how well this is running on my legacy PC as compared to better computers and I'd like to be able to confirm that this thing runs A-OK on every computer I try it on.

[Krimzon Kitzune]

Any chance of a framerate display Udderdude? I have no idea how well this is running on my legacy PC as compared to better computers and I'd like to be able to confirm that this thing runs A-OK on every computer I try it on.

Don't worry, XOP has frame-skipping. If a PC isn't good enough to run the game, it's not going to slow down. Instead, it'll just cut frames to keep the game running at a consistent speed. I found this out from Udderdude about two weaks ago. I can't confirm this since I'm well above the recommended requirements, but I think getting word from the author is good enough.

[BPzeBanshee]

Any chance of a framerate display Udderdude? I have no idea how well this is running on my legacy PC as compared to better computers and I'd like to be able to confirm that this thing runs A-OK on every computer I try it on.

Don't worry, the game has frame skipping. If a PC isn't good enough to run the game it won't slow down, it'll just cut frames. I found this out from Udderdude about two weaks ago.

Much like Broken Thunder's 'BLT' then. That's cool and all, though I'd still like a framerate display to see how well it runs for comparison.

[Udderdude]

In addition the game will slow down intentionally (simulated lag) and that will fuck with the frame rate display. Of course you can turn it off, but if you're actually playing the game, chances are you want it on. Also, the game's engine was made in pure C/Allegro with PCs from 2002 in mind. So it's prob. not going to slow down on anything other than a realllllllllly old PC. Like something from your grandma's basement old. :P

I will still consider hiding a function key that enables/disables framerate display, though.

[mjclark]

Where can I find a comprehensive explanation of the scoring mechanics?
Loving this more every second by the way

[Udderdude]

There's a general description of scoring in each mode in the text file, and a section with ways to increase your scoring.

Glad you like it, I've put a ridiculous amount of time into it at this point.

[mjclark]

There's a general description of scoring in each mode in the text file, and a section with ways to increase your scoring.

Glad you like it, I've put a ridiculous amount of time into it at this point.

I was thinking more of specific detailed mechanics- it's touched on in the hi score thread where you say:
"Just thought I should clear up some stuff about the scoring system. The proximity bonus is not negligible, you can get quite a bit more points by using it. It depends on your chip count though. Pretty much the higher your chip count, the more proximity bonus you get. You can see just how many points you got from a kill by the flickering number above the destroyed enemy. The proximity bonus calculation is (((140-distance)*skillMode)*coinCounter/100). Skill mode on normal would be 3, going down to 0 for easiest and 5 for very hard."
And stuff like how much DAL value increases with each one subsequently collected, how the multipliers and rapid kill bonus affect score, how the destruction bonus is worked out etc.
Also finding it slightly disorienting that the replay save slots don't display the score in their name (so you can't work out which replay is which by title) although I'm aware that you can name your own replays but then a list of those doesn't appear on the screen so you have to remember the titles you assigned ingame.
And yes without being sycophantic, the graphics, music and gameplay for this are truly tops so thanks again!

[Sasupoika]

Going to play this todaý. Let's see how hard the master mode is.

[mjclark]

Came across a glitch a couple of times today on EX Course Stage 1 where the Boss Meter for the last boss of the stage started on about 10% full, stayed stuck there for a few seconds then disappeared altogether long before the boss was destroyed.
Not sure what triggered this, maybe something to do with how fast the miniboss that precedes it is destroyed.
Replay file showing this glitch here: http://www.mediafire.com/?6z7kkg29lb4rwoy

Ha ha- that EX Course is tuff

[Udderdude]

Thanks for pointing that out, it's related to overlapping IDs for the boss and big carrier.

New player ship sprite!

[Udderdude]

Well, once again I've delayed the game's final release. Due to persistant issues with the game's color palette I decided to go back and optimize it. The game is looking much better now, there's a lot less "useless" colors. The new colors will also be used in transparency/blending effects and the scanline effect.

Here's a quick example

[ptoing]

That is indeed a lot nicer

[Udderdude]

As you can see the XOP color improvement project has gone quite well, from this screenshot here:

[Krimzon Kitzune]

TLB's a pushover in medium difficulty. I know that it's because it's medium difficulty, but the TLB should still be able to put up a little bit bigger of a fight than all of the other bosses. The information on the top of the screen isn't so easy to read at times. The fonts should be brighter.

Those issues aside, masterful work as always, Udder.

[Udderdude]

Keep in mind that with the added proximity bonus for shooting enemies closer, in order to get max points on the TLB (or any boss/midboss) you pretty much have to be shooting it in the face the entire fight. Of course this makes things a lot less of a pushover. It's a risk/reward thing, and I'd rather not remove the TLB from medium mode or pump him up anymore.

[Krimzon Kitzune]

D'oh! I can't believe I forgot about those bonuses. Massive brain fart.

The font should still be brighter, though.

[rancor]

This is amazing, and I want to give you money. How can I do so? Your page needs a "donate" button!

[Udderdude]

You can paypal to udderdude000@hotmail.com. I am planning to add a donate button to the site when I finally release the game (Not just the RC1 seen here).

I may add a donate button in-game but that may be pushing it a bit. My twin has suggested I add a donation nag screen, I don't like that idea but I may end up too broke to avoid it :P lol

[rancor]

Sent!

Have a good meal on me!

[austere]

Congrats Udderdude, your first customer in 9 years.

Actually, if you don't mind telling us, how *did* the sales go for the original XOP? Going by mIRC, shareware normally doesn't sell too well...

[Udderdude]

Thanks to everyone who's donated so far.

Sales weren't any good, as you might expect. Back then the biggest sellers were kid-friendly games and puzzle games.

Of course since then the games industry for smaller developers has exploded to a size that nobody could have even imagined back then ..

And XOP 2002 is still better than 99% of the shitshmups being piled out there today, even if it sucks compared to XOP/Black Ultra. :P