Teslapunk - New shmup for iOS and Android

[Edge]

Ok, first off i should mention that I am part of the small dev team. But I guess it's ok to self-promote our game here.

Teslapunk is a bullet hell shmup with focus on the scoring mechanics. Featuring a rank system, that is tied to your scoring potential. In short: the higher the rank, the more you'll score. The level design combines bullet hell with some puzzle shooter elements. High resolution art and a different visual style for each level, done by the award winning artist Thorsten Fleisch.






Release Trailer: http://vimeo.com/70820213


iOS version: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/teslapunk/id639646009
Android version: https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... tagerevolt


The game is free, so c'mon please check it out.


Features:
* two game modes:
- classic arcade with 3 levels, bosses, risk-reward scoring and dynamic difficulty
- survival mode, how far do you get with one live? Apply upgrades and items.
* high resolution graphics
* dark retro science-fiction theme
* addictive, action packed game play
* global leaderboard and game center
* friends leaderboard with Facebook
* catchy soundtrack
* each level has its own visual style and game play
* powerful laser with voltage boost

[Bonus!]

Looks interesting!

The game is free, so c'mon please check it out.

By this you mean that there are various in-app purchases as some kind of pay-to-win scheme? Or is it genuinely free?

[Edge]

By this you mean that there are various in-app purchases as some kind of pay-to-win scheme? Or is it genuinely free?

This means it is free to play with in-app purchases. But there is no pay-to-win involved as you don't get any advantage for scoring better in arcade mode by spending money.

in-app purchases for the arcade mode are:
-Continues (But using a continue will reset your score)
-Credits (You use a credit each time you play the Arcade mode. You start off with 25 credits. Once you run out of credits the game will automatically regenerate up to 5 credits every few hours. So you never need to pay.)


Edit:
When considering the free to play strategy for the arcade mode: Using some kind of credits seemed to be the strategy that I consider the most fair deal. Because it is pretty close to how games in arcades make money. Just way more generous actually.

[denpanosekai]

This seems like a smart F2P implementation. I'll be checking it out and sending a few bucks your way if I enjoy this, regardless.

[lemonhead]

I don't play games with in-app purchases. Sorry. If you release full version for a decent price (like cave did), i will buy it.

[Skykid]

I don't play games with in-app purchases. Sorry. If you release full version for a decent price (like cave did), i will buy it.

I don't see the problem. It's free, and why the hell would you want to use continues anyway?

[lemonhead]

I don't play games with in-app purchases. Sorry. If you release full version for a decent price (like cave did), i will buy it.

I don't see the problem. It's free, and why the hell would you want to use continues anyway?

I don't use continues in games at all. I don't like this concept (in-game buying for real money).

[DJ Incompetent]

I don't play games with in-app purchases. Sorry. If you release full version for a decent price (like cave did), i will buy it.

I don't see the problem. It's free, and why the hell would you want to use continues anyway?

I don't use continues in games at all. I don't like this concept.

Do you boycott arcade cabinets too?

[AntiFritz]

Graphics look really nice. I don't own a smartphone, so unfortunately I can't test it out.

[lemonhead]

I don't use continues in games at all. I don't like this concept.

Do you boycott arcade cabinets too?

[Cagar]

This game is absolutely terrible. Would rate it 1/5.
Graphics are nice.. but there's zero animation. Just static flying stuff. (except bullets)
Boring scoring system (ONLY based on bombing at right places)
Difficulty & scoring scaling is terrible.
Hitbox isn't where it should be. (or it's just wayyy too big, or there's some kind of glitch that moves your hitbox)
Menus are mess.
You only have 1 shot mode.
In app purchases to play, if you run out of in-game credits, you can't even play. (or you have to wait for more credits to generate)


Blahblahblah tl:dr; amateurish and bad shmup.

EDIT: Yes, I know it's free, but so is cagar label

[Edge]

Boring scoring system (ONLY based on bombing at right places)
Difficulty & scoring scaling is terrible.

Sorry to hear, that you don't like the game. May I ask you what you dislike about the scoring and difficulty in detail?

For the scoring system, we are heavily inspired by Giga Wing or ESP Galuda. i.e. using enemy bullets as the primary source of your score. I personally find this kind of scoring mechanics highly enjoyable. It is easy to understand and to learn, but the potential for improvement in your performance for each level is very high. Of couse, this also means that you need to learn the stage in order to score high. And the higher you get the multiplier and thus your scoring potential the crazier goes the rank. But the rank will go down if the multiplier drops again. A risk vs reward system.

So, is it the memorization part you dislike about the scoring system? Or is it that you want the game to reward you for not bombing at all, i.e. with a big bomb maximum bonus like in dodonpachi?
Or do you prefer scoring mechanics that focus on some specific features? Since you mentioned shot modes, maybe different shot types for different enemies, or bullet grazing, chaining, etc...?
And you mentioned the difficulty scaling too. Do you find the rank too harsh, when the multiplier goes up?


Thank you for your feedback.

[Kaspal]

Boring scoring system (ONLY based on bombing at right places)
Difficulty & scoring scaling is terrible.

Sorry to hear, that you don't like the game. May I ask you what you dislike about the scoring and difficulty in detail?

For the scoring system, we are heavily inspired by Giga Wing or ESP Galuda. i.e. using enemy bullets as the primary source of your score. I personally find this kind of scoring mechanics highly enjoyable. It is easy to understand and to learn, but the potential for improvement in your performance for each level is very high. Of couse, this also means that you need to learn the stage in order to score high. And the higher you get the multiplier and thus your scoring potential the crazier goes the rank. But the rank will go down if the multiplier drops again. A risk vs reward system.

So, is it the memorization part you dislike about the scoring system? Or is it that you want the game to reward you for not bombing at all, i.e. with a big bomb maximum bonus like in dodonpachi?
Or do you prefer scoring mechanics that focus on some specific features? Since you mentioned shot modes, maybe different shot types for different enemies, or bullet grazing, chaining, etc...?
And you mentioned the difficulty scaling too. Do you find the rank too harsh, when the multiplier goes up?


Thank you for your feedback.

I played it last night and heres what i think:

- there should be a difficulty setting. the game is too easy as it is right now... letting players select a higher difficulty level would get more ppl interested
- animations: everything is just too static... this is specially noticeable when you're fighting bosses... the background just-does-not-moves... and when you're used to CAVE or something, everything moves around.
- bullet patterns: you can 1CC the game in your 1st try becase you can just weave thru every single bullet pattern... theres not even a need to read them, theres ALWAYS enough room for you to move, theres not that sensation that you need to find a safe spot or graze or somethin... you just move freely... use some more homming attacks and make bullets faster... combine more patterns, change speed midway... stuff like that.
- scoring: i like to think that i have a huge challenge in front of me, and so, i tend to NOT use bombs unless really needed. having to use bombs just to score better is a no-no for me... even tho i understand what you were trying to do there. use some combination of chaining and grazing or something like that to make it more interesting IMHO.
- i HATE the last part of the second level. in my 1st try i lost 2 lives there because of the scenery ... something does not adds up there... i think it needs a lil more tweaking... or maybe im just rusty.
- since theres only one ship, having multiple shoot options would be great. the game gets a lil boring because the lack of a second shot or ship or whatever.


i have yet to play it again (im at the office right now), but thats what i remember from my 1st play yesterday.

thanks for the game, it has potential, but needs more tweaking.

keep up the good work.

[Cagar]

Boring scoring system (ONLY based on bombing at right places)
Difficulty & scoring scaling is terrible.

Sorry to hear, that you don't like the game. May I ask you what you dislike about the scoring and difficulty in detail?

For the scoring system, we are heavily inspired by Giga Wing or ESP Galuda. i.e. using enemy bullets as the primary source of your score. I personally find this kind of scoring mechanics highly enjoyable. It is easy to understand and to learn, but the potential for improvement in your performance for each level is very high. Of couse, this also means that you need to learn the stage in order to score high. And the higher you get the multiplier and thus your scoring potential the crazier goes the rank. But the rank will go down if the multiplier drops again. A risk vs reward system.

So, is it the memorization part you dislike about the scoring system? Or is it that you want the game to reward you for not bombing at all, i.e. with a big bomb maximum bonus like in dodonpachi?
Or do you prefer scoring mechanics that focus on some specific features? Since you mentioned shot modes, maybe different shot types for different enemies, or bullet grazing, chaining, etc...?
And you mentioned the difficulty scaling too. Do you find the rank too harsh, when the multiplier goes up?

EDIT: Add a mechanic that you get more recharge items by either point blanking or destroying enemies with some kind of weaker shot mode (oops the game has only one) and you already got a much more interesting scoring system


Thank you for your feedback.

Phew, thanks for a proper reply.
I feel like there's not enough stuff to do and the only thing that you HAVE to do if you want to score (bomb) happens at specific obvious spots during the stages, so there's actually not much at all to memorize. I mean, there's no scoring when there's no "CANCEL THIS " enemies on screen. (Other than collecting those energy-recharge-items, which has almost zero value as it's so easy and happens in every shmup)
By difficulty scaling I didn't mean the rank system (which is pretty good here, actually), but that the difficulty varies randomly from easy as hell to pretty hard. It's in the pattern/stage design. The difficulty doesn't go up as the game continues, it goes up and down. (even in a run where rank is constantly high etc.)

[DMC]

- scoring: i like to think that i have a huge challenge in front of me, and so, i tend to NOT use bombs unless really needed. having to use bombs just to score better is a no-no for me... even tho i understand what you were trying to do there. use some combination of chaining and grazing or something like that to make it more interesting IMHO.

I am of the opposite opinion - if you are given a spectacular weapon it would be more fun if you could use it without feeling bad for it. Unfortunately most shooters pennalize you too much for using a bomb. That's a thing I like with Yagawa's games. For instance, starting batrider with bombing the train, the birds and all the police cars and knowing that it's great for scoring is a great experience. And in Garegga it's a great feeling using the flamethrower bomb and spraying it around all parts of stage 2 boss, madball, destroying him into pieces while seeing the score increase drastically! What's chaining and grazing compared to this?

I haven't played the game but I like the visuals. Grey laser looks pretty cool actually although I don't like the DDP design of the top of the laser beam - too phallic for me. But in overall yes, I like the dark visuals you got there.

[Weak Boson]

Downloaded it but it didn't run very well on my phone - it's not the most powerful device but it can handle DDP: Resurrection practically 100%

The loading times were long but the main problem was that the controls weren't always responsive: I'd die because my ship just wasn't moving for some reason. It wouldn't happen too often but the game wasn't really playable like that. That's a shame because it was fun to cancel bullets, get pretty multipliers and drive up the rank and I would have liked to see some of the later stages.

Also I think the graphics are fine. Some stylish touches, a dark scary colour palette and everything is clear and well defined. Can't ask for much more than that.

[Aleksei]

After I press the credit button the game appears to load but then kicks me back to my homescreen so I can't even play it. I depleted the first 5 credits doing this, oh well.

[Edge]

After I press the credit button the game appears to load but then kicks me back to my homescreen so I can't even play it. I depleted the first 5 credits doing this, oh well.

Oh, that sucks. :/

May I ask what device you are playing it on ? So we can look into the problem.

@Weak Boson:
I am sorry, but if your phone is a bit older, it might be that the game will struggle with the performance. What device are you using?

[dpful]

Just one play, I think the game is amazing. I think the look, play, music, scary boss, general sense of drama were totally refreshing for other iPhone shmups I've seen. Definitely old school sensibilities in the presentation at first glance, and I can't believe it's got so much criticism in these first few posts.
I also love the arcade style credit choice! It'd be nice to have the option to unlock it completely (can you?), but the real credits are bad ass and I applaud your choice to represent that feeling in the game.

Animated sprites would be cool, but thought it looked cohesive just how it is.

[dpful]

I thought it was a little easy (I made it to mid second level)- I'm going to try and rank up the difficulty a bit now, like I'm supposed to, and see what happens.

[dpful]

The loading times suck, though.

[mortified_penguin]

Would love to try it but it crashes whenever I select a arcade or survival. Using an ipod touch 4th gen which is listed under supported devices.

[Aleksei]

After I press the credit button the game appears to load but then kicks me back to my homescreen so I can't even play it. I depleted the first 5 credits doing this, oh well.

Oh, that sucks. :/

May I ask what device you are playing it on ? So we can look into the problem.

@Weak Boson:
I am sorry, but if your phone is a bit older, it might be that the game will struggle with the performance. What device are you using?

Iphone 3g

[rjosal]

I played this a bit today. I got a decent score of 60 million which said was #3 globally all time - really guys? Are you playing the same game? Anyway, on to the comments.

*) As with almost all doujin shmups, it lacks polish in the art department. Needs more animation. The ship has no turn animation? I counted DOJ once, I think there are 7 frames in each direction.
*) Enemies are on pretty rigid paths. Doesn't feel very fluid.
*) The survival mode is not fun for me in the slightest. Feels like pocket solitaire game or something.
*) Tiny explosions, not much explosion sound. Come on, I want to blow stuff up!
*) Good music. I like the slayer type track the best.
*) No sfx on boss fights. I don't know, just sounds empty to me.
*) Great rank system with high difficulty at 999 so you have to manage it carefully!
*) If you are in a tight spot and need to bomb, it ups your rank big time and guarantees a quick death in 5 seconds. This is not good.

That's all for now.

[Edge]

I apologize to everyone experiencing performance issues or even worse a crash when starting. The crash is probably due to your phone running out of memory. We are investigating how we can improve the performance on older devices on our side.

So for now: If you are experiencing bad performance on your device, it helps if you close other applications running in the background.

[rjosal]

Well, I've improved my score to 85.9 million, but someone has hacked your game! Please remove this player from the leaderboards, and beef up security a bit.

Other notes:

*) I like the pay to continue idea.
*) I'm worried you won't get paid enough for this game because it's free.
*) this game is better than most semi pro shmups like iFighter.
*) Can anyone beat stage three? I can only get halfway through the boss.
*) One shot type is indeed a bit boring.

Thanks for te great game!

[Edge]

Glad you enjoy the game.
The 85 million is a nice score. My personal highscore in the release version was 113 million. Let's see if you can beat it.

Well, I've improved my score to 85.9 million, but someone has hacked your game! Please remove this player from the leaderboards, and beef up security a bit.

Yeah, we are aware of the hacked score. Unfortunately there is not much we can do about it. Because the leaderboard scores are entirely on Apple's side, there is no way for us to delete a score. We try to report it to Apple, though I am not sure if that will have much impact. BTW: If you also report the user to Apple it might raise the chances of this score being deleted.

The hacking is apparently a huge problem on the Apple leaderboards in general and a lot of devs are struggling with it. Not only indies but bigger ones as well.

Here is some articles about iOS leaderboard hacking:
http://www.edge-online.com/features/gam ... /#comments
http://www.quartertothree.com/fp/2012/0 ... amecenter/

[Skykid]

Every leaderboard gets score hacked. I'd still be no.1on Blade Dash if some prick hadn't decided he wanted to hack me out of the frame.

[rjosal]

Ah, I didn't know the SDK didn't give you a way to remove scores. Seems like an oversight on Apple's part since I wouldn't expect them to police every leaderboard. I haven't used the gamecenter part of the SDK yet but assuming that part isn't vulnerable, there are limitless things you can do to protect against it.

Terry just lost a bunch of cool points with me and his view on security. I just need to get his address so I can pick up a new car and the cash family savings he keeps on the table, since he doesn't believe in locks, cameras, or dogs. Just because it's easy doesn't mean someone won't do it. Only leaderboard hacking is worse, because it affects all the users of a great score based game like super hexagon.

finalark is gone, I remember it from all the cave leaderboards, and after it was first removed it was immediately back under a different monicker, but now I don't see someone like quite like that. Maybe he has become a little less obvious.

I don't believe every leaderboard has been or will be score hacked unless there's a severe problem with the ios SDK. I expect it's dependent on the security measures the developer puts in place. I've done iOS security before and they have some nice crypto libraries.

This reminds me that the in app leaderboard with different scores than gamecenter is confusing to me.

[Edge]

We requested Apple to delete the hacked score from the leaderboard. And also hinted them to this very user being active in iOS hack forums and possibly having fake scores on different leaderboards.

About security:
Well there is aldready some security for Teslapunk implemented on our side. The main problem though seems to be the way scores are reported to Game Center. With a jailbroken device this communication can easily be hacked. So, you just observe what your device sends to Apple, when entering a score. After that you send the same information again and alter the score value. Well, I didn't try any of these tricks myself, but there is a lot of tutorials for this kind of hacks on the net. So, for us it seems to be very likely that hackers don't bother with in-game security but just hack the Game Center communication. Probably there's even some software that does that for you.



Oh, the second in game leaderboard is the Facebook leaderboard. Users that log into the game with their Facebook account will be listed there. These are mostly Android users.