Astro Blade
Hi!
I've been working on an 80's/early 90s style horizontal shmup for a while now called Astro Blade.
Development os going well and I feel the game is really beginning to take shape, enough so that I've released a demo containing the opening three zones of the game, each containing a number of sub stages.
Game download page
https://monkeyman79.itch.io/astro-blade
The main mechanic of the game centres round your satellites you can collect from a power up. Satellites will orbit your ship as you move and can be locked in place by holding fire. Use satellites defensively to block basic enemy bullets.
After collecting your satellite power up you'll habe access to four weapons you can upgrade and cycle between at will. The angle the satellites face will also affect the behaviour of the weapons.
Most upgrades are kept of you take damage though collecting an upgrade when a weapon is fully powered will over charge it. Overcharge is lost when you take damage or of you overcharge a different weapon so select the weapon best suited to the stage you are in.
The other key mechanic in Astro Blade is the secondary mission objectives in the first stage of each zone, which of completed will let you progress to a more difficult alternate version of the second stage. Finish all alt levels in a single run to unlock the final challenge. Surving a stage is one thing, doing so while completing the objective is a second level of challenge.
While the game needs tweaking and a few more layers of polish, what I'm struggling to gauge is how it feels to play and whether the level of challenge is fair and increases at an even rate. So if any shmup enthusiasts would like to try the demo I'd very much value any constructive feedback.
Gameplay video
https://youtu.be/eLfJFy-SD6A?si=F9ReHRxoXfZHKC2B
Astro Blade (horizontal shmup) Demo Available
Re: Astro Blade (horizontal shmup) Demo Available
Thank you for the demo.
I think the game looks rich. The music and sound effects sound great. I get a Phantasy Star nostalgia going when I here the music on the first level. The pacing is solid and plenty of action, there are no dull moments.
I enjoy thunder force so I can see the influence. I wish I could get controller support, I keep dying at the 1st level boss by just a fraction. It would be nice to start from the mid part of the level after dying, but that is just me.
If there was an indicator that your taking damage other than just the health bar, that would be nice. Sometimes I don't know if the bullet hit me or was blocked, or if I'm to close to the ground area when taking damage. Would be nice to see where the 1st boss final attacks will drop from the sky (like an indicator on the ground floor) to give myself a chance to dodge them with the keyboard.
That's all I have from playing so far, but it feels lively and I like the different enemy types.
I think the game looks rich. The music and sound effects sound great. I get a Phantasy Star nostalgia going when I here the music on the first level. The pacing is solid and plenty of action, there are no dull moments.
I enjoy thunder force so I can see the influence. I wish I could get controller support, I keep dying at the 1st level boss by just a fraction. It would be nice to start from the mid part of the level after dying, but that is just me.
If there was an indicator that your taking damage other than just the health bar, that would be nice. Sometimes I don't know if the bullet hit me or was blocked, or if I'm to close to the ground area when taking damage. Would be nice to see where the 1st boss final attacks will drop from the sky (like an indicator on the ground floor) to give myself a chance to dodge them with the keyboard.
That's all I have from playing so far, but it feels lively and I like the different enemy types.
Re: Astro Blade (horizontal shmup) Demo Available
Thanks for taking the time to try it, and for the feedback.
There is an indicator when you're hit, a brief explosion, a tapping sound and you'll see the blue shield flash for a second to show your temporary imvulnerability. But I've been wondering if the feedback needs to be a little more dramatic so I think I'll up the explosion factor when taking damage.
The other thing I was finding hard to judge was the readability of bosses. All their attacks have some form of tell, even if its just the position they move to and I've switched from randomising some attacks to having them trigger in a set order. But wasn't sure how reasonable they were to react to first time. The bombs dropping are based on the player position so just moving back and forth is enough to dodge, but a visual target on the ground wouldn't be a bad idea. I might need to show the laser powering up too and slow down the spread shot as it seems few people trying it can beat that boss and it's not intended to be such a roadblock. Or maybe I need to dial back.tje difficulty of the stage so they go in with more health as some feedback is they're not even seeing the boss.
I had considered a checkpoint before the boss, bit o really wanted the player to feel they'd achieved a level of mastery in the level before proceeding, and ive trued to keep each stage fairky short, though I might start throwing an overshield power up before each boss if health if low to let the player stay in the fight a bit longer.
There is an indicator when you're hit, a brief explosion, a tapping sound and you'll see the blue shield flash for a second to show your temporary imvulnerability. But I've been wondering if the feedback needs to be a little more dramatic so I think I'll up the explosion factor when taking damage.
The other thing I was finding hard to judge was the readability of bosses. All their attacks have some form of tell, even if its just the position they move to and I've switched from randomising some attacks to having them trigger in a set order. But wasn't sure how reasonable they were to react to first time. The bombs dropping are based on the player position so just moving back and forth is enough to dodge, but a visual target on the ground wouldn't be a bad idea. I might need to show the laser powering up too and slow down the spread shot as it seems few people trying it can beat that boss and it's not intended to be such a roadblock. Or maybe I need to dial back.tje difficulty of the stage so they go in with more health as some feedback is they're not even seeing the boss.
I had considered a checkpoint before the boss, bit o really wanted the player to feel they'd achieved a level of mastery in the level before proceeding, and ive trued to keep each stage fairky short, though I might start throwing an overshield power up before each boss if health if low to let the player stay in the fight a bit longer.
Re: Astro Blade (horizontal shmup) Demo Available
I respect the idea of letting the player achieve mastery of the level. I've been able to get to the end of the level with almost full health multiple times. I think the level itself is just right in an engagement. The boss does ramp up, I did notice the patterns and killed it but also died at the same time. I just have to get use to what speed level I need to adjust using the keyboard when moving the ship. The level length does help, I don't think you need to change that aspect. I also have to get used to the different types of weapons and learn their abilities. As of now trial and error are my best method of learning the abilities of the ship outside of the text tutorial provided. I think what I have played is solid. Would be interested to see how it would feel with controller input.