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[pacpacfujishima]

Hi all,

I'm looking for some feedback about this new shmup in development, initially for the PC/Windows platform, it's inspired by classics of the genre like Raystorm, Darius, Thunderforce, Radiant Silvergun and Ikaruga. It's being made by independent developers Luis Carlos Zardo and Augusto Bülow, friends of mine, and it is in advanced Beta stage. It will feature 8 stages, several weapons to choose from, dozens of enemies and end level bosses. Estimated release time is March 2010, and although available initially for PC/Windows, possible ports for iPhone, X360 and Wii may be possible.

Some screenshots:




















It'll be released through a small publisher of casual games as a download-only release, and it will be priced accordingly, in the 5 to 10 bucks range, a bargain if you consider the overall quality of the game. We'll be needing testers to evaluate the level design, hunt bugs and give advice, preferably seasoned shmup players and veterans.

Btw, "Razor 1" was an attempt for the Commodore Amiga platform in the mid 90's to compete with the likes of Team 17's "Project X", but sadly it never saw the light of day.

This is indie gaming at its best. Thanks in advance!

[Christian Knudsen]

Looks neat. But isn't it odd to name the game Razor 2 if the first was never released?

[Inane]

It's purdy.
But: It's considered bad manners to just post about a game without introducing yourself or otherwise getting resituated into the communitron. Y'know, we don't want no people just abusin' our people for advertisement, so, let us see who you are... inside

[MaloEspada]

Wouldn't it be a little more educated to introduce yourself first and then advertise your game?

[Inane]

Wouldn't it be a little more educated to introduce yourself first and then advertise your game?

Stop copying me, you insufferable anime interrobang creature!

[MaloEspada]

I didn't even see your post, Inane 
What are you talking about you depressed douche. 

[xerus]

Well this looks pretty sweet.  Hopefully you aren't a one post wonder here to just drop off a promotion for your game though.  Because if that's the case, we'll have to send you to the island.

[c-foo peng]

Holy Ikaruga! Those are some clean aesthetics!

[pacpacfujishima]

heh that's a nice introduce-yourself thread, indeed was a bit rude to drop in and just post about the game...

But it is not my game, it is from some mates, I'm just trying to put the cat out of the bag and unveil this little gem of an indie game they're hidding for no reason lol.  With their permissions, of course.

I've just uploaded a gameplay video showing my not-so-good shmup skills:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMb5Q4GDb4w

Does it looks euroshmup or j-shmup ?  The lead game designer sure prefers j-shmups, but in another forum someone said it looks euro.

Anyway, thank you guys for the replies so far!

[Imagineergames]

heh that's a nice introduce-yourself thread, indeed was a bit rude to drop in and just post about the game...

But it is not my game, it is from some mates, I'm just trying to put the cat out of the bag and unveil this little gem of an indie game they're hidding for no reason lol.  With their permissions, of course.

I've just uploaded a gameplay video showing my not-so-good shmup skills:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMb5Q4GDb4w

Does it looks euroshmup or j-shmup ?  The lead game designer sure prefers j-shmups, but in another forum someone said it looks euro.

Anyway, thank you guys for the replies so far!

Oh it looks like HOLYSHITHUMP. Which means awesome. REAL good for indie! I do want to play, they've got a website of their group?

[Derek]

Right now the screenshots are a good deal more exciting to me than the video.  Compared to the games it's inspired by, the pacing, patterns, and music seem a bit lackluster.  The graphics are nice, but slightly repetitive (and a little generic).  These are probably the traits that make people think euroshmup.

Also, I think the bullets need to look more substantial and less "ghostly".  Right now they look like particles blended over the background... more like special effects rather than bullets.

Looks slick, though!  Just concentrate on the pacing and the variety.  I'd much rather play a shorter game that was properly paced.

[pacpacfujishima]

Thanks for the feedback, guys!

Indeed the slow pace make people say 'euroshooter'. The problem with these is that they 'extend' the levels with the slower pacing to have more 'gameplay hours'.

But the aim is to be j-shmup at its best, it'll even feature hand-drawn anime-like characters in the cut scenes and intro story.

[alspal]

Indeed the slow pace make people say 'euroshooter'. The problem with these is that they 'extend' the levels with the slower pacing to have more 'gameplay hours'.

lol? Filler is never good, a 20 minute challenging shooter is better than a 2 hour shooter.

But the aim is to be j-shmup at its best, it'll even feature hand-drawn anime-like characters in the cut scenes and intro story.

Just be-aware that no one plays a shooter for it's story, so if you add anything like that much sure you don't keep it to long, or make it easily shippable.
The less cutscenes the better the game 

[dbb]

it'll even feature hand-drawn anime-like characters in the cut scenes and intro story.

Do get someone good to do the character portraits. I've seen several games where the in-game graphics are excellent (as are yours, judging by the screenshots) and the character portraits are embarrassingly bad. Your graphics guy is obviously the daddy when it comes to modeling spaceships, but he might suck at people.

[falsion]

Yeah, there's nothing worse than art that tries to be anime but falters badly. It's worse enough when something is badly drawn, but when it also looks like a cheap wannabe-ish imitation of something, it's a double whammy. Make sure your artist can do it correctly, or else it will stick out like an eyesore.

[William Broom]

I think the graphics look fantastic; the repetitive abstract backgrounds are one of the things that turn me off shmups in general. If they make the bullets a bit more readable then it will be just perfect.

[Sar]

Does it looks euroshmup or j-shmup ?  The lead game designer sure prefers j-shmups, but in another forum someone said it looks euro.

I'm sure you're probably aware that "euroshump" is pretty much a pejorative... it's not just the slow pace, it's things like the excessive special effects that make it harder to tell where the bullets and the bad guys are, and the forgiving 'shield' that means you can get hit and keep playing, and the apparent very quick progression to powerful[-looking] weapons.

Apologies if I'm repeating stuff you've already heard or knew already, but the general feeling amongst shooter fans is that euro games use crutches like damage gauges (no single-hit kill), powerful weapons and slow pace to prop up a game that would otherwise be impossibly hard because it's too difficult to see the bullets, or because the game design isn't tight enough and sometimes you end up with impossible walls of hurty things that you literally can't dodge past, or because they didn't spend enough time balancing weapon-damage against enemy-health and you're expected to sit for half an hour in front of each boss and/or leave 90% of the oncoming bad guys to fly off the other side of the screen 'cause you don't have the firepower to hurt them. And then that they add in loads of gimmicky features like "one billion weapon options!" or "sparky particle effects!" that sell the game but do nothing positive for the gameplay at all.

So my advice, in order of importance, would be to:
- make sure it's easy to distinguish bullets from everything else as an absolute priority
- make sure it's easy to tell where the bad guys are (and the player is!) at all times
- do a lot of testing/adjustment of the weapon-strength/enemy-health balance
- pace levels such that it's only just possible to wipe out everything that comes at you, but it is still possible.
- give out power-ups sparingly
- don't flood the player with a lot of options/extra weapons/etc.; stick to a very small number.
- avoid having "wait at this section until X" sections which aren't boss fights.


Of course, I'm just jumping to conclusions about how this game plays based on the video, and it's very generic advice (and I've failed to follow some of it myself, in the past). So I hope I don't offend, and I hope I'm not telling you stuff you already know...

[pacpacfujishima]

Thanks again for the feedback, guys!

Sar: very comprehensive reply, I'm sure the author will consider you in the beta test team

pace levels such that it's only just possible to wipe out everything that comes at you, but it is still possible.

The attack patterns programming and how they affect gameplay, is one of the biggest challenges in writting a shmup.

I know the author since my teenage years (we're in the 30's now) and I can say what are his favourite games:
- Ikaruga
- Philosoma
- Raystorm
- Uridium 2 in the Commodore Amiga
- Einhänder

I'm also a very old-school gamer and the first shmup which I think made the genre grown in me was Zanac :D  Also always loved Gradius and R-Type series. So I've suggested some horizontal scrolling stages thrown in the mix (like Axelay or Terra Force ) but this will probably be left for the sequel, Razor 3.  

[J.W. Hendricks]

This looks very impressive! While the explosions need a little polishing, I can definently see myself playing this, especially if it comes out for Wii!

[+peter]

I'm wondering how skies might become hidden.