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[Montoli]

Build posted!  Somehow actually managing to keep to my goal of "post one build every week"!

Not as many new patterns this week as I wanted (I still have a big list in a google doc of things I want to add) but I got at least a couple in.  And enough other additions that at least I don't feel bad for slacking.

After watching people playtest, am realizing that even though I tell them "these are way out of order for difficulty" people still like to play through them in sequence.  (And so frequently get stuck or stop if they hit a hard one early.)

So I've made a pass at reordering them in order of difficulty.  I probably have some in the wrong places, but this is at least a general shape of how hard I think things are.  The unfortunate side effect is that it screws up everyone's save-data.  Sorry!

[Hima]

The order is now much better. I had problem with the magnified snake for a long time lol. Glad to see it in the harder level now.

I think the reason people play them sequently is because you put them up sequently and there is no need for them to play other stages first. In Shoot The Bullet and Double Spoiler, number of cleared stages is the requirement for unlocking the next ones. This force them to play other stages if they get stuck with the current one.

About the save data...I only have the Queen left...   

[Montoli]

Awesome!  Haha, yeah, the queen is a little hard.  But I did beat it at least once, so I know it's possible!

This is really really helpful to know, btw.  Because I have some other friends who ALSO play shmups a lot, but they play the Dodonpachi school of shmup more.  And they tell me that the game is too hard.  And I'm like "I'm not THAT great at these games myself, but *I* can beat all the stages..."

So yeah.  Good to know that I'm not completely crazy.

And yeah, a lot of this game's structure was directly inspired by Shoot the Bullet/double Spoiler.  I really like his level structure, and as you probably gathered, I'm planning on emulating it.  I really like the model of "beat challenges to move forward, but there are enough that you can pick and choose which ones you want to do, if one is giving you trouble."  It seems like it is very resistant to people getting stuck on one and then quitting.

So I'll probably be moving to that model before too long.  (new levels unlocking after you beat X stages)  Just... sometime AFTER I get done making new stages.

[mokesmoe]

Erratic Teapot and Umbrella Graph were both great. I really liked Umbrella Graph's gimmick, but the bullets being slightly bigger than the lines killed me a couple times. Erratic teapot is the first level where I really made use of the space made by your attack, using it to hop from one bullet to another without switching twice.

Also, I noticed something that I believe is a bug. When you press X to switch, you will be in the switching state forever. Since you start flashing, I assume that it's supposed to end when the flashing ends, but you can press X, then go into the other colour 5 minutes later and be fine.

[RCIX]

I also tried the new build, and while the difficulty is better, i found the Laser Anchor to hard because of the sheer health it had, and how it quickly filled the area with zones of white which i had to expend pretty much all of my energy switching between colors.

[mokesmoe]

Missed Spooky Magnet. Found that be that last life, I could stay in the white. I just sat in a big one near the edge of the screen, and steered it towards the other end/towards the enemy. Since he spawned so fast/many, I would just hop into another bullet he shot before the one I was riding went off screen. Also a good boss.

[Montoli]

Yeah, I figured "someone suggested a magnets-how-do-they-work" boss, so who am I to refuse?

Re:the bug with polarity.

Good catch!  The polarity switching is indeed supposed to only last as long as the flashing.  Oops.  Was also one of those bugs that made me feel really silly when I went to look at it, too.

Anyway - good catch!

Sorry about the umbrella graph bullets being bigger than the lines, but I couldn't figure out a good way to handle it otherwise.  I like that gimmick though.  I think I may use it again, since I have some other ideas of things I could do with it.

Thanks for the feedback!

[mokesmoe]

Sorry about the umbrella graph bullets being bigger than the lines, but I couldn't figure out a good way to handle it otherwise.

I forgot to add ", but it's not really a big problem." to that sentence. It's fine the way it is.

I like that gimmick though.  I think I may use it again, since I have some other ideas of things I could do with it.

I like it too. You try to line yourself up, then when the lines go away you're like "Oh no, am I in the right place?" and then the bullets go past you and you sigh in relief.
Also, when I saw the screenshot of the boss last page, I didn't realize that the lines wouldn't hurt you. I was scared.

[Montoli]

Yeah, I should probably make a level to hammer that idea in - one-pixel-wide lines are harmless.  I do the same thing in all the levels with beams - they start really thin and harmless, as a warning, and then get thick and troublesome.

Maybe I'll throw together a level this week sometime where it forces the issue by making some unavoidable 1-pixel-wide warning lines or something.

[Hima]

LOL Now I feel bad. I didn't know that the line is suppose to be the bullet path guideline. I always attack just before the fast bullets are coming, and then you don't have to care about the guide at all >_<;

Still get stuck at the queen. Anybody has any good strategy against her?

[Montoli]

LOL Now I feel bad. I didn't know that the line is suppose to be the bullet path guideline. I always attack just before the fast bullets are coming, and then you don't have to care about the guide at all >_<;

This is also a valid solution!   Although I confess, I do like the feeling of finding a safe spot, and then watching everything whiz by, thinking to myself "I hope I got the spot right...."

Still get stuck at the queen. Anybody has any good strategy against her?

I've had good luck directing the stream downwards.  On the first hit, I move up as far as I can, on one side of her, and then slowly move down with the hole I made.  Then, whenever I do a new attack, I take advantage of the lapse to try to move back up.  This usually gets me pretty far.  By the last hp though, all bets are off, and I usually just end up making a dash for it.

[Montoli]

Whee, another new week, another new build!

Had some interesting feedback this week, and finally got around to acting on some of it.  In particular, finally made an easier mode for people who were finding it too challenging.  The thing is, now I'm starting to prefer the easy mode.   (It doesn't make the enemies any easier; it just twiddles ship power levels to make you charge up faster and take less energy to switch colors.)  Personally I think it trivializes some of the bosses, but from watching at least two friends play it, they seemed to have a better time?  So I guess I'll leave it in for a bit and see what happens.

Added a few new patterns too.  Stuck them in at the end, so they're easy to find.  As usual, didn't get anywhere near done with all the ideas I still have on my "pattern idea scratchpad" but I slowly chip away at it at least...

The other big change is that you now can charge up by just holding shift.  You don't need to press shift+Z for super-fast charge any more.  This was done for a couple of reasons.  One, I feel the controls are a little complex, and I'd love to simplify them if possible.  Two, it's fun to move around, so I thought I'd try not punishing people for moving around as much.  We'll see how it plays out!


Anyway, as always, I am interested in opinions and feedback!  Let me know what you think!

[RCIX]

Still fun, and i like it now that it's easier However, the Laser Anchor is still too hard. Reducing the health or making it less aggressive at spawning the big balls would help.

[Montoli]

Yeah, Laser Anchor, I have come to realize, is in entirely the wrong spot on the list.

Also, having Rocket Justice and Pointed Letter next to each other is also kind of unfortunate, since they are so similar in theme.  (Thing dashes around and leaves a sold trail behind, which you can try to stay in, or can try to dodge.)

Also, the fish with the laser beams is also probably a little early.  Or at least so my friends who AREN'T danmaku fans have informed me.  (The spam from where it hits the walls turned out to be a bit more deadly than I gave it credit for....)

So yeah.  Some reordering still to be done.  I don't mind having some that are known "hard" levels, as long as I know for certain that they are beatable in a non-luck-based way.  But ideally, I'll get the hard ones all grouped towards the end at least.


But yeah.  Making the easier ship has been a big win, I think.  That thing is definitely staying.

[Montoli]

Booo!

No build yet this week.  While there are a few new things, most of it is "under the hood" and not tremendously interesting.  And the one new pattern I started on is only about half done, and not really ready for prime time.

I'm annoyed.  My goal was to have a build a week ready, but this weekend my brain just sort of shut down and was like "Screw this, I'm not doing anything for TWO DAYS!"

Oh well.  It probably needed it.  Started talking to a friend about audio for the game, so that part is exciting at least!