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[Azure Lazuline]

Updated September 15 - first full version!



















Still in development, but there's plenty of content already! You can hold up to 3 weapons at a time, and you can combine all your current weapons into one mega-weapon with the properties of all three! In addition to standard stages, there's Endless Mode which continually changes the terrain and adds new enemies to get more difficult over time.

I'm mostly looking for general feedback on how the game feels and what kind of content you would like in the future. Any enemy or stage ideas would be great, and since there's a level editor, you can just make your own levels and I'll put any good ones in the game. (Note that this post isn't me asking for you guys to make content, that's just a side thing.) The game is now at the first "complete" version, although that doesn't mean I won't be adding any more! It just means there's an actual ending, and I'm satisfied with the difficulty progression and amount of content so far.

Development blog (will always contain a link to the latest version)
Direct download for latest version (as of now)

[Pandara_RA!]

It's a shoot um' up with an insane amount of depth to the gameplay, and tons of polish just everywhere in the gameplay aspects and an extreme amount of "options in the menus" hehe.

Was actually really fun to test, and for sure deserves more views and posts than just mine. =]

[kidchameleon]

What version of XNA is this? Will not run on my comp?

[Azure Lazuline]

This is in 3.1, specifically to make it more compatible than 4.0. Windows XP (with all service packs) and anything newer should all support it.

[Pandara_RA!]

What version of XNA is this? Will not run on my comp?

I had the exact same issue, for me I had to run the XNA installer in the folder (even though I had xna already. then run the game. =]

[RamSteelwood]

Worked for me after I installed XNA 3.1, though I already have 4 installed for my game and had assumed it would be backwards compatible (but that's not a complaint for you, that's for Microsoft!

Only had time for a quick blast, just the tutorial really.  However I'm very impressed by the quality of it.  The screen shots look great and in game is even better.  Technically very impressive, a very slick production.  I'll try to play again when I have a bit more time.

My Specs:
Windows 7 64bit
4GB
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6600 @ 2.40GHz
ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series

[Udderdude]

Can't test at the moment, but I can tell from the screenshots that it looks very visually cluttered.  You may want to cut down on the effects and make the background more subdued and darker.  Also look into re-doing the interface because it's just all over the place right now.

[Azure Lazuline]

RamSteelwood: What do you think of the tutorial? I assume you got into this with no prior knowledge of the game or characters, so do you think it does a good job setting the scene (both for gameplay and for the characters)? It's pretty much the only cutscene in the game, so it's hard to make sure everything works out. The only thing I'm currently worried about is that it doesn't emphasize the super shot button enough, since that's the core of the game.

Udderdude: "I haven't played the game, but I don't like it"
You can turn down the intensity of the effects and the interface is fully customizable. Player-related stuff is all at the top-left, and score-related stuff is all in the bottom-left (the right side is blank for now, free for when I add in 2-player mode). I actually played around with a lot of interface designs before I settled on that one, since putting it all around the edge like that gives more room for the action. How would you suggest to change it? Be specific if you can.

[RamSteelwood]

I don't think it was perfect...
I'm not able to play it at the moment, but from what I remember:

* I don't think the double jump was mentioned and it was needed almost straight away. I know it's pretty standard but it might throw a newer player

* There was a little frustrating section, maybe it was cos the 'kick' wasn't explained well enough or maybe I was being stupid... I got stopped where I had to kick through a wall to make something explode, but that didn't seem very clear to me.  in fact I thought I had to somehow bend/bounce a shot around the L-shape pipe, which in turn was frustrating cos every time I pressed shoot it picked up the nearby power-up  (and so I'd also suggest that you use a different button to pick up a power up as it would be very frustrating in a real battle if you switched weapon while shooting because a power-up dropped on you!)

* I don't think the super-shot was explained very clearly, and that last section of the tutorial could maybe do with being a little bit longer to demonstrate it better. I thought it was like a smart bomb so automatically didn't want to waste it, blasted away at something, it didn't have much effect so i pressed super-shot and everything blew up and i was at the menu.  if it's something to be used a lot and is about mixing normal weapons you should maybe do "ok, try the supershot","now change weapons and see how it changes" etc...

In terms of setting the scene etc: I felt like I was missing some important information.  I didn't know if I was a warrior in training, or even if there is a real battle or if the whole thing is virtual.  the character has a vague ability to 'copy', and is down about it...but does everyone else have better/different powers?  i realise this is over analysing it, and you could have pages and pages of back story to explain everything which you don't really want to do.  but maybe if the start was a bit more "yay, the combat simulator is here.  if i pass this i can become a super fighter" rather than "it's my birthday.  ooh, a present off my uncle, what could it be...." atleast the character knows what's going on even if we don't, so it seems more logical...does that make sense?

Apologies if I've totally got the wrong end of the stick with this.  If it ties to some larger 'Kitty' universe that I have no knowledge of then maybe it makes more sense to those in the know!

And I realise this probably looks like a massive list of complaints, but i certainly don't mean for it to be dis-heartening.  I probably would have been a lot less picky if the game didn't feel so professional generally.

[dEnamed]

Thank you for providing an option to turn off the "shiny". I've got issues with simulator sickness and not many devs consider this when creating their games. There's one thing that would need adjusting for it to be perfect: The getting hit effect temporarily blurs the screen somewhat. If I get hit a handful of times, simulator sickness kicks in (tried on all three settings). Otherwise its perfectly fine in that regard.
Gameplay wise it feels quite solid. It's not my kinda game, I bloody hate catgirls and associates but I enjoyed the game, which does say something. Good work.

I've got two control nitpicks:

- I played with a 360 Gamepad. Worked great right out of the box. But the sticks were somewhat over-sensitive and would only let me aim in increments of about 45° unless I was extremely careful and nudged it pixel by pixel.

- I thought it was odd that you couldn't move while shooting when you're on the ground. Especially since you can move and shoot just fine while jumping. Did I miss some option?

The tutorial set a typical Anime kinda setting. It did a great job at explaining the controls. The doublejump wasn't explained but easy enough to figure out. The Characters and setting I didn't really get, some catgirl thing and some cyber training? Keep in mind, for all I know the setting could be clear as crystal and my dislike for humanoid meow purr purr could just fog my perception.

[Azure Lazuline]

Thanks for the feedback!

- I'll probably disable screen blurring if you're on the lowest graphic setting, good point.

- Only aiming in increments of 45 is intentional, because the default setup is keyboard-only and I want all players to be on even ground. It also gives a lot more emphasis on positioning instead of aim, which makes it feel more like Mega Man rather than an arena shooter. You have auto-aim to help compensate for the aiming, too.

- Not being able to move while shooting on the ground is mostly to make it easier to repeatedly shoot diagonally without moving. I'd either have to make it so you can run and shoot forward but not run and shoot diagonally (which is inconsistent), or have a button to stay in place (which I think would overcomplicate things, there are already enough buttons). I find myself wanting to rapidly shoot at an angle a lot more often than I want to shoot while moving forward on the ground, so I went with that - you can just jump to move forward while shooting anyway.

- The double-jump is explained if you don't figure it out in 15 seconds or so. I didn't want to make it feel like the game's holding your hand too much, heh.

- That's about the extent of the story so far, since this isn't meant to be a story-driven game. I just needed a reason to have you blow up robots. I guess you'll play as the non-catgirl character once that's implemented, hm?

[Raibys]

Hello all. I guess you could technically call me the "co-creator" of this game. Azure does the programming, modeling and music and stuff, while I am the one behind the writing, character and enemy designs, and a few other other creative aspects of the game. (Azure definitely deserves more credit for this game than I do, though - I definitely can't compare to her level of talent) Anyway, I just thought I might answer a couple questions here:

In terms of setting the scene etc: I felt like I was missing some important information.  I didn't know if I was a warrior in training, or even if there is a real battle or if the whole thing is virtual.  the character has a vague ability to 'copy', and is down about it...but does everyone else have better/different powers?  i realise this is over analysing it, and you could have pages and pages of back story to explain everything which you don't really want to do.  but maybe if the start was a bit more "yay, the combat simulator is here.  if i pass this i can become a super fighter" rather than "it's my birthday.  ooh, a present off my uncle, what could it be...." atleast the character knows what's going on even if we don't, so it seems more logical...does that make sense?

Apologies if I've totally got the wrong end of the stick with this.  If it ties to some larger 'Kitty' universe that I have no knowledge of then maybe it makes more sense to those in the know!

The Characters and setting I didn't really get, some catgirl thing and some cyber training? Keep in mind, for all I know the setting could be clear as crystal and my dislike for humanoid meow purr purr could just fog my perception.

There definitely is a lot of backstory behind this game, but how much of that is revealed in this game itself is not very substantial. Azure wanted to keep this particular game simple in the story department and focus just on gameplay, but we definitely plan to have more things about the bigger picture that this game takes place in revealed in later projects.

Copy Kitty does indeed take place in a larger universe, known as Zoincailla. It's a sci-fi/fantasy setting taking place in a solar system populated by a number of sentient races. A small percentage of people born in Zoincailla (regardless of species) have supernatural powers that can defy the laws of physics. Those people are known as "entanma." The main bad guys are an otherworldly, robot-like race called the Cybers that is bent on capturing entanma, converting them into mechanical slaves, and assimilating them into their ranks.

Boki is a young entanma who wants to become a big hero and fight against the Cybers herself, but feels inadequate because her only ability that stands out is her power to copy what *other* people can do. In Copy Kitty, Boki is playing a combat simulation that her uncle gave her in order to practice and improve her powers, which her uncle sees great uniqueness and potential in.

...I could probably talk for pages and pages about all the little details and storyline of Zoincailla, but this probably wouldn't be the place to do that even if people were interested. :P If anyone is curious though, just let me know and I can probably answer any questions you might have elsewhere.

[Kit]

I played through quite a few levels to give the game a fair shake. The overall gameplay is well done, and the shooting aspects and weapons are diverse and pretty fun to use. I particularly enjoyed discovering new combinations for the guns. There was a similar feature in Gunstar Heroes which I enjoyed, though yours seems to have quite a bit more selection.

Sometimes though, I'll destroy an enemy and it'll drop some weapon I haven't used yet, and then as it's the last enemy, I don't get to play around with it. Might be neat to add some sort of testing ground where you can play with any weapons that have already dropped, and shoot them at respawning targets. Something where you don't take any damage, and can just dink around. Makes sense as virtual training is the theme of the game. Though I suppose I could just play endless mode.

Aesthetically speaking, I didn't really care for the character and enemy graphics when I saw the screenshots, but seeing them in action made me change my mind. I think they fit the game well, though I still think that they are a bit inconsistent with the background and terrain.

The double jump mechanic is something that gamers should be used to seeing in games by now, and was not confusing to find or use. I think I would have found it even without reading the previous posts.

The destructable terrain was a nice addition.

Now to the nitpicks, first the technical and then the social:

--I feel like the character is really heavy when jumping. Much heavier than what I'd have anticipated, like, lead heavy. I don't even think Megaman felt that heavy, and he was an android

--The shoot button being the same button that picks up new weapons becomes a problem when many pickups are on the ground. You may wish to default it to another key, and add the option to let the shoot button be the key if the player chooses.

--Speaking of keys, the default keys are set up in an an odd way. You may wish to play around with different keybindings, or ask the players if there are any default keybindings that would work better. Please note that as the developer, you may have become used to them as you have made the game, but new players may not find them intuitive. I didn't play around with them, as I tried to give it a fair chance, but I often found myself hitting the wrong buttons. While I understand that an Xbox controller or joystick might be the ideal method, it just seemed like a person shouldn't have to do customization right off the bat in order to obtain a comfortable play setting. But again, could just be me.

--The game is visually cluttered, even on the lowest graphical setting. It's playable, and the effects are well crafted, just.. it's a lot on the screen all at once with the animated platforms, and the sheer number of enemies and bullets and effects in some levels. As the level sizes are sometimes small, or have a lot of destructable terrain in the way, it hurts the gameplay somewhat. I don't have any suggestions on how to fix it just now, but if I think of any, I'll let you know. I think what Udderdude said about subduing the background (Even as a selectable option) would help out.

Which brings me to the social nitpick:

Udderdude: "I haven't played the game, but I don't like it"

This "quote" of Udderdude was misrepresented. He said nothing about liking nor disliking the game. He was merely offering objective feedback based on what he could see from the screenshots, having not had the chance to play. The screenshots are what are used by you, the developer, to draw attention to the game and they also represent the game before the game is played. I feel that feedback based on screenshots can be useful as this is the case. While playing the game is the most ideal way to give feedback, I think that he would have come to the same conclusion regardless. (As an aside, you may wish to add some gameplay videos to your original post. Might help.)

Also, from your blog comments:

Thanks for the feedback! I would still like to hear the positive things you have to say about it, since not many people actually comment on it, and hearing lots of "this game is great, except x y and z which are all really bad" is kind of discouraging actually! Not a problem, though!

I guess the point of this particular nitpick is that when you ask for contructive criticism, you should expect no praise. These types of things will make people think that you are after praise instead of feedback. Not saying you are, just saying that it is what people will assume. Constructive criticism as it is most generally used, is fault-finding with the intention of making suggestions to better the faults.

Praise is nice, we all want it, and certainly your game deserves some, but it's hard to come by when asking for critique. Just some advice, and as with any advice feel free to use it or disregard it at your own peril.

Now, shutupandtakemymoney.jpeg    

[Azure Lazuline]

I think they fit the game well, though I still think that they are a bit inconsistent with the background and terrain.

That's a little on purpose: the player and enemies are all "realistic" as far as in-universe goes, but the land is all computer-generated. Plus I think it gives the game a really unique visual style.

--I feel like the character is really heavy when jumping. Much heavier than what I'd have anticipated, like, lead heavy. I don't even think Megaman felt that heavy, and he was an android

I'll keep that in mind. I don't think I'm fully satisfied with the jumping quite yet, so it still needs a little tweaking. Jumping seems so simple, and it's really important, but it's so difficult to get right...

--The shoot button being the same button that picks up new weapons becomes a problem when many pickups are on the ground. You may wish to default it to another key, and add the option to let the shoot button be the key if the player chooses.

There's an option to remap that. It can be down+shoot or the kick button, in addition to automatic and shoot-button settings. There's no way to put a separate key for it since I think that would clutter up the controls even more.

--Speaking of keys, the default keys are set up in an an odd way.

Not sure if this is exactly what's in the current version or something I changed afterwards (in the current in-development version), but here are the default controls:
Z jump, X shoot, C super shot, A kick, S/D switch weapons, F drop weapon.

What controls did you end up using? It's hard to find a setup that's immediately intuitive just because there are so many buttons, although you really only need one switch-weapon button and most of the time the drop weapon button isn't very useful.

--The game is visually cluttered, even on the lowest graphical setting. It's playable, and the effects are well crafted, just.. it's a lot on the screen all at once with the animated platforms, and the sheer number of enemies and bullets and effects in some levels. As the level sizes are sometimes small, or have a lot of destructable terrain in the way, it hurts the gameplay somewhat. I don't have any suggestions on how to fix it just now, but if I think of any, I'll let you know. I think what Udderdude said about subduing the background (Even as a selectable option) would help out.

When you put it on the lowest setting, the terrain doesn't even animate anymore, and the background animation is slowed to 1/4 and most special effects are disabled. Next version it's even going to dim the background by half, in addition to the BG being more subdued in general (even on the higher settings). There can still be lots of enemies and bullets late in the game, but that's not really a graphical issue... what exactly are you having a problem with?

He was merely offering objective feedback based on what he could see from the screenshots, having not had the chance to play.

And for the other stuff, I say exactly what I'm thinking and don't hide anything, so some people see me as being kind of cold. But really, it's like if you asked someone to tell you about a certain movie, and they just responded "I don't like the music used in the trailer"... I guess it's kind of relevant if you were the one who made the trailer, but that's not actually anything about the product itself and seems kind of strange to say. I know he didn't mean any harm, it's probably just the way he said it (the entire post was just negative things). I still responded to the criticism and asked if he could be more specific or if there's a way to improve it, though, since I recognize that an impression from the screenshots is important.

Praise is nice, we all want it, and certainly your game deserves some, but it's hard to come by when asking for critique. Just some advice, and as with any advice feel free to use it or disregard it at your own peril.

It's not that I'm specifically looking for praise, it's that knowing what my game does right is just as important as knowing what it does wrong. It's amazing how many people think that "criticism" means only pointing out the flaws. Ironing out all the flaws doesn't necessarily make for a good game, it just guarantees that the game is at least mediocre. But if I know what parts of the game are fun, I can expand on them and make the game even more fun.

For example, one person said that he likes the really big enemies and thinks it's awesome when the player gets super-powerful weapons - so the next version has a really big robot that you can climb into once it's defeated, and you can use all of its weapons. Pointing out the flaws is really nice, but for a game that's still in the middle of development, I'm more concerned about adding more fun things than I'm concerned about refining things already in the game. Making that robot feels like it added a lot more fun to the game than tweaking the jumping and darkening the background would, anyway.

Your feedback was actually really good, by the way. You pointed out what you liked, what you disliked, and gave suggestions for how to improve it. You even grew 5 extra right hands just to hold more money.

[Kit]

That's a little on purpose: the player and enemies are all "realistic" as far as in-universe goes, but the land is all computer-generated. Plus I think it gives the game a really unique visual style.

It certainly does give the game a unique visual style. It makes more sense to me now that you've said that. Not sure why I didn't pick that up 8D Plus, like I say, the characters are well made. I've seen a lot of games where the 3D style sprites look tacky, or are animated in a very tacky way. This is not the case with your game, they aren't choppy and they aren't moving so fluidly that it's unnatural.

I'll keep that in mind. I don't think I'm fully satisfied with the jumping quite yet, so it still needs a little tweaking. Jumping seems so simple, and it's really important, but it's so difficult to get right...

It certainly is difficult to get just right. I imagine you don't want it too heavy, but not too floaty either. I don't do traditional programming for games, I just use Gamemaker's GML for tossing together quick engines, so I wouldn't even know where to start when it comes to XNA. Unfortunately that means I have no helpful suggestions D:

There's an option to remap that. It can be down+shoot or the kick button, in addition to automatic and shoot-button settings. There's no way to put a separate key for it since I think that would clutter up the controls even more.

Yea, adding an extra key would be a no-no at this point I think. Well, as long as you can map it to the kick or the down+shoot key, I don't think it is a problem. I just didn't find those settings. That was my bad.

What controls did you end up using?

I didn't change them because I wanted to see if I could get used to the controls over time. I think if I were to change them, I would leave Z jump and X shoot (This seems to be common convention for this type of game), C super shot, and maybe do spacebar for kick (because my thumb can reach it easily) and maybe F to switch weapons (Ignoring the other key, and reachable with my forefinger). Or, I might rather prefer to change it to Z kick, X shoot, C super shot, spacebar jump, and F switch weapons. Again, just personal preference. Not sure how this would work for everybody.  

There can still be lots of enemies and bullets late in the game, but that's not really a graphical issue... what exactly are you having a problem with?

On the highest graphical setting, my issue is tracking enemy bullets and enemies to dodge them with so much other motion going on. I've never got motion sickness from a game before, but I came a bit close to feeling dizzy. But you've added a warning for this in the readme file, so I changed it to low. Some games add a little warning splash screen warning after their logo or the company logo, so you may consider doing that at some point. I read the readme file, always. But some people never do XD

On the lowest graphical setting, I think I really only have the issue when I'm in a smaller space, and enemies are shooting, and then I get some crazy awesome weapon like the one that bounces little stars all over the place. Not much you can do to fix it. At least, I can't think of anything. It was far less of a problem on lowest settings.

It's not that I'm specifically looking for praise, it's that knowing what my game does right is just as important as knowing what it does wrong.

Point taken, and absolutely true. I would just recommend using direct quotes next time. I wouldn't have felt compelled to say anything regarding social critique otherwise and as this is the internet, and people can be far less kind, well...

At any rate, I won't write any more books; I think you're going in the right direction with this game and it seems like a heck of a lot of fun. I'll keep playing and report any bugs if I find any.

You even grew 5 extra right hands just to hold more money.

And for extra hugging capacity? 8D

[Azure Lazuline]

I just didn't find those settings. That was my bad.

Not necessarily - one recurring theme I've noticed is that people complain about something, then I say "it's in the options menu" and they just hadn't seen it. How should I make the options menu more obvious? I'm probably just going to rearrange it a bit, and add left/right arrows on the pause menu so you know you can scroll over.

Some games add a little warning splash screen warning after their logo or the company logo, so you may consider doing that at some point. I read the readme file, always. But some people never do XD

Already in it for next version. When you start up, there's now an option to start windowed or full-screen, and it displays the graphic setting and volume options. The reason I didn't do that sooner was just a little pet peeve of mine where games take too long to start up. This is an action game, you should be able to get from starting the game to actual gameplay in 5 seconds or less! That's why I don't have a company logo or anything, and if I did have one it would just be in the corner of the title screen.

On the lowest graphical setting, I think I really only have the issue when I'm in a smaller space, and enemies are shooting, and then I get some crazy awesome weapon like the one that bounces little stars all over the place. Not much you can do to fix it. At least, I can't think of anything. It was far less of a problem on lowest settings.

But you have to admit that the chaos can be fun sometimes. You push the shoot button and everything goes crazy and it makes you feel powerful, even though you can't see very well anymore, heh.

And for extra hugging capacity? 8D

[Azure Lazuline]

Made an update with lots of new content! Download it here. The full changelog can be seen here, at the development blog. Updated the first post.

[killozapit]

Wowsers, saw this game on raocow's channel and what do you know it's by my old friend azure!

[Azure Lazuline]

Yay! It's weird how some people just end up running into each other a lot, huh?

Anyway, I've been posting about this game a lot in other threads but since someone already brought this one back and a new release is soon, I think I'll condense it all.







Check back soon for a new downloadable version!

[Azure Lazuline]

Okay, new version up! Check first post for details.