Nemesis Online WebsiteSo, this has been out in various incomplete forms for a while now, yes, but I don't see a lot of coverage of it. In a way, though, only now it's newsworthy: it is only recently (last month I believe) that they finished porting all the Nemesis 1 levels to the game. Yes, that's right, you can play through the entirety of the game online with a group of people - up to 8. PC SHMUP-dom is sorely lacking in coop of any kind, and this, which has online play and a proper lobby (no Hamachi nonsense or IP needed), is a very useful thing even without one of its selling features, namely the inclusion of a level editor which allows for creation of custom levels!
The graphics are a mixed bag, and it doesn't help that the screenshots on the official site are in varying levels of the game's development. Don't be fooled by its version number, however, this is a completely functioning game, unlike previous iterations. In fact, this morning we had a three player game going and played up to about level 4 - alas, I did not take any pictures but it all worked well bar a few issues of the sort usually connected to internet play, i.e. a bit of desyncing due to connections.
Now, to play the game online, you will need to open both a tdp and udp port of your choosing. The default is 6500, but it can be set to any port you wish. Otherwise, you will be unable to connect to the game. F2 will bring up a list of hotkeys such as ingame chat. It should be noted that to start a game, if you are host, you must close the chat window first in order to be able to start the game. Apart from that, it shouldn't be a problem.
Changing to any level keeps everyone's score, powerups (a big thing in Gradius), and lives, so while by switching from level 1 to level 2 and so on, a normal game can be played, you can also switch to custom levels (of which there are a few on the site) or the boss rush or whatever and keep everyone's status and progress. Alas, the community is not very active, at the moment, but surely if people begin to talk about it then games will be much easier to come by, and more custom levels will be around as well.
Nemesis Online Website
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