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[Fun Infused Games]

Hello indie game devs and fans. I will be adding information about my upcoming release "Hypership Out of Control" for Xbox Live Indie Games (and potentially a PC release sometime down the road). I have previously released two other games for XBLIGs over the last year (find out about them at http://www.funinfused.com )



Go fast. You cannot stop. Explode when hit asteroid! No fun at all!


Concept
This is a top down shmup-type game. The emphasis is not on killing enemies or dodging bullets but rather in avoiding space debris and brightly colored blocks (which happen to be floating around space for no good reason). The longer that you survive, the faster your ship will go (though it does eventually reach a max speed), thus making it harder to survive.

Gameplay
1-4 players control different colored ships. Ships can move, shoot, and (if they have been collected) use "Destroy All" bombs that clear the screen. Small asteroids and space mines can be destroyed using lasers. A temporary powerup also lets your lasers destroy larger debris.

The game is divided into 7 waves, each with its own color/graphic scheme and different style of block/debris layout. When you complete all seven waves, your max speed is increased and begin again from the first wave.

The game will use online high scores (done using a peer-to-peer sharing method) so that you can compete with others for the highest score.

The game is light in story and high in action.


Graphics / Music / Sound
The graphics, music, and sounds are all done in an 8-bit, retro style. Graphics are drawn at a low resolution and then blown up 4 times in order to created a pixelated look. All sound effects are chip-tune style and the music is too.




Links / Media
The official web site for my gaming company can be found at http://www.funinfused.com

My blog (which I often talk about this game) is at http://www.krissteele.net

Screen shots at
http://www.funinfused.com/hypership/ScreenShots.aspx

Very old video at
http://www.funinfused.com/hypership/Videos.aspx

Note that I will do a new video hopefully soon. The current videos are pretty dated and do not use the current game graphics.

Any thoughts, comments, or suggestions are very welcome! I'll try and answer any questions or feedback here and keep up to date with milestones on this project.

[Fun Infused Games]

Just uploaded a new video, 5 minutes worth of in-game footage. Let me know what you think. Thanks!

[I_smell]

I can't think of much to improve on this. I was gonna suggest an upgraded shot that blasts through more, but then you got that; and I was gonna suggest a way to slow down the level, but you've got that n all.
Maybe the speedometer should be a graphic display instead of a text one. I just think it'd fit the hypership theme more to have like a speed guage, or bar, or dial or some sci-fi lookin business.
Maybe you should be able to bring your friend back in? Like earn more shared lives as you go? I just know that in Guitar Hero you can bring a failed friend back in the game if you play well enough and it works really really well.
I hate the retro arcade theme, I just think it's bin done to death. We can make games look like boxart nowadays, so when you see this:


and the game looks like this:


It's not really funny, just dissapointing.

I liked it when the coins kept making paths that split into a right way and a wrong way.

[Fun Infused Games]

Thanks I_smell for taking a look and sharing your thoughts/opinions! Glad I was able to cover many of the "features" you would have suggested!

Maybe the speedometer should be a graphic display instead of a text one. I just think it'd fit the hypership theme more to have like a speed guage, or bar, or dial or some sci-fi lookin business.

I don't want to completely get rid of the numbers, but I like the idea of having some kind of gauge too.

Maybe you should be able to bring your friend back in? Like earn more shared lives as you go? I just know that in Guitar Hero you can bring a failed friend back in the game if you play well enough and it works really really well.

That might be fun but I also am using online high scores and I don't want to skew the high scores because of multiplayer games that can go on forever. So I'll probably pass on this suggestion.

I hate the retro arcade theme, I just think it's bin done to death.

I fully expect this reaction from some gamers and I fully expect others will feel just the opposite. The game is fun and its my hope that many gamers will see it as such. The gameplay is kinda simple (dodge, shoot) and I feel more fitting to this style (plus I like the retro vibe).

If I release the game and this becomes a huge complaint, I'll consider a sequel with more modern graphics.

I liked it when the coins kept making paths that split into a right way and a wrong way.

I've gotten a few comments about people liking this mechanic. I'll try and squeeze it in a few other places in the game too.

[noah!]

Wow, this is cool. From the way you described it I thought it was going to be something like another twitch-reflex style Canabalt-like game (but IN SPAAAACE!!), but the gameplay video really caught my attention.

Minor things I thought of (can be good or bad ;-):
* Why does the speed counter go to 800? Why not just make it go to 1000 (so after 999 it's MAX)? Not a big deal, but some people may find it irritating. Granted, these are the same people who get irritated that guitar amps go to 11, but still... (and also, a >>>>> kind of bar would look sweet in the speed counter)
* One thing that would be really cool would be to have obstacles that, once shot, would deflect on an alternate path instead of being destroyed. For example, see the asteroids on this stage. This could also make multiplayer that much more exciting!
* On that note, it might be cool to have a separate multiplayer mode where each player gets one life, and when he dies, the other player has to collect a certain number of coins to revive the other player, and with each death the cost increases. Could be cool, and fair for scoring...
* The music is fantastic, no doubt about that. However, one thing that caught my ear is that very few actual retro arcade games actually use a chip-like kind of sound. Galaxian, Xevious, 1942, and pretty much every Namco shmup used a very distinct organ-ish sound. But then again, those games really didn't have much music at all, so what you have is definitely more than an improvement. Just something to think about in case you consider expanding the soundtrack.
* I personally like the graphics, but that's just personal preference.
* Three words: "KAIZO MODE UNLOCKED". Like, the "WAVE 1" sign will kill you. Yeah. ;-)

I'm really looking forward to seeing how this turns out. From what I've seen, it's gonna be epic...

[Fun Infused Games]

Wow, this is cool. From the way you described it I thought it was going to be something like another twitch-reflex style Canabalt-like game (but IN SPAAAACE!!), but the gameplay video really caught my attention.

Glad you liked it! The gameplay description does come across as far more interesting when I show it. It's fun (and more fun now that I added some left/right movement to asteroids/blocks).

* Why does the speed counter go to 800? Why not just make it go to 1000 (so after 999 it's MAX)? Not a big deal, but some people may find it irritating. Granted, these are the same people who get irritated that guitar amps go to 11, but still... (and also, a >>>>> kind of bar would look sweet in the speed counter)

The general idea was that when you complete all waves, the max speed goes up. Though as I've added more waves, completing all waves has also become more difficult and many people will never see this increase. I may just end up increasing max speed a little each wave instead. Then the max speed will vary and 800 will be more acceptable.

* One thing that would be really cool would be to have obstacles that, once shot, would deflect on an alternate path instead of being destroyed.

I like that idea. I don't think I want to do that for all objects, but for a select few it would be cool.

* On that note, it might be cool to have a separate multiplayer mode where each player gets one life, and when he dies, the other player has to collect a certain number of coins to revive the other player, and with each death the cost increases. Could be cool, and fair for scoring...

Based on this feedback and some other feedback I've received, I'm going to consider some new modes of play. I think this would be a good one (collect X number of coins to respawn dead players, game ends if everyone is dead).

* The music is fantastic, no doubt about that. However, one thing that caught my ear is that very few actual retro arcade games actually use a chip-like kind of sound. Galaxian, Xevious, 1942, and pretty much every Namco shmup used a very distinct organ-ish sound. But then again, those games really didn't have much music at all, so what you have is definitely more than an improvement. Just something to think about in case you consider expanding the soundtrack.

Glad you like the music, I have a very good musician that does this work for me (I use him for most of my game music). I probably won't be adding new music to this game, but if I did, I would want to keep in the current style.

* I personally like the graphics, but that's just personal preference.

Thanks! I'm sure some do, some don't. Hopefully more do, and people seem to like them better in motion than static screenshots.

* Three words: "KAIZO MODE UNLOCKED". Like, the "WAVE 1" sign will kill you. Yeah. ;-)

I've had a few suggestions on the "Wave 1" signs... killing the player isn't probably fair, but perhaps hitting into them and exploding would be okay or maybe shooting them.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how this turns out. From what I've seen, it's gonna be epic...

Thanks! I hope it will be epic! I'm aiming for a July release so I've still got time to cram in a few extra things. I've never been adverse to taking extra time on a release too in order to improve it (my last game for instance was supposed to take 3-4 months and it took 8 ) .

[Fun Infused Games]

(and also, a >>>>> kind of bar would look sweet in the speed counter)

Updated screen shots with the speed counter / meter / whatever you want to call it:

http://www.funinfused.com/hypership/ScreenShots.aspx

[Fun Infused Games]

Just wanted to mention that Hypership Out of Control should be available soon on Xbox Live Indie Games. It's approved and we're just waiting for Microsoft to post the game.

In the mean time, check out our trailer. Thanks!

[ink.inc]

Not a big deal, but some people may find it irritating. Granted, these are the same people who get irritated that guitar amps go to 11, but still...

Back on topic- the game seems pretty cool... like a standard 80s arcade shooter cranked up 200% in speed.

[Fun Infused Games]

Back on topic- the game seems pretty cool... like a standard 80s arcade shooter cranked up 200% in speed.

Thanks! It is a fast fast fast game which is what makes it so fun.

And it's on sale now, you can get it here  http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/games/media/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d80258550659/ or on the Indie Games tab under Games Marketplace.

[Fun Infused Games]

Just wanted to mention that Hypership is now available for Windows Phone 7. Features 10 all new waves and true online high scoring. If you like the original and have a WP7 device, I think you'll really enjoy this version too, maybe even more-so.