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[Lazcht]

hello guys, it's Laz from stellar-Ø. i rarely post here though, but today im in the mood so i give it a go .

Game info~
Stellar Arms / once known as [anuStar] project
Genre: linear run n gun, platformer
Emphasis: level design, AI design, intense boss battle, fluid aesthetics
Art direction: retro, pixel art
Theme/setting: modern-fantasy, abstract


Story~
story's not yet polished, we just throw out simple ideas in mind, like parasol(as weapon)-wielding family members, fighting over an ancient ultimate umbrella.

you play as Sol, wields sun parasol, works as flame-thrower, fighting horde of waterdrop minions.

*UPDATE*
A genius professor Umbra sets up two children of his (Sol and Pluie), to challenge each other in one big challenge (the stages), the winner will get the infamous-legendary weapon-umbrella (thus called the Stellar Arms), the world seeks. Pluie agreed though Sol didnt look interested fighting his own brother.

Both of them needs to survive through (different) stages full of monsters he created, at some parts of the stage they see each other and ought to duel to proceed the stage.


Development story~
i work on multiple project now, this is one of it. Stellar Arms (first known as anuStar) is started by hipon (the coder and game designer), who's kinda obsessed with TREASURE's level design. one day he said to us, "hey let's clone gunstar heroes" i thought it was a joke, but he actually made a prototype without my help as the artist, haha.

this is kind of trial project we want to make, 1 stage, a miniboss and a boss, is our current aim. Sega Genesis version of Gunstar Heroes is our big inspiration for the project, but hopefully it turns out into something different, and even better.


Progress~

CODE - hipon (@ricolemba)
jan/2014 - still working on core engine
feb/2014 - implementing new tilesets/original assets
mar/2014 - new map, spawners, added miniboss
apr/2014 - added pre-miniboss, the wall
may/2014 - placeholder title screen, miniboss update
june/2014 - boss rough pattern, some bugs fixes
july/2014 - implementing boss sprites, particles


GRAPHICS - Lazcht (@lazcht), Reijubv (@regianart)
jan/2014 - still working on Sol's key sprites
feb/2014 - rough tilesets, more of Sol's sprites, concepts
mar/2014 - monster, boss sprites, sprite polishing, visual effects
apr/2014 - optimizing/ merging explosions, sprite polishing
may/2014 - mockup draft title screen, particles
june/2014 - concept arts, separating stage1 BG into layers, particles
july/2014 - boss's key sprites

AUDIO - clea leshlick (@clealeshlick)
feb/2014 - rough SFX
mar/2014 - stage 1 BGM, SFX polishing, rough voice acting
june/2014 - miniboss BGM draft
july/2014 - planning on new voice takes and batch of new SFX


FAQ~

Q: Why is the project called ANUS-tar?

A: It was actually a codename, we name prototypes with "anu"-something, and as this project inspired on Gunstar Heroes, we match the "anu" with "star", we weren't intended to make "anus" word, but it's been attracting lot of jokes, that's why we're totally okay.
more detailed answer here

Early stuff~


unused sprites (wrong scale)




Latest Stuff~









feel free to throw feedbacks, as that's one of my purpose posting this topic. demo might available later, i have to ask the others first

follow our devblog on tumblr: http://stellararms.tumblr.com (updated almost daily)
or follow the hashtag #anuStar on twitter for some realtime info :D

=first post will be updated with new contents later, so stay tuned.=

 

[EmilMeiton]

looks cool, I really want to see how the water drop enemies will look like.

[Lazcht]

looks cool, I really want to see how the water drop enemies will look like.

haha, thanks, sure, tbh im quite still confused myself for the enemy designs

and new things from me, nothing real interesting yet to show, but i'll post it anyway to keep the project updated.

enemies concept, haha, i want to put humor on their design and make them look generic, surprisingly challenging as im used to make the hero type, but not unimportant NPC/creeper type.


drople test



im not yet experienced on creating platformer tiles so this is still sooo experimental.

some screenshots (still using lot of placeholders)


somersault slash

[CasePortman]

This looks great so far! You've painted a great picture on how the game with play out with all the details above, awesome job, I'll be watching this for sure.

[thelemba]

This looks great so far! You've painted a great picture on how the game with play out with all the details above, awesome job, I'll be watching this for sure.

Thanks man, we're planning to release the demo first before we go further in this project, so please wait for it! :D

[thelemba]

Hi guys, I'm hipon, lead designer, coder, and level designer of this game. It seems the first post doesn't give much information about this game, so I'll reveal a bit more! 

So in this game, enemies come from the object called "spawner", we haven't decided how this "spawner" will look like, but I'm thinking of a pipe like in Super Mario.

Enemies will spawn endlessly from this spawner unless player steps on it ( blocking the pipe hole ).And of course there is a limit to how many enemies on screen, the game would turn into chaos we don't limit it 

This concept works quite well so far, I could manage the intensity of the level design by adjusting the spawn rate,what kind of enemies will be spawned, etc..I think it's better than placing enemies individually on level editor.

here's a preview to show how spawner works :D ( some assets are placeholder )

[DarkWanderer]

I dig the style but there's too stark a contrast between the enemies & the player in terms of aesthetics. The enemies have a lot more detail. There's no way to incorporate the higher res player sprite?

[thelemba]

I dig the style but there's too stark a contrast between the enemies & the player in terms of aesthetics. The enemies have a lot more detail. There's no way to incorporate the higher res player sprite?

don't worry, the enemie sprites are placeholder, those are taken from the other game. This game will use 2x scaled sprites like the player sprite. We use that because it's faster to make and it gives retro feel to the game

[surt]

So in this game, enemies come from the object called "spawner", we haven't decided how this "spawner" will look like, but I'm thinking of a pipe like in Super Mario.

You could use TMNT-style driller vehicles or drop ships which can pop up anywhere, allow you to surprise the player by appearing behind them, underneath them, etc.

[Lazcht]

world concept before i go deeper on tileset, i underesetimated platformer tileset creation, it's surprisingly hard >_>



i trust almost all the game design on hipon since im already overwhelmed in graphics side, haha.

[ANtY]

why is your game called ANUStar?

[Randomasta]

Lol I knew it's you guys just by the game's title alone . As always, I dig the style. Is the circle around the player part of the gameplay mechanic?

[Lazcht]

why is your game called ANUStar?

anu in indonesian means "something" but sometimes it's used as dirty jokes that's why we often get grins or laughter from locals.

we like to name our prototype anu-something, like anufrog, anublock, anuduel, etc. the case [ANUS]tar is totally accidental and this question was mentioned by a tweep once.

"anu-star" because it's influenced by Gunstar Heroes, it once named anugun though.

Lol I knew it's you guys just by the game's title alone . As always, I dig the style. Is the circle around the player part of the gameplay mechanic?

it's nice to let people know it's us by the codename alone XD thanks to tuning in here, dude. the circle is the blade's range/hitbox, it's only there for debug purpose.

[Kyle O]

I dig the the flamethrower parasol. It's like a hardcore super princess peach. Are you going to multipurpose it for floaty/hover jumps?

[FraktalZero]

This is looking quite good. I love the character style

[thelemba]

I dig the the flamethrower parasol. It's like a hardcore super princess peach. Are you going to multipurpose it for floaty/hover jumps?

yes! Actually it's a multipurpose weapon, it can be both sword and gun. the sword form has special ability which I'll reveal soon!

[Lazcht]

wip sprite for shooting (flame thrower)




cap of the parasol (i dont even know what's that called) absorbs heat (just like solar panel) and converts it to flame

i cant explain it really well since i dont know the english terms of umbrella parts  but i hope you understand what happened

also here are the earlier sketch concepts i made before i sprite

[thelemba]

Update! a concept for 1st miniboss

[Lazcht]

another tileset mock, still playing with color palette, since the current version is a tad too bright and really catch the eye.


that blue pipe are one of the spawner, still has to be contrasted though, i think.

let me know what you think folks! 

[Mr.Blue]

It indeed reminds be of Gunstar heroes in the best way possible.
Your MC is cool too.