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[CoderGamesStrikesBack]

Hey guys, I'm back!

Give me a second chance, I'm not Phil Fish. I do think however that the stress was the main cause of his erratic behavior and twisted attitudes. Stress affects different people differently. I'm sure we have all experienced that in our lives. And the life of an independent game developer is very stressful, the part that is not related to the game development.

I'd like to tell you about my latest game called Invader Attack 2. It's not really a sequel to a self-award winning title bearing the same name just without the number after it, Invader Attack, but rather a step forward in every direction and aspect.

I'd like your amazing constructive criticisms showering me all over with golden glimmer and warmth.

Game's profile page on IndieDB: http://www.indiedb.com/games/invader-attack-2

Game's details page including demo download, trailer (skipping frames) and screenshots: Invader Attack 2, 3D PC Windows shmup game

I'm sure you all have beasts, but I still need to tell you that the game does require a decent video card with Shader 2.0 supported and at least a 2Ghz CPU for smooth playing at max fps.

There are many types of enemies, bosses, power-ups, levels and achievements. Replayability is high since the behavior of enemies is unpredictable, I programmed dozens of AIs that are making decisions on the fly, still making sure they're not unbeatable.







EDIT: I just realized this was posted in the wrong board

[eyeliner]

Of course, my laptop ran it but a bit on the skippy side. Nice touch with the debris, and I thought the game is hard core. The power ups move way too fast, in my opinion.

[CoderGamesStrikesBack]

It's amazing that it works on your laptop at all, they usually have those odd integrated cards with no GPU.

As for the power-ups speed, it's deliberate, the game is fast-paced, so hopefully when you said "hard core" you meant for hard core fans of shmups.

You probably don't remember, but the main issue with original Invader Attack was that it was too casual and too slow. You just can't satisfy both types of players with a single game. I could have introduced difficulty, but then what would be the point of global hiscore list because everyone would just play on the easiest level. I could have also introduced different hiscore tables and different sets of achievements for different difficulty levels, but I'm not sure how players would react to those, that's why I need your opinions and constructive criticisms.

[eyeliner]

It's amazing that it works on your laptop at all, they usually have those odd integrated cards with no GPU.

As for the power-ups speed, it's deliberate, the game is fast-paced, so hopefully when you said "hard core" you meant for hard core fans of shmups.

You probably don't remember, but the main issue with original Invader Attack was that it was too casual and too slow. You just can't satisfy both types of players with a single game. I could have introduced difficulty, but then what would be the point of global hiscore list because everyone would just play on the easiest level. I could have also introduced different hiscore tables and different sets of achievements for different difficulty levels, but I'm not sure how players would react to those, that's why I need your opinions and constructive criticisms.

Yeah, the game is catered to those with a more competitive side. You got it right in that regard.

I honestly don't know how could I help you more. I fail miserably at these kinds of games.

[CoderGamesStrikesBack]

Thanks buddy, you helped more than enough by stating your opinion, even though it's not your sort of the game. It's true that my target audience are shoot 'em up fans. I appreciate the comment 

[Udderdude]

$20 is pretty pricey, I hope you realize it's going to be hard to get anyone to bite for that much.

Anyway, I found the game boring and frustrating.  The best strategy seems to be to sit near the side of the enemy and hit them with one half of your shot so that you have the reaction time to get out of the way of their ridiculously fast yellow lasers.  Otherwise I just keep getting hit by them.

When they brake away from the pack and fly after you, they seem to fire so randomly that it's impossible to predict and avoid getting hit.  You try to compensate for this by giving the player a long life bar, but it's just frustrating and poorly designed IMO.

I am definitely your target audience for this kind of thing as I've played more shmups than I can even remember .. and even made a few, too :p

[CoderGamesStrikesBack]

I agree with you on the price. The price will go slightly up once I release the final version, but will go down 30% two years after the release and 50% the year after, and eventually it will only cost $9 and $2 ten years from now.

Unfortunately the reason for this price is my experience with the games I released before. There weren't many sales and the price was too low to cover the time I spent developing them due to low sales. For the price between $19-24 and the same amount of sales, it would definitely cover all the time, but won't allow me to invest into advertisements. To be able to pay for some basic advertisement, the price would have to be $50, but I'm fully aware that won't pass with gamers, so I'm thinking $19 is a fair for people who did support me in the past. And they will save $5. My games got pirated and that's when the sales stopped, so I had to spend almost 2 years of my life coming up with the tricky and witty protection. I think I did a good job, we'll see. I'm not giving up, I love to make games and want to eventually stop having to do other work just to be able to do what I want to do and that's making games all day long, every day.

The demo covers only one level and transition to the second, presenting only the simplest and easiest enemy there is.

Thanks for your awesome constructive criticism, it was from the depths of your heart, I can tell.

[Dragonmaw]

as long as you don't go on some illuminati racist ranting rampage again, we'll be fine.

[CoderGamesStrikesBack]

 

I changed a lot since then. I worship Satan now and love goats as well.

EDIT: only praying between 9 and 11 and will worship Satan between the two towers once they finish building them in my country.

[Udderdude]

I'd suggest you post your game on shmups forum but it seems you already did, and the only reply basically said what I did but with far fewer words ..

Right now, your competition for hardcore shmups on PC is this.  Good fucking luck.

[CoderGamesStrikesBack]

Well, not that, that's a classic shmup with predictable waves and bullet hells, no AIs and a classic basic graphic style. I wanted to be original and I don't think there are many games with the quality I provided, plus the game is heavily driven by AIs and physics, no classic shmup has those. And I hopefully made sure that the game won't be cracked, so only people who really want to support my work will be able to play it. Original Invader Attack was cracked and played by the same people who said harsh words about it. In my dictionary that's called hypocrisy.

[Udderdude]

Heavily AI driven shmup enemies don't really work, especially when players can't even figure out what the hell they're doing.  I don't see where you think the audience for this game is going to come from ..

[CoderGamesStrikesBack]

Well, at least some people have fun playing the game. I don't expect everyone to like it. That's why I asked for constructive criticisms, and those are especially known on TIGSource - the main source of constructive critics and experts on the gamers opinions, likes, dislikes and trends. I'm at the right place.

Thanks for your constructive criticisms so far, keep 'em coming!