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[Ark]

Totally awesome! I'm a big fan of original Hydorah and pretty much any game made by Locomalito.
Please, make it a little bit easier for the lazy gamers like me :D I'm not sure I'll be able to survive through the game if it will be even more difficult.

[Xonatron]

NaeVal, thank you (so much!) for connecting with me at GDC and showing off your game! I am honored!

[InterGalactic]

Looking like a very great remake of gladius. Keep up!

[Aby]

Hi people!

Thanks for all your support and especially those who visited us at GDC!

As we promised, we want to introduce the influences of Super Hydorah during its birth. So, here we go!

In general, it could be said that the game is somewhere between Darius, Gradius and R-Type, but for those who have studied the genre for many years, there are lots of shmups (classical and modern) in the game, including some even forgotten today.
The main pillar of the game is variety, finding new things on each planet, so the creation of the game has been led by different influences and ideas at each level of the game.

The exoticism and spatial fantasy appearing in Super Hydorah is directly inspired from Gradius, with its tropical planets, Moais, volcanoes, giant plants, ice planets and fire... no other saga has managed to convey so well that sense of Vernian adventure in space. Maybe the maximum expression of this exoticism in the series is Gradius 2 for MSX, which in addition to the classical elements of Gradius arcades, has dialogues, secrets and a background story that takes place during the game (and not only in the beginning and end of the game, as is traditional in the genre)…

Besides that, the few mechanical phases are influenced by games like Turrican and others by Manfred Trenz, with that kind of brilliant and complicated mechanics, as if metal and machines were something that grow on the planets, among the rocks.

We’ll shortly keep updating the devlog with posts about the inspiration for dangers of different nature, the weapon system, the route selection and other things about the creation of Super Hydorah. Stay tuned! 

[joemusashi]

Turrican and its sequels are one of the big forgotten IPs of videogames

[darrenagar]

Turrican and its sequels are one of the big forgotten IPs of videogames

This.

My brother will certainly get a LOT of enjoyment out of this! he could 1 credit arcade R type and still plays every iteration of it since, and don't get me started on Turrican, amazing.

I can tell that this genre of game is your natural home and passion, and have no doubt this will be a slice of shmup perfection, I'm gonna gift this to my bro (and myself) for sure! 

[Aby]

I can tell that this genre of game is your natural home and passion, and have no doubt this will be a slice of shmup perfection, I'm gonna gift this to my bro (and myself) for sure! 

Thank you so much for your words! 

Turrican and its sequels are one of the big forgotten IPs of videogames

Yes, unfortunately. For that, Super Hydorah is our particularly tribute to this forgotten IPs 

[Aby]

Hi everybody!

As we promised, we’ll continue talking about the references of Super Hydorah. This time, it’ll be about the scale and route selection system in the game.

The size of ships and game elements can be reminiscent of games such as Scramble or Hydefos, games in which the action seems to be seen from afar, with small buildings, trees and astronauts that serve to understand the real size of Ships and chiefs.

This is important because in Super Hydorah there are space battles in which large ships appear, and Locomalito wanted these ships to be almost completely on the screen, so that, in turn, the great ship that one faces in Galactic Inferno is perceived as a super structure.

About the route selection in Super Hydorah, Darius and OutRun have always been the big favorites in this regard: only one first stage, but a multitude of final stages depending on the route chosen during the game. The only bad thing about this system is that, since there are many final stages, the sense of grand finale is lost.

In Super Hydorah the road widens a few times and sometimes narrows, thus the main stages of the story are mandatory, but not the secondary ones, some can be solved in very different ways.

This is an early level scheme design. Now the game has 21 levels divided into 35 sublevels and 35 bosses.
And that’s it for now! If you want that we talk about any specific feature of Super Hydorah, don’t be shy! Ask or comment and we’ll tell you everything about it

[Grapple Bug]

Nice work, this kind of game is really appealing to me.

[Aby]

Hi everybody!

Today, we’ll be our last update about the references of Super Hydorah.  Hope you enjoy it!

We’ll start talking about the weapon system in the game. Irem's classics often have a really varied weapon selection, so much that the way they play changes completely depending on the weapon equipped, and that's something I like. However, in games like R-Type weapons normally appear where you need to use them. It seems interesting to me that the player is the one who discovers for himself which weapon is best in each case, and that is why in Super Hydorah there is a different weapon system. You get a new weapon in each level (as in Megaman), but you have to install a combination of main and secondary weapon before entering a phase, before even knowing what dangers await you.

In addition, in Super Hydorah not all equipable weapons serve to shoot more and more strongly, there are weapons with special characteristics, defensive weapons and objects that are not weapons at all. All levels can be completed with all weapons in the arsenal, but of course, there are weapons that make life easier in certain levels, and the best ones are hidden in the most dangerous planets.

Games like Castlevania or The Maze of Galious shine through their secrets and unexpected things. Shmups do not usually have much of this, and I wanted the game to explore that terrain.

In Super Hydorah there are secrets, hidden phases, side missions and certain objects that must be used in certain zones, as it would happen in an action RPG, but without breaking the rhythm of the game. In addition, the action becomes more intense and visceral or more leisurely and mysterious, depending on the part of the game you are in. In the background, it could be said that Super Hydorah is a space opera divided into three acts, with a handful of phases in each of them.

Apart from video games, of course, there are many other influences. The 70's and 80's anime, the technicolor sci-fi or the pulp art of Amazing Stories. In the following picture, you can see some references like Macross, Ulysses 31, Star Crash, Captain Hancock and Terror from the space.

Far from here, our next step is to update the devlog with posts about new development-related topics. Of course, feel free to suggest anything you want to know about Super Hydorah. Cheers! 

[joemusashi]

Good luck with the greenlight! (upvoted :D)

[OzzyTheZombi]

Hi,

I would like to know if you changed the save system in SH.
The limited one in Hydorah was interesting but a bit frustrating for neophyts or for the one who where aiming for high scores.

Good luck for the greenlight! ( But i'm sure you will be successful)

[Aby]

I would like to know if you changed the save system in SH.
The limited one in Hydorah was interesting but a bit frustrating for neophyts or for the one who where aiming for high scores.

Hi OzzyTheZombie!

The game now saves automatically in the map, once you complete a stage. Also, there are unlimited saves and continues!
However, continuing the game resets the score! So if you aim to get a high score you will need to play straight.

Thank you so much for all your support on Greenlight!!! We hope to pass it soon!

[Ark]

The game now saves automatically in the map, once you complete a stage. Also, there are unlimited saves and continues!

Awesome! Wanted this.

[Aby]

Hello again!

Today we want to tell you about how Locomalito conceptualizes his ideas and evolves them for Super Hydorah.

Locomalito is a pretty well know homebrew developer, however he likes to refer to himself as a Bedroom developer. Why?  Well, that’s because in his bed is where he forgets about the daily life, as he combines his work as a graphic designer in an advertising agency with the development of his games, and starts to dream about ideas for the game.

As you read in previous posts, the notebook is the central pillar of Locomalito’s games. He uses notebooks with grids because then it is easier to take references of the in-game object size and the alignment and position of the tiles.

Another important thing he does: to do lists, where he notes all the steps he has to do next. With the incorporation of Abylight Studios in the development, this method has evolved into the use of more sophisticated tools that will allow the rest of the team to follow and share the information.

Due to is a Spaniard dev, he does lists in Spanish  

Once everything is planned, it’s time to put it into the game. For that, we use Game Maker Studio, a very popular engine to make 2D games and easy to use. GM allows us to develop fast, efficiently and multiplatform.

There are many things discarded in the final version. Others change so much that end up having nothing to do with their original conceptualization. Some levels change an uncountable number of times, as you can see in the pictures below. These changes take a lot of time, but every step is good because helps us to improve the gameplay experience.

In the end, 21 levels with 35 sublevels, +100 enemies and 35 bosses were created for the game. Hope you enjoy it soon!  

[Xonatron]

Love seeing his paper work! This is how use to design my games!

[Aby]

Hi there!

A) We have passed Greenlight! It seems that it is harder than ever (because with Cursed Castilla - Maldita Castilla it was a lot easier) , we don't know if this is because of the Steam changes, or because of the speed of greenlighting, or what. Thanks a lot to all ^_^.

B) We are planning what will be our next topic on our dev post, and we want you to participate (if you want). Do you prefer us to talk about the music, about creation of Super Hydorah's front cover, or about the way we have decided the designs of the levels of the game.

We will give you a couple of days to answer, so, you have time in doing it

[OzzyTheZombi]

Congratulation for the Greenlight, i started to fear you couldn't made it! By the way, can we hope for the coming out date to be communicated soon?

As for the next topic, i'm very curious about about the way we have decided the designs of the levels.

[Aby]

Hi everybody! We're here again with a new update of Super Hydorah DevLog!

As OzzyTheZombi suggests, we'll talk about the process of level design in the game. To make it straightforward, we've written it as "the 10 steps to design a level in Super Hydorah".  So, here we go!

• First, design the main concept, something to be summed up in a few words like: Ruby asteroids, space war or stealth into an enemy base.
• Secondly, grab a notebook and take notes of every idea related with that context that comes up to the top of your head. After that, select those that can fit better in the game

• Now you can go to the computer and start prototyping. Firstly, think how much time you want to take for the player to finish the level. Then, create an empty space with the same longitude as the automatic scroll to fit that duration.
• After that, draw the preliminary tile set and start making some tests: how could the map be, where could the critical points take place, etc… At this point, Locomalito takes some screenshots to show it to Gryzor87 so that he can see the “feel” of the level.

An early level desing of Super Hydorah

• Once Locomalito has a primary version of the stage and its elements, he sends a video or an executable about the level to Gryzor87. The composition process of the song starts with the aim to create something related to the map and the particular situation of each section.
• The next step is to play again and again the stage. Taking notes of what can be improved, adding spaces like “breath zones” between dangerous sections, reaction times, pressure situations, item positions, enemy behavior, etc.
• The key is to balance the difficulty, showing the player the dangers of the stage separately before to start mixing them. Be sure to create small zones to breath between action sections. Also, try to balance the enemies in a way that, in a manner of speaking, will kill the player and others to be killed by the player. The best advice is to design and have fun doing it, tweaking to the limit the map until it is done and it’s not boring replaying it.
• When Gryzor87 finishes the track for the stage, Locomalito implements it to see how it fits. Then, he makes all the necessary changes to sync the map with the musical events. For example: the appearance of some enemies with some musical notes, the entry to a different section with a change in the music, etc…

• Once everything is ready, it is good to make complete walkthroughs to see how it fits the new stage with the rest of the game. Considering its position in the map and the stages around the level. Each level must have a meaning inside the complete game, because the player won’t see it as a separated thing but as a small passage inside a bigger adventure.
• Despite all the previous stages, everything in the game is completely open to change until the last day. It’s important to re-evaluate all the content created for the game so far. The secret sauce of level design it to work calmly focusing on small things that connect some parts of the game with others and improve them all until it becomes a whole, not just a sequence of small pieces designed separately.

And that's all! Hope you liked it and find it useful. As always, feel free to leave your comments about the previous posts or suggest new updates! 

[Aby]

In a previous update we’ve talked about the level design in Super Hydorah. As you can read in that post, one of the special features of this game is that that each level fits with music progression.

Well, now we would like to talk about the music and the sound in Super Hydorah. Its references, how was made it…
If you take a look of the let’s play video that we’ve made a few months ago, you can see that the main pillar of Super Hydorah is the synth and the retrofuturistic sound. The game has more than 60 songs, each with its own style but with a common theme.

Real synthesizers’ models like the Korg TR-Rack or the 05R/W have been used, in addition to virtual models like Jupiter 8V, Hypersonic2, FM7, FM8, among others. Each track of the audio has been generated separately with high quality plugins (Universal Audio). Also, we’ve recorded direct sound from a replica of a 1622 virginal muselaar builded by Gryzor87 itself. You can take a look of this instrument at the pics below:

(virginal muselaar: modern replica)

(virginal muselaar. Original from 1622)

The DAW (Digital Audio Workspace) used to create the soundtrack of Super Hydorah was Cubase 5. Here is a screenshot of a Super Hydorah’s song audio session:

Regarding music composition, we could say that in sci-fi it has place almost everything. However, for Super Hydorah we want to bring a modern touch with retrospective to the classic roots of sci-fi and the shmup arcades.  Here are a few references, most of them mentioned in the references to create the design of the game:

Ulysse 31: This TV serie had direct and punchy themes. Some like Space-Rock from the beginnings of the 80s

Gradius (I-IV/ Gaiden/MSX): As might be expected, Super Hydorah has too much influence of the music of these games. Also, if we look back longer in time, the Konami games took their influences from the progressive rock band Camel.

In the film “Beneath the Planet of the Apes” (1970) there was a fantastic scene where a group of mutant beings were adoring a missile inside of a subterranean cathedral. The coral music of this passage is absolutely astonishing and very experimental. When Gryzor87 saw it, he said: “ I need to put something like this in Super Hydorah!” and that’s the result of delusional corals of sci-fi in the game

Finally, the music of the game has also references of music bands like Dream Theater, Judas Priest, Symphony X, UK, Allan Holdsworth or Coroner for the intense moments where heavy metal music fits perfectly.