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[fishlicka]

What's the situation?:
The year is 9999 and the Earth's existence is threatened by a daily plague of space wildlife. Only one person can stop them, YOU! Because no one else will do the job. So strap a sword to your head, flap your arms, and do your duty. IN SPACE!

This is a flash game I shelved in 2014 for no good reason, that has been bugging me for awhile. I think it deserves to be finished. Ultimately I'd like to do even more than that. I hope that with some feedback it can be made better.

Out now :D
https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/733733
https://fishlicka.itch.io/swordface

Builds here:
0.7: https://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/287c7941eca4fc0afa40b87fa16efeda
0.6: https://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/2543158bc210e8f947ae9cf3f93dacec
0.5: https://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/242e0a3dd0dc16b9e351e2d20f1e5ff2
0.4: https://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/af862ab6cce2dce9e62c203120dae1df
0.3: https://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/d866a3969f9924d529386756da2dcfdf
0.2: https://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/7f0d0840c82cb3dffd8fa4720857d02b
0.1: https://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/db7eb9e1b5e9ccb392360a8873d4b6bb
0.0: https://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/a41e993bd05c3356c2b3450dbe04a9d4
Older builds have no preloader, so the blank white screen means it actually is loading, I assure you!

Any feedback or suggestions are more than welcome! More to come in the near future.

[Schrompf]

This is entertaining. Looks like a contest game, so not sure if this is actually worth finishing, but the Gif is hilarious.

[Geoff Moore]

I played, it's awesome! I love the Swordfaces wibbly arms. And Frank, my goodness!! The mechanic has that nice mix of frustrating and fun that is hard to pull off (Retry by Rovio is a good example). The UI had some really nice touches too, I love the calendar screen. Good stuff!

[fishlicka]

0.1 - Boss Level
Build: https://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/db7eb9e1b5e9ccb392360a8873d4b6bb


Improved BossLevel and added Boss icon to level select, along with a surprise...

I would not say it is done, but it's been fleshed out and only requires tweaking. And some music.

[fishlicka]

0.2 - Lots of stuff changed
Build: https://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/7f0d0840c82cb3dffd8fa4720857d02b






I don't even know what all I've changed, but here's a few things:

• Added a preloader!
• Finished level 31, added wobble effect!
• Music has been redone, I lucked out and accidentally made a couple decent tracks.
• Story has been mostly filled out and levels balanced, though not final.
• Tony's funeral now has a gravestone.
• Balance tuning. Enabled cheats because still not perfect. Hit T to skip current level!
• Improved some sound effects.

Let me know if you have any ideas or suggestions ^^
Next step is to finalize allocation of monsters to levels and the story.

[fishlicka]

0.3 - Almost done! AAAAHHHH
Build: https://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/7f0d0840c82cb3dffd8fa4720857d02b

I'm currently watching my friends and younger siblings play the game to get some test data.

I've learned:

• The first worm level is way too hard, so I've dropped their health, altered their movement patterns and slowed down the worm spawner.
• Level 23 was not unlocking level 24 when beaten, so that's fixed in this version. Woops!
• The doctor should probably be more expensive, or scale in price with player's progress.

Also, I reworked the way monsters move when hit. I don't know what my old code did (it was so convoluted) but they were flying in random directions with inconsistent force. Now they are accelerated perpendicularly to the angle of the sword at the moment of collision and they behave consistently.

There are plenty of minor changes I'd like to make. I've put so much time into this that I don't want to release it unless it is perfect, which results in even more time investment...

[ChrisCorr]

This game is crazy, I really like it.

Have you thought of bringing it to mobile?

[fishlicka]

0.4 - 99.99%
Build: https://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/af862ab6cce2dce9e62c203120dae1df

I did a whole bunch of things this time, reworking the story, mercenaries, some stats, and improving the boss level. I aimed to generally decrease monster count while increasing level difficulty, to avoid lagging older computers.

• Rebalanced levels, and some monsters' health/worth
• Filled out story
• Made final boss level pretty.
• Rewrote the monster spawner to be a bit slower and random.
  
• Swapped lame laser rifles for sweet squiggly rockets, soldiers are cool now.
• Bear roars robotized and they now roar on attacking. Can fly longer.
• Reset progress button
• Changed health regen to a % of max hp
• Updated helptext in Upgrades view to show accurate formulas for game mechanic stats
• Tuned audio down in some areas
• Fixed some UI bugs

All that's left now is a bug where monsters get hit just for spawning near the sword with a negative angle. And maybe difficulty modes or more story improvement.

Have you thought of bringing it to mobile?

No way in hell (Edit: well, maybe...) ^^ I just want to finish the thing. However, I'd like to make a sequel with a more powerful engine in the future. Flash is gorgeous but runs entirely on CPU :/ If I do, I will definitely be aiming for all the main platforms.

And thank you all for the words of encouragement.

[fishlicka]

0.5 - Done?
Build: https://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/242e0a3dd0dc16b9e351e2d20f1e5ff2


Changes:

• Fixed bug where projectiles spawning in range of sword would insta-explode.
• Added an epilepsy warning!
• Made disco level effect more grating!
• Removed cheats for all levels but Disco level.
• Balanced levels out a bit more.
• Removed wobble effect from bosslevel, no one will miss it.
• Made ending prettier.

Now to pick a good time/platform to release it... any ideas? I figure Newgrounds during spring Break is a pretty good bet, but will probably release on Itch.io too. Should I make a reddit page? x)

[fishlicka]

0.6 - Even more done than last time
Build: https://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/2543158bc210e8f947ae9cf3f93dacec


Changes:

• Added some sfx to final level
• Rebalanced boss levels.
• Made better music loops for disco level and final level.
• Improved story and ending.
• Small cosmetic changes here and there.

[stuffedwombat]

Ok shit this is amazing!!!!
Right up my alley :D

Idk. I have nothing to say beyond that.
this is great!

[fishlicka]

0.7 - So done that I'm actually releasing it now
Build: https://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/287c7941eca4fc0afa40b87fa16efeda

I made a trailer:



Holy moley I thought programming was tedious. Video editing is where it's at if you seek soul punishment.

Swordface has finally been released at the following locations:
https://fishlicka.itch.io/swordface
https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/733733

I actually did get the game to run on an Android phone. It was easier than I'd thought too, however the static rectangular screen size of the game meant that I had to shrink it and fit it on the top half of the phone screen, and the game itself wasn't running at a consistent 30 fps even on the tutorial level, so I scrapped it :/

Changes:

• Made a trailer!
• Added a mute button, kinda ugly but so is long-term tinnitus.
• 'Reset Progress' bar now shatters on completion. Fun

Thank you, stuffedwombat, and everyone else for the encouragement. x)

[Shephf]

Amazing game! I like how "the king of the world" moves his arms during level intros and music and basically all the other stuff