hello everyone. phoenicas, an arcade 2d shooter is soft-released. screenshots: pic1 pic2 pic3 main site, with info, screenshots, instructions, online highscore tables etc is here: http://www.phoenicas.com/ direct demo download: (16.5mb) here requirements: winXP, directx9.0c, descent 3d card, p4-class processor any feedback is greatly appreciated. thanks, aristides. www.mytaras.com
I'll take a look at this new version and let you know what I think again, but I'm guessing it still going to be a bit on the hard side ^.^
thanks, liks are now fixed. the only change is what I described in my email. when in easy mode, and player is not carrying weapons, the first wave goes easy on the poor player. this only happens to beginners though, because, as all seasoned phoenicas players know , at the beginning, stick to the right, kill all 5 same-type aliens, collect reward, then remain to the right, and kill another 5 same-type aliens (they'll come to you, dont go to them) , collect reward, and there you have it, weapon type-2 upgrade to blast through the first wave! I dont think it's insanely hard, it just not super-easy!
Ah damn, I can't really take a look as the demo has expired. Really I think a play time demo is much better than a 'time installed on hard drive demo'. The later means that the demo will expire, even if they haven't gotten around to playing it yet. It also means that someone who plays it solidly can complete it within the day and then not buy it.
Yeh I don't think it's that hard, if you know the exact sequence to get through the level ^.^ (which I didn't)
I always thought it was a 'time running, whether you're looking at the title-screen or playing demo'. I am pretty sure it's not 'time installed in hard drive'. will check it out though. I am using armadillo and 'exipre by minutes' if anyone is familiar...
Yeh I use Armadillo every so often. Are you saying you have set expire by minutes to 24:00:00? I definitely didn't play for 24 hours, maybe 20 minutes at most. Maybe you meant to set hours but accidentally set minutes or something? So you put: 00:24:00? Maybe you have also accidentally set number of uses? Are you sure you havent set: Expire after X days after key entered (or first run on default)?
major mistake on my part! I entered 90 (meaning minutes), and the program translated this to 1:30 (which looked fine to me - as I thought it was 1hr30mins). it was actually 1min30secs. since I have not enabled nuke (my program has a second measure, it wont let you run over 90min), you might as well have played for 10mins, but when you tried to run again, your 1min30seconds would be over... terribly sorry about this, I am uploading the corrected demo 1hr30min limited as I type this (should be up in 15mins - not seconds!) whoever has downloaded the first edition and wants to give it another try, please download the new edition. thank you nexic for taking the time with this... aristides.
Your tutorial is very complete. The soft piano music in the background of the tutorial was a nice touch. Overall the game feels very polished. The only artistic quirk I saw was the dark edges on the explosion graphics. If you use the alpha channel you could make the explosions look nicer.
Well.. I had a lot of fun playing this. You really got all the little shootery kind of details right. Subtlety like the slowing shots and so on. I love the weapons powerups. I like a lot about this. What I didnt much care for was the throwback to the 80's graphics, the UI, and the music. Im not a big fan of the presentation overall, but its not that bad. Gameplay wise it's quite tough, but for my part I like that. I dont know how easy to market this will be.. im guessing quite hard. But for hardcore shooter fans such as myself its a breath of fresh air.
@Kestral: thank you for your kind words. I have been seeing the explosions for a year, I grew accustomed to them! I just fixed them, feathered a bit on the outside so as not to have the rough edges. Works better on larger scale, smaller ones kind of look the same, but I think it's a big improvement. thanks for noticing this! fixed demo is up. @svero had a lot of fun creating those dynamic details that I'm very glad you noticed! 80s seems to be well imprinted in my subconsious (ouch), will try to push it away in the future... Didnt want to follow the entire rulebook on casual games, I'm a shooter fan myself and wanted to make something I'd like to play (and I do). we'll see how marketing goes. I'm seeing half-full right now. Thanks for your comments, "breath of fresh air" is very polite.
Yes.. Well this is very clearly not a casual game in any sense of the word. Which is fine. Its fun for me as a shooter so Im happy. Im just not sure how easy it will be to sell... I think the players are out there. Its just very hard to reach them.
I dont think pompom's space tripper was casual in today's sense (or any other sense), so there's a case of a hardcore shooter reaching its audience. I enjoyed that title immensely. I think (seeing from myself) shooter fans cant really find what they're looking for in todays 'casual' system, but its the same with music, theater, cinema, dance etc. it's the way things are. ot: you mention doumas in your sig, I did a contemporary dance show (the music) on lady of the camelias a few years back, had a great time, toured in france etc. video clip is here, http://www.mytaras.com/videos/woman_in_white.wmv (I'm the bald guy playing the synth!) some music is here, http://www.mytaras.com/music.html
Dumas is one of my favorite authors. His stuff is a lot of fun... As to phoenicus.. I dont know if pompom was ever really happy with their sales though you know. I agree space tripper rocked. That doesnt necessarily mean it sold like bejewled. Not that one needs to sell hundreds of thousands of copies to be happy though. The more I play the game the more impressed I am with the subtlety of gameplay you guys introduced. But at the same time the more Im cursing you for screwing up certain basic things. Like.. here I am.. I enjoy the game, I work hard to make it through level one and then the game ends. Now is that demo only? Probably.. How many levels are there? NO idea! Let me just turn off music. Oops.. no setting.. And so on. You really should tidy up all that sort of thing. The game itself is pretty solid and fun as hardcore shooters go. The UI and in game marketing is weak. - S
@NuriumGames: this is the problem of working with darkbasic. it is fun, but has all these quirks! over which I have no control over. its definitely not a bug-free environment. on the other hand if it wasnt for darkbasic, the game wouldnt be here, so I'm greatful for that part.. All I can say is, do you have directx9.0c? latest drivers? winxp? what processor? enough ram and videoram? the call at line 2726 is to the main sprite, which definitely exists, there's definitely no bug there, something is probably not comatible with your setup. this has happened twice by now (inexplicable errors) - to you and a friend - and is not nice at all. if you can, please share your setup. thanks in advance. @svero: when the program loads, it says it is a demo, and that it features the first level. there is a nintendo-type unlocking system. Some of the levels, like level 1, are tightly choreographed to the music, that's why I never considered turning it off. When I do turn it off, the experience becomes blander. I feel the music is an integral part of the game, not background. I am not sure whether I should have an 'off' option, I dont have one on purpose though.
Well.. it's not at all clear what you get, how many levels there are, whats in the demo vs the full version etc... It will hurt sales. Imagine going to a store with your credit card and buying an unmarked paper bag with some random product in it that they claim is similar to another product you liked once, but they wont tell you exactly what it is. That's your current marketing strategy. How many of those bags would you buy? You're not selling the demo. They've already got/played that. You're selling the other stuff they get thats not already in the demo. Thats what you have to make clear. Its not sufficient to say somewhere in text that its a 1 level demo. Most of the time people dont read that stuff anyway.. its just click click click let me play. As to the sound.. well i often play games while streaming radio. So I like to turn the sound off or set it low. For me a volume slider is important. I think if you try to force your preferred mode of play on other players you'll end up limiting sales. Id say let err on the side of letting players do what they want settings wise even if you feel the music is a key ingredient. If players really like the music well they'll leave it on. If they dont but they love everything else why prevent them from enjoying what they like?
Nothing is bug free 'directx9.0c? latest drivers? winxp? what processor? enough ram and videoram?' WinXP SP2 More than enought RAM (sure) Videoram: 128 MB (RADEON 9200 SE AGP), latest drivers. CPU: AMD Athlon XP 2100+ DirectX: DirectX 9.0c Hope you can find what is happening.
@svero: points taken. I have uploaded a new version, music can now be turned on-off, also it is made cleared what's on offer for the final version. when a user finishes the demo level, a screen appears that links, if needed, to the website and lists what's gained by getting the full version. thanks for helping out, much appreciated! @nurium sadly, I cant think of anything that would help. I have posted a question to darkbasic forums and the developers, but doubt anything will come out of it. I will keep looking into it. breakquest is beautiful, congratulations! the updated demo will reset its timer, so anyone that wants to have a second go, be my guests!
Its actually a really good game. You guys did a great job on the gameplay itself. The attack patterns, the alien behaviour, the way shots work etc.. all very good.(for a real hardcore shooter crowd) It's all in the little details. Shoot off one wing the other beats faster and the bird flies slower and so on. I love that stuff. I may just have to pick this one up.