that is a good thing

that is a good thing indeed

Also i can say that the tracks i've gotten so far are definitely up to par with the one you hear in that video. It's going to be GLORIOUS.

meanwhile hello new effects

While we very slowly make a tiny bit of progress, here's a fancy thing.



MUSIC SHOWCASE, courtesy of Sebastian. It also features a tiny bit of footage from his exclusive preview version, hee hee.

OI SUP CHUMS

engaging copypaste

---

hey

hey guys

you know how i said Q1 right?

well it's true

because TODAY

IS THE DAY

WHERE

YOU

GET

v0.9

Changelog:
- Added fancy new start menu with loadsa buttons
- Added three new weapon types to be freely mixed with the pulse lasers
- Added options menu with questionable developer graphics (so it's not done visually), just click the fancy wrench icon!
- Made it possible to actually change various options, so that the aforementioned menu isn't useless
- Added fancy dynamic game speed adjustment to prevent slowdowns (can be disabled in Config.ini if you enjoy the slowdowns)
- Added levels 15-19
- Levels are now actually called stages to prevent confusion with experience levels
- Added the last tier of shop upgrades
- Added new fancy explosions for the enemies
- Added some new effects for the players shots as well (although the super shot effects are terrible)
- Added fancy glow effects for all energetic shots
- Mysteriously changed the Arial font in game by unknown forces
- Made a new sprite for the player ship
- Probably also some other things and tweaks i can't remember right now

you can download it here

Also if for some reason you don't get music, it's likely because it's set to 0 in the options even though i think i fixed that. If you don't get ANY sounds at all, please do mention it, because Sebastian, our recently hired music guy, isn't getting any sounds either. :c

Oh yeah also, if you feel like a cool person, we have a fancy new donation button.



;o

---

The music didn't get in on this update, but i guarantee you that it will be there by the time 1.0 hits.

Thank you very much, and you're quite welcome! Don't worry about donating if you can't or it's inconvenient, i appreciate the thought. c:


1. Chartle's working with me since some time ago, he does programming and level design as well.
2. Game Maker 8.1.
3. All final sprites are by me, although the current graphics of the options menu are by Chartle. Actually, he also made the little side turret circles on the second boss where the rocket turrets sit. :v
The current background menu is, by the way, still made by Bojan (or 8OJ4N as he apparently wrote it). He is a far better artist than me, but in the end, i think i'll try to replace the background myself, to keep the graphics more consistent.

@tylercoon: Glad to hear that! Tried it out yet? I appreciate all given feedback that isn't just mindless hatred (which means that legitimate points of criticism are also accepted).

Sadly not, at least for the time being. If we were to get cross-platform support, we'd have to convert the files from Game Maker 8.1 to Game Maker: Studio, which is a much bigger task than it might sound like. Besides that, i don't think this game would go well with touch-screen controls, because it relies on you being able to see everything at all times. :c

@renegradermax: It's not the easiest game ever, but i appreciate you trying. c:

@Keaton: Ach shit, sorry for my late response! I WOULD totally take you up on the offer, but the thing is that we have hired a musician already, and i promised him that he'd get to make the entire soundtrack (which also gives us a consistent soundtrack across the board). I really appreciate the offer though, i know i don't come off as particularly eager when there's a 4 week waiting time before i respond, but it's so awesome when people offer help like that. C:

Anyhoo, i suppose i should also keep you guys up to date with the happenings. For the most part, i've been working on bug fixes and polishing and generally ironing out lots of little kinks, meaning that the next version SHOULD be mostly free of annoying little issues. For one, i've implemented a new timer system, which allows the game to run at a consistent real-time pace, despite wildly variant frame rates. I've also been working on rebalancing the second boss, since it's a complete pain in the arse as of v0.9, more so than the third boss, which is not how it should be.

I also expect to polish up the placeholder options menu and tutorial (it's actually there, i just forgot to enable it in the Config file :U), and maybe also try to get achievements working properly. Y'know, just because we can.

The reason i'm saying "I" up there is because Chartle is working on cool sekrit things, which i'll let him disclose info about at his own discretion. ;o

also boolets look 20% cooler now



We've been keeping low profile because of a lack of dramatic awesome additions. :v

Criticism is fine, as long as you're actually raising legitimate points, but that there is not what i would call constructive criticism. I agree that the font is terrible, but that has to do with the fact that Arial apparently changed all of a sudden, and without my consent. If i can figure out how, i might have to make a custom font for this. :I

neat

Anyhoo, haven't been doing much lately, since i NEARLY developed tendonitis in my left wrist (a bit too much One Finger Death Punch for my mousing hand to handle), and thus had to be careful with too much mousing and typing and what not. Chartle's still working on and off on sekrit cool things, from what i know. :v

Since I assume you CBA making one the old fashioned way, have an easy method:

http://fontstruct.com

Enjoy.

Mhm, Fontstruct's pretty boss for quickly knocking up fonts.
It even has a nice "pixel" option that'll tell you what size to set your .TTF fonts so it looks all retro. They have it listed as a thingy for Flash games, but it's universal as you'd expect.

Personally I prefer blitting text, but if you're into using font stuff it's the best way without having to spend hours manually vectoring every character.

!!!

That is a very cool thing, thanks very much Skul! c:

@Trocher: Heh, thanks for the offer, but i think i'll make one myself, if anything. Y'know, just to keep things consistent, since i did make all other final sprites for the game.

@Appledong: 64 bit? Hahah, i think this is more like 16 bit, but it's not really important. Glad you like the looks of it. c:

Well it apparently is on his New Year's Resolutions list to finish this game.
So lets wait and hope.