Version 0.9.2 is now live! See below details on this update to Astral Gunners. If you're seeing the game for the first time due to Shmup Fest, thank you for checking out our game and don't forget to go check out all of the other incredible shmups on sale right now.
Massive Changes to Dystopia
The first version of this level was simply not up to the standards of the other levels. With all the changes between this update and the previous version, it's almost an entirely new level with too many changes to list in detail. Instead we'll highlight the bigger changes overall.
Full song. This stage now features the full song written for the level, instead of a 1 minute looping track. As with all of the other levels, key scene changes sync up with the changing passages in the music to create a music video feeling in the level.
Faster! Faster! Everything moves faster. While we may scratch the itch of slow and plodding shmups at some point in our lives, Astral Gunners is not the place to do that. Dystopia still has a distinctly claustrophobic feeling to the level, but the sense of speed found on other levels is brought up to standards now and everything in this level moves about 2-10 times as fast as it did in the previous build.
Difficulty adjusted. Since this level appears on the level select screen as one of the second or third levels the player can choose, it didn't feel right having it be the most difficult standard stage. It's now listed as being more difficult than Azuria and Light World, but easier than Crimson Peaks or Emerald Belt and is redesigned with that in mind.
New identity. Along with the change in difficulty comes a new identity for the stage. This is the stage where we want the scoring mechanics to really click for players. There's enemies that are harmless if avoided but can generate tons of bullets to farm for score, and there's a section where the player is allowed to mash the special button over and over. The race against Samurai Gunner is easier to survive, but more challenging to win the race and unlock by far the most powerful NPC helper.
Bonus Waves Updated
To those who are unaware, we'll explain one element of the scoring system briefly to make this change more understandable. There are a number of sections within Astral Gunners where killing enemies faster causes the next enemy wave to spawn immediately. When this happens, the time saved is stored and at three checkpoints in each level that time is expended by playing through a separate bonus wave timeline that is consistent across all of the levels. When you complete the bonus wave once, the enemies upgrade from silver to gold, and then from gold to rainbow.
In all versions up until this point, each tier of the bonus wave looped twice. We've added more patterns so that this loop doesn't happen. Additionally at the end of each loop we've added a new enemy, currently dubbed "The Microwave," that functions as a sort of miniboss for the bonus waves to make it much more noticeable that you've hit the end of one tier of the bonus waves.
Training Mode Additions
There's been a few new features added to training mode for those on the path to become the most skilled space fighters around.
- Toggle to view enemy health. There's now an option to display enemy health as numbers.
- Magnifying glass zoom. You can now create a window that zooms in on the hitbox.
- Option to Hide UI on pause. For people who want to pause and study a moment.
Light Gunner QOL Changes
- Light Gunner has a brief flash over their shield to indicate a full homing missile charge.
- Light Gunner's shield special blinks a few moments before it disappears.
Numerous Small Bug Fixes
I wish I had a good enough memory and good enough note taking skills to list everything in this category, but it has been quite some time since our last build and we've had to tear apart certain sections of the game to make fixes. Regardless I want to make sure we say thanks to everyone who has been patient with us and offered notes on bugs.
What's next? When is the game actually going to be finished? What's left to add?
Right now, we're feeling like we can comfortably say version 1.0 of the game will be ready in Q1 2024.
What we can promise: There will be a final stage "Dark World" which will be a boss rush style stage and feature some rematches against some important bosses. New music will be added; each boss is going to have their own theme. Hyperspace will change and be a more fleshed out bonus stage. Power-ups will be redesigned to focus more on fun, creativity and feeling overpowered and less about being a balanced alternative way of playing the game.
There's a number of other features and ideas that we want to incorporate into the game if we have time, such as a time attack mode for players who enjoy speed running games, mission-based trials meant to offer challenges while teaching mechanics, and hidden dialogue sequences to build on characters. While all of these are things we really want to see in the game, we're trying to keep our focus on what makes Astral Gunners what it is and that's an emphasis on classic arcade scoring goodness presented in a way to ease newcomers to a way of understanding games that is so important to us.
