Craftworld Aleste

[Antikris•]

Hi there. I have been doubting a bit about posting a thread like this but people have been asking how the project is going so I might as well keep you updated in a central place. Maybe it will stimulate me to work harder as well.

Alright, Craftworld Aleste. A vertically scrolling shoot-em-up I have been working on since somewhere in May 2011, inspired by Compile's "Aleste" (198 and "Aleste 2" (1989) on the MSX homecomputer - games I loved to play during my childhood (and, occasionally, still do). Here is some gameplay footage from Aleste 2.

Scope

I plan to release a level series that consists of 5 playable zones, a title screen/menu and an intro and outro cinematic. Originally I wanted to release everything at once; in part because LBP2 lacks a practical method to transport custom data from one level to another - and hence I wanted to stuff everything into one level. Over time I have abandoned that approach and will now publish first zone and an intro first and publish additional zones over the coming year.



Features

The game features 6 upgradeable weapon systems freely to choose from, 3 manual difficulty settings and an automatic difficulty system on top of that which adjusts itself to zone progression and arsenal buildup. There will be no health system; instead, one hit and you're dead. The game puts heavy focus on dodge skills to stay alive; to aid in that, some enemies drop yellow powerups that - beside upgrading your main machine gun - will also grand you 1.5 seconds of invulnerability.

Replayability

I take replay value of a game very serious; I enjoy playing games myself that continue to give me a challenge. Aleste's replayability will come from its manual difficulty settings and a player's desire to beat a (personal) highscore; higher difficulty will reward more points; less dying and more kills will also receive bonus rewards. In time I plan to add an extra game mode that adds an additional challenge (and reward) to boss fights. After the player completes the zone (or loses all his lives), he will be given the option to replay the zone if he is unhappy about his results. Score will be rolled back to the amount he had when the player entered the zone.



Boss fights

A lot of focus in the game will be on beating zone bosses; beating the rest of the zone is an exercise in preparing for those fights by building up your arsenal, gaining extra lives and of course not losing any. The boss fights will scale up in difficulty as well, but only based on the manual setting. Ranging from easy, which requires moderate reflexes and a trigger happy finger, to hard, which will demand patience, fast reflexes, ammo conservation and attention to tactics.

The first zone will feature two boss fights. I intend to give every zone at least two bosses.



Music

I make all the music myself, based on classic tunes from the original games. You can find most music I have made so far collected in this thread.

Status

The first zone is practically finished right now. I am currently polishing the artwork, adding a few details here and there and playing around with the layout a bit. Fixing a list of bugs as well. The pre-zone battle menu needs to be integrated into the zone level and I still need to finish the post-game menu and score summary. Also, the intro cinematic isn't done yet.



Timeframe? A month, perhaps two if things move slow (slower than they do already :P ). I currently have a closed alpha version of the first zone published which a few friends are testing for bugs. As soon as the above modifications are done (minus the intro) I intend to publish a closed beta for about a week before a live version.

I'll try to write replies here with updates regularly.


Oh... and spoiler movie of an early alpha version...

[spoiler]

[/spoiler]

[pirmaut]

I had the great fortune to be among people that have had the honor to try the Beta.
I'm looking forward to this great work ll be complete!

[LittleBigSnooth]

Wow, looking really good. I will look not forward to not seeing this on the cool pages because it doesn't contain the word survival on it but looking forward to playing it from my queue. Is it near completion?

[rialrees•]

This project never fails to amaze me. I can't wait to see it published Will definitely keep an eye here to see what else is in store

[Valeview]

Wooooooooooooooop!
Looks awesome!

[PixelJam]

Look's amazing - good job!

[Antikris•]

Update Feb 25: changing the looks of the aircraft. I have been unhappy about its bulky looks for a while; especially when moving along the edge of the screen the distortion becomes obvious. Made this new, much more slender version and will use it in the title screen as well.

Another reason is that it turns out the emitter to respawn the chip has trouble with the toilet roll object on the original ship; the ship gets emitted into the wrong layer and no matter what I do I cannot fix it. The emitter works flawless with the new craft.

[Antikris•]

Update Mar 4: updated the title screen typography and all appearances of the ship. Much happier with my own font spelling 'craftworld' than the borrowed one.




The forest part of area 1 now features massive frog-like creatures crawling around, attacking you with alien eggs that are thrusted from their backs.




Fixed more bugs, added more detail (all the mini-eyes turn and stare at you as well ). The list is getting shorter and shorter.

[Valeview]

...You're a master of suspense...I really want to play this and fail at getting past the first area.(which I can hope'll be as awesome as I expect )
Can't wait for it ^^

[Antikris•]

Update Mar 15: I refactured a lot of little stuff, added some new effects and did a bit of framerate optimizing. Squashed a lot of bugs. Here is a screenshot of the sun's reflection off of the river surface.



Stuff left to do for now:

• Refacturing the yellow powerup collision logic; a player can fly through and pick up a whole clutter of yellow powerups right now but they won't be counted correctly.
• Post-game menu to a) continue (if level completed succesfully), will redirect to score board until release of area 2, b) retry, restarting the zone with the score you had when you entered and c) quit, redirecting to the score board.
• Post-game score recap: how many enemies killed, ground targets destroyed, powerups collected and lives remaining. Bonus scores awarded in order to give player incentive to replay and get better.
• Pre-game weapon/options menu is finished but needs to be integrated.
• There should be an intro before the title screen. This bit is still the vaguest of all bullets on my checklist.

And here is a sneak peek of an early boss design for area 2: an infested jet liner.

[BrosefJenkins]

:O That reflection looks amazing!

[Antikris•]

Update Mar 17: I decided that the post-game menu and bonus score recap is something better suited for a later release - like with the second zone, when it actually makes sense to continue or retry. This will bring a release date closer as well. I implemented the pre-game menu today and apart from a few small glitches it works beautifully. Next: the powerup collision rehaul and an intro.

[RoDRiGo-FiLiPiNo]

I have a quick question sir kris, Is this game going to be 1 player?

[Antikris•]

I have a quick question sir kris, Is this game going to be 1 player?

Yes. 1 player only. Multiplayer is giving too much lag, so even having a spectator is not recommended.

[Antikris•]

Update Mar 19: visual effects, yo.