Craftworld Aleste, first release

[Antikris•]

 Craftworld Aleste クラフトワールドアレスタ
by  Stellakris
[EN/JPN] Strap into the jet seat of fighter pilot Ellinor Waizen to take on waves upon waves of enemies as you battle your way through this challenging vertical shootemup. Strictly single player, 6 upgradeable weapon systems and 3 manual difficulty modes. v1.0; Title, Intro and First Zone. More to come.

After one and a half years in the making here's finally its first release. Craftworld Aleste is an homage to the high octane vertical shootemups from my childhood, Aleste and Aleste 2, from a small Japanese game company called Compile.



Due to online latency and heavy thermo pressure this is a one player only level. The game won't stop multiple players from entering at their own discretion, though.

This release features a title screen with goodies, a cinematic intro and the first playable zone. Among various gameplay options you can find a selection of 6 different (upgradeable) weapons and three levels of difficulty. If you are new to this action genre, choose Easy. Furthermore, the game will automatically increase in difficulty the more successfully you gain an arsenal.



The first zone challenges the player to clear a river and a boss firmly entrenched on a hydroelectric dam. After that boss is beaten the battle continues over a lake, into a forest leading up to the second and last boss battle.

I have several more zones planned which I'll add in time. You will be able to play them in sequence (New Game from the title menu) or skip straight to them (Continue) once unlocked by clearing previous zones.

Enjoy playing. Leave a review. And please check out the credits from the Extras menu.

Oh, and use BOTH L1 and R1, alright. :P

[thespacemonkey187]

Never thought i'd see the day!

Congrats on finally getting it published. this is straight in the queue.

[biorogue]

looks freakin' awesome and I cannot wait to see this beast!

You don't have time to think up there. If you think, you're dead.
No. No, Mav, this is not a good idea. Sorry, Goose, but it's time to buzz a tower.

Queued...Top Gun style!

[Wolffy123]

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG

IT'S OUT! I can't wait to play this!!!

[rialrees•]

QUEUED!!!!!!

[bluearth]

The quality is top notch but the final boss battle of the first level has left me very frustrated. Unless I'm doing something wrong, it was just too difficult for me. And I gave the level a fair shot I believe, but the final boss just moves too quick and kills me fast almost every time. I'm afraid I may never get to play the other areas because I can't beat the first area.

[Antikris•]

the final boss battle of the first level has left me very frustrated. Unless I'm doing something wrong, it was just too difficult for me. And I gave the level a fair shot I believe, but the final boss just moves too quick and kills me fast almost every time. I'm afraid I may never get to play the other areas because I can't beat the first area.

You can practice on EASY mode. I am still unsure whether that boss is too hard in general but as you gain dodging skills it should get easier. Some weapons are more effective, too. Just focus on surviving and go full auto on all weapons.

[julesyjules]

Knocked it out the park Kris, it's A++. Kudos for the patience and effort you took building this. I'm not the biggest shooter fan but this felt great to play.

[Rogar]

Huh? Why is this thread not in the News section?

It does seem harder than I remember, but it wouldn't be fun if after years of work we just blast through it in 5 minutes.

But here's another tip, rather obvious but might still be good to point out: don't pick up just any weapon floating by, pick one of them, then stick with that, so you can upgrade it.

[Kaboosh99]

My brain exploded while playing this. The doctors ran into my room and tried to get me to hospital, but my decapitated body was clawing at them, attempting to get to the controller desperately. Then, a couple minutes later, my head grew back and I continued gawking at the intro, which the doctors had conveniently paused.

I've been waiting for this for nearly a year. AND I FINALLY PLAYED IT. The next few weeks shall be filled with an immense feeling of euphoria.

THANK YOU.

[bluearth]

You can practice on EASY mode. I am still unsure whether that boss is too hard in general but as you gain dodging skills it should get easier. Some weapons are more effective, too. Just focus on surviving and go full auto on all weapons.

After a few hours break, I tried again and I finally beat the last boss. Turns out I was trying to go about it all wrong. I changed my strategy and I beat the level with something like 4 lives in stock.

You did a very good job with tuning the difficulty considering all the chaos on screen. Must have taken a world of playtesting.

[Antikris•]

You did a very good job with tuning the difficulty considering all the chaos on screen. Must have taken a world of playtesting.

Thank you. I've done so much testing that I've kind of lost perspective on what is too hard or not. I tried to put a lot of emphasis on skill, rather than luck (or, no risk at all by having infinite lives), something that the original games could've done more, IMO. I could easily dominate the high score list after playing it for so long; hence, I've built in an Easter egg that allows to wipe he score before reaching the score board.

[bluearth]

No, thank you for making this wonderful level. This is one of those levels I would actually pay cash for if that was required. Its that good.

[thespacemonkey187]

I could review this level in great detail but I'll leave that for other people. all I'll say is that a new standard of game making has been set!

[avundcv]

This level is a masterpiece!
The introduction is very detailed and the action game is pure fun!
Excellent job