Firing up the engines. Starbreed v0.1 Out Now!
Added 2023-04-02 01:12:03 +0000 UTCHere we are.. with the first hands on look at Starbreed. When playing, please do keep in mind this is still quite bare bones, and is mostly just meant to give people a feel what things will be like. There are still many features, mechanics, and QoL additions to be made. Some of the songs are placeholders (mainly in menus).
At the moment the controls are static, and cannot be changed (no keybinding yet!). They are as follows:
Mouse + Keyboard:
(Despite what you may first think, this is my recommended way of playing.)
Aiming: Mouse Movement.
Fire: LMB
Brake: RMB
Boost: MMB
Barrel Roll: X/C
Gamepad:
Aiming: Left Stick
Fire: Square/X
Brake: Cross/A
Boost: Circle/B
Barrel Roll: L/R Bumpers
Anyways! I hope you guys enjoy the first level with base gameplay. Next week will be the first character poll. That means 2 new characters will be announced to vote on! The next build will be based on the moon with our Merc character. I'll be sure to break it down on the neighboring post next week!
Comments
Seeing hot pictures of Nova always gets me eager. Same with Siren, of course.
Lunatic 0verlord
2024-05-20 06:09:04 +0000 UTCThe small generic enemies that shoot lasers at you seem to almost always hit. I noticed though if you spin at the right time I think the damage is negated. I wish I could put screen shots here to show which enemies I'm taking about. The grey enemy that looks to be made of four quadrants always seems to hit as well unless you roll as the shot hits you. The purple enemies near the end that appear continuously for a few seconds are very hard to avoid but it's possible to get through them with minimal damage. The biggest issue I had was the boss missiles. They track you down from one screen edge to the other and shooting them down is pretty rough. I'm not sure how others managed them.
A Lurker
2023-04-06 06:42:24 +0000 UTCThanks! I appreciate the feedback. Mind if I ask a couple things? When you felt dodging enemies was a tough time, do you mean lasers, missiles, the purple claw enemies, or all of them? The rhythmic clicking/holding for fastest shots is intentional for the time being. In future versions holding will be a charge shot. I woullld like to introduce 1 or 2 other weapon types as development continues (something like a beam, that can fire from holding, etc), but I'm not sure when I'll get around to experimenting with it. As for the aiming at certain ranges, it is a bit of an issue with perspective, but I am working on something right now to combat the awkward feel of it. A perk of the change is that you will be able to shoot much farther as well.
Regulus
2023-04-06 04:59:47 +0000 UTCI love where the game is going. Thanks for the demo. The hub and menus look nice. I like the responsiveness of the gameplay and menus. Art is great. As well as all the initial different enemy types. The friendly getting attacked by the purple ships was a nice touch. There's much to be enjoyed here so I'll say a little more of what I thought was problematic. I had a hard time dodging enemies, shots at the player ship, or the boss shots. Which difficulty isn't necessarily a bad thing but when it seems you can't avoid getting hit through skill it feels bad. It was very difficult to actually shoot down the boss shots before they get to you. Mostly because it's hard to tell where the player ship is actually aiming (possibly small missile hit boxes?) Also I can understand why the ship doesn't auto-fire by holding down the mouse button but I found myself rhythmically clicking/holding anyway to just continuously shoot. Maybe this could be an opportunity for ship upgrades or picking up a temporary power-up item during play. I noticed the distance that shots can travel, enemies can be seen farther than the ship can actually shoot them. A bit of a list here. Don't get me wrong demo was great and it's understood that it's a very early look at what's to come. Just some honest feedback. I can't wait to see where this title goes.
A Lurker
2023-04-06 01:46:57 +0000 UTCFor dodging missiles the best thing seems to be doing this circle 8 sort of maneuver around the screen. Haven't gotten the hang of dodging them lasers yet lol. I was using a mouse and keyboard. I think having the two aiming reticles to "line up" shots might be what's throwing me off?
Dr. Beak
2023-04-03 00:23:36 +0000 UTCThanks! In terms of "dodging shots". (I'm assuming you mean in the case of avoiding missiles and things the barrel roll does not deflect.) There may be some things planned for that in the future. The prefire animation is a pretty cool idea. I may look in to it for certain attacks at some point, thanks. As for the clunky controls, do you mind if I ask whether you were using mouse or gamepad?
Regulus
2023-04-03 00:21:01 +0000 UTCThis is an absolutely amazing start to the game. The artwork and everything looks great. I really only ran into a couple of issues with the early demo. Aiming seemed to be a bit clunky and difficult although I must admit it's been a really long time since I've played a game like this. The other issue was I found it difficult to try and dodge incoming shots. Maybe if the barrel roll strafed you left/right a bit could help or maybe a "prefire" animation. Just some initial thoughts and can't wait to see what's next!
Dr. Beak
2023-04-02 19:43:50 +0000 UTCThat felt really solid. The controls were simple and easy to learn, and the moment the Barrel Roll button was revealed, i couldn't help myself from pressing it. Really looking forward to what's in store as development continues.
Denial Leon
2023-04-02 14:23:39 +0000 UTCHmm the lasers shooulld shoot directly through the center, but I will double check the variables. The perspective at the edge of the screen is a bit of a doozy. I've determined it to be a mix of a few things, and will continue thinking of ways to help with that. Inverted controls will likely be option to come at some point along with sensitivity options.
Regulus
2023-04-02 10:30:21 +0000 UTCThis is an absolutely fantastic start! Great work guys. My only criticisms so far would be that I feel the lasers that you shoot are too low in the aiming reticle and it makes if a little awkward lining up shots (This may be just how I feel not sure if anyone else thinks this, maybe let the player change where their laser go within the reticle with a setting in the menu? ). Also the shooting/aiming around the edges of the screen feels a little janky. Not sure if its because I'm expecting to be able to aim further out towards the sides of the screen or if the turn speed for aiming is too slow? Either way there's some room for improvement in the movement and aiming/shooting IMO. But for a first release of the prototype this was a smashing success. Also if we could get a setting for switching between reversed pitch (like in a real plane) and non-reversed controls that would be sweet!
James
2023-04-02 10:00:09 +0000 UTCHoly Crap! This is such an awesome foundation for this game! I had a high bar after following SpunkStock's development and seeing the final product but this just blows it all out the water! I thought I was excited about this new game before, but this just takes it to a whole new level! Keep on keeping on my friend! <3
Paul Lister
2023-04-02 02:30:37 +0000 UTC
