Swarmrider Omega
6/6
It started Steam Early Access with 3 characters, aiming to get the next 3 before May/2019 and check for the final balance before release.
How hard is, to make in a few months, the game this amazing community deserves?
Santicide. I can say that it would not be possible without your fantastic feedback, shared impressions and on-point suggestions. Not all ideas can enter on the release version, but lots of it were tested. Colorblind mode works, Square maps don't (inconsistent difficulty for randomly shaped arenas). Autofire Class works, Miniboss class don't (impossible to dodge). A Kensai class works, ...Gunner class too...
Version 0.6 is very very close to how the final version will look like.
It is time to get your achievements!
Many many thanks, it is hard to describe how proud I am for this community support during the development journey.
Reviews, hub threads, videos, score screenshots... it helps a lot!
https://store.steampowered.com/developer/waltermachado
FEEDBACK
How did they come? Due to the Beauty and Toughness of Steam Early Access, "Blademaster Q" came from the "give us a Kensai" feedback. The gameplay is a mix of defensive-double-sword-bullet-cutting, double-melter-spinning and the Pink Brainclap (Aia has the classic "KO triggered" Red Brainclap that goes denser thru Ascension, Wanderer has the Green Brainclap, that triggers a bit faster and like Red, goes denser thru Ascension. The Pink Brainclap is always very dense, but the KOs needed to trigger it is related to how ascended the character is).
"Gunner Kore" was deeply inspired by flying drones FPV (one of my non-game related activities and, I tried to transfer that feeling to this character). When flying acro, sometimes you have to split your attention, Kore has autofire and extra guns that can increase wideness of gun spread or fire 180 degrees of your aiming direction... plus the Pink Brainclap. Making a six characters UBERMOSH is very complex and a true development challenge because of the balancing of the ASCENSION steps.
Wook was nerfed a bit, the game got some performance and AI tweaks, and with this amazing community support, the development can go in the direction players deserve. Many many thanks!
If you like the game progress, please review it. I am all ears to hear your suggestions via Steam Hub and there are lots of threads for you to express your impressions, ideas and, suggestions.
More stuff soon!
https://store.steampowered.com/developer/waltermachado
FUEL
Today I uploaded version 0.4, a structural update, more focused on performance and compatibility than gameplay and cosmetics. Update 0.3 was the first balance tweak, this one will solve memory issues on some machines and runs lighter on older computers without sacrificing audio and visual elements. Now I am working on 0.5... the next characters will come on 0.6.
Why is it flowing faster than I expected? The awesome community provides fast and accurate feedback, creating in a few hours enough feedback for me to plan and execute the next update, motivated by their kindness, enthusiasm, and reviews... that also brings new players for the community.
This journey would not be possible without you. Many many thanks. More content soon (music stuff too, I designed a new FUZZ guitar pedal for the next track).
https://store.steampowered.com/developer/waltermachado
TWEAK
Now, on version 0.3, Aia will have a bit more chances during the first steps of ASCENSION, Wook will find that some enemies upgraded their shields and Wanderer... oh, that fine fine tune and the perfect challenge curve got a tiny tweak with the SWARM starting a bit later (and it also affects Aia, that combo this tweak with the stronger Manastrike (that green ray)).
My job continues working on the next steps, listening to you, nice folks, translating gameplay feedback to numbers, sounds, and images (yep, that will come soon).
Many many thanks for the kindness and support. I am making my best to give you a worthy UUUUUUUUBEEEEEERRRMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSHH.
NEW ULTAKAAR
Since 2015 I have not put a game in Early Access. The previous volumes of the UBERMOSH series followed the steps of the Blade Saint, from "Green" to an "Ascended" entity. Now, Vol.7, the class mods, and the single character were traded by multiple progressive characters. The final version will have 6 characters, today 3 are ready to play. The first one "Saint Clone Aia" is an inexperienced clone of the glorious Blade Saint, she starts with 0.001% ascension (to not say zero) with just the blade like in the first game and will have all Blade Saint's powers and a bit more at 100% ascension, progressing from 5 to 5%. The second, "Artificer Wook", starts with 80% ascension and can progress by steps of 1%. He has a shoot that can destroy bullets and some shields and progressive extra firepower, presenting a very aggressive style of gameplay and a more linear difficulty thru the match. The third, "Wanderer T667" can double-strike + full auto with guns and has a symbiote that can melee attack, becoming more active with an increased ascension. The maps are now carefully handcrafted instead of seamless and the pit has some limits that change the pace of the combat. Various cosmetical contrast changes, blood shape tweaks and the way the framework deals with the graphical elements allowed more stuff on screen without affecting visibility and performance. Noise rock tracks will be inserted along the time to meet the New Ultakaar vibe. It is a very complex game to balance and solo making, it is taking way more time than the previous volumes and your support and feedback is very important (yep, I included that "music mute" button). I like to hear how are you dealing with the new game elements and what characters you would like to see as the next 3. Many many thanks for the company and kindness along this development journey since the first game. Pretty awesome community. More stuff soon.
PULP
Many many thanks for the kindness and support on this development journey! More stuff soon.
https://store.steampowered.com/developer/waltermachado
Drifter
During the latest months, I was working on better ways to program procedural content frameworks, "organic-like" AI behaviors and ways to insert physics elements to the gameplay. My production flow is pretty experimental and my games are created to test the hypothesis.
The procedural content generation framework started with the rocks formations and enemy placement on the first UBERMOSH. Trip to Vinelands came with the "seeds" concept, where variable levels were chosen and micro variations could happen in each level/map. It was improved on TTV2 and more variability could be generated without severe spikes on game difficulty. WARPZONE DRIFTER is the most recent version of the "seeds" framework with a very solid procedural execution, that evolution now allows the production of richer content for the next projects. The organic-like AI is a mix of a "fuzzy logic" and the "taking various and various elements" before object reaction, it started with the enemies flanking on my first games, got a swarm version on SWARMRIDERS (that evolved to UBERMOSH SWARM) and now it has a tentacle version of it, created for the latest project. These AI developing steps are very important to create a "fluid" enemy behavior that I keep improving. Physics elements inserted on gameplay kinda work as a simulator, and that player's piloting skills can be translated into the real world (for drone piloting, for example). Those 3 elements were the core of WARPZONE DRIFTER, a retro-arcade breakless drifter game, that I am proudly presenting you now. A very personal game made from all graphics to guitar recordings by the same person (that can be seen in a frame or two when you survive full time before extraction). Many thanks for the support, I hope you enjoy the game as much as I enjoyed making it.
More stuff soon, you can follow the steps here:
https://store.steampowered.com/developer/waltermachado
SANTICIDE
Checking the software clocks, UBERMOSH series got 3616 hours of Game Maker Studio and 684 hours of Black Ink for half of the production time. The other fraction was spent on audio, not just recording and playing, the journey for the correct timbre has a fascinating complexity. For example, the UBERMOSH fuzz timbre uses 2 matching BC109 transistors in a fuzz circuit, matching with a BC549 before the clipping. The new gun sounds and the shredder uses an analog delay self-cycling before overdrive to create the "energy" sounds... not mentioning the different slide materials tested to match the desired vibe for the track (a blue ceramic "Moonshine Slides" 246 won).
UBERMOSH:SANTICIDE
Each volume added something new to the table, Black brought Brainclap and the Blue gun, Vol. 3 came with endless pit and the swarm, Wraith inserted the Manastrike, Vol. 5 gave Dual strike, Shield and Melter. Santicide comes with way more enemies (with more cosmetic differences) better AI, more shielded enemies that will cover the smarter thugs, a stronger, faster and even smarter enemy with a new usable gun, you can choose the Vol.5 Dual Strike or starting with a Single Strike that will climb to Double and Triple (triggered by time) or go with the Single Strike + Shredder, a slow-moving time triggered energy attack that counters shield.
You have the Classic mode being able to be changed (without resetting scores) to Hardboiled (more challenge, more scoring opportunities) and Santicide (a mode aimed for the veterans, with its own Santicide Achievements).
By the end of the month I will be able to launch it, you can follow some of my production updates here: https://store.steampowered.com/developer/waltermachado
Many many thanks for the support, see you soon.
Louder Update
Thousands of thanks for the support, Steam recommendations, Youtube videos, press reviews and hub feedback. It is hard to express how glad I am to have the luck of sharing this game experience with such nice audience.
Hope you like the new content. See you soon.
OMEGA
It took over a year, but now I can say that this step is completed.
Many many thanks for the feedback and support! I hope you like this new ride.