Testing a new “medal magnet” gameplay mechanic. Keep that score multiplier safe!
The Burst Attack system is undergoing a huge makeover! We’re converting it to an even more streamlined and score-oriented maneuver.
SHARPEN YOUR CLAWS
Planet Xydonia’s fame has reached nearly every corner of the universe, meaning that our friendly, pirate-y team X-BURST is not alone in their quest for grasping its secrets.
A particularly unusual message has been intercepted by our systems and it took us several moons before we were able to decode its meaning, assisted by the best translators the galaxy could offer.
“Meow.”
Not sure about the real intent of this short but trenchant statement, we decided to investigate on its origins.
INTRODUCING “DYNAMIC” DUO ZORBA & ZACK
After analyzing the data we were able to gather, we learned that, apparently, the signal originated from a private conversation between two individuals belonging to the Katanyan race.
One particular discovery was quite alarming. It seems that this species has an innate ability to blend in our own world, acting like innocent, domestic cats.
Furthermore, their exceptional prowess in manipulating the weak and gullible human mind, lets them live a pretty chill life, full of privileges.
The current unaware hosts of these extraterrestrial life forms gave us a short description of what they believe are just their pets:
“Zorba likes to throw his weight around, literally, and is quite bossy. He’s also pretty grumpy, but in the end he manages to be adorable, still. His days are spent doing absolutely nothing, obsessing over food and looking for cuddles.”
“Every now and then he decides to wear his classy striped tie and becomes the chief of the house, ordering everyone around.”
“Zack, on the other hand, is an absolute charmer. He’s so elegant and fluffy, but, at the same time, a bit shy…”
“He loves to get lazy in front of the heater, taking care of his own hair and occasionally allow some humans to worship him.
However, only a chosen few can really claim the right to get close to him, and the ultimate prize for that is a whole lot of purrs.”
THE TRUTH UNDER THEIR FUR
Our poor fellow humans have been clearly indoctrinated to a point of no return, so we decided to take the matter into our own hands and discovered the true identity of Zorba & Zack.
Ace pilot Zorba McWhiskers and his assistant Zachary Von Purr are probably two of the best officers from the intergalactic empire of Katanya’s army.
A small planet inhabited by the aforementioned Katanyan race, it is the center of a feline empire that has quickly expanded its influence over Sector 4.
What would these furry army officials want with Xydonia’s secret? Will they get in the way of Harrison Blade and his crew?
We’ll find out in the near future, once we get more data on Zorba’s vessel and its peculiar round attachment!
In the meantime, please enjoy one last cat pic.
GAME UI UPDATE
While working on the game’s new content, we’ve been polishing its overall presentation too, and made a pretty big overhaul to the menu, getting it ready to accommodate all the new modes and features we’re adding.
You’ll be able to see it for yourself once the new backer build gets out, which is happening very soon!
2019 will be the year of Xydonia, and we plan to bring you guys a lot of juicy surprises from here to the game’s final release.
Stay tuned for more Xydonia goodies and remember to follow us on our social pages!
See you next time!
Source: kickstarter.com
“You expected a lifeless mecha to be your opponent… but it was me, Tokuma!”
A WIP sneak peek at Xydonia’s new boot sequence+main menu/transitions!
Giant-sized bananas with TNT strapped on are definitely making it to the
top ten foods to include in your diet next year.
Mr. Sibomba strongly
agrees!
We’ve been revamping the look & feel of the menus, which are now fitting the full 16:9 area. Here’s the new scrapyard, Xydonia’s in-game shop.
While we were at it, Ruka’s been working out!
This bloodthirsty mecha-spider is so happy to be on the internet right now.
Some jaw (and tail) breaking action goin’ on there! Not so bossy now, huh?
Source: kickstarter.com
PROGRESS UPDATE
Hey guys and gals!
It’s time for a meaty XYDONIA development update!
We very well know that we’ve been a bit silent lately and we’re sorry if that has somewhat got you worried about the project’s future. That’s totally legit but, as we’ve been affirming all this time, we will never give up, whatever happens!
Things got pretty dark at some point, not gonna lie, and after all we had to endure, as was already disclosed in previous updates, it would be rather foolish to both nullify our efforts and fail your expectations in one fell swoop. Wouldn’t it?
That said, we decided that it was really necessary to focus on restoring a healthy, productive work enviroment for ourselves before anything else, and that unavoidably forced us to scale our social media activity back for a while.
Speaking of actual workflow now, one big step forward in that regard has been made by our pixel artist and game designer, Walter, who has now moved to Northern Italy to closely work with Dario, the programmer/other designer. This means that XYDONIA’s development is finally getting a very consistent boost to its efficiency, which will resonate through the overall quality of the game!
So, we’re quite excited to show you some of the new stuff that’s been cooking during this new phase!
NO REST FOR THE SHMUPPERS
Part of the new content we’ve been churning out is obviously related to boss fights, so let’s take a peek at our hairy friend Mr. Sibomba!
The result of a biotech experiment aimed for the mere entertainment of our fellow earthlings, Mr. Sibomba is half-ape and half-machine mixed with a considerably short temper.
Soaring through the skies of Neo Tokyo-6 could result in stumbling upon the Flying Circus’ crew keeping this big guy locked in a giant cage. Thing is, its cell wasn’t built with the best safety protocols in mind, which makes it fairly easy for this green furball to escape!
It’ll be up to you to cool him down, but beware, spaceships look awfully similar to bananas through Sibomba’s (undoubtedly poorly) augmented eyes!
POWER-UP!
One of the biggest upgrades we’ve been undergoing in the past months was shifting XYDONIA’s engine to GameMaker Studio 2, which has been helping a ton in smoothing out our development process.
Relocating the entire game from GMS1 took a while at first, but it definitely payed off. We can now take advantage of a greatly streamlined interface and a much more powerful room editor.
Another big feature we’re currently experimenting is an alternate 16:9 mode to go along with the classic 4:3 view we all love and are accustomed to.
This will provide a different take on the game while also making the most of the entire screen area offered by modern displays. It will be surely necessary for us to tailor the gameplay to this new aspect ratio, that’s why we decided to approach it as a separate game mode.
We’re still keeping the original 4:3 aspect ratio and everything is being built around that first, so you’ll always be able to fire XYDONIA up on that dandy CRT display of yours!
We’ve also been hard at work on something that the most hardcore among you will surely appreciate, and that is pixel-perfect fast bullet collision detection. Can’t blame the game for failing that flawless run anymore!
Last but not least, a big chunk of time was spent on perfecting a new method of frame updating which will greatly improve framerate consistency even on the lowest specs!
FINAL NOTES
Yet another reminder, work on backer content is still ongoing so it won’t be long before it’s your turn!
Here’s an-in game test of backer-designed enemy BABY C soaking damage like a pro.
And it’s finally time to wrap this up, congrats for getting to the end of this huge update.
As you can see, we are definitely catching up with the schedule and the next step on the roadmap will be the release of the upcoming playable alpha, exclusive to the ALPHA FIGHTER tier (and higher).
Sorry to keep you waiting, but it was definitely necessary as our top priority is to give you a real slice of the final game to collect your personal feedback, which is crucial, and it wouldn’t be as useful if we delivered a rushed build. We need your help to make this the best SHMUP possible!
From now on, we’ll also resume our social media activity, although the main focus will still be the actual development of the game.
There’s yet some great news we will share in the near future, so stay tuned for more XYDONIA goodies!
See you next time!