31.03.08

Cannon Macro Language ver.0.2.0

Posted in diy, everything, games, shmups at 9:53 pm by the2bears

Keim has released Cannon Macro Language (cannonML) ver.0.2.0 over at Simple Inspiration 2. The addition of an English reference makes this a particularily useful tool now. That and some rather cryptic examples to get you started:

&start5 p0,190 w60
[3
&{[5 p-80+$??*30,190 nE1 w15]w40} m&{.}
p0,190 nE2 w80
]

#LR{i30p0,120~i$1[p-$2,120~p$2,120~]}
#E1{&b1&life2 {v0,-4+$?*2i60vd0.5~~~ad-0.2} [w10f5{1}w50]}
#E2{&b5&s20&life16 {ht[rw]} @1LR 180,120 ha0[10bm6,90f2w40] @1{a,0.1}}

The above code is an example showing how to time enemy arrivals, producing (at some point in it’s life-cycle) the static image below. I’m very impressed with both the engine in the work bench and what cannonML is capable of producing. Some experimenting is in order, I’m especially interested in the Bezier spline defined motion.

See also the original cannonML post and BulletML. For some of Keim‘s games, try Nomltest FS, Quantized Blaze, Invisible Vision, and Arcanacra. And of course, thanks to Tim for letting me know about the update.

arcanacra bulletml cannonml invisible vision japanese keim nomltest quantized blaze shmup

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28.03.08

XBLA Rejected Ketsui and Dodonpachi

Posted in everything, games, news, shmups at 12:24 pm by the2bears

According to this post at XBLAH. The 5pb quote, per the article:

Out initial plan was to port lots of good arcade titles to XBLA. We talked to IP holders of these titles, and persuaded them. We secured these licenses, and finally talked with Microsoft. There they rejected all of our proposals saying, ‘We are going to cut down faithful arcade ports.’ We felt so frustrated. We wanted to show them that their decision was wrong. So we switched our two most promising projects into retail.

So, let me get this straight. Frogger good, Ketsui bad. Ok, I’m clear. Yes, these are also arcade ports, but I’d have liked to believe that something like XBLA was could be different. Don’t think of it as a place for indie games, but rather a place for unique games. Things you can’t get elsewhere. Via Tim.

5pb arcade cave dodonpachi ketsui news ports shmup vertical XBLA

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27.03.08

Rect Winder ASCII

Posted in everything, games, shmups at 10:27 pm by the2bears

Rect Winder ASCII is another iteration in the bullet reflection game started by kenmo. This one is by Alpha Secret Base and is an interesting exercise in minimalism. Funny, I was just chatting the other day with Pixel_Outlaw about making a shmup on old hardware – Coleco‘s Electronic Quarterback. This is what such a game might look like.

You can only move up or down, to one of 4 slots (vertical positions). ‘Z‘ triggers a reflection ‘#‘ that times out regardless of whether a bullet is reflected or not. You’re only allowed one on the screen at a time, so timing is everything. A surprising amount can be done with such a simple premise.

Original Rect Winder article is here. I now have 6 versions on my hard-drive and I’m still hoping for more. Via Danmaku Gata.

2D ascii horizontal japanese rect winder reflect mechanic shmup

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25.03.08

The Last Canopy

Posted in everything, games, shmups at 10:13 pm by the2bears

The Last Canopy is a nice surprise from Easy Only! Games. It’s been submitted to the Jay is Games 5th Casual Gameplay Design Competition.

For a “casual contest” the game is a surprisingly satisfying shmup. You have 5 options that follow your movement similar to those in Gradius. These are charged by draining energy from the enemies (using the ‘X‘ key). While charging them you cannot shoot (the ‘Z‘ key), leaving you vulnerable as more enemies arrive. At first I thought that this mechanic was not disadvantageous enough, but in later levels it’s quite dangerous. Charged options gain the ability to shoot back, greatly helping with the bosses.

The game’s graphics are subdued, with the scrolling more of a slight rotation around the trunk of a giant tree (hence the title). Think of it as a shmup played on an LP record. The interesting style with some good music add up to a very nice game.

One thing I really like about the Jay is Games contests is the Audience Award. Each vote requires a small donation, with the proceeds going to the winner. So please vote and donate a couple dollars to the indie games cause.

2D flash options shmup the last canopy vertical web

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Ultratron 2.0

Posted in everything, games, java, shmups at 11:47 am by the2bears

Ultratron has been updated to version 2.0. Added is support for mouse aiming and a local hiscore table (in addition to an online one). Still a favourite of mine.

2D arena cas indie java lwjgl puppygames shmup ultratron

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