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Conversely, I think pressing 2 while holding 1 is a lot easier than pressing 1 while holding 2.

Kagesan wrote

Switch weapon left: D-pad down
Switch weapon right: D-pad up

would be my choices.

Kagesan wrote

I always prefer simple button presses to button combinations if possible.

I'm not going to partake in the 1 vs 2 debate, but I agree with this. Combinations should only be used when you run out of buttons.

I think I'll probably just add an option to switch the shot and bomb buttons, as I can see it being a preference and its simple to understand.

Tom wrote

Combinations should only be used when you run out of buttons.

I agree with that too but up/down to switch weapons to the left/right on screen feels more awkward to learn.

Pressing Down + Button 1/2 also has a better feel with the player kneeling down, and I plan to add a temporary icon of the new weapon below the player's feet.

If it turns out in testing to be bad for some then maybe I can add an option for both switching types.

Added a balloon that holds rare powerups, and the bomb button now doubles as the laser if you hold it down, which makes it easier to fire quickly instead of switching weapons to it.

I'll move on to creating more enemy movement and patterns next.

ff-balloon-stress-test-export-100.gif (422.75 KB)

The current short term goal is to build a complete stage (including boss) and then hopefully get some testers to try it out.

I expect a lot will be tweaked but all main in-game mechanics are working, I just need to build the stage with enemy patterns.

ff-s1-test-export-100pc.gif (553.33 KB)

Sincerely, your game looks better each day. It's one of my most anticipated games, not only on the Master System! Congratulations and thanks for the effort!

baude wrote

Sincerely, your game looks better each day. It's one of my most anticipated games, not only on the Master System! Congratulations and thanks for the effort!

Thanks baude!

Emulicious is throwing up these warnings when I use a static variable in a for loop. Changing it to a while loop removes the warning. Any idea why I'm getting these?

Just checking its not a more serious problem elsewhere but I couldnt see anything.

In this case this is the offending code, line 274, changing it to a while loop and keeping the static variable removes the warning. Im guessing its something to do with not being manual initialised? I dont know.

image0.png (11.64 KB)

image1.png (44.41 KB)

Calindro kindly answered the above in Discord, copying here just for my own record if I come across it again and forget:

"For some reason it cannot match your rom with the code it found. Hard to tell what's going wrong without investigating with your files.
A reason could be that the code changed while the rom hasn't changed (due to a failed build for example). If everything works fine, you can either add a condition to the exception breakpoint to exclude this case or disable the breakpoint."

Brief dev update. I've put together around 2/3 of the 1st stage including mid-stage boss.

Next is to put together the rest of the stage enemies and the boss and it can be tested hopefully.

I'm currently messing around with a gradual palette change for the progress through this stage. Here it is sped up.

ff-fadetest01-100pc.gif (194.1 KB)

Good progress on the stage 1 boss. I need to add more attacks yet and I might increase the explosions if performance allows.

Then I can revisit the stage clear process. Now there's a more complicated scoring system it might be fun to have a quick summary of your peformance at the end.

ff-s1bosstest-02-100pc.gif (976.6 KB)

I released an "Alpha Demo" of the game to get some more feedback.

You can download it here: https://helpcomputer.itch.io/frontier-force-alpha-demo

Killer game! Love the enemies, enemy variations, attacks and everything about this. awesome! :) Nice, very nice!

best regards,
- dink

Thanks dink!

For anyone trying the game, feel free to also give negative feedback if you have any. It won't discourage me and will help me improve the game.

I just discovered a bug with difficulty not being changed/saved in the options menu, it's now fixed and uploaded v0.1.2.

https://helpcomputer.itch.io/frontier-force-alpha-demo/devlog/806004/updated-to-...

I discovered a bug while using save states on the Master Everdrive X7.

It seems that when you use the shortcut to bring up the Everdrive in-game menu (default is Up + b1 + b2) the line interrupts get messed up. In my case the interrupts to scroll the sky are out of sync after you close the menu.

I can't replicate it in Emulicious as it seems that only emulates the original Master Everdrive which didn't have an in-game menu?

I've tried a couple of other commercial games (Sagaia and Power Strike 2) on the Everdrive X7 but it doesn't seem to effect those when you bring up the menu, so I'm wondering what I'm doing wrong, if anything?

I made another update based on feedback.

Added an option to use D-Pad Up or Down for weapon switching instead of D-Pad Down + 1 or 2.

The new ROM can be downloaded from here: https://helpcomputer.itch.io/frontier-force-alpha-demo

output-12.png (7.24 KB)

output-11.png (7.27 KB)

Very nice. It plays great and looks excellent. For some reason the brilliant options screen gives me Spectrum vibes. Must be the saturated colors.

Thanks for including the alternative weapon switching option, which works much better for me than the button combination, even though it moves exactly opposite to my intuition. I'd expect the weapon to go one slot to the right if I push up and left if I push down.

The dash is a nice addition, although I tend to trigger it accidentally by tap dodging, often into harms way. I also keep forgetting I have the laser. So far, the flame thrower wasn’t very useful, but I haven’t gotten far into the game yet. I’m a bit confused what to do when the tornado appears. It’s that an enemy I can destroy or an environmental hazard I need to avoid?

Anyway, great work, and I love the Ikaruga-style chaining.

Thanks!

Kagesan wrote

Thanks for including the alternative weapon switching option, which works much better for me than the button combination, even though it moves exactly opposite to my intuition. I'd expect the weapon to go one slot to the right if I push up and left if I push down.

I wasn't sure about it, but I normally say "Up & Down" so in my mind that translates to left first then right. But I'm willing to change it if it's more common the other way for others?

Quote

The dash is a nice addition, although I tend to trigger it accidentally by tap dodging, often into harms way.

It does seem a bit sensitive still, perhaps I can shorten the delay required for the double tap.

Quote

I also keep forgetting I have the laser. So far, the flame thrower wasn’t very useful, but I haven’t gotten far into the game yet.

I think this comes with time. The game becomes quite difficult without the laser so you tend to start using it.

The flame thrower is short range only but strong against anything, but the only short range enemy on stage 1 is a popcorn enemy. I didn't want to make that enemy too strong for the first stage, but perhaps I could to make the flamethrower stand out more on this stage.

Quote

I’m a bit confused what to do when the tornado appears. It’s that an enemy I can destroy or an environmental hazard I need to avoid?

It's just an environmental hazard to avoid. I'm not sure how I could convey that more, but open to suggestions.

badcomputer wrote

Added an option

Offering options is such a forgotten art in modern computing, most programs and apps are like "it's this way now and we don't care if you liked it better before", this alone makes you 256% more awesome. Please try to become CEO of Microsoft or Google.

Nice game, very addicting.

I also found the dash too sensitive, it often triggers when I'm rapidly switching directions and sends me head first into an enemy bullet.

Thanks for the continued feedback!

I've pushed out another update based on feedback so far.

Changed dash to be less sensitive to trigger.
Added dynamic difficulty based on medal rank (stars in top right). Difficulty chosen in the options also still applies.
Added weapon switch option for Up/Down (Up moves primary weapon left), and Down/Up (Down moves primary weapon left).

v0.1.2.2 download

badcomputer wrote

I discovered a bug while using save states on the Master Everdrive X7.

It seems that when you use the shortcut to bring up the Everdrive in-game menu (default is Up + b1 + b2) the line interrupts get messed up. In my case the interrupts to scroll the sky are out of sync after you close the menu.

I can't replicate it in Emulicious as it seems that only emulates the original Master Everdrive which didn't have an in-game menu?

I've tried a couple of other commercial games (Sagaia and Power Strike 2) on the Everdrive X7 but it doesn't seem to effect those when you bring up the menu, so I'm wondering what I'm doing wrong, if anything?

Giving this a quick bump to see if anyone has any ideas?

EDIT: This is fixed now. I needed to reset my interrupt counter each frame so that if the Everdrive in-game menu did take over the interrupt I could restart the sequence normally next frame once the menu had closed.

Updated to 0.1.2.3

changed - moved boss kill score to show on bonus screen instead.
changed - extended boss loop so it takes longer to timeout.
changed - increased HP of smaller enemies slightly to encourage use of flame and bullets.
changed - decreased laser charge speed when using the inefficient weapon against an enemy.
changed - missiles speed now accelerates and alternates side of player they're fired from.
fixed - parallax scrolling out of sync after Everdrive in-game menu accessed.

https://helpcomputer.itch.io/frontier-force-alpha-demo/devlog/806913/updated-to-...

badcomputer wrote

Updated to 0.1.2.3

changed - moved boss kill score to show on bonus screen instead.

changed - extended boss loop so it takes longer to timeout.

changed - increased HP of smaller enemies slightly to encourage use of flame and bullets.

changed - decreased laser charge speed when using the inefficient weapon against an enemy.

changed - missiles speed now accelerates and alternates side of player they're fired from.

fixed - parallax scrolling out of sync after Everdrive in-game menu accessed.

https://helpcomputer.itch.io/frontier-force-alpha-demo/devlog/806913/updated-to-...

Hey thanks for providing a demo! So cool!
Great work too - excited for this one. I love your commitment and attention to detail, even fixing the Everdrive X7 bug. I have an X7 and the older GG Everdrive. Happy to test things.

Are you looking for feedback / bug testing on anything? I am a very detail-oriented engineer and avid gamer (shocking) and would be happy to help!

segasonicfan wrote

Hey thanks for providing a demo! So cool!
Great work too - excited for this one. I love your commitment and attention to detail, even fixing the Everdrive X7 bug. I have an X7 and the older GG Everdrive. Happy to test things.

Are you looking for feedback / bug testing on anything? I am a very detail-oriented engineer and avid gamer (shocking) and would be happy to help!

Thanks!

I'd welcome any feedback you have on the demo!

I'll probably be looking for a few people to playtest the final release but that's a long way off yet.

Having an absolute blast playing the demo.
Finally got a first victory, playing version v0.1.2.3. Had a few hours on the earlier ones too. The game is great fun, very easy to get absorbed in.
The time to restart from a loss is nice and short, love the sound effects defeating the enemies, and the music is great too!

After seeing a "hidden" menu in the Discord I got the idea in my head to defeat every single enemy (probably missed some final boss parts mind). I guess that wasn't enough to do it :D
After a first win on normal, I changed to hard and got this highscore. I also finally got over my fear of the tornado and did not instantly waste a bomb on it!

Overall great fun. For some other feedback;

Those mine/bomb enemies will haunt me in my sleep :) I guess tough for a first level as most of my early games ended on that wave of enemies. On the other hand, it did make for great satisfaction finally beating them all without losing a life, so balance might be fine, if a little daunting for newbies at shooters like myself.

I wondered if it would be possible to keep the weapon selection (or even allow active switching) after you lose a life? I did quickly get used to swapping back as soon as you get back to gameplay, but might be nice to be able to switch during that window of less pressure after getting hit.

One other silly little "bug" I captured while recording gameplay, a bomb ready to blow just as I got game over went off at the start of the next game. I'm not even sure it would be best removed as it made me chuckle! Sharing in case it is indicative of game logic quirks that may help you though.
(EDIT: Should note I'm playing on the Master System MiSTer core to get 60Hz, if perhaps different on original hardware.
The visual artifacts at the sides of the bosses black screen aren't in the game, just part of my shoddy attempt to compress a small video.)

Very much looking forward to keeping an eye on this one. Great work!

bomb_delayed_animation.mp4 (2.64 MB)
Delayed Bomb Animation

20241001_214913-Frontier_Force_Alpha_Demo_V0.1.2.3.png (181.34 KB)

Mark Highscore

Thanks Mark, great feedback!

Mark Tree SMS wrote

I wondered if it would be possible to keep the weapon selection (or even allow active switching) after you lose a life? I did quickly get used to swapping back as soon as you get back to gameplay, but might be nice to be able to switch during that window of less pressure after getting hit.

I agree, and this has been mentioned before so I'll make it remember your last weapon.

Quote

One other silly little "bug" I captured while recording gameplay, a bomb ready to blow just as I got game over went off at the start of the next game. I'm not even sure it would be best removed as it made me chuckle! Sharing in case it is indicative of game logic quirks that may help you though.

That is a great find! It's an easy fix but rare to come across, so I'm glad it was captured now and not after release.

Also great score! Hard mode doesn't mess around, especially when you increase your medal rank.

Small bump, work continues on the game. I'm working on the bonus stages now, these are quite short but add variety to the overall feel.

I'm in the grind stages of development now, no real new mechanics just producing more content. There's plenty of new stuff to show but I'll be holding it back for the full release.

In terms of a release date I'm not sure, but it's likely to be next year.

This looks better and better with each update. Fantastic graphics, and use of color.

xfixium wrote

This looks better and better with each update. Fantastic graphics, and use of color.

Thanks!

Most of the mechanics for the bonus stages is complete now which is a big step forward. I can now move back to making the regular stages.

Development is moving quicker again now as a lot of the underlying mechanics are in place. I'm sure I'll encounter more bugs to squash but far less from now on.

Good progress this week as I finished stage 2. Stages 3-5 will take a little longer as I need to draw new enemies for those stages first, but progress is steady.

stage02-test04-export-100pc.gif (115.66 KB)

I haven't had much time to work on the game the last few weeks due to real life but Stage 3 is now nearing completion.

Stages 4 and 5 will take a little longer as I need to create a lot of new enemies. Each stage has about 8 different enemies and about 6-7 of those are unique to that stage. It's a lot of work but I think it will make the game more fun to gradually reveal and replay.

You're doing great buddy, sometimes work/life gets in the way but the progress I've seen looks awesome. Keep us posted!!

Author	Message
Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14991 Location: London	Posted: Sat Aug 24, 2024 8:42 am
	Conversely, I think pressing 2 while holding 1 is a lot easier than pressing 1 while holding 2.

Tom Joined: 16 May 2002 Posts: 1381 Location: italy	Posted: Sat Aug 24, 2024 9:13 am
Tom Joined: 16 May 2002 Posts: 1381 Location: italy	Kagesan wrote Switch weapon left: D-pad down Switch weapon right: D-pad up would be my choices. Kagesan wrote I always prefer simple button presses to button combinations if possible. I'm not going to partake in the 1 vs 2 debate, but I agree with this. Combinations should only be used when you run out of buttons.

badcomputer Joined: 19 Oct 2023 Posts: 201	Posted: Sat Aug 24, 2024 9:38 am
badcomputer Joined: 19 Oct 2023 Posts: 201	I think I'll probably just add an option to switch the shot and bomb buttons, as I can see it being a preference and its simple to understand. Tom wrote Combinations should only be used when you run out of buttons. I agree with that too but up/down to switch weapons to the left/right on screen feels more awkward to learn. Pressing Down + Button 1/2 also has a better feel with the player kneeling down, and I plan to add a temporary icon of the new weapon below the player's feet. If it turns out in testing to be bad for some then maybe I can add an option for both switching types.

badcomputer Joined: 19 Oct 2023 Posts: 201	Posted: Mon Aug 26, 2024 2:16 pm
badcomputer Joined: 19 Oct 2023 Posts: 201	Added a balloon that holds rare powerups, and the bomb button now doubles as the laser if you hold it down, which makes it easier to fire quickly instead of switching weapons to it. I'll move on to creating more enemy movement and patterns next. ff-balloon-stress-test-export-100.gif (422.75 KB)

badcomputer Joined: 19 Oct 2023 Posts: 201	Posted: Sat Aug 31, 2024 3:44 pm
badcomputer Joined: 19 Oct 2023 Posts: 201	The current short term goal is to build a complete stage (including boss) and then hopefully get some testers to try it out. I expect a lot will be tweaked but all main in-game mechanics are working, I just need to build the stage with enemy patterns. ff-s1-test-export-100pc.gif (553.33 KB)

baude Joined: 15 Dec 2015 Posts: 25	Posted: Sat Sep 07, 2024 10:36 pm
baude Joined: 15 Dec 2015 Posts: 25	Sincerely, your game looks better each day. It's one of my most anticipated games, not only on the Master System! Congratulations and thanks for the effort!

badcomputer Joined: 19 Oct 2023 Posts: 201	Posted: Sun Sep 08, 2024 11:43 am
badcomputer Joined: 19 Oct 2023 Posts: 201	baude wrote Sincerely, your game looks better each day. It's one of my most anticipated games, not only on the Master System! Congratulations and thanks for the effort! Thanks baude!

badcomputer Joined: 19 Oct 2023 Posts: 201	Posted: Mon Sep 09, 2024 7:43 pm
badcomputer Joined: 19 Oct 2023 Posts: 201	Emulicious is throwing up these warnings when I use a static variable in a for loop. Changing it to a while loop removes the warning. Any idea why I'm getting these? Just checking its not a more serious problem elsewhere but I couldnt see anything. In this case this is the offending code, line 274, changing it to a while loop and keeping the static variable removes the warning. Im guessing its something to do with not being manual initialised? I dont know. image0.png (11.64 KB) image1.png (44.41 KB)

badcomputer Joined: 19 Oct 2023 Posts: 201	Posted: Mon Sep 09, 2024 8:16 pm
badcomputer Joined: 19 Oct 2023 Posts: 201	Calindro kindly answered the above in Discord, copying here just for my own record if I come across it again and forget: "For some reason it cannot match your rom with the code it found. Hard to tell what's going wrong without investigating with your files. A reason could be that the code changed while the rom hasn't changed (due to a failed build for example). If everything works fine, you can either add a condition to the exception breakpoint to exclude this case or disable the breakpoint."

badcomputer Joined: 19 Oct 2023 Posts: 201	Posted: Tue Sep 10, 2024 3:51 pm
badcomputer Joined: 19 Oct 2023 Posts: 201	Brief dev update. I've put together around 2/3 of the 1st stage including mid-stage boss. Next is to put together the rest of the stage enemies and the boss and it can be tested hopefully. I'm currently messing around with a gradual palette change for the progress through this stage. Here it is sped up. ff-fadetest01-100pc.gif (194.1 KB)

badcomputer Joined: 19 Oct 2023 Posts: 201	Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2024 6:10 pm
badcomputer Joined: 19 Oct 2023 Posts: 201	Good progress on the stage 1 boss. I need to add more attacks yet and I might increase the explosions if performance allows. Then I can revisit the stage clear process. Now there's a more complicated scoring system it might be fun to have a quick summary of your peformance at the end. ff-s1bosstest-02-100pc.gif (976.6 KB)

badcomputer Joined: 19 Oct 2023 Posts: 201	Posted: Thu Sep 26, 2024 9:15 pm
badcomputer Joined: 19 Oct 2023 Posts: 201	I released an "Alpha Demo" of the game to get some more feedback. You can download it here: https://helpcomputer.itch.io/frontier-force-alpha-demo

dink Joined: 09 Dec 2013 Posts: 233 Location: detroit	Posted: Fri Sep 27, 2024 12:56 am
dink Joined: 09 Dec 2013 Posts: 233 Location: detroit	Killer game! Love the enemies, enemy variations, attacks and everything about this. awesome! :) Nice, very nice! best regards, - dink

badcomputer Joined: 19 Oct 2023 Posts: 201	Posted: Fri Sep 27, 2024 2:35 pm
badcomputer Joined: 19 Oct 2023 Posts: 201	Thanks dink! For anyone trying the game, feel free to also give negative feedback if you have any. It won't discourage me and will help me improve the game.

badcomputer Joined: 19 Oct 2023 Posts: 201	Posted: Fri Sep 27, 2024 4:06 pm
badcomputer Joined: 19 Oct 2023 Posts: 201	I just discovered a bug with difficulty not being changed/saved in the options menu, it's now fixed and uploaded v0.1.2. https://helpcomputer.itch.io/frontier-force-alpha-demo/devlog/806004/updated-to-...

badcomputer Joined: 19 Oct 2023 Posts: 201	Posted: Fri Sep 27, 2024 6:04 pm
badcomputer Joined: 19 Oct 2023 Posts: 201	I discovered a bug while using save states on the Master Everdrive X7. It seems that when you use the shortcut to bring up the Everdrive in-game menu (default is Up + b1 + b2) the line interrupts get messed up. In my case the interrupts to scroll the sky are out of sync after you close the menu. I can't replicate it in Emulicious as it seems that only emulates the original Master Everdrive which didn't have an in-game menu? I've tried a couple of other commercial games (Sagaia and Power Strike 2) on the Everdrive X7 but it doesn't seem to effect those when you bring up the menu, so I'm wondering what I'm doing wrong, if anything?

badcomputer Joined: 19 Oct 2023 Posts: 201	Posted: Fri Sep 27, 2024 7:53 pm
badcomputer Joined: 19 Oct 2023 Posts: 201	I made another update based on feedback. Added an option to use D-Pad Up or Down for weapon switching instead of D-Pad Down + 1 or 2. The new ROM can be downloaded from here: https://helpcomputer.itch.io/frontier-force-alpha-demo output-12.png (7.24 KB) output-11.png (7.27 KB)

Kagesan Joined: 01 Feb 2014 Posts: 895	Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2024 11:06 am
Kagesan Joined: 01 Feb 2014 Posts: 895	Very nice. It plays great and looks excellent. For some reason the brilliant options screen gives me Spectrum vibes. Must be the saturated colors. Thanks for including the alternative weapon switching option, which works much better for me than the button combination, even though it moves exactly opposite to my intuition. I'd expect the weapon to go one slot to the right if I push up and left if I push down. The dash is a nice addition, although I tend to trigger it accidentally by tap dodging, often into harms way. I also keep forgetting I have the laser. So far, the flame thrower wasn’t very useful, but I haven’t gotten far into the game yet. I’m a bit confused what to do when the tornado appears. It’s that an enemy I can destroy or an environmental hazard I need to avoid? Anyway, great work, and I love the Ikaruga-style chaining.

badcomputer Joined: 19 Oct 2023 Posts: 201	Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2024 11:41 am
badcomputer Joined: 19 Oct 2023 Posts: 201	Thanks! Kagesan wrote Thanks for including the alternative weapon switching option, which works much better for me than the button combination, even though it moves exactly opposite to my intuition. I'd expect the weapon to go one slot to the right if I push up and left if I push down. I wasn't sure about it, but I normally say "Up & Down" so in my mind that translates to left first then right. But I'm willing to change it if it's more common the other way for others? Quote The dash is a nice addition, although I tend to trigger it accidentally by tap dodging, often into harms way. It does seem a bit sensitive still, perhaps I can shorten the delay required for the double tap. Quote I also keep forgetting I have the laser. So far, the flame thrower wasn’t very useful, but I haven’t gotten far into the game yet. I think this comes with time. The game becomes quite difficult without the laser so you tend to start using it. The flame thrower is short range only but strong against anything, but the only short range enemy on stage 1 is a popcorn enemy. I didn't want to make that enemy too strong for the first stage, but perhaps I could to make the flamethrower stand out more on this stage. Quote I’m a bit confused what to do when the tornado appears. It’s that an enemy I can destroy or an environmental hazard I need to avoid? It's just an environmental hazard to avoid. I'm not sure how I could convey that more, but open to suggestions.

Tom Joined: 16 May 2002 Posts: 1381 Location: italy	Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2024 11:52 am
Tom Joined: 16 May 2002 Posts: 1381 Location: italy	badcomputer wrote Added an option Offering options is such a forgotten art in modern computing, most programs and apps are like "it's this way now and we don't care if you liked it better before", this alone makes you 256% more awesome. Please try to become CEO of Microsoft or Google.

thatawesomeguy Joined: 25 Jul 2007 Posts: 744 Location: Melbourne, Australia	Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2024 12:10 pm
	Nice game, very addicting. I also found the dash too sensitive, it often triggers when I'm rapidly switching directions and sends me head first into an enemy bullet.

badcomputer Joined: 19 Oct 2023 Posts: 201	Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2024 1:38 pm
badcomputer Joined: 19 Oct 2023 Posts: 201	Thanks for the continued feedback! I've pushed out another update based on feedback so far. Changed dash to be less sensitive to trigger. Added dynamic difficulty based on medal rank (stars in top right). Difficulty chosen in the options also still applies. Added weapon switch option for Up/Down (Up moves primary weapon left), and Down/Up (Down moves primary weapon left). v0.1.2.2 download

badcomputer Joined: 19 Oct 2023 Posts: 201	Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2024 3:51 pm
badcomputer Joined: 19 Oct 2023 Posts: 201	badcomputer wrote I discovered a bug while using save states on the Master Everdrive X7. It seems that when you use the shortcut to bring up the Everdrive in-game menu (default is Up + b1 + b2) the line interrupts get messed up. In my case the interrupts to scroll the sky are out of sync after you close the menu. I can't replicate it in Emulicious as it seems that only emulates the original Master Everdrive which didn't have an in-game menu? I've tried a couple of other commercial games (Sagaia and Power Strike 2) on the Everdrive X7 but it doesn't seem to effect those when you bring up the menu, so I'm wondering what I'm doing wrong, if anything? Giving this a quick bump to see if anyone has any ideas? EDIT: This is fixed now. I needed to reset my interrupt counter each frame so that if the Everdrive in-game menu did take over the interrupt I could restart the sequence normally next frame once the menu had closed.

badcomputer Joined: 19 Oct 2023 Posts: 201	Posted: Sun Sep 29, 2024 11:51 am
badcomputer Joined: 19 Oct 2023 Posts: 201	Updated to 0.1.2.3 changed - moved boss kill score to show on bonus screen instead. changed - extended boss loop so it takes longer to timeout. changed - increased HP of smaller enemies slightly to encourage use of flame and bullets. changed - decreased laser charge speed when using the inefficient weapon against an enemy. changed - missiles speed now accelerates and alternates side of player they're fired from. fixed - parallax scrolling out of sync after Everdrive in-game menu accessed. https://helpcomputer.itch.io/frontier-force-alpha-demo/devlog/806913/updated-to-...

segasonicfan Joined: 05 Jan 2006 Posts: 417 Location: USA	Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2024 5:19 pm
	badcomputer wrote Updated to 0.1.2.3 changed - moved boss kill score to show on bonus screen instead. changed - extended boss loop so it takes longer to timeout. changed - increased HP of smaller enemies slightly to encourage use of flame and bullets. changed - decreased laser charge speed when using the inefficient weapon against an enemy. changed - missiles speed now accelerates and alternates side of player they're fired from. fixed - parallax scrolling out of sync after Everdrive in-game menu accessed. https://helpcomputer.itch.io/frontier-force-alpha-demo/devlog/806913/updated-to-... Hey thanks for providing a demo! So cool! Great work too - excited for this one. I love your commitment and attention to detail, even fixing the Everdrive X7 bug. I have an X7 and the older GG Everdrive. Happy to test things. Are you looking for feedback / bug testing on anything? I am a very detail-oriented engineer and avid gamer (shocking) and would be happy to help!

badcomputer Joined: 19 Oct 2023 Posts: 201	Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2024 6:39 pm
badcomputer Joined: 19 Oct 2023 Posts: 201	segasonicfan wrote Hey thanks for providing a demo! So cool! Great work too - excited for this one. I love your commitment and attention to detail, even fixing the Everdrive X7 bug. I have an X7 and the older GG Everdrive. Happy to test things. Are you looking for feedback / bug testing on anything? I am a very detail-oriented engineer and avid gamer (shocking) and would be happy to help! Thanks! I'd welcome any feedback you have on the demo! I'll probably be looking for a few people to playtest the final release but that's a long way off yet.

Mark Tree SMS Joined: 11 Jul 2022 Posts: 18 Location: Sligo Ireland (and Wales)	Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2024 10:49 pm
	Having an absolute blast playing the demo. Finally got a first victory, playing version v0.1.2.3. Had a few hours on the earlier ones too. The game is great fun, very easy to get absorbed in. The time to restart from a loss is nice and short, love the sound effects defeating the enemies, and the music is great too! After seeing a "hidden" menu in the Discord I got the idea in my head to defeat every single enemy (probably missed some final boss parts mind). I guess that wasn't enough to do it :D After a first win on normal, I changed to hard and got this highscore. I also finally got over my fear of the tornado and did not instantly waste a bomb on it! Overall great fun. For some other feedback; Those mine/bomb enemies will haunt me in my sleep :) I guess tough for a first level as most of my early games ended on that wave of enemies. On the other hand, it did make for great satisfaction finally beating them all without losing a life, so balance might be fine, if a little daunting for newbies at shooters like myself. I wondered if it would be possible to keep the weapon selection (or even allow active switching) after you lose a life? I did quickly get used to swapping back as soon as you get back to gameplay, but might be nice to be able to switch during that window of less pressure after getting hit. One other silly little "bug" I captured while recording gameplay, a bomb ready to blow just as I got game over went off at the start of the next game. I'm not even sure it would be best removed as it made me chuckle! Sharing in case it is indicative of game logic quirks that may help you though. (EDIT: Should note I'm playing on the Master System MiSTer core to get 60Hz, if perhaps different on original hardware. The visual artifacts at the sides of the bosses black screen aren't in the game, just part of my shoddy attempt to compress a small video.) Very much looking forward to keeping an eye on this one. Great work! bomb_delayed_animation.mp4 (2.64 MB) Delayed Bomb Animation 20241001_214913-Frontier_Force_Alpha_Demo_V0.1.2.3.png (181.34 KB) Mark Highscore

badcomputer Joined: 19 Oct 2023 Posts: 201	Posted: Wed Oct 02, 2024 7:21 am
badcomputer Joined: 19 Oct 2023 Posts: 201	Thanks Mark, great feedback! Mark Tree SMS wrote I wondered if it would be possible to keep the weapon selection (or even allow active switching) after you lose a life? I did quickly get used to swapping back as soon as you get back to gameplay, but might be nice to be able to switch during that window of less pressure after getting hit. I agree, and this has been mentioned before so I'll make it remember your last weapon. Quote One other silly little "bug" I captured while recording gameplay, a bomb ready to blow just as I got game over went off at the start of the next game. I'm not even sure it would be best removed as it made me chuckle! Sharing in case it is indicative of game logic quirks that may help you though. That is a great find! It's an easy fix but rare to come across, so I'm glad it was captured now and not after release. Also great score! Hard mode doesn't mess around, especially when you increase your medal rank.

badcomputer Joined: 19 Oct 2023 Posts: 201	Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2024 3:22 pm
badcomputer Joined: 19 Oct 2023 Posts: 201	Small bump, work continues on the game. I'm working on the bonus stages now, these are quite short but add variety to the overall feel. I'm in the grind stages of development now, no real new mechanics just producing more content. There's plenty of new stuff to show but I'll be holding it back for the full release. In terms of a release date I'm not sure, but it's likely to be next year.

xfixium Joined: 18 Jul 2020 Posts: 392	Posted: Wed Oct 23, 2024 5:24 pm
xfixium Joined: 18 Jul 2020 Posts: 392	This looks better and better with each update. Fantastic graphics, and use of color.

badcomputer Joined: 19 Oct 2023 Posts: 201	Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2024 1:30 pm
badcomputer Joined: 19 Oct 2023 Posts: 201	xfixium wrote This looks better and better with each update. Fantastic graphics, and use of color. Thanks! Most of the mechanics for the bonus stages is complete now which is a big step forward. I can now move back to making the regular stages. Development is moving quicker again now as a lot of the underlying mechanics are in place. I'm sure I'll encounter more bugs to squash but far less from now on.

badcomputer Joined: 19 Oct 2023 Posts: 201	Posted: Sat Nov 02, 2024 2:44 pm
badcomputer Joined: 19 Oct 2023 Posts: 201	Good progress this week as I finished stage 2. Stages 3-5 will take a little longer as I need to draw new enemies for those stages first, but progress is steady. stage02-test04-export-100pc.gif (115.66 KB)

badcomputer Joined: 19 Oct 2023 Posts: 201	Posted: Yesterday at 2:11 am
badcomputer Joined: 19 Oct 2023 Posts: 201	I haven't had much time to work on the game the last few weeks due to real life but Stage 3 is now nearing completion. Stages 4 and 5 will take a little longer as I need to create a lot of new enemies. Each stage has about 8 different enemies and about 6-7 of those are unique to that stage. It's a lot of work but I think it will make the game more fun to gradually reveal and replay.

8BitBoy Joined: 15 Aug 2019 Posts: 296 Location: Lancashire UK	Posted: Yesterday at 12:52 pm
	You're doing great buddy, sometimes work/life gets in the way but the progress I've seen looks awesome. Keep us posted!!

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