Monday, February 26, 2018

Mini game release: Aster





Well, this one's something a bit different, that's for sure.

This game is a collaboration I worked on with another artist, who I'll simply refer to as S. It's an Asteroids/arcade style game with in-game H-animations.


While it isn't the usual size or complexity of my other games, it ended up taking me a while to get around to finishing, mostly because the music and sound gave me a bit of artist's block. The bulk of the work was done (including the H animations, which were done by the artist), a couple years ago, so I felt like I should probably get it out of the way, being the smallest project.

In total, the game has 10 animations (no CGs). The demo covers about half of the game and it's content. Since it's not the usual sort of game, I've decided to do a bit of a pay-what-you-want thing, with a $1 minimum. You can play the demo and decide for yourself what you think it's worth. The profits will be split 50/50 between the artist and myself.

Also, if you pre-ordered Noaika, your unlock file will work with this, so you dont need to buy it.





As per usual, this is the initial release so there's sure to be some bugs. Let me know in the comments if you run into any problems.

                                                                                                                                  

Also, as I stated before I'd start posting on the blog again once I released something, and while this isnt a big game this is something. I'll also be making an dedicated page soon showing the ongoing status of all my projects, what I'm working on, etc.




130 comments:

  1. YAY! Looking forward to trying it out.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dang, Asteroid brings back memories... xD

    Could use a few more checkpoints, imo, but maybe I'm, just rusty as heck. Also the laser-weapon kinda bugs out when you cross borders.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bugs out?

      If you mean the fact that it doesn't loop around, that's intentional. Does it do something else?

      Delete
  3. There's supposed to be an in-game h-scene for the pirate ships, right? I've tried running into them and dying on the same screen as them, but they don't seem to trigger like creatures do.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. no theres no ingame animations for enemy vessels, only the creatures have them, you need to die if ya want to see the pirate ships scenes

      Delete
    2. sorry i mean, no grapple animation for enemy vessels/pirate ships, theyre scene only appears when your ship is destroyed and the pirate ship gets near

      Delete
  4. I'm not having any luck getting the game to recognize my controller. I'm using a PS3 controller, set to be recognized as Xinput via Scp Toolkit. Tested several other games (including Eroico) and it's being recognized fine in them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Do you have multiple gamepads plugged in?
      Eroico accepted controllers to the point of slowing it down, whereas Aster only accepts input from controller 0.

      Delete
  5. This game is a worthy addition to your collection, being as well-designed and artistically appealing as your previous two games if not more so. I feel that if this game had more weapons, enemies, and procedural elements, it could sell on Steam as a small roguelite akin to Downwell. The only issue I experienced while playing was a crash during the final boss.

    My only complaint is that I got easily disoriented by the dead space around the edges of the screen where you can't see your ship. That likely has more to do with my lack of spacial reasoning though.

    As always, I'm eager to see what you'll release next. I hope that the artist's block you experienced taught you more about audio design to bring into future games.

    ReplyDelete
  6. It's somewhat frustrating to play this without having mouse control of the aiming, as other games of the same genre have done. It was annoying in the original asteroids as well, but a lot more so when you have enemies coming after you with auto-targeting attacks.

    I did find two minor bugs, when setting the game to borderless fullscreen via AutoHotkey, the window continues to stretch to the right on its own on a dual monitor setup. I've never seen this in any other program since autohotkey itself only changes the window size once.

    The second is that the fullscreen shortcut is set to Alt + F4 for some reason lol.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dont really know what autohotkey is, though I can say that it's F4, in the game. Does everything you're referring to happen without it too?

      Delete
    2. Autohotkey is just what it sounds like, you write scripts that execute keystrokes or commands. In this case I was setting the window size and position to the screen resolution, hiding the title bar and window edges outside the screen, which can't normally be done by dragging and resizing the window.

      The script looks like this

      ^!f:: ; keystroke Alt + F
      WinGetTitle, currentWindow, A
      IfWinExist %currentWindow%
      {
      WinSet, Style, ^0xC00000 ; toggle title bar
      WinMove, , , -2, -2, 2564, 1084
      }
      return

      Delete
  7. Just finished the demo. It's a solid piece of work (though it is, after all, built to an existing formula). Would have liked an option to change window size, unless I missed that somehow?

    Can't wait for the Noaika demo.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. F4 is fullscreen, but that's the only control at the moment.

      Delete
  8. Got a fatal error that triggered at the Grey Aliens after being shot down

    ___________________________________________
    ############################################################################################
    FATAL ERROR in
    action number 1
    of Step Event2
    for object al_3_h:

    Push :: Execution Error - Variable Get 149422.hp(100002, -2147483648)
    at gml_Script_s_step2
    ############################################################################################
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    stack frame is
    gml_Script_s_step2 (line 0)
    gml_Object_al_3_h_Step_2

    ReplyDelete
  9. The game is amazing <3

    Not a bug but rather a graphic design suggestion - I would add in front thrusters somewhere to fire the flame when the ship is moving backwars. Otherwise, reversing feels somehow unnatural and, without the visual feedback, confusing until you actually notice the change in speed. Due to this, I had no idea I can move backwards for at least 10 first levels.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sure, I'll take it into consideration.

      Delete
    2. Uh, did I miss a control list somewhere? Ended up finishing the game and never realized there was backwards and forwards until I read this comment. Just x, c and rotation.

      Delete
    3. How did you rotate without ever pressing up or down....?
      You never...you know...pressed it on a whim or anything? lol

      Delete
    4. No... I might have pressed it at the start but didn't notice the acceleration from pressing up or down lmao

      Also during the early levels I would just pick up the sword and spin with it until it was cleared.

      Delete
    5. This makes stage 34 a lot more reasonable...

      Delete
    6. And here I was thinking the game was way too hard. I mean, I'm bad at Asteroids-like games, but I could barely reach stage 10 before figuring this out. Could make for an interesting challenge run, I suppose.

      Delete
  10. Great game, but the checkpoints don't seem to be working for me, is there something I'm missing? Its a bit frustrating to get up to stage 30 only to have to go all the way back to 1 every time I die.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hmm..not sure what would be causing that. Could you play until the first checkpoint and show me the contents of the save file?

      Also, are you doing anything out of the ordinary, or is there anything different about your system?

      Delete
    2. Huh. So I went and deleted the "save1" file and restarted the game assuming that's where it had it stored and it'd just autogenerate another one I could show you just to be sure it was fresh, but that seems to have fixed the problem. Resetting after the first checkpoint starts me at stage 3 now.

      I guess having that file there was keeping the save in a static state or something? Not sure what to make of it really, and its not generating another one, so I'm not sure where else to find the save data but I guess it doesn't matter since its working now? Weird, but I'm not exactly going to complain.

      Delete
    3. Yeah, not sure.
      Hopefully V2 fixed the problem for anyone who has it. Though I might want to make it so the game doesnt come with the files already generated, to avoid the problem you had, if that caused it.

      Delete
  11. There's a checkpoint on stage 33 with no shop. I'm stuck here with 1 hp.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. https://i.gyazo.com/3cbd8bab8dd1b54dba04dada4dec3c0c.png

      I'll add it to the to-do list.
      For now though you can exit and modify the save file. HP should be 3rd on the list.

      Delete
    2. I know the feel... Happened to me twice (restarted to try to get more HP on that checkpoint).

      Delete
  12. How/where do I pre-order noaika?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was only a one time thing, it can't be pre-ordered anymore. Simply have to wait until the game is out to buy it.

      Delete
  13. Aww, that purple squid is adorable.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Sorry, how do I use the unlock code? I must be blind, but can't find where to enter it. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nevermind, I figured it out - have to put the word doc in the game folder.

      Delete
    2. You got it.

      To be fair it isn't a normal method of buying/unlocking a game.

      Delete
  15. anyone else got a problem paying for it? i did pay and took my money but it says couldnt find my order and ask me to search again. in the end i didnt get any unlock archive but they took my money ?? scam?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nah, but occasionally weird stuff happens. Send me an email at contact@kyrieru.com and I can give you the link manually.

      Delete
  16. Bought it, finished it, and loved it. If I want to give more, should I buy it again or donate? Fun way to spend a morning, and I ended up having so much fun I completed it before even looking at the galleries or h scenes. Loved the inflation scenes/stomache bulges the best!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad to hear you enjoyed it! It's up to you, but in general buying my games once is more than enough support.

      Delete
  17. Would you consider adding a “No H-Scene” options for future updates?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maybe. There's no reason not to, it's more just seeing if I still have the drive to do it lol. But I'll keep in it mind and will probably do it if there aren't any major problems over the next couple days.

      Delete
    2. Thanks for the consideration! It’s was a fun little game to play through

      Delete
  18. Seem to be having an issue where the .rar is broken upon downloading, refuses to extract as a result.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've updated the link with a zip. Dunno what would be causing it for you specifically, though.

      Delete
    2. Yeah, dunno either. That worked at least.

      Still, really confusing...I don't normally have issues with .zip or .rar files.

      Delete
  19. How's everyone feeling about the weapons? I only really used the sword and sometimes the charge module. Laser felt unwieldy for me. Hard to really tell without HP bars but I found the charge module more useful against ships - even godsend at some points. The sword just wrecks creatures, also working over walls. I guess the explosive was for clearing asteroids but never really felt necessary and there's a period of vulnerability every time you charge it up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Laser and Charge are my go-to's. Charge is pretty OP and one shots a lot of stuff.

      The explosives also go over walls, so it's useful for that, in addition to clearing out asteroids. To me the sword is fun, but it's probably not the best. If I was going to make a change, I'd probably make it so the sword gets smaller like the laser, but make it so it blocks projectiles.

      Delete
    2. My personal favorite is the Charge Shot. It's just so powerful, and the shots persists for a while! The others have their uses, but their roles can generally be filled by a well-placed charge shot. I think the sword is the most useless, though. It has short range and doesn't even do enough damage to justify that.

      Delete
  20. I remember a while back you asked for interesting genre ideas for h-games. What about a pinball game? I feel like with a few changes, the physics of the gravity stages in this game would work for a pinball game.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lol, well, that would be interesting, but I don't think it's something I'd ever do. I can imagine it though.

      Delete
  21. Holy shit my man posted a game... Good to see your games still have polish.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Just got a fatal error after being shot down by the ship in stage 13. Looks fairly similar to the one the guy posted yesterday, but slightly different so figured I'd go ahead and post it.

    ############################################################################################
    FATAL ERROR in
    action number 1
    of Step Event2
    for object al_0_h:

    Push :: Execution Error - Variable Get 191266.hp(100002, -2147483648)
    at gml_Script_s_step2
    ############################################################################################
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    stack frame is
    gml_Script_s_step2 (line 0)
    gml_Object_al_0_h_Step_2

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Looks like instance_exists() is about to have it's day.

      Delete
  23. Nice, finished it in about 40mins without any errors. tried using a controller, but found it easier to play with the keyboard.

    I pre-ordered Noaika, but lost the email ages ago. Regardless if another $5 helps get the game out i'll give you $50, lol.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha well, I appreciate it, but there's no need. If I release stuff the way I should, buying the games once should be plenty.

      Also, send me an email when the time comes, and I can resend you the Noaika unlock.

      Delete
  24. This game is a pleasant surprise.

    Regarding the Dead zone issue, maybe adding an indicator to show where you are would cut down on confusion.

    I was hit a couple times near the edge of the screen, and was sent along the edges with no idea where I was or what direction I was facing.

    ReplyDelete
  25. It's a neat little game. I really enjoyed it. For such a small project, the scenes are absolutely incredible quality. I was not expecting them to be so nice. Outstanding work.

    So I played through again with V2.

    A few things I didn't notice until the second playthrough. When a scene is playing, you can hit the attack or boost buttons to stop whatever enemy's scene is currently playing. When defeated with multiple creatures on screen, this means you can switch scenes by giving the other creatures a chance to do their "grab". Only issue I see is that the green creature pretty much always wins the race when there's one present. Maybe you could make it so whatever enemy type gets "pushed off" has a small cooldown before it can initiate a scene again? That way you'd give the other ones a chance.

    But the bigger thing. I didn't actually notice during my first playthrough that creatures could do scenes while you still had health. I didn't upgrade health much on my first go. So I didn't have enough health most of the time to notice it. Now that I've realized it though, there's a slight issue. I usually end up canceling the scenes out when they start because I'm spamming attack. Could you add a slight buffer time where hitting buttons doesn't stop the scenes right when they start? Just maybe a few seconds to give the player time to realize so they can stop pressing would probably be enough. Either that, or a different button entirely to "push" enemies off instead of having attack and boost do it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yep, I can implement both of those things. I'll give it a look.

      Delete
  26. You have been pretty pessimistic about this game. I'm not a fan of female mcs but honestly I still had fun with this game. Maybe my standard for h-games it too low especially when it comes to gameplay.

    ReplyDelete
  27. "Wednesday, February 26, 2020" please calibrate your time machine next time...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tripoteur VentripotentMarch 1, 2018 at 7:03 AM

      Hah.

      For anyone who's wondering about that, it's so this post remains at the top of the page.

      If you're checking for newer posts, they will be appearing under this one even if they're made later.

      Delete
  28. Well, that was a pretty nice little game. I finished off the last boss, but my ship got crippled at the same time, and there was still an enemy warship left, so I'm pretending I got a neutral end instead of the game going straight to the ending. :P

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, I actually programmed it intentionally that if you die, it still goes to the ending.

      Maybe I should make it so if you die the sprite at the end is the destroyed one.

      Delete
    2. That'd be kind of cool. I can't imagine enough people would see it for it to be worth the change, though. Someone would have to try really hard to force that to happen.

      Delete
  29. My game's saves weren't working, getting reset to stage 1 with each death. I followed the advice of another guy in here and deleted the save file, but no new one is being created. Whenever I die now I get set back, but the ship is already dead and the game won't move on. What to do?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's a new one. Did you get killed just as you reached a checkpoint?
      Also, are you using V3 or V1? I changed the way saves work after V1

      Delete
    2. It happened on V2, so I deleted the folder and downloaded V3. The same problem happens there though. I died in the middle of a stage.

      Delete
    3. Where are you extracting the game to?

      Delete
    4. I'm playing it in the Downloads folder, should I move it to Program Files?

      Delete
    5. So I moved the game to my program folder and the saves are working fine. However, I don't have a progress file so the gallery isn't being completed. I finished the game on one ship, but there's no progress.

      Delete
    6. To elaborate a little, by default the game tries to read and write to the txt files in the same folder as the game. If it can't save them there (and I have no idea why it wouldn't), it saves and loads from a folder in local appdata, which is what GM creates when you run a game.

      What "should" happen is if one is missing, it saves an loads to the other. If you check appdata you'll see what files, if any, aren't able to save to the same folder as the game.

      Delete
  30. So first off. F this game. F Asteroid. F my childhood memories on Asteroid! I can't believe I've spent so long trying to beat this game...again! So in other words, Kudo's to you, You've made a fine version of the game and tugged on my nostalgia strings. Was well worth the full price, hell wish I could give you more if only to support your gaming endeavors. Now the only question I have is when is the Space t-rex DLC scene?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well glad you enjoyed it lol.

      Unfortunately the T-rex is still mourning the death of his previous wife. You can see in his eyes that he doesn't have the emotional stability to pursue new relationships.

      Delete
    2. *Sniff* A man of principle, I can respect that.

      Delete
  31. Man, this game was so fun that I forgot I was playing an H-game until I got blown up on stage 24 and raped. Really worth the 5 bucks I paid for this, even if I blasted through it in an evening.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Died as I reached a savepoint. Now whenever I spawn back in I'm instantly dead

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm no expert but that sounds like a problem.

      Time to fix this I think.

      Delete
    2. Fixed it.

      Now if you load a save with 0 HP it sets it to 1.

      Delete
  33. Could I ask for the save file pattern, please?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unlocking animations is in the prog file. You can unlock everything by changing it all to 1's.

      Delete
  34. Nice! Has definitely made me even more hyped for Noaika, which (hopefully) will release before the heat death of the universe. Just hope you're enjoying that switch from GM:S to GM:S2... I know my wallet wasn't.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's pretty good in most ways. The sprite editor is pretty unusable, but luckily I don't use GM for sprites anymore anyway. The tile system is a much welcomed change.

      Noaika is going to benifit a lot from being switched to it, almost entirely because of how much the tile system will speed it up.

      Delete
  35. Does that "S" artist read comments? Видел тебя ещё в /gd/ Двача пару лет назад, рад, что ты пришел к успеху.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, I read the comments.
      Читаю, спасибо! Релиз для меня огромная радость и надежда.

      Delete
  36. The laser has a small bug where if you just shot it you can't shoot it again until the green/yellow circle on the HUD has disappeared but trying to will still play the Laser shooting sound.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Also, if you use the sword and let go of the button just for a moment before immediately holding it again the sword sound doesn't play.

      Delete
    2. Good eye. Ear.

      I'll take a look. Listen.

      Delete
  37. Any chance at getting a Stage Select or Free Play mode where we can spawn in certain enemies?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Really liking the game either way. Definitely worth the $5

      Delete
  38. I noticed that when you lose and press start, the ship's status resets immediately, before the fadeout. This means the camera starts showing the heroine, and whatever weapon powerup you had at the checkpoint gets attached to the wreckage. Sometimes it even shoots. Have to press something, I think.

    When losing a weapon powerup while holding the attack button, it disappears from the ship, but still works until you let go of the trigger. I once picked up another weapon during such a state, and I didn't get it - it just disappeared.

    This is a fun game, and the H-content is... engaging. Especially considering how relatively vanilla everything is. I played Aeroid recently, and while it was a decent Metroid clone, the H part was uninspired.

    I think the hardest set of levels between checkpoints was the one with the seeker missile ship. I still can't evade them reliably. Just lucked out once and beat it by dealing a lot of damage in a short amount of time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Knew about the first problem and might fix it. Isn't a high priority though.

      Second problem I knew about, but not the inability to pick something up. I'll look into that.

      Seeker missiles you either have to use the boost to get away from (flying in a circle usually works), or you have to fly out the side, since they cant follow you.

      Delete
  39. Eroshmups have long been something I've had a soft spot for since the days of games like Sentimental Shooting, So some lewd Asteroids is right up my alley. Man, seeing content like this used in a horizontal or vertical style shmup in the vein of some Cave shooters or R-type would just be the best thing ever ;)

    Really though, nice job~

    ReplyDelete
  40. heyo This game is great but with a Design Sin that some Games do,
    the power-up unintentional trolling (Alot of Shumps have this)
    and i find this is the source of the difficulty in Aster,and the Charge Mod is JUST makes this Easy Mode ,if you know how to Aim,and that youb don't unluckly run into an asteroid that gives you a different module,etc.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. otherwise this is a good game. *wishes to have an edit Button for shoddy Post*

      Delete
    2. Well, a couple things;

      In a game like casltevania (most of them), you can haves swappable items because the item pickup itself doesn't do anything other than change the weapon. In Aster, however, they double as shields, which means that the player will run into situations where they have to make a choice between their prefered weapon and a little extra survivability (Which I like).

      There is the option of making this create an "empty" powerup so you could swap back without getting WP again, however this removes the risk/reward element of choosing to forgo WP.

      The other option would be to make it so that there's a brief timer before the powerup becomes acquirable. This avoids the problem of picking it up by mistake immediately, however it also creates a problem where the player might be about to get shot down, and they try to get the powerup quickly but go through it. Getting killed seems worse than than getting some WP and getting a weapon you don't like, even if it would occur less.

      A third option is making it so the powerup's default moving direction is "away" from the player, applying only a brief timer if an asteroid is hit. This is probably the most likely alternative.

      Could also make it so the powerup can be shot and moved, however that would block the player's shots. Would only work if it blocked both the enemy and the player's shots, but that could still go wrong.

      Delete
    3. *Goddammit Blogger* now it makes sense with the weapon powerups.
      no problem then. and thanks for replying too.

      Delete
    4. Well, like I said, it still has a solution, so I'll probably see if it works well and change it.

      Delete
    5. Could you add particle effects to asteroids with power ups or make them glow blue or something? Just signal to the player there's a power up inside it before it gets destroyed.

      Delete
    6. With particle effects, there would still be the problem of destroying multiple asteroids at once, but yeah that would be another way of tipping off the player.

      That said, I already did the solution I mentioned so it should be taken care of for now.

      Delete
  41. I suck so hard at controlling the ship I actually punched my screen.
    10/10.

    ReplyDelete
  42. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  43. You know what would kill it? Making it a mobile game cause all you would need is a pad and 2 bottons. Do you think it has any chance? I would totaly buy it again if it happens :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, even though there might be a market for mobile games somewhere, I'm just not a mobile guy honestly. I prefer to stick to PC, especially since I know I would have to worry about optimizing differently for different platforms if I did otherwise.

      Delete
  44. Any way to listen to the music outside of the game?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. For yet. I'll add it to the soundtracks page at the top of the site when I get around to it.

      Delete
  45. Hmm. Some questions,
    1. Where are you running the game from?
    2. Does it happen every time or did it only happen once?

    ReplyDelete
  46. 1. Running on win7, root directory.
    2. Every time.

    ReplyDelete
  47. Is the game in a folder or bring run from the zip?

    ReplyDelete
  48. Fixed by copying everything from \Aster into root dir

    ReplyDelete
  49. What happens if you run this version
    http://www.mediafire.com/file/2a734swr7sz8oua/Aster%20v2_3_4.zip

    From the place you ran it before?

    ReplyDelete
  50. This one works fine.

    ReplyDelete
  51. Still planning to release this on Dlsite under a different circle name? If so...what will it be? I'd like to keep my eye out for it.

    ReplyDelete
  52. What have you been fixing? No patch notes!?!?! lol

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Honestly I just got tired of writing them -___-

      I've been fixing a few things as they come up.

      Delete
    2. It's all good. Looking forward to any future releases.

      Delete
  53. The game itself actually felt really nice. It's really a shame it's not a part of a bigger project! This is one of the few porn games out there that actually felt like a good game. It might just be because Asteroids is such a solid concept on it's own.

    ReplyDelete
  54. i bought the game because i think all your stuff is worthwhile supporting but i just wanna know before i play the game if there's any futa content?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nope, not in this. None of the enemies are female.

      Delete
  55. Shame theres no VO.

    Enjoyed it anyway.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, I considered it, but ultimately decided that I had already spent too much time on the game, and needed to move on.

      Future projects will all have VAs, I think it adds a lot. Will be nice if I eventually get 1-5 VAs I know I can count on across multiple projects so that the process of finding one doesn't add much delay.

      Could have gotten a past VA to do more voices but I don't think I should have the same VA for every protagonist.

      Delete
  56. Ugh, hate this kind of gameplay. I like to enjoy my game, not frustrate myself. Wish it was a regular shoot'em'up like Gradius. Skip.

    ReplyDelete
  57. Ohai. Major bug: When hitting start after losing, the hitpoints are refilled and the ship collision is back on before the new game starts. When you're unlucky asteroids can hit you before the game even starts.

    ReplyDelete