Yeah, it's definitely not a bullethell. I like bullethells, but I'm not that great at the, so Plasma Sky is tuned around my more modest abilities. Thanks for the support guys, hope you have fun! I'm going to check into this, but it may be difficult with my development platform. I used Marmalade SDK so I could code in C++ on a pc and deploy to iOS and Android, but support for stuff like iCade is limited. I do see a guy who got it working, but he may be smarter than me. Thanks! I wrote up a long explanation of the sale over in the discounts forum. Appreciate the support!
Just bought this because $1 sales are the perfect way to try out games in genres I wouldn't normally play. Screenshots looked beautiful and I like that there is no IAP. So, can someone explain to me how to play? Specifically, how do I avoid death? I played a few times, felt like I was doing just fine (especially when I had this super awesome weapon - no idea how I got that) and then boom I was dead.
After killing enemies, sometimes items drop. There's one enemy that always drop items. Most of the items seem to fill a gauge at the top of the screen, and once its full, I seem to power up in shots. You can power up multiple times. The gauge seem to degrade by design. It looks like the higher level you reach, the powered up state "degrade" faster and faster, forcing you to need to keep picking up the drops if you want to stay powered up. Sometime the drops are items. Some are time limited items (timer is around the icon on the left side of the screen), and some are bombs or helpers. You can hold onto the bomb as an "extra life/shield", as it gets activated when you get hit instead of using the bomb manually. Some enemies shoot lasers, and these are what gets me most of the time. Look out for those enemies as they give a sign they're about to fire. Otherwise, its just up to practice. =D This game isn't hard for me (and I'm not that great at shmups/bulle hells)..just casual enough for some fun runs without worrying about complicated scoring. =)
Yeah, I got this too because of the sale, but more than that the purposeful lack of IAP. File size is super small too, so major bonus there. I'll probably put some serious time into this tonight. It looks like fun.
Thanks a lot tops2! I think I'm starting to get the hang of it. I'm really having fun. I often feel somewhat intimidated by new genres, but I'm really glad I gave this one a try.
(Icade support) This game would be a perfect icade joystick game, and you would get alot of future sales once the icade core joystick picks up some steam. As you have noticed numerous people already have asked for icade joystick support, and pretty soon a lot of Toucharcade members will have the icade core joystick. I have already by myself posting some good things gotten a lot ofinterest here. Wireless joysticks will grow in popularity, and this game is perfect for icade support, so it maybe worth a little time to code it in for future sales. Anyway, a picture of what it could be...
Glad I'm not the only one fighting the IAP trend! Cool, hope you like the game Andy. Yeah, thanks for the explanation tops2! I'm glad you're figuring it out lena, it's great that you're trying out a new kind of game. Thanks! You can barely tell that I made a lot of the art while being bounced around on public transportation. Ok ok, you're right, I do want to try it out. I ordered a controller. Still no promises, but I'll definitely give it a shot! Thanks all for the support!
Hmmmm... Volbard, I've always been wary of shooters that use the bottom of the screen for enemies to enter into the field of play. I do think that Plasma Sky does it in the most acceptable way possible, in that you get used to this pattern pretty quickly. However, the problem I am having repeatedly is that my finger keeps blocking the bottom of the screen on my iPhone. I am losing many games that I would not be if I was playing this on an iPad, simply because of the added screen size. Any thoughts on this? I do realize it is what it is, but I am definitely getting frustrated by it at the same time.
Are there particular levels that cause you trouble? I may be able to tweak them. Making the red warning flash bigger might also be an option, or maybe I could flash up text like "ENEMIES BEHIND". What do you think? I've got survival mode pretty much finished. Lots of enemies to fight all at once. It's chaotic and it's easy to die quickly, but a quick game mode is what I was going for. I'm going to start working on the wingmen now.
I don't know what it is with the shooter threads. Between El over at Phoenix HD, Sunny over at Danmaku 2 and you at Plasma Sky, you guys are all so responsive. Quite refreshing. The survival mode sounds awesome, as does an extra wingman. VERY excited about that. Also looking forward to the spread shot tweak and whatever other assorted goodies are in the pipeline. In terms of the enemies entering from the bottom... This is a tricky one. I'll be honest when I say it's not something I favor in any shooter, simply because I feel it leads to cheap deaths, while also taking the focus away from the forward action. However, if you are open to possibly tweaking it so the finger is less of an issue, then let me play a bit more and see if I can think of something. I'll get back to you on it. And no, it is a general issue, not so much a level issue or a specific enemy. My finger is just in the way.
Game Impressions I just bought it yesterday, and i'm really happy to play it. Your game remember me the Galaga serie shooter, specially this one on Windows Phone. The game runs smoothly on my iPod Touch 5 even if there are a lot of mobs on the screen and effects with the explosion. The power up i prefer is the Spike Shield . I often play the 2 modes, you did a great work.
Any plans on removing the black bars? Not really a big fan of them. I find them rather off putting. I'm playing on an iPod touch 5G.
I feel pretty bad that I didn't buy this at the normal price. Why didn't you guys tell me how good this was?! /Rereads Gabrien's first page post. Oh. Oh right.. Labour of Love are the exact words that came to mind when I checked out the credits, specifically the: "dedicated to <3 Daphne <3" part. Awwwwwwww. Thank you for this incredible game.
Sorry, the bars are needed to keep the same aspect ratio on all devices, it's kind of important that the play area remains the same shape. The UI does draw over the bars though, so you get to have the ship's power meter more out of the way on your extra-tall iPod. Thanks, I'm glad you're having fun! Thank you, I really appreciate the reviews!
This black bar don't change anything, this is the Dead Zone ( I think), you can to use your fingers on it
Great, hope you enjoy your icade core joystick! And if you get a chance, please try to add it to Plasma Sky, cause this game just begs for a real joystick, it would shine like Danmaku 2 and Phoenix HD do with joystick support. Gonna throw a couple of other things out since I play primarily on icade, hdmi tv, and a hybrid stylus. First, the controls on the ipad I think could be fine tuned a bit. When playing with my finger, the high sensitivity makes the ship at times get far away from my finger. Med sensitivity is kinda slow, and low sensitivity is kinda not used by me. Controls almost seem like iphone controls ported to ipad instead of native. Is there anyway to make it instantaneous touch, or did you do that delay of the ship even on highest settings on purpose? Also, high seems more relative orbital control, and med seems more direct touch. I would like a control like medium but with instantaneous touch, so your ship always stays with your finger, like Cave games. Also, I play my shmups with a hybrid stylus on hdmi tv. Can you add a direct touch/instantaneous touch control option for us stylus users? If you can also get a stylus, or if you have one, you will see what I mean. The buttons would also have to have a left handed option, so that I can use a hybrid stylus with my right hand and have all the buttons on the left side. Or maybe just have a control option called Stylus, heck even finger would work with it too. This button layout options would help cause the bomb button always gets on the right hand side of the screen, so can't reach it. Or maybe make it double tap to bomb, or make it moveable buttons. Sorry to throw so much stuff at you, but it is a great game, and am trying to suggest things that will make this game compatible way in the future as a console game whether it be with a joystick or hybrid stylus. It could make for more sales in the way future. Thank you. But if you could take a look at the controls on the ipad and also with a stylus, and if there is anyway to make it instantaneous touch, I would greatly appreciate it. Delay works great for something like an Icade core joystick, but I prefer instantaneous relative touch for controls on my ipad. Thanks again.
