Update 9/7/2015 Work on Z-Exemplar is progressing. I've recently overhauled some stuff under the hood and that's taken up a big chunk of time but I've been able to continue adding to the levels and putting in a few more bosses also. A tech level boss puts in an appearance. And he's not too happy! He tries to hide using a cloaking device but my targets are locked on to his weak spots! This flesh planet boss is one ugly mouther! Spitting? That's not nice! Also... Work continues on the level generation. It's coming together quite nicely, giving a good variation of difficulty between those levels at the start of the game (near the centre of the galaxy) and those that that are discovered later in play (towards the galaxy's outer reaches). Still a lot of balancing to do but I've got my head around how the levels are constructed now and filling out the remaining planets should (hopefully) be straightforward. I've been using the flesh planet as the work level lately and the image shows some of the levels the generator are kicked out. The thing about the game that I think will work in its favour is that, if you don;t like a level, or find it too challenging then there will always be an alternative planet to which you can turn your attentions (and your guns!) Hope to have another update soon. Thanks for looking! E.
Now with missiles! One thing that's been lacking for a while is the missile functionality of the Z-Exemplar war craft. In between fleshing out levels and overhauling some rusty old code I've managed to get a couple of missile types in. Playing side scrollers is great fun when the enemies line up in front of you, waiting to be mown down by your forward facing lasers. It's a bit less fun when they work out that a frontal attack means almost certain death and start sneakily defending their planets with turrets above and below. This is when you need some missiles to ferret out those pesky, hard to reach gun emplacements. I intend an extensive roster of missile types but for now there are two; a basic, fixed path missile that requires a little judgement and timing to work effectively and a homing missile that closes in on the nearest enemy. It's surprising how effective missiles can be in clearing out a planet - especially the homers! Here's a couple of images that show the missiles in action. More updates to follow, Cheers, E.
Progress update 2/8/15 Hello. Here's a quick update on some Z-Exemplar progress. Within the Z-Exemplar galaxy there aren't just planets to conquer. Asteroid fields are numerous, have an industrial edge and provide a tough test of skill and weaponry. Huge machines mine the rock for ore and send the debris hurling into space and that can cause havoc for anyone trying to navigate through their inner workings. I'm not averse to adding a tip of the hat to games that have been influential to Z-Exemplar. Stone Easter island heads seemed like a good fit here - mounted on tank-like caterpillar tracks obviously! Sometimes avoidance is the best course of action. Especially when the debris is flying this thick and fast! Also, eagle-eyed viewers may notice a new weapon being used in some of the images. The laser-trail is one of the 'buddy' range of ship add-ons and provides a nice defensive and offensive option. Z-Exemplar now has a Facebook page. It would be great if you could drop by and give us a 'Like'. Thanks for looking. More updates soon. Suminell.
Introducing the Probes. Probes are one of the main ways to upgrade your ship's firepower in Z-Exemplar. They can be attached to the front or back of the ship and come in 7 different varieties, each with three levels of upgrade. Each probes has its own strengths and weaknesses and it takes bit of experimentation to determine which probe is best suited to which planet. Here is a quick run down of their main attacking advantages. Thanks for looking. More updates to follow soon, Suminell
Hello all, A new trailer for Z-Exemplar is up! Subscribe to the TouchArcade YouTube channel Also Z-Exemplar is now on Steam Greenlight which means it needs votes and plenty of them. If you have a spare couple of seconds it would be tremendous if you could pop over to Z-Exemplar on Steam Greenlight and lend us your support by voting YES. In return youll have our eternal gratitude. Thank you for your time. Suminell.
I just read through this (too) short thread...you never mentioned/answered some about possible control options. In a game like this, where you get attacked from all sides, there's only one right control method - relative rouch controls. Best served with a sensitivity sliders to please even more players. Definitely a day one buy/unlock for me, whenever you're ready to release this gem.
Hey Qwertz555, Sincere apologies for not replying before! Yes, Z-Exemplar uses relative touch controls and sensitivity adjustments are very much in our plans. Many thanks for you comments - very much appreciated. Suminell.
Smoothly does it! Hello all, A few people have commented on Z-Exemplar's 'unique' approach to sprite movement calling it jerky, jittery and a bunch of other words that don't begin with a 'j'. The jittery movement is a throwback to the days of the ZX Spectrum - a computer that was pretty popular over here in Europe but less so elsewhere. It suffered from something called "colour clash" meaning sprites couldn't pass each other without their colours bleeding into one other. One way coders of the day got round this was by constraining sprites to character cells (8x8 pixel boundaries). Now, I can totally appreciate that not everyone will have as much fondness for original ZX chunky flavour movement as I have so with this in mind I am implementing an alternative, smoother movement option. Subscribe to the TouchArcade YouTube channel It's still work in progress and a bit rough around the edges but rest assured by the time it's polished up it will be smoother than a buttered bannister! Also, a quick reminder that Z-Exemplar is now on Steam Greenlight and needs any votes you can spare. If you have a couple of seconds it would be splendid if you could pop over to Z-Exemplar on Steam Greenlight ...and give us a thumbs up! Tanks for your time, Suminell.
an idea: maybe you can make a high-res filtered version with posteffect like in gameboy emulators for example: http://notaz.gp2x.de/img/mess/emu/yoshi_gba.png (ps: I love specy pixel graphics!)
Thank you! I was really bummed when I saw the choppy video. I'm so happy you are making an option to have it smooth. I look forward o release now! Billy
Update 14/10/15 Hello everybody, Its been a wee while since the last update so Ill rattle through a few points of progress here. But before I do I just want to say a huge thanks to everyone who has voted for Z-Exemplar on Steam Greenlight so far - your support is massively appreciated. If you like the look of Z-Exemplar and think it is something youd like to play then please consider giving us a Yes vote over at Z-Exemplar on Steam Greenlight Okay, appeal over! On to the news Intro Z-Exemplar now has an intro of sorts. In keeping with the games general aesthetic it has an understated 8-bit approach but, I hope, with a bit of humour thrown in. It sets out a very simple premise for the game - theres no point getting bogged down with convoluted backstory with what is, after all, a shoot-em-up - but it sets the scene for the task to come quite adequately, that being one pilot on a solo-mission to conquer a galaxy of increasingly hostile planets. Anyway, take a swizz at Subscribe to the TouchArcade YouTube channel and make up your own mind. Oh, there are no sound effects added just yet. Levels Work is progressing well here - the levels that have been completed are being continually refined and work is underway on getting the remaining levels finished. Implementing the smooth moves option had a bit of a knock on effect with some of the enemy patterns and that set me back a little but everything is back on track now. Ive been doing a bit of work on level endings also. I want the level endings to be as varied as possible. Some will, of course, have end-of-level bosses but others may end with with a reward of a load of pick-ups, an enemy ambush or even an appearance by the mysterious beings that take an interest in the players mission and provide a bit of narrative drive. Perks, Missiles, Buddies and Probes All the ships attachments and power-ups are all but complete and the load-out selection screen is done. That makes me happy! Im really pleased with how the weapons have turned out - I think for this type of game it is vital to get these right - and I think there is a good variety of weapon types that make for a range of different play experiences. My hope is that each player will have their own favourite load-out configuration that may be wildly different from another player. Perks have also been implemented giving the player shields, damage multipliers, power-up head starts, speed ups and the like. Thats all for now, Thanks for reading and Ill be back with more updates soon. Suminell.
Thanks guys, we're working hard to make the game play like a dream. A good dream. Not a nightmare. Definitely not making it a nightmare to play... that would be madness! Suminell.
I scrolled past the recent gifs cuz i wanna be surprised in all it's glory @ the time of your Awesome Creation's release. Seems you folks are working to make this very fun for us all. Thank You very much for all your heArt work so far. The only thing that's going to be madness iz the announcement of it's inclusion on the AppStore
