In response to DodgemDemo on
December 8, 2008 at 10:54pm
This is really really hard especially with all the missiles, and if you
lose your weapon fighting the boss you are doomed to a fate worse than
death as you slowly peck away at his core. But other than that I
really like it! Looking forward to the final version!
In response to Cruise on
December 8, 2008 at 9:59pm
This is a really enjoyable level; clearly a lot of effort there in the enemies and backgrounds, and the boss fight is totally rocking and sublime up until you destroy the top and bottom triangles. Maybe the main boss unit could have some fancier weapons that activate once you've blown off the first couple layers? Anyway, great work!
In response to Raider on
December 8, 2008 at 8:45pm
Oh hey there's a new ship in this mess of old uploads! ...But it's functionally identical to the vipers. Which means it chews through levels like a madman!
In response to 3-K?tin? on
December 8, 2008 at 8:33pm
Stupid great fox, fit in the damn frame! Ahem, here is the most recent level (3) of SFX Lambda. It features an opening ditty and lots of sub bosses to shoot at. Definitely my best content/filler ratio level. The ship (and an explanation for why I'm reuploading old stuff) is here http://www.blastworksdepot.com/games/blastworks/7362
In response to 1-Corneri? on
December 8, 2008 at 8:29pm
Level 1 of SFX Lambda, and the first BW thing I ever made. Good fun, especially on Pilot. The ship (and an explanation for why I'm reuploading old stuff) is here http://www.blastworksdepot.com/games/blastworks/7362
In response to SFX ?rwing on
December 8, 2008 at 8:16pm
This is the P1 ship for SFX Lambda missions 1, 3, & 4.
As for why you're seeing my stuff uploaded again, it's because I've been backing up things before starting my BW save out fresh, but I put so many files online that I hit the 100 limit and my old stuff (with all their precious download counts!) started to get displaced. Anyway, most of the reuploaded things have not been changed in any substantial way, but if you haven't played the SFX levels before, now's your chance. Party on.
In response to ROBÖTER on
December 1, 2008 at 2:11pm
Now that is one hell of a level. Thanks for making this, it really demonstrates what this game is capable of visually. If only stuff like this was up back when this game was being reviewed, it would have gotten some serious buzz. Here's hoping that this level and others like it can swing some sales in Europe, whenever that release might happen. Anyway, congratulations on this sweet video game achievement!
In response to Purge imminent on
November 27, 2008 at 11:22pm
Well I always thought the idea of Jill running around and firing a shotgun in that improbable tube top was great. But really, if you're going to go there, why not have all three?
In response to MEGALVL08 on
November 27, 2008 at 11:11pm
This level will smack you. Smack you so hard.
Great level Blast Workers! Like MML said, it was an honor to collaborate with you guys.
Everybody else: Enjoy getting clobbered by the 2008 All Stars (hehe), and join them next time around! Special thanks as always to Budcat for the awesome game!
Also available in a vanilla monochrome version--The lamest of all my creations but the only one that ever got featured!
MrMartinLee and the Genesis Device guys also have good alphabets...In fact, there is now a pretty good variety available, but nobody has done one that includes lower case letters (hard) or cursive (probably impossible). It would be cool though.
In response to Kingdom on
November 13, 2008 at 4:11pm
Haha, I 5'ed your levels and this one shot to the very top of the ratings board! I don't think it is *quite* as good as Zycyzyx & Co, but for today Kingdom is King :) About the level, I like the flight through the castle wall maze and the mountain boss; good stuff! Perhaps if you make a sequel/update, you can burninate the village outside too (See MrMartinLee's D...C level for the technique of how to make things light on fire). Good luck with your future levels!
Just downloaded your levels and gave them a try. They're definitely better than the majority of levels on the depot on account of you've made most of your own assets, so there's some good effort and variety there. I also dig the underwater domes and vents and stuff. A couple non-art things that might be holding them back:
1) All the enemies glom: This is a problem because most of your enemies spit out a lot of bullets in a localized area, which is great for adding to the mass of attached ships but not so great for knocking them off, leading to the player's ship taking up the whole screen and levels that can be beaten (at least on lower difficulties) with minimal input after the first 30 seconds. You can solve this by making some of the enemies (such as the wizard types perhaps) not stick, or by introducing enemies that fire off short, tight bursts of fast-moving bullets, ideal for "cleaning off" the player's ship but not too difficult for the ship itself to dodge. Then you at least give an incentive to retract the glommed ships at times.
2) No title screen: The most popular levels have title screens that make them look appealing to download on the depot. Not sure how they manage to center the frame so well, but it's worth experimenting with.
3) Voted down early: The sad reality is that levels with less than 5 star ratings are rarely downloaded or commented on because people sort by ratings (it's the only way to filter out the vast amount of crap). Fortunately you can get a fresh start by polishing the level and then reuploading it, which (I believe) clears the ratings. Not sure about that though.
You can see these factors at work with my Starfox levels: #1 Corneria, with a 5 star rating and a nice looking snapshot has over 60 downloads, while #2 Orbital (< 5 stars and a cruddy picture) has less than half that number even though they were uploaded at the same time. Anyway, hope some of this helps and good luck BWing!
In response to Your shooters? on
November 11, 2008 at 5:46pm
Love me some Galaga & sequels, oh yeah. Space invaders too...really anything that still only costs a quarter to play I'm down with. I can't stand playing them on a computer though, all the magic dissappears. If the shooters don't have to be 2D I'd include Star Wars, but that's opening a whole other can of worms. On console I always enjoyed Life Force, though I'm no Gradius expert so I really don't know how it stacks up...
My all time worst "shooter": King's Knight for NES...Man I hated that game.
Just got around to playing this & other levels. I really enjoyed it, and it's one of the few stages that really trounced me the first couple times I tried it. Looking forward to XyZ!
In response to Sunset on
November 11, 2008 at 5:29pm
This is my favorite of your levels (so far). It has a great, clean look and very characterful baddies. I don't know how you can be so prolific with this game...anyway, keep it up! Oh yeah, and how do you get the title screen to pose for you? That could definitely make everyone's levels look more appealing on the depot...
If you're up for some extensive reading on this subject, here is my dissertation (I wrote it on a cross country road trip when there was nothing to do but watch corn go by):
Hehe, not even the super-simple BW elements can keep us from stomping all over copyright! As, to the features...I wrote a huge list out on my old computer, but for now...
All the things that have been mentioned so far! A button to play the level you're editing immediately (not the "preview")! Cycling through object "layers" as you click! Rotation of parts in multiple axes! More blocks! More blocks per shape! Bigger max dimensions! Smaller min shape size! Light source objects! Conditionally activated triggers! Secondary weapons! Campaign editor! Movement editor??
In response to ViperMark7 on
October 19, 2008 at 3:21am
Ok, well after my complete failure to embed simple images into these comment spaces, I am giving up and just posting a link to a gallery of BW viper pics. I am happy with how well these ships turned out, but not happy enough to keep banging my head on the desk. That's a special kind of happy.
In response to ViperMark7 on
October 16, 2008 at 6:36am
This one is functionally almost identical to the II (slightly different gun placement), so they make good P1/P2 ships if you and your friend are looking to lay waste to some unlucky level. The Mark VII has so many smooth lines that it was pretty much impossible to get all the sleek contour in with BW blocks, so I just tried to capture something of its feel instead. RICKHUNTERX has made a cool and well detailed version of the Galactica too if there are other Battlestar fans out there who are starting to go crazy waiting for season 4.5. Check it out:
In response to ViperMark2 on
October 16, 2008 at 6:17am
Ah, Battlestar. I have no plans for a BSG level at this point, but these vipers can really rip through stages designed for the standard weapon, and they make my SFX levels a total cakewalk in case any of you guys are looking for some revenge on the giant flying saucer and company. Good hunting!
In response to JacbsLadrs on
October 15, 2008 at 5:55pm
I like this level, and I think it's unique enough that it needs its own ship. I'd recommend turning off the background outlines to make the crashable parts of the maze easier to see--it also makes the lake of fire and other background elements look cooler. Might tone down the boss' HP or make a powerful bullet for the ship too. Great work here, looks like the depot's level of quality is on the rise all around.
In response to BearMarket on
October 15, 2008 at 3:38pm
Hehe, I dig it. You should make a little guy like the Monopoly mascot to be the ship, and have him pushing around a wheelbarrow full of money. That or a very tiny bull.
You can always use the 99 cheat for SFX--it made testing them a lot easier. I myself can't get through the latest one half the time; I like 'em hard. Great job with these videos, man!
In response to CREDITS on
October 7, 2008 at 11:50pm
In like Flynn. I'm heading out of town for a week or so, but one of us should start a thread at gamefaqs to decide the order to do things in, what landscape elements to use, what to call the level, etc. I think this will be a lot of fun!
This level is freaking sweet and every BWer needs to play it. The
level of detail on the shapes totally rocks and it's a good challenge
(especially on pilot with a standard bullet) with excellent transitions
and a rocking boss. I especially like the old school mixing board
complete with patch cables and some of the more exotic instruments. Is
the two hands piece in act 1 by Bartok or someone like that or is it an
original (I tried to sing through it and realized I haven't sung in
almost 2 years)? My only suggestions would be maybe considering
turning the play field outlines off for extra realism, and putting in
custom music of your own!
In response to CREDITS on
October 6, 2008 at 9:04am
Sweet, thanks for using the fade alphabet! Idea: every BWer makes a wave or miniboss style enemy of themselves which all go into the communal pool, and then we can rebalance and use them to make sweet remix levels where we blow each other up. Might be a bit on the less artistic side of things, but come on who doesn't want to shoot down MrMartinLee...always being helpful and nice to people, who does he think he is? :) Thoughts?
In response to 3-K?tin? on
September 28, 2008 at 9:41pm
@ Cowbuttzex: Thanks for the praise, but comparing Gryzor's levels to mine is like comparing apples to...well, crabapples. Mine aren't as tastilly substantial or attractive, but still make effective projectiles!
@ MrMartinLee: Actually, the fanfare turned out to be pretty straightforward and only took about an hour--I'll make a music post shortly in Koenshaku/Gryzor's BW Wonderment thread at the GameFAQs board detailing the process I used. The real tweaking nightmare on this level was getting the camera right for the boss fight--making sure the player had enough time to shoot, dodge, and move around it without crashing into it while keeping the pieces from disappearing from the camera moving too far away. On top of that, the fact that the camera had to pull back while this was happening made the screen want to expand over triggers in the wrong order, making for many a run where the ship inexplicably flew off one way from the battle while pointing in a different direction! I should have heeded Gryzor's tip to place big bosses first and build the level backwards from them, but I guess some lessons you have to learn the dumb way. Anyway, I'm really glad you enjoyed it!
In response to 3-K?tin? on
September 28, 2008 at 10:24am
This might be the 1st blast works level with a fanfare...more custom musical efforts to come in future projects. It's fairly easy to slog through on Rookie but designed to be ideal on Pilot, and Ace requires superhuman reflexes or better. The main thing here is to remember to take wide turns around the Saucer...and try not to crash into Great Fox's wing in the beginning.
This is really really hard especially with all the missiles, and if you
lose your weapon fighting the boss you are doomed to a fate worse than
death as you slowly peck away at his core. But other than that I
really like it! Looking forward to the final version!
This is a really enjoyable level; clearly a lot of effort there in the enemies and backgrounds, and the boss fight is totally rocking and sublime up until you destroy the top and bottom triangles. Maybe the main boss unit could have some fancier weapons that activate once you've blown off the first couple layers? Anyway, great work!
Oh hey there's a new ship in this mess of old uploads! ...But it's functionally identical to the vipers. Which means it chews through levels like a madman!
This is level 2 of SFX Lambda, and certainly the hardest. Beating it on Pilot is a pretty sweet accomplishment.
Hints: Pick an edge of the screen to camp in when swarms of fighters swoop in (usually the right), try to just bypass the chaotic bridge subboss, and for God's sake don't shoot the mines!!!.The ship is found her http://www.blastworksdepot.com/games/blastworks/7363Explanation for why I'm reuploading old stuff here http://www.blastworksdepot.com/games/blastworks/7362
Stupid great fox, fit in the damn frame! Ahem, here is the most recent level (3) of SFX Lambda. It features an opening ditty and lots of sub bosses to shoot at. Definitely my best content/filler ratio level. The ship (and an explanation for why I'm reuploading old stuff) is here http://www.blastworksdepot.com/games/blastworks/7362
Level 1 of SFX Lambda, and the first BW thing I ever made. Good fun, especially on Pilot. The ship (and an explanation for why I'm reuploading old stuff) is here http://www.blastworksdepot.com/games/blastworks/7362
Level zero of SFX Lambda, sorta the game's unloved stepchild. Explanation for why I'm reuploading old stuff here http://www.blastworksdepot.com/games/blastworks/7362
Nuts, I forgot it's actually the P1 ship for levels 0, 1, & 3 on account of my dumb numbering scheme. But it still rocks.
The P1 ship for SFX Lambda level 2 (Orbital). Explanation for why I'm reuploading old stuff here:
http://www.blastworksdepot.com/games/blastworks/7362
The P2 ship for SFX Lambda levels 0,1, and 3. Explanation for why I'm reuploading old stuff here:
http://www.blastworksdepot.com/games/blastworks/7362
The P2 ship for SFX Lambda level 2 (Orbital). Explanation for why I'm reuploading old stuff here:
http://www.blastworksdepot.com/games/blastworks/7362
The trusty BSG Viper Mark 2, my most well-modeled ship. Explanation for why I'm reuploading old stuff here:
http://www.blastworksdepot.com/games/blastworks/7362
The sleek BSG Viper Mark 7. Cuts through BW levels like a lightsaber through buttah. Explanation for why I'm reuploading old stuff here:
http://www.blastworksdepot.com/games/blastworks/7362
This is the P1 ship for SFX Lambda missions 1, 3, & 4.
As for why you're seeing my stuff uploaded again, it's because I've been backing up things before starting my BW save out fresh, but I put so many files online that I hit the 100 limit and my old stuff (with all their precious download counts!) started to get displaced. Anyway, most of the reuploaded things have not been changed in any substantial way, but if you haven't played the SFX levels before, now's your chance. Party on.
Now that is one hell of a level. Thanks for making this, it really demonstrates what this game is capable of visually. If only stuff like this was up back when this game was being reviewed, it would have gotten some serious buzz. Here's hoping that this level and others like it can swing some sales in Europe, whenever that release might happen. Anyway, congratulations on this sweet video game achievement!
Well I always thought the idea of Jill running around and firing a shotgun in that improbable tube top was great. But really, if you're going to go there, why not have all three?
This level will smack you. Smack you so hard.
Great level Blast Workers! Like MML said, it was an honor to collaborate with you guys.
Everybody else: Enjoy getting clobbered by the 2008 All Stars (hehe), and join them next time around! Special thanks as always to Budcat for the awesome game!
Here's my small alphabet in fancy color-fade mode.
http://www.blastworksdepot.com/games/blastworks/5866
Also available in a vanilla monochrome version--The lamest of all my creations but the only one that ever got featured!
MrMartinLee and the Genesis Device guys also have good alphabets...In fact, there is now a pretty good variety available, but nobody has done one that includes lower case letters (hard) or cursive (probably impossible). It would be cool though.
Haha, I 5'ed your levels and this one shot to the very top of the ratings board! I don't think it is *quite* as good as Zycyzyx & Co, but for today Kingdom is King :) About the level, I like the flight through the castle wall maze and the mountain boss; good stuff! Perhaps if you make a sequel/update, you can burninate the village outside too (See MrMartinLee's D...C level for the technique of how to make things light on fire). Good luck with your future levels!
Just downloaded your levels and gave them a try. They're definitely better than the majority of levels on the depot on account of you've made most of your own assets, so there's some good effort and variety there. I also dig the underwater domes and vents and stuff. A couple non-art things that might be holding them back:
1) All the enemies glom: This is a problem because most of your enemies spit out a lot of bullets in a localized area, which is great for adding to the mass of attached ships but not so great for knocking them off, leading to the player's ship taking up the whole screen and levels that can be beaten (at least on lower difficulties) with minimal input after the first 30 seconds. You can solve this by making some of the enemies (such as the wizard types perhaps) not stick, or by introducing enemies that fire off short, tight bursts of fast-moving bullets, ideal for "cleaning off" the player's ship but not too difficult for the ship itself to dodge. Then you at least give an incentive to retract the glommed ships at times.
2) No title screen: The most popular levels have title screens that make them look appealing to download on the depot. Not sure how they manage to center the frame so well, but it's worth experimenting with.
3) Voted down early: The sad reality is that levels with less than 5 star ratings are rarely downloaded or commented on because people sort by ratings (it's the only way to filter out the vast amount of crap). Fortunately you can get a fresh start by polishing the level and then reuploading it, which (I believe) clears the ratings. Not sure about that though.
You can see these factors at work with my Starfox levels: #1 Corneria, with a 5 star rating and a nice looking snapshot has over 60 downloads, while #2 Orbital (< 5 stars and a cruddy picture) has less than half that number even though they were uploaded at the same time. Anyway, hope some of this helps and good luck BWing!
Love me some Galaga & sequels, oh yeah. Space invaders too...really anything that still only costs a quarter to play I'm down with. I can't stand playing them on a computer though, all the magic dissappears. If the shooters don't have to be 2D I'd include Star Wars, but that's opening a whole other can of worms. On console I always enjoyed Life Force, though I'm no Gradius expert so I really don't know how it stacks up...
My all time worst "shooter": King's Knight for NES...Man I hated that game.
Just got around to playing this & other levels. I really enjoyed it, and it's one of the few stages that really trounced me the first couple times I tried it. Looking forward to XyZ!
This is my favorite of your levels (so far). It has a great, clean look and very characterful baddies. I don't know how you can be so prolific with this game...anyway, keep it up! Oh yeah, and how do you get the title screen to pose for you? That could definitely make everyone's levels look more appealing on the depot...
If you're up for some extensive reading on this subject, here is my dissertation (I wrote it on a cross country road trip when there was nothing to do but watch corn go by):
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=941651&topic=46456337
Hehe, not even the super-simple BW elements can keep us from stomping all over copyright! As, to the features...I wrote a huge list out on my old computer, but for now...
All the things that have been mentioned so far! A button to play the level you're editing immediately (not the "preview")! Cycling through object "layers" as you click! Rotation of parts in multiple axes! More blocks! More blocks per shape! Bigger max dimensions! Smaller min shape size! Light source objects! Conditionally activated triggers! Secondary weapons! Campaign editor! Movement editor??
<_<
>_>
This stage is slick; I especially like the boss. Good stuff!
This is an improvement in every way over the original, and definitely a top BW level. Love that drill!
This ship totally rocks. With detail like that you could do a great BSG level, or just post this as a shape so someone else can give it a shot.
So what's the deal with this release? Is it out in Europe? Where are all the Europeans?
This seems a lot funnier than it did last night. Anyway, if you'd like to see glamorous CRT shots of the vipers, go here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/swashmybuckle/BlastWorksPictures#
Ok, well after my complete failure to embed simple images into these comment spaces, I am giving up and just posting a link to a gallery of BW viper pics. I am happy with how well these ships turned out, but not happy enough to keep banging my head on the desk. That's a special kind of happy.
http://picasaweb.google.com/swashmybuckle/BlastWorksPictures#
.
Bah! Humbug!
Spamming my own page... One last attempt:
OK, frakked that up, trying again:
Both ships look cooler in game than in the sample pic.
This one is functionally almost identical to the II (slightly different gun placement), so they make good P1/P2 ships if you and your friend are looking to lay waste to some unlucky level. The Mark VII has so many smooth lines that it was pretty much impossible to get all the sleek contour in with BW blocks, so I just tried to capture something of its feel instead. RICKHUNTERX has made a cool and well detailed version of the Galactica too if there are other Battlestar fans out there who are starting to go crazy waiting for season 4.5. Check it out:
http://www.blastworksdepot.com/games/blastworks/4073
Ah, Battlestar. I have no plans for a BSG level at this point, but these vipers can really rip through stages designed for the standard weapon, and they make my SFX levels a total cakewalk in case any of you guys are looking for some revenge on the giant flying saucer and company. Good hunting!
I like this level, and I think it's unique enough that it needs its own ship. I'd recommend turning off the background outlines to make the crashable parts of the maze easier to see--it also makes the lake of fire and other background elements look cooler. Might tone down the boss' HP or make a powerful bullet for the ship too. Great work here, looks like the depot's level of quality is on the rise all around.
Hehe, I dig it. You should make a little guy like the Monopoly mascot to be the ship, and have him pushing around a wheelbarrow full of money. That or a very tiny bull.
You can always use the 99 cheat for SFX--it made testing them a lot easier. I myself can't get through the latest one half the time; I like 'em hard. Great job with these videos, man!
This level flat out rocks.
In like Flynn. I'm heading out of town for a week or so, but one of us should start a thread at gamefaqs to decide the order to do things in, what landscape elements to use, what to call the level, etc. I think this will be a lot of fun!
This level is freaking sweet and every BWer needs to play it. The
level of detail on the shapes totally rocks and it's a good challenge
(especially on pilot with a standard bullet) with excellent transitions
and a rocking boss. I especially like the old school mixing board
complete with patch cables and some of the more exotic instruments. Is
the two hands piece in act 1 by Bartok or someone like that or is it an
original (I tried to sing through it and realized I haven't sung in
almost 2 years)? My only suggestions would be maybe considering
turning the play field outlines off for extra realism, and putting in
custom music of your own!
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=941651&topic=44469646&page=2
(3rd post on the page)
Great job, man!
Sweet, thanks for using the fade alphabet! Idea: every BWer makes a wave or miniboss style enemy of themselves which all go into the communal pool, and then we can rebalance and use them to make sweet remix levels where we blow each other up. Might be a bit on the less artistic side of things, but come on who doesn't want to shoot down MrMartinLee...always being helpful and nice to people, who does he think he is? :) Thoughts?
@ Cowbuttzex: Thanks for the praise, but comparing Gryzor's levels to mine is like comparing apples to...well, crabapples. Mine aren't as tastilly substantial or attractive, but still make effective projectiles!
@ MrMartinLee: Actually, the fanfare turned out to be pretty straightforward and only took about an hour--I'll make a music post shortly in Koenshaku/Gryzor's BW Wonderment thread at the GameFAQs board detailing the process I used. The real tweaking nightmare on this level was getting the camera right for the boss fight--making sure the player had enough time to shoot, dodge, and move around it without crashing into it while keeping the pieces from disappearing from the camera moving too far away. On top of that, the fact that the camera had to pull back while this was happening made the screen want to expand over triggers in the wrong order, making for many a run where the ship inexplicably flew off one way from the battle while pointing in a different direction! I should have heeded Gryzor's tip to place big bosses first and build the level backwards from them, but I guess some lessons you have to learn the dumb way. Anyway, I'm really glad you enjoyed it!
This might be the 1st blast works level with a fanfare...more custom musical efforts to come in future projects. It's fairly easy to slog through on Rookie but designed to be ideal on Pilot, and Ace requires superhuman reflexes or better. The main thing here is to remember to take wide turns around the Saucer...and try not to crash into Great Fox's wing in the beginning.
This is functionally the same as my SFX Arwing/Wolfen, but who doesn't like more starfighter options?
This is a top-notch level with strong gameplay, some creative enemies, and a sweet boss fight. 5/5, great work