Woah! A new video! Wait, 2 of them!
That’s right! We have a new updated video available to watch. This video is showcasing all of the new environments that we have worked on since our last video. There’s a lot more action packed combat featured than before as well!
But wait… didn’t I say that there are 2 videos? Yeah there is!
This is the first ever uncut gameplay footage of Fingeance that we have shared. It highlights Spike, a new character that was introduced since the last video. Like I mentioned before, this is uncut and unedited footage of a full level of Fingeance! So you can follow Spike as he battles his way against a torrent of enemies.
Let us know what you think about these videos and please like and share the videos to help spread the news of Fingenace! We are seriously proud of what we have accomplished so far. And I would like to extend that gratitude to you all! We couldn’t have come this far without your feedback and comments. Thanks for your help!
So remember to drop us a line here or over on Twitter or Facebook and let us know what you think!
Displaying at the Welcome Geek Event
This past week, we displayed Fingeance at Welcome Geek, hosted by Glitch Gaming in Minneapolis. We’d like to thank all of those people who gave our game a chance at the event! It was a blast watching players team up for some fishy fun, as well as a valuable learning experience. Some interesting notes from the event:
- Have you tried using the Goliath Engine other energy regenerating parts? The combination is very strong. One player was able to get a lucky draw with several energy regen augments, and kept the engine running almost constantly!
- Extreme difficulty continues to claim several submarine lives. Can it be beaten? It may help to take a look at our guide for some tips.
- People of various skill levels playing through Fingeance is always refreshing to see. From the saltiest dogs to the greenest of greenhorns, players at the event enjoyed the underwater thrill ride, often making it to the end.
- Firestarter is OP! That bad boy rips through enemies like damp butter. Woe to the team with packed to the brim with them though; movement in shmups is still important, especially without a tanky teammate.
- The art style still impresses people, which is good because we’re planning to add to it in the coming weeks! At the event, our style was compared to a classic game called Fantasy Zone.
Fantasy Zone is an old school shoot ’em up on the NES and Sega Master System. Some folks at the event felt we have a similar art style!
Alpha Demo Update
In preparation for the event we have updated the newest Fingeance Alpha Demo! This update improves the performance of the game during high intensity moments (such as during boss fights). In addition, we’ve added some new content:
- Force Feedback – Feel the rumble of your Bomb Launchers explosion, or the rattle of your ship’s damaged hull
- Part Tuning – Gadgets have generally been generally buffed (in some cases significantly) to increase their overall effectiveness, while cannons are just slightly weaker
- Improved Lighting – Huge boss attacks now have fancy lighting effects, so players will know when to be wary
- Added Parts – Adaptive Armor and Reflector are additional parts purchasable in-game
We’d love to hear how you feel about these additional changes or your opinion of the event if you could make it; you can let us know in the comments here, or on our Facebook and Twitter pages.
Right now, you can go try out the first major update to the Fingeance Alpha. It loads up fast, and a playthrough takes 10 minutes. We highly advise that you give it a try.
If you didn’t play our game when it first came out, let me catch you up. Fingeance is a co-op underwater shoot-em-up. Between levels, you can buy equipment and upgrade your ship. The game has a heavy emphasis on boss battles, with mechanics that emphasize teamwork and feel more like MMO raid-bosses than traditional shoot-em-up fodder.
Since our first release in May, we’ve upgraded nearly every aspect of the game. Equipment is better. Enemies are more exciting. Heck, even the menus are more fun. The game also runs faster, and without all the bugs that plagued version 0.01.
So, what’s new?
Equipment
So Much New Stuff. Tripled the number of parts in-game. Added an entire new part category called Augments. They passively make your ship awesome.
Game Changers. Greatly expanded what parts can do. They can now apply buffs and debuffs, grand passive bonuses, and unleash charged abilities.
Showmanship. Added sounds, animations, and particle effects to all Cannons and Gadgets.
Upgrade!!! Stronger equipment will appear as the game unfolds.
Levels and Bosses
Dastardly Deeds. While we reveal no new bosses in this demo, existing bosses have learned several new tricks.
Fiendish Foes. Added a menagerie new small enemies. Created several new chunks (premade battlefields knitted together to form a level).
Bewitching Battlegrounds. Greatly improved our level-building algorithm. Levels are now shorter, more exciting, and better-adapted to your chosen difficulty.
User Interface
An Honest-To-Goodness Functional Interface. We did it! You can buy equipment and choose characters now. It doesn’t feel awful. Hallelujah.
Snappiness. In addition to being functional, the UI looks worlds better. It’s all animated, and the game feels more engaging and alive.
We owe a giant debt to our commenters, our followers on Twitter, and our friends at Glitch Gaming. Their feedback has been invaluable. As just one tiny example, one commenter suggested that our HUD should change color to reflect the health of living players. We tried it out. The difference was MAGICAL. All of a sudden, players could read their HP in their peripheral vision. People can see how close they are to death without looking away from the action, and easily figure out which allies they should heal. This change, obvious in retrospect, was something we totally missed. It’s thanks to readers like you that Fingeance has come as far as it has, so thank you.
To check it out, CLICK HERE.
Phew… We did it. We released our alpha demo of Fingeance. Thanks everyone for your support we truly do appreciate it! Thank you so much.
This past week has been pretty intense making sure that we were ready for release before this past Monday, I had to finish the alpha music. I had to finish up 4 different songs in a very short time. Now I have already talked about how hard it was to write the first song so making 4 more was a daunting task to say the least.
Remixing Old Concepts
The way that I approached 2 of the songs were to do variations on the level song that I have been working on for the past few weeks. The boss theme is a more intense version of the original song, while the main menu song is a more subdued version. Here is a sample of the main menu song:
We were planning to have the song add layers to it as you moved from the splash screen to the main menu to the character selection. But we hit a problem with getting the tracks to line up 100% of the time.
Brand New Alpha Music
The other alpha music that I made were completely new themes. The results screen track actually started out as a main menu/main theme idea. But the more and more that I added and worked on the song, the more it sounded like a results screen. So in the end I embraced that and dove fully into making a results song.
The shop song on the other hand took me the least amount of work to actually “make” the song, but the most work to come up with the idea. The idea is the song is coming through small speakers, like a radio or speakers you would find in a supermarket. The style of music is also what you would find in a supermarket, very laid back “jazzy” sounds. Check out a same to see what I mean:
That’s a breakdown of all of the alpha music in the demo it was a bit stressful to make sure that each one sounded good and fit in the same universe. Hopefully you think I pulled it off, I think I did. That being said it is still alpha music, the music isn’t final so things might change in the future, but for now the alpha music in the game seems to work.
But let me know what you think! Go check out the game hear the songs in context and leave a comment saying what you think about the songs, art, gameplay, anything really! Now we even have a page dedicated to Fingeance on the website. You can find the most up to date version of the game on that page. If you want the latest news be sure to check out our Twitter account as we will let you know when we update the builds as soon as it goes live!
Thanks again for all of the support, hope you enjoy the game!
Get it now:
It’s here at last: the Fingeance Alpha Demo is ready for your enjoyment. Before you dive in, here’s a few suggestions to maximize the fun:
- Controllers – Gamepads are best for a shmup such as this. Keyboard controls are also provided, but not recommended.
Battle the evil underwater enemies as you enact your Fingeance!
- Allies – Fishy foes are less fearful with friends! Fingeance supports up to four players, so bring extra allies with you underwater.
Pick from four furious fish, each with unique cannon and gadgets at their disposal!
- Creativity – The Fingeance Alpha Demo is packaged with many varieties of weapon parts, from the simple shooters to the complex cannons. Feel free to explore different combinations of cannons and gadgets included with this build. Let us know your favorite mixes!
Buy from a huge selection of parts to customize the ship you want!
Thank you for following us this far. We’ve been bursting with anticipation to bring you this demo. Let us know what you think, and be sure to follow us on our blog and Twitter, and like us on Facebook for more Fingeance content!