Got a big one for you all, Empire's first major update!

Added:

A Superboss! Yes, I've finally added what I'd wanted too from the start, a new boss that'll only show up if you manage to defeat the final boss with a score of 1,750,000! (that's basically a 1CC score for this game, or for those not in the know, getting through all the stages without using a continue) It's a tough final challenge with a whopping 8 waves rather than the four of the other bosses as the level 5 miniboss comes back for a rematch!

Extended Level 4 intro. Level 4's old intro throws you right into the fire from the off, throwing a few too many new mechanics at once. It's now gotten an extended intro section that introduces you to them a bit more smoothly.

Changed/Updated:
Intro/outro cutscene timings adjusted. Some of the cutscenes went through a little too quickly, and in one case jumped the gun a little and moved on just a bit too quickly. Timings have been adjusted so this is no longer an issue and you get a little longer to read them.

Bullets redone! While the sprite bullets worked at their intended resolution they didn't scale well. They've all now been swapped out for 3d renders that scale much better and generally look a lot better! They're slightly bigger for the most part though so keep that in mind, some fights have changed very slightly! Additionally on these lines, most (the engine doesn't support it for turrets) enemies with beam weapons have been given a tracer effect that will show where their beams will go and give you a small warning so you're not instantly struck anymore, likewise their beams come out much slower making dodging them possible but not easy.

Controls updated. There's a few things here-for one, those on controllers will now see button inputs for their controls alongside the keyboard ones. Said controls display has also been updated, it now shows (hopefully!) a bit more clearly what each button does and the special weapon indicator has been made a bit more obvious too as to when it's ready.

Player weapon updated. The player's Type 1 has had some updates too! Your primary weapon has gained a small additional weapon, a weaker version of the homing lasers from the final stage! No longer will enemies be able to hide out of your firing arc! Then there's the focused mode. No longer a trio of cannons firing forwards, you've gained a beam weapon instead! It does fractionally more damage than your normal fire and looks a lot cooler! Then, there's the superweapon which was basically fine for most stages but was notably worse on level 5 than your standard fire, it's had the same visual update for it's beam and gained some more damage too! In general you'll find you're dealing a little more damage in every mode now! And speaking of, your bomb's been tuned up too, going from dealing 50 damage to 200, enough to destroy any destroyer class (green) or smaller ship in a single massive blast! It's now a lot better at making openings in a tight situation so make use of them!

Sound pass. I've been through the sounds and (tried at least) to rebalance them a little. You should find that the FX are quieter and the music a bit louder overall. There's also new music, only the first stage boss uses the old boss theme while the other four get new themes and so does the new superboss! And there's even a little victory jingle now!

And a whole host of other minor things that frankly I don't remember at this point, small adjustments to bullet patterns, balance ect! I know the stage 4 miniboss (the spider) has had the heaviest adjustment here, with larger minigun bullets (but they're destructible now), a reworked harpoon weapon and minor other changes too.

Hope you all enjoy it, and feel free to let me know on the BWI Games Discord (https://discord.gg/46nYZEWqkb) if you have any trouble! You *can* also let me know on the community page but Discord is by far the best way to make sure it gets sorted quickly.