What is the future for this game?

[DroolingNoob1]

Game was pretty fun, but I have to admit, it can be beat pretty quickly, which is not too bad, games of the same genre tend to be short fun times, Metal Slug comes to mind but, I would like to see more of this game. Are there plans for more in the future?

[SriK]

All of the following is very tentative, so take it with a grain of salt.

By the end of the year, hopefully, I'd like to implement a Score Attack mode and maybe a Boss Rush mode and get that out on all platforms.

After that, some more ambitious features: an Endless mode (basically enemy waves) and a Codex (lore text and artwork which gradually unlocks as you make progress towards a 1CC on Arcade Mode, and which fleshes out the game's setting and characters further than can be done in the stages and cutscenes).

Then we make some free DLC, maybe a couple new stages, a new character too. Maybe experiment with asymmetric co-op like the latest Makaimura has.

And THEN we start work on a sequel. Maybe a side project too, though it's too early to tell; it all depends on how well the game performs.

That's the plan for now I think.

[DeadlyDeath]

Why lock Lore and features behind Arcade? What if I’m just a casual player who doesn’t want to play a punishing experience? A lot of people including myself are having a hard time even completing “Easy” difficulty, please consider some kind of “Easier” mode.

[Kaz]

Those plans sound amazing.

BUT I absolutely agree with the poster above: having the full lore hidden/locked behind the condition of finishing the Arcade mode (the game's ultimate challenge) would be a BAD idea, for the following reasons:
1) The vast majority of players won't be able to do it. Realistically less than 5% of players will most likely complete the Arcade mode.
2) The point of lore and fluff is to make players more engaged and interested not only in the game but also the overall franchise universe. If the full lore gets only seen by a tiny fraction of the players of Neon Inferno 1, it would either miss enticing/hyping up the majority that won't be able to see it in the game when/if Neon Inferno 2 is announced, or the full lore would probably have to avoid including any details that are important or relevant to an hypothetical sequel.
3) Going for one credit clears is more often than not a self-imposed challenge that caters to a super niche audience that generally doesn't care about the story in action games (E.g. How many people have you seen discussing the plot of an arcade game? Specially among hardcore players that collect 1CCs like candy). In short, the people who would be able to see the full lore in-game would be the less likely to appreciate it (while most people who would appreciate more lore and fluff would probably get demoralized by it being behind such a monumental test of skill).

Cheers.

[EstelNia]

Originally posted by DeadlyDeath:

Why lock Lore and features behind Arcade? What if I’m just a casual player who doesn’t want to play a punishing experience? A lot of people including myself are having a hard time even completing “Easy” difficulty, please consider some kind of “Easier” mode.

Then you might be SOL if the intended design is the game be difficulty

[SriK]

Okay, you guys have good points. I'll think about them. I am just trying to figure out ways to incentivize more players to clear the game lol. (Maybe I use Hard difficulty instead since it's identical to Arcade except for its checkpointing. Or maybe I just forget about gating on difficulty entirely, since yeah, the more people who read and enjoy the Codex, the better.)

[Alice]

Originally posted by SriK:

Okay, you guys have good points. I'll think about them. I am just trying to figure out ways to incentivize more players to clear the game lol. (Maybe I use Hard difficulty instead since it's identical to Arcade except for its checkpointing. Or maybe I just forget about gating on difficulty entirely, since yeah, the more people who read and enjoy the Codex, the better.)

As someone who loves story and lore in games, but also loves game play too, I agree with all points that Kaz brought up. Its best to not gate keep any story/lore to a specific difficulty, regardless of if you do or not make any follow ups in any form to this game as those who love story/lore, may be turned off enough to not buy it if they know they can't complete it and word of mouth/guides will ensure players know before they buy.

I would also really recommend one change to hard difficulty, or make a middle difficulty placed b4 hard with this 1 change. The change is, have a check point when u reach a boss. Remember that I said I care about story/lore and game play? I don't like playing games that are too hard and a check point in the middle of the stage + when u reach the boss is the perfect way to ensure players can advance, instead of currently where if they can't, they haveta select a lower difficulty and miss out on better fights and less atks and patterns from the boss. Thats why i wanna play on hard so i can exp. the full exp (Idc about 1 CC runs) but the very first stage (All I've managed to clear atm) had me replaying the entire 2nd half of the stage just to get back to the boss, slowly learn the patterns and dying repeatedly, till I finally cleared. This can turn people off but I know others like this challenge which is why I suggested making a slightly lower difficulty where the enemies/bosses keep their patterns and atks and everything is the same but with a check point at the bosses and anywhere else problematic if anything else exists (E.g. very long stretches with no check point)

[mikwuyma]

All of those additions sound great! Score Attack and the Codex are the most important to me, with endless or new stages being a close second. (or third and fourth).

I won't lie, as much as I love the game (I have all the achievements), not having a scoring system in an arcade-style game is unusual. I do think a scoring system would give the game longer lasting appeal to hardcore players like me.

Originally posted by Kaz:

1) The vast majority of players won't be able to do it. Realistically less than 5% of players will most likely complete the Arcade mode.

Looking at global Steam achievements, the arcade clear rate is currently at .2%, and I would be shocked if it ever went past 1%.

I say this as someone who has 1cc'ed arcade mode (video below). DO NOT lock the codex behind arcade difficulty. The codex should be enjoyed by everyone who makes progress and invests time in the game, hardcore and casual alike. If someone is struggling on easy then they'll never complete the game on arcade mode,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kfHRCLh7Dw

[William Shakesman]

The game is phenomenal as is and every single addition you suggest sounds great.

[LOBEI]

I am one of the crazy people that got 5 stars on all missions on hard mode and I am goind to beat arcade eventually.
I know nothing about the game lore even after this, lol
So I just want to say that I agree with what Kaz said, the hardcore players usually don't care about the story at all, so making the codex for people like me is not a good idea at all.

[SriK]

Okay, you guys have convinced me. Codex will still be locked behind game progress, most likely, but not behind difficulty mode. (Maybe we have ONE special Hard or Arcade entry or something, just as a cherry on top to those players.)

[Kaz]

Excellent.

I've been thinking about it and I've the following suggestions:
1) It could be a good idea for the codex pages to have additional data/text that unlocks with the game's progress.

E.g.
Codex page "Name of the character/place/faction":
- Text
Intro and starting description.
- ???????? [Unlocks as more text after certain mission(s) have been completed]
Added information that describes a change or additional data about the character/place/faction.
- ???????? [Unlocks after game completion on Novice/Medium+]
- [Optional/maybe for only some extra pages or very rare cases] ??????? [Unlocks after game completion on Hard or 4 Stars Rank missions completion on Medium].

This would not only give those interested some lore but also incentivize them to play the game more. AND it would give you the chance to add closure or tell what happened in the aftermatch with some secondary and tertiary characters. E.g. What happened with your allies/the Sakai girls? How did your actions change the city/its factions? Who in the world are the Pangaea and what do they want? What are the protagonists' inner thoughts during the game's story that weren't present in the game's non-codex exposition? (the intro gave the impression they weren't really happy with their situation before the plot twist).

2) This one thinking about a future hypothetical game (not necessarily a sequel to Neon Inferno):

A) In a future game it could be a good idea to have a Story Mode and an Arcade Mode.
The former with more lore and character interactions/fluff in the game, and the latter a simplified version without it (E.g. Stage 1 -> Shop/Next stage selector -> Stage X).

And regarding the exposition of the Story Mode, there's many inexpensive ways to do it.
E.g. Instead of only being able to talk with an NPC that briefs you on the next stages you could have more NPCs at the place (Or somewhere else. For example the Weapon Shop owners could also have a "Talk" option and give you more info or interact with you).
Cutscenes could be made reusing existing character sprites and portions of stage backgrounds.
Characters interactions (a VITAL part of any story if you want the players to get emotionally involved in what's going on with them) could be created using simple character portaits and text boxes ala Front Mission 3.

B) If possible, create a secondary cast that remains alive and around the protagonists after the game ends. This is crucial to get people emotionally involved/latch on the characters. E.g. Fan Artists can do wonders to promote indie games, but in order for them to organically gain an interest in a game, at the very least its characters should stay alive and relevant by its end so that people can imagine or speculate about them or future developments in the story.

My point is: most players want to feel immersed into a game's universe. A story and character interactions with a certain level of development are necessary to achieve this.

Anyway, thank you very much for making this awesome game.
Cheers.

[MetalRaiser]

Well yeah it would be nice to get most of the stuff without surviving Arcade.

Maybe a little profile of me on this matter (in regard to games like this)

When I see nice pixel artwork (and this has some indeed) and sidescrolling shooting action, I get starry eyes and "Me want" is running through my brain. (e.g. Same goes for Metal Slug),
So events unfold like these:

- I get the game.
- I start playing.
- I select Hard mode
- I realize maybe normal is more my level
- I realize I suck at these kind of games and pick easy.
- I know I suck at those games, feel a bit sad about having to play easy mode
- I get ♥♥♥♥♥♥ ratings, even on easy, but i survive (the concert was "dreadful")
- I stop playing after pulling through easy mode, knowing deep down i did not tap anywhere near mastering the game.
- I feel awesome about owning such an aracde style title
- I am glad I did not have to put in a quarter for every life I wasted, compared to that the purchase price was downright the biggest bargain.

So yeah, it would be nice to have some "lore" information in Story mode, which I think is ultimately also where you would expect it to be - because story you know.

Note: The game is really well done imo. I like it and you did a great job imo. The look and feel is just like the old games. I like it even though I suck at it. That means a lot I guess.

[Alice]

Originally posted by Kaz:

Excellent.

I've been thinking about it and I've the following suggestions:
1) It could be a good idea for the codex pages to have additional data/text that unlocks with the game's progress.

E.g.
Codex page "Name of the character/place/faction":
- Text
Intro and starting description.
- ???????? [Unlocks as more text after certain mission(s) have been completed]
Added information that describes a change or additional data about the character/place/faction.
- ???????? [Unlocks after game completion on Novice/Medium+]
- [Optional/maybe for only some extra pages] ??????? [Unlocks after game completion on Hard or 4+ Stars Rank missions completion on Medium].

This would not only give those interested some lore but also incentivize them to play the game more. AND it would give you the chance to add closure or tell what happened in the aftermatch with some secondary and tertiary characters. E.g. What happened with your allies/the Sakai girls? How did your actions change the city/its factions? Who in the world are the Pangaea and what do they want? What are the protagonists' inner thoughts during the game's story that weren't present in the game's non-codex exposition? (the intro gave the impression they weren't really happy with their situation before the plot twist).

2) This one thinking about a future hypothetical game (not necessarily a sequel to Neon Inferno):

A) In a future game it could be a good idea to have a Story Mode and an Arcade Mode.

The former with more lore and character interactions/fluff in the game, and the latter a simplified version without it (E.g. Stage 1 -> Shop/Next stage selector -> Stage X).

And regarding the exposition of the Story Mode, there's many inexpensive ways to do it.
E.g. Instead of only being able to talk with an NPC that briefs you on the next stages you could have more NPCs at the place (Or somewhere else. For example the Weapon Shop owners could also have a "Talk" button and give you more info or interact with you).
Cutscenes could be made reusing existing character sprites and portions of stage backgrounds.
Characters interactions (a VITAL part of any story if you want the players to get emotionally involved in what's going on with them) could be created using simple character portaits and text boxes ala Front Mission 3.

B) If possible, create a secondary cast that remains alive and around the protagonists after the game ends. This is crucial to get people emotionally involved/latch on the characters. E.g. Fan Artists can do wonders to promote indie games, but in order for them to organically gain an interest in a game, at the very least its characters should stay alive and relevant by its end so that people can imagine or speculate about them or future developments in the story.

My point is: most players want to feel immersed into a game's universe. A story and character interactions with a certain level of development are necessary to achieve this.

Anyway, thank you very much for making this awesome game.
Cheers.

I didn't read everything but I'll say unlocking modes or features for completing harder difficulty is also a bad idea. If any unlock happens it should be for finishing the game on any difficulty. I do not like it when games have modes/features gate kept behind different difficulties, more so the ones that require u to beat them on a certain difficulty. I think the dev has it right, maybe a single one for what they said but no more and even that I don't like but its better than more than that, certainly better than gate keeping features.modes and such to a certain difficulty and I can assure u, for games that do a "unlock this by doing something really hard", if its story related ima watch it on YT. But feature/mode wise, thats just gonna suck to miss out on and like I said b4, can turn some off from buying a game. Most gamers are not hard core ones, so you effectively give something exclusive to them while the majority of the players miss out on. Not cool imo.

[Kaz]

Originally posted by Alice:

I didn't read everything but I'll say unlocking modes or features for completing harder difficulty is also a bad idea. If any unlock happens it should be for finishing the game on any difficulty. I do not like it when games have modes/features gate kept behind different difficulties, more so the ones that require u to beat them on a certain difficulty. I think the dev has it right, maybe a single one for what they said but no more

Okay, fair enough.

[1 Panda]

Players who play for score/1cc etc. are usually happy enough with the achievement being it's own reward, although something really small wouldn't hurt, something like an alternate color, title screen, extra achievement tied to 1cc/difficulty/highscore would probably work as a little insentive.

I personally (as a casual player) would feel more motivated than slighted if I was missing out on something by not trying to get better, but maybe I'm the minority.