Updating the game, please be patient!

[EntityMedialab]

I'm in the process of updating HIII:PE to HIII:DX.
In the meanwhile, I've broken the Leaderboards, which were going to be reset anyway due to the huge number of changes in this new build.
So it *will* crash if you play it right now. I'm working on a fix. Bear with me.

[EntityMedialab]

Uploaded a second fix, which seems stable.
If you should run into any problems, feel free to post them in this thread.

[𒀬工房]

If I press both start and select together in game whilst paused, I get a 'code error' box appear with a 'fatal error' which states: Unable to find any instance for object index '137' name 'TRAINING'.
Edit: However, I can't seem to be able to repeat it.

[EntityMedialab]

Thanks for reporting. It's not an error I'm familiar with. I didn't program a select button so it may have been a fluke.

[3AXAP]

Dear Developer please enter the return function of the old version , the new version looks very poor on the graphics and created for casual ,please enter the rollback function ,I really loved the old DX hope you heard me

[aspossible]

You should create new game mode with old sprites and effects. I just got the game and I expected to see a gameplay from trailer and videos from players. But I got more casual thing.

[EntityMedialab]

I appreciate your feedback guys. Don't get me wrong, the old version is... old and also made on an older game engine (couldn't revert if I wanted to). I considered turning this into a new release entirely but the game essentially plays the same and (to me at least) it has improved radically.

Perhaps also consider that all the enemies' actions had to be modified to account for the bigger resolution (longer screen distance + smaller sized enemies means they move faster than before to compensate)... if you say it's too easy now, your highscores will tell me a lot. I have been thinking about putting in some harder enemies or phases here and there. Your comments suggest to me that I should.

@AsPossible apologies for not updating the trailer. It's a low priority for me but I get that it's probably confusing to you (and more people). Sorry about that. The screenshots are consistent with the latest version.

Anyway yes, I'm reading you. Right now taking a short break though and I do have some other 'jobs' to tend to as well. This game is my personal challenge, an ongoing quest. I'm almost 40 now. Priorities change along the way. Still I do not like to let you or myself down. So with no (or little) promises to break, I salute you for buying it and can only say that perhaps, some day, maybe, hopefully, I will surpass even my own expectations. ;)

[VanAlphen]

I should have played it again before the update came out so I could tell the difference. I bought it 6 months ago and only played for a bit because it was too overwhelming for me and felt clueless. This time around it seems more enjoyable for a regular arcade gamer like me who isn't into bullet hell games.

I had to watch the trailer again to see what it was like before. Maybe remove the trailer for now to prevent confusion and/or disappointment?

[VanAlphen]

Yes, it might be too easy. I'm new to bullet hell shmups and I've been able to complete all levels up to 10. It has taken me 7-8 hours though but still I was expecting it to get much harder. A few harder bosses and maybe more waves of little enemies with different attack patterns.

If it wasn't for your reply at facebook I wouldn't have known how to switch characters. Since left/right on the select screen is already used for changing the leaderboards, perhaps a character select screen before you start the game?

At the end of level 10 text/credits appeared while I could still continue playing. That was a bit odd, because I could no longer see what was going on exactly.

Edit:
The pink character seems to be a lot better than the other two. I've started over trying to get at the top of the leaderboards. The other two lose their upgrades over time but pink doesn't, right?

[EntityMedialab]

Thanks VanAlphen for your valuable input.
I'm putting "harder difficulty" at the top of the todo-list for the next update.

You can switch characters with "X" (or 2nd button on gamepad) also, I added left & right afterwards so I wouldn't have to reach for "X" while smoking & playing single-handedly on keyboard ;)

And yes, the 2nd character makes it easier to win but it's also a more interesting one to master strategically and score higher with (by not depleting your multiplier all the time with laser fire).
The 3rd character is great for single-handed play. The difficulty ramp is very steep so not great for beginning players, but once it's powered up, it's literally a blast and has a better scoring potential.

Finally, I understand some things are confusing to new players. I guess I'm not a traditional developer in the sense that... welll... it's never really "done", there's always room for improvement. So I already made peace with the fact that the game changes over time as a part of this philosophy. "Breaking it" is a risk, but I feel it's all just part of a never-ending process.

[VanAlphen]

When I click 'X' on my keyboard the character doesn't switch, I've tried all buttons on my Razer Wildcat controller and there's no button for switching the character as far as I can tell other than left/right. I do think using just the second button ('B' in my case) would be more convenient so you don't accidentally switch characters when changing leaderboards, also much better than an extra character screen. It's not a big deal though, you can quickly restart with another character.

I guess I'll need to play with the 3rd character a bit more.

Personally I didn't find the game confusing just a bit overwhelming at first. Once I became familiar with all the different enemy patterns I could anticipate better and the game became enjoyable almost relaxing.

The game is great now imo, except for all the crashes of course. However once it no longer crashes it might be more rewarding to start on a sequel (or new project) instead of improving this one. More revenue for you and new songs/levels for us. You can add to the enemies & bosses you have and/or replace some.

[VanAlphen]

The other day I looked at the update info to see if I missed anything and noticed the edit.

*Edit*: Something I forgot to mention: for the 2nd and 3rd player characters there is a button 2 ("B" on the gamepad or "X" on the keyboard) which affects the behavior of your options (those little helpers you get when collecting yellow powerups)

I like it, it adds more depth to the game. However often when I want to use the laser (A) I want the helpers herdled together (B) for a narrow laser stream. Pressing both A and B at once is a bit awkward on my controller. It works better to have B on one of the bumpers or triggers.

I don't seem to be able to replace the triggers volume function so I mapped B in Steam Controller Configuration to the bumpers and that works great.

Since this new function could easily be overlooked perhaps a tip on the start or select screen?

[VanAlphen]

I hope you don't mind more feedback :) I've been trying to achieve 5,000 combo chain and 2k souls in one game. You can see your combo chain during a game but only when you earn a personal highscore do you see the end screen with your stats including max combo chain and the amount of souls.

However to get close to 2k souls I have to use a different strategy and/or a different character that doesn't score too well and if I don't get a highscore I don't see if my strategy worked at all. Also in general I think it would be nice to always see your stats at the end of a game even if you didn't make the personal leaderboard.