CardinalCoder64
Member
Starblast Alpha is a 2-D classic arcade video game combining both ping-pong and 2-D shoot ’em ups. Pilot your space ship and blast your way to victory! Dominate enemy forces utilizing your built-in laser blaster and protect yourself with your force field! Obtain the coolest power-ups: The Golden Bullet, taking down the enemy's shield in one shot; the Trishot, expanding your bullet spread, and more! Your mission is to stop enemy forces while balancing the ball that moves back and forth (the classic Pong mechanic).
Just a few things:
- Download available for Windows PCs only
- Joystick/Gamepad compatible
Game Jolt: https://gamejolt.com/games/starblastalpha/275451
Itch.io (Download only): https://cardinalcoder64.itch.io/starblast-alpha
Just a few things:
- Download available for Windows PCs only
- Joystick/Gamepad compatible
Game Jolt: https://gamejolt.com/games/starblastalpha/275451
Itch.io (Download only): https://cardinalcoder64.itch.io/starblast-alpha
Dev Notes:
The game is playable (complete just isn't the right word for it), though there may be a few updates here and there. It's taken me a few months so far. I've had other people play it and they seem to have enjoyed it. It's straight free-to-play, no bs. If anybody finds any bugs or issues, leave a post here or send me an e-mail via [email protected]. I will be sure to fix them as soon as I can. Also another thing I want to note which I think contributes to the unique game design is how the game is developed based on NES limitations. For Starblast I used the actual NES color palette and placed objects and text based on an 8x8 cell grid. In fact if you put this grid over the game, you can see how everything is aligned the way an NES would render it. One of these NES limitations I didn't include was the sprite limitations, like how you can't have more than 8 sprites on a scanline. This I figured would be more trouble than it's worth and the game already looks good so I decided not to mess with it. With that said, any and all feedback is very well appreciated (honest opinions even more)!
The game is playable (complete just isn't the right word for it), though there may be a few updates here and there. It's taken me a few months so far. I've had other people play it and they seem to have enjoyed it. It's straight free-to-play, no bs. If anybody finds any bugs or issues, leave a post here or send me an e-mail via [email protected]. I will be sure to fix them as soon as I can. Also another thing I want to note which I think contributes to the unique game design is how the game is developed based on NES limitations. For Starblast I used the actual NES color palette and placed objects and text based on an 8x8 cell grid. In fact if you put this grid over the game, you can see how everything is aligned the way an NES would render it. One of these NES limitations I didn't include was the sprite limitations, like how you can't have more than 8 sprites on a scanline. This I figured would be more trouble than it's worth and the game already looks good so I decided not to mess with it. With that said, any and all feedback is very well appreciated (honest opinions even more)!
Change Log:- UPDATE v1.6.5 -
- UPDATE v1.3 -
- UPDATE v1.2 -
- UPDATE v1.1 -
- UPDATE v1.05 -
- UPDATE v1.0 -
- (Glitch fix) Ball no longer passes through protect shield
- Mute button added (press "M")
- Infinite Ammo code added
- UPDATE v1.6 -- Mute button added (press "M")
- Infinite Ammo code added
- Removed bombs
- Ball takes away life points (again)
- Ball adds 1 bullet per bounce instead of 5
- Power-ups no longer have shields
- GUI edited for better readability
- Ships move faster and with increased acceleration
- Pause screen now provides help with controls as well as player high score
- Ball is now able to "absorb" power-ups and become a Super Ball
- Super Ball can be shot in order to obtain the absorbed power-up, destroying the ball as a result
- Golden bullet now has a bullet count, which is 1
- Golden bullet makes sound when player shield is destroyed
- Trishot now has a bullet count, which is 3
- Standard bullet limit is now 6
- (HTML5 fix) Ball now animates when created
- (HTML5 fix) Start menu version number now has the "HTML5" tag
- UPDATE v1.5 -- Ball takes away life points (again)
- Ball adds 1 bullet per bounce instead of 5
- Power-ups no longer have shields
- GUI edited for better readability
- Ships move faster and with increased acceleration
- Pause screen now provides help with controls as well as player high score
- Ball is now able to "absorb" power-ups and become a Super Ball
- Super Ball can be shot in order to obtain the absorbed power-up, destroying the ball as a result
- Golden bullet now has a bullet count, which is 1
- Golden bullet makes sound when player shield is destroyed
- Trishot now has a bullet count, which is 3
- Standard bullet limit is now 6
- (HTML5 fix) Ball now animates when created
- (HTML5 fix) Start menu version number now has the "HTML5" tag
- Added bombs
- Bombs take away life points instead of the ball
- Bombs explode within an explosion
- Ball adds 5 bullets to the player's bucket when bounced
- Ball removes player bullets when missed and also resets score back to 0
- Ball no longer takes away life points
- Losing a life no longer resets player bullet count
- Background moves faster
- Ball moves faster
- Added pausing (press Space or Start)
- When player runs out of bullets and has no shield, other player wins
- Power-ups now have shields
- UPDATE v1.4 -- Bombs take away life points instead of the ball
- Bombs explode within an explosion
- Ball adds 5 bullets to the player's bucket when bounced
- Ball removes player bullets when missed and also resets score back to 0
- Ball no longer takes away life points
- Losing a life no longer resets player bullet count
- Background moves faster
- Ball moves faster
- Added pausing (press Space or Start)
- When player runs out of bullets and has no shield, other player wins
- Power-ups now have shields
- Bullet limits added
- Player bullets set to 0 when they loose a life
- Player lives now default to 3, but maximum is still 5
- AI shoots less often
- (Glitch fix) Ball no longer passes through protect shield
- (HTML5 fix) Space background now moves as intended
- (HTML5 fix) Game view size fixed (though view isn't scaled to the window)
- Player bullets set to 0 when they loose a life
- Player lives now default to 3, but maximum is still 5
- AI shoots less often
- (Glitch fix) Ball no longer passes through protect shield
- (HTML5 fix) Space background now moves as intended
- (HTML5 fix) Game view size fixed (though view isn't scaled to the window)
- UPDATE v1.3 -
- 2 new power-ups added (Trishot & Protect)
- Bullet delay added
- Ball death animation & sound changed
- AI made a little smarter
- Bullet delay added
- Ball death animation & sound changed
- AI made a little smarter
- UPDATE v1.2 -
- Joystick compatibility added
- A few changes in text while switching between joystick and keyboard
- A few changes in text while switching between joystick and keyboard
- UPDATE v1.1 -
- Cyan, green, pink, and white ships added
- Ship movement made smoother
- Ship movement made smoother
- UPDATE v1.05 -
- Power-ups added (Life & Golden Bullet)
- UPDATE v1.0 -
- The game was created
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