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Free Starblast Alpha - Pong w/ lasers [v1.6.5]


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




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)!​
Change Log:
- UPDATE v1.6.5 -
- (Glitch fix) Ball no longer passes through protect shield
- Mute button added (press "M")
- Infinite Ammo code added
- UPDATE v1.6 -
- 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 -
- 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 -
- 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)​

- UPDATE v1.3 -
- 2 new power-ups added (Trishot & Protect)
- 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​

- UPDATE v1.1 -
- Cyan, green, pink, and white ships added
- Ship movement made smoother​

- UPDATE v1.05 -
- Power-ups added (Life & Golden Bullet)​

- UPDATE v1.0 -
- The game was created​
 
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N8Games

Guest
Wow this is a really neat play off of a pong style game. I really like the addition of shields and lasers.

Good job.
 
Update v1.4 is here! See the recently added "Change Log" section for more details. From here on out, all updates will be posted in the Change Log section. Let me know what you think! (you know, if you want.)
I want glow effects and I want it now :D
The game did have glow effects originally, but I decided to stick with the NES/Arcade aesthetic for nostalgia (plus it's easier to draw & manage the smaller sprite sizes). Maybe if I happen to make a 2nd one, I'll draw away from the classic design and move towards higher resolutions.
 
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Update v1.5 is a big one. Added a LOT to the game this past month. Future updates may take a little bit longer considering I've had my hands full here lately, but know that they are in the works. Check the Change Log for more details on the update.

Also I have yet to update the HTML5 export of the game, so for now it's available via download through itch.io/gamejolt.
 
UPDATE v1.6 is here! Made some big changes (again), including the removal of the bombs and a reduced bullet limit. I removed the bombs since they seemed to be confusing people as to what the purpose of the game was, and I also felt they were drawing away from the whole Pong aesthetic I was originally going for. I feel pretty good about this update, it took a while for me to find the time to actually work on Starblast again. Let me know what y'all think!

Oh, and the browser version is updated, but it's hosted on GJ instead of its own domain. Makes things a little easier on my side.
 

UPDATE v1.6.5 brings about the magical Mute button and another cheat code. I also fixed a glitch where the ball would pass through the protect shield. Let me know what kind of glitches you find so that I can take care of them please! Also a new trailer will be released sometime in the near future. Anyone have any recommendations for some 80's commercial inspiration?
 
O

oukourj

Guest
Hi, nice idea.

On my desktop (Windows 8), it just won't take any movement or fire input. Space works. Game works, the enemy plays against me, but I can't move.
QWERTZ keyboard, but WSD are same as QWERTY keyboards.

On the web version, this will happen after some time... first session it happened after my first death, had to reaload the whole page, then I was able to play few games and the exact same thing happened. No way to move, but the enemy still plays ^^

For what I could test of the web version, I'd say it's a very nice idea. Gameplay works well.

On my computer, the movements feel a bit off, maybe with a delay. Could be a performance issue on my side.
Sometimes, the bullet will still pass through the shield, I think. Not sure about this, but I think I saw it happen. Keep an eye open.

Also, power-ups are pretty much unclear to me, but it's the 90's games feel, ain't it ?
If you'd like to make it more user-friendly maybe you could think of a way to "explain" them. Introduce them one by one, or, IDK.
 
On my desktop (Windows 8), it just won't take any movement or fire input. Space works. Game works, the enemy plays against me, but I can't move.
QWERTZ keyboard, but WSD are same as QWERTY keyboards.
Has this happened with any other games you've played or just Starblast? It should take input just fine, it has for everyone else. If you're experiencing this issue on Starblast only, then I'll take a look at it. Otherwise, I recommend checking your hardware or if your keyboard is battery-powered, maybe a change in batteries? I'm uncertain.
For what I could test of the web version, I'd say it's a very nice idea. Gameplay works well.
Thank you!
On my computer, the movements feel a bit off, maybe with a delay. Could be a performance issue on my side.
Sometimes, the bullet will still pass through the shield, I think. Not sure about this, but I think I saw it happen. Keep an eye open.
I'll be on the lookout, thank you for letting me know about this.
Also, power-ups are pretty much unclear to me, but it's the 90's games feel, ain't it ?
If you'd like to make it more user-friendly maybe you could think of a way to "explain" them. Introduce them one by one, or, IDK.
It's more like the 80's, but I get what you mean. Most arcade games built around this time were pretty bare when it came to player instruction. Sometimes the only way a player would know how to play was either by reading a strategy guide or by figuring it out. I plan on making some sort of guide in the near future, so keep your eyes peeled. It should help solve this issue a little bit.
 
O

oukourj

Guest
Will be following then :)

Regarding the input, I assure you it's only with your game.
 
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