For anyone that regulars NintendoAge or RHDN, this is no new news for you.
However, I've been lurking around here more often than not lately, so I figured I'd post on the minuscule chance that there are some folks on here that don't.
(http://files.mteegfx.com/PyronautDemo2Title.gif)
In a nutshell, Optomon, probably one of the biggest names in the current NES music scene, started this project way back in 2010. The modest goal: to build an entirely different and new game by reverse engineering the Castlevana 2: Simon's Quest ROM. I joined in early 2013, and the game that we have today has completely original music, sound effects, gameplay, animations, graphics, cutscenes, the works...
(http://files.mteegfx.com/PyronSprites42.png)
In the game, you play as Romeo Ratuno, a recent graduate who has taken a job out-of-his-field on a ship of pyronauts, a type of intergalactic construction crew, in an attempt to pay off his student loans. During a routine job on a small asteroid, your crew receives and responds to a distress signal from a nearby planet.
(http://files.mteegfx.com/PyronautIntroYoutube.png) (http://youtu.be/AOr1GYZtp2M)
As is evidenced by the video above, your ship crash lands on the planet, and you're more or less left to fend on your own. In the game, you'll venture through six distinctly different areas, each with its own enemies and guardian, before finally reaching the planet's core, as you attempt to unravel the mystery of the transmission that led your ship there.
(http://files.mteegfx.com/PyronSprites79.gif)
We also have an entirely new background system in the works to be revealed in the near future, which, in my opinion, will bring the gameplay graphics to a whole new level.
To hype the pending release, I've illustrated an 11" x 17" poster which we plan to have for sale soon.
(http://files.mteegfx.com/pnPosterLowResPreview.jpg)
Full bleed 11"x17" posters commercially printed, with an anticipated sale price of $25 shipped in the US or $20 plus shipping for international addresses.
If you'd like one, PM me or reply in the thread...
...but that's not the purpose of the thread. I'd just like to get some feedback on the game and its graphics so far.
Not being an active follower of NintendoAge this was news to me.
Looks very interesting indeed. Will it be released for free or as a physical cart? In the latter case, where and how much?
That sounds really neat. I'm a sucker for sci-fi plots, and Simon's Quest is a great game to steal the skeleton of. I'll be looking forward to some sample videos of gameplay.
Looks awesome - really looking forward to this one. Oh and I moved the thread, let's not hide it away in Other Gaming :)
@Ghegs
I'd really like to see these on cart, especially Famicom (I only have a famiclone, myself) and I've worked with a cart producer for a while now on other projects. It'll definitely be released as an IPS over at RHDN, and I know that releasing games like this on cart is a taboo and divisive subject, but if these posters sell well, I plan to produce a lot of original artwork for a manual, label, and box, etc.
@nerdynebraskan
There's actually some gameplay at the end of that video (http://youtu.be/AOr1GYZtp2M?t=3m6s), and more gameplay videos on Optomon's youtube channel. However, most of them feature older graphics, many of which are very old builds, prior to my joining the development. We also have a major redesign of all of the backgrounds we hope to start revealing soon.
To give an idea of the change in graphics, the following shows the evolution of our player sprite:
(http://files.mteegfx.com/PyronSprites80.gif)
Above: 2010 (Optomon) --> 2012 (My first serious venture in NES/FC graphics) --> 2014 (Showing a much more confident and distinct design.)
@L_E_T
Thanks for the move. I had considered posting it here to begin with, but wasn't sure. ;D
I totally love that style for the cover art/poster. Looks good so far, can't wait to see the new improved levels!
This is something I'd very much like to play. I'll be keeping an eye on your progress from here.
It looks like it's going to be an awesome game! The poster is pretty sweet too. ;D
Looks really good. Keep us posted. 8)
This game looks great. How far along done is it? Are you going to sell physical carts? How much will the game be? I'm definetely interested in the game. Not the poster though. I'm not a poster guy.
We've got one area, two bosses, an ending, and a whole lot of polish left to go... all of which are in various stages of production already.
When it gets closer to completion, we'll let you know. I can only confirm an ips release, but like I said, I hope to make some art for it and hope it'll be worthy of a Satoshi Matrix video review. ;D
Great looking game, I'm excited as the rest. I'll probably end up buying a repro if available. I've always loved Castlevania 2 despite its criticism. I think that was a great engine to pick as a base.
M-Tee, if you wanna hook me up with what you've got when it's in a state to be shown, I'll be more than happy to review and promote it. I'm sure the vast majority of my nearly 5k subscriber base would love this kind of thing.
As one of those subscribers +1 :)
Wish I could show some more of what we've been working on. We both decided that everything from the final area would be unrevealed until the game was out long enough for people to play that far on their own.
However, as I mentioned earlier, I'm currently redesigning the backgrounds to feature a viewable walking plane, similar to Contra. Here's one of the Areas in-progress:
(http://files.mteegfx.com/pnArea5Blue.png)
Looks like it's coming along nicely! Though forgive me for mentioning - the last tiles on a platform at the right look cropped in the FG and BG - they should form a corner if that makes sense.
Really, really nice though - can't wait to see more and indeed the finished article!
wow! Amazing! Do the fans spin?
Yeah, three of the six areas have animated backgrounds. This one's is rather seizure-inducing, haha. The fans spin. The lights blink, the tendrils wiggle, etc.
As for the right-edges of the platform, you're correct, they're cropped by about two pixels (the corner is implied by a single pixel instead of the three that'd be best), but due to the various space restrictions of the background (even more so than a common game due to some engine-specific traits), having a custom edge there would greatly reduce the variety of background possible.
Thanks for bringing it to my attention though. I might be able to find some other workaround for it.
NintendoAge?
What a joke!
Thanks for the useful and constructive comment on our project. It's highly appreciated.
Sarcasm aside, there are probably less than a half dozen communities devoted to these interests. They each have their own pros and cons, but this is not the place for that conversation.
This thread is about Pyronaut. Keep it game related, please.
any ETA?
A bit of an update, but not much:
Optomon and I touched base last week, and we're both planning to catch up on some external obligations throughout the month of October. For him, it's mainly compositions for Grimlock's Rogue Dawn. For me, it's some graphics on an upcoming, yet unannounced homebrew.
But, both of those being on track by the end of October, Pyronaut should come back on track. And our next video update will hopefully be before the end of October. There's a lot of this game that's been made that hasn't been shown publicly yet. But, there's also a lot left to do.
To have something to show, though, I'll break our Final Area embargo, and show off one of my favorite alien designs from the game:
(http://files.mteegfx.com/pnDodan.gif)
It's working title is Dodan.
Looks awesome! Can't wait til it's complete... How much more time do you estimate you guys will need?
Woah, looks tasty! ;D
Thanks. I hate to give dates, but where this winter was our most recent expectation, it's been pushed back at least by a season, I reckon.