Released: Chibi Akumas Episode 2 Out Now! // レトロ8ビット弾幕STG「ちび悪魔」第２弾幕開け今ダウンロードができる

[Duke]

also, I do not have a CPC CRT, could someone with a proper monitor report if the "Screen shake" effect on levels 4/5 boss causes the screen to roll? it works OK on winape, but my TFT goes nuts! (for those who don't know, it can be disabled in the settings)

Looks good on a real CTM644 monitor, nice effect. Kudos on the game, so many effects and work put into it, although its hard to notice everything, because you are way too busy firing & avoiding bullets

[keith56]

Looks good on a real CTM644 monitor, nice effect. Kudos on the game, so many effects and work put into it, although its hard to notice everything, because you are way too busy firing & avoiding bullets

Winape's CRT emulation deserves the credit for that one then!

I have no problem with the fact it's hard to spot everything and read all the text, I wanted the game to have more 'replay value'

there's a lot of parody, and film quotes and the like in the dialog, you'd have to watch British comedy, horror movies, and Japanese cartoons to get all of them - so good luck with that!

[Targhan]

Played it yesterday evening, and thoroughly enjoyed it! I went to the last boss, but I admit I couldn't do it any harm, so I depleted all my remaining credits trying to kill it...


The work behind this is enormous, this is impressive! The sprites are so numerous and big, it's quite an achievement. The humor is a very nice addition too.


Two small gripes:
- It took me 2 minutes to manage to quit the title screen, because I didn't know that O and P were used for Fire. Even the Joystick Fire button didn't work, I really though it was a bug. I can expect some people to ditch the game just for that! Maybe, instead of writing "fire" on the screen, write the actual key to press (easier said than done, I know).
- During the dialog cut-scenes, the pages switched on their own very quickly. I expect some people to miss some jokes if they didn't read fast!


All in all, this very impressive! Great work!

[Targhan]

Damn, still couldn't hurt this damn boss... Damn!


Great game, though .

[CraigsBar]

ANYONE else who has control problems like Xyphoe please let me know! I can't release a one disk version until I know the current one is bug free!

also, I do not have a CPC CRT, could someone with a proper monitor report if the "Screen shake" effect on levels 4/5 boss causes the screen to roll? it works OK on winape, but my TFT goes nuts! (for those who don't know, it can be disabled in the settings)

It works fine on my 464plus with zmem (loads from the m4 perfectly too.)

Sent from my ONEPLUS 3t using Tapatalk

[Novabug]

Excellent work by Keith here, a very generous man. Here was my livestream on the release night of Chibi 2.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kox0zuOHcAs

[ivarf]

I really don't think this game gets enough publicity here on CPC wiki. It uses the hardware well, original on the CPC, it is a really impressive game and its FREE!


On the other hand I am a bit surprised how much interest a simple game like Nogalious gets. Its unreleased, too me it seems nothing special using a game development tool instead being coded from scratch to really use the hardware. Ported from a PC game thats in development. 12 euro

[Targhan]

Yup, Great, fun and original game.


I believe people are crazy about platformers, that's why any little creature moving and jumping on a screen gets so much attention .

[keith56]

I really don't think this game gets enough publicity here on CPC wiki. It uses the hardware well, original on the CPC, it is a really impressive game and its FREE!

I don't think the bullet hell genre is very popular, and shooters are generally a dead style anyway these days...
I had hoped that the 256k support & simultaneous 2 players support would make the game something pretty unique among CPC games, but it never seemed to capture the 'public imagination' enough to build up a following.

With Chibi Akumas I set out to make the game I wanted to make, so it's not really a problem to me if it's not that popular.

[jesusdelmas]

I don't think the bullet hell genre is very popular, and shooters are generally a dead style anyway these days...
I had hoped that the 256k support & simultaneous 2 players support would make the game something pretty unique among CPC games, but it never seemed to capture the 'public imagination' enough to build up a following.

With Chibi Akumas I set out to make the game I wanted to make, so it's not really a problem to me if it's not that popular.

I think the game is actually popular (not the most porpular) and i really like it. I think also that shooters nowadays as you say are not very popular for new players but in the retro comunitty they still are. 

[kawickboy]

I'll try to show it seriously on a next retro-event.

[keith56]

As an Experiment I've set up a patreon account:
https://patreon.com/akuyou

If anyone wants to show their support via that, then please go ahead - I want to make clear, anything new I develop will still be free, but I'm not getting enough positive feedback in downloads/webhits/PMs to continue working the way I did on the last games - as I've said before, I basically did 3-4 hours every single day, for a year and a half to bring out Chibi Akumas Ep1 and 2 - and at the moment it's just a case of hoping the feedback is better for my next project than it has been so far.

Anyway, Whining aside, going forward I'm working on the upgraded version of Chibi Akumas Episode 1... which will be the first Multiplatform release on MSX/ZX/CPC... it will bring 2 player support and 4 direction play from EP2, and will feature a new raster switching mode using the enhanced CPC plus pallette - meaning up to 48 colors onscreen!

[SRS]

Just yesterday I gave it a try. Impressive ... scrolling, grafixs, sounds. Sometimes feels like an EGA shooter of early 90ies to me on my first 486.

I did not manage to kill the first boss - but thats just because I am not really a bullet shooter fan or pro. Which does it not make a "stick to it" game for me, but hey, its great to see it on our old machines for sure !

Keep the good work going, if you like

[cpc4eva]

Just yesterday I gave it a try. Impressive ... scrolling, grafixs, sounds. Sometimes feels like an EGA shooter of early 90ies to me on my first 486.

I did not manage to kill the first boss - but thats just because I am not really a bullet shooter fan or pro. Which does it not make a "stick to it" game for me, but hey, its great to see it on our old machines for sure !

Keep the good work going, if you like

Are people saying as its a bullet hell shooter they aren't playing / supporting the game ?

If that's the case would the cpc community prefer the next Episode of Chibi Akuma to be a different style game like a platformer?

Personally i like the side ways scrolling bullet hell shooter its unique among cpc gaming.

[keith56]

If that's the case would the cpc community prefer the next Episode of Chibi Akuma to be a different style game like a platformer?

After I do the upgraded & multiplatform re-releases of Ep1+2, I'll look to do other things - but I don't plan for any of them to be bullet hell shooters - the trouble is, that means more work as it means rewriting all the code.

In unrelated news, I've set up a Chibi Akumas page on facebook, where I'll post updates about the games:
https://www.facebook.com/Chibi-Akumas-310045492811933

[SRS]

Just gave it a "Gefällt mir"

[khaz]

Are people saying as its a bullet hell shooter they aren't playing / supporting the game ?

If that's the case would the cpc community prefer the next Episode of Chibi Akuma to be a different style game like a platformer?

Personally i like the side ways scrolling bullet hell shooter its unique among cpc gaming.

The CPC community is in no place to decide what genre a dev should do.

It's not a popularity contest. A game well done will find its niche.

[cpc4eva]

The CPC community is in no place to decide what genre a dev should do.

It's not a popularity contest. A game well done will find its niche.

i couldn't agree more - no one should decide what a dev should do - its upto them, they have full control of the creative process.

the question is why aren't people supporting this game and its developer when it is a CPC game that without question has been "well done"!

is it because of the bullet hell game style or is it something else ?

it is a better game than the first with more features etc etc etc and yet where is the support from the community for this CPC developer ?

[mr_lou]

.....but I'm not getting enough positive feedback in downloads/webhits/PMs to continue working the way I did on the last games - as I've said before, I basically did 3-4 hours every single day, for a year and a half to bring out Chibi Akumas Ep1 and 2 - and at the moment it's just a case of hoping the feedback is better for my next project than it has been so far.

I think most of us, when we develop our projects, one of our biggest goals is to give something (back) to the community. Right?

I can only speak for myself of course, but still, I imagine it's the same for most of us. When we develop a game, I'm fairly certain most of us imagines what kind of thrill it will give everyone who plays it. I know I did when I was creating "Space Rivals". And I think you must have done the same thing? Thinking about how people would be thrilled when playing the game?

In fact, I think it is precisely the thought of giving other people this joy, that keeps us going?

The lack of positive feedback makes it look like no one is experiencing the kind of joy we expected our project to give them. Doesn't mean they aren't experiencing it though. But it sure would be nice if they'd just let us know. Because that's all we need really: Confirmation that our project gave someone some good entertainment for a certain amount of time.

I gotta admit I'm guilty myself. Well, I've gotten better, but far from where I would like to be.
(Lately though, my lack of feedback has been because I simply haven't had time to check out all the recent releases yet. Looking forward to an interesting December!)


It's very simple though: If you like something - support it.
"Support" means anything from giving positive feedback, donating money, sharing links on other forums, tell your friends, etc etc.
I think this has been mentioned many times. Maybe people should be reminded by the CPCwiki somehow. "Like it? Support it!".


But how much positive feedback is required before the project was worth it?
100 Likes in the thread about the release? Or must there also be 10 people writing awesome reviews?
That's something for us to think about too.



All this being said, I also have to say though, that in my perception, your games has been some of the most supported games on this forum. The threads about them has received a lot of replies, and people have generally only had positive things to say about them.

[keith56]

I think most of us, when we develop our projects, one of our biggest goals is to give something (back) to the community. Right?

I made the Episode 1+2 games mainly because I wanted to see if I could make a game of professional standard - Ep1 was not as good as I could make it, so Ep2 was a given to finish the job.

I have other ideas for future games, and while part of me would like to make more of them, it can't be because 'I want to produce a pro-class game'... because I've done that now

It can be 'People want the kind of games I'm making' (creative) or 'What I'm putting in effort is less than what people are getting out in enjoyment' (service) or it could be 'I don't care what I'm programming, but I'm being paid to do it' (financial)

When I start my next big CPC project, it's going to be like the start of Episode 1... 'I have a crazy idea, I don't know if I can make it happen, I don't even know if what I want to do is possible on an 8 bit, and I don't know if anyone will care in 9 months when it's done'

the thought is going to crop up 'Maybe I'm wasting my spare time... perhaps I need a different hobby' - and when that comes up, I need to know that people will want it (creative), will get something out of it (service), or I'm letting people down (financial)

I've enjoyed working on my games so far and I'd like to continue doing it, but It's been my only real hobby for 18 months, I tend to be obsessive about my hobbies, focusing crazily only on 1 or 2 at a time (that's how I learned to speak and read Japanese), If I worked half as much on CPC gaming, at best I'd probably produce 1/4 of the games, but realistically something else would take the 'main hobby' spot, and I'd just give up 8 bit dev... I need the community response to make me feel spending my free time making these games is a 'good and sensible' use of my time, that way I can continue working like crazy, keep churning out new games, and enjoy doing it!

[keith56]

All this being said, I also have to say though, that in my perception, your games has been some of the most supported games on this forum. The threads about them has received a lot of replies, and people have generally only had positive things to say about them.

There have been a lot of good comments on here, but downloads and visits to my site are lower than after the release of the last game (and already dropping), I've not seen any mention of it on twitter since the week of release, only one person has bought a 'Chibi Akumas' Poster from polyplay (I don't make any money from that - but I bet they're questioning if a boxed version of the game is worth it),I only have one patreon backer,  up until I started whining again I gained no new twitter users after the release, received no PM's about it on here or Twitter (worse than release of ep1), only got one private email. remember when I compare to the last game, I put a lot of extra effort into promotion before this one with the DevTalk video and Teaser trailer, Posters and character art, and a month of work on the website prior to release

I'm really easy on this, I don't need paying, I don't need PM/emails, but in 6 month time when the code of a new game is broken, and I've got to spend the whole weekend trying to somehow fix it or give up on the project I need to have some 'benchmark of how many supporters' I have to know that it's worth me keeping on going and dragging the game to completion - if it seems like everyone forgot my last game 2 weeks after release - it's going to be pretty tough for me to keep going on a 6-12 month project

A couple of months into Ep2 I was feeling generally down and unmotivated, I logged in to Twitter, and got a PM from Novabug saying he was putting my game in the top 11 - I couldn't believe it, and instantly was hugely motivated again... trouble is, after the game comes out, it's mostly forgotton... and if I loose motivation on my next game, and wait for a 'I just found your game,it's great' type PM/Email - well it'll never happen and the game will be abandoned - I was amazed that 'Ivarf' bumped this thread - I really thought it was never going to see the light of day again unless I posted in it myself

I don't know, it's quite possible mr_lou is right, and my game is one of the most supported, if that's true I don't know how anyone keeps doing it. I'm not going to lie here, I don't really play other peoples games on here either - with my game development I simply have no spare time, my 2 dozen retro systems haven't been powered on in over a year - I only powered on my systems to test my games, or tweet pics of other peoples I've bought to promote them, and I don't even own a current generation console... I kind of get the feeling that's the problem, there are simply more creators on here than gamers.

According to the webserver, Ep2 has been downloaded 180 times - I have no idea how many of those were ever played (If my own downloading habbits are accurate, 50% just sat there unopened), and how many were just bot activity, I reckon that developing Ep2 took me over 500 hours this year (it was basically all I did when I was not doing my day job) - that' the equivalent of about 70 9-5 working days... I worked on Ep2 as a a 'once in a lifetime' project, I tried to make it the best thing I could possibly do, and put everything I could into it in terms of technical ability and dedication - it's pretty much impossible for me to even match this standard again, as I just can't put any more time into developing than I already am, and with my programming ability, I'm really staggered I managed to get such a complex game to work at all.

Just to reiterate - I know there are others out there working just as hard on more important projects, and they may be getting even less positive feedback and support - I'm just talking about my own project and expectations and future plans.

[mr_lou]

I don't know, it's quite possible mr_lou is right, and my game is one of the most supported, if that's true I don't know how anyone keeps doing it.

Lack of positive response or interest can be tough.
But generally speaking, I think most of us have other motivations for creating our projects. I think for most of us, it's about making an old childhood dream come true. We'll be happy if just a few people find any value in it. And just doing the project is very fulfilling to us.

My latest project is "8-bit Memoirs". (Do you even know about that one?)
Not a game, but still very much CPC related.
On top of all the time I've spent on this project, I've also spent a crazy amount of money on a lot of different equipment I needed in order to create all the parts of it. Actually, I'm sure this is the most expensive CPC-related project in newer times.

I've posted updates on the progress of this project up through time, here on CPCwiki. (Did you notice any of those? Did you comment in any of them?  )
If you feel your projects hasn't received enough positive feedback, try looking in my threads.  All is relative.

But again. My motivation for doing my projects isn't the feedback. And I think that might be the general rule: If you need a lot of positive feedback, you probably shouldn't do it.

I'm not going to lie here, I don't really play other peoples games on here either - with my game development I simply have no spare time

I think this is one of the main problems. Don't forget that we've recently had the RetroDev contest going on, where everyone has been busy with their own projects.

I myself have been busy with 8-bit Memoirs for a long time. I'm way behind checking out new CPC productions. So it's gonna be an interesting December for me.  Looking forward to it!

Generally I don't think people here have a general lack of interest in other people's games. Anything that boosts the retro nostalgia is great. But everyone has very different taste.

When Star Sabre was released, everyone was really hyped. I too thought it looked awesome - but it just isn't my style of game. I tried playing a few rounds, and could comment on how awesome it looked. But I just can't figure out these space shooter games. Too difficult for me.
Then came "Dead on Time" by the same coder. Also a space shooter, but different style. Not nearly as much hype as with Star Sabre (I feel), but I really liked this one. It appealed to me a lot. We're talking Bubble Bobble category addiction here - but apparently it didn't appeal to most other people. They kept on praising Star Sabre instead.
Another example was "Teodoro no sable volar". I absolutely loved that cute little platformer. I was completely hooked for weeks. It was awesome. So I was surprised to learn that a lot of other people didn't like it, because "Pixel perfect nightmare". I hate pixel perfect games myself, but just didn't feel "Teodoro" belong in that category.

So keep in mind that despite we aren't a huge community, we all just have very different taste.

I'll be honest and say that your games don't appeal to me when looking at the videos. I'm a sucker for smooth movement, and I'm absolutely terrible at space shooters like these. Doesn't mean I'm not gonna try them out though - and I might be surprised. (You never know before you try).

But even if it turns out it's not my style, I still want you to code more CPC games. The more CPC games the better. 

The next one you create will probably appeal to another group in the community.

But you will never manage to create anything that everyone will love.

[keith56]

I have seen posts about "8-bit Memoirs" on here... my understanding is that its a java based blu ray

I have to be brutally honest, and admit that Java Blu-ray is of no interest to me (it's what I have to rip my BD-roms to get rid of) - which is why I have not posted any comments in your thread.

As I said, I have no problem if people hate my game, or just don't like it, I'm saying I can't justify continuing development if this is the level feedback I get.

I'm sorry to ignore your project, I've only read one english book in the last year (the codemasters one) and even my japanese reading has been on the backburner - as for Blu ray, My 3d projecter hasn't been powered up since last Xmas, as I said earlier I have been 100% dedicated to gamedev

as I said, my suspicion is that everyone on here is working on their own creative projects, and there are no average users left to follow them - like the monty python island where everyone is an interviewer with no-one to interview...  if everyone is like me, to crazily busy working on their own dev to play others then that's fine, Ep2 was the game I always wanted to make, so if theres not enough average players in the CPC community to justify me making another game, then it's time for me to move on to some other creative pursuit where there is genuine demand to supply

[mr_lou]

I have seen posts about "8-bit Memoirs" on here... my understanding is that its a java based blu ray

I have to be brutally honest, and admit that Java Blu-ray is of no interest to me (it's what I have to rip my BD-roms to get rid of) - which is why I have not posted any comments in your thread.

Even when it comes to game-releases for the CPC, the community is split into two groups in regards of how they prefer to play them: On the real hardware or in an emulator. I personally prefer the real hardware (which is why I can't "quickly" try a game. I prefer giving it the time it deserves, transferring it to my CPC and such).
Luckily though, any CPC game can be played on both - so problem solved.
The same goes for 8-bit Memoirs. No one is forcing you to use the real hardware. You can simply use a software media player on your PC. Did you know that?

As I said, I have no problem if people hate my game, or just don't like it, I'm saying I can't justify continuing development if this is the level feedback I get.

I doubt anyone hates any new CPC game. But there'll always be different preferences.

I'm sorry to ignore your project, I've only read one english book in the last year (the codemasters one) and even my japanese reading has been on the backburner - as for Blu ray, My 3d projecter hasn't been powered up since last Xmas, as I said earlier I have been 100% dedicated to gamedev

Don't be sorry about that. It comes down to different interests. I'm not complaining. Just giving perspective. I'm not much of a reader myself either. I just don't read books. I do like diskmags though. (And that's why I prefer making my book a bit more interesting by wrapping everything in a diskmag-like GUI, and add background music and supplemental videos.  )

I can understand needing to justify spending time on certain projects, though I'll of course think it would be a shame if you stopped doing CPC games.

[Skunkfish]

I think that Chibi Akumas is probably a very different game to what most people play on their CPCs, but I see that only as a positive thing. When I played it, it really felt like something that hadn't been done before on the CPC and the dark humour caught my interest.

I'm sure it will be very well received on the MSX where it will be in the company of some very fine Japanese shooters. Regarding the CPC version available now, I think it's one of those titles that could turn a few heads towards the CPC from fans of the genre if you can find a way to raise awareness...