http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.ph ... 21#p550321
Plasmo wrote:Here's the main article first, will do the interview later.
„Fast Striker“ is a vertical shooter, made by NG:DEV.TEAM, in which the background scrolls from top to bottom. It’s designed for the usual 4:3 aspect ratio, the special term for this is “vertizontal”. As we could see during playtesting, the game's system is based on classics like “Strikers 45”, “DoDonPachi” and “Ikaruga”, but doesn’t quite reach the perfection of those. While you are fighting for pure survival in “Original”-Mode, you have to build up a chain in “Maniac”-Mode and have to score with colour combinations in “Color”-Mode. It’s a nice feeling to exclusively reveal a new title, especially if it’s one for the Neo-Geo. The developer SNK, has abandoned the 16bit system about 6 years ago, but Timm and René Hellwig don’t care about that. After their first horizontal game “Last Hope” (2006), the brothers from Hannover present their second shooter “Fast Striker” for this rather old system. A shooter, that has potential to be an international success. With SNK Playmore as a publisher, the two developers are planning to bring the shooter to the last arcades of this world. At this time SNK Playmore didn’t give their OK yet.
Apart from that, it looks like the two developers learned from their mistakes of their first game and so the new maxim is “Reward instead of Punishment”. Casual gamers now have the chance, thanks to the selectable difficult settings, to see more than just the first stage. “In the past we thought that checkpoints were necessary for a good gamedesign”, Timm admits. “Later I realized that this was nonsense and that you don’t need such thing at all.” There’s a complex scoringsystem to keep players motivated.
The rendered background graphics of “Fast Striker” rush by with 60 frames per second, while dozens of colourful bullets keep the player busy. Taking a glance under the hood proves it: the gorgeous visuals are indeed only produced by a Neo Geo MVS. More than any other game, “Fast Striker” uses everything the system has to offer technically. Only in the sixth and last level, slowdowns and graphical glitches appear. “That’s what we’re currently working on”, René comments. One can be excited about it - the finished product will be released around mid 2010.
http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.ph ... 19#p550519Plasmo wrote:And here's the interview:
Q: NG:DEV.TEAM is worldwide the last company producing games for the Neo-Geo. How does it feel like?
Timm: Feels nice! Although we would certainly like to have some competition, because we’d like to play games other than our own. You can’t enjoy your own games the way you’d enjoy other games, because you already know them inside-out. Even on a hobby-level, noone really dares to program anything for this system. Of course the niveau is rather high. On the Neo-Geo you can’t impress with simple games.
Q: Rumours say that SNK Playmore has retired from the MVS business, because they couldn’t cope with the piracy that was going on. Don’t you worry about this?
Our cartridges have copy protection. We also use our own circuit boards, which are new and clearly superior. We knew about the weakpoints, that SNK Playmore had in their designs and have fixed them.
Q: A small company fixes the problem that SNK Playmore, owner of the rights for Neo-Geo, has given up on?
We’re flexible and brave while japanese people are very reluctant when it comes to business decisions.
Q: SNK has printed the number of megabites on each case. What number would “Fast Striker” have?
Definitely over 1000. We aim to get 1024 megabit on the graphics’ side. The highest SNK Playmore had to offer regarding graphics, was 512 megabit, so we’re able to double that. It’s going to be the biggest game for the Neo-Geo.
Q: How many bullets can be on screen at the same time?
I think it’s about 140. It’s not much compared to modern Cave games, but it’s the maximum on the Neo-Geo yet.
Q: Amongst other things, you can see a three-dimensional looking city as a background graphic. How does that work?
That’s a rendered 3-d animation. There are 120 frames, that repeat themselve after one circle. As far as memory concerns, this takes up 64 to 128 magebit per background.
Q: How did you come up with the name “Fast Striker”? Sounds a bit like football…
Because we’ve heard some criticism already, we haven’t decided on the name yet. René came up with it and it was supposed to underline the game’s speed. We quickly agreed on “Fast” and René added “Striker”. It’s supposed to mean something like “Schneller Angreifer” [literal german translation]
Q: How does the scoresystem in Maniac mode, the game’s main mode, work?
In Maniac mode, similar to DoDonPachi, you have to destroy enemies in a certain timeframe. There’s a bar on the left, which slowly decreases. If it’s empty, your chain is broken. You quickly have to destroy more enemies again to fill up the gauge again. An extension and feature of our game is the so called “grinding”. You get into “grinding”-mode when you’ve shot bigger enemies with your beam shot for long enough. Your ship and its laser become green, you weaken the enemy and during this time, you get twice as many points and the chain value doubles. Using the “grinding” technique is the most important way to score in this game.
Q: How do the bosses look like and how do you defeat them?
The bosses are machines and spaceships. We have, for example, a spaceship with turbines called “Guardian”. It flies over a city and protects it. If you destroy its turbines first, you are rewarded with a higher score. These secrets arise from a creative process. We don’t sit down for a month, write everything down and then work off each point. We discuss, play and implement the ideas.
Q: What makes a shooter good? What do you have to do?
That’s a difficult question. We had a concept in the beginning, but we’ve already moved away from these first ideas over the time. The “Colour”-mode was originally meant to be the main one. It’s based on “Radiant Silvergun” and “Ikaruga”, but became a little bit too weird over the time.
Q: 2d-shooters made in Europe often look promising, but on a second look reveal lacks in gameplay. The difference often lies in small details. Are the Japanese simply better in developing 2d shooters?
What does “better” mean? I think, that the main problem with European 2d shooters is, that we have been stuck to one concept for too long while people enjoyed Japanese shooters more. There are certainly players who like Euro-Shmups. You can clearly see that from the success of “Söldner-X”. I’d agree that the Japanese are much better and that they have brought it to perfection over so many years. Best example: Cave. It doesn’t matter where you look at, everything’s perfectly thought through. As a developer it’s even clearer to see. In details, their shooters are still evolving of course.
Q: With what features does your game contribute to the genre?
Actually with the grinding feature, that builds up on already known concepts. Other than that, of course with the visuals. The rendered backgrounds are something special, not only for the Neo-Geo, but also for the arcade scene in general. Cave makes use of big wallpapers, while our backgrounds are animated.
Q: What retail price are you aiming at?
Because we want to release “Fast Striker” in the arcades, the price is going to be similar to other games there. A bit cheaper maybe, because we’re newcomers, but still expensive. But we’re planning to release a cheaper MVS cartridge as a consumer version later on. We probably have to change the coin options for this one so that the cheaper version can not be used in an arcade. There are no plans for any Neo-Geo home conversions of “Fast Striker” yet.
Q: By the way, how much does a Cave PCB cost for an arcade owner?
Around 1500€ - we want to have our game way below that tag.
Q: Still a lot of money, but owners of a Neo-Geo are used to this sorrow. When will the game be released?
We’ll have finished programming the game around february. During this period we will also be negotiating with potential publishers. It would be nice to announce the game on the next arcade expo.
Q: Will more Neo-Geo games follow?
Definitely!
