27/03/2012 - HII is in the works.The Japanese version was delayed but by now it's out there, thanks to Josh Weatherford and his colleagues at Playism.jp! After a break from programming I started working on the sequel - HII.
28/12/2011 - HI0 v1.12.Fixed some more bugs (it should have better performance on legacy PC's now). Also finished the Japanese version for Playism. If all is good then it should be available from their site this very week, since they're planning a relaunch before 2012.
23/12/2011 - Make that HI0 v1.11.I noticed a bug crawling into the previous build. Fixed that and added more menu-related graphics. I also changed what's available in the demo. It all makes more sense now... Also worth mentioning:Softpedia featured the game and in the process awarded HI0 with a "100% clean" Softpedia award.
21/12/2011 - HI0 v1.1 unlocked!Thanks to some fruitful conversations (you know who you are!), I again redid the menu from scratch, this time having restructured the remakes as "unlockables". Also, now it's actually displaying which achievements you've unlocked.
People who already ordered will get the update in their email. The demo is also updated to fit the new model. In other news: HI0 will be getting localised (& translated) to Japan soon enough thanks to the good folks at playism.jp. I guess the Space Invaders found their way back home!
11/12/2011 - IndieCity in public beta!IndieCity.com recently opened for the public. You can find HI0 and the demo there now!
06/12/2011 - Trailer Madness!Santa Clause delivered this trailer video overnight! Thanks a lot, Cas Van Nieuwenhuyse!
25/11/2011 - The wait is over!!!I went with FastSpring to create an online Entity store (thx for the tip, mjclark). You can buy HI0 from there for only 3,5€ / $4.95. There's no trailer video yet (up next on the to-do list), but why wait for that if you can already try the demo? Enjoy the ride!
22/11/2011 - Let's break it down...While waiting for HI0 to pass IndieCity's approval process, I dived right back in again. Did a general graphics overhaul, replaced the highscore system (thanks BPzeBanshee @ shmups), added some more invaders (Soulgrinder), added a whole new 2 player hot-seat RETRO mode, increased the resolution (opening up the playfield a bit), added an extra difficulty level (Soulgrinder), removed online achievements (sorry), made some performance improvements. Updated screenshots below!
I hate to keep you waiting, but rest assured it's coming soon. I'm looking into different online distribution methods so it could be released sooner.
17/10/2011 - Replaced this site while uncovering some "hidden agenda".I took the opportunity to reform the HI0 site into the first "ENTITY MEDIALAB" release. What that means exactly will be explained at a later date. I guess most of you are already getting the clue anyway.
14/10/2011 - HI0 is finally finished! It took a lot of tweaking, but v1.0 is here. I'm uploading it to IndieCity.com so if you are one of "The Chosen Few", you'll be able to get it from there (demo and full version). If not, well you'll have to wait another week or two until IndieCity goes out of beta.
That's also when HI0 will be officially released. In the meanwhile, I'll be working on a trailer video so you'll know right away what the games
are like.
Don't
forget! You'll be able to download the latest Atomhead EP (40 mins of sonic mayhem) from within the full game as an added bonus!
22/09/2011 - Hyperspace Invaders Zero 98% complete! After 5 months of hard work, it's about time I disclose what HI0 is about. Hence this site. Below you'll find a pretty complete description of what to expect: an addictive, modern take on retro shooting games like it used to be before Call of Duty fucked everything up.
Check back soon because it will be made available at a very democratic price as soon as the awesome Indie Games distribution service IndieCity.com launches.
INTRODUCING HI0
Hyperspace Invaders Zerois based on a collection of minimal game concepts I have been toying with for years. It got bad enough that I decided to learn programming in order to realise these ideas myself.
The main game - Soulgrinder - is a hectic
vertical scrolling shooter (or "shmup" if you will) that borrows bits of mechanics from a multitude of games, enough so it can act as a novel game on its own.
If you play well enough,
you get to unlock two other games which are heavily inspired by classic games such as "Space Invaders" (Retro Mode) - including a Retro 2P Mode - and "Paratrooper" (Space Trooper Mode). The main idea behind all 3 of these was simply to create an addictive virtual interactive
environment.
GAMEPLAY
All gamemodes in HI0 are based on a simple control scheme: left and right arrows for movement, and up arrow or spacebar for shooting. The main mode doesn't even require you to push the fire button since it's automatic.Let's do an overview of the game modes:
SOULGRINDER
Soulgrinder
is the most expansive game that actually has seperate levels and 2 end bosses (you'll
only get to the 2nd boss if you play well enough).
Again, just push left or right for movement, and do absolutely nothing to attract souls. Small souls will increase your multiplier. Gather enough of them and your firepower will also increase. Big souls (as always) trigger a temporarily upgraded firing system.
This mode also has so-called "adaptive difficulty". In HI0's case, it means that if you get a higher score, the next game will spawn more enemies, keeping the challenge high at all times, but
also allowing you to score more points. For every 1000000 points you score, the game will
adjust itself.
I put in a TRAINING MODE
as well for a reason (besides the obvious). Every time you survive a predetermined number of waves
in TRAINING MODE, your ship gets a permanent firing
upgrade. This way you
will be able to cope with an increasing amount of invaders. The more Training levels you complete,
the more points you will get for defeating a boss in Normal mode.
RETRO MODE
Retro mode
is an "infinite runner" game (which means the game gets harder over time but if you play well enough, you'll be able to survive longer and score more points). It plays very much like the original 1978 Space Invaders game, but has an added combo mechanic.
Shooting an alien gets you points and a multiplier. Miss a shot and your multiplier will be diminished by 1/5th. Shoot a UFO and catch that big blue soul for a temporary firing upgrade. The upgrade's effect lasts longer and becomes more efficient as you get further into the game. The more multipliers you have, the faster UFO's will appear.
Newly added: a 2 player hot-seat co-op mode!
You can unlock these by scoring high in Soulgrinder.
SPACE TROOPER
Space Trooper is basically a remake of the 1984 game "Paratrooper" with some twists. Left and right buttons adjust your shooting angle, fire button fires (surprise!). Much like in Retro mode, missing a shot will diminish your multiplier count by 1, so accuracy is rewarded. Don't let more than 3 aliens land on either side of your hyperspaceship...
This game is unlocked when you reach a certain highscore in 1P RETRO MODE.
WHERE TO GET HI0
Buy HI0 at one of the following online outlets: FastSpring/ IndieCity / IndieVania / Playism.jp (Japanese version)
Don't take my word for HI0's awesomeness, try the demo first (that'll also reveal to you whether your PC can handle the madness or not).
What you WON'T see in the demo: lots and lots of levels (infinite in some cases),
bossfights, weapon upgrades, adaptive difficulty, 2 player RETRO mode, ...
FINAL WORDS
Hyperspace Invaders Zero is my first official game project. I've worked on it like a madman
with no funding for 6 consecutive months. If you like what you see and you'd like to see me do
more games (or applications) in the future, please consider buying it. It means a lot to me.
Even if you're not interested in games, you might find the 40
mins long Atomhead ep "Aftermath" (which you
can download for free when you buy the game) alone worth the price.
