Blogs - S20-TBL

Hello ladies. And gents.

Here we have a new video showcasing the hidden form of the Stage 4 boss. You will have to accomplish something rather dangerous in order to trigger it, but it will be worth the fight.

Hello, friends.

I must apologize for the long delay in between posts. Wrestling hungry customers to the table while making sure they get served the finest of Spanish cuisine on the choicest dinnerware can be a tiring and intimidating prospect, but thank God we are now back in business.

Since yours truly is the only staffer of Cool Old Guy Games, I've decided to rearrange some development priorities. As art assets tend to be the heaviest task, I have taken it upon myself to ensure all background and enemy assets are completed before working on the code.

Some previews:

More to come in the future, Lord willing, so if more hungry customers come barging in the restaurant doors I will make sure to hold them at bay for the sake of you, my dearest gamers.

Until next time, stay hyper my friends.

S20-TBL
Cool Old Guy

I'm usually trying to crack a joke here, but I don't think I'll be doing that this time.

As some of you may have heard, Papilio v0.5.2 has been out for quite some time, and can be purchased from itch.io, Indie Game Stand and now Desura. For those who haven't seen the video, here it is:

Unfortunately, things haven't taken off as well as they should. Adding to that some domestic problems, and I am afraid to announce that v0.6.0 may be delayed for a long time, with additional delays based on whether or not I land a full- or part-time job...if at all.

Further adding to the problem is the knowledge that people are increasingly looking down on the concept of Alphafunding and Crowdfunding, in no small part due to stories like these:

Polygon.com

I understand the logic behind not wanting to back projects that aren't completed yet. We will never know if the one we're supporting turns out to be the real thing or a wolf in sheep's clothing, waiting to sucker the eager masses of their hard earned cash.

It's just that applying the same logic to myself hurts: I'm basically forced to alphafund because I really am the only one working on Papilio, doing quintuple duty working on music, art, programming, design and marketing. I barely have enough time to have a real job. And for all that I try hard to make sure my efforts match my own expectations--and everyone else's.

Well, at least the 32 people who bought my game anyway (thank you, each and every one of you).

It's just that it's incredibly difficult marketing an unfinished game in a time when people are becoming increasingly wary of charlatans who steal other peoples' money on the pretext that they're manufacturing an amazing product for them. That and shootemups are generally looked down upon, whether for the bullet hell stigma, or the lack of a decent premise, or for the graphics looking like they've been sequestered from an Amiga.

In any case, I'll keep trying to press forward, since I know many of you are struggling too. The economy is in the low, there are wars and rumors of wars, brother rises up against brother and a household is divided amongst itself, but we have to keep moving.

Stay hyper, my friends.

Hello, ladies. And gents.

I would like to announce that Papilio v0.41 is now available as an Early Access version on the following websites:

S20-tbl.itch.io
Indiegamestand.com
Also, here is a new video of SURVIVAL MODE (Alpha only!) wherein I demonstrate the use of the Green Weapon Powerups, as well as showcase what happens to the game at higher difficulty Ranks.

Finally, here is a preview of Stage 4 being worked on, to whet your appetites:

Until next time, stay hyper my friends.

S20-TBL
Cool Old Guy

Hello, Ladies.

I'd like to let my wonderful readers know that the Early Access version of Papilio is now available for purchase on itch.io! That's right, for the low price of USD $4.99 you can help support the development of this game in exchange for hours and hours of entertainment at your fingertips.

Changes for the paid version (v0.4 Alpha) include:

• A new Survival Mode which pits you against an endless onslaught of increasingly tougher and more numerous enemy waves to help hone your skills! No extra lives, no special powerups. Only weapon switch items are granted to you in this mode to help you adapt to the enemies at hand. And if you happen to be good enough, even bosses may eventually show up to try and stop you...

• New hidden bosses and EX endbosses can be unlocked if you manage to find secret bonuses in a level. Be warned though, they're a lot tougher than you might think... (note: not yet present in Stage 3)

Additionally, a brand new demo version is also available on the same page. Both the paid and demo versions have had difficulty balancing changes to help make the game a lot fairer and give you a fighting chance. So what are you waiting for? If you want to give this game a go, head on over to the above link. Your purchase will help support this and many other future game projects dedicated to keeping the fire of the old school alive.

Until next time, stay hyper my friends.

S20 -TBL
Cool Old Guy

Hello ladies. /flex

A good friend from the far flung reaches of space recently gave me a wonderful Wine wrapper build of Papilio's v0.35 demo for Mac users to enjoy, which you can download here.

In other news, I'm almost done setting up the early access version for purchase, so stay tuned on this blog for updates. Also, in celebration of the coolness old age gives to certain people, I have created my own development group, Cool Old Guy Games. Because let's face it: old school is 200% cool.

Stay hyper, my friends.
S20-TBL
Cool old guy

Hello ladies...and...ah forget it.

A new Papilio video is up! This demo playthrough visits Stage 3's lower path, where I take on the snake boss Kadru. Sadly, I get hit a number of times here due to poor judgment, so this isn't my best playthrough of the level.

Apologies for the low FPS during the boss fight. Apparently Fraps has such an issue. It did show me that some of my PC's components need to be upgraded (in particular the GPU).

Until next time, stay hyper my friends.

--S20

Hello ladies.

...And gents. Pardon me, I keep forgetting.

I've been hard at work on updates to Papilio in preparation for an early access release hopefully within the next 2 weeks. This means I've got WIP screenshots for everyone, featuring the new Survival Mode:

This game mode is a pure test of reflexes and skill. No extra life hoarding, no special Shield or Wisp Aura powerups. You only get weapon switch powerups every once in a while in case you want to adapt your strategy to the ever increasing number of randomly generated enemy waves. How long can you last through the carnage?

As this is a WIP, expect lots of graphical cleanups and balance changes not only in Survival Mode itself, but in the main game as well, as Survival Mode tests have enabled me to determine yet more potential issues with how the game plays and feels, including validating several complaints I've received from testers about projectile visibility and enemy sizes.

In other news, for those not yet in the know, Papilio has been featured on Alpha Beta Gamer! Special thanks to Calum Fraser for his article on my game.

Until next time, stay hyper my friends.

~S20~

Hello ladies.

...And gents. Ladies and gents.

I apologize for the inconvenience, but recently while testing the new Survival Mode for Papilio v0.4, I discovered a small but annoying bug with one of the enemies that necessitated replacing the demo I had originally put up for downloading.

EDIT: The new file has been authorized! You can now re-download the Papilio v0.35 demo. Have fun shooting everything in sight, and don't forget to use the bomb!

Still, please enjoy the music. As a disclaimer, I did not make this. Credit goes to Keisuke "Crazy-K" Inoue.

TRACK: Windy
SOURCE: Cho Ren Sha 68k OST (Stage 5 BGM)
ORIGINALLY COMPOSED BY: Ruzarin "Loser" Kawashigi
ARRANGED BY: Keisuke Inoue