Downgradius

It was fun working with you Jan!

Just curious, but is there a reason why you didn't make an executable that can be run without first downloading GMS? I doubt there's going to be many people who want to go through all of that just to run the game.

@reimari Yes I know it's a hassle and I'm sorry :slight_frown: I read an online guide recommending GMS and saying it was free to export a Windows .exe with it, but sadly that was outdated and now you have to purchase a license to export (they changed it in 2017) :slight_frown: I thought maybe a lot of game jammers already have it installed as it was the second most-popular engine in the Extra Credits game jam (14% used it) :fingers_crossed:

Oh, I thought that was free. Then again, last time I used GM wa many years ago. Since our games are so similar I'll still play and rate your game tomorrow :D

@xjcl Are you positive?

This articular from July doesn't mention anything about it costing something.
https://help.yoyogames.com/hc/en-us/articles/235186048-Setting-Up-For-Windows

I've also seen a couple of other GMS entries have an executable. They may have paid for it though; I don't know...

@great-bobleny Yes I'm positive.
List of limitations: https://help.yoyogames.com/hc/en-us/articles/230407528-GameMaker-Studio-2-Trial-Limitations

No matter how many times I try I can't make it past the first level. I always die at the bit where there's things aiming at you on the walls combined with the red cubes because I lose my shield at the bit with the wall things before that :( I think a slightly smaller hitbox would make it a lot more doable.

As far as I *can* play it it's a pretty nice game!

@reimari The trick is to wait until the turrets aim at you and only start moving after they fired (see video) :slight_smile: I set the hitboxes to exactly match the sprite pixels so hitbox detection should be "fair" :thinking:

STRATEGY GUIDE: Doubling enemy fire speed is probably the hardest downgrade path, while the other 3 are a lot easier

'ere ya go boi https://www.mediafire.com/file/2wacc2fijyta9mb/Downgradius.zip/file

@nnnikki aaaa thanks :smile: you exported it with your own copy of GMS right?

I like the use of the theme, but honestly the audio got pretty grating. As for your issues with the GMS license, you can probably find a product key for old GMS pro for pretty cheap. I got mine during a humble bundle haha.

I know g2a has a bad rep, but it was the first Google result. It was 10 dollars there. I think that's a lot better than the $100+ price that it usually goes for :smiley:

We didn't reach the sacrificing part since we didn't complete lvl 1, we suck at this type of game :D
Nice controls and audio, would like to see a slower/easier lvl 1 for noobs.

The game is fun, but like @joror I didn't even reach the end of level 1 :P I'm pretty terrible at it.

Also, I would say that the audio gets a bit repetitive and tiring after a while.

Nice work. The comments above echo most of my sentiments. I do like the title pun tho hehe

I just managed level 1, but that's as far as it went. This game is pretty hard.

It's a solid, functional game, but without much of a wow-factor.

I managed to get past Level 1 on my first try, stupidly chose the "Double enemy firing speed" downgrade, got my ass whooped and restarted the game, and now I can't get past Level 1 😂 What's up with that?

Anyway, I like the concept of having to make the game harder between levels, and I like the name pun as well. However, I feel likethis needs a lot of polish. The graphics seem a little bland, and there's not a lot of variety, especially since (from what I can tell) the three levels are actually just the same level with a downgrade applied. The difficulty might also need tweaking; looking at the other reviews, it doesn't seem like anyone can get further than Level 2.

Something I'm not too sure about is the way your bullets kind of angle away from the direction you're moving in. On the one hand, it does come in handy sometimes - you can move out of the way of enemies while still shooting at them, and with some careful tapping of the A/D keys you can spray bullets in three directions instead of two. However, I do find it makes aiming harder, especially when you're trying to kill those damn enemies that spray bullets in all directions while carefully dancing through the bullets.

There's the beginnings of a good game here, it just needs more work to get there.

Despite everything else I think you had a good idea and you make it work really good

Really cool idea, and the music really set the mood! The hitbox on the ship was HUGE, but otherwise the game was pretty easy to control. I liked the framing story (simulations, budget cuts, etc.). Good use of theme!