Topic: Parasitus video

[Thaddeus]

Edit: I apologize in advance if this is not allowed to be posted in the fan section, since it's not Castlevania related. I figured I would post an update to the project here, since this is where it all started, and some of you may be wondering if the project is still alive. The project is still very much alive and we are working toward getting it released on Xbox Live:

http://thaddeus.arc-nova.org/files/parasitus-gameplay2.wmv

Obviously from the video there's some things that need a lot of work. Right now we are focusing on the important stuff, but we will get around to polishing it.

Programmers are Ringo and Owigg, and I did the pixel stuff. Ringo also composed the music.

[Aridale]

In Reply To #1

Nice man! You release it on Live Ill get it =D

[Thaddeus]

In Reply To #2

Thanks brother!

Here is the YouTube link for the same video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfibGI1fCII

[Giz]

It looks  very nice, but I'm not gonna lie; the abuse of filters for the gun effects is a huge turnoff. It looks out of place and just completely ruins the atmosphere. Some of the jumping and spinning animations for the character also look rather awkward.

S:

[Thaddeus]

In Reply To #4

Yeah, I agree completely. The grenade mode of fire is causing a bright "washout" with the environment. That will have to be remedied. It's one of those things that isn't priority at the moment, but we will fix it eventually.

I think just about all of the hero's animations will have to be fine-tuned. I'm not satisfied with his jumps, and his walljump doesn't look that hot. But we'll get around to correcting it. Our original sprite animator bailed on us and I had to make all the animations myself, which set us back a lot. Animation isn't my strong suit.

Thanks for the feedback.

[Eric Roman]

:O  The guy moves stiffly, but that was phaaaaaat!  After the story kicked in, I started to think, "...this could be a cool movie."

[shelverton.]

Wow, things certainly have changed since I last saw this game.. it was called Vampiria, right? It looks very promising at this point. Keep it up, I really wanna play it on Live!

[Thaddeus]

We decided to scrap the Vampiria project for something that isn't as Castlevania themed. While I love Order of Ecclesia and thought it was a big step in the right direction, I've just about lost all interest in the Castlevania series (unless they make a Castlevania II or III chronicles ), and no longer have the love to try and homebrew those games.

I will admit that Parasitus isn't the most original game, and people will probably see that video and call it a Contra clone (instead of a Castlevania clone). But having played it, I personally don't think it feels so much like Contra as it does Metroid or Ninja Gaiden.

So long as it's fun, and isn't copyright infringement, I don't care. We're not trying to reinvent the wheel; we just want to make something that's retro and has decent gameplay.

[shelverton.]

In Reply To #8

I can actually see a bit of the SNES version of Alien 3 in there too. Maybe it's a combination of the character movement, the use of a flame thrower and the industrial environments. Alien 3 was a fantastic game btw, possibly one of the best movie based games ever made IMO...

[uzo]

Yeah, it does look like a complete Contra rip. I also agree with Giz on the filters.

Interesting to see an original 2D game like that being made though.

When you say going up on XboxLive, do you mean for sale?

[Aridale]

In Reply To #10

hes prolly talkin about the community games section for stuff made with XNA. They sell em on there usually for like 240 points

[Thaddeus]

When you think about it, Contra's developers ripped off Schwarzenegger movies and used the monster designs of HR Giger. I mean that series isn't the most original either. Hell, Castlevania did it too. They were influenced by the works of Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley, and a many others. Both of these series owe their existence to all the aforementioned people.

While I know people are going to make the comparison at first glance, I personally wouldn't call it a complete Contra rip. Aside from the 80's style action hero running around with a flamethrower, it's not really like Contra. Contra has a more cartoony visual style, too (while I think my style is a lot more gothic and influenced by Castlevania). You also get a life meter in Parasitus.

Parasitus is partly nonlinear. You'll start out in linear areas to reach large nonlinear objective points. It's being built to be mission-objective-based. Meaning once you're at your objective point, you will have to carry out a certain number of things in order to complete the mission. For example, mission 1 might require you to infiltrate a factory via the city outskirts, and blow it up by placing explosive charges in different places throughout the basement. You will also have orders to eliminate key enemy targets (in this case, two good sized bosses). Once that's done, you will try to escape through a winding sewer system while being pursued by enemies, and being attacked by the indigenous mutant wildlife (before the timer runs down and everything blows up).

The levels are decently sized, so it will require some exploration. Once you reach the objective area, it may not always be clear where to go from there.

Edit: Here's another vid of the tesla gun - http://thaddeus.arc-nova.org/files/teslagun.wmv

(sound effects haven't been added yet)

[ringo]

Yeah we moved from the Vampiria theme, we all agreed it would  be better if we did. Even though we had Thadd's amazing pixel work instead of outdated ripped sprites, we felt we where starting to ape castlevania a little too much, and we didnt want to make a cheap SOTN clone like a lot of people seem to do these days.

The game is actually quite non linear, if I had to compare it to anything I'd say its a more of action packed Metroid, though that Alien 3 comparison is pretty apt too. 

We entered the game in that 360 Dream Build Play competition, hopefully we'll have something ready for public consumption at the end of the year.

Cheers!

[Thaddeus]

I watched an Alien 3 speedrun and in ways it does remind me of Parasitus. It's probably the whole flamethrower deal...

About Vampiria: I don't know if we will ever revisit that project. We burnt out on it for the reasons listed. Although it would be a lot easier now since we would have the Parasitus engine to build upon. And we still have a bunch of unused original art. Some of the art has already been modified and incorporated into Parasitus, however. I hate spending months on making this shit and not putting it to use.