Elysian Shadows

Hey guys,

So it's been forever since I've been here, and I do apologize for being a stranger, but I'm finally putting the finishing touches on a project I've been working on for the past two years. It's a 2D platformer, similar to Mega Man, that has the resolution and color palette of the original GameBoy. I dropped Golvellius 3D for this project, because it was much smaller in scope. In fact, I originally thought that this game would only take 6 months to finish! Needless to say, I totally underestimated the scope of the project. (srsly...I am DRAINED from this 2D platformer, written in XNA, with 5 levels...I can't imagine developing a full-length, multiplatform RPG from the ground up, like ES. ) A co-worker of mine did all of the graphics and level design, I wrote the editor and the game itself, and we hired FantomenK to produce the soundtrack.

With a wife, daughter, and full-time job, I had to beg, borrow, and steal time where ever possible! Hell, some weeks just getting 2 hours of dev time in was a luxury! But, eventually I figured out that I was wasting entirely too much time sleeping at night, so I started pulling all-nighters a few months ago. :P

If you happen to be an XNA Creator's Club member, Rad Raygun is currently uploaded for XBLIG Playtesting. I'm going to submit for Peer Review on January 30th. So, hopefully it'll be on the marketplace in the next few weeks!



This game is my official homage to the 80's and retro gaming - hope you guys dig it!

I've been following this game since the first videos, and I'm really glad to see how good it turned out. Congratulations!

trufun202 wrote:But, eventually I figured out that I was wasting entirely too much time sleeping at night,

That is so true.

trufun202 wrote:so I started pulling all-nighters a few months ago.

Naturally

I'm soooooo glad you didn't quit working on this... You just receded into the shadows and kept your head low for awhile (like we do).

I'm not an XNA Creator club member, but I am excited as shit to buy this when gets released!

Falco Girgis wrote:I'm soooooo glad you didn't quit working on this... You just receded into the shadows and kept your head low for awhile (like we do).

I'm not an XNA Creator club member, but I am excited as shit to buy this when gets released!

Yep been following him on youtube and twitter, and I can honestly say I can't wait to play this bad boy.

Thanks everyone, I really do appreciate it!

Falco Girgis wrote:I'm soooooo glad you didn't quit working on this... You just receded into the shadows and kept your head low for awhile (like we do).

Exactly! I had to make a decision - keep making YouTube videos to build interest or FINISH THE DAMN GAME. (btw, I replied to your comments on the YouTubez)

Well, well, well! I'm looking forward to trying a little something on that title screen!

Also, I'm curious as to how you represented parallax layers in your level editor!

Falco Girgis wrote:Well, well, well! I'm looking forward to trying a little something on that title screen!

Also, I'm curious as to how you represented parallax layers in your level editor!

At first, the parallax layers were static with the collision layer and only positioned correctly in preview mode. But, that became a nightmare to maintain - especially on larger levels. So now it lines up in the editor just as it does in-game. The background parallax is also made up of a large background image with tiles overlayed for detail. This made it much easier to have larger landmarks in the background, but still have detail and animation with the tiles.

Oh yeah, it also helped that all of the graphics are scaled up 4x in-game and only 4 colors. So the "large" parallax backgrounds weren't really that big, memory-wise.

This is so awesome man! It's great to see you've made it through to end. I love the Contra-style boss in the preview, and tetris haha.

Unfortunately for me I don't have an XBox.. so unless there's some way to get it for PC I won't be able to play it.

dandymcgee wrote:This is so awesome man! It's great to see you've made it through to end. I love the Contra-style boss in the preview, and tetris haha.

Unfortunately for me I don't have an XBox.. so unless there's some way to get it for PC I won't be able to play it.

Ha ha, thanks man. Right now, I'm focusing on the 360 release, but I will probably submit the game to Steam Greenlight so it can be considered for a Steam PC release.

I've been following this project for a bit and I cannot wait to play this! I love the style of the game it looks pretty fun and goddamn I will say one of the key factors that sold me on this was the music. I love this track so much!

Production quality is awesome. Looked like the difficulty could use a ramp up but I guess I'll just have to buy it and see >:)

This game looks incredible! I especially love the sliding mechanic. I always find that little things like that end up really making a game stand out to me. Let us know if you ever do release it for PC, I'd love to grab a copy.

oh awesome i will have to grab it on playtest!! i saw you had to pull for bug, (me too, waiting until sat to resubmit. The week long waiting period is brutal! mine was 1 line of code ) ill throw u 2 peer reviews once you get it up, and i have a couple friends with them too i will have them review it. should give u about 2 to 4 reviews first day.

if you wouldn't mind throwing me a peer review as well on saturday , or whenever you get a chance following it, i would appreciate it!

good luck, going to go try it now

Will you be making another game called "Rad Raygun X" that takes the original and makes everything even better than it was in the original? :D This is looking amazing. I wish I had an Xbox, although I'll give you figurative support until that happens.