u/same_vibes

Hey, I thought r/shmups'ers might like this and maybe have some feedback

I'm developing a shmup where you play as the last fighter pilot on earth, fighting against a demon invasion. The mechanical twist in this game is that you can combine elements (fire, ice, lightning, impact and holy) to create different projectiles—which you will need to get you through the different scenarios thrown your way.

I'm hopeful to get a playable demo out this year to gather some feedback from hardcore shmup fans but in the meantime here's an early video demo.

Some weekend progress on my shmup game called Hellchain.

The main game mechanic is that you can combine elements (fire, ice, lightning etc) together to shoot different projectile types; Beams, shotguns, uzi, grenades and more.

The biggest design challenge has been deciding how all the elements (fire, ice, lightning, etc) can combo together into different weapons while still feeling unique and useful in different situations. Starting to feel very fun though. Here's a couple mins gameplay.

Little WIP from this weekend, working the laser beam attacks. Still needs lots of tuning but feeling cool so far!

This is from a retro 2D shoot 'em up I'm building where a core mechanic is to combo elements together to create different attack types. This beam is created with a combo of ice and lightning for example.

Power fantasy of the game is that you're Earth's last fighter pilot and last hope, fighting against a demon invasion.

Building this with Love2D engine, coding with Cursor.

Pixel art assets are a mix of hand made and some generated with Retro Diffusion and GPT Image.

Playable Link: https://cryptraiders.xyz

Platform: Web (desktop or mobile browser)

Description:

This is an early demo — the core gameplay loop is playable but the game is not 100% complete. I'm actively polishing and balancing based on real player feedback.

Crypt Raiders is an arcade-y twin stick shooter where the aim is to escape maze-like graveyard levels that increase in size and complexity as you progress. Survive as long as you can to achieve a high score on the leaderboard.

You can play single-player or online co-op.

What I'm especially hoping to learn from players:

- Was the first 5 minutes fun? If not, what felt boring, slow, confusing, or broken?
- Were any mechanics unclear (controls, loot, upgrading, floor progression, etc.)?
- Any performance issues, bugs, loading problems, or browser compatibility weirdness?
- Any suggestions? I'm planning on adding more content (i.e. weapons, upgrades and boss/challenge fights)

Free to Play Status:
- [x] Free to play

Involvement: I'm the solo developer behind the game.