Kai_Magazine Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 Hello everyone! Some people have been asking to see a game-play video of this game, and now that the game is finished with Intellivoice support (Thanks to Joe Zbiciak) the time to show it has come. https://youtu.be/tbDTSdXt7kk This is a 24 minutes long of uninterrupted, uncensored game-play video of the upcoming 5th Kai Magazine game for Intellivision: Star Mercenary, produced and published by Elektronite. Please watch this video at HD 60FPS so the scroll looks smoother. Even watching it at 60 FPS, the video will not show how smooth the game really is on the original Intellivision due to emulator/monitor synchronization/video-capture synchronization issues. This game uses Intellivoice (optionally) and plays high quality custom sampled voices. Thank you very much to Joe Zbiciak for making this possible! This game is finished and it will soon begin the beta-testing process, so there can be some small variations and text corrections in the final version. If you watch all the video carefully you will see how the planets closer to the Separatists capital have better defenses and bigger star bases, how important is to level up the engine and the Afterburner in order to dodge the MK2 turret bullets which become faster and more frequent and to avoid the enemy fighters chasing you and get on a better position to shot them down so you have better chances in a dogfight, how important is to upgrade the power of your weapons so you can destroy the more resilient enemy fighters easily so you don't get your ass spanked, etc. If you don't want to watch the entire video and you just skip parts of it, you will see how at the beginning everything moves slower and everything is quieter, and as the video advances, you will see faster bullets, more fighters, turrets and explosions, and the player's ship is also faster and more powerful as it is improved and upgraded in the star bases. About the game: The game is a space shooter RPG, meaning that at the beginning you will start with a slow, under-powered ship and as you earn money by defeating enemies and accomplishing missions you will be able to upgrade your ship so you can engage in harder missions. You will start at the main base where you can select your next mission, upgrade your ship, see the ship's status and save your game progress. The star map will show you the sectors where you can travel to in black background and the sectors you cannot travel to in blue. The allied bases and planets will be shown in green colors while the enemy bases will be shown in red/orange and the enemy planets in their natural colors (blue/green for example). Select an allied base or planet in order to land in it and upgrade your ship, see the ship's status and save your game progress. Select an enemy base or planet to begin an attack at its defenses so the assault ground team can capture it. In order to complete your mission and capture the base or planet, you will have to defeat all its air defenses and a certain amount of structures or turrets depending on the difficulty level you selected when you started a new game. Normal: You must destroy at least 90% of the structures and turrets. Hard: You must destroy at least 95% of the structures and turrets. Insane: You must destroy all the structures and turrets. The remaining amount of objectives to destroy in order to complete the minimum percentage will be shown in the pause/status screen which can be accessed during game-play by pressing the left lower side button. -Assaulting bases and planets- The afterburner is a key element during the game since it will allow you to evade a storm of bullets going to your direction and also evade the enemy fighters and allow you to relocate your ship in a position that gives you the advantage in a dog fight, so it is best to learn how to use it the sooner the better. The afterburner will last just for a few seconds but it will slowly reload over time. You can check the afterburner load, your shield strength and everything else on the pause/status screen. The afterburner will last longer if you upgrade it, and it will reload faster if you upgrade the engine. The mission will end if your shield strength reaches zero or if all your objectives have been completed. In both cases your ship will automatically jump into hyperspace and leave the area. You will then see a mission status screen showing your accomplishments. If the mission was a failure you will return to the main base. If it was a success, you will dock on the captured base or planet you assaulted. This means your ship will never be destroyed and you will earn money on every mission by destroying enemies and structures even if the mission failed, so even if you are defeated over and over, you will slowly increase your funds and you will be able to upgrade your ship further. As you engage in harder missions, enemy fighters will be more resilient and will need more shots to be destroyed, so don't forget to upgrade your weapons. Turrets will shot more frequently and faster projectiles as well, so upgrade your shields as well. I hope you like it! 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kai_Magazine Posted July 31, 2020 Author Share Posted July 31, 2020 And the cover: 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sinjinhawke Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 Looks amazing. Day one purchase. Couldn't help but notice but I didn't hear any opera? 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kai_Magazine Posted July 31, 2020 Author Share Posted July 31, 2020 There was not enough memory in the cart to put the sampled soprano voice singing, so we are looking on ways to fit a live soprano lady on each game box, but it is proving to be challenging to say the least. (just kidding!) ^_^! 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cubelindo Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 This is absolutely awesome ? When are you planning on distributing this? I would like a copy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sinjinhawke Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 25 minutes ago, Kai_Magazine said: There was not enough memory in the cart to put the sampled soprano voice singing, so we are looking on ways to fit a live soprano lady on each game box, but it is proving to be challenging to say the least. (just kidding!) ^_^! I think there are a few on here who would have loved to sing "Elektronite Presents: Star Mercenary" in the most operatic way for the initial turn. Maybe for a custom rom release. The B-17 Bomber one has reigned supreme for far too long. Even my son who has never played B17 still randomly does that one. Anyway can't wait for this. Excellent work. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kai_Magazine Posted July 31, 2020 Author Share Posted July 31, 2020 25 minutes ago, cubelindo said: This is absolutely awesome ? When are you planning on distributing this? I would like a copy. Thank you! Elektronite (the publisher) have their hands full with the distribution of the 4th Kai Magazine game for Intellivision: A Tale of Dragons and Swords. Just in case you missed it, it is now on pre-order period: This 4th one will take several months to publish and send to everyone, and after that they will start with this 5th one (Star Mercenary), which will also take a few months, so it will not be soon I am affraid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kai_Magazine Posted July 31, 2020 Author Share Posted July 31, 2020 (edited) 24 minutes ago, Sinjinhawke said: I think there are a few on here who would have loved to sing "Elektronite Presents: Star Mercenary" in the most operatic way for the initial turn. Maybe for a custom rom release. The B-17 Bomber one has reigned supreme for far too long. Even my son who has never played B17 still randomly does that one. Anyway can't wait for this. Excellent work. Yes, we all love and remember how that very cool voice says "B-17 Boooomber" at the beginning, so your idea is appealing Elektronite Presents: Star Meeeeercenary ...no, it's not the same, it sounds like a cheap copy. The Boooomer thingy is a "once in a life-time" thing. Edited July 31, 2020 by Kai_Magazine reflexions. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zendocon Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 57 minutes ago, Kai_Magazine said: There was not enough memory in the cart to put the sampled soprano voice singing, Actually, I was hoping to use the IntelliVoice to create a singing AI. Even with the stock voice samples, I would just have to create a custom tracker to keep modulating the voice pitch. Yes, that really is an idea of mine. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kai_Magazine Posted July 31, 2020 Author Share Posted July 31, 2020 That sounds really cool! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZillaRUSH Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 Awesome...cant wait to buy it!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Black_Tiger Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 In the original screenshots the visuals reminded me of an early 8-bit generation shooter, like Alpha Mission. That alone is impressive for a "pre-crash" console game. But seeing it in motion it totally feels like Thunder Force II, right down to the satisfying explosions (sights and sounds) and dual layer multi-directional parallax. The voice effects aren't just gratuitous and actually compliment the gameplay. Unlike Thunder Force II, the voices and music play at the same time. I love the idea of grinding out upgrades similar to some racing games. Something else I didn't expect is how massive the stages can be. Yet again, I wish I could show this game to my family bitd. With each new Kai Magazine production my idea of what the limits of possibilty are for Intellivision games keeps pushing further and further, yet I still find myself surprised with each new release. Both by the aesthetic and gameplay, but also how unique each game has been from one another. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kai_Magazine Posted August 3, 2020 Author Share Posted August 3, 2020 Wow! Thank you very much! Your message made my day! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imstarryeyed Posted September 1, 2020 Share Posted September 1, 2020 I definitely got the Thunderforce top down / Bosconian vibe from this and that is an awesome thing.. Honestly I think this is the future of retro gaming.. giving a compelling story with cinematics and a solid game that you can work up to completing. Inspiration from 2 great games with similar mechanics and making something very solid and fun from it.. brilliant. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kai_Magazine Posted September 1, 2020 Author Share Posted September 1, 2020 Thank you very much for your kind words! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin6569 Posted November 11, 2020 Share Posted November 11, 2020 When is this expected to be released? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kai_Magazine Posted November 11, 2020 Author Share Posted November 11, 2020 7 minutes ago, kevin6569 said: When is this expected to be released? I don't know, sorry. This game will be published by Elektronite. You can follow them on Facebook in order to keep updated of their news. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taslim Posted December 4, 2022 Share Posted December 4, 2022 Where can I get it in ROM Format for purchase or free? $20 for the ROM would be reasonable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiLic0ne t0aD Posted December 5, 2022 Share Posted December 5, 2022 I'd definitely pay $20 for a ROM too. 👍 Sadly, I don't think the game in digital format is available at the moment. Hopefully someday though. 🤞 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imstarryeyed Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 I am going this game week be physical published, it looks like just a few were made and I am hoping they will do a wider release. That is unless I missed it, which I hope is not the case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGG Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 2 hours ago, imstarryeyed said: I am going this game week be physical published, it looks like just a few were made and I am hoping they will do a wider release. That is unless I missed it, which I hope is not the case. It's still available as physical from Elektronite. You can message them directly through their FB page or, from time to time they pop up at other retailers like Intellivision Collector, Blue Sky Rangers, Good Deal Games, ect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imstarryeyed Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 Thank you I reached out to them and bought some from William. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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