I’m proud to release Protostriker M as a complete and finished game today! Protostriker M is horiztontal scrolling shmup in a classic 8-bit style. The game features authentic NES style 8-bit graphics and chiptunes, six levels, four switchable weapons, many different enemy types, and full gamepad support. It is available on both Windows and Linux.

This is my first original game, and a project that has been in development for way too long. I started it three years ago, meant to be a simple shooter that I could take from design to release in a reletively short amount of time. I ended up putting down and picking up development sporadically over the past three years. Even though it’s not super flashy or innovative, I always thought it would be a shame to leave it unfinished. I’m glad I pushed through it and I’m very proud and relieved to be releasing it today.

This project was mainly meant to be a learning one. I tried to keep the design simple, and my scope small, and learn something about the game development process from start to finish. The biggest thing I’ve learned is the importance of design, both game and code design.

I began with a very simple design doc for what I thought was a very simple game. Throughout the coding process, I found many things that I had not accounted for in my original design. This lengthened development time greatly. The take away is: Be as detailed as you possibly can in your design, but not so detailed that it’s inflexible. I think the amount of detail you need is something you can learn only after doing it once.

In regards to code design, I had put together a basic and very general game engine based on my experiences writing simple clones of Pong, Tetris, ect. The game engine paid off because I was able to focus mostly on the game, with small tweaks to the engine code here and there. It made writing a more complicated game way more manageable. While I think I had some pretty good designs in the engine code, it wasn’t until later that I saw the flaws in it. Instead of stopping development and ripping the engine apart, I decided to work with it and take note of the things that could be improved upon for next time. Again, I think these are things you can only learn by doing it once.

In conclusion, I learned a ton from making this game. Did its development go super smoothly? No, but I learned things I could only learn by struggling with it. As a result, my next game will benefit in all aspects.

Thank you for checking my game out and I hope you enjoy playing it!