Fast Striker, a NEW Neo Geo vertizontal shooter from NG:Dev Team!

[Burnsro]

As reported in German gaming mag M!Games NG: DEV Team (Last Hope) are to release a new Neo Geo shoot 'em up called Fast Striker in Q3 2010.

- Game will be released for MVS and distributed to arcades. Further there will be a cheaper "consumer MVS" version with forced freeplay.

- It will be vertically scrolling, with horizontal screen.

- Scoring system will be Dodonpachi-esque chaining with a counter that discharges into a large laser with multiplier.

- Apparently there will be three different game modes to choose from. (?)

- Game uses 1024 Megs for graphics, with animated backgrounds at 60fps.

Magazine Screenshots:
http://img682.imageshack.us/i/faststriker1.jpg/
http://img246.imageshack.us/i/faststriker2.jpg/

Here's a translation of the article. (Translated by Plasmo)

„Fast Striker“ is a vertical shooter, made by NGEV.TEAM, in which the background scrolls from top to bottom. It’s designed for the usual 4:3 aspect ratio, the special term for this is “vertizontal”. As we could see during playtesting, the game's system is based on classics like “Strikers 45”, “DoDonPachi” and “Ikaruga”, but doesn’t quite reach the perfection of those. While you are fighting for pure survival in “Original”-Mode, you have to build up a chain in “Maniac”-Mode and have to score with colour combinations in “Color”-Mode. It’s a nice feeling to exclusively reveal a new title, especially if it’s one for the Neo-Geo. The developer SNK, has abandoned the 16bit system about 6 years ago, but Timm and René Hellwig don’t care about that.

After their first horizontal game “Last Hope” (2006), the brothers from Hannover present their second shooter “Fast Striker” for this rather old system. A shooter, that has potential to be an international success. With SNK Playmore as a publisher, the two developers are planning to bring the shooter to the last arcades of this world. At this time SNK Playmore didn’t give their OK yet.
Apart from that, it looks like the two developers learned from their mistakes of their first game and so the new maxim is “Reward instead of Punishment”. Casual gamers now have the chance, thanks to the selectable difficult settings, to see more than just the first stage. “In the past we thought that checkpoints were necessary for a good gamedesign”, Timm admits. “Later I realized that this was nonsense and that you don’t need such thing at all.” There’s a complex scoringsystem to keep players motivated.

The rendered background graphics of “Fast Striker” rush by with 60 frames per second, while dozens of colourful bullets keep the player busy. Taking a glance under the hood proves it: the gorgeous visuals are indeed only produced by a Neo Geo MVS. More than any other game, “Fast Striker” uses everything the system has to offer technically. Only in the sixth and last level, slowdowns and graphical glitches appear. “That’s what we’re currently working on”, René comments. One can be excited about it - the finished product will be released around mid 2010.

source: http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic...=29984&start=0

[IDCHAPPY]

It's amazing to think folks will still develop games for the good old neo geo, especially such a small operation. Good luck to them

[Opethian]

no AES cart slated Looks like i'll need a CMVS sooner than later. I really enjoyed Last Hope.

[Burnsro]

Originally Posted by Opethian

no AES cart slated Looks like i'll need a CMVS sooner than later. I really enjoyed Last Hope.

They didn't announce a NGCD or DC either so I bet they're just going to focus on the MVS release first and then work out the details for other platforms later.

[Opethian]

Yes but if they are to manufacture MVS how much trouble would it take them to make them on an AES cart?

[Hewitson]

- Game will be released for MVS and distributed to arcades. Further there will be a cheaper "consumer MVS" version with forced freeplay.

Aside from the fact that this is the lamest thing I've ever heard, don't these idiots realise that not every "consumer MVS" is set to free play.

[imagamer2]

I thought Last Hope was absolutely horrible. Maybe this one will be better...

[LWK]

How much at release? I am not down with that 600$ style price tag for fan games.

Oh, no home release. NM

[TougaKiryuu]

I'd be down for this assuming they don't want an assload for the arcade op version.

[Xian Xi]

Maybe Timm and Rene can make one for the Hyper 64 in the future.

[Murray]

Originally Posted by Hewitson

Aside from the fact that this is the lamest thing I've ever heard, don't these idiots realise that not every "consumer MVS" is set to free play.

I think they mean it will just always be freeplay, regardless of how your MVS is set. Anyway, I'm sure a P1 swap will fix that for those that care.

I will buy this, sight unseen, with 3 requirements:

1. Real MVS PCBs must not used as sac boards.
2. $150 or less price tag for the "consumer" version.
3. Must work with the Unibios out of the box.

[Loup-Garou]

I was wondering what the price might be as well.

I'm all for another vert shooter, but I wouldn't pay hundreds of dollars for one.

[BigTinz]

OH god. Time for another expensive disaster.

[NEOFREAK9189]

that suck no AES and NG CD

[Clessy]

Man you huge neo fans are fucking morons. Its the only comunity that activly hates the only one supporting it.

[smkdan]

I was wondering what the price might be as well.

I'm all for another vert shooter, but I wouldn't pay hundreds of dollars for one.

yeah as much as I like supporting this sort of development, I'm not forking out hundreds for what is still just a video game.

Originally Posted by Interview from shmups forum

Q: Rumours say that SNK Playmore has retired from the MVS business, because they couldn’t cope with the piracy that was going on. Don’t you worry about this?

Our cartridges have copy protection. We also use our own circuit boards, which are new and clearly superior. We knew about the weakpoints, that SNK Playmore had in their designs and have fixed them.

Looks like they won't be saccing anything, hopefully they can get a decent deal on the boards+assembly. I know that well over a gigabit worth of ROMs for a low volume production is going to cost them quite a bit though. Would really like to hear more details on the costs of the 'consumer' cart.

I think they mean it will just always be freeplay, regardless of how your MVS is set. Anyway, I'm sure a P1 swap will fix that for those that care.

ROM dumps + cracking encryption for something so minor? They have to care an awful lot on this case.

[William H. Seward]

Even if it is gonna cost me a kidney: I WANT THAT GAME

[G-sample]

Originally Posted by ratson

Even if it is gonna cost me a kidney: I WANT THAT GAME

Damn straight! Im with you on that.

[Hewitson]

Originally Posted by Murray

I think they mean it will just always be freeplay, regardless of how your MVS is set. Anyway, I'm sure a P1 swap will fix that for those that care.

Yeah, I gathered that, my point was that plenty of people who use their MVS in a not-for-profit situation still like to "insert" credits and use them like in an arcade.

These people are pretty full of themselves to think an arcade would even bother installing their game. Itd never come close to being as popular (or as good) as Strikers. The graphics look damn good, but I bet the code sucks, as it did in Last Hope.

[Clessy]

Last hope on neo cd is really good and so it pink bullet edition.

[Burnsro]

Interview translated by Plasmo

Q: NGEV.TEAM is worldwide the last company producing games for the Neo-Geo. How does it feel like?

Timm: Feels nice! Although we would certainly like to have some competition, because we’d like to play games other than our own. You can’t enjoy your own games the way you’d enjoy other games, because you already know them inside-out. Even on a hobby-level, noone really dares to program anything for this system. Of course the niveau is rather high. On the Neo-Geo you can’t impress with simple games.


Q: Rumours say that SNK Playmore has retired from the MVS business, because they couldn’t cope with the piracy that was going on. Don’t you worry about this?

Our cartridges have copy protection. We also use our own circuit boards, which are new and clearly superior. We knew about the weakpoints, that SNK Playmore had in their designs and have fixed them.


Q: A small company fixes the problem that SNK Playmore, owner of the rights for Neo-Geo, has given up on?

We’re flexible and brave while japanese people are very reluctant when it comes to business decisions.


Q: SNK has printed the number of megabites on each case. What number would “Fast Striker” have?

Definitely over 1000. We aim to get 1024 megabit on the graphics’ side. The highest SNK Playmore had to offer regarding graphics, was 512 megabit, so we’re able to double that. It’s going to be the biggest game for the Neo-Geo.


Q: How many bullets can be on screen at the same time?

I think it’s about 140. It’s not much compared to modern Cave games, but it’s the maximum on the Neo-Geo yet.


Q: Amongst other things, you can see a three-dimensional looking city as a background graphic. How does that work?

That’s a rendered 3-d animation. There are 120 frames, that repeat themselve after one circle. As far as memory concerns, this takes up 64 to 128 magebit per background.


Q: How did you come up with the name “Fast Striker”? Sounds a bit like football…

Because we’ve heard some criticism already, we haven’t decided on the name yet. René came up with it and it was supposed to underline the game’s speed. We quickly agreed on “Fast” and René added “Striker”. It’s supposed to mean something like “Schneller Angreifer” [literal german translation]


Q: How does the scoresystem in Maniac mode, the game’s main mode, work?

In Maniac mode, similar to DoDonPachi, you have to destroy enemies in a certain timeframe. There’s a bar on the left, which slowly decreases. If it’s empty, your chain is broken. You quickly have to destroy more enemies again to fill up the gauge again. An extension and feature of our game is the so called “grinding”. You get into “grinding”-mode when you’ve shot bigger enemies with your beam shot for long enough. Your ship and its laser become green, you weaken the enemy and during this time, you get twice as many points and the chain value doubles. Using the “grinding” technique is the most important way to score in this game.


Q: How do the bosses look like and how do you defeat them?

The bosses are machines and spaceships. We have, for example, a spaceship with turbines called “Guardian”. It flies over a city and protects it. If you destroy its turbines first, you are rewarded with a higher score. These secrets arise from a creative process. We don’t sit down for a month, write everything down and then work off each point. We discuss, play and implement the ideas.


Q: What makes a shooter good? What do you have to do?

That’s a difficult question. We had a concept in the beginning, but we’ve already moved away from these first ideas over the time. The “Colour”-mode was originally meant to be the main one. It’s based on “Radiant Silvergun” and “Ikaruga”, but became a little bit too weird over the time.


Q: 2d-shooters made in Europe often look promising, but on a second look reveal lacks in gameplay. The difference often lies in small details. Are the Japanese simply better in developing 2d shooters?

What does “better” mean? I think, that the main problem with European 2d shooters is, that we have been stuck to one concept for too long while people enjoyed Japanese shooters more. There are certainly players who like Euro-Shmups. You can clearly see that from the success of “Söldner-X”. I’d agree that the Japanese are much better and that they have brought it to perfection over so many years. Best example: Cave. It doesn’t matter where you look at, everything’s perfectly thought through. As a developer it’s even clearer to see. In details, their shooters are still evolving of course.


Q: With what features does your game contribute to the genre?

Actually with the grinding feature, that builds up on already known concepts. Other than that, of course with the visuals. The rendered backgrounds are something special, not only for the Neo-Geo, but also for the arcade scene in general. Cave makes use of big wallpapers, while our backgrounds are animated.


Q: What retail price are you aiming at?

Because we want to release “Fast Striker” in the arcades, the price is going to be similar to other games there. A bit cheaper maybe, because we’re newcomers, but still expensive. But we’re planning to release a cheaper MVS cartridge as a consumer version later on. We probably have to change the coin options for this one so that the cheaper version can not be used in an arcade. There are no plans for any Neo-Geo home conversions of “Fast Striker” yet.


Q: By the way, how much does a Cave PCB cost for an arcade owner?

Around 1500€ - we want to have our game way below that tag.


Q: Still a lot of money, but owners of a Neo-Geo are used to this sorrow. When will the game be released?

We’ll have finished programming the game around february. During this period we will also be negotiating with potential publishers. It would be nice to announce the game on the next arcade expo.


Q: Will more Neo-Geo games follow?

Definitely!

source: http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic...29984&start=30

[awbacon]

Looks like a mix-up between Last Hope and DUX graphically wise (from the two scans)

I'd bite on this, but on NGCD. I have Last Hope for cd. Don't think I want to drop the cash to invest in MVS or AES (unless its reasonable, and clearly NGev Team has a terrible history with the word "affordable"

Interesting though. I just hope it ends up on NGCD

[Xian Xi]

If Timm and Rene plan to charge more than $150 per cart I think it should be a kit.

[Hewitson]

Originally Posted by Burnsro

Q: Rumours say that SNK Playmore has retired from the MVS business, because they couldn’t cope with the piracy that was going on. Don’t you worry about this?

Our cartridges have copy protection. We also use our own circuit boards, which are new and clearly superior. We knew about the weakpoints, that SNK Playmore had in their designs and have fixed them.


Q: A small company fixes the problem that SNK Playmore, owner of the rights for Neo-Geo, has given up on?

We’re flexible and brave while japanese people are very reluctant when it comes to business decisions.

Well, since they are so sure, I will definitely try to boot this cart. If they are wrong I'll be tempted to spread the roms like wildfire to teach them a lesson.

Only a fool of a programmer would think their code can't be cracked.

[ECZangief]

Cant say enough how awesome it is that people are taking the time to get this dedicated to old school formats. loveitloveitloveit