Aside of a few people here asking to keep the 8-bit as an option, 16-bit+ has gone over extremely well on all fronts! So we will continue along as Insanity’s Blade: The Arcade Experience!

I’ve already made many more changes to art and we are currently rethinking the HUD. We’ve also added in a very early wide screen support which will need a lot of things worked out for it but overall, it’s working great already. For the beginning of some stages there is an empty space to the left as it was build to show a 4:3 amount of gfx only, So it should only be a matter of adding extra background bits to cover up that empty space!

Thurstan has had another palette change as I’ve found him to be a little too orange! As far as the 8-bit goes, it’s only myself doing the graphics in my spare time. We will try to put an 8-bit mode in since the graphics are 75% done in NES format already. It would be a shame to waste them. We will probably do that as an update after release so we don’t miss our April release date!

I’ll be adding more little effects to the levels now too, like the falling platforms in stage 1’s house area will catch on fire as you walk over them before they fall. Possibly some smoke FX, etc etc. I want to capture the atmosphere as much as possible and that was something that wasn’t really doable in 8-bit with such a limited palette.

Anyhow a big thank you for the comments and pm’s! Your support means a lot, every bit of feed back counted! Stay tuned for the full stage 2 update, we’re nearly there – bosses and all!

Chris

You read that right! We’ve put about 18+ hours into updating the graphics in the demo (separate set of working files) over the weekend and updated all of the graphics to full color in the game. So technically it’s no longer the 8-bit experience if we go down this route.

So before I pull the trigger, We wanted to show you all a video of the game in full color. Also we have made other changes along the way that were part of the 8-bit update as well. The main character has a new upper body animation for walking. No one liked my super Robocop pose 😉 So we caved and changed it. Title screen is now animated – this is my favorite new update! End of first stage house is partially rebuilt as well as a bit of the underground to make it a bit easier for co-op. Tweaked camera here too. Intro bits have subtle animations in them. And I can’t remember what else we have done. It basically looks like a new game!

The gameplay itself will remain the same as well as the music and sound. Only the graphics would be changing.

The reason behind this update mostly because we wanted to bring you a better experience – and with the limited 8-bit NES palette there was a lot of color blending going on between the action and the background. This not only fixes that issue but also brings a new level of excitement and playability to the game!

New demo links posted below video!!

This update is not the beta update that we’ve been working on with the shooter stage/cart boss fight etc. If the new graphic update gets a yes votes then we will have to recolor everything we’ve done since the Kickstarter ended – will take a few days 🙂

Anyhow enjoy the video and we look forward to your feedback and votes. We will check the votes as of Friday Dec 10th at 12am my time and let everyone know which direction the graphics will go in!

Here is the Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHDAf9Pnoxw

Demo Links:

WINDOWS
MAC
LINUX32
LINUX64

Chris & Daven

Happy Holidays from all of us here at Causal Bit Games! It’s been a busy few days since the Kickstarter campaign successfully ended! We’ve been hard at work on some new bits!

Announcing the shooter stages!!

We decided that platforming, zombie surfing and mini games were not giving us the full game feeling we wanted, so we’ve replaced a few of the regular platforming stages with shooter stages! In single player or co-op climb aboard a rotting dragon and fly it through the skies, defeating the airborne undead!

Massive stage 7 updates!!

Although the map and boss for the decaying church stage have been close to completed for some time, there were no enemies and the boss fight wasn’t completed (no death animation). Well it is now! We’ve added 4 new enemy types just for this stage. Priest zombies, Puking Nun Zombies, Purple Eye Snot, and Fade – a giant clump of ectoplasm that sucks your energy away! Also added collapsing floors to the mix.

And again! Happy Holidays from the gang at Causal Bit Games!!

Chris

Thank you all!!!

It’s thanks to each one of you for spreading the word and backing the campaign that Insanity’s Blade is funded, let alone the bonus stretch goals of Corpse Surfing and Arena arcade modes! Because of you, these arcade modes will be fully fleshed out with multiple characters to choose from and competitive local multiplayer fun!

We really loved to see all the great feedback and comments on both this Kickstarter and our ongoing Steam Greenlight page, which have helped to influence the game already. You’ve given us some great ideas to work into the full game and even some plans for the time ahead.

Whats coming up for us next?: 

1. Continue striving for the Wii U (and other console/mobile) ports. We’ll look into setting up a PayPal option on our website and possibly other locations.

2. Continue updating the demo as we improve the core engine and add new gameplay features. We want everyone to get a true sample of the final game before it releases.

We look forward to making this game into the ultimate 8-bit experience while also telling the excellent and emotional story of our main characters Thurstan and Finn.

Another round of applause to Dan for getting us out there in such a limited time span! Outstanding work!!

Again, a big thank you to everyone for your unbelievable support through this campaign! We couldn’t have done it without you!! Keep watching for our updates! The Kickstarter may have finished but we’re just getting warmed up!!

Chris and Daven