Vektar Review

[darkman]

I have been playing the homebrew free download of this game this past week, just to see if I can get the hang of playing and would want the bought one. My question is, Is there a difference in levels and enemies? Is there more good music in the bought one? Is it more of a good thing? I read the review but falled to see any mention of a comparing of the two. Is the free one just a taste of the real thing? :huh:

 

[Dzz]

I have been playing the homebrew free download of this game this past week, just to see if I can get the hang of playing and would want the bought one. My question is, Is there a difference in levels and enemies? Is there more good music in the bought one? Is it more of a good thing? I read the review but falled to see any mention of a comparing of the two. Is the free one just a taste of the real thing? :huh:

Download the just-released demo of the commercial game from:

http://gp2x.co.uk/commercial.html

and decide for yourself

 

[daclassicgamingmaster]

is dzz getting a kickback from every game sold?

 

[darkman]

I have been playing the homebrew free download of this game this past week, just to see if I can get the hang of playing and would want the bought one. My question is, Is there a difference in levels and enemies? Is there more good music in the bought one? Is it more of a good thing? I read the review but falled to see any mention of a comparing of the two. Is the free one just a taste of the real thing? :huh:

Download the just-released demo of the commercial game from:

http://gp2x.co.uk/commercial.html

and decide for yourself

Well lets see,... having not gotten past the second wave yet on the free one, (ya I know, I'm a wuss) I have no idea what the latter levels are like. Guess I'll just have to try and get through it. Playing the demo does show a more pollished look and feel. And it does have some different music in the preview that is given. Beyond that I can only guess that the free one is like having Vektar one and the bought one is like having Vektar two. :huh:

 

[Dzz]

is dzz getting a kickback from every game sold?

Not that it's any of your business, but no.

I only say this so people know that when I say that I am impressed with the commercial version, I have no financial interest in doing so. I think the game came out great.

Well lets see,... having not gotten past the second wave yet on the free one, (ya I know, I'm a wuss) I have no idea what the latter levels are like. Guess I'll just have to try and get through it. Playing the demo does show a more pollished look and feel. And it does have some different music in the preview that is given. Beyond that I can only guess that the free one is like having Vektar one and the bought one is like having Vektar two. :huh:

There are now various versions of Vektar. There was once a version for the Coding Competition, which was called version 0.1. That version is no longer available. Now there is a freeware version 1.0 that was derived from that. In that version, you cycle through "waves", each one of which has 11 "phases". The phases have distinct enemies but then "wave 2 phase 1" is just a harder version of "wave 1 phase 1", and that repeats until it gets too hard and you die. Then there are two commercial demos. The first was released a long time ago and contains several levels which are not too different from the freeware version. This new commercial demo shows off some of the features of the commercial version -- more extensive walls to make flying more interesting, powerups, lots of new enemy types, new music, elaborate artwork, and so on.

So if by "not gotten past the second wave" you mean wave 2 of the freeware version, the 11 phases of wave 3 look just like the 11 phases of wave 2 except they are harder.

The commercial game has a rather different gameplay concept (well, you still have to shoot stuff) and many different features. The gameplay concept of the freeware version was that once you get good at it, a single game might last half an hour of somewhat repetitive waves (similar in that way to the coin-op asteroids game). You die a lot but you get lots of free ships too.

From what I have seen so far, the commercial game is based on short but difficult levels, each of which has a very different and unique feel to it, and you save your progress after completing a set of levels. It may take you a long time to master a level set sufficiently to move on to the next set of levels, but each individual game will not take very long.

So you should check that demo out if you are thinking of buying the commercial game.

 

[iignotus]

is dzz getting a kickback from every game sold?

Not that it's any of your business, but no.

I only say this so people know that when I say that I am impressed with the commercial version, I have no financial interest in doing so. I think the game came out great.

Certainly not to start a tiff, but how would it not be any of his, my, or anyone's business? Any respectable, conscious consumer should be free to know where his money goes. It's a perfectly reasonable question.

I'm still thinking about purchasing Vektar even though I suck at it. Maybe when one of my friend borrows my gp2x, they can have a go at it.

 

[Dzz]

is dzz getting a kickback from every game sold?

Not that it's any of your business, but no.

I only say this so people know that when I say that I am impressed with the commercial version, I have no financial interest in doing so. I think the game came out great.

Certainly not to start a tiff, but how would it not be any of his, my, or anyone's business? Any respectable, conscious consumer should be free to know where his money goes. It's a perfectly reasonable question.

I'm still thinking about purchasing Vektar even though I suck at it. Maybe when one of my friend borrows my gp2x, they can have a go at it.

Presumably you have a job. So you're saying that all of your employer's potential customers are free to know your salary? (since that's part of where their money goes). So tell us! It's a perfectly reasonable question!

I don't know what world you live in, but in the actual world you are not free to know any such thing. You NEVER know where your money goes when you buy something. The nature of any financial arrangements between between Craig and I is no more your business than the financial relationship between you and your employer is my business.

My thinking of buying a Hostess Twinkie does not give me the right or expectation to know all of the financial details involving the people involved in making Twinkies. I'm amazed that you think otherwise.

 

[DaveC]

Looks awesome, but $40 USD (shipped) is a little rich for my blood. Is the download version still happening? Will it be cheaper?

That is mostly the effect of the tanking USD against the GBP.

The dollar is at an all time low basically because the dollar is a bankrupt currency, ie the country has no more funds to back it up (thanks Bush).

If things were better in the US the exchange rate wouldn't clobber you nearly as bad.

 

[daclassicgamingmaster]

@Dzz: All I wanted to know was whether or not you were getting properly compensated for your fantastic game and hard work. That's all

 

[Dzz]

@Dzz: All I wanted to know was whether or not you were getting properly compensated for your fantastic game and hard work. That's all

Thanks. I appreciate the sentiment.

I am not being taken advantage of. It's a good game and I think you should buy it.

 

[iignotus]

is dzz getting a kickback from every game sold?

Not that it's any of your business, but no.

I only say this so people know that when I say that I am impressed with the commercial version, I have no financial interest in doing so. I think the game came out great.

Certainly not to start a tiff, but how would it not be any of his, my, or anyone's business? Any respectable, conscious consumer should be free to know where his money goes. It's a perfectly reasonable question.

I'm still thinking about purchasing Vektar even though I suck at it. Maybe when one of my friend borrows my gp2x, they can have a go at it.

Presumably you have a job. So you're saying that all of your employer's potential customers are free to know your salary? (since that's part of where their money goes). So tell us! It's a perfectly reasonable question!

I don't know what world you live in, but in the actual world you are not free to know any such thing. You NEVER know where your money goes when you buy something. The nature of any financial arrangements between between Craig and I is no more your business than the financial relationship between you and your employer is my business.

I wouldn't mind telling you my salary at all, I suppose that's where you and I differ. Your scenario is faulty in its assumptions, though, since I most likely wouldn't have a hand in making the items I'm selling to the customers that come in, like if I were working in a retail store. However, if I made a product in my own free time based on personal ingenuity and talent, and contracted with a retailer to sell it, I would see no problem whatsoever with a potential customer asking how much I got in the sale of a product which is directly, partly, my work. It's a completely innocent and reasonable question.

And no, I'm currently unemployed; I'm still going for schooling. Not that it matters either.

 

[Dzz]

I wouldn't mind telling you my salary at all, I suppose that's where you and I differ.

Not just you and I. Everybody who agrees with iignotus about this, please post your salary. We'll compare the number who do to the number who don't.

Your scenario is faulty in its assumptions, though, since I most likely wouldn't have a hand in making the items I'm selling to the customers that come in

That's an arbitrary distinction reflecting only the things that you are curious about. "Where the money goes" would include both the way a product was manufactured and other costs.

When you have a business, family, and/or career, we'll see whether you are still so eager to tell anybody who asks whatever financial information they are curious about.

It's a completely innocent and reasonable question.

I certainly never believed that there was a nefarious purpose behind the original question (thus I certainly believe it is 'innocent'). It is however, "none of your business" which is a way of saying that it is private information that would not be expected to reveal, no matter how many times the question is repeated.

 

[iignotus]

Like I said, we'll just have to agree to disagree. You're a fantastic developer with a fantastic game out. There can't be much to be gained by continuing this style of conversation.

 

[Sonistar]

i earn about £7.40 an hour if anyones interested..

 

[Bramrash]

£5.50 part time bar work while at home over summer.

 

[Blah]

Roughly $0

 

[nickspoon]

Not old enough to work, really. I generally get £150-£500 a year doing odd stuff for people. If you really want to know, which you probably don't.

 

[daclassicgamingmaster]

Im receiving $6.75 starting per hour when I begin at EB Games

 

[Ravnos]

What a crappy wage. The McDonalds in my neighbourhood is hiring at $9.50/h, which works out to $8.47USD.

 

[daclassicgamingmaster]

hmm. flip burgers and have greasy hair for more money....or....


sell video games for less.


:lol: