Avenger Sharks is a retro twin-stick shooter. Featuring sharks. OUT FOR VENGEANCE!
Your fishy friends have been kidnapped (fish-napped?) by evil forces. Battle wave after wave of enemies as you fight to rescue them. Increase your chances by collecting power-ups, health potions and UPGRADES as you progress. Invoke FISH FRENZY as needed to even the odds, as well as any trusty friends you find along the way. These friends include a dinosaur. Why? Because we wanted to have a dinosaur in the game.

Avenger Sharks 1.3.0 Released!

Is it safe to go back into the water? NO. Because release 1.3.0 of Avenger Sharks is here, available for PC, Mac and Linux (including Steam Deck).

Tired of just shooting in one direction? Be tired no longer. We welcome SCATTER SPRAY to the power-ups that can spawn during each stage.

This release also fixes a bunch of things that were getting in the way of the sharp-toothed vengeance that players were keen to bestow upon their enemies. Thanks to chopsteak from the Steam community for taking the time to flag these up to us. We salute you!

ENJOY YOUR CONTINUED VENGEANCE!

Full release notes

Gameplay:
[list]
New power up: SCATTER SPRAY

Bug fixes

Player could STILL get stuck hunting for exit. Fixed. Properly this time!
FISH FRENZY activated when wave ends would trap the player in the wave forever.
CHEAT DEATH activated when wave ends would trap the player in the wave forever.
Haptic feedback now works on MacOS (Fixed in Godot 4.3)

Platform:

Godot upgrade to 4.3.stable.
Steam: GodotSteam GDExtension upgraded to 4.11-gde (Stated as supporting Godot 4.3)
Web: Support reinstated following Godot 4.3 fixing threads / MacOS browser issues.

[/list]

[ 2024-10-15 21:02:32 CET ] [Original Post]

Avenger Sharks 1.2.0 (GDC Edition) Released!

Just in time for GDC 2024 comes version 1.2.0 of Avenger Sharks! It's available for PC, Mac and Linux (including Steam Deck) RIGHT NOW.

Did you feel the need for SPEED? The need for shark-based vengeance speed? It is now yours. Hitting the left trigger or space bar will give you a SURGE of SPEED. I call this invention 'SPEED SURGE'. It recharges over time. Will it tip the odds in your favour?

You asked for it, you got it: ACHIEVEMENTS now feature. Good luck in your hunting!

Finally, amongst the numerous balance tweaks (including the ability to select from THREE upgrades after each wave), there is even a HOW TO PLAY screen. Now you don't have any excuses.

ENJOY YOUR CONTINUED VENGEANCE!

Full patch notes

Gameplay:[list]
Player can now SPEED SURGE (left trigger / SPACE) to help avoid enemies.
Upgrades:[list]
Player now has a choice of 3 between waves (was: 2)
NEW: HEAL ME - Restore all health ahead of the next wave.
NEW: SPEED SURGE - Improves SPEED SURGE recharge time.

Balance

Knight health lowered to 3 (was: 4)
Trap health lowered to 4 (was: 10)
CHEAT DEATH now restores 75% of player health on activation (was: 50%)
Special waves can only start after Wave 3 (was: 2)
Chasing enemies now use proper navigation instead of hoping for the best. Beware!

[/list]

Misc:

Graphics: 'DINNER TIME' particle effects added.
How To Play screen added.
Adjusted player movement at wave start to commence at the entrance door.
[INTERNAL] Added godot-git-plugin.

Platform:

STEAM ACHIEVEMENTS![list]
Beat 1 / 5 / 10 waves in arcade mode.
Rescue 100 / 500 / 1000 fish.
[HIDDEN] Fail to clear the first wave.

[/list]

Bug fixes:

Deadlock could occur on upgrade screen if there weren't enough eligible upgrades.
CHEAT DEATH could persist between games. Upgrades now more consistently reset.
Player could get stuck hunting for key or exit. Proper navigation implemented to avoid this.
Enemies would vanish too early when the wave ended during SHARK ATTACK.
Shark spray sound not synced properly with gameplay.
Countdown sound would keep playing when returning to main menu.
Game ending when in FISH FRENZY would result in player stuck at a weird angle.
Player, Mini Shark and Dinosaur projectiles not despawning on game ending.

[/list]

[ 2024-03-16 14:51:36 CET ] [Original Post]

Avenger Sharks 1.1.0 Released!

It brings me great pleasure to announce that version 1.1.0 of Avenger Sharks is now available for PC, Mac and Linux (including Steam Deck).

This release introduces some key changes:

Firstly, the waves are now TIME BASED. This keeps the action nice and frenetic throughout. No easy ride as you get close to the end of a wave! Your shark-based thirst for vengeance must continue at all times.

A new power-up has been introduced. Watch for the magical non-derivative star. If you find it, your hunger will increase by a factor of ten gazillion. Your enemies will fear you. YOU CAN EAT THEM. Use this new-found power wisely.

Artillery strikes have been introduced into some waves. Because, well, just because reallly.

Finally, various performance updates have been made to help ensure an increased and more consistent FPS.

Full patch notes are lower down.

ENJOY YOUR CONTINUED VENGEANCE!

Full patch notes

Gameplay:[list]
Waves: These are now TIME based to keep the action fast, fresh and furious.
New power-up: A magical star that allows your shark to eat the now very scared enemies!
Artillery: Watch out for POLLUTION STRIKES from above!
Spawning: Avoid spawn types at beginning of wave that give player too much space.
AI: Chasing enemies re-orient more often.
Knockback: Some enemies are now knocked back when hit.

Performance:

FPS improved as follows...[list]
Switched to the Forward+ renderer (Was: 'Compatibility').
Particles now switched to GPU.
Replace PointLight2D lighting effects on projectiles with Sprite2D equivalent.

[/list]

Sound:

New music tracks for menu and gameplay. Enjoy!
Countdown effect towards end of wave.
Grenade volume lowered slightly.

Bug fixes:

Diet: At some point, Necromancers stopped wanting to eat fish. Fixed.
UI: Tightened up mouse showing / hiding as appropriate

Platform:

Steam : GodotSteam GDExtension upgraded to 4.6.

Misc:

Haptic feedback added! Vibrates on player hit + shark frenzy. Turn on in OPTIONS.[list]
This will not work on all platforms.[list]
Example for MacOS Sonoma - https://github.com/godotengine/godot/issues/88674

[/list]

Improved alignment of death animations.

Fish now swim off to freedom once rescued.

Pause improvements:

ESC can be used to unpause.
Can now pause game during WAVE START, WAVE END and UPGRADE SCREEN.

Debug menu to keep an eye on performance (toggle modes with F3).

Removed some spurious debug print() statements.

[/list][/list]

[ 2024-03-03 21:45:35 CET ] [Original Post]

Avenger Sharks has LAUNCHED!

The day of shark-based VENGEANCE has arrived. Avenger Sharks is now enjoying its first dip into the Steam release waters.

Grab a controller. Control a shark. Get some vengeance.

Remember: Right trigger is used to use your FISH FRENZY when your bar has filled up! Or the 'E' key if you are using mouse and keys. THE CHOICE IS YOURS, my fishy friend.

The latest updates revolve around 'quality of life' for Steam certification.

Steam: Bringing up Steam Overlay during game automatically pauses.
UI: Disable TAB key (avoids Steam Overlay weird behaviour)
UI: Hide mouse pointer when mouse is not being used

[ 2024-02-21 19:08:52 CET ] [Original Post]

0.4-alpha released: FASTER gameplay, skeletons, GRENADES and MORE!

In this release, the gameplay has been sped up to make it more frenetic, combined with the addition of skeletons and GRENADES! The HUD has been streamlined, and the player has a targeting laser when playing with a controller.

Away from the core game, we now also have an Options screen and Steam Cloudsupport.

Gameplay:

Increase player fire rate and re-balance FAST SPRAY[/*]
Enemies can no longer take damage while they are spawning.[/*]
Increase enemy spawn numbers.[/*]
% chance of multiple spawns happening at the same time (Will be different types)[/*]
Increase knight health to 4 (was: 1)[/*]
Increase necromancer health to 10 (was: 3)[/*]
Increase trap health to 10 (was: 5)[/*]

[/*]

Enemies:

Added Skeletons (that split into 4 when vanquished!)[/*]

[/*]

Power-ups:

Added GRENADE power-up (Boom!)[/*]
Power-ups no longer tick unless the player is actively controlling the shark.[/*]

[/*]

Controls:

Controller: Player now has a targetting laser![/*]
Controller: B button to back out of menus.[/*]

[/*]

Graphics:

Power up bar moved to RHS. Non-activated power-ups are not shown.[/*]

[/*]

Sound:

Master / Music / Volume audio buses implemented.[/*]

[/*]

Misc

Options screen added. Persistent storage used.[list]
Screen mode (Full screen, windowed)[/*]
Volume (Master, Music, Effects)[/*]

[/*]

Credits screen re-jigged.[/*]

Pacifist Mode: Hide power-up bar.[/*]

Windowed Mode: Use 1920x1080 as a default (User can re-size)[/*]

[/list][/*]

Platform:

HTML5: Disable storage, Statistics and Exit Game.[/*]
Steam: Steam Cloud sync for Statistics (cross-platform)[/*]

[/*]

Bug fixes

Player projectiles would not pass through spawning enemies.[/*]
Magnet: Make a bit stronger to avoid items chasing the player(!)[/*]
Controller START button mapped to too many menu items (and so not working).[/*]
Steam Deck: STATISTICS not consistently working when selected with controller.[/*]
Steam Deck: CREDITS not consistently working when selected with controller.[/*]

[ 2023-05-12 14:50:28 CET ] [Original Post]