After taking some time off from developing Neon Aileron, I have resumed work on the game at the beginning of 2023. This update directly addresses some items that were brought up in reviews for the game. Level 8 Level 8 is a boss rush level and previously level 8 was only available if you played on hard difficulty. This level also had a true last boss. Because of this, I dont think many players saw the level or the final boss. I decided to make this level available for all difficulties to make the game more enjoyable for all skill levels. Widescreen Neon Aileron was original presented in 4:3 aspect ratio to resemble retro games. I decided to change to 16:9 aspect ratio after playing a couple of modern games with pixel graphs that presented and felt very comfortable in this ratio. The result was that Neon Aileron should feel less crowded when there are many enemies on screen. All levels, enemies, and bosses have been reworked to accommodate the new screen real estate. Hitbox Update - The player's hitbox in Neon Aileron was previously the entire body of the player's jet. This was also done to mimic the shooting games of the 80s and early 90s. This has been updated to a consistent and significantly smaller hitbox that is represented by the ships "power core." When enemy bullets come near the player, the ship sprite fades and the power core becomes visible; letting the player know where their hitbox is. This approach allows the player ship sprites to be larger without sacrificing the ability to dodge bullets with precision. In playtesting, this also made busier enemy sections more recoverable. Specifically level 3 (Area 51), which can have periods where large numbers of enemies and bullets appear on screen, is much more manageable now. Scaling Boss Attack Difficulty - All of the end-stage bosses in Neon Aileron have been reworked so that the attacks become more challenging when you increase the difficulty. For example, shooting attacks may have more or faster bullets, bosses will move faster for physical attacks, and the time between attacks will vary when playing on harder difficulties. Some boss attacks were also tweaked in the process, so be alert if you are already familiar with the boss attacks in this game! Additional Updates

• Basic story endings have been added to the game. I still dont have the required art for a full story arc yet, but I hope to build out the story over subsequent updates. I appreciate everyones patience with this.
• Taking damage previously slowed ship speed. This really affected playability and encouraged players to intentionally crash to get back to normal speed. The ship will now show cosmetic damage, but movement speed will remain consistent.
• Weapons have been rebalanced. Some weapons were previously overpowered and made the bosses very easy to defeat. Secondary weapons now have more balance, but still provide a meaningful amount of damage.
• The Mountain Rush level has been updated to minimize some of the quick-scrolling elements. I found some of this to be sickness inducing (sorry!).
• Several elements have been optimized to improve overall performance.

What's Next?

• Small updates and bug fixes.
• Create new level enemies.
• Rework level spawning to make the levels more challenging and interesting.

[ 2023-05-06 11:49:15 CET ] [ Original post ]

A new patch has been released that allows players to modify the damage system. A player can now reduce the number of hits a ship can take or turn off the damage system for additional challenge. This setting is located in the Setup menu and can only be changed before starting a game. Bonus points are given at the end of each level for playing with the damage system turned down. Part of this patch has also been dedicated to correcting some issues with the leaderboards. The leaderboard was accepting new scores, but it was only showing the top 5. This has been corrected. Thanks to Twitch user NipzyGG who posted a video of this behavior. Version 1.3

• Corrected leaderboard load issues. [olist]
• Leaderboards were set to only retrieve the top 5 scores. Any scores previously submitted were intact, but were just not displaying.
• Found and resolved an issue that would cause the leaderboard to partially load. [/olist]
• Added damage system setting in setup menu. Available options are: [olist]
• 4 Hit - This was the previous default. The player's jet can take damage to 4 parts.
• 2 Hit - The player's jet can take damage to 2 parts. The 3rd hit will kill the player.
• 1 Hit - A hit damages all parts, with the subsequent hit killing the player.
• No Hit - This turns the damage system off. Any hit will kill the player. [/olist]
• Bonus points are available for players who turn down the damage system: [olist]
• 4 Hit - No points
• 2 Hit - 10,000 points
• 1 Hit - 15,000 points
• No Hit - 20,000 points [/olist]

[ 2020-01-11 17:24:52 CET ] [ Original post ]

Playtesting uncovered some issues with 2 player mode that warranted a mid-week patch. This also provided the opportunity to include the fully mastered soundtrack in the game. Version 1.2

• Updated sound files to mastered soundtrack provided by Von Hertzog
• Corrected several issues with 2 player mode that caused the second ship not to operate and recognize points properly.

[ 2020-01-09 00:26:19 CET ] [ Original post ]

Neon Aileron has been updated to correct a few minor issues. See details below: Version 1.1

• Corrected an issue that prevented previous month leaderboards from loading.
• Fixed an issue where lasers were not properly colliding with Queen Bee boss.
• Added a target hint to Monarch butterfly boss to help players predict fire blade attack location.
• Added version number to config menu for visibility.

Note: The story mode patch is coming later this month.

[ 2020-01-04 12:42:07 CET ] [ Original post ]

Neon Aileron has officially been released. The game includes 8 levels and about 30 minutes worth of gameplay. Monthly leaderboards are also active, so come post a high score! One item of note: the game currently only has the "arcade mode" active, which provides a quick playthrough with no story. I'm still working through the story panels and will provide the "story mode" later this month as an update to the game. -Vince Saturday Development

[ 2020-01-01 11:38:13 CET ] [ Original post ]

Since the game and the soundtrack were designed together, Von Hertzog and Saturday Development have decided to include a free copy of the soundtrack with every game purchased on Steam. After you have installed Neon Aileron, you will find the full soundtrack in the Soundtrack folder in the location the game is installed. Let us know if you have any issues finding it. The soundtrack will also be available on its own on Von Hertzog's Bandcamp page: https://vonhertzog.bandcamp.com/

[ 2019-12-14 14:26:05 CET ] [ Original post ]

With Steam announcing Remote Play Together, I was inspired to complete the two player co-op mode for Neon Aileron.
Two player mode does not increase enemy HP, enemy count, or boss HP, making the game easier to take on for new players. Two players of any skill level should be able to comfortably play through a quick game on Normal difficulty in about half an hour.

[ 2019-11-29 21:00:51 CET ] [ Original post ]

This month I took some time and added a very important piece of functionality: full controller binding support. Neon Aileron now has a menu that will allow players to select a controller and also change any of the buttons used for direction or action controls. Below is a screenshot of the new menu, which can be accessed from either the start menu or the pause menu. I went with a simple text-based menu to save time, but it definitely gets the job done.
During this process, myself and some play testers were able to validate the below controllers:

• XBox 360 Wireless Controller
• XBox 360 Wired Controller
• XBox One Wireless Controller
• iNNEXT SNES Controller

If anyone has any additional controllers they would like to see tested, feel free to post it to the Discussions section.

[ 2019-11-24 21:00:57 CET ] [ Original post ]

With the release date (January 1st) of Neon Aileron rapidly approaching, we wanted to provide some updates on how the game is going. Five and a half levels are complete, with one level just needing a boss and corresponding boss soundtrack. These levels will comprise the main six levels of the game. There will be 3 additional levels that will serve as end levels for each of the pilots the player can select. We also added an Arcade mode, which will allow the player to do a quick, linear playthrough of the game without the interlevel menus and story. This adds a pace to the game that is reminiscent of old arcade games where there is more action and less downtime. Current playtime for this mode (with the six initial levels) is around 20 minutes. With the final levels added, we hope to get the playtime up to 25 minutes for the final release. To close, we wanted to share a quick screenshot from Level 6: Riverside City. Thanks for reading.

[ 2019-10-15 10:09:27 CET ] [ Original post ]

We wanted to let everyone know that we are delaying the release of Neon Aileron to January 1st, 2020. Producing a game part-time can be very difficult and we don't want to rush this game to market. Neon Aileron was previously slated for a June 3rd, 2019 release, however the game is not where it needs to be to make it a meaningful experience. The remainder of 2019 will be used for the following:

• Level Creation - 4 levels are currently complete and the game is slated to release with at least 8 levels.
• Controller Support - Support for common controllers and remappable buttons are a top priority for release.
• Gameplay Trailer Release - A full trailer is needed to showcase gameplay and additional level content to give players a feel for the game.
• Continued Gameplay Testing - Additional playtesting is needed, not just to ensure the game is released without bugs, but to ensure the game is balanced and enjoyable.

Important Note: The below feature is being removed from the store page list and final game. Using "cash" in the game slowed the game down and didn't provide any additional enjoyment to the game. Instead of this, weapons and levels will be unlocked by completing other levels. This means fewer menus in between levels so you can stay in the action.

• [strike]Upgrades/Unlocks - Use cash earned during missions to unlock additional abilities and levels.[/strike]

Thank you to everyone who has added Neon Aileron to their wish list.

[ 2019-05-06 10:01:01 CET ] [ Original post ]