Hey everyone, sorry for the radio silence! Ive been hard at work the past few months attempting to port Ex-Zodiac over to the latest version of the game engine I use. Ive wanted to move to the latest version for a while now, but I was waiting for it to become stable before doing so. Upgrading was important for a number of reasons, but the main ones were: future-proofing console support, editor stability and new features that enhance or speed up my work flow. Lots of little improvements have been made all across the engine and the editor, and this stuff all adds up, especially when it comes to time saving.

Most of you (probably) know the game is being built in Godot, and it originally started all the way back in version 2.1. Not long after, version 3.0 became available, and I decided to port the game over to that. At that time the game only had one level, so porting it over took about a week as I had to rebuild everything from scratch as there was no automatic conversion tool available. Thankfully there is one this time around and so that's handled a lot of the work for me, but there are still plenty of things that need manually fixing. Things like broken materials, animations not playing correctly and events not triggering etc. The good news is that the porting process is almost complete. There are still some rough edges to smooth out, but the bulk of the work is done, and that means I can finally get back to working on new content.

I want to thank you all for your patience and support so far, Im really grateful for that. Im looking forward to getting back to being creative again soon!

- Ben Hickling / MNKY

Just a minor fix to correct the some of the language translations on the Epsilon Outpost level, where Miko's report on the cannon's charging status would read "Unsupported format character"

Hello All,

Version 0.7.9 is now live, featuring:

• 2 new levels featuring all-range mode
  
• An entirely new, optional arranged soundtrack, created by Rumya
  
• Lots of bug fixes and other smaller tweaks
  
• 21:9 Ratio option
  
• Option to erase score & level progression for a fresh playthrough
  

Here is the 8th of May update, bringing the early access version up to 0.7.9!

This update includes:

• 2 new levels featuring all-range mode
  
• An entirely new, optional arranged soundtrack, created by Rumya
  
• Lots of bug fixes and other smaller tweaks
  
• 21:9 Ratio option
  
• Option to erase score & level progression for a fresh playthrough
  

Hello all,

On May 8th, Ex-Zodiac will get its first major content update, including:

• 2 new levels featuring all-range mode
  
• An entirely new alternate soundtrack, created by Rumya
  
• Bug fixes and other smaller tweaks
  

Hello All,

We are very close to releasing the first major content update for Ex-Zodiac. Here's a little preview:

[previewyoutube=s62T2A2fLiY;full][/previewyoutube]

This is unpolished footage of Level 7, and as you can see it features all-range mode. Level 7 & 8 both feature this mechanic and are more connected than other levels in the game so far, so we are releasing them both at the same time. We expect the update to be ready within a month or so.

Thanks for the continued patience and support!

-Miles @ Pixeljam

Hello All,

0.6.23 is live, and introduces some important new quality-of-life updates:

• Fixed background in Cyberspace stages when game is run in 16:10 mode
  
• Updated aiming reticule colours/size and also added available/used lock-on indicator to the bottom of the far aiming reticule
  
• Added Steam Cloud save support. Saves will now be uploaded to the Steam Cloud each time the game saves, and downloaded each time the game is executed.
  
• Added option for separate laser/missile buttons. This also doubles as an auto-fire option, as holding down the fire button will instead shoot a continuous stream of lasers instead of charging the missiles.
  
• Added new mouse input mode. When enabled this will override any joypad/keyboard settings use for ship direction/movement. All other joypad/keyboard input can be used in conjunction with the mouse input if desired. Mouse buttons can now also be used without "???" showing up.
  
• Mouse cursor will now be hidden when game is set to fullscreen mode or mouse mode is enabled (pausing the game will show the mouse cursor again)
  
• 
  

Hey Everyone,

The beta branch has been updated to 0.6.23 which now features the much requested mouse input options, separate fire/lock-on button option (which also doubles as a rapid-fire option when enabled) and also the initial efforts for Steam Cloud save integration (only the game progress is saved, config data isn't saved as this is generally different for each system you play on).

We've put this build on the beta branch as we'd like a bit more feedback on these features before we put it on the main branch.

If you'd like to test it out, you can go into the properties of the game in your Steam library and select the beta test branch under the 'Betas' section.

Let us know what you think either here or on the Steam forums.

Thanks!

Hello All,

Ex-Zodiac now officially supports both Traditional and Simplified Chinese, as well as Latin American Spanish. Here are some other things currently in the works:

• A new control scheme using the Mouse
  
• Steam cloud saves & multiple save slots
  
• Extra options for rapid fire / thumb fatigue
  

• The "Traditional Chinese" in the language selection was incorrect (), was changed to ""
  
• Localization data updated
  
• Spanish "Propulsin" (thrust) moved further up on HUD as it's position was off
  
• Boss timer was continuing to run even when the game was paused
  
• Cyberspace stage 6 boss didn't clearly indicate damage when shot
  
• When game was running at 15 FPS, items could fall through the floor in Xenon
  
• Ignice had incorrect enemy count
  
• Xenon's "vehicle approaching from behind" warnings didn't display in hi-res mode
  
• Boss 4 red lasers sometimes continued after death
  
• Boss life bar reappeared briefly after boss has been defeated
  
• Euclides Belt satellites were triggering the combo meter incorrectly which left it hanging around on screen
  
• Some of the rail cops in Xenon appeared too early
  

Stage 3 was starting from half way through the level, but this is fixed now

HUD items now translated (except for Japanese and Chinese)
- Blank dialog no longer appears in the Map screen
- Homing missiles no longer circle around the jet-skis in stage 5
- Player is now invincible after a boss is defeated, just in case any stray lasers/missiles are left over
- Added 16:10 aspect ratio
- Score combo now has a bit more time before it cancels, damaging enemies also keeps the combo timer going
- Bonus stage access (from the map) is now available as long as you've collected the chip in the main level (bonus stage doesn't have to be completed)
- Mouse cursor now hidden when entering fullscreen mode
- Refactored level complete/death animations so that weird bugs like water splashes on the surface of the ocean don't continue once the ship flies away

• Fixed Boss 1 achievement
  
• Credits should now display properly in retro and Hi-Res mode, Megabackers & Intergalactic Sponsors have been added to the credits as well
  
• Fixed pressing "Options" on title screen more than once accidentally triggering "Start" instead
  
• Pause function is disabled once an option has been chosen from the pause menu, restart mission, return to map/title etc. Prevents weird bugs.
  
• Hopefully fixed weird bug with Boss 1 intro animation not completing and then wind turbines and trees spawning continuously until the game chugs.
  
• Fixed typo: "an" frozen wasteland in Ignice dialogue
  
• Fixed type: Epaphos description, 'civilisaition' (didn't need the last "i")
  
• B (on Xbox controller) or O (on PS controller) will now back/cancel out of menus
  
• Added option in Display Options to disable the flashing beams when a boss explodes (for epileptic folks)
  
• Disabled built in auto screenshot function (a debug feature) that was also tied to Steam's screenshot button (F12), as this was causing performance issues when a screenshot was taken every second
  
• Fixed enemy count in Euclides Belt
  
• Lowered S and A rank requirements for Epaphos
  
• Fixed skipping result screen score calculation as it was displaying the wrong total when skipped
  
• Removed "Restart Mission" from special stage pause menu
  

We're pleased to announce that EX-ZODIAC is live and ready to play!



The current Early Access version of the game has 6 main levels and 6 secret bonus stages as well. More are on the way...

You can also pick up the soundtrack by +TEK here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2091010/ExZodiac_OST/

Huge thanks to all the backers and supporters over the past few years that made it possible.

Enjoy the game!

Hello all,

We're pleased to announce that Ex-Zodiac will finally be available on JULY 21, 2022. This version of the game will contain 6 main levels and 6 bonus stages as well. The bonus stages were recently added and bring the 80's/90's nostalgia to a new level! Check them out in Ben Hickling's latest announcement on Twitter: https://twitter.com/BenHickling/status/1539275535301353474



We look forward to getting the game into everyone's hands next month. Thanks for the patience!

- Miles @ Pixeljam

Hello all,

In consideration of the freshly launched Steam Next Fest, we've updated the existing 2-level demo with new music (level 2 boss), control improvements, bug fixes, and most importantly, new characters & dialogue!

The new trailer also highlights levels 5 and 6, which have not been seen too much until today :)

The coming months will involve polishing the existing 6 levels, making them more repayable, adding more story, characters & dialogue, and generally just making the 6-level experience as tight as possible for the Early Access launch in 2022.

Thanks for the ongoing patience and support!

-Miles @ Pixeljam

The demo has been updated! Changelog:

## [0.2.3] - 7th September 2020

### Added
- Re-added bombs to players arsenal
- Ability to test out control scheme on the control rebind screen
- Barrel/aileron roll spin effect & sound
- Sound effect for when items appear

### Changed
- Tweaked the ships muzzle flash sprite so it's not tinted green
- Renamed 'Missile' item to 'Micro Missile'
- Reverted the change to the banking speed, banking gives you a speed boost again, but doing a full roll will give a greater boost in a 'dash' style
- Level 1's gate now opens when shot instead of when approached
- Easier to deflect bullets when rolling
- Speed boost when rolling has been re-enabled
- Map screen has the beginnings of branching path functionality, and also displays the highscore for each level
- Items/powerups have new visuals which should be easier to identify
- Modified some of the enemy placements in both stages to balance things out a bit more, I will continue to refine levels as development continues

### Fixed
- Disabled pause menu when player death sequence plays
- Second boss's life bar should now output the correct value
- Movement controls should now work on the menu items
- Weird bug where default keyboard controls and custom controls were getting mixed together should be fixed

Hello all,

We're very excited to announce that the Kickstarter for Ex-Zodiac is live! Visit the campaign via this URL: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/benhickling/ex-zodiac

Also available is a new 2-level demo, which you can download on the Steam page, or if you already downloaded it previously, it should have auto-updated. Make sure you are playing at least version 0.2.1.

Watch out for this guy!


Take care,

-Miles @ Pixeljam

As part of the Steam Game Festival, a 1-level demo is now available for you to play for the next 5 days. Check the store page for the download link - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1249480/ExZodiac/

Let us know what you think in the forums or on Discord: https://discord.gg/DZXYTq7.

Come and chat with the devs of EX-ZODIAC for a couple hours and learn more about the game! This will be taking place on the Ex-Zodiac Discord Server in the #steam-festival-chat channel: https://discord.com/invite/dmFgvTg

Rescheduled to June 18, 1 PM EST!

The developers of Ex-Zodiac will be available to talk about the upcoming game on Thursday, June 11 at 1 PM EST! This chat will be on our Discord Server in the "general" channel: https://discord.com/invite/dmFgvTg