No title available
tannertan36
šŖ¼
Origami Around
Noah Kahan
@theartofmadeline
Cosmic Funnies
"I'm Dorothy Gale from Kansas"
JVL
Peter Solarz
oozey mess
romaā
ā
untitled
pixel skylines
let's talk about Bridgerton tea, my ask is open
he wasn't even looking at me and he found me
d e v o n
wallacepolsom
Aqua Utopiaļ½ęµ·ć®åŗć§čØę¶ćē“”ć
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from France
seen from United States
seen from Malaysia
seen from France
seen from Italy
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from Finland
seen from Finland
seen from Italy
seen from United States
seen from T1
seen from Brazil
seen from Japan
seen from Malaysia
seen from Japan
seen from United States
seen from Portugal
@vertexpop-blog
The Vertex Pop Blog has moved!
Quick programming note: I've moved the Vertex Pop Blog over to a new blog at vertexpop.com/blog. This Tumblr will no longer be updated. You can keep up-to-date on the new blog via RSS, or on Twitter.
Thanks for following, and I hope to see you around! āØ
Graceful Explosion Machine v1.0.2 is Live!
An update for Graceful Explosion Machine is now available, it should be downloading on your Switch as we speak!
So what's new? With this update, we wanted to focus on adding "quality of life" features to make GEM a little more frictionless to play. To that end, we have two new features:
Upload Score Later
We've heard from people playing GEM on trains, buses, at work, etc. who get really great high scores, but can't upload them because they aren't online. This breaks our collective developer hearts, so for v1.0.2 we've added Upload Score Later.
From the Score Screen, choose "Later" instead of "Submit Score" to save your score for uploading later.Ā Then, when you're back online, go to the main menu and select "Upload Scores" (by pressing X) to upload all the pending scores. (And don't worry, if it fails to upload you can retry later!)
Screenshake Option
We also added the option to reduce or disable the Screenshake effect. If you have motion sickness related concerns, this should really help. It may not be perfect (our options are limited given what a fast-paced game GEM is), but it's definitely an improvement!
Those are theĀ major changes, and of course, we snuck in some smaller fixes too.Ā We also have more new stuff in the works, but weāll save that for another day!
Enjoy! šāØ
New Graceful Explosion Machine screenshots. āØ
We debuted Graceful Explosion Machine at PAX East 2016, and it went super well. Everyone totally "got" the game, had lovely things to say about it, and quite a few people returned to play through the demo again.
As always, I especially enjoyed the post-playthrough chats, listening to playersā thoughts, and amassing pages of feedback/notes.
Relevant and exciting links:
Warp Zoned named GEM one of their Best Of PAX East games! The entire list is worth reading through, and it's a total honour to be on there.
The DG Cast has a nice write up as well, going over the basics and core mechanics.
Finally, I was on the Indie [Dot] XSplit Showcase, where I talked about and played Graceful Explosion Machine for a whole 25 minutes or so. Please enjoy the footage, and also, my almost-entirely drained vocal chords.
PAX East 2016
Graceful Explosion Machine, our new announced colourful and explody shoot-em-up will be at PAX East this coming weekend as part of the Indie MEGABOOTH. We'll be at the MINIBOOTH section, please come by if you're attending!
And for those watching at home, I'll be streaming game on the Indie Dot XSplit Showcase on Friday (April 22) at noon.
We Are Doomed Out Now on PS Vita, and itās Cross Buy with the PlayStation 4. Get it on the PlayStation Store (in North America and Europe) today!
Itās also available on Xbox One and Steam (for Windows and Mac).
Itās official: WE ARE DOOMED is coming to PS Vita on February 9th. Of course, itās a Cross Buy game, so if you already own the PS4 version, youāll soon be able to enjoy it on the Vita at no extra charge.
Iām really happy with how the port turned out. The short, intense gameplay is really a perfect fit for the Vita. From a technical perspective, I put a huge amount of effort into optimizing the game to look and play just like the PS4 version.
In short, it turned out great and Feb 9th can't come soon enough. :)
PS: If youāre a member of the press, please fill out this form to request a review copy.
Orbit1: The Retina Update
I finally updated Orbit1 with all-new retina quality graphics. Revisiting the game after all this time was really fun. Iām happy to see it plays just as well as I remember, and looks super crisp now!
What is Orbit1? Itās a hyper-competitive multiplayer game for iPad played with just one button. Visit the game page to learn more.
Check out the update, tell your friends, and please consider leaving a nice review on the AppStore. It really helps!
Great video segment on We Are Doomed. These guys totally get it: the colours, the style, the music, and the purity of the design.
"All about that Doomed chill" is box quote worthy for sure.
More Releases & Reviews
WE ARE DOOMED is now available on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One worldwide. Visit the game page for the store links.
A couple more reviews I quite liked:
Patrick Anderson at Canadian Online Gamers gets in the zone:
You settle in, relax, and start to understand the language of this game. You work not so much in opposition to the other creatures, but in sync with them, mimicking their rhythms in a weird kind of symbiosis rather than struggle. It is at this time that you start to really hear the music for the first time; chill and entrancing, it seems to compliment the action going on perfectly.
Scott Ferguson at Pixel Gamer UK highlights the snappyness of the game, something I care about deeply but often goes unnoticed:
To help you love it even more theres no real load screens and everything is snappy in response which means quick restarts and you will inevitably hear yourself saying ājust one more goā then before you know it its not been 10 minutes its been several hours. A hallmark of a great game.
DRM Gamecast talks about the chill and challenging aspects of the game
The ultra colorful visuals mixed with the relaxing sounds of We Are Doomed are a welcome change in a industry trying to give us all high blood pressure. If you want to relax and just play I can't oversell We Are Doomed enough. And if you prefer to climb the leaderboards and attempt to finish Wave 30 without dying, you'll be in for a treat as well.
WE ARE DOOMED Review Roundup
So WE ARE DOOMED is officially out on PS4 in North America! The reviews have been coming in:
James Cunningham at Hardcore Gamer says:
We Are Doomed is a fantastic take on the twin-stick shooter, showing that you can take the basics of a genre and still make something fresh with enough creativity and style.
Chris Saltel at Eat Pray Game gives it a 9.5/10, saying:
WE ARE DOOMED is a shot of adrenaline into the twin-stick shooter genre. By keeping it minimal and focusing on game feel, Vertex Pop has made one of the most addicting and enjoyable arcade games I've ever played.
Eric Pepper goes into detail about the laserbeam over at Analog Addiction:
The player must take a more offensive approach to completing levels, while navigating through the throngs of geometric enemies, getting close enough for the laser to actually make contact. For such a small change in gameplay mechanics, it has significant ramifications.
Finally, Graham Arthur talks about my favourite topic, colour and light, over at Automaton:
The presentation is pure sensory overload. The chosen color palate makes everything pop in a big way, and the explosions of light keep players constantly engaged with the action on the screen.
If you want in on the action, check out WE ARE DOOMED on the PlayStation Store.
WE ARE DOOMED hits Steam on Tuesday, April 21st. Thatās next week!
WE ARE DOOMED will support Windows and Mac, and include Steam Leaderboards and Achievements. Check out the store page for all the details.
If you're a member of the press and want a Steam review copy, just get in touch.
WE ARE DOOMED is out on APRIL 14 (PS4, Americas), APRIL 15 (PS4, Europe) & APRIL 17 (XB1, Worldwide).
Want to see it on Steam? Vote for it on Greenlight.
Are you a member of the press, and want a review copy? Fill out this form.
ARE YOU EXCITED? (I am pretty excited, fwiw)
The moment you use the right stick to open fire on the waves of space baddies swarming the screen it becomes clear how We Are Doomed diverges from the formula. Instead of blasting enemies with a never-ending stream of long-range laser fire, players instead must rely on a medium-range āoverpowered laserbeam,ā as Vertex Popās website describes it. In actuality, it doesnāt come off like a laser at all. Instead, it looks and feels more like youāre wielding a flamethrower with an infinite fuel supply.
I do enjoy the various interpretations as to what the laserbeam actually looks like.
PAX East 2015: Words Roundup
So PAX East flew right by! I'm an exhausted mess, but I had such a great time! A fair share of journalists stopped by over the weekend, and I've rounded up their words below.
Mark Labbe at PlayStation LifeStyle has the basics covered:
We Are Doomed is great to look at, and even more great to play. Instead of having long-ranged bullets or missiles, players are armed with a somewhat short laserbeam. [...] The laserbeam forces player to properly manage their movements and space around themselves, getting close enough to enemies to kill them but staying far enough away to not be killed.
I love how James Cunningham at Hardcore Gamer describes the new Endless mode:
Thereās also a new Endless mode that spawns enemies in an infinite cascade of popcorn enemies, ramping up in difficulty far more quickly than the main campaign as the horde zones you in and forces you to manage the space around you rather than worrying about screen-clearing.
And finally, The Queen of the Nerds sums it up quite nicely:
I would play the hell out of this game. The colors are very eye catching and the music is good. I think my favorite part of this game is the unique and colorful bad guys. Blast āem!
WE ARE DOOMED promo cards for PAX East. From concept to completion.
Indie MEGABOOTH
Iām excited to announce that Iāll be showing We Are Doomed at PAX East 2015, as part of the Indie MEGABOOTH!
Last year around this time I was getting ready to debut We Are Doomed at my first PAX East. The show was a huge success for me: attendees loved the game, as did the fine folks at Sony and Microsoft. Itās no exaggeration to say that I wouldnāt be where I am today if Indie MEGABOOTH hadnāt taken a chance on me.
Iām thrilled and honoured to be part of this yearās incredible line-up. Iāll be at Booth 4165, please come by if youāre attending!