Stellar Stars :: Arena-Based Roguelite Shooter :: Windows/Mac/Linux :: Steam Greenlight Soon!

[WhiteSponge 148]

Hey there! How's your day? My name is David and I run @WhiteSponge. I would like to share about a new game for PC/Mac/Linux that I have just started working on since late 2014 - Stellar Stars (formerly known as Starsss).



 
 
Search for the legendary Star of Records in your journey against powerful enemies and bosses! It's the only way to find out why you were changed into a 2D character and how to return to your world!
 
 



Key Highlights
? Jump Higher! Run Faster! Decide and choose from the many fun ways to improve your character when you level up!
 
? Level up character(s) and spells from defeating enemies and collecting spells orbs
 
? Explore various procedurally generated stages each filled with unique enemies with wacky behaviors
 
? Attempt to reach the legendary Stellar Skies, where the Star of Records is rumored to be at 
 

New Background Ambience Test Video!
[media]https:

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New Boss Test #1 Video!
[media]https:

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* Please note that the game is still a work-in-progress so everything is subject to change. I will also be using this thread to post the latest game development updates for Stellar Stars!

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Experience The Game Now!
You can also experience Stellar Stars now from the game's website!
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Live Streaming @ TwitchTV
The entire game development process is also streamed live on TwitchTV! You can also catch the live stream over at WhiteSponge's TwitchTV channel every Monday, Thursday and Saturday from 9.30pm to 11.30pm EST.
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Screenshots Time!














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WhiteSponge is on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Vine ! Follow WhiteSponge at

TWITTER:
http://twitter.com/WhiteSponge

INSTAGRAM:
http://instagram.com/whitespongestudio
 
FACEBOOK:
http://facebook.com/WhiteSponge
 
VINE:
http://vine.co/WhiteSponge

Edited August 31, 2015 by WhiteSponge

[WhiteSponge 148]

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Stellar Stars - Development Blog Post #1
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While today's patch/update for Stellar Stars has already went live, I would like to take a moment to reflect back on the path taken since starting on Stellar Stars ~ And of course I would also like to share about the plans moving forward.




Ever since I have started creating Stellar Stars, the plan was always to have at least 8 playable worlds for you to challenge. This means that 5 more worlds are needed in order to make that a reality.

When you start the story mode, you are always first greeted by the Underground Caverns.




And if you do manage to defeat the boss of the Underground Caverns, the Frozen Wastelands awaits.




Overcoming the undead boss of the Frozen Wastelands will then advance you to the Robotics Labs, where you can find highly intelligence robotic enemies.




While the decision to have them in that order appears to be random, it actually isn't. I have intentionally created the worlds to be in that order because there is actually a hidden story to it.

And if you are able to guess it right, drop me an email. I have a special prize for you.

Now going back to the number of playable worlds, while it seems like a no-brainer to just proceed with creating the 4th world, let's take a step back and think about it.

In my perspective, adding more playable worlds equates to adding more game content. And that is definitely something good in my books. However, I would also like to leverage on the existing game content, and create new gameplay experiences for you just based on that.




Say hello to the new starting menu for Stellar Stars! So instead of just having "Start Game" and "Join Reddit", I have changed it to "Start Story" and added a new "Challenge VS" menu item to it!

While it is still a work-in-progress (as indicated by the "Coming Soon!"), the multiplayer versus mode will be added to Stellar Stars throughout multiple game patches. This means that for the next patch, you might get to create your multiplayer user name and for the next patch after that, a screen to maybe let you glance at all of your multiplayer stats at once.

So what do you think? Do you like this style of adding the multiplayer versus mode? Or do you prefer it to be added only when it is completed? Let me know your thoughts!

Now before ending today's blog post, there is just 1 more thing.

In Stellar Stars, you can jump from 1 platform to another by pressing your Z key or your A button on your XBox One controller.




But now you can jump further by running beforehand!




By using the inertial from the run, you are now able to cover a bigger distance when you are trying to jump towards a direction! And if you thought that this was just a simple change, think again. Since you are using your inertial to help with jumping further, it is possible for you to jump even further by learning Runner's Feet (which increases your running speed)!

So remember that you can have the first-hand experience here! Cheers!

[Pill Bug Games 129]

Cool looking game! I like the idea of adding a little more depth to the characters in platformers. You're making me want to tackle a platformer sometime! Keep up the cool work! (The style is cute too btw)

[WhiteSponge 148]

Cool looking game! I like the idea of adding a little more depth to the characters in platformers. You're making me want to tackle a platformer sometime! Keep up the cool work! (The style is cute too btw)

ahahah thanks! Glad that you like it

[WhiteSponge 148]

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Stellar Stars - Development Blog Post #2
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As I have shared in a few updates ago, the multiplayer vs mode in Stellar Stars will be spread throughout multiple game patches ~ And today's patch gives you the ability to create your user name in Stellar Stars!.




Before getting to today's juicy part, remember this?




While the "Coming Soon!" is still visible in today's update, you can now press enter to get to a new scene - creating your new user name!




This new scene is where you can create your new user name. So what happens when you try to type anything?



However, remember that you have to have a minimum of 6 characters for your user name!




So once you have entered the user name that you want, press enter and wait for the confirmation.




Once that happens, you will be automatically brought back to the starting menu. As the multiplayer vs mode is still a work-in-progress, you can only create your user name for now.




Once your user name is created, pressing enter on "Challenge VS" will no longer do anything as the game has detected that you have created an user name.

If you want to reserve a special user name that you think is rather popular, it is better grab it now fast!

So don't wait anymore and grab the new game patch now! Enjoy!

[WhiteSponge 148]

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Stellar Stars - Development Blog Post #3

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In addition to a new patch for Stellar Stars today, I want to share about my thoughts and plans ahead for the game.

 

 

 

Stellar Stars has been in development for almost 10 months now. Believe it or not, I did not foresee that it will become the game that it is today. Back when I first started working on it, all I had in mind was to make a game, a game that would always provide you with a new gameplay experience every time you play it. And that meant procedurally generating the stages.

 

 

 

Having some experience in creating both RPGs (e.g Small Chronicles) and casual games, I wanted to take this next game (Stellar Stars) to the next level. I wanted to make it really challenging. This meant adding permanent death to the game.

 

 

 

And it also meant creating extremely overpowered bosses that not only have multiple attacks, but also the ability to spawn minions.

 

 

 

 

 

Combine that with the 4 playable characters, the character growths which can improve your character (e.g jumping ability), the spells and the huge variety of enemies, and you get Stellar Stars. Oh and did I forget to mention that multiplayer versus mode is being worked on right now?

 

While that is the direction set ahead for Stellar Stars, there are many considerations and fears that I run in my head constantly. For example, what happens if it doesn't get green-lit on the upcoming Steam Greenlight campaign? And what happens if the IndieGoGo campaign that I am currently planning for fails after 30 days?

 

Considering the fact that Stellar Stars has a lack of a huge following at the moment, that scenario is totally possible. While I am always posting stuff on multiple forums, websites and social media channels, I sometimes wonder if anyone is reading them.

 

 

 

Don't get me wrong. I love sharing about my thoughts and about the latest updates for Stellar Stars. But being able to hear your feedback and thoughts about the game is important to me too.

 

While the fears that I have are very real, it doesn't mean that I will stop doing what I am doing. In fact, it only serves to strengthen my resolve and determination to bring Stellar Stars to you. And that also means launching both the IndieGoGo and Steam Greenlight campaign.

 

IndieGoGo - Just Like Kickstarter But With More Options

Why do I say that IndieGoGo is similar to Kickstarter? In Kickstarter, you can only choose fixed funding as the only funding model for your projects. However, with IndieGoGo, you can choose both flexible or fixed funding as your funding model. Now if you are not familiar with the terms, allow me to explain.

 

Fixed Funding - If the funding goal that you have set is not met, you will not get funded.

Flexible Funding - Whatever funds you have raised will be received. You do not have to reach the funding goal. 

 

If you have been following me on Twitter (or other social media channels), or if you have been watching me live on TwitchTV, you might have noticed that I always strive to be open and transparent. And I am fully committed to completing Stellar Stars and getting it to your doorsteps.

 

Having said that, I will be going with the Fixed Funding model for Stellar Stars.

 

 

 

Why am I going for the Fixed Funding model? Because I am putting in everything I have got into Stellar Stars. And I want you to join me on this journey.

 

Steam Greenlight - The Gateway To Steam

With Steam Greenlight, you are empowered with the ability to vote for Stellar Stars to be available on Steam.

 

 

 

If you are already on the platform, this will enable you to grab Stellar Stars from Steam. And if you have already brought Stellar Stars from here, from ItchIO or from Desura, you will also get a free Steam key when the game gets green-lit!

 

In addition to posting Stellar Stars onto Steam Greenlight, I will also be sharing updates on the campaign page twice per week. This ensures that you will always be kept up to date with what's going on with Stellar Stars.

 

So When?

To find out when the IndieGoGo and Steam Greenlight campaign will go live, follow me on Twitter!

 

Lastly, don't forget to experience today's game patch for Stellar Stars! Enjoy!

[WhiteSponge 148]

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Stellar Stars - Development Blog Post #4

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A few updates ago, I announced that I have started on adding the multiplayer versus mode for Stellar Stars ~ Let's then take a look at what has already been added and what today's new game patch adds for the game's multiplayer aspect.

 

 

 

To recall, you can already create your own user name for the multiplayer versus mode!

 

 

 

And in addition to that, you can now catch a sneak preview of what your player overview stats look like!

 

 

 

As everyone starts from Bronze-III, your league emblem will show just that. To the right of your league emblem, you will also notice your user name, the number of trophy cups you have and a small little image that represents the trophy cup. 

 

Below that, you can also see the number of wins and losses you have. In Stellar Stars, each time you win a match, you gain some trophy cups from your opponent(s). And depending on the number of trophy cups you have, it is totally possible for you to rise up the ranks and move up to another league.

 

 

 

You might have also noticed that there is nothing on the left side of the screen. Isn't that weird?

 

 

 

In fact, something new will appear on the left side of the screen in the next game patch! So are you looking forward to what's coming next?

 

Remember to experience today's patch/update for yourself! Have fun and have a great day ahead!

[WhiteSponge 148]

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Stellar Stars - Development Blog Post #5

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I am really glad to bring you today's new game patch for Stellar Stars (still in alpha) as it introduces the new list of players, who are in the same league as you!.

 

 

 

To begin with, do you remember that in the previous patch, there was an empty space to the left of your multiplayer stats?

 

 

 

In today's patch, a new list of players have been added to display in that empty space! As everyone starts from the lowest league, Bronze-III, you will be able to see other players who are in Bronze-III as well.

 

 

 

And if you want to scroll the list, simply press your up and down arrow keys (d-pad for XBox One Controller).

 

 

 

If you do manage to scroll to the page where your ranking's at, you will notice that your name is on top of a blue image (instead of grey). This will help you differentiate your placement/ranking apart from everyone else.

 

 

 

There is something you should be aware of though. The number that indicates your ranking on the left is actually just the ranking for the current league. There are indeed many leagues above Bronze-III so do look forward to moving up to them!

 

So what do you think of today's new addition to Stellar Stars? Are you hyped and excited for the multiplayer?

 

Be sure to experience today's update yourself here! Cheers!

[WhiteSponge 148]

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Stellar Stars - Development Blog Post #6
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Do you remember when you're happily strolling down a park and a fly suddenly appears before your face? How did you feel about it? Well that is what today's patch and update is about - fixing a ton of bugs!.




I always like to start from things with the highest priority, and work my way down to stuff with the lowest priority. Having said that, there was a critical bug in the previous versions of Stellar Stars that caused the game to really lag.




In the previous versions, if you were playing the game for at least around 10 minutes, and if you were defeated in the Frozen Wasteland, the game will start to lag really bad when you restart on the next run.

This caused the game to eventually become unplayable after a while. I apologize if that happened to you while you were playing the game.

While the next bug that I would like to highlight isn't as serious as what was mentioned above, it still affects the gameplay of the game. In some situations, it could be a matter of life and death (in the game) too!




In Stellar Stars, when you use your basic attack or your spells, the recoil causes you to jump backwards and upwards for a split second. In that split second, jumping is not possible as you are still in mid-air (i.e not touching the ground).

However, that has also been fixed in today's patch as you can now attack and jump immediately after (as shown above)!

There is also another bug which I feel is rather important. While it doesn't always happen, it is possible that you could chance upon it and thus ruin your gameplay experience.

To understand what this next bug is about, I will have to jolt your memory. Do you remember the Impulse spell?




Impulse comes in the form of a bouncing ball that when exploded, pushes enemies (and you) away from the center of its blast radius. It is extremely handy when you are trying to defeat multiple enemies at once.

However, if you were left with 1 health (HP), and if you were accidentally hit by an Impulse, an error with the game's controls will occur, causing the game to become unplayable.

Luckily, this has been fixed in today's game patch as well! And it wouldn't be possible to do so if not for Anasasi! Thank you sir! Anasasi has been helping out with finding bugs in the game and compiling them in a list. So if you can, please thank him as he has spent a lot of time stress-testing the game and helping with finding bugs!

As there were other bugs that were fixed in today's patch, here is a short summarized list of them:
- Fixed a bug on the demo version where the menu item that links to the Stellar Stars' page is still visible after returning to the starting menu

- Fixed a bug where the boss death (exploding) animation sometimes plays more than once

- Fixed a bug where after entering a new stage, Ro sometimes faces left but his attacks flies towards the reverse direction (i.e right)

- Fixed the bug where if you want to skip the story intro, pressing your Escape (keyboard) / start button (game controller) immediately after selecting the story mode would cause the screen to go grey (thus forcing you to pressing your escape key / start button again to load the characters selection screen)

- Fixed the bug where your basic attack and spells were not reset back to level 1 when you i)are defeated, ii)return to the characters selection screen to restart

- Fixed a bug where quitting to the characters selection screen on the underground caverns boss stage, before the boss spawns, causes the boss to fall and appear on the characters selection screen

- Fixed a bug where quitting and pressing enter in quick succession before the characters selection screen even loads (i.e before the characters fall to the platform), causes all of the characters to appear in the next play's game scene

Lastly, remember to experience it for yourself! Enjoy and have a great weekend!

[WhiteSponge 148]

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Stellar Stars - Development Blog Post #7
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Do you remember when I first mentioned that you will be able to rise up the ranks to higher leagues in Stellar Stars? That also heavily depends on whether you have a good connection to the game servers! And that is what today's new game patch is about - getting you a low latency connection for the best multiplayer experience!

Firstly, do you remember seeing this when you first start up the game?




By selecting "Challenge VS", you will be brought to either the screen to create your user name, or to the multiplayer overview screen if you already own an user name.







In today's game patch, that changes. Instead of immediately bringing you to either of those 2 screens, a small popup will now appear beforehand.




This new popup shows you a list of server regions which you can choose from. For the best multiplayer experience, choose a region that is closest to you.




Doing so will ensure that you get the lowest latency/lag possible, while fighting against your friends or other players in the multiplayer matches.

While that is the main highlight of today's new patch, there is something else.

If you have noticed carefully, something has changed in the multiplayer overview!




There are now 2 new menu items mixed in there! Go ahead and try them out! To do so, press your C or J keys! Did anything happen? I hope not because they are still works-in-progress! However, pressing C will give you a preview of what's to come:




So what do you think of the progress going on for Stellar Stars' multiplayer experience? Remember that you can experience it yourself right now!