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Assault Android Cactus |OT| Do Androids Dream of Bullet Hell? (Multiple platforms)

usea

Member
I've played this game ~100 hours. I Absolutely adore it. It's phenomenal.

It must be a great feeling to have it released finally.
 
The post right above yours by Paz says that the humble store version includes DRM free copies.

ka6m1ga.png


No Steam needed.

and at the time of clicking that link i saw and still see it say this right under the trailer
"Assault Android Cactus is provided via Steam key for Linux, Mac, and Windows and is also provided DRM-free for Linux, Mac, and Windows. For key redemption, a free Steam account is required.
"
and wasn't paying attention to the right side symbols

Now he's going to come back and says he hates PCs and only wants it on consoles.

no i won't
 

madp0k

Member

Only played a little bit so far but it's seems really good Paz, my 3yr old lad even came and sat on my lap and watched for 5 minutes desperate to press some buttons. Will double/treble dip when PS4/Vita version appears.

So glad that you were able to get it out the door, must be a great feeling and I hope it's a huge success
 

TSM

Member
We have plans for accessibility options including auto fire and potentially things like aim/moving that should resolve this, though the invert button press idea is interesting. Didn't have time to map out those features properly in game in a way that made it easy for people to control them per player, but they are on our list of future improvements.

For now we thought leaving it as press to fire was best as that will be the default anyway, and it allows us to have weapons like Helo/Aubergine that make sense with press to fire and also precision weapons like the Rail Gun and Shotgun.

You can also consider using the bumper buttons for now, firing and weapon swap are double mapped.

You should also consider allowing the right trigger and/or bumper to toggle firing on and off. This would solve having to hold either for extended periods of time.
 
D

Deleted member 125677

Unconfirmed Member
Assault Android Cactus is INCREDIBLE

Droid Selection seems to actually be a big deal, controls are tight, and it runs superbly, even when downsampling

I have some trouble on maintaining battery with some of the Droids, any tip besides picking up battery charges?
 
I like how Aubergine controls her robo-top Helo differently with a mouse an keyboard. It's so much easier than constantly having to feather the trigger on my 360 controller.

Yeah its awesome, I like how well m/kb controls in this game as I don't always have a gamepad nearby. It feels at home on it which is rare for a dual stick shooter. Being able to target exactly where you want the helo to go just reminds me of how in games like diablo you can target wherever you want for spells and abilities but on a gamepad you have to use a predetermined distance from the character or have it auto aim (ew).
 

usea

Member
Assault Android Cactus is INCREDIBLE

Droid Selection seems to actually be a big deal, controls are tight, and it runs superbly, even when downsampling

I have some trouble on maintaining battery with some of the Droids, any tip besides picking up battery charges?
Be really offensive. Getting hit almost doesn't matter as long as you pick up the batteries. You can regen easily.

Be way, way more aggressive than you think you should be. Be completely reckless. Then the game will be much easier :)

You're invincible briefly while switching weapons, so use that to jump through danger to a battery or a powerup. Also the blue powerup puts you at full health instantly if you're about to go down.
 
D

Deleted member 125677

Unconfirmed Member
Getting some nice S scores

Do I need perfect chain for S+ ? Anything beside chaining that boost scores?

I should also take the opportunity to thank fuzzification that raffled the game in the Steam thread. Best price ever :D
 

MUnited83

For you.
i know Paz is on the site and using humble to get a steam key isn't helping my avoiding steam. I've been waiting since it was first talked about but this is just a reminder i got to wait even longer. There's 3 games i need asap and none of them have a actual release date
AAC
The Tomorrow Children
Drifter
You might want to actually check on things before saying dumb things that are not true...
 

MaLDo

Member
Damnit! I just bought it. I really hope they offer an option in the near future to disable camera shake but I could not wait to play it :)

Fantastic game. Those with SLI, 0x00C00005 bits work great.
 

Shaneus

Member
@Paz or anyone who has it ~

Has anyone tried the game in 3D Vision? If it works well in 3D I'll be picking up a copy asap.
Oh god, this with really subtle 3D effects would be insane. And I'm not just talking about FPS mode either. Older PCs should be able to handle any kind of quasi-3D (like, side by side) without too much hassle I'd reckon.
 

Wonko_C

Member
I've been waiting for this game forever since I played the demo!... Aaaand I'll keep waiting until I'm no longer broke and can afford it, LOL. It's jumped to the No. 1 on my Steam wishlist, though so I remember to buy it once I'm able. :)
 

jello44

Chie is the worst waifu
Looks like I'm going to have to wait for the PS4 version (which I was going to get anyway), I just tried the demo to make sure everything would be ok but the game doesn't seem to want to cooperate with my laptop. It runs OK at low settings, but then it starts to sputter at some parts making it unplayable.
 

Shaneus

Member
Sounds like they're having a tough time getting the word out about this game: https://twitter.com/SanatanaMishra/status/647196081479004160

This game's awesome and more people should know about it! I've been recommending it to friends but it sucks how many good Steam games fly under the radar.
Yeah, I've been doing my best to get word out for AAC whenever I can for ages now, which is kinda why I wanted to create this thread (and also did the Early Access thread a while back). But all the big websites that like to champion indie games etc. (even some that previewed AAC when it was first out on Early Access) and even some of their Australian arms (like Kotaku AU, IGN AU and Gamespot AU) have not said a thing about this.

IGN hasn't even reviewed a game for two days, yet have somehow managed to completely avoid/ignore AAC :/
 

jello44

Chie is the worst waifu
Yeah, I've been doing my best to get word out for AAC whenever I can for ages now, which is kinda why I wanted to create this thread (and also did the Early Access thread a while back). But all the big websites that like to champion indie games etc. (even some that previewed AAC when it was first out on Early Access) and even some of their Australian arms (like Kotaku AU, IGN AU and Gamespot AU) have not said a thing about this.

IGN hasn't even reviewed a game for two days, yet have somehow managed to completely avoid/ignore AAC :/

Shame, I've been waiting for this game for a while now. A game with cute robot girls blowing shit up? Sign me the hell up!

I know I've pestered a couple people I know who like twin stick shooters a few times about it.
 

Paz

Member
Looks like I'm going to have to wait for the PS4 version (which I was going to get anyway), I just tried the demo to make sure everything would be ok but the game doesn't seem to want to cooperate with my laptop. It runs OK at low settings, but then it starts to sputter at some parts making it unplayable.

Sent you a DM asking about perf issues, hope we can resolve it!

And thanks for the support everyone, It's not a universe ending event but I was just a little sad in that tweet that we couldn't convince the bigger sites Cactus was worth their time.
 

iosefe

Member
Sent you a DM asking about perf issues, hope we can resolve it!

And thanks for the support everyone, It's not a universe ending event but I was just a little sad in that tweet that we couldn't convince the bigger sites Cactus was worth their time.

i've noticed the website says Plays best on Alienware.

you might do well to contact Lenard Swain who runs the twitch channel @AWLenard on twitter or something. that might help a bit with exposure. tell him iosefe sent ya ;)
 

Maximo

Member
Will spread the word as much as possible, only played a handful of levels so far but im really enjoying it, kept my eye out for this for a long time.
 
Finally accomplished S+ rank on stages 5-3 and 5-5 (videos for those who care), partially thanks to the knowledge dropped in this thread about invincibility frames and the EMP refilling your health. Last one on the list is still 5-4 though; that boss fight is not going to pretty and I'm dreading that one with, well, any character really.

Either way though, Assault Android Cactus knows how to put up a fight without making the difficulty feel unfair in the slightest. Devs deserve props for that.
 

Salsa

Member
was gonna buy this

then read no online MP

I get why the team couldnt pull it off, but my local buddy just moved away so I think i'll skip for now as the game seems better experienced that way
 

Momentary

Banned
Sounds like they're having a tough time getting the word out about this game: https://twitter.com/SanatanaMishra/status/647196081479004160

This game's awesome and more people should know about it! I've been recommending it to friends but it sucks how many good Steam games fly under the radar.

Well. I got my little brother and his friend to buy the game. They didn't even know what it was and were wondering why they saw me playing it everything time they hopped on STEAM these last 2 days.

This really is a superb game with tight mechanics, fair difficulty that doesn't ruin the game, and a crap ton of gameplay variety due to all the characters. Makes me want to start reviewing games so I can cover all of these smaller games that seem to not get the time of day like they should.


was gonna buy this

then read no online MP

I get why the team couldnt pull it off, but my local buddy just moved away so I think i'll skip for now as the game seems better experienced that way

The game really feels like it was built for one person to play. I can't see having 2 players going at it at the same time. It feels like the game's difficulty, bullet patterns, and bosses weren't focused on that. Now outside of the campaign I can see how that would be really damn handy to have have 2 players.
 

Paz

Member
was gonna buy this

then read no online MP

I get why the team couldnt pull it off, but my local buddy just moved away so I think i'll skip for now as the game seems better experienced that way

It's actually built as a single player game and co-op is added as a bonus mode, but I get you wanna co-op with your buddy (I play co-op games with buddy's in NZ all the time). There's an up to date demo with 4 levels if you wanna give it a go.

Finally accomplished S+ rank on stages 5-3 and 5-5 (videos for those who care), partially thanks to the knowledge dropped in this thread about invincibility frames and the EMP refilling your health. Last one on the list is still 5-4 though; that boss fight is not going to pretty and I'm dreading that one with, well, any character really.

Either way though, Assault Android Cactus knows how to put up a fight without making the difficulty feel unfair in the slightest. Devs deserve props for that.

Holy crap what an S+ run with Cactus! I rarely use weapon swap in that way (I mean I use it to dodge, but not with that regularity) and I'm super happy to see someone exploiting the systems in unique ways :)

i've noticed the website says Plays best on Alienware.

you might do well to contact Lenard Swain who runs the twitch channel @AWLenard on twitter or something. that might help a bit with exposure. tell him iosefe sent ya ;)

I will try to reach out, I'm just so exhausted right now with reaching out to everyone for the last month and finishing the game... Ready to collapse in a heap and maybe play this unopened MGSV special edition my brother left shrink wrapped on my desk (I day 1 marathoned every other MGS game with him since we were teens).
 

Salsa

Member
It's actually built as a single player game and co-op is added as a bonus mode, but I get you wanna co-op with your buddy (I play co-op games with buddy's in NZ all the time). There's an up to date demo with 4 levels if you wanna give it a go.

my buddy actually moved to NZ (as in New Zealand?)

was this all your plan :(

i'll give the demo a try. good to know
 
It's actually built as a single player game and co-op is added as a bonus mode, but I get you wanna co-op with your buddy (I play co-op games with buddy's in NZ all the time). There's an up to date demo with 4 levels if you wanna give it a go.



Holy crap what an S+ run with Cactus! I rarely use weapon swap in that way (I mean I use it to dodge, but not with that regularity) and I'm super happy to see someone exploiting the systems in unique ways :)



I will try to reach out, I'm just so exhausted right now with reaching out to everyone for the last month and finishing the game... Ready to collapse in a heap and maybe play this unopened MGSV special edition my brother left shrink wrapped on my desk (I day 1 marathoned every other MGS game with him since we were teens).

I played the demo and I'm quite impressed, so I'll pick this up when I get paid. I followed the game for ages but never got around to getting involved with early access. I run a Youtube channel dedicated to niche games and I'll cover this when I have the money. I'll be sure to link you to the video when it's up.
 
The last boss fight for me was amazing. Loved learning each stage of its attacks. Felt so satisfying.
Agreed. Very enjoyable test of endurance once you have a strategy figured out.

was gonna buy this

then read no online MP

I get why the team couldnt pull it off, but my local buddy just moved away so I think i'll skip for now as the game seems better experienced that way
For what it's worth, I'm in your position as well of having no one to locally play it with and I've still gotten a lot of mileage out of AAC's single player alone; 45 hours and counting with a number of achievements not yet unlocked. Unless of course you're not keen on aiming for score or the highest possible stage rank. It helps that there's a variety of playstyles with the 9 available androids on top of the daily challenge, Infinity Drive (Survival essentially) as well as a Boss Rush mode.

I'll echo the sentiment of at least trying out the demo to see if the SP component could be up your alley.

Holy crap what an S+ run with Cactus! I rarely use weapon swap in that way (I mean I use it to dodge, but not with that regularity) and I'm super happy to see someone exploiting the systems in unique ways :)
Thanks for the compliment, but I feel I could've used it a tad more aggressively for the final boss in retrospect. I can definitely make up for lost time in places. Also curious if I can employ the invincibility frames to my advantage in 5-4 since I always felt lost without a speed power-up or without hugging walls (both of which situational), so I'm going to experiment whether there's a small timing window for it.

I played the demo and I'm quite impressed, so I'll pick this up when I get paid. I followed the game for ages but never got around to getting involved with early access. I run a Youtube channel dedicated to niche games and I'll cover this when I have the money. I'll be sure to link you to the video when it's up.
Small world, Tetsuo.
1.0
/
 

EDarkness

Member
Congrats on the game, Paz. Looks great and I can't wait to try it out when the console versions hit. Trying to save the experience for my first time playing, but the game looks fun in any case. Hope it works out great for you guys.
 

Maximo

Member
Beat the game then went straight to the boss rush, only made it to the last boss but man what a fun game I love Arcade Shooters and I had a blast with this.
 
So I got this achievement earlier whilst hunting for the S+:

kcospctizx.png


This means I beat that cursed last stage on my list, right? After well over a hundred tries and who knows how many hours since Early Access?

qlmullscwg.gif


Nope, ripped that satisfaction right out of my chest by a magic pixel. FUCK.
 

MUnited83

For you.
And you might want to not attack people

Nothing what you quoted wasn't true. The humble will give you a steam code. Even if I missed the direct download part

No, it will give you both a steam key and a drm-free download.There. There is your drm-free release. The game is "actually released" according to your crazy standards.

The game has a drm-free release. This is a fact.
 

KDR_11k

Member
I'm still not a fan of the timer based loss condition (and the uncertainty of when the next battery is going to spawn and the frustration of running out without knowing when you'd have gotten the next one)...
 
I'm still not a fan of the timer based loss condition (and the uncertainty of when the next battery is going to spawn and the frustration of running out without knowing when you'd have gotten the next one)...
There's a consistent time window when the next battery will approximately spawn based on x number of enemies it feels like, though it can be a bit of a guessing game which robot ends up carrying it yeah. A subtle visual indicator would've alleviated the latter admittedly.
 

Paz

Member
There's a consistent time window when the next battery will approximately spawn based on x number of enemies it feels like, though it can be a bit of a guessing game which robot ends up carrying it yeah. A subtle visual indicator would've alleviated the latter admittedly.

It's purely based on dustruction, x amount of destroyed robot value = new battery spawns so shoot all the things :)

Cactus is a damage efficiency puzzle wrapped in a shmup skin.
 
Any word on how the official soundtrack is? As in: bitrate and file type? Never bought an OST on Steam before, so I'm clueless about what store-wide precedent there is.

It's purely based on dustruction, x amount of destroyed robot value = new battery spawns so shoot all the things :)

Cactus is a damage efficiency puzzle wrapped in a shmup skin.
Oh, that's pretty straight-forward then!
 
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