When Starsceptre originally released it was to introduce a retro shmup with a new kind of control – Tilt ‘n’ Shmup. What I realized early on was not many people liked tilt, favouring touch instead.
Starsceptre 2.0 Update
The more I looked into it, the more I realized I needed to rework the game to give the ship the freedom of the whole screen that gamers were yearning for.
As a result, I redesigned, not just the controls, but the powerups too because when the ship moved around its rear became unprotected.
Backwards canons and beams meant destruction happens behind you now as well as in front.
One of the secret features, built-in from day one, was a hidden code screen, accessible from a flashing star on the main menu screen. Clicking that took you through to an 8Bit controller whereby you could try out a 10-digit code to see what you could unlock.
Retro gamers who knew the original Konami Code unlocked some additional weapons to start the game better off. And if you don’t know the Konami code, here it is:
Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A then Start.
But I also used this mechanic to unlock players for the game who had supported us since day one. Gamers, reviewers and game devs were selected to become unlockable Avatars on the home screen using a unique Konami-type code.
Getting Starsceptre to launch and now to redesign has taken 2 and a half years of coding in my spare time on my commute to and from work. Coding on the iPad meant I could code and test straight away without needing to sit down at a computer. It’s been this approach that led me to make my dream of finally making a shmup that people could play. I hope you enjoy playing the updated game available on iOS now!
Richard Morgan
8Bit Magic Games
Starsceptre is currently at its lowest price of £0.49 GBP/$0.99 USD/€0.49 EUROs/¥1 CNY until the 7th March.