The 3rd demo of Super Space Galaxy is here!

You may have seen the two blog posts about all the improvements I’ve added in preparation for Super Space Galaxy‘s the third playable demo. At long last, that demo is officially released! It includes all the things I’ve added over almost a year of development.

So what’s new? There are some new weapons in the game now that I’ve reworked and redeemed a few of them. The Burst Shot is a new weapon that arose from the incomplete AK-47. I find it really satisfying to fire now. Normally, I find burst-fire weapons annoying to use if they use up ammo, but since main weapons have infinite ammo in Super Space Galaxy, that’s not an issue!

The Plasma Globes also no longer suck! They were in the previous demo, but were too slow and not smart enough to home in on enemies effectively. Now that’s fixed they’re one of the most fun weapons in the game. In fact, I suspect the programming that makes them accelerate towards their target may be handy for enemy projectiles in future updates as well. It could be fun to dodge projectiles that seek you out intelligently.

I gave Allan Zax, my main musician, his own special ‘Allan demo’ in advance and he liked being able to hear the music he made in the game for real. Even though he composed most of it himself, hearing it in context makes all the difference. The galaxy feels much more real and atmospheric now.

'...it feels so different with more planets having music.'
Allan Zax

The game also just became a lot more colourful! I overhauled how the enemies flash different colours and I’m glad I did it, because now the same technology can be used to re-colour the planets too. Further away from the centre of the galaxy, you’ll find purple rocks, blood-red oceans, and blue deserts. I think it helps make exploring the galaxy much more rewarding.

The last moments of this demo have been rather a scramble for me as I had to fix some unexpected bugs (as usual!). Turns out the new demo wasn’t compatible with save files made with older versions, which had less information in their save files. This has now been fixed. Let me know if you find any bugs with the ‘Give feedback’ option, but now all should be well.

The game’s only going to get better from here, so download the demo and give it a whirl for yourself!

Thanks for reading,

Kenneth Dunlop