Gunlocked News

[p]Gunlocked 2 launches in Early Access on Steam in August 2025. Wishlist on Steam today! [dynamiclink][/dynamiclink]First, let’s take a moment to define some terms in the context of this feature. “Bullet Hell” is a type of shoot ‘em up (shmup) where the focus is primarily on dodging large amounts of screen-filling projectiles. “Bullet Heaven” is a genre that flips this paradigm and has the player creating all of the bullets, while hordes of mostly harmless enemies become their fodder. So what if Heaven meets Hell?[/p][p]You might think that would mean a moderate amount of bullets coming from the enemies and the player simultaneously, which just sounds a lot like a traditional shmup. Hardly revolutionary. Beyond the rudimentary definitions laid out before you, each genre also has a number of other key elements that define their experiences, in ways that can’t be measured in bullets (or bananas, giraffes, football fields, and/or any other imperial system). In fact, there are many more differences from camera movement to controls, but for this article, I’m focusing on difficulty and power curves.[/p][p]Bullet Hells focus on dexterity and pattern recognition. Your power level remains relatively consistent, so you improve (hopefully) through practice and muscle memory. Bullet Heavens focus on combining abilities synergistically. Your reflexes are (largely) irrelevant to success, but your power increases exponentially with smart (again, hopefully) decision making, and a little luck. The power fantasy of Hell is in navigating the impossible, and the power fantasy of Heaven is in not needing to. So how much skill could I introduce to Heavens without making them too hard, and how much synergy building could I introduce to Hells without rendering them too easy?[/p][p]Gunlocked 1 was my answer. Unfortunately, everyone else had their own answer. I won’t pretend Gunlocked is the only game to try to balance these two extremes of the shmup genre, but each game that has attempted this has its own unique proprietary blend. Gunlocked’s blend was successful in entertaining many fans of both genres, but each group also had unique grievances. Players had differing ideas of where the game was too easy or hard, and often in contradictory ways. In combining genres that targeted gamers of vastly different skill-sets and interests, I created a difficulty paradox.[/p][p]I received countless messages about how players didn’t “get it” or “click with it” at first, but once they did, they fell in love. These messages came from fans of both genres, so I knew there was a universally appealing core to the game. But I also knew that for every message like this, there were probably 10 people that never stuck around long enough for it to click. When so many games are competing for gamers’ attention, I can’t blame them. Games need to click fast because it’s easier to pick another game and try it for 15 minutes than play one game for 3 hours and hope. I needed to deliver Gunlocked’s unique mix of skill and synergies sooner, without overwhelming the player later.[/p][p]I believe Gary Gygax said a good dungeon master makes his players feel like they have a 70% chance of failure, and 30% chance of success, when the reality is just the opposite. The solution to Gunlocked’s difficulty paradox then was as much about balance as it was about perception. The goal is to deliver the intensity and thrills of a Bullet Hell to give the perception of difficulty, but ensure that players of many skill levels have a high chance of early success without eliminating long-term challenge.[/p][p]I've previously discussed changes coming to weapons and early game challenge, so today I'll focus on Bosses and their improved role in the balance of Heaven and Hell. When Gunlocked 1 first came out, bosses weren’t really a feature of the Bullet Heaven genre except as larger units with larger health pools. So simply having them at all was a novelty. “Simply” being the key word. Their abilities were rudimentary and limited by the player’s lack of a reliable dodge and/or defensive options. In fact, the proprietary blend of genres skewed so heavily in favor of heaven over hell that many might suggest it has no hell at all (but believe me, I got plenty of angry messages about it being a bullet hell). So in Gunlocked 2, bosses have been expanded and refined, as have the player’s abilities.[/p][p](Pictured: The player practices against the new and improved Sting King in the brand new Simulator game mode of Gunlocked 2. Still a few bugs to work out ːsteammockingː)[/p][p]The arenas in which you fight Bosses are far more tightly controlled and choreographed, with less randomized elements, unrelated to the boss, causing visual clutter. This allows me to focus on making the combat look more spectacular (the perception part). While most of the game is about cutting a swath through helpless swarms, I get to flip the script and let bosses shine a bit more and throw more outrageous attacks at you in place of these enemies (though some bosses do still call for reinforcements).[/p][p][/p][p]On the other hand, the new timed “phase shift” dodge ability every pilot has allows boss attacks to be more aggressive, and not just look more impressive. Where previously I had to leave the player safe openings they could always reach, now I can do all sorts of unimaginably devious things, with the knowledge that if players manage their dodge well (the balance part), they can always make their own way out.[/p][p][/p][p]And “making your own way” is really the core of Gunlocked 2. Every system in the game has been adjusted to give the player more choice and freedom to manage the more varied and intense combat. This in turn has freed me up to tackle this unique combination of Heaven and Hell in ways I never could have in the original.[/p][p][/p][p][/p]

Forgive the self-indulgence here, but with a recent influx of new Gunlocked players, and discord members I found myself once again discussing the origins of the project. What I realized then is that most people who have played Gunlocked were not around when it first launched, and certainly not privy to how it all began. Each time I explain why it's so hard to do X or Y in the original game, the players often have no reference for what I'm talking about.

With the Gunlocked 2 Kickstarter in its final 48 hours, and having just released some test footage of the updated Hive Queen boss fight, I thought now was a perfect time to discuss the past, present, and future of the game that eventually changed my life.

[h2]3 Games I Never Made[/h2]

Gunlocked the name has existed for years. Gunlocked the game, as it is today, is the result of three different games, whose problems could not be solved individually, becoming one.

The first: Well, it was called Gunlocked, but it was nothing like the game it is today. It was a Fruit Ninja-like mobile game where the player used a limited power resource to target enemy space ships and blow them up. The gameplay was decent, but I struggled to find a memorable hook to keep players coming back, and ultimately forgot about it myself. For a while.


The second: A game called Astro-Mutt. Another mobile high-score type game idea that evolved to have roguelike style elements. It was at this point that I was trying to introduce ways to freshen up arcade-style games even as they were falling out of favor on mobile. That memorable hook that Gunlocked lacked. But all the best upgrades were at odds with the main gameplay. The cool stuff was all about fighting the enemies, but 90% of the game was about running (jet-packing) away. You might notice the background art here.


The Third: A game that would eventually become Boons & Burdens was my attempt to take the roguelike systems I made for Astro-Mutt and put them into a combat focused game because the combat was the best part. This old version was a platform twin-stick shooter, and it had way too many buttons and controls. From double jumps and wall jumps to active abilities, supers, deployable powerups, and more. My testers liked it, but all complained it was really hard to manage all of the controls.


Eventually, I heard about a game called Vampire Survivors, and had a go with it. It was an interesting concept, and I won't explain it because I think everyone knows, but the main hook is that you don't aim, and you don't trigger your abilities manually. Suddenly, the idea of a combat-based roguelike with a million abilities didn't seem so hard to manage. So I decided to revive my old project/s.

Borrowing art, code, and other assets from each of the previous games, I smashed together the first version of the Gunlocked that eventually saw release. And it was fun. Really fun. I thought, what the heck, I'll throw this game in Early Access, add a few more upgrades and bosses, and maybe sell a few hundred copies...

[h2]And 1 Humble Game I did...[/h2]

The thing I cite most when discussing why I didn't do X or Y, or why I can't change Z, is these humble origins. I didn't expect the game to be so popular, and it was never designed to have so much content. I always had ideas for how to expand it, but I never planned to expand it so much. The spaghetti code resulting from smashing together 3 old games made years apart meant making updates was tedious and sometimes catastrophic.

When the game first launched, there wasn't even a main menu for selecting pilots, augments, ships and levels. That's because there was only 1 level, only 1 ship, only 1 boss, and only 3 pilots. Pilots each had their own unique augment, but that system was otherwise not even in the game yet. Instead, you jumped right into the only level, and chose your pilot right then and there.
Pictured: The pilot menu as it was when Early Access started.

Eventually, as the game's popularity began to swell (around the 0.25 release) I was encouraged by a player to add more flavor to the pilots, and in doing so, it set off a chain reaction of adding more detail and color to the entirety of the game. Everything from upgrade icons, to menus, and bosses. Even asteroids and gems changed multiple times as I pushed to improve the game over several updates. An ethos that has carried through to Gunlocked 2 today.
Pictured: The pilot menu you all know, as it is now. Pictured: The pilot menu in Gunlocked 2.

If you've even made this far, I've probably strained your attention with my self-indulgent nostalgia, so I'll wrap things up with some more visual comparisons of where Gunlocked started, and where it currently is in Gunlocked 2. If you like what you see, you can wishlist Gunlocked 2 here:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3492830/Gunlocked_2/

[h2]The Upgrade Menu[/h2]
Pictured: Version 1 of the upgrade menu. Featuring the old icons before the redesign. No rerolls. No synergies. Pictured: The upgrade menu as it is now. It was the previous lack of synergies or a plan for them that prevented me from doing more with this system. Pictured: The upgrade menu in Gunlocked 2. Designed with extra space for many more possible choices. You can also read about synergies, and instantly see and count how many of any synergy type you already have. A common request in the original that just wasn't possible.

[h2]Boss Design: The Hive Queen[/h2]
Pictured: Version 1 of the Hive Queen boss. Taken straight from the mobile game, and before I added more color to the palette. Pictured: The Hive Queen now, alongside the improved UI and upgrade icons. Pictured: The Hive Queen in Gunlocked 2. A far more aggressive and versatile boss that makes use of the increased battlefield size.

If you're still here, I hope to see you when Gunlocked 2 launches later this year. Thanks for reading!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3492830/Gunlocked_2/

Gunlocked is a game that keeps on giving, but as a solo developer there's a limit to how much I can give back. We're heading toward 1000 new players just this month, 3 years after release, and that means a fresh batch of feedback on Steam, social media, Discord, and even in my email. So I thought I'd take a moment to explain where I'm at as a solo developer, and how that affects development of my games, especially Gunlocked 1 and 2.

The short version is that development stopped on Gunlocked quite some time ago. As mentioned, I still get feedback about the interface, controls, balance, and content/feature requests, but any time I spend going back to an older game is time away from a current or future game. There's no team to pick up the slack. It's just me. But that doesn't mean your feedback isn't valuable. It's why I'm making Gunlocked 2 in the first place!

The community's feedback on the original Gunlocked has been invaluable in helping me shape Gunlocked 2, and I've set up a new forum post to continue to facilitate that here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/3492830/discussions/0/828204828240947732/ And you can always join the Discord here: https://discord.gg/YbdSHs58m9

If you want to take a more active role in shaping Gunlocked 2, there's a Kickstarter going on to help me expand the game even further with more planned content, and a robust soundtrack. Backers can gain access to early playtests, or even become characters in the game. If even a tiny percentage of Gunlocked 1 players backed the Kickstarter at the $10 tier, the game would be funded.

You can check that out here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fromlefcourt/gunlocked-2-endless-battles-in-space

Pictured: This could be you. The hightest tier backers can even become playable pilots!

It's important to note that Gunlocked 2 will release even if the Kickstarter fails, but It will mean the final scope of the game will be decided by Early Access, similar to how the original was developed. It will be a complete experience, but the depth and breadth will be decided by its success.

Pictured: 6 of 20 planned bosses for Gunlocked 2. Only time will tell how many more I can add.

There's a lot I want to do in Gunlocked 2, and a level of quality I'm trying to maintain, well above anything that was possible with the original. And that drive to improve is largely driven by the amazing feedback I've received and continue to receive about the original. But that kind of quality also takes more time, and time is money.

Pictured: A selection of animations from Gunlocked 2. Things even explode better in the sequel!

Wishlists continue to climb for Gunlocked 2, so I know there's still a hunger for shmup roguelite experiences, and no matter what happens, I intend to make the sequel better than the original in every aspect. I hope you can come along for the ride in whatever way makes sense for you!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3492830/Gunlocked_2/
Support the Gunlocked 2 Kickstarter. Become a part of the game! Over 20% Funded already!

[h2]Kickstarting Something Better: Or When Good Enough isn't Good Enough[/h2]

Why Kickstarter? I’ve gotten that question (and some ruder variations) a few times since announcing Gunlocked 2. If you follow my games, you know a few things are constants: My games are self-funded, have short development times, deliver on their promises, and they’re good enough.

Pictured: A collection of games I've released over the years, some under different banners

It can be easy to infinitely toil away trying to make art perfect. Add in the complexities of programming and the endless search for more optimum code, and infinity gets a +1. They say “Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good” but I used to say don’t let it be the enemy of “good enough.”

It can be helpful to aim for good enough. I wouldn’t have released 7 games and 1 expansion over the past 8 years if I aimed for anything more than good enough. It was both a mantra to avoid burn out, and a means to an underfunded end. I was giving myself permission to make imperfect art, so that I could make art at all.

Developing games is expensive. It’s probably the art form with the fewest shortcuts. There are a lot of shortcuts to making bad games, but not a lot to making good games, or in my case, good enough games. It takes focus, and sustained passion. It takes imagination because for huge stretches of time you’re working with abstract concepts that have no manifest results. And most of all it takes time, and time is money.

So “good enough” let me shave off 4 frames and 6 colors from each enemy animation. It let me settle for the same laser sound I used in my last game. It let me use my 1st or 2nd draft of the tutorial, instead of the 4th or 5th. And it was all in service of the idea that if I released some good enough games, I’d make enough money to finally have the time and resources to make a great game.

Pictured: A comparison of boss designs in Gunlocked 1 (above) vs Gunlocked 2 (below)

But that mentality had a hidden cost. It slowly sapped my passion and distracted me from why I wanted to make games in the first place. It turned releasing projects into a means to an end (rent). I was forced to always look ahead, instead of savoring what I was working on in the moment. Don't get me wrong, I was still making games I wanted to make, with mechanics that I thought were fun. But the benefit was that I only ever made good enough money to make more good enough games, and never games of the quality that inspired me to make games in the first place.

Metal Slug made me fall in love with pixel art, and Mega Man 2 made me fall in love with game design. But I’ve never aspired to make games that lived up to those benchmarks before, even though I've wanted to since I was young. I’m 40 years old, and I’ve been dreaming of making games since I was 4. There hasn’t been a perfect time, to put everything I have into what I’m working on, in 36 years. Now is good enough, and with Kickstarter funding I can make something great.

I’m excited to finally announce Gunlocked 2! Making the original roguelite shoot ‘em up was such a formative moment in my life that I knew if I was ever going to make a sequel it had to be special. For a while, however, I wasn’t sure how. So I’ve spent the past few years experimenting with various spins on the formula, learning what works, and what doesn’t. And after a few extra twists and turns in the journey, it’s finally here (almost).

Wishlist it today: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3492830/Gunlocked_2

The first game’s success was a welcome surprise that changed my life, but it was limited by its originally modest ambitions. When tens of thousands of players joined the fight against the Swarm, the game expanded beyond anything I previously planned. But it could only reach so far outside its original constraints. A sequel was the only way to make things bigger and better.

Gunlocked 2 is, planned from the start to be, a premium indie game that can stand toe-to-toe with the best action RPGs, shmups, and roguelites. It has everything you loved about the original, and many improvements to the formula based on years of feedback.


It's the biggest, and most ambitious FromLefcourt game yet.

And you can help make it even bigger, and even better. A Kickstarter campaign is now underway to fund a more expansive version of the sequel that will deliver extra content and challenges from day 1!

Support the Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fromlefcourt/gunlocked-2-endless-battles-in-space

Gunlocked 2 will launch into Early Access on Steam for PC in Q3 2025, proudly keeping the FromLefcourt tradition of heavy community involvement. Unlike more recent games, I expect a long development period full of huge content updates that will dwarf the original in scope and spectacle!

[h2]About Gunlocked 2[/h2]
Movement is your weapon. A sci-fi action roguelite and shmup combined, in Gunlocked 2 you'll pilot and upgrade a state-of-the-art warship against endless waves of deadly aliens. Deep customization, branching paths, truly novel weapons, and tons of unlockables offer endless replayability set against the infinity of outer space.

[h2]What's New in the Sequel?[/h2]

• Expanded Customization: 18 unique pilots, customizable warships with their own strengths and styles, and 100+ infinitely stackable upgrades offer new creative freedom.
  
• Branching Paths: Warp gates let you seamlessly jump to different zones that offer unique battles and rewards. Every run offers new choices!
  
• Refined Control: A new dodge ability gives players more control. And 360-degree analog movement brings Gunlocked out of the retro era and firmly into the present.
  
• Play How You Want: Play for 2 minutes or 20, Gunlocked 2 fits perfectly into whatever free time you have, then save and resume later. But death is still permanent!
  
• Modular Difficulty: Difficulty modifiers now come in multiple levels, and can make the game as hard or as easy as you'd like.
  
• Glorious Pixel Art: Huge, full color sprites with detailed animations make every bullet, bomb, and laser explode with style.
  

More details on the Steam Store Page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3492830/Gunlocked_2

[h2]Connect with FromLefcourt[/h2]

• Bluesky: @fromlefcourt.bsky.social
• Mastodon: @[email protected]
• Discord: https://discord.gg/YbdSHs58m9
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@fromlefcourt
• IndieDB: https://www.indiedb.com/members/fromlefcourt