Out Zone News

🚨BATSUGUN COMPETITION🚨

We’re teaming up with Japanese clothing company KumaGumi to celebrate the upcoming release of Batsugun on PC!

The aim of KumaGumi is to do quality retro gaming apparel. “Kuma”(熊 / Bear) “Gumi”(組 Group) reflects the days, evenings, years (oh wtf?!) spent hibernating and playing videogames with friends. A time of innocence, simplicity with no Internet. One of the many amazing collections from KumaGumiis a line of Batsugun clothes and now you have the chance to win a Skull Hornet coach jacket, Warning Kuma hoodie, or a Skull Hornets t-shirt from that very collection!

Participate in the competition on X/Twitter. Enter before 23:59 CET on January 31st 2023. Three winners will be selected and announced on February 1st.

Greetings shmupers! Today we’re bursting with excitement to reveal the next installment of our Toaplan releases on PC, Toaplan Arcade Shoot ‘Em Up Collection Vol.3!

Vol. 3 is a mix of firsts and lasts and good ol' classics in between. We’re also bringing the enhancements from our two first volumes to Vol.3 for both veterans and newcomers alike to enjoy. You can purchase all four games together for 19.99$/€ or separately for 7.79$/€. Be sure to wishlist all four titles to prepare for launch day!

SHMUPS INCLUDED IN VOL.3


Tiger-Heli: This is where it all started. Tiger-Heli, Toaplan's pioneering bomb-based vertical shooter set the stage for an entire genre back in 1985!

Vimana: Uncover the magic of Indian mythology, unique power-ups, and an enchanting soundtrack in this electrifying space showdown!

FixEight: Toaplan's thrilling vertical run-and-gun game features eight peerless warriors with cutting-edge weapons!

Batsugun: The epic conclusion of Toaplan's legendary shooter series. Play the original or Batsugun Special. Choose your favorite character and spaceship in this thrilling sci-fi adventure!

LIST OF UPDATES:

●     Minimal Input Lag: Emulation, input processing, and rendering all complete on the same frame.
●     Quick Save using F1-F10, Reload with Shift+ F1-F10
●     Online leaderboards for Single Credit, No Assist, and Assisted plays.
●     Instrument panels with extra gameplay information and artwork.
●     Rewind the game between 10-18 minutes, depending on the action.
●     Capture sharable replays to immortalize your interstellar victories (or funny moments).
●     Assist Features such as auto-fire at multiple rates.
●     Very Easy Mode: Lower the difficulty to breeze through the adventure.
●     Pixel perfect or full-screen scaling in windowed or full-screen mode.
●     Rotate the gameplay in 90-degree increments.
●     Steam Achievements
●     Choose between Raw Input on Windows or Steam Input.
●     Hone your skills in the ultra customizable practice mode!

We had a blast putting together this collection of classic shooters, and we hope you enjoy it. The team is now focusing on Vol.4 which will be the final collection, and we'll let you know when it's ready for launch.

February 1, 2024 is just around the corner. Get ready by adding all four games to your Wishlist and follow us on X, formerly known as Twitter, to stay updated!

The Toaplan games are known for their thrilling music that matches the intense shoot ‘em up gameplay. Taking off in Truxton and you immediately feel a level excitement as the music starts to play, it’s the start of an action-packed journey to furthest reaches of space. Or the dramatic straight into action upbeat tune of Hellfire. Add the sound effects of blazing shots and exploding bombs. It’s a soundscape that represents the best of the golden arcade era of pixelated shoot ‘em up games.

At Bitwave we have worked to constantly improving the audio representation. Coder Carl Henrik Skårstedt has listened (no pun intended) to feedback and received input from Tatsujin, the owner of the Toaplan games and run by original Toaplan staff including Masahiro Yuge and Tatsuya Uemura that composed several of the songs in the game.

To ensure proper emulation we listened to recorded arcade music and sound effects. It’s a challenge as the audio experience with an arcade cabinet can vary between cabinets with different speakers and resonance. The sound from earlier sound chips such as the PSG depends on the circuitry connecting it to the sound output signal making each game a little bit more unique and more challenging to get just right.

Throughout several different patches we have worked on the audio:

- Improved the sound to play at a consistent tempo.
- Included support for a wider range of audio drivers.
- Added audio filter: optional echo, reverb, low-pass and high-pass filters to allow players to customize to their best experience in emulating an arcade like sound.
- Fixed technical bugs that meant minor improvements in the generated audio.

In the latest update we’ve further adjusted the frequency based on feedback of the sound effects and the high pitch in games such as Slap Fight based on feedback. This is something that’ll also benefit future releases such as Tiger Heli, the first game created by Toaplan. We hope that this is satisfaction to your ears in the goal to deliver the arcade feeling home on your PC.

We’re humble as it’s not an easy task to emulate and faithfully recreate the amazing Toaplan audio with the weight of heritage it carries. We appreciate specific feedback on how and where we can improve. Our goal remains to deliver an arcade experience with minimal input lag for the controller to get that split-second action decisions as you dodge bullets, while you enjoy the beautiful pixel art with or without a CRT filter and feel the beat of the stunning digitized music.

We want to finish off by letting you know that the latest update also includes a fix for the capture video function. Previously we fixed the desync and in the new version we have turned off rewind when recording and replaying. At first the fix will be applied to Twin Cobra, Flying Shark, and Slap Fight. The fix will be rolled out to the other games in the future.

Other fixes in addition to the already mentioned:
● Music tempo correction (Twin Cobra, and Flying Shark)
● Wide screen mode: Pick-ups centered instead of to the left side (Twin Cobra)
● Centered the cursor in the high score entry (Slap Fight)

Hey shmupers! We've just released a new patch for Out Zone. Details below:

• Keyboard layout saves and loads properly again
  
• Keyboard icons displayed when using keyboard and in keyboard setup
  
• Record and replay reworked, replays from previous versions still work and should be better
  
• Stairstep screen mode bleeding in from right edge fixed
  

They’re here! Toaplan Arcade Shoot 'Em Up Collection Vol.2 is out now on Steam! We at Bitwave are proud to have worked on this project with our Japanese friends at Tatsujin, and the second volume includes four Toaplan classics with high-quality emulation and tons of quality-of-life extras!

Games included in Vol. 2:

• Hellfire: Toaplan's first side-scrolling shooter, known for its blazing graphics and strategic gameplay. Save the galaxy by burning aliens to ashes with the ultimate firepower!
  
• Slap Fight (AKA Alcon): A brain-melting vertical shooter with gauge-based power-ups that'll get your blood pumping!
  
• Fire Shark: Set the skies ablaze and endure white-knuckle shmup action in this no-nonsense aerial trial! Fly solo or play in co-op.
  
• Flying Shark (AKA Sky Shark): A military shmup adventure with destructive power-ups, stunning graphics, and evil enemy forces to destroy!
  

You can purchase all four games together for 19.99$/€ or separately for 7.79$/€!

Each game features quick save/resume, online leaderboards for single credit players, no assist and assisted modes, and Achievements (for bragging rights)! You can also showcase your skills online using the built-in video capture!

List of updates:

• Authentic emulation with minimal input lag (input processing and rendering are all done on the same frame).
  
• Instrument panels with additional gameplay information and artwork in vertical titles.
  
• Gameplay can be rewinded between 10 and 18 minutes.
  
• Assist features, such as auto-fire.
  
• Very Easy Mode, allowing beginners to master each game at their own pace.
  
• Pixel-perfect display or full-screen scaling in both windowed and full-screen modes.
  
• Rotate the game in 90-degree increments.
  
• Choose between Raw Windows Input or Steam Input.
  
• You can practice your skills using the practice mode.
  
• A brand new Mirror Mode (in select titles).
  

... and more!

This collection of beloved shooters was so much fun to put together, and we hope you enjoy it. Our team is working hard on Vol. 3 right now, and we'll let you know when it's ready.

Follow us on social media (@bitwavegames) to stay updated!