Heli-Cats News

Watch a mission 1 gameplay video using Cat A to learn the 3 main scoring methods. It shows how staying at a low power level, not using focus shots, and firing at close range allows attaining a score more than 3 times of that playing for survival. The score of 205,600 in this single mission alone is more than the majority of Trial Mode scores in the demo that encompass two missions! Cat A, in this case, is much more versatile than many believe it is capable of. In addition, mission 1 becomes an important start stage to get a much earlier first extend in Arcade Mode.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

All of this can be replicated in the demo so give it a try! Do note that getting hit 3 times in Trial removes any focus bonus at mission end despite having infinite armor. It will also be more difficult to attempt such moves as the missions get harder, so an optimal combination of the scoring methods that takes into account safety will be needed.

Formulating a good leveling strategy based on personal skill that balances score and survival is the key to higher scores and far more important than fast reflexes!

Watch a mission 1 gameplay video using Cat A to learn some useful survival tips. It shows how the player can control the difficulty of the game simply by deciding when to power up.

Unlike most shoot'em ups, power up orbs are dropped by all attacking enemies, meaning the player always has a fighting chance anywhere within the mission before the boss appears.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Scoring tips will be next!

Version 0.8.3 brings the demo up to date with the main game, which is almost complete and is currently undergoing testing.

Demo 0.8.3 Update Notes:

• Improved performance for machines near the minimum specs.
  
• Rebalanced difficulty.
  
• Remastered music from the completed soundtrack.
  
• Increased character length for online leaderboard names.
  

Version 0.8.2 brings the demo up to date with the additional Cat types and balancing tweaks in the main game.

Demo 0.8.2 Update Notes:

• Adjusted bomb damage to differentiate additional Cat types.
  
• Changed select screen displayed stats to differentiate additional Cat types.
  
• Increased the contrast of low elevation enemy fire to improve visibility under all mission background variations.
  
• Adjusted the colors of all player helicopters and enemies to improve visibility under all mission background variations.
  

Previous updates focused on making the game more accessible for beginners and those not used to arcade shoot'em ups. This update is aimed at increasing the fun for more skilled players with one main gameplay difference:

[h3]Player helicopters are now completely invincible during the entire elevation change.[/h3]

Before this, players could still be hit by a similar elevation enemy projectile in the duration up until the cockpit switches color halfway into the sequence. Elevation change required some pre-planning for it to be effective for dodging and was meant to be strategic rather than reflex-based.

With full invincibility, it is now possible to perform split-second death-defying maneuvers, encouraging more risk-taking despite the large cockpit hitbox.

Do note that this could result in the game becoming easier to exploit with this mechanic. It may be rolled back if even beginners are able to breeze through with it.

Please give it a try over the next month or so and comment if you feel this lowers the difficulty too much and should be reverted.

Demo 0.8.1 Update Notes:

• Player helicopters are completely invincible during the elevation change.
  
• Added a limiter to prevent excessive load on certain OS versions when the game window is not in focus.
  
• Improved performance on lower end devices that are at the borderline of the minimum specs.
  
• Improved frame rate stability on macOS Ventura.