I cant run this game, getting the following error:

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bullethellreversed(1).exe - System Error
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The program can't start because DevIL.dll is missing from your computer. Try reinstalling the program to fix this problem.
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OK
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Just download this: https://love2d.org/
and put the game inside what you unzipped with that dll.

Enjoy!

Really like your concept. The bullet hell made me feel so powerful.

I have no idea how I beat that guy down...but I did...FUHAHAHA!!!

Good idea... With a little polishing and more pattern options it would be great :D

Heyy very similar to my entry :D great programming! that guy is really slippery :)
http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-25/?action=preview&uid=8733

@gameXcore
I am terribly sorry for forgetting bundle the Love2D DLL's in the download!! God I must have been too tired...

Download link fixed and I assure you this is the same one as 5 hours ago. :)

Direct Link:
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B_28Oflq8xnPNzVOZmNkUlUxRFU


@feiss
Thank you! I went to rate you game too :) It's very nice idea to combine path drawing and shooting/action games!

This is one of the few ideas that I was considering, I'm really glad to see someone made it!

Kinda strange gameplay, but you implemented the theme very well. Good job!

@angelk
Thank you! Hope you get around to implement this kind of game in the future!

@Sheep
Yes, it was a literal transposition from "Hero" to "Minion & Boss" in bullet-hell kind of game, and I just want to try out the idea and didn't give it much thought beforehand. After implement it I think I have to take this idea to some other direction, but there's potential.

We both got the same idea, my concept is similar :D cool beans.

@SkyWolf
Yeah! I saw a few shoot'em ups actually. Glad you found my entry too! :D

I really liked this one! Really good to be the bad in an R-Type game, and hero AI is good enough to make it a challenge! I think it would be good to go forward on the control of the enemies you send at the beginning, maybe planning further ships tactics? Simple assets but addictive!

@Freakill
Thank you! Yes, I had a few more ideas for minion ship formations or even more ship types, but I was hoping to at least understand what it would be like with only 3 archtypes of formations.

Then I spent time to fix programming issues and balancing, so I ran out of time. :P

That's fun!
I was confusing at the first, thought I have a invincible AI,
then I know I was wrong, and lose lol.
Hero is so hard to beat!!

Cool, bullethell is fun!

I like the idea but the gameplay feels too random to me..

@Husky & KWL_TW
Thanks. :)

@Atomic
Currently the first part of the game is pretty random yes. When I had the idea I was thinking if the player can actually corner the hero using some strategy of calling different formations into the battlefield, if you count all the directions of the 3 archtype formations, it'll be like close to 10 choices and I can't think of a better UI in time, thus the randomness you felt.

Good idea ! A bit hard too !

How did you do the AI for the hero? Mine is dumb =P

really awesome! I wish you had more control over attacks you were creating though. Maybe have more aiming in the 'level part' not just the boss part? Or draw with your mouse where baddies will go, bullets will go n some such. really fun too. keep it up!

That AI ! Great !

@Edocentrique
Thank you :)

@Digiraze
I tried to calculate the speed (vector) of the nearest "incoming" bullet (IMPORTANT: not leaving bullets) to the hero, and basically make the hero go perpendicular ways to that vector. There's another vector to keep in mind: the vector from that particular bullet to the hero.

Make hero go sideways to the bullet's speed vector only, is not good, when you have to "go around" the bullet.

I am sure there are better ways to develop the AI, currently my method don't work when the hero is surrounded with bullets. In that case the information of any particular bullet is not useful, AI has to find a breach in the bullet wall. I think it's a lot harder than what I did.

@radmars
Thank you :) I played NONEX (which replied to me up there, his entry is 8733), and he got the drawing control, which is super great. However, I kinda loved the old school minion formations in bullet hell games though, I'll try harder to find a better UI for it.

@Logun
Thank you. :)

Download link is broken again :( It keeps telling me Google Drive is not available.

@bushmango Sorry! I am not sure what happened, by thus far I didn't find any problem with Google Drive... maybe it's account setting and/or region related issue on google's part.

Anyhow, I uploaded the same version of game to dropbox, plz check the download links again if you see this. :)

Very cool and fun. I would love to see more of this :D

I've wanted to play something like this for a while. Despite the lack of audio, it's still pretty good. The graphics seem appropriate for this kind of game, and it's pretty well balanced, although you can win by pressing random buttons. Giving the Good Character bombs might make it more challenging, especially if you add more levels later. Giving the boss more attack options would be cool, too. It was still pretty entertaining with what you had~

@rftr Thank you!

@Shugor I appreciate the feedback! I wish I had the time to carefully design strategic usage of different minion formations. And of course more weapons & abilities for both the Hero & Boss would have been nice. I'd definitely looking into this part. :)

Thanks you very much for the explanation. I really enjoyed this game, hopefully you will continue with it.

My thinking right now on the whole AI is, yes do what you are currently doing, but when the hero is surrounded by bullet (or minions in my case), put those bullet/minions into tiles, and use djikstra pathfinding to get out of it. That's what I would try next.

@Digiraze I think that's pretty clever. Since you mentioned partitioning the objects into tiles, I am also thinking maybe simple BFS (to the exit) works?

Boss wins! Yeah!

Is miss the audio (In a shooter! How could you!), but I like the idea and it's rather fun to watch your hordes decimate the hero and later on finish the slaughter. He's pretty evasive though! (I'm quite sure that's not his first time embarking on this mission.)

The graphics are decent - not pretty, but they serve their purpose.

I'd have loved to have a bit more control over the movements of my minions. Right now I feel like mashing the keys and hoping for the best works best. A few more attacks for the boss would've made that fight more entertaining, but I understand that there's only so much you can do in 48 hours.

Oh, and what does the "cost" in the boss battle mean? Does it cost my health?

All in all: Pretty fun game. Good job!

The winning strategy for me was to mash z,x,c in the first phase, then mash z and hold the mouse while dragging up and down the window like a madman. Or like a mad villain, if you will. Nice implementation and AI.

Very nice reverse bullet-hell. Great work.

BTW I fixed the Windows build on my project, if you'd still like to check it out - http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-25/?action=preview&uid=2947 Cheers!

@Tobias Thank you for the praise! I should've at least record some pewpew sound or just use bfxr to generate one quickly... :p And yes, I guess I'll have to find some time to do a post compo version just to add sound and more strategy or attacking options. About the cost it's just one of my lazy mistakes... There's no cost for using bullet waves, I just forgot to take it out. orz

@zenmumbler Thank you! Sometimes the mashing can be done more efficiently (like when the hero is camping one spawning point of the minions then don't use that formation), but yes overall it's just mashing currently.

@Dark Thank you! I'll try your game again!

A very cool idea!
I enjoyed the game, though it's hard to figure out a strategy that will actually allow you to win reliably! Keep working on this!

Good concept and solid AI. Extra points for the fact that I couldn't beat the game even after 4 tries :(

@Pacifist Games & @Mista Koo
Thank you guys both! I'll work on the strategy part pretty soon, hopefully! :p

Cool idea. The AI for the main player works quite well.