There is a much larger universe at play in Aeternum than we really get into in this first game. I had an idea for the setting, and Nate has been helping me flesh it out.

So yes, Aeternum has a very definite meaning in the context of the grander scheme of things and it’s something I (and I’m sure Nate and Jesse as well) would really love get more into with more games (both shmup and otherwise).

In a more direct way, Aeternum also refers to the name of the school itself: “Aeternum Academy.”

Also, in Aeternum I’ve found that judicious use of shields is very helpful. And by ‘judicious’ I mean ‘liberal’. Being reluctant to use them is more trouble than it’s worth.

Anyway, I think Aeternum is a pretty good example of its genre. It has flaws but it’s generally solid.

Incidentally, I’m curious as to what the title refers to. Since learning Latin I now always feel compelled to snoop around gratuitous Latin usage. :p

Your game has a huge Touhou influence, so I thought it’d have replay saves. 😀

I did have a good look at the available p2p score component, but amount of time implementing it would have added to development would probably have pushed release out another month at least, plus the fact I can’t really afford to leave my xbox on all the time to act as a seed server.

I do wish I had built the engine to support replays from the start, but it wasn’t something I actually started actively thinking about until I was well into balance testing. So I’m sorry, no replay support here either. But I’m definitely building from the ground up with support next time I do something like this.

The local leaderboards are saving things like timestamp information though, so there’s a good possibility I can add the p2p functionality in a patch.

In the mean time, I’m really hoping to see some recorded plays posted to YouTube. In fact, Jesse has a bounty on the first Let’s Play that beats Demonic or Lunatic with an offer for a substantial gift box on the table!

I understand the game’s mechanics perfectly, because I’m a shmup fan! 😀 But hey, does this game use online P2P scoreboards or replays? 🙂

Grazing is meant as a risk/reward thing. Much like the close shaves in the Burnout games where you get more boost by driving incredibly close to other cars without actually hitting them.

I won’t disagree that bullet hell shmups are niche, but not every game is made to appeal to every gamer. For example, I’m a huge fan of fighting games (I attend and run tournaments and watch streams), but I know full well that they are incredibly niche as, let’s be honest here, fighters are made to be played with others and very competitively. That doesn’t appeal to everyone. Heck, some fighters don’t even appeal to me with how deep you have to dive in before you actually begin to “play” the game (i.e. high level Virtua Fighter or Guilty Gear). That said, I still look at those games and see how good they are. Too many gamers these days don’t know what a good game is unless it appeals directly to their own very specific tastes and oh boy watch out if it doesn’t because INTERNET AND KEYBOARD.

tl;dr – Niche isn’t necessarily bad. Just niche.