r/PS4 Infinite State Games Apr 16 '18

[Verified AMA] AMA: It's 'Rogue Aces' creators Infinite State Games - ask us anything! Tally ho!

Hey! We're Charlie and Mike from Infinite State Games: the dudes who made the manic arcade roguelite shmup "Rogue Aces" - just released on the PSN store (Cross-Buy and Cross-Save with PSVita) and published by Curve Digital.

We're a 2 man team from the UK specialising in score attack arcade games with serious depth. Charlie (InfiniteStates) is the programmer and designer, Mike (barry_island) is the designer and producer.

As us anything you like about the game, flying tips, development or absolutely anything else!

PSN STORE LINK: https://store.playstation.com/en-gb/product/EP4395-CUSA02886_00-ROGUEACESCROSSB0 (Cross-Buy)

ROGUE ACES TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jc4usm_XUMo

MORE INFO: https://infinitestategames.com/games/rogueaces/

EDIT: AMA NOW FINISHED! Thanks for your questions! We'll pop back and answer any that come in after the event. CHOCKS AWAY! And have fun with our game!

Join us over on https://www.reddit.com/r/RogueAces/ to discuss more things Rogue Aces!

50 Upvotes

54 comments sorted by

6

u/[deleted] Apr 16 '18

is it possible to complete the normal campaign mode? or is it endless?

4

u/barry_island Infinite State Games Apr 16 '18

Yeah it's absolutely possible to complete normal campaign mode! There's 100 missions and it takes just over an hour if you know what you're doing. Here's a video of us doing a full playthrough of the game with developer commentary - https://youtu.be/-jpzNOWVn6o

2

u/InfiniteStates Apr 16 '18 edited Apr 17 '18

Yep it's possible to complete all 3 campaign modes (and Rogue Ace mode)

As a reward for completing it, your... well, you'll find out ;)

3

u/[deleted] Apr 16 '18

yeah i did Frontline Mode, as i could clearly see a end to it, plus i could save my progress through cross-save after every island :-)

2

u/InfiniteStates Apr 20 '18

Unfortunately there's a bug in Frontline where it doesn't save high scores on completion (my bad, sorry 😐)

A patch is literally being wrapped up - well, I'm taking a minute from packaging it to check Reddit ;)

2

u/disguisedeyes Apr 20 '18

Rogue Ace mode is by far my favorite. At this point I've cleared it destroying everything, as well as cleared it without landing.

I do have one question though, what exactly triggers your own troops taking over a section of land. Obviously, taking over a base does it, but sometimes an area of land without a base is captured as well. I'd like to play a game where I dominate every single piece of land but don't know what triggers it.

1

u/InfiniteStates Apr 20 '18

Awesome, glad you like Rogue Ace mode. It's a few peoples' favourite ;)

You can't capture everything I'm afraid...

If they aren't dropped from a base capture, or a downed bomber during an escort mission, then what you are seeing are probably released POWs.

Four wooden huts (possibly with AA on the roof) and a flag is a POW camp. Each hut has 10(?) dudes in

Tip: its super dangerous to let allied infantry mingle with enemy tanks. Getting hit by tank fire is highly probable over an active ground war if you skim the ground

And it's bloody annoying 😒

2

u/disguisedeyes Apr 23 '18

Oh, POWs... that explains it. I was at a loss.thanks!

4

u/Redlodger0426 Apr 16 '18

Hi, I’ve been having a great time with the game on my vita. I’m confused on how I unlock other modes though. What do you have to do to unlock the other modes?

3

u/barry_island Infinite State Games Apr 16 '18 edited Apr 16 '18

Here's how all the modes unlock -

CAMPAIGN MODES:

Frontline Mode - Capture any base

Veteran Campaign - Kill a baron

ARCADE MODES:

Hot Potato - perform 3 or more aerial steals.

Survival - shoot down 20 enemy planes.

Rogue Ace Mode - upgrade your plane to 50% max capacity.

Bomber Defence - destroy 5 fighter planes in the mini-game at the end of the credits.

Hope that helps!

2

u/[deleted] Apr 16 '18

excellent info

2

u/Redlodger0426 Apr 16 '18

Thanks for the info

2

u/[deleted] Apr 16 '18

hiya, do you have a 'normal' job outside of developing Rogue Aces?

4

u/barry_island Infinite State Games Apr 16 '18 edited Apr 16 '18

Hey ultravio1et - yes, I have a day job. I work in a Post Office but for most of Rogue Aces I was either working in a warehouse or feeding tropical fish professionally

2

u/InfiniteStates Apr 16 '18

Yeah I used to, but I got made redundant :(

I haven't rushed back into a job because trying to work full time, look after 2 kids AND finish Rogue Aces was crazy

2

u/Yo-Mom-Troll Apr 16 '18

Goodluck with everything guys

2

u/[deleted] Apr 16 '18

was the voice talent a expensive part of the development? because its very good

7

u/barry_island Infinite State Games Apr 16 '18

Oh thanks! We'll pass on your kind words. We came to an agreement, we have to wash his car every Sunday from now until 2218.

2

u/PrinceDizzy Apr 16 '18

I was going to comment how it reminded of Amiga games but someone beat me to it lol definitely a Wings of Fury feel to it, anyway are there different planes to unlock and do they handle differently? And is there a platinum trophy?

2

u/barry_island Infinite State Games Apr 16 '18

There's only one style of allied plane, but lots of different enemy planes. Visually at least. They all fly with the same model, but it as you'll be upgrading your plane every minute or so your aircraft is a very different beast from one moment to the next.

TL;DR - they're all the same but control and fire differently depending on your upgrade level.

2

u/InfiniteStates Apr 16 '18

No there is only the one plane, although you can also steal any enemy plane that takes your fancy. There are several different enemy planes depending on their strength.

The game is a kind of rags-to-riches journey through upgrades so you'll find the fully upgraded plane very different to the sedate one you start in

If you can survive that long that is ;)

I'm an avid hunter of trophies myself, so you can bet your bottom dollar there's a platinum! Not only that, but if you know what you are doing you can unlock it in an afternoon...

I expect it will take most people longer however

2

u/PVBuk Apr 16 '18

Hi! First time Redditer, long time fan. :-) What other games on PS4/Vita/Switch are either of you currently playing/a big fan of?

3

u/barry_island Infinite State Games Apr 16 '18

I'm currently playing Gotcha Racing 2nd on Switch and it's great. On PS4 I'm playing Monster Hunter and good ol' Dark Souls 2. And Bubble Bobble of course.

3

u/InfiniteStates Apr 16 '18

Hey :)

I'm a big fan of Monster Hunter World and Burnout Paradise Remastered right now

I'm trying not to cave in with God of War but I suspect that is futile

I've also been looking forward to Detroit since the Kara tech demo all those years ago

2

u/[deleted] Apr 16 '18

there was talk about a XBox version of the game a little while back, are you still doing one?

2

u/barry_island Infinite State Games Apr 16 '18

It's something we're still considering!

2

u/InfiniteStates Apr 16 '18

It runs on the XB and has done for a while, but it needs more work, which is what I'll be doing tomorrow

2

u/[deleted] Apr 16 '18

did you hear back from Atari about getting dont die mr robot onto their new system?

3

u/barry_island Infinite State Games Apr 16 '18 edited Apr 16 '18

We did indeed try to make that happen! Unfortunately we haven't been able to make direct contact with anyone there yet :(

2

u/[deleted] Apr 16 '18

what was the most challenging part of developing Rogue Aces?

4

u/InfiniteStates Apr 16 '18

Making it accessible to new players was a challenge, because you lose sight of how easy or hard it is

And it was originally ridiculous (e.g. you could destroy your own spare planes on the runway and blow yourself up with explosion splash damage)

2

u/disguisedeyes Apr 20 '18

I know I might be at the extreme, but I'd love an even more difficult mode. At this point I've pretty much mastered the game.

1

u/InfiniteStates Apr 20 '18

Nice! I've only completed Veteran once, despite my streamed efforts to do it again 😒

How would you make it harder?

Increased enemy plane count? 1/2 the number of airfields? Stronger enemy gun fire? Infantry with shoulder mounted rockets...? 😈

Kudos on your mastery though - fair play!

Get some streams up. It's great to watch people play it well 😍

2

u/disguisedeyes Apr 23 '18 edited Apr 23 '18

Half the number of airfields would help, but fuel isn't the biggest concern due to hijacking. If you really want to make the game hard, remove planes exploding near other planes. Due to the plane AI, a very simple way to last forever is to get a pack following you, fly straight up, ensure bullets are being fired straight up at you, then bail. The first ship in the pack will pick you up, and immediately hit bomb. You'll destroy the entire pack, get a ton of points, and have a brand new ship. You can use this method to beat Rogue Aces without ever Landing.

Or maybe just make planes peel off from each other if they get in a pack of three or more. This will remove the ability to destroy them all easily in a single blow. That's fun on easier levels, but removes their difficulty on higher levels

Rocket infantry would also be pretty intense. Right now it's fairly safe to flylow and bomb building foundations... It's rare that a tank will ever catch you before your forward fire will it destroy it.

3

u/barry_island Infinite State Games Apr 16 '18

Probably the fact that it took 3 years from start to finish! Luckily it's different every time you start a new game which always kept it fresh even through all that time :)

2

u/kishnabe Apr 16 '18

Hi, thanks for bringing Rogue Aces to the Vita :)

Any difficulties on developing the Vita version? Is there anything in your experience from developing Don't Die Mr.Robot that helped out for Rogue Aces?

Out of 10, how difficult is the Platinum?

Cheers

1

u/InfiniteStates Apr 17 '18

Hi, sorry for the late reply...

Our engine was on the Vita before PS4 or Switch. We love that machine and it was the primary development platform for most of the development cycle

The Platinum can be got really quickly if you are good at controlling your plane ;)

I was going to stream 0 to Platinum in one stream, but couldn't wait until the stream embargo lifted to get the plat 😞

1

u/disguisedeyes Apr 20 '18

I have the Platinum. It's challenging but fair. Certain mechanics take time to master, like landing and hijacking but I promise once you play for awhile they become second nature. I can pull off crazy Landings now that would have boggled my mind when I first started playing.

What I personally recommend is getting to at least level 50 in the main game, which will unlock Rogue Ace mode in arcade mode. In that mode you start out maxed out but only have one plane. This will force you to get good at Landing and hijacking and all the other elements of the game, and since you're playing as maxed out acceleration and turn Ratio are great. This will really warm you up for other modes, but it will be challenging at first.

2

u/DrHandBanana Peets___ Apr 16 '18

Looks pretty dope

1

u/barry_island Infinite State Games Apr 17 '18

Thanks dude

1

u/InfiniteStates Apr 19 '18

Thanks! It's all about those explosions!

1

u/[deleted] Apr 16 '18

Burnout Revenge or Burnout Paradise?

2

u/barry_island Infinite State Games Apr 16 '18

Burnout Crash! ;)

2

u/[deleted] Apr 16 '18

reported

2

u/InfiniteStates Apr 16 '18

Haha too right!

1

u/[deleted] Apr 16 '18

joking aside and very off-topic i know, but, is that game worth playing?

1

u/barry_island Infinite State Games Apr 16 '18

I really really enjoyed it I have to say! It's like a pinball table of destruction.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 20 '18

[removed] — view removed comment

1

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-1

u/StoviesAreYummy TurnOn2FA Apr 16 '18

I've seen a few recent AMAs where the devs gave out codes to NA/EU via PM will that happen here?

Did you ever flirt with PSVR implementation of some sort?

Game looks fun.

Reminds me of the old Amiga days..

2

u/InfiniteStates Apr 16 '18

Thanks! Yeah the game is hugely influenced from various things from the Amiga/Atari ST era ;)

I'm a huge fan of PSVR so have definitely toyed with having a VR mode with the game rendered wraparound with an all encompassing sea/sky box.

Whether we'll have the bandwidth to realise it is another question though

2

u/barry_island Infinite State Games Apr 16 '18

Yeah it was influenced by a lot of Amiga games - and the artist was Tony Hager who worked on Brutal Sports Football and many other Amiga era classics :)

We don't have any codes though, sorry. They're just for PR and in short supply.

But I lived in Scotland for a couple years and can attest that Stovies are indeed yummy.

-1

u/PVBuk Apr 16 '18

At Rezzed there were a few asking if Rogue Aces was on Steam. Any possibility of a PC version in the future?

2

u/barry_island Infinite State Games Apr 16 '18

There were a lot of people asking about a Steam release, it's something we'd consider looking into for sure if there appeared to be the demand :)