Project Inthri 3 (Starfox-inspired 2D flash game)

**D-Mac** · 01-19-2008

Graphics aside, I had a whole lot of fun with this recently released flash shoot-em-up. I find it contains some really innovate level designs as it progresses, and hopefully you guys will enjoy it as well! I also provide the voice of the lead character, FX.

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/420630

For a unique challenge, try controlling both ships at once in two-player mode!

**Scourge of Ages** · 01-29-2008

Heh, nice.

Very reminiscent of some of the best shooters I've played: Raptor, Ikaruga, Stinger(Twinbee), even Star Control 2.

The controlling-two-ships-at-once thing is very zen.

**Devestator** · 01-30-2008

Hehe, in that case, im afraid you got owned by the first boss when i tried to control them both at once.

great fun when i only have a few minutes left in Multimedia.

**SHAD0W F0X** · 02-12-2008

Cool project, and its fun!

**Falco314** · 10-12-2008

nice game!

**polamalu43** · 10-12-2008

lol nice game got owned by the second boss :S. u should had some kind of barrell roll XD

**Falco314** · 10-12-2008

i got pwnt by the 5th.

(lol)

**Fox's_Feather** · 10-15-2008

Holy crap it's pure awesomeness XD

Never played a flash game that cool.

**Falco314** · 10-15-2008

the only flash game i ever played that is better than Project Inthri 3 was "Fancy Pants Adventures:World 2

**Dood** · 10-17-2008

fancy pants adventures sure is a good game... but i liked project inthri... like you said, graphics aside, but its not about looks. and ur quite a good voiceactor d-mac, congrats ^^.

**Prototype** · 10-18-2008

Great example of taking a worn out concept and applying it in a new way.

I'd like to touch a bit on the art direction. First off, it's a great improvement, from a gameplay standpoint, from the first game (which starts the player in a blue ship with a blue environment, which obscures where the player is). However, just based on the designer's art, it wouldn't be a bad idea for him to team up with someone else, as his style is a bit bland.

The dialogue is completely drowned out by the music, however this might be for the better, I have my doubts that the story is in any way engaging, based on the minimal dialogue I did hear.

Now for the gameplay. The evolution of this game is interesting, the first game starts as a basic side-scrolling shooter, the next is just an update of that with a power-up system. This game instead opts to step back from the update system, and instead gives the player all they will have at the beginning. In addition, the formula is mixed up by being allowed to use two players at once. Something that really caught my attention was that the keyboard mapped ship had compensating factors since it is by nature slower, such as a wider spread of fire. Personally, I would have also suggested giving it a harder shield, or other factors to separate the two ships in more ways, to allow a deeper level of strategy for those who choose to look for it. With infinite and repeating ammo, however, I wonder why I'm even asked to hit fire. The past two games make sense, you have to click every time you want to fire. But in this game, I found myself just holding the left mouse button and the space bar. Why not just say that some auto firing AI turns on when enemy ships are in range? Or better yet, how about incorporating some kind of overload system, so that the player has to learn to switch off between the two ships?

All in all, I enjoyed this game, and though there's room for improvement. A level system was even introduced in this game, a nice addition compared with the past two games only having a standard mode. I personally can't wait to see what will come from this designer in the next few years.

In full disclosure, I didn't play through the first level of any of the games entirely, and am instead assuming that the game simply ratchets up the difficulty as it goes. Thus, I'm unable to comment on the creativity of further bosses and the game as a whole.

**Falco314** · 10-26-2008

wow.
prototype, are u a reviewer of some game magazine?
sounded completely professional

**Prototype** · 10-26-2008

Well thanks, and no, just a wanna-be game designer.

***Brockenstein*** · 10-26-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Falco314

wow.
prototype, are u a reviewer of some game magazine?
sounded completely professional

[Note: not associated with SoL]
Just a side note in the future I maybe looking for people that can write up reviews/previews of games. Well more of mods when I do I will make sure I let everyone know were to apply. This is an idea of a website I have had in mind for a while and since I believe i can get my domain back I may just do it. Since my partnership broke I maybe looking toward rebuilding the site once I got it back for the purpose of making a site like IGN but for Mods and Homebrew instead of Games from Companies.

Anyway like I said its just a side note and I will let everyone know later down the road.
/[Note: not associated with SoL]

**D-Mac** · 10-26-2008

Much thanks for playing, everyone! Glad to see so many here enjoyed it!

And I absolutely love how in depth you went with your comments, Prototype. Quite a few points I agree with, and others not so much, but I still found them very interesting. Though I'd add that PI3 is probably worth playing a bit further into if you ever have the time. Easily the best of the trilogy, and it even uses browser cookies to track which stages you've beaten.

Onto the game itself, I'll admit I did really miss the power-ups from PI2, but I do like the tradeoff of rapid-fire becoming the standard this time. With simply holding a button to fire, I think the goal was to place more emphasis on challenging the player's maneuvering skills, especially given the hugely ramped-up number of enemies and bullets on-screen. Though later on, certain enemies release a wave of bullets when destroyed, encouraging the player not to get carelessly trigger-happy. While I see where you're coming from with the weapons "overloading" idea, having such a system in place might prove a hindrance during boss battles or stages with larger enemy swarms.

In terms of the graphical presentation, it's kinda funny. The more I played through PI3, the more I came to appreciate all the little details Rhete threw into its design, despite his limitations as an artist. Each type of enemy ship having a unique "breaking up" animation as they explode, the sun gradually setting as day turns to night in level 2, and the warship fleets battling the the background of level 5, to name but a few.

At the same time, he and I would be thrilled at the idea of a complete visual overhaul. The trouble is in finding someone both good, and dedicated enough to make it happen. In fact, Rhete even gave approval for one of Newgrounds' graphic designers (the very talented JohnnyUtah) to take on this task, when approached with the offer. Unfortunately, issues with speed optimization slowed progress, and the would-be remake artist soon shifted focus back to his own personal projects.

8 months later, all that came of this collaboration would be a redesign of FX's ship and the first boss, along with an incomplete background for the first stage (Condroth), which can all be viewed here. I really hope Johnny picks this up again someday, but I wouldn't bet money on it at this point.

I also agree about the volume levels on much of the early in-game dialogue. Fortunately, I felt this improved a great deal as the game progressed, and a rather neat moment in stage 4 actually has the player dodging cover fire as its direction is called out by an ally warship. And regarding the main story… I’ll just say that there’s a whole lot more to it and the characters than one would expect. He had initially been writing it out as a novel, so it was scaled back drastically in the adaptation to a game series.

But I'm certainly glad to hear you overall enjoyed what you've played through, and appreciate you sharing your thoughts on it. Although I've learned there aren't any plans for a PI4, I too am quite looking forward to any of his future games.

**Falco314** · 10-26-2008

THAT IS A NICE SCREENIE DUDE!
as good as the ones DaBrain posts at the screenshot thread!

**Prototype** · 10-27-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by D-Mac

And I absolutely love how in depth you went with your comments, Prototype. Quite a few points I agree with, and others not so much, but I still found them very interesting. Though I'd add that PI3 is probably worth playing a bit further into if you ever have the time.

Why thank you, and I will definitely take some time later to review this game and the previous games with some more depth.

**ivo91777** · 10-27-2008

lol i played it its cool

i tried to controll both its easy xD

**Fox's_Feather** · 10-28-2008

You didn't try the level extra yet...
It's insane, I'm stuck at the boss XD

**D-Mac** · 10-28-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fox's_Feather

You didn't try the level extra yet...
It's insane, I'm stuck at the boss XD

Ah yes, the infamous return of Seven. She really doesn't know when to give up, does she?
Beating that stage for the first time took me... way too many tries, but it was well worth it. Her laugh... how it tormented me so...