Fraxy

FAQ update in progress.

So with the way Pally, Heat, and I have been playing Fraxy lately, I figured it was time to start a thread about it and maybe cajole some more of you into playing as well.

DOWNLOAD LINK
Top link is the newest version.


Q: So what IS Fraxy?

A: Fraxy is a top-down shooter/boss rush game. Imagine this: You're piloting a small, innocuous spaceship out in the middle of nowhere...



When all of a sudden this thing comes along and tries to bite your head off.

Q: How many bosses are in the game/What is it that makes this more than a 'play it for 30 minutes then set it down and forget it' game?

A: An infinite amount of bosses, and I will tell you why: Simply put, you can make your own bosses in the EDIT mode of the game, or heck, you can even snag bosses your friends have made and download and fight those. The enemies in Fraxy can be any sort of ship or enemy you can think of; a four-armed twirling thing that shoots lasers out of the tips, a giant circle, a Bullet Hell...



One interesting thing about the way bosses die is that they die in PARTS. You could, say, come across this thing when it decides to rape your face with its' lasers.



Okay, sure, that's annoying. But then you fight it for a bit, attacking it from the right and back sides... and presto!



Or how about that magic circle we came across earlier?



Another nice thing about Fraxy is the sheer customization for your fighter's loadout.

Firstly, there are 6 kinds of ship: Standard, Attacker, Tanker, Quicker, BulletHell (Yes, it's actually called BulletHell), and Deadlocker. All of them work in different ways.

Secondly, there are 13 weapons: Bullet, Wide Bullet, Vulcan, Stun Bullet, Blaster, Multi Blaster, Stun Blaster, Charge Blaster PT, Charge Blaster QT, Over Loader, Shield, Blur Decoy, Soul Diffuser, and Soul Activator.

Now, the thing with the new version of Fraxy is that weapons CHANGE THEIR FUNCTION depending on ship, so we'll go ahead and split these up based on ship.

--Bullet--
Shoots a line of weak 'bullets' in a straight line (Hence the name). High fire rate, low attack power per shot, but it adds up.

Standard/Tanker/Quicker/Deadlocker: Fires a single line of bullets.
BulletHell: Fires two lines of bullets close together.
Attacker: Fires more lines of bullets as the rank of weapon increases.

--Wide Bullet--
Like bullet, but always shoots multiple 'lines'.
Standard: Fires bullet streams in a narrow fan. The number of streams increases with the weapon's level.
Attacker: Fires one stream directly ahead, and then one off to either flank. The number/intensity of streams increases with the level.
Tanker: Fires two streams of bullets in a wave (~) pattern. The coverage changes with the weapon's level.
Quicker: Works as with Tanker, but the streams are more tightly clustered.
BulletHell: Fires two streams that move back and forth.
Deadlocker: Like BulletHell, but with a different wideness.

--Vulcan--
Short ranged and fast, Vulcan is the 'spam in melee' weapon, firing hails of bullets at once. If Bullet is a light rain, Vulcan is a thunderstorm.

Standard: Fires a stream of bullets straight ahead. As the level increases, it begins to move in a wave (~) pattern.
Attacker/Tanker: Exactly like the way Standard starts out, but it never gains the wave pattern. The range increases as it levels up, however.
Quicker: The best way to describe this would be 'a hail of blows'. Has to be tried to be properly understood.
BulletHell: Works EXACTLY like a shorter-range, higher-powered Bullet.
Deadlocker: Fires two streams in a wave (~) pattern. Simple.

--Stun Bullet--
Stun Bullet does exactly what it says on the tin. It fires bullets that stun things, usually at a slower firing rate than Bullet. A very weak weapon, damage-wise, but it renders whatever it hits dead in the water for a time. Worth noting that it only affects specific parts; if you hit one gun but not the other three, they will still be shooting at you.
All ships: Exactly like a slower bullet. Some ships fire it much faster than others.

--Blaster--
Ah, my favorite weapon. Fires BIG bullets that deal AOE damage wherever they hit. Has a much slower fire rate than Bullet in most cases, and eats your energy for breakfast.
Standard: Exactly as described.
Attacker: Faster firing than Standard.
Tanker: Slower firing than Standard.
Quicker: FAST firing.
BulletHell: Cannot use this weapon normally, as it costs too much energy. Pick up an Over Soul or an Energy Recharge pickup, however, and it will be usable.
Deadlocker: Fires about the same as Standard.

--Multi Blaster--
HERE is where the weapon variety really shines. Multi Blaster, at least for the standard ship, just fires multiple blaster shots at once. The other ships can have it work in strange ways, however...
Standard: Fires a fan of blaster shots. Fires more shots at once at the higher levels.
Attacker: Works like Standard, but fires a thinner, more concentrated fan.
Tanker: Fires shots out in a circle around the ship, where they then curve around to fire forward. More shots at higher levels.
Quicker: Lays blaster MINES in a circle around you. Lays more mines at higher levels. These do not stick around forever, but are good at beating the crap out of a chasing enemy.
BulletHell: As with the normal Blaster, Cannot be used without a pickup. When used, however, it fires a fan in much the same manner as the Standard ship.
Deadlocker: Fires all of the shots in a slow fan that is stacked on top of itself at first, but fans out as it gains speed.

--Stun Blaster--
Think of it as the Blaster variety of Stun Bullet. Takes a ton of power, and stuns things in an AOE where it hits.
Standard: Fires a Stun Blaster shot. The radius of the AOE increases with the level.
Attacker: Fires a Stun blaster shot with a larger radius, but is otherwise the same as Standard.
Tanker: Same as Attacker.
Quicker: Fires slow-moving, short-range (Think Vulcan) stun blaster shots at near-bullet speeds. Has a decent AOE size too.
BulletHell: (unsurprisingly...) Cannot be used without a pickup. Fires a MULTI-BLASTER FAN of stun blaster shots at high speed, with a fast firing rate to boot, and a big AOE.
Deadlocker: Fires the shots at a decent clip with a big AOE radius, but is otherwise the same as normal.

--Charge Blaster PT/QT--
I'm guessing that the P and Q stand for 'Power' and 'Quick', respectively, because that's what they are. The Charge Blaster weapons charge up a single, high-powered shot (Draining energy slightly while they do) that can PIERCE THROUGH pieces it destroys, leading to some impressive chain reaction effects.Doesn't have too much of an AOE (If any), but is powerful on its' own and the shots move fast. It is worth noting that the Power version can continue to charge after it is charged up-- I refer to this as Overcharging it-- to make a slow-moving shot that, when it hits something, (or travels a set distance) creates a stationary, high-damage explosion capable of killing enemies in one shot. The Quick-charge version cannot do this.
Standard: Exactly as described.
Attacker: Obviously, has a higher power than the Standard ship. Otherwise works as described.
Tanker: Ditto.
Quicker: The power version fires a BIG shot compared to the others, and the Quick version charges near-instantly.
BulletHell: Perhaps as a testament to how little power this weapon consumes, the two Charge Blasters are the only Blaster weapons BulletHell can use without the aid of a pickup. The Power version fires a big shot, like Quicker, but the Quick version is the same as normal.
Deadlocker: Same as normal.

--------Rest of the weapon descriptions to come--------

Feel free to use this thread for discussion, or to share your bosses you've made in the character creator. I know I will!

Also, please keep all your boss links within the same post, if possible, so they're easier to find.

----------FAQ-----------

Here's some step-by-step things to get stuff working.

--CONTROLS (By default)--

Arrow keys: Move
Left click: Shoot
Right click: Boost (Moves faster-- repeatedly clicking as opposed to holding seems to be faster, as well)
Mouse Wheel (And another bind I can't remember): Change weapons

--MUSIC/SOUND EFFECTS--

1: Pop open Fraxy's CONFIG exe.
2: Go into the Sound tab.
3: Change the settings to look like this. (There are far more options now, but these are the important options)

4: Click OK.
5: Place any MP3/MID files you want for background music into the "bgm" folder in your Fraxy install.
6: Remove ALL spaces from the filenames, and punctuation as well if you're paranoid. Underscores are okay to use as replacements, as are dashes. (-)
7: Go into 'Free Play' and set a default BGM, otherwise the first X fights (where X is the 'switch BGM every X sets' setting) of your play will be music-less.
8: Boot up Fraxy and get into a fight.
9: Enjoy boss music and sound!

--ENEMY FILES--

1: Download the enemy file. (Obviously)
2: Pop open your fraxy folder.
3: Put the enemy file into your 'Enemy' folder.
4: To play against that specific enemy, go to 'Free Play', then 'Select', then select it from the list.
X: ((If you are uploading an enemy file, PLEASE make sure to name it the same thing both on the file itself and in the EDIT menu. The reason for this is because if you don't name it in the EDIT menu, it will show up on the list as 'New Enemy' and be slightly confusing to find.))

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Speaking of Enemy Files, everyone is sticking theirs in their first post... and this would be mine, so here they are:

Querca: This guy is the hardest of my bosses, (or so I hear) with a high turn speed and an invulnerable front side. This is V2, which is toned down.

Sigmund: Sigmund was the first boss I ever made in the editor, and it shows despite my numerous updates to his loadout. This is probably something like v9 of him by now. His old versions were called ah, somewhat difficult, but I've yet to receive word about him now.

Phoenix: The second-easiest of my bosses, and by far the most loot-y, dropping 3 pickups total when he's dead.

Alebus: By far the easiest of my bosses. I've had no complaints about him being too hard.
Notice to all Fraxy players: All of my uploaded files have been dumped from MegaUpload's database, and I cannot upload new files to it. If you wish to acquire a copy of one of my Try files, contact me and I'll send it to you directly. This is just until I find a new hosting service.
In order to change your ship type, press Esc and go to the 2nd option. There, you cam choose your weapons (And even the level...if you're a (w)ussy and not man enough to fight for your power ups) and given up to 7 different type of ships.

I personally like the "Quicker" type, where it moves dead slow, but the right mouse click gives it massive burst of speed for last second dodging. Very challenging and very Zone of Ender-like~.
The editing tools are giving me a headache, so I don't have anything cool to share... regardless, Paladin and Twi made some neat stuff people should try.

And all that aside, the shooter function itself in Random mode is fun and you can customize a bunch of things to make your gaming experience different.

Buzzer v3
A pretty humble boss. Easy to fight at low ranks and (reportedly) quite tough at high. I think it makes a fine staple to add into your random encounters. Thanks to Paladin for the help on this.

Latest Version: 4/14/10, 4:01 PM
Posted a boss file. It's complete, and all of the bugs are worked out. It's a tough one, so good luck.
Posted up two new bosses and a revision of the EFS Roc.

Did a bit of editing based on player feedback too, so send some of that my way. I always like feedback. If something breaks or scores a lot of cheap kills for some silly reason, TELL ME. I gotta know it's broke to fix it, and not every player will do things the same way, so I may not always catch everything. Also let me know if the bosses were fun or not. Be honest. It tells me what direction to take in my enemy creation, and lets me know if I'm doing a good job or not.

Enjoy.
Posted an enemy. Hope to get more to show when I get some more time.
Posted four enemies, because I clearly have to show up both Heat AND Pally at once. Nerds.
Because apparently it's impossible for me to do anything, even Fraxy, without injecting it with a concentrated serum of ecchi, I present: EROTOOL.

The first file to download is rather large, as it includes three separate "tries" to be challenged. In the future, each edition will be limited to a single "try" which should significantly decrease the total size. Remember to put the files from your download into your "try" folder. And remember, you'll spoil it for yourself if you peek at them before playing! This image is also 600 x 600, so setting your Fraxy window to the largest size possible is recommended. Future ones will be optimized to fit that size.

The tries were designed with the standard ship and weapons in mind, btw, so using other ships may make it easier or harder than it would normally be. Pally's apparently cleared the final try with over half the time remaining though, so I don't think any of them should be that hard.

For anyone interested, I can provide original-quality links to the images upon request, but you should try the game first. Also, I'd like to take suggestions for characters to use in the future, especially for the next project directly. If anyone has any suggestions, please get me over the chat. And please, only suggest my or your own characters. XD

Much thanks to Shur and Pally for helping me with everything. Only I get to be blamed for the content though, lol. This game should not be played at work. :V

Anyways, current options:

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Can challenge 1 opponent(s). Click picture to download:



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Can challenge 1 opponent(s). Click picture to download:



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Can challenge 1 opponent(s). Click picture to download:

As a small sidenote, it turns out that the boss of the final battle of Exxy's trial, PiousCandle, can be defeated in a very easy way that doesn't require targeting his hands. If you want to fix this a bit, try opening him up in the enemy editor and either changing the action of his barriers to ATT 3 type or even stacking new barriers on top of the old ones that generate this effect. I may release a new version later that does this by default.
Eve try is now up! As a reminder, be sure to set your window size to max size using the config file. This one's also only one try, so that's nice.

For those confused as to the character, it's one of Fera's NP navis, so you can thank him for letting me use her. Also, thanks a ton to Pally for the bosses he provided for this try.

I also fixed the Exxy try. The picture stays in one place consistently with no jumping around or blurring or transparency, but there is the disadvantage that some of the top and bottom got cut off. Sorry about that! Nothing really important was lost though, and it works better now.
So, I've come across a discovery in Fraxy about ship load-outs. Yes, players are able to access the Config.EXE program to change, remove, or even add weapons to their ships... even select a ship type. Well, as it turns out, the more weapons you have equipped to your ship, the less maneuverable/responsive the ship will be in some way. The more weapons you add, the worse this mobility penalty becomes.

How your ship is affected by this mobility penalty depends on what ship you are using. Some ships experience a standard movement speed reduction. Other experience reduced initial thrust acceleration when they fire their booster. Some experience a reduction in sustained boost speed, and yet others actually become less responsive when turning the ship to face a new direction for attacking. Very often, it's more than one of these things, but only one or two aspects is really pronounced at any given time.

So remember: There is a valid reason and even benefit to not going into a fight in Fraxy with a full weapon load-out.

Testing did not reveal there to be any accounting for weapon type, just the quantity. The degree of these effects also varies from gameplay setting to gameplay setting. And finally, do know that charging and firing PT and QT blaster cannons will both slow you down while charging and blow you backwards when fired.

So there you go. Things to consider when picking your weapons and ships. Hope this helps you.
I like how they took the Warning and Battleships Forever games and gave them more focus.
Eroslimey's first try is now out, featuring Djinni. Thanks again to Pally for the bosses and Shur for the characters. Again, the try was made with you using standard ship with bullet and blaster. I meant to restrict it to those but got lazy and didn't.

Some changes in this file based on new knowledge, hopefully you'll find them to be improvements:

- Larger, more readable messages
- Each enemy has his seperate timer rather than all being clumped together as one collective time.
I've posted my first Try file. It is a simulated battle against a carrier battle group. You will always be outnumbered until the very end. The Try was designed to throw an absurd situation of matching difficulty at the player, and see them rise to the challenge. If you tackle it, and fall into the game, you will find yourself pulling off crazy stunts you never have before (which is the point). Good thing Fraxy lets ya save them replays, yup.

Enjoy. I already do.
No surprise here, but there were numerous glitches in my first ever Try file. They have been removed, and the code has been simplified to the point it can't be broken any longer.

I've also added a clear-screen function upon player death. The Try was intended to be beaten within the span of a single life, so if you die, the enemies explode but give you no additional points. This gives you time to restart the try quickly, or do something else, as it eliminates the lag.

You can find everything else you need to know along with the file here
Notice to all Fraxy players: All of my uploaded files have been dumped from MegaUpload's database, and I cannot upload new files to it. If you wish to acquire a copy of one of my Try files, contact me and I'll send it to you directly. This is just until I find a new hosting service.
Pally's Templar

A very nice try with a lot of time and effort put into creation and testing, hosted for Pally. He made everything in it, I'm just putting up the link.