Posted by Al

Fri, 22nd Oct 2010

Easier 'Ace Armstrong' now in submission - all new (even higher) Rookie high score.

Hi everyone,

It’s been a busy week here at LJ as we continue to toil away on our ongoing projects (including the Fighting Fantasy minis game and Cubixx HD for PS3 – oh yeah!). Meanwhile, we’re trying to get our easier version of Ace Armstrong vs. the Alien Scumbags! back on the PSN Store as quickly as we can. Those who’ve signed up to our Facebook and Twitter pages may have seen this news earlier – it pays to get involved! ;)

I listed the changes made to the game two weeks back and it’s obvious to everyone who’s tried it here that they’ve made a real difference. People who previously never made it to the first boss can now get around half way through the game on Rookie difficulty – with a bit of effort.

Elite difficulty is still punishingly tough due to the enemies’ toughness and the resulting crowded screen space, but things are far more comfortable for the player, thanks to the changes to the recycl-o-ray functionality (much simpler to use) and the remapped controls that mean you don’t get hand cramps anymore (yay!).

Anyhow, I’m happy to say that the game is now in submission at both SCEA and SCEE. We have our fingers, arms, legs, eyes (and possibly other body parts) crossed in nervous anticipation. Maybe this is the last time we’ll work on Ace?? :(

This whole process of tweaking and testing has led to lots of plays of the game by what I like to call the office’s ‘Differently Skilled’ staff, to make sure it’s palatable for beginners. I’ve also managed to beat my previous high score on Rookie difficulty. I’ll hopefully be posting a video of the playthrough next week (if I am allowed, as it kind of spoils the game for those who haven’t finished it). I’ve also done single-life Rookie playthroughs of levels 3, 4 and 5 – if there’s sufficient demand for these I’ll post them on our Youtube channel so let me know here on the blog, or you can put a message up on pspminis.com (although we appreciate all the blog traffic we get!!)

So, my new Rookie high score is: 61557! Beat that if you can! It wasn’t a perfect run either so I know there’s plenty more to be squeezed out of it... :)

Once the updated version of Ace is up on both PSN Stores we’ll probably run a high score competition to give away some game codes, I guess. More news on that as and when it happens! :)

Cheers for now – have a great weekend!

Al