Paradox Vector

Release Announcement

Some time ago, I had an idea for a quick little video game. I was inspired by my recent discovery of how to draw vector lines in a game engine, and I wanted to make a 1980s style arcade shooter with robots and laser guns.

Now a year and a half later, despite working solo, I have a sprawling MetroidVania exploration game, with FPS elements and non-euclidean geometry to amaze and confound players, all with the vector graphics style seen in the early days of arcade classics like Battlezone, Tailgunner and the original Star Wars.

If you haven't seen Paradox Vector, here are a few screenshots:

Realms Deep

The release comes off the tail of the recent Realms Deep event, hosted by 3D Realms. I was very fortunate to have caught the eye of one of the event's organizers on Twitter. He invited me to submit a trailer, and I was happy to oblige!

Both Paradox Vector, and another one of my games, Star Explorers, were featured in the event. Without getting into numbers, I can say that my games have never experienced that amount of visibility before, or since! Here's the original Realms Deep trailer ... you can see Star Explorers at the :36 mark :)

Early Access

Paradox Vector has gone through its Early Access phase on Steam. Many players have enjoyed it, offering feedback, as well as reporting problems and bugs. It is thoroughly tested and has undergone regular updates since it was first made available in 2019. As a solo developer, Early Access is such an important resource, getting honest feedback about a game is like gold.

Leaving Early Access is nerve wracking, as there is always the possibility of improving something, or overlooking something else. Still, my baby can't stay at home forever, and it eventually has to leave the nest and fly on its own. I hope and pray that it's ready to face the wild world that awaits!

Trailers

I've put out a few different trailers for Paradox Vector recently. They are all focused on gameplay, showing some of the many different environments that players will explore, and the enemies they will be confronted with. Here's the most recent trailer for Paradox Vector...

I'd like to put a shout out to the Lords of Meat, who have graciously allowed me to use their amazing music in my trailers. In the tradition of First Person Shooters, thrash is the musical style of choice for thee trailers. However, the game itself offers a very different sound.

Soundtrack

The in-game music was actually produced procedurally by another game I made called Anomalies. Anomalies is an experimental game that has no real purpose except to experience a wide variety of sights and sounds. Anomalies produce noises, and occasionally, those noises sound like music to me, so I capture them, and have produced a number of Anomalies “records” which you can listen to on Bandcamp...

If you're interested, this is what Anomalies looks like...

The strange geometry and unusual environments in Paradox Vector seemed to call for equally odd music, so I picked out a few different songs from the Anomalies records, and added them as background tracks. I hope you enjoy them!

Articles

A number of articles and reviews have already been written about Paradox Vector. If your interested in hearing what others had to say about it during various stages in its development, check out the following links... “Lured me in like a moth to a Tron convention ... this is a very smart first-person shooter.” “Competent and polished ... What struck me was how trippy the level design can be.” “A melting pot of diverse influences ... Undeniably unique.”

With the release right around the corner, I am hoping to get as many interested player as possible to wishlist and/or buy the game. It will be available on Steam, Gamejolt and Itch.io. You can also check out the Schmidt Workshops website if you are interested in any of my other games...

P.S. Regarding Controller Support

The game does offer limited controller support, but it is not really advised to use a controller. It is really optimized for keyboard and mouse. However, if you prefer to play with a controller, there are a few options that work. First, the game has built in controller support, but again, it is somewhat limited. Try it out in the preferences menu. If the built in support does not serve your needs, you can try downloading a program like Keysticks. I was able to configure my controller using Keysticks, which is free, in just a few minutes. Honestly, it does a much better job than anything I was able to develop.

Steam also offers custom controller configurations, though I do not know much about how to set that up...