Shoot 'Em Up Kit

DO NOT BUY!! unless you have a talent to hunt and pick to see how things work. The documentation is outdated, online website and the You-tube videos even the wiki. The devs do not care about documenting the updates. It is nothing like you see on the videos.

Buyer Beware: Expensive Abandonware Ahead!

Well, well, well... what do you know? It's been two years so I thought I'd check in and Shoot 'Em Up Kit is STILL in 'Early Access'! So that's about an entire DECADE spent in early access. How does steam even allow this?!?!

-=-=-=

I purchased this 4 or 5 years ago and, while I have seen progress, it has been glacial. It's very disappointing to lay out $40 and then find documentation is limited to a handful of ten year old youtube videos.

The developers have not even bothered to update their store page which reads:
“We expect the Shoot 'Em Up Kit to be in Early Access for 4 weeks.”

4 weeks? It's been over four years. Situations like this is why I never pay for 'early access' software anymore.

Nevertheless, this concept is awesome and the niche it fills is basically empty.

I would love to see you guys refund everybody, open source this, and throw it on Github.

Update:
Hoping to see some progress, I installed this package today. Sadly, I found no discernible difference.

Yet another update: It's been a while.. checked back in to find we are still in 'early access'... no big surprise there... It's been maybe 8 years and the developers still haven't done the right thing -- no refunds, no open source code on Gihub, nothing...

Steam ought to set concrete time frames on 'early access'.

Was really excited, hoping I could use my own assets! I'm sure it said I could use my own 3D models or even hand-drawn images scanned in. Seems like you can only use the models which come with the game - a few ships, a couple of trees and a couple of tiles for grass etc. I had made loads of 3D terrain and 3D ships which I wanted to use in the game but I just can't import them into the game. Will keep trying but disappointed so far :'(

*I just read that 3D models need to be saved in directX format and placed in the steam/install folder (with their textures), then they can be imported as an asset.

The thing that put me off is they don't allow you to use their assets in commercial games. So what's the point unless you are a great artist and modeller?

OK. Let me edit the above. They have announced that we can now use all assets in our commercial games. Also, there is a new feature which allows you to create your own 3D models by combining meshes. The problem is they don't seem to have added extra parts specifically for this feature so you just merge the default spaceships etc., which is not ideal.

The app is also rather complicated. Presumably, it's quite powerful but few people could confirm that because of the dearth of learning resources. Until they come, I reluctantly have to leave my thumbs-down.


[h1]Also, there are very few decent tutorials so I still can't figure out how to use it.

I really, really wish I could recommend this software, but I can't.

Why?
* It's very buggy
* Far too many random lockups and crashes
* Awkward UI
* Despite being 'coding free', it's still complex to learn until you know exactly what you're looking for
* You CANNOT use the assets if you decide to sell your game

I wanted to make a Space Shoot 'Em Up. I could have done this with the other, more complex, engines I already know; But as this was on sale, I thought I'd pick it up and give it a go. I tried to love it, I tried to like it, but everything is just so clunky. After following some tutorials I managed to get a basic game going but the camera setups are just too... weird, especially for an engine utilising a 3D environment (Give us top and side views, show us the X, Y and Z axis using a marker).

I've no doubt some others will have more success with this package than I have had - the devs claim to still be working on it (which is good! I hope some great improvements come with the next update(s)!). But for now, making a basic 2D Shoot 'Em Up is much easier with something like Fusion 2.5 or 001 Game Creator, and something like Leadwerks or Unity for 3D Shot 'Em Ups.

Keep up the work, devs, I've no problem changing my review if your updates improve the entire experience.

I made an arcade game using this kit, google "JPO In SLC" to see what I was able to do with the program. It is a traditional 2D side-scrolling shmup, which I don't think the kit was specifically designed for, but it worked great, and as far as I know, this is the only program that can pull this off (for a lay-person like me). Over the last year and a half, I've seen the program flesh itself out and fill in it's own gaps (It was very early access when I bought it, Tall Studios had already been developing it for a long time even then). I did not think it was the easiest program to use when I bought it, but now that I've figured much of it out, I am in love with it and think it is just amazing. But mostly, Tall Studios support system is on point. If I was stuck, they would respond, often within a day- whether with advice, or with changes to the program itself. I can't wait to see where this kit goes, and I STRONGLY recomend getting into it immediately, early access or not. And if you have a hard time finding finished games made with the kit, please go straight to mine to see one facet of the kit's success. Well worth the money. If you're like me, a lay-person trying to make a video game, it's been priceless.

Awesome Shoot Em Up Kit...Highly Recommended....Buy it now!!!

Steam claims I have run this for more than the time allowed, though I barely got an hours use. It's one of the many problems with this software. It doesn't shut down. It doesn't save. It doesn't respond to clicks or buttons or let you place objects. It freezes and it crashes. It is completely unusable on my AMD FX 8350 Machine running RX 480 on 16 gb of Tritan X ram. I've had several problems with Steam not supporting the purchasers right to working software. I reported it within hours of buying it, only to get a message back later saying I have used it more than the 2 hrs they allow, which is untrue. I researched the issue thoroughly to try and fix the matter myself. Still it doesn't work. I am going to get a refund through my bank and will not buy anymore software from steam outside of specific titles I know of on the game's end where these issues are no prevailant. Steam does not care about their customers, if they did, they would make sure to protect their purchasers and to reinforce certain rules with their developers. I spent $44 on this software with hopes of getting my ideas down to a visible project as I re-enter the coding arena for the first time in decades.

So Steam and Devs, if you notice your sales going down, and particularly you notice now that my purchases are effectively halved here since the first issue arose months ago (BEEN HERE SINCE THE BEGINING MYSELF AND AM ON MULTIPLE ACCTS AS I HAVE KIDS THAT DO NOT LIVE WITH ME BUT I MAINTAIN ACCTS FOR THEM), now you know why. You are the very example of corporate greed and corruption that is making the world burn and killing the industry for us all.

Here's proof of my claim:

Hello Lord Siidius
We have reviewed your refund request.
We are unable to refund this purchase to your **** at this time. Your playtime of an included product exceeds 2 hours (our refund policy maximum).

Shoot 'Em Up Kit - Playtime: 4 hours 43 minutes

Purchased: Apr 3, 2017 PDT

It did not, but you can't get a real person on the phone for STEAM, which should be a red flag for anyone who wishes to spend money anywhere. Text support = no support. I have moved my main purchases elsewhere, and strongly suggest anyone reading this do the same as this behavior left unchecked will only worsen with time.

Thanks.

This product seems too complicated and has limited options. Asked a refund.

I picked this up as Shmups are my favourite genre and i was eager to start making my own, The trailer sold me however the first couple of hours of owning it i felt a little disapointed the demo games felt clunky as hell and the included assets are very bland, however i decided to stick with found some tutorials by the dev on youtube mostly for an earlier version followed all of them a few times over and it all started to come together in my brain and my opinion of this kit changed i started to LOVE IT!

Whilst it's not the prettiest game dev soft out there it really is well thought out and quite simple to use and do pretty much anything you want in once you get your head around it. The Dev is also super helpful and always reachable on the steam community.

I am Currently involved in a month long Game Jam where i am using this software to create a full game so by the end of July i'll have a full project made in this so check with me then to see how i got on. But yes i reccomend this it's great!

You really can create a shoot-em-up style game at the click of a few buttons and it honestly doesn't get much easier. It has a solid base of DirectX engine and Nvidia PhysX.
After a couple of hours you start to realise there is a LOT more you could make than a simple shooter - eg invaders, a side scroller with physics, tank battles, frogger, asteroids .....or maybe even something like this! (don't miss the bits around 3:20 if you don't want to watch the whole video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skTeF3k0b3I
No scripting or programming knowledge is required to make a good looking fun shoot-em-up with multiple levels, power ups, enemies and bosses - and you already have complete control over all of your game's loading screens, graphics, AI behavior, scenery, backgrounds, models and sprites from the editor's screens. Basically what you get is a game engine with a very easy editor interface and seamlessly integrated modules to make a shooter.

It's quite likely you could even make a platformer with the tools provided and some simple 3d models if you have some basic skills, or an homage to desert strike, a Rouge-Like-Like game with levels that are semi-procedurally-generated or at least randomised enough with the NPC generators and some lateral thinking to fool the player. But it looks like the developers have focussed this release on the shoot-em-up genre. The engine is definitely up to the job, and the tools provided from the editor interface are enough to take you into more ambitious projects if you like a challenge.

It is simple to import 3D models - .X or OBJ formats, there is a built in entity editor which I tried out using some of GameGuru's 3D .X models and their .DDS textures and it was very easy to set the textures, re-scale the models and use them as either scenery, player or NPCs in the games. The very slick entity editor virtually doubles as a model importer, you simply have to drop a model and at least one texture for it into the model and texture folders of the game and you can use them in the entity editor right away - you can even do this on the fly while the programme is running with no problems or loss of stability at all. It runs well on Windows 10 64 bit.

The Sprite and Particle editors are really nice features which are easy to use, and the front-end and HUD editors are very straightforward as well.

You should really look at the developers' video tutorials before diving in, although you can figure most of the features out by trial and error, but it's quicker to spend a few minutes on the first couple of tutorial videos.
But.... at first glance there are not many tutorial videos, but the ones the developers have made do give you what you need to get into using the programme and quickly understanding what everything does.
Once you are a few hours into using the programme it is very easy to understand and you will probably appreciate the clever way the developers have integrated the different functions into the editor so you never have to leave the editor even to test a level or test a game.

The camera (view) can be put anywhere you like, so you can even make an "isometric" view, with real time lighting on your 3D objects, you could even put the camera in front of your player entity for a FPS effect, or switch between any number of cameras upon events for fly-by or "cut-scenes", switch between an isometric view to top down, camera following the player to static cameras and you can do all this to be triggered by events in the game. Its all very clever stuff with no scripting and all the presets to do it for you available from drop downs which you can tweak as much as you like. And you can create your own custom entity and AI settings and configurations from scratch or from existing presets and save them for use in future games.... its like scripting but not as we know it. You can also copy an existing project to create a new one, or use one of the tutrorial projects to build on or experiment with

You can also move around in the editor in a "free flight" mode. There are a lot of well thought out features and options like the pixel-perfect collison option, and the ability to alter each and every single entity/object's physics propeties, collision, damage etc using simple drop down boxes.

Out of the box you can literally make an old-school shoot-em-up with today's graphics in a few minutes, just like they promise. But going just a bit further with the excellent tools provided you are able to make your game as unique as you want with your own art style, backgrounds, models and sounds.

DX11 engine is in progress, controllers are supported, same-PC one-screen multiplayer is possible, and you can package up your game to distribute as a standalone to friends or for your kids or even sell it if you are using your own artwork and models.

This software was on TGC (the game creators) some time ago, and like TGC, the makers of GameGuru, these developers seem very comitted to stable good quality updates and take in mind what the community want, and looking at the history since version 1 they are delivering the goods.

It is good when indie developers like this engage so well with the community on steam and the official forums. Although it is on steam as "early access" this is already a solid little game-maker with a few years development already behind it, and the development looks to be steadily ongoing.

I ve tried few shoot em up contrustion kit software,,,too me this is the best one on the market...

I've been useing Shootem up kit for only a short time but wow what I've made has a nice polished look and feel to it. It's extremely easy to use. I see no reason to use any other engine if you want to make a shootem up; that would be like reinventing the wheel. Well done Tall Studios!

This kit is marvelous for everyone who wants to achieve great result in a short time.
The promise is kept as you will never need to code anything.
The drag and drop layout is intuitive and the menus are clear so you can get great simple game to work fast.

To go deeper and complex, you will still need to read the manual and experiment with the kit.
It takes time to get a feel of the possibilities and limits of each features, that's expected.
To keep the kit clean, many of it's power is hidden. Trial and error is the way to go.

With a bit of practice you can achieve great and impressive games in a short time.
But keep in mind that the more perfect you want your game to be, the more time it will take.

Also the kit is still in developpement and going on it's own pace.
Therefore, some key features are not yet perfectly in shape.
In due time, everything will be allright. There is already plenty to do and learn !

One of the main positive point is the Developpers behavior and dedication. They are efficient, kind and available. Feedback is fast and useful. With this kit, YOU ARE NOT ALONE !
For me, this is definitely the best selling point this kit has to offer.

the program has future but for now as it is gives me headaches even when navigating in ui...takes me back in 90s not real-real tutorials even is almost 3 years old program...i ask for a refund and im waiting and its a situation that could be avoided if the devs give the chance for a demo..i cant lie its very promising but at this stage is at least no user friendly..need more work

Well this was good software, worked great loved it , till this last update know all it does is crash, does not even try to run

This is an Early Access review. I will update the review in typical BPR format when this leaves EA.

Shoot 'Em Up Kit is a ShMUp design kit fueled by a drag-and-drop interface, that aims to provide the user with tools and options normally reserved for those wielders of the esoteric knowledge known as 'scripting'. Thus far the tools are much more powerful than my design skills appear to be. I know. Shocking. Still, i have been able to make a functional game and generally get the kit to do the things I want it to do. In skilled hands i would imagine that much better results could be had.

This level of customization is critical to the success of development engines of this type; ones that aim to provide robust tools for both the professional and the hobbyist. Still, as much as everything can be controlled by sliders and buttons, there IS a logic and a vernacular that you need to learn to become proficient. There are so many options to tweak, terms to understand and knobs to turn in this kit that one can run around in circles (as I have) trying to understand what all they do. Presently, the weakest aspect of the kit is its documentation and tutorials. Fortunately, the dev has stated that the tutorials and guides will be developed once the SKit itself is finished, which makes logical sense. What good is a guide based on a project in development? Supported by the devs, the community, and solid tutorials, this could become a powerful suite for ShMUp development that appeals to hobbyists and those looking to monetize their creations.

Conclusion: I look forward to the full product being released but even in its current state it is a highly detailed ShMUp creation tool with granular control over all of the most important aspects of the genre. If promises hold, that control will only become more powerful with input from the community and implementation from the devs. With time, this kit can grow to a suite and its value will FAR outstrip its meager price tag. As it stands now, it's still a solid value. I have yet to come across anything described as 'complete' that isn't and the app appears to be highly functional. Even more impressive is the dev's prompt and detailed response to squashing bugs, responding to feedback and answering questions.

Time will tell but I am so hopeful for the success of Shoot 'Em Up kit. A project like this is EXACTLY the type of thing that indie development should be praising; a true indie product on both sides of the code. SKit is LITERALLY being developed by a mom-n-pop team, and it's aim is to put powerful game development tools in the hands of bedroom developers and hobbyists. If that's not an ideal that's fat-packed with DIY moxy worth celebrating, then I don't know what is!

Read the forum posts, browse the spec sheets, and watch the video. If you want to make a video game full of shooty goodness, I think Shoot 'Em Up Kit is shaping up to be a great place to start.

Happy Hunting,
M13

i ended up getting a refund and suggest you look for another program.

look up tutorial / information first. the only real tutorial video's are 1 or 2 minutes long, and date from 2013. these are the official released video's on the company named youtube channel.

the program looks exactly the same as it did 2.5 years ago in the videos...
nothing new has been added in the ways of features as far as i can tell.
as far as i can tell maybe a few bug fixes?

no information on file formats or codecs in the manual. very sparse information.

the only tutorials that exist show you how to essentially drag and drop items from the examples into a project. this is stuff you probably could figure out on your own, and nobody not even a 4 year old would play the game examples they give you. maybe once for 30 seconds?

i was not impressed. but hey, you can try it out with minimal risk now. so go for it.

So far it looks really promising, though I havent had the time to fully familiarize myself with it, I've checked the tutorials and explored and it seems pretty powerful. I hope I can make a nice Danmaq with this and move on from DNH to a more commercial friendly platform like this.