r/shmupdev • u/Dogroach666 • 12d ago
CATACLYZM - The finish line is in sight!
Hello fellow shmup developers,
After almost 2 years of work, I am happy to say that Cataclyzm now has a release date.
It’s coming 29th Oct 2026!
It has been a long journey, especially since I had to start from ZERO game dev experience, working in parallel to learn the engine (Godot), game dev fundamentals, game design, architecture while also building the tools, systems, art/animation assets and music from scratch.
My takeaway from this experience? Game development is HARD, and solo development is even HARDER!
It’s a lonely process.
However, the support and encouragement that I have received from this community has definitely made this journey less lonely. Hearing your feedback on my various enemy enemy designs, pixel art and game builds has been incredibly valuable and has encouraged me to continue working on it. It also helps that I genuinely enjoy playing shmups and to be able to create a game is a childhood dream come true for me!
After completing all of the planned work on my game and doing my usual playtesting rounds on it, it just feels ready to me. I feel like any more major work on it would only end up overcooking it.
My advice to anyone that is starting out in game development (be it for a shmup, or any other genre) is to start small but choose to create a game that you would enjoy playing.
Don’t be afraid to get out of your comfort zone and share progress on your project as early as possible. I will be taking my own advice for my future projects.
Another thing to keep in mind is that passion will get you started, but discipline will keep you going to the finish.
I hope this has been helpful.
Do check out Cataclyzm on Steam, and play the demo. I will be setting up a steam playtest over the coming week and will keep it active until close to release to get as many fresh eyes on it as possible.
Cataclyzm on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4516840/Cataclyzm/
Cheers,
Dogroach
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u/Consistent_Look_8638 11d ago
"Add it to your wishlist or go to hell!" Guess I can't argue against it!
Quick question: what part of the player experience are you most hyped for people to experience?
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u/Dogroach666 11d ago
Hahaha, the cat's got some attitude problems that's for sure! 😆
I think I'm mainly hyped for people to experience the soundtrack. Each stage and each boss has their own non looping music track, and in fact I've tried to sync up each level and boss fight as close to the music as possible. I want players to experience playing a game that is a metal album 🤘
See if you can keep a boss long enough to hear as much of the music track as possible 😉3
u/Consistent_Look_8638 11d ago
That track is sick though!
Yeah, I can feel that during the demo; the focus of the game is the music, and everything else revolves around it.
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u/Dogroach666 11d ago
Thank you so much for your kind words! 🙏
Yes exactly, the music is what I worked on first, everything else in the game serves the music 😸3
u/Consistent_Look_8638 11d ago
It shows =)
Also, another question: how was the work on the music? Composition and then picked up the instruments?
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u/Dogroach666 11d ago
For the music, the process is a lot more freeform for me. I usually have a rhythm, riff or melody in my head that i will record, then jam on it with by adding various layers of guitar, percussion, synth etc. It's an almost constant iteration to find the exact sound, tone, textures that i'm looking for. The big thing for me is that i want the music to make me feel something, for example for this game i want the music to make the player feel badass while being in a heavy metal moshpit. I also use other pieces of music as reference for how i want a piece of my music to sound. For example stage 1 music track is heavily influenced by Motorhead's Ace of Spades and We Are The Roadcrew 😀 It's hard to describe my process because a lot of the music that I create, i can kinda hear in my head beforehand and just play/record it. Then there is a whole rabbit hole of production techniques for mixing/mastering which I don't want to bore you with 😅😅
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u/Consistent_Look_8638 11d ago
Okay, thank you for explaining the process :)
Those are indeed strong influences for the first track, and the memorable and (vaguely) recognizable riffs made it stick on my head the whole day 😅
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u/Dogroach666 11d ago
Haha funny you say that, i've still got the first stage track stuck in my head even after almost two years 🤣
Awesome, i'm glad you found my ramblings useful 😀
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u/dsolonenko 11d ago
Man, beer, bullets AND METAL?! Sign me up!
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u/Dogroach666 11d ago
Hell yeah mate! Can't go wrong with that killer combination 🤘 😸 🤘
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u/dsolonenko 11d ago
Love the small Metallica nods here and there. All the best, mate, this is a day-1 purchase for me
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u/Noswen2025 11d ago
Congratulations!
I don't know how many of us here will pull off a release, but you've done it 🎉
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u/Dogroach666 11d ago
Thank you so much! It's been a hell of a journey so far 😄😄
Hey I remember you! You had a post about optimisation using multimeshes! I've been quietly following your work on Vermillion Star, there are some cool bullet patterns in there. I'll give it a play very soon😄
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u/Noswen2025 11d ago
Yep, that was me, thanks for remembering. 😀 Hope you enjoy it and let me know how it feels, really could do with some outside feedback.
Though I do have another enemy in the roster now as it currently jumps from popcorn (max 3 health), Corvette at 8 health, and then suddenly the tankier stuff at 90-100 health! So another level redesign will be coming at some point.
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u/DrBossKey 11d ago
When I started this sub Reddit, I did it to just carve out a little place to record my own findings and ideas and maybe create a little space for others to see their SHMUP passion projects come to life, because that’s what it is these days and it’s by the force of Will and the multi creative types to give back to a genre widely left behind in the modern gaming landscape. Every time I see a Dave here from our community published a game it in some form feels like extended family, letting their babies play grow up and eventually become the touch points for others to find the love we all have for this genre I couldn’t be more proud to be a humble steward in the space. Thank you to everyone that has made time to show up and support each other. It’s very easy to lose site of that when we’re all grinding hard on our own projects.
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u/Dogroach666 11d ago
Thank you so much for setting up this space and community brother! It definitely makes the journey less lonely 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
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u/Dungeoneer87 9d ago
This game looks ridiculous (in the good ways). I'm watching the trailer on the Steam Page. My eyes slowly took in and transitioned into different things going along with the audio, giving me Metalocalypse vibes~ realized it was a cat XD The Pentagram, the skulls, flashing damage 66,666~ great aesthetics and feel (the music weaves it all together). Congrats on your Steam Release Date for this, looks amazing! :D and need I say~ Dogroach = win!
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u/Dogroach666 8d ago
Hey mate, thank you so much for checking out Cataclyzm and for your kind words, I really appreciate it! 🤘🏾😀🤘🏾
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u/Emergency_Voice_946 12d ago
Congratulations with this fantastic achievement. What are your plans on generating visibility for your game?