December Update: Unveiling the Latest Developments
over 2 years ago – Wed, Dec 20, 2023 at 01:52:14 PM

Dear supporters of Irena Genesis Metal Fury,

It's finally time to share with you the latest exciting developments in the development of our game. First and foremost, we want to offer our sincere apologies for the lack of communication over the past few months. Your support is incredibly important to us, and we understand your concerns.

Our prolonged silence was motivated by our desire to present you with concrete and thrilling updates, and we are delighted to announce some of these new features. Although our progress has been slower than expected due to development in our free time, we are fully committed to creating an exceptional gaming experience.

News and Progress

Level 4 - "Cyber City":

We have dedicated considerable time to developing the intermediate boss of this level, an epic two-stage confrontation. Inspired by the iconic design of the 1968 Pontiac Val Kimer, we have created the vehicle driven by the red mech. In the first stage, players will need to aim at the skull on the hood. For those without rear fire, a waiting strategy will be necessary as the skull moves across the screen to inflict damage.

In the second stage, face the red mech, demanding repair for the destruction of its machine. Be attentive to its movements and formidable shots! To inflict damage, you'll need to choose the right moment or have the rear fire. Winning quickly will require collecting maximum power-ups in the first part of the level, promising intense action.

After triumphing in the first part of the level, a second exciting section is revealed. Following the tradition set by previous levels, this phase features a map where players must navigate skillfully to avoid obstacles while eliminating as many enemies as possible. We've made significant adjustments to the level design to ensure a smooth and immersive experience in this final stage of the level.

Once this phase is mastered, players will access an entirely new epic scene where the formidable "Krawzer" will appear, accompanied by several mechs. Prepare for an intense and thrilling challenge as you face these formidable opponents.

Dying in Style:

We have also taken the time to rethink certain aspects of gameplay. One notable improvement is the introduction of an animated death for the player-controlled ship, rather than simply using an explosion. This will add a visual and narrative dimension to the gaming experience and differentiate the destruction of the player's ship from that of enemies.

New Continue Screen:

Another significant decision we made is the addition of a new continue screen when the player's ship is in trouble. We found it more coherent to visualize the ship sinking on the screen until the player decides to continue the game. Simultaneously, the continue screen will be recycled for the "Game Over" screen.

What Remains Before Completing Development?

Although the game is well advanced, several elements still require our attention to complete the project. The development of bosses for the last three levels is our immediate priority. We anticipate rapid progress in this stage, except for the final boss, for which we will dedicate special effort to offer you a memorable conclusion to this ultimate phase of the game.

Simultaneously, thorough tests will be conducted to identify and rectify any potential bugs or issues. In order to optimize the visual experience, we also plan to make subtle improvements to the cinematics, emphasizing the finishing touches and refining every aspect of the game.

We have taken concrete measures to overcome the challenges encountered. A meticulous reorganization of our schedule has taken place, and we have successfully integrated new elements that will enrich the world of Irena Genesis Metal Fury. Significant improvements have been made to the gameplay, and work on new levels is underway. The visuals, already impressive, have been refined to offer an even more immersive visual experience.

We understand that the wait can be frustrating, but rest assured that we are not compromising on quality. While we cannot provide specific release dates, be certain that we are doing everything in our power to expedite the process.

We have taken note of your concern regarding communication and are committed to improving this aspect in the future. Regular updates on the project's progress will now be the norm.

We sincerely thank you for your patience and understanding. Your continued support is crucial, and we are eager to share this adventure with you.

Website Update:

You may have noticed that our White Ninja Studio website has been inaccessible for some time. Although this may seem concerning, we have decided not to renew the domain name because the site did not serve a real purpose for communication. In reality, we have always favored social media and the Itchio platform to share our news. However, we have exciting news on this matter! We plan to launch a brand new website dedicated to Irena Genesis Metal Fury, including the player score leaderboard. Stay tuned for this exciting update!

We'd like to wish you all a happy festive season, and we'll be back very soon to bring you our latest progress.

Thank you for being part of the Irena Genesis Metal Fury community.

Best regards, White Ninja Team

September update
almost 3 years ago – Tue, Sep 05, 2023 at 10:25:49 AM

Dear backers and SEGA Mega Drive / Genesis enthusiasts,

As the summer vacations draw to a close, we're delighted to welcome you back for an explosive update on the development of our long-awaited Mega Drive game! Since the launch of our Kickstarter campaign, our team has been hard at work turning this shoot'em up into a legendary gaming experience, and we can't wait to share our progress with you.

Back to school not only means back to school, but also a new impetus for our project. We know you're as excited as we are about reliving the golden age of arcade games on your Mega Drive, and we're determined to make this vision a reality. Over the last few months, our development team has worked tirelessly to refine every pixel, every sound detail and every aspect of gameplay to bring you a gaming experience that evokes nostalgia while adding a touch of modernity.

Over the last few weeks, the major challenge has been to fit all the game's elements into a standard 4MB cartridge. To achieve this, we had to optimize numerous graphics and audio resources, while reducing the size of the code as much as possible. All in all, we have gained a significant amount of memory, which will enable us to add the various missing elements, namely the bosses.

We also had to optimize the use of the console's internal memory, particularly for European consoles which require more memory with SGDK. By reviewing the source code, we were able to make various optimizations and bug fixes. In addition, we reworked the game design of each level, with the aim of improving the pace of the action with less monotonous sequences.

Our team's tireless efforts and your invaluable support have enabled us to overcome these technical challenges and perfect every aspect of our Mega Drive game. We look forward to showing you these improvements in our next update, which will include exclusive gameplay previews and stunning visuals.

We understand that many of you have been asking us how to pre-order Irena Genesis Metal Fury. As we've mentioned on several occasions, pre-orders are no longer possible. You'll have to wait until the game's release to get a copy from Mega Cat Studio or Broke Studio, depending on your location.

We're aware of your dissatisfaction with the length of development, which seems to be dragging on, but we're doing everything we can to finalize the game for the festive season. Our aim is to bring you a quality action game that will have a place of honour in your collection of SEGA Mega Drive / Genesis games.

Thank you for your patience and continued support. We're determined to bring you an unforgettable gaming experience on your beloved console.

Stay tuned, stay retro!

White Ninja Studio team

April update
about 3 years ago – Mon, May 01, 2023 at 04:42:57 AM

Welcome to the next update ! During the last weeks, we have been working mainly on the last level which will take place in two stages. The first stage will use a scrolling scenery and a self-defense system attacking from the ground. If you're good enough, you'll get to the secret base, which will be the last step to victory! As mentioned in the previous update, we wanted to take inspiration from the last level of Thunder Force III for this final. Of course, we didn't want to have something similar in order to offer you a unique experience by bringing some ideas and an exclusive graphic style.

In this second part, the player will have to make his way to the secret room by avoiding different traps located everywhere. Beware of the lasers that will block the passage and the electric fields when you brush against the ground! Several new enemies will be present and for fun, we have added some destructible boxes with the inscription "65C". But what could it be? The more observant among you will notice a very familiar processor chip that will appear several times in the background. In this level, the various power ups to be retrieved are indicated before destroying the blocks, but you'll have to find them and retrieve them quickly to avoid getting stuck! We hope you will appreciate our efforts to offer you detailed graphics while respecting the graphic style of the Genesis / Mega Drive games.

To accompany the action of this level, we wanted to get a mix of "synthwave" and metal to immerse you even more deeply in the atmosphere of Irena that will remind you of the best action movies of the time. This music was first composed with real instruments and will be used in the Sega CD / Mega CD version of Irena Genesis Metal Fury. Turn up your stereo and listen to this preview!

He's cool and nasty, the middle boss of level 4 is finally finished! This big robot has a super stylish car inspired by the American models marketed in the 80s. This middle boss has the particularity of taking place in two stages. The first stage will consist of destroying the vehicle before facing the robot by avoiding its devastating attacks. After winning, the player will be able to access the second part of the level and face "Krawzer", a boss that is currently in progress.

As we mentioned in the previous update, we are currently working on the different bosses that will be in the game. We have almost finished the design of all the levels and during the next few days we will improve the level design and try to apply various optimizations to gain performance and memory.

Just a little more patience, we are still working hard to finalize Irena Genesis Metal Fury and we will come back in a few weeks to keep you updated on our progress with some videos and screenshots.

White Ninja Studio team

February update
over 3 years ago – Tue, Feb 28, 2023 at 11:48:37 AM

Hi Genesis World! The development of Irena Genesis Metal Fury on SEGA Genesis / Mega Drive is still ongoing and after several weeks of work, it was time to publish an update to keep you informed of our latest progress.

We didn't release an update during the month of January, as we were mainly working on content that we don't want to reveal before the official release of the game. Therefore, we did not have enough information to release an update for the month of January. We hope you will understand our choice.

During the last few weeks, we have been working mainly on the development of the middle boss of level 4 "Cyber City", which you will have to face in two stages. In the first stage, the boss will appear in a vehicle for the first phase of combat. After having inflicted important damages to the vehicle, you will have to face directly the boss in the form of a big robot. Both phases will take place in a slightly different scene from the first stage of the level as we will be using a new background where we can see some references including "SEGA" above a building.

We continued working on level 5 which takes place in a highly secured penitentiary. As a reminder, the goal of the mission will be to deliver a hacker who will help Celina find the exact location of the secret base where the source of the magnetic field that holds her mothership is located. In a previous update, we presented the first part of the level and this time we are talking about the second part which uses a new type of scrolling! Indeed, we decided to bring a little diversity with a special sequence using vertical scrolling just for the pleasure of the eyes and intensified the action. 

In the video below, we have voluntarily hidden a new and original background. We will have to wait for the official release to discover it. Indeed, we are at a stage of development where we are forced to keep certain elements secret, because we want to surprise players and not spoil the pleasure of discovery.

We have continued to work on level 6 by integrating the train that must be stopped. The latter will receive some visual modifications in order to improve the graphic rendering and correct some defects. We hesitated for a long time if the train should collide with the player and the projectiles. In order not to make the level too difficult because of the limited movement space, we have disabled the collisions with the train. This also makes it easier for us to work on the level design since some of the enemies will be able to go over the train.

In the last few days, we started to make the second part of level 7 which will take place in the secret base before the final confrontation. The tileset to draw the map on the screen is being developed and we wanted to get something close to the "ORN BASE" level from Thunder Force III as a reference. Please note that we will not be showing any videos or screenshots of this level until the game is officially released.

After several weeks of consideration, we made the decision to add mature content to keep in line with the world we wanted to create at the beginning of development. As a result, the game's box will have a classification logo depending on the location where it will be distributed. For Europe, the PEGI 16 logo will be present in order to protect younger children from content that could be shocking. In addition, we may decide to change the content displayed on the screen depending on the region of the console.

As we mentioned at the beginning of this update, the development of Irena Genesis Metal Fury is progressing well despite the significant delay we have experienced and we would like to apologize once again to our backers. We are working hard to bring you a quality game that you will enjoy on your SEGA Genesis / Mega Drive. At the moment, we are still working on the different bosses for the levels 4, 5, 6 and 7. Most of the cinematics are finished, but there is still the ending to do. We also still have to make level 7, especially the second part which will take place in a secret base.

During the month of March, we will continue to work on the missing bosses and we will revise the level design for the six levels. In parallel we will work on level 7 and improve the code if necessary. We hope to progress quickly so that we can focus on the manual which is not yet finished.

As a reminder, our composer SpaceCastle has rewritten some of the game's music to better fit the game's universe. Thus, the music of the title screen will be different from the demo and each music will have a version with real instruments that will be used for a future Mega CD version of Irena Genesis Metal Fury that we plan to develop after the release of the game on SEGA Genesis / Mega Drive. 

We would like to take the opportunity of this update to announce that we have recently opened a new room on the Irena Genesis Metal Fury Discord server to share videos and screenshots about our progress. Please note that this room is only for people who want to get information about the development of the game! A lot of the published information could spoil the pleasure of discovering the game at its release and we advise you to take precautions before entering.

We thank you for your patience and hope you enjoyed the content of this update. We will be back at the end of March to update you on the development of Irena Genesis Metal Fury.

The White Ninja Studio team

December update
over 3 years ago – Fri, Dec 30, 2022 at 04:55:05 AM

The month of December is coming to an end and it is the occasion to provide you with a new update to give you some essential information about the development progress of Irena Genesis Metal Fury. In the last few days we have been working mainly on the second part of level 4 called "Cyber City".

This second section appears right after a special stage where the player will have to face the boss in the middle of the level. You will have to fight your way through the buildings of Cyber City and fend off waves of enemies. We wanted to create a "neo-Tokyo" atmosphere with some original ideas, especially with the presence of a cyborg enemy equipped with a shield that can appear from the sky before landing on one of the platforms located on the map. You'll have to be very careful when progressing, as a turret positioned in the scenery can fire in six directions while aiming at the player.

This section differs from the other levels in that there are billboards with the image of "Shingo" to promote an energy drink for real guys! We've added a few barrels containing items to increase the firepower of Rayden's MG-323 and earn extra points. We've also placed an extra life to help you with your mission, can you find it?

We would like to point out that the first part of the level is finished, but there is still one more enemy to add. The middle boss that will take place in a special scene is currently in development, but we will tell you about it in a future update.

In parallel, we have been working on the different cutscenes of the game: the opening, interlude 1, interlude 2 and the end. We have chosen to propose cutscenes composed of different images of a size of 208 x 128 pixels accompanied by a text displayed on 4 lines. This is content that we do not want to show before the release of the game. However, we do want to show some screenshots that do not represent the final content that will be present in the cartridge. 

We have also been working on new enemies that will appear in the upcoming levels and a new game mode that will be introduced soon. At this stage of development, we have started to optimize the size of the ROM by removing unnecessary data and reducing the size of the sound resources. Various music tracks have been re-composed by SpaceCastle to better fit the universe of the levels and bring more dynamism to the action.

Sea new track (Stage 3)

Stars new track (Stage 1)

In the next few days, we will continue to work on the different bosses that make up the game with some improvements for the current bosses. We will also work on the level design of the different levels. We are on track to finish the development during the year 2023 and we thank you for your patience.

The entire White Ninja Studio team wishes you a happy holiday season and we look forward to seeing you in January 2023 for the next development update of Irena Genesis Metal Fury.