High Scores

REVO v0.43.1 Update

It’s hard to imagine a space shooter without a tally of points somewhere on screen, yet that’s how REVO has been since most of you first saw it. I’m excited that this has now changed! Now you can play and replay and push those hundreds of thousands into millions. In fact, you can try it today! Read below for how to access the playable preview of REVO.

Action vs. Numbers

Did you know that REVO, known at the time only as Project Revolution, started out with on screen scores? I disabled it early on to help me focus on the core combat experience rather than get lost in a technical and complicated numbers game. REVO is about action, not math. I’ve been asked many times about including high scores in REVO. This makes sense because it’s based on classic video arcade games like Galaga.

About Nice Things

I’ve wanted to do it, but a few things have made me nervous about it. For example, high scores draw the hardcore arcade crowd which may not easily forgive lapses in the system and I have no experience creating one. Also, high scores usually mean leaderboards, but when an online leaderboard is flooded by fake numbers thanks to 1337 h4x0r5, the fun gets lost. Cheating is why we can’t have nice things and there’s no simple solution.

Points Are Win

But you want points and I want points, so now we have points in REVO. What I’ve done to keep things simple and fun is implement a basic scoring system that tallies the value of your kills plus factors in a multiplier. If you chain your kills quickly, you can gain and increase a multiplier which beefs up those points for each new kill. Just watch out you don’t get hit because you’ll reduce or reset your multiplier. The game tracks your personal best score for each level and combines them into a total campaign score. You can also replay levels to try for a higher score and to push that total score up.

Your Personal Best Life Now

I really love this new depth and replayability in REVO. It’s not complicated and it’s not a shared online multiplayer experience, but it is fresh and fun and pays homage to the classic days of video arcades and the inspirations that sparked this game.

You don’t have to be super skilled to score points or try for an even higher score. This is something all players can enjoy. In fact, it would really help out the project if you gave it a try today. Before the game launches later this year, I’d like to know if the game runs on your Windows, Mac, or Linux computer and what you think of the experience. Sign up for instant playtester access, if you haven’t already, and also receive the monthly digest of studio news.