0:00

Wouldn't be a TAGAP trailer without the Never Rated tag. However, due to changing times, it now features an additional message to hammer home that TAGAP is now (and forever) handmade.

00:02

The trailer starts with the story pitch of TAGAP X in one sentence. After Pablo killed Dr. Glowenko in TAGAP 4, the world he ruled now has a power vacuum of epic proportions – one which the now-unleashed old Super Powers want to fill.

00:09

A close up of our hero. He looks familiar.

00:11

And here's the big reveal and the very start of the game. You are not the hero of this story – in fact there are no heroes at all in this story. You play as Nemesis – Pablo's parallel-world version – teaming up with General Primo for the Penguin World Order. It's up to you to fill the power vacuum, fighting the world's Super Powers while at it.

One of the reasons it took this long to finally reveal anything from TAGAP X was because I had in my mind that this is how I wanted to do the reveal. As I had focused on gameplay and the game engine, I hadn't done the cut-scene assets needed for the scene.

00:15

Nemesis naturally dons his 'trademark' visor. I had designed how the visor works for TAGAP 4 – how he would put it on, what it shows to him etc. – but we never got to see it. Once again good planning pays off down the line. The visor is magnetically guided to plug in correctly, connecting it directly to Nemesis' cybernetics.

And yes, I'm one of the game nerds who loves their suit / helmet boot-ups in FPS games, be it DOOM or Half-Life, so I was delighted to get to feature it..

00:19

We've already seen the mysterious aircraft in the teaser images in its concept art form, so seeing the turbines power up likely doesn't come as a shock.

🤓 Nerd Fact; An excellent showcase of the lighting engine. No longer is it just about the global lighting of the scene, but there's the pulsating red alarm, the deep blue highlights and now the igniting turbines.

00:21

Speaking of dynamic lights, as the aircraft powers up, its cockpit illuminates. But these lights aren't just for show – you'll see later.

00:23

The jet lifts off. As TAGAP 4 players will likely notice, it is a prototype fighter jet version of the stealth bomber Nemesis had in one of the boss fights. Naturally it is capable of vertical lift and hover.

🤓 Nerd Fact; This is a perfecet example of how the new engine is designed specifically to capture the vibe of all the TAGAP 4 illustrations. Comparing this shot to the 'mood concept art' released earlier, its delightfully close – even if the proportions changed a bit since:

00:25

Zooming back, showcasing the launch hangar in the PWO headquarters – or the underground hi-tech base underneath the Glowenko Mansion. Yes, our penguins have turned it into a proper Bat Penguin Cave.

🤓 Nerd Fact; TAGAP Engine changes don't end with the dynamic lights; we also have depth. In the previous games the launch corridor would've been done like one of the Coyote's wall-paintings in Looney Tunes, but in TAGAP X it is a tunnel with depth.

00:28

"TAGAP GOES SHMUP!"

The other twist of TAGAP X; we're going for something a little different this time.

00:29

A gentle drive-in for the new perspective – and additionally, again showcasing the depth of the scene. And of course I had to have the lighting strike to highlight the lighting AND shadows.

🤓 Nerd Fact; I spent great deal of time designing the fighter jet to be as informative to the player as possible. The game naturally will have a HUD (some icons aren't done yet, that's why it isn't in the footage), but you don't need it if you focus just on the fighter jet. The light strips work as health bars, you can see the selected armaments directly on the plane itself (in this shot it is just the starting machine guns) and the monitor in the front shows if you have bombs (more on those later, you'll love it).

00:31

From the near-beginning of the very first level, light SHMUP action with default starting weapons. Does the scene look familiar? It is the road to Glowenko Mansion from TAGAP 4 from aerial view, as Nemesis & Co. fight off a strike team sent to capture the Glowenko Industries headquarters. Lots of drones here.

0:33

But what is this? Old-school TAGAP gameplay? Yes, TAGAP X has both forms of gameplay – most missions involve blasting to the enemy territory with extreme violence and going on ground to do some on-foot infiltrating and exterminating.

This shot specifically shows something new, though; Nemesis' plasma tanto. Where Pablo's Cleaver was, well, a cleaver, the plasma tanto is specifically designed for combat and you can use it at any time, not just for 'glory kills'.

Here we use it to slice a high-calibre revolver round mid-air. As you do.

0:34

A late-game scenario footage. We go from fighting GSEC to battling US naval fighters over the Atlantic, dodging homing missiles.

Nemesis has tons of high-end stuff, too, coming armed with AAMs (Air-to-Air Missiles) and wielding an upgraded Beam-class weapon, the Proton Beam. And the pesky BotBee drones Pablo has had to deal with in multiple games? They're on your side now! Being bad pays off.

0:36

Mid-game scenario, doing a mission over China. Yes, each superpower has their own (totally legally distinct) armada of vehicles to throw at you. Here you are armed with an upgraded Machinegun (the Gast Gun) and ASMs (Air-to-Surface Missiles). You can switch the weapon classes and missile types on the fly, if you have them unlocked.

0:38

To show how some proper 'classic TAGAP action' looks like in the new engine, as GSEC remnants take on Nemesis in a surveillance room. The scene depth, lighting and particles all add to the chaotic 'we have F.E.A.R. at home' vibe TAGAP has always gone for – and we may have finally reached its full potential.

🤓 Nerd Fact; There are less particles here than in a similar scene in TAGAP 4 even though it looks the opposite, with screen being filled with flying debris. There are a lot of sneaky optimisation tricks going on under the hood.

0:39

Nemesis' gun, AMM04X, is a heavy calibre close quarters variant of the AMM01 Pablo had in TAGAP 4. Here we see it loaded with Autogun rounds, with its armour-piercing Charge Shot in action.

🤓 Nerd Fact; To make sure the gun an its alignment (which equals your aim) are clear in the most hectic of scenes, I designed the colour and form of AMM04X via low-res pixel art... in Paint. And it works, zoomed in our out, chaos or calm, it pops out enough for you to instantly mentally align.

0:40

It wouldn't be a TAGAP trailer if it didn't build up to absolute chaos and destruction. An early game level set in a Russian base near the Arctic. Just a great showcase of bullets, rockets, missiles, fire and exploding fuel tanks. The scene depth works great in scenes like this.

🤓 Nerd Fact; The fire-from above effect was quite recently completely re-done. The original looked good, but after seeing The Slo Mo Guys doing the 'fire from below' video, I just couldn't stop myself from completely re-doing the shaders. It's now more realistic but still cartoonish enough to fit into the art style.

0:42

Title drop!

0:45

But there's more! Time to showcase an example of 'interplay' with the two gameplay styles. Here we get into one of those secured storage lockers 'as seen in TAGAP 4'. And within is weapon box, containing a Nuke. You can't use these on-foot, but....

0:52

...they are the Obligatory Screen-Cleaning SHMUP Bombs of TAGAP X. And since nuclear test footage is my fetish, I took damn sure these feel the part and aren't just 'a flash and the screen is clear' kind of thing.

And oh yeah, you're seeing it right, they level buildings. Time to put 'Apocalyptic' into forefront for once, right?.

Can't think of a better way to and a debut.

1:05

And the end card to highlight the bullet points. No release date yet, but it will be freeware once done. And since we've found a comfy little spot on Itch.io, I decided to add it to the trailer from the get-go as our home-away-from-home.