I slapped together a quick technology test using normal maps in AS3. You can check it out here. Gameplay is still a ways off, but hopefully a realtime graphics demo will be availible soon.

Yes, it uses a variation of the technique pioneered by UnitZeroOne, so don't worry. It's fast. In fact, it might be faster than his realtime demo, since his demo used AS2 and MovieClips, and mine uses AS3 and BitmapDatas.

I did end up using a lot of fullscreen Draw commands, though, so it may lag a little on slower machines. I guess we'll find out once I get an animated demo cobbled together.

Don't worry, though, I fully intend to make it possible to turn off all the normal-mapped goodness and just enjoy shooting monochromatic vector baddies on a simple textured background.

If you have any suggestions or ideas, please post them here. I intend to work closely with the Newgrounds community to develop this game and refine the gameplay.

Witching Hour sucked. Mostly it sucked because the gameplay was weaksauce. I was rushed to get it done in time for the competition deadline, and I only had a few people helping me playtest it, and they weren't very into video games, so they were easily impressed and din't expect much of a challenge.

We don't want a repeat of that. So help me out a little, and make your voice heard. :)

I wish NG Alphas was working.