
Apus
About
This retro shoot ’em up throws you directly into the cockpit of the valiant ship Apus, just moments after a devastating surprise attack cripples your systems. Now, you’re scrambling to repair vital engines while waves of relentless enemy forces swarm you. Rebuild your defenses and ready your counter-attack!
Apus is a designed as a short but fun showcase for NRender, my custom cross-platform gaming and multimedia middelware. It works on most PCs, retro or modern, on Windows, DOS and browsers. Also works on the classic PSX! See the system requirements below.
Third-party copyrights
This game uses sound effects, music tracks and and fonts provided under various free licenses. See Credits in-game for detailed information.
This game makes use of multiple free software libraries under various free licenses. See Licenses in-game for detailed information.
No licensing-restricted documentation, tools, libraries or drivers have been used to make this game. This includes the PSX version, which utilizes custom GPU/SPU/CD-ROM drivers, a custom firmware interface and other auxiliary components.
System requirements
Windows version
Minimum | Recommended | |
---|---|---|
Operating system | Microsoft Windows 3.1 with Win32s 1.30c or Microsoft Windows NT 3.1 | Microsoft Windows 95 or higher or Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 or higher |
Processor | 80486 compatible | 486DX4 100 Mhz or better |
RAM | 4 MiB | 8 MiB or more |
Graphics card | Any VGA-compatible | VGA + 3dfx Voodoo or better |
Sound card | None | 22.5 khz + CDDA compatible |
CD-ROM | Any Windows-compatible drive | 2x speed or better with CDDA |
Mouse | None | Any Windows-compatible 2 or 3 button mouse |
Software renderer vs. hardware acceleration
This title comes in both a software rendered variant as well as a hardware accelerated one using OpenGL 1.1.
OpenGL will provide the best performance and picture quality, but requires an actual 3D graphics accelerator in conjunction with compatible drivers on contemporary hardware.
Software rendered will run on virtually any system, but stresses your processor more.
DOS version
Minimum | Recommended | |
---|---|---|
Operating system | Microsoft MS-DOS 3.1 / IBM PC-DOS 3.1, DR DOS 5.0, FreeDOS 1.x or IBM OS/2 2.0 | Microsoft MS-DOS 6.22 / IBM PC-DOS 6.1, Novell DOS 7.0, FreeDOS 1.x or IBM OS/2 2.1 or higher |
Processor | 80486 compatible | 80486DX4 100 Mhz or higher |
RAM | 256 KiB free conventional memory + 8 MiB free extended memory | 256 KiB free conventional memory + 8 MiB free extended memory |
Graphics card | Any VGA-compatible | VBE 2.0 compatible with LFB modes |
Sound card | None | Creative Sound Blaster 1.5 (or higher) or compatible |
CD-ROM | Any DOS-compatible drive, MSCDEX-compatible CD extensions 2.0 or better | Any DOS-compatible drive with CDDA, MSCDEX-compatible CD extensions 2.0 or better |
Mouse | None | Any Microsoft-compatible 2 or 3 button mouse |
PSX version
Please note: This title is not licensed, produced or endorsed by Sony Group Corporation, Sony Computer Entertainment, Sony Interactive Entertainment or any of their subsidiaries, partners or other affiliates. You will need a machine capable of running such software. This title does not make any attempt to provide this functionality on it’s own.
All original grey models (SCPH-1xxx, SCPH-3xxx, SCPH-5xxx, SCPH-7xxx, SCPH-9xxx) as well as all white/slim/“PSone” models (SCPH-1xx) are supported. PS2 hardware should work as well, but this is mostly untested.
Most emulators should work fine as well. However, HLE BIOS implementations will mostly not work. You will need to either use a firmware re-implementation such as OpenBIOS or resort to using a firmware dump of your actual machine (in jurisdiction where either of these can be done legally).
This title works with original SCPH-1010 digital gamepads as well as the modern analog SCPH-1200 (marketed as “DualShock”). It does not support using more than one controller or the use of memory cards or any other peripheral.
Changelog
1.1.0:
- Support touch-only mobile devices (phones, tablets)
1.0.2:
- Fixed benchmark mode on Windows 3.1 and Windows NT 3.1
1.0.1:
- Restored full pre-boss sequence
- Fixed boss background in software rendering
- Restored boss camera angle
- Tweaked boss model for less polygon fighting
- Added benchmark mode (see --help)
1.0.0:
Initial release!
Download
Development log
- Apus now works on mobile!6 days ago
- Apus version 1.0.1 released29 days ago
- Apus final released!35 days ago
- The last preview47 days ago
- The game has a name!63 days ago
- Unforeseen technical difficulties86 days ago
- The first previewMay 17, 2025
- The extent of Windows API compatibilityMay 11, 2025
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