Untitled Shoot-em-up game, [Work-in-progress/recruiting] Options

[Redattack34]

A friend and I have been working on building a shmup game, with me as the code monkey and him doing the art. I've managed to make some headway on the code (set up the basics of the game, motion, and a simple particle engine. I'm about half-finished an early version of the weapon and projectile systems), but he's been lagging behind on the art for the player ship, so I've come to look for recruits.

We're looking for artists primarily. Playtesters will be needed once we have built it to the point where it can actually be considered a game. I think I can handle all of the code myself, though a second coder may eventually be needed. We'll definitely need sound guys too, though I haven't implemented the sound yet, so we won't need them for a while.

We don't have a set art style yet, so you're free to do whatever you like so long as it looks good, fits with the sci-fi theme and isn't a copyright infringement.

I won't post any current screenshots because A: It's an extremely early build of the game and B: it's entirely placeholder art for now.

If you're interested, create a sprite for the player-controlled ship and post it here (.png, preferably 64x64 but can be up to 128x128, transparency included). Whichever we think is best will be used, and whoever shows some decent skill in their sprite will be asked to join the team under my friend Dan. Animation may eventually be added, but is not necessary for the purposes of this topic.

This post has been edited by Redattack34: Nov 7 2007, 07:55:43 PM

[K4tz]

Make the bullet patterns really fast or else.

[Nirual]

Do you need the view from above (vertical shmup) or from the side (horizontal)?

Not sure if I can make anything decent, but I think I might give it a shot.

[Redattack34]

Make the bullet patterns really fast or else.

Honestly, I'm not sure I can manage "bullet patterns" per se. We shall see how things turn out, though I was planning to have a switch between manic and non-manic gameplay if I can. At any rate, I haven't even added enemy ships to the game yet, so now is not the time to worry about such things.

Do you need the view from above (vertical shmup) or from the side (horizontal)?

Top-view, vertical scrolling.

[K4tz]

Bullet patterns doesn't really mean that they have to be like touhou. Even if it was just a whole bunch of ships firing bullets downwards/at you then it would still be a bullet pattern. Make them fast.

[Redattack34]

Bullet patterns doesn't really mean that they have to be like touhou. Even if it was just a whole bunch of ships firing bullets downwards/at you then it would still be a bullet pattern. Make them fast.

I've never played Touhou, my only real experience with manic shmups is a Wikipedia article and a couple of youtube videos. I'll probably be relying on the more manic-shmup-experienced members of the community to give some pointers.

That said, I will definitely do some of the standard weapons like spread guns, rapid-fire etc. Like I said, I haven't entirely finished the projectile system, so there is definitely room to add the capability to build bullet patterns. All in good time though. I'd like to get the game to an early release state before I worry about more complex bullet patterns and such.

[Lulolwen]

For experience with danmaku shmups:

http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~cs8k-cyu/windows/rr_e.html
Free as in beer, boss-based shmup with four play modes.
Normal (one hit death, uses bombs)
Psy (Psyvariar system, graze points allows you to temporarily become invincible)
Ika (Ikaruga, color changing, absorb like-colored bullets to fire them back)
GW (Giga Wing, which extends a bubble from the ship and reflects bullets back at the boss)

http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~cs8k-cyu/windows/noiz2sa_e.html
General shmup by the same author. It's not boss-based and only uses the Normal system.

Both of these use abstract art, which seems to be a bit of a fad amongst doujin shmup games...

I'll try sketching some stuff tomorrow in English class, see if I can't come up with anything.

[Redattack34]

Hmm. The very bottom of the forum. That's encouraging.

I had built the Projectile system, but I scrapped it when I realized that it was fairly limited and restrictive. I had coded myself into a corner, so to speak.

Lulolwen, Nirual, is there any update from you guys?

[Trance Blossom]

I can make music.

[ChessRules]

Here's an interesting one:
http://bullethell.blogspot.com/2007/08/ygs2000.html

This one doesn't go into massive slowdown as easy as the above two. In this one, you try to survive as long as possible as the pattern gets harder.

[Lulolwen]

No, no update. The ship I had sketched has too much detail to be fit in 64x64 the way I planned it, so it's back to the - I feel terrible for saying this - drawing board.

[Redattack34]

I can make music.

Yes, we will need someone like you. As I said, though, I haven't even gotten close to implementing the sound yet.

No, no update. The ship I had sketched has too much detail to be fit in 64x64 the way I planned it, so it's back to the - I feel terrible for saying this - drawing board.

No problem. I'd just like to get some non-placeholder art into the game so that I can start showing off some screenshots. 64x64 would be preferable, but, like I said, I'm willing to go up to 128x128.

This post has been edited by Redattack34: Nov 6 2007, 07:17:36 AM

[K4tz]

Don't need to make it with spaceships. Could make it an abstract shooter, those generally look pretty good.

[Lulolwen]

Yeah, but you risk ripping off the art style of Warning Forever or any one of several other great shmups.

This post has been edited by Lulolwen: Nov 6 2007, 10:13:06 AM

[K4tz]

but having spaceships will be ripping off other great shmups!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[psychotic guy]

Yeah, but you risk ripping off the art style of Warning Forever or any one of several other great shmups.

Does not compute.

[Redattack34]

We decided on a sci-fi shmup because we both like sci-fi and because it makes it fairly easy to explain new weapons. Admittedly, it would probably be easier to do it all in vectors, but that's not what we want to do.

[psychotic guy]

How many stages?

Old school or manic?

Any gimmick mechanics?

Checkpoints or no?

Scoring system or no?

[Redattack34]

How many stages?

We haven't decided yet. It's still in the very early stages, I'm busy making the game work before we really start to add a lot of content.

Old school or manic?

Manic.

Any gimmick mechanics?

Again, not decided. I expect that a lot of the gimmick mechanics of other games (reflector shields, for instance) will show up as selectable bombs. If you have any ideas, post them and we'll take them into consideration.

Checkpoints or no?

Probably.

Scoring system or no?

Yes.

[psychotic guy]

Old school or manic?

Manic.

Checkpoints or no?

Probably.

This game sucks.

Scoring system or no?

Yes.

Details.

Kill enemy x for y points isn't a scoring system btw, but it does work.

[Redattack34]

This game sucks.

I'm not sure I get what you're saying. Manic shmups shouldn't have checkpoints? Because I can probably just disable them in the higher difficulty settings, if I do add them in.

Kill enemy x for y points isn't a scoring system btw, but it does work.

In that case, undecided.
EDIT: And by this I mean, I thought he was asking if there would be score. There will. The details of how that score is calculated are undecided.

This post has been edited by Redattack34: Nov 6 2007, 02:33:45 PM

[Trance Blossom]

I made this cause I was bored. I tried to make it shmup-y. Tell me if its remotely usable.

I also have a version that loops.

Could you give me an idea of what type of music you want?

This post has been edited by Trance Blossom: Nov 6 2007, 04:18:44 PM

[Redattack34]

I like it, but, as I said, not quite ready to implement sound yet.

Also, my friend had to drop out due to time concerns (he apparently has a lot more of a college workload than me) so I'm looking for some artists to help out.

[ChessRules]

Most newer shmups don't have checkpoints; instead, upon death the player just continues from where they were. It's a lot less frustrating.

[psychotic guy]

The only good checkpoint system is in Border Down.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMoyYgMHCRo

Some games have checkpoints for game overs to prevent credit feeding to the end though.