Warning : Shmup Thread approaching fast!

[Stwelin]

Cool, so... I am making a shoot-them-up.

This is the premise for the player's ship, it looks bad on a light background, so here it is on black.

Some parts look like they grow/stretch/move with the rotation, but that is the sort of thing i was going for. I don't want it to seem extremely mechanical. I'll use this thread to dump the other graphics as this project progresses. The enemies are actually going to be multiple sections, most of the gameplay will be boss/miniboss battles, not one-shot-kill enemies.

Go at it.

--updates--

[Icedemon]

that looks pretty good! can't wait to see further work on this. 

[Bisse]

Looks great, I don't have any crits on the ship per sé, however there's one game issue thing I have to mention as a shooter lover.

As you're probably aware, in shooters you'll want to have the hitbox smaller than the ship itself. On a sprite like this you'll most likely end up having it the size and place of the cockpit, or in your case the blue orb, since that's really the sensitive part and it makes sense. Even if you don't, you'll want to constantly have it in the center.

For this reason the blue orb, unless you have the whole ship be a hitbox (which I really hope you don't), should stay in the center even when turning, or you'll have a very hard time getting a feel for which part of your ship is safe and which isn't. In games with many bullets and enemies, this is an extremely important part of gameplay. Move your frames left and/or right when the ship rotates to keep the blue orb in the centre, or rework that part of the animation.

For examples of how to handle this well, check out ChoRenSha 68K, where the red orb is the hitbox. Notice how the ship revolves around the red orb instead of its mass centre when it rotates, so it always stays at the same place. This can be seen in Radiant Silvergun as well, unfortunely you'll need to talk to the russian mafia if you ever want to get your hands on a copy of that game. If you want to see why full-size hitbox is pretty much a bad idea, play R-Type or Guxt - otherwise great games, see how such a small thing can make them feel ridiculously unfair and annoying.

[Stwelin]

Looks great, I don't have any crits on the ship per sé, however there's one game issue thing I have to mention as a shooter lover.

As you're probably aware, in shooters you'll want to have the hitbox smaller than the ship itself. On a sprite like this you'll most likely end up having it the size and place of the cockpit, or in your case the blue orb, since that's really the sensitive part and it makes sense. Even if you don't, you'll want to constantly have it in the center.

For this reason the blue orb, unless you have the whole ship be a hitbox (which I really hope you don't), should stay in the center even when turning, or you'll have a very hard time getting a feel for which part of your ship is safe and which isn't. Move your frames left and/or right when the ship rotates to keep the blue orb in the centre, or rework that part of the animation.

For examples of how to handle this well, check out ChoRenSha 68K, where the red orb is the hitbox. Notice how the ship revolves around the red orb instead of its mass centre when it rotates, so it always stays at the same place. This can be seen in Radiant Silvergun as well, unfortunely you'll need to talk to the russian mafia if you ever want to get your hands on a copy of that game. If you want to see why full-size hitbox is pretty much a bad idea, play R-Type or Guxt.

Well, i may re-work the center of the rotation animation so that it will be able to keep a better eye on where you're vulnerable, but because of the way the gameplay is going to be, you won't be killed unfairly, on the game's part, that is. I was actually inspired to make a shmup because of all the really really addictive, but really really unfair shmups i've played recently.

The dexterity of your ship is actually going to be dependant on an energy meter, which refills constantly, but decreases if you fire, boost, use a special weapon, etc.

I've played ChoRenSha, one of my favourites, R-Type and Guxt are both good, but yeah, they have their issues. i am bad a guxt. . I've been playing a lot of the games in the shootthecore.moonpod.com database. Lots of really good ones.

Basically, i want to make something unique. There are a lot of really generic shmups with great graphics, but mediocre gameplay, and there are also a lot of really addictive and innovative schmups with really poor graphics. For example, 'Clean Asia' by Cactus. A GREAT indie shoot 'em up, but the graphics are so basic, you have a hard time locating your ship all the time, plus with all the debris flying around, you mix them up with the bullets. (i always get killed unfairly. )

I'm aiming to combine the two. Thanks for the input, once i get all the ideas for the gameplay down, i will probably make a topic over at shmup-dev forums.

[Stwelin]

Reviving this before it lands on page 2 I've been doing a lot of work on the game engine so haven't done a lot more on the actual artwork, but here is what i have...

New ship, added some wings to give it more of a ship feel, rather than a little escape pod, it is, afterall, the SOLE SHIP THAT IS LEFT TO SAVE EARTH. it could at least use some wings.

Also, the beginnings of a dropship, the bottom isn't going to be fancy boosters or anything, because it only comes on screen so far, when your ship is deployed at the beginning of the level.

edit: Some more work on it.

Cheers.

[Stwelin]

Almost there, still fixing errors in lighting because of the mirroring. I would really appreciate input on this.

Also, the door opens. rough animation, still stray pixels to be cleaned up..

[Rydin]

Pixel-wise, there's pretty much nothing wrong with these.  But there still is a major problem I think you should address: both extremely bland and flavorless.  I could see how a simplistic, minimalist player/main-character ship could work, but the gigantic, perfectly symmetrical enemy could definitely use some pizazz and flare; windows, shiny metal, rust spots, moss growths, etc--anything to break up the monotony.
Of course this is just all opinion, but I think you could really give these some more character.  Nonetheless, keep pixelling! 

[~KING~]

I don't like the bouncyness of the door it should be more stiff.But I never know what im talking about so it could be fine.

[Stwelin]

Pixel-wise, there's pretty much nothing wrong with these.  But there still is a major problem I think you should address: both extremely bland and flavorless.  I could see how a simplistic, minimalist player/main-character ship could work, but the gigantic, perfectly symmetrical enemy could definitely use some pizazz and flare; windows, shiny metal, rust spots, moss growths, etc--anything to break up the monotony.
Of course this is just all opinion, but I think you could really give these some more character.  Nonetheless, keep pixelling! 

It's actually the dropship for the player. The player is deployed from this at the beginning of the missions. I see your points, though. I'll try and give it more of a worn feel so it doesn't seem so symmetrical. What about the palette? I just sort of went with the same colourscheme as the player, but i'm wondering if the purple is too much...

I don't like the bouncyness of the door it should be more stiff.But I never know what im talking about so it could be fine.

It's supposed to have like... a snap to it, not really bouncyness. Maybe I messed up the framerate, I just wanted to give it a little feel to it, like it was being moved by motors, rather than just moved boringly.    The initially sliding of the doors will probably end up being slower, and the doors will move a little farther out to make room for the ship's sprite, i think the doors a bit to small at the moment. In the game i am going to have steam-like stuff coming out of it, like those cryogenic chamber type things, just for some extra fun. I'll continue to play around with it.

[Rydin]

I really can't say much about the palette right now, seeing as how I'm on my laptop...but I'll be sure to check it out as soon as I can get on my PC.

But yeah, breaking up the monotony would definitely be a plus in the situation...(perhaps every situation? )