AuthorTopic: Possible Space Shooter Mockup...  (Read 71033 times)

Offline Howard Day

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Re: Possible Space Shooter Mockup...

Reply #20 on: October 01, 2008, 07:15:58 am
I've completed the Military/Police fighter. :D




« Last Edit: August 10, 2009, 09:56:40 pm by Howard Day »

Offline ptoing

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Re: Possible Space Shooter Mockup...

Reply #21 on: October 01, 2008, 04:37:47 pm
Coming along nicely.

Some things tho. The Space nebula like background really does not go. Too much dither, 4 colours? Really? Make it smoother and something like 16 colours.

About gameplay, will this be a vertical shooter? In that case the screen ratio have in the pics with the hud is not very nice. Would be rather cramped having enemies come down at you in that. If it is vertical I would suggest a vertical ratio as well. 480x640 or something along those lines.

The Hud, does the player need to know all that stuff? Does it have to be that big. No offense but it kinda smells like Euroshmup. The hud should not take away that much info at all I think. If you can put info in the actual game area as much as possible. In case it is not a one hit - lose a life game (which I guess since you have a shield), you could make the colour of the shield change when it gets hit. Like you do not see the shield, only when it's hit, then you see the impacts and the shield flickers a bit and it could go towards red or something and when it is totally gone you could play some electric GTZZKT kinda sound and have some particles fly away from the perimeters of the shield, so that the player knows that he will die on the next hit.

Same goes for power. The power of the shot should be visible from the actual shot. Like you get more and bigger bullets as you collect powerups.
As far as I am concerned the HUD in shmups should really be minimal as far as screen space goes. And only the most necessary stuff should be there, things you can not easily show without the it.

Just my 2 cents. Keep it up.
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Offline Howard Day

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Re: Possible Space Shooter Mockup...

Reply #22 on: October 01, 2008, 06:10:28 pm
Coming along nicely.
Some things tho. The Space nebula like background really does not go. Too much dither, 4 colours? Really? Make it smoother and something like 16 colours.
Sure! That was honestly more of a test than anything else - I was interested to see how few colors I could get away with.
Here's another at 16 colors...


Quote
About gameplay, will this be a vertical shooter? In that case the screen ratio have in the pics with the hud is not very nice. Would be rather cramped having enemies come down at you in that. If it is vertical I would suggest a vertical ratio as well. 480x640 or something along those lines.
Ah, I see! I'm sorry, I should have explained this earlier - I forgot to mention it.

I was thinking that this would be a sort-of-mix-of Subspace, Privateer, and DoDonPachi. That's a bit of a confusing blend, I'll grant you, so I'll explain what I mean. The perspective is a combination of the isometric viewpoint of DoDonPachi, with the "face anywhere" turning and movement style of Subspace. I was thinking the Arrow/WASD keys to move your fighter, with limited strafing side-to-side, and aiming the fighter using your mouse.  Rather than have instantaneous rotation to match the cursor, the cursor would have a "Ghost" trail when it moves quickly - showing the lag time between your aim point and the fighter's actual rotation. The game play would basically be a cut-down version of Privateer. Much simplified.

You play a Mercenary Fighter Pilot tasked with clearing out Pirates from a sector of space by an extremely harried Sector Governor.  Illegally, unfortunately...so when you start being successful, the Military starts coming after you.  Your personal reasons for doing the missions assigned are...generic. :D Pirates killed your family. That's the overriding mission - you can pick up smaller, more localized ones as you progress. Simple stuff like specific pirate gang hunts, escort missions, delivery missions, etc. You play for Points, which are pretty much the money(ies) in this game. As you gain points, you can spend them to upgrade your ship - or even purchase a new one (maybe, might be too complicated, no idea) As you spend the points, your actual score doesn't decrease. Basically there'd be two numbers - The total amount of money/points you've earned, and the money points you haven't spent, if that makes any sort of sense at all.

I hope that help explain things a bit more - It's definitely not a vertical SHMUP, though.

Quote
Same goes for power. The power of the shot should be visible from the actual shot. Like you get more and bigger bullets as you collect powerups.
As far as I am concerned the HUD in shmups should really be minimal as far as screen space goes. And only the most necessary stuff should be there, things you can not easily show without the it.

Just my 2 cents. Keep it up.
Actually a very good point. Screen space is going to be at a premium, so I'm very much interested in cutting down the interface.  I like your idea about the shield strength being portrayed by the color of the hits - that could definitely be done. The reason for the gun power gauge, though, is to show you how much power you have to fire your guns - not to show you the power of your shots...since you'll be able to upgrade your weapons and powerplant separately, that's a balancing mechanic to prevent you from buying all the best guns and neglecting your other systems. Sure, you could get 1-2 awesome shots off, but that's all you'll get till your energy recharges.

Hopefully this has helped to explain things a bit more. Thanks again for your comments - and I'll see what I can do about the HUD.

 
« Last Edit: August 10, 2009, 09:56:57 pm by Howard Day »

Offline Timpa

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Re: Possible Space Shooter Mockup...

Reply #23 on: October 01, 2008, 10:14:24 pm
Argh I hate it when people write alot of stuff:D Can never make myself read it. But if I against all odds :-[ missed this, The nebula background? Was that made in some sort of program or pixeled by hand?

Offline Howard Day

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Re: Possible Space Shooter Mockup...

Reply #24 on: October 02, 2008, 02:27:27 pm
Ah, the nebula background was made in 3ds MAX 9... then dithered down in Photoshop, and the color tints and palette re-arranged in Graphics Gale. If you're interested in the MAX file, I'd be more than willing to share. :D

Offline ptoing

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Re: Possible Space Shooter Mockup...

Reply #25 on: October 02, 2008, 02:52:52 pm
I would be interested in that  ;D
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Offline Howard Day

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Re: Possible Space Shooter Mockup...

Reply #26 on: October 02, 2008, 04:49:58 pm
Done!
http://www.hedfiles.net/pixel/wispy.max
You'll need Max 9 or later to open that correctly. :D To create new backgrounds, change the seed on the top-level noise modifier on the nebula plane.
Enjoy!
EDIT*
Worked a bit on the thruster transparency and workings.

At 60 or even 30 fps, that looks pretty darn awesome.
*EDIT
DOUBLE EDIT!!*
Testing some more intricate thrusters...

*DOUBLE EDIT!!
« Last Edit: August 10, 2009, 09:57:27 pm by Howard Day »

Offline Howard Day

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Re: Possible Space Shooter Mockup...

Reply #27 on: October 03, 2008, 10:02:52 pm
Okay - two new engine effects - Idle and Afterburn..

« Last Edit: August 10, 2009, 09:57:47 pm by Howard Day »

Offline ndchristie

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Re: Possible Space Shooter Mockup...

Reply #28 on: October 05, 2008, 12:04:21 am
just noticed the self-shadowing, which is a nice touch.

how exactly is this game going to play out?  the designs will need to be tailored to the gameplay.  you mention fixed angle, but how exactly can the ships move?  and how large is the screen? (you've shown the screen a little but not enough for me to see how large the ships will be, and where...)
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Offline Howard Day

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Re: Possible Space Shooter Mockup...

Reply #29 on: October 05, 2008, 06:12:38 am
just noticed the self-shadowing, which is a nice touch.
Thanks - no idea if that's going to make it into the finished game...here's hoping.

Quote
how exactly is this game going to play out?  the designs will need to be tailored to the gameplay.  you mention fixed angle, but how exactly can the ships move?  and how large is the screen? (you've shown the screen a little but not enough for me to see how large the ships will be, and where...)
Ah, good question. The ships can move anywhere on a 2d-plane of space. There are canned, pre-fabbed maneuvers that specific ships can play - dodges, barrel rolls, flips...that sort of thing. As for how big the ships are on screen.. we're going for a 45deg angle fixed camera - but the zoom on that camera changes based on how fast you're going...as does the focus of the camera. When the ship's below a specific speed, the ship is mostly centered perfectly...but as you accelerate into a specific direction, the camera's viewpoint shifts into that direction to show you more of where you're going. At normal zoom levels, the ships will appear within 10-15% of the size of the animated gifs on this page...at full speed, then they might zoom out to 30-40% less...
Hopefully this helps!

And here's the new cut down HUD...

Thoughts? Is that cut down enough?
« Last Edit: August 10, 2009, 09:58:02 pm by Howard Day »