Shmup Idea: Phoenix Blade

A place for people with an interest in developing new shmups.
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the1truepickaxe
Posts: 37
Joined: Thu Aug 17, 2017 6:59 pm

Shmup Idea: Phoenix Blade

Post by the1truepickaxe »

These ideas are inspired by the works of Shinobu Yagawa

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Last edited by the1truepickaxe on Wed Jan 16, 2019 3:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
the1truepickaxe
Posts: 37
Joined: Thu Aug 17, 2017 6:59 pm

Re: Shmup Idea: Phoenix Blade

Post by the1truepickaxe »

Phoenix Blade is a three button game.
Button 1 controls the main shot.
Button 2 controls the option shot.
Button 3 controls the bomb.

Pressing B1 rapidly will cause the ship to fire normally. Holding B1 will increase fire rate, but the ship's speed is reduced.

Releasing B1 for a second will charge the Guard Barrier. The Guard Barrier can absorb blue colored bullets, but the sides and back of the ship are still vulnerable.

Pressing B2 will cause the options to cycle configurations. There are five configurations: Wide, Back, Front, Orbit, and Trace. The cycle order can be changed in the settings menu.

Holding B2 will cause the options to fire. Both B1 and B2 must be held to fire the main shot and the options at the same time.

Pressing B2 while the Guard Barrier is fully charged will activate a Break Attack. A Break Attack is a burst of firepower that lasts a few seconds. The Guard Barrier will not charge during this time, so you can be left vulnerable if using the Break Attack too much.

B3 is the bomb button. You must have ammo to bomb. A full bomb is 20 ammo, but if you have less, a partial bomb will be used instead.
the1truepickaxe
Posts: 37
Joined: Thu Aug 17, 2017 6:59 pm

Re: Shmup Idea: Phoenix Blade

Post by the1truepickaxe »

Bullets come in three colors: Blue, Orange, and Red.

Blue bullets can be cancelled with the Guard Barrier.

Orange bullets can be cancelled with the main ship shot.

Red bullets cannot be cancelled with either of these.

The bomb will cancel all bullets, regardless of color.

Bullet patterns will be arranged so that the player must alternate between shot and guard barrier in order to survive.
Ixmucane2
Posts: 760
Joined: Mon Jan 19, 2009 3:26 pm
Location: stuck at the continue prompt

Re: Shmup Idea: Phoenix Blade

Post by Ixmucane2 »

An obvious problem: if the "guard barrier" is activated by not shooting for 1 second and alternating shooting and guard barrier use is necessary, there are 1-second gaps in which the player is completely exposed (not shooting, and still waiting for the guard barrier). Not plausibly survivable in an intense bullet pattern.

Equally obvious suggestion: when the player stops firing, activate the guard barrier instantly (possibly increasing its cross section progressively if not shooting for a while, similarly to the behaviour of Recca).
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