The ShmupHouse: VR: Vicious Reality, Triangle Shine, etc.

[Shmuppet]

This is the topic if you want to find information about my shmup making!

My first public and commercial shoot 'em up, VR: Vicious Reality is available here or here.

UPDATE 8/11/2014: New version of the game in development. This version will be VERY simplified in all aspects, but hard as ****.
Photo evidence:

Current changes as of now:
-Fixed movement speed.
-Adjusted player firepower towards OMFG amazing.
-No external files required to play.
-Danmaku code.

Screenies:


VIDEO here.

Triangle Shine is another shoot 'em up I'm developing. Screens of that will be uploaded soon.

[Ebbo]

The trial felt a bit dull and very short, the challenge didn't really have any time to ramp up properly. Only two almost identical enemy types didn't really help either. Maybe the full version has more variety but the trial didn't really convince me to make the purchase.

I also highly recommend getting rid of the unnecessary inertia player ship has. It simply makes things harder/more frustrating to control.

[Shmuppet]

Thanks for the feedback on the trial Ebbo. Check your PMs!

The trial felt a bit dull and very short, the challenge didn't really have any time to ramp up properly.

Haha, you must be pretty good at shmups! Lots of bullets past round 6.
Let me tell you the gameplay stuff so you can get an idea of how much is actually there:
-12 enemy graphics(6 base graphics+6 more recolors/edits)
-boss enemy(a LOT more bullets come out if that's your thing)
-each difficulty gives a maximum # of rounds(trial mode is 12, but higher difficulties give 30/60/99/Infinite rounds etc.)

Only two almost identical enemy types didn't really help either. Maybe the full version has more variety but the trial didn't really convince me to make the purchase.

Ok. I'll have to think about how I can make the trial more fun, without killing the value of the full version.

I also highly recommend getting rid of the unnecessary inertia player ship has. It simply makes things harder/more frustrating to control.

It's acceleration. The longer you hold a direction, the faster you move. So short taps result in minute changes in speed, meaning it's much easier to weave around in dense bullet patterns without using unnecessary systems such as "focus" buttons. Focus is "built-in", if you will. But the player stops on a dime when you release the direction. Works better than a car!

I don't want to get rid of the system because I think it's very intuitive, but maybe I could have an option to turn it off, so you can move at a fixed speed every frame instead of a variable speed every frame? The latter is the traditional movement scheme in shmups.

[Ebbo]

It's acceleration. The longer you hold a direction, the faster you move. So short taps result in minute changes in speed, meaning it's much easier to weave around in dense bullet patterns without using unnecessary systems such as "focus" buttons. Focus is "built-in", if you will. But the player stops on a dime when you release the direction. Works better than a car!

I don't want to get rid of the system because I think it's very intuitive, but maybe I could have an option to turn it off, so you can move at a fixed speed every frame instead of a variable speed every frame? The latter is the traditional movement scheme in shmups.

Personally I find it very annoying, especially in a game which encourages crazing bullets as close as possible. It feels like the ship always moves either too little or too much. I'm sure most players here would prefer more traditional approach and atleast having it as an option wouldn't hurt.

After playing the full version for 60 rounds though I can safely say that is all I can muster. While the enemies do get more health and gradually spew out more bullets, every round has too samey feel to it. The level design never really requires player to adapt their strategies the further they go.

[Shmuppet]

Personally I find it very annoying, especially in a game which encourages crazing bullets as close as possible. It feels like the ship always moves either too little or too much. I'm sure most players here would prefer more traditional approach and atleast having it as an option wouldn't hurt.

Ok, good! I will include an option for fixed speed movement.

After playing the full version for 60 rounds though I can safely say that is all I can muster. While the enemies do get more health and gradually spew out more bullets, every round has too samey feel to it. The level design never really requires player to adapt their strategies the further they go.

It's contrary to my "adapt every second" design, I understand what you mean.

But now that you see what you think is wrong with the game, do you have any solutions/alternatives? I'm open to any changes I can make to better the game for the target audience.

[Ebbo]

The most simple solution would be designing variety of enemies that don't only look different but also act differently. Some enemies could shoot diagonal bullets that ricochet from the walls. Or how about an enemy type that fires synchronised shots in a formation? Mixing these different enemy types in a clever way would already step up the level design. Furthermore it's better to have just a dozen varied levels instead of +100 ones that play excatly the same so I would recommend axing any unnecessary padding or maybe pacing things out with a boss encounter every fifth level or so.

I also think enemy behaviour should grow aggressive more gradually during stages instead of instant speed boost they get now once certain enemy threshold has been reached. Hopefully you'll find these tidbits helpful.

[Shmuppet]

My game has been reviewed by Indie Game Reviewer!

Thanks Ebbo! I will take notes from ALL your feedback.

I will compile a list of changes. But since a lot of these will probably require major engine tweaks, I'll probably make a sequel which contains all these changes.

But I can make the demo better and add some stuff to the current version of the game like fixed speed movement soon.

[Doctor Butler]

It's acceleration. The longer you hold a direction, the faster you move. So short taps result in minute changes in speed, meaning it's much easier to weave around in dense bullet patterns without using unnecessary systems such as "focus" buttons. Focus is "built-in", if you will. But the player stops on a dime when you release the direction. Works better than a car!

I don't want to get rid of the system because I think it's very intuitive, but maybe I could have an option to turn it off, so you can move at a fixed speed every frame instead of a variable speed every frame? The latter is the traditional movement scheme in shmups.

This feature sounds awful. I'd recommend scrapping it altogether, and using a focus button.

There's a reason so many games have that mechanic; it's because it's works very well.

[Shmuppet]

This feature sounds awful.

Well that's why I suggested people play it. Anything that takes away player control makes me cringe too, which is why I tweaked the variable speed changes to be very minute, not drastic. Try it out, and you'll see what I was getting at. People can control their movements how they want and graze much more easily. Players who hold on longer obviously want to make more drastic movements, and the system accommodates this. The player's not even that fast overall compared to most other shmups.

The mobility system NEVER takes away player control or even over-emphasizes it. It's executed very well, but can be jarring because it hasn't been done very well before, if at all. Most people including myself are used to fixed speed movement.

I'd recommend scrapping it altogether, and using a focus button.

There's a reason so many games have that mechanic; it's because it's works very well.

And also no one wants to experiment when it comes to business. I'm pretty sure most commercial shmup developers don't get a whole lot of money in the first place. One of the first rules of business is if your customers like what you're doing(or don't care), keep doing it until they don't. This is why I wanna keep the mobility system I made, but I'm willing to throw in a traditional mobility system as well.

[eebrozgi]

If you're as insistent to keep the accelerating movement as you seem, I suggest at least making the initial speed of the ship bigger than zero. I wasn't too big fan of the heavy-feeling movement either.

As for other feedback, I'll mostly repeat Ebbo: it needs a lot more variation in the gameplay. Something positive too, though: what little I experienced from the demo, it was pretty nice how the music grew along with the stages.

[Shmuppet]

If you're as insistent to keep the accelerating movement as you seem, I suggest at least making the initial speed of the ship bigger than zero.

It does feel a bit heavy though, weighted even.
So you'd want the ship to start out at a faster speed? Ok, I can work that out. It seems like a good idea.

As for other feedback, I'll mostly repeat Ebbo: it needs a lot more variation in the gameplay. Something positive too, though: what little I experienced from the demo, it was pretty nice how the music grew along with the stages.

Thanks. I wanted people to think "Yeah I know I'm closer to the end, the music just changed." I also got reports about the game where people would play and get into the zone - they wouldn't be bored/drowsy, but hypnotized. They could still play the game, but they were VERY relaxed. And they just kept playing for long periods of time until they snapped themselves out of it.

By the way I wanted to ask - it was obvious you had problems with the movement, but how did you fare in the game? Did you feel that the variable speed actually helped/hurt you, compared to moving with fixed speed? How did the ship feel once you got used to the movement and how it worked?

[Rozyrg]

...been playing ZPF since last year. lol

HUSH! Might get me working on it again. Anyways, makes me happy to hear, feel free to unload any feedback on me for when I do eventually get back to it.

This game looks pretty cool, too. I'll definitely have to give it a spin.

[eebrozgi]

By the way I wanted to ask - it was obvious you had problems with the movement, but how did you fare in the game? Did you feel that the variable speed actually helped/hurt you, compared to moving with fixed speed? How did the ship feel once you got used to the movement and how it worked?

I could no-miss the demo without much extra effort, as it's so short and doesn't raise the difficulty enough to make me feel it.

As for the variable speed, it's hard to say: there's nothing that made me see how the heavy acceleration could be useful. Though I just now noticed that there's a graze bonus, but I'd still have at least some startup speed.

Edit:
I tried grazing a bit more, and I think getting invincibility from it is a cool feature! The graze hitbox is frustratingly small, though, is that the reason for the variable speed?
Maybe the grazebox could be the entire ship sprite? That way you could draw at least one hitbox less on the ship.

[Shmuppet]

Guys, I will be rolling out an update to the base game/demo this weekend. I'll also log all the changes I make within the first post to this topic. I'll definitely make the game more like a traditional JP shmup to make it more enjoyable.

HUSH! Might get me working on it again. Anyways, makes me happy to hear, feel free to unload any feedback on me for when I do eventually get back to it.

This game looks pretty cool, too. I'll definitely have to give it a spin.

Don't make me promote ZPF on my website/facebook! You should really finish it, and sell it if you're inclined to. I have wanted to do somethiing similar, but it's not because I lack shmup experience - I just wanted to do something a little different for now. Thanks for the praise.

I could no-miss the demo without much extra effort, as it's so short and doesn't raise the difficulty enough to make me feel it.

As for the variable speed, it's hard to say: there's nothing that made me see how the heavy acceleration could be useful. Though I just now noticed that there's a graze bonus, but I'd still have at least some startup speed.)

If shmup players feel that it hurts them or it's just too weird, I'll probably remove the variable speed. I've mostly got "too weird" comments here and through email. So that's a good sign - most people don't feel it's a "bad" system when they play. But someone did ask me "if the variable speed doesn't affect the game all that much, why not just have fixed speed instead?"

So at the very least I'll include a fixed/focus option.

Edit:
I tried grazing a bit more, and I think getting invincibility from it is a cool feature! The graze hitbox is frustratingly small, though, is that the reason for the variable speed?
Maybe the grazebox could be the entire ship sprite? That way you could draw at least one hitbox less on the ship.

Thanks. I wanted to have something that "regular" gamers could do, but expert players can enjoy doing too - no miss the entire game(including the final boss) through grazing. So the random-sized bullet swarms don't actually effect gameplay at all if you graze. I put a lot of thought into each feature of the game.

Also a check is made and you lose a life if you're reckless and think grazing's gonna save you. You need at least 10 live frames from the time you grazed a bullet to have the invulnerability/point bonus applied. Add the no-miss point bonus at the end of each wave(the more no-misses you get the higher the bonus), and you can rack up some serious points from grazing alone. Though I admit, I really should detail this kind of special stuff somewhere in the manual or something!

The grazebox is small on purpose - it has nothing to do with the variable speed, that was just to make grazing/bullet dodging easier. Though with the graze check applied, there's nothing wrong with enlarging the grazebox some. Having it be the entire ship sprite would make grazing VERY easy and would destroy the risk/reward of getting the bonus. But then again, I could just make the ship sprite a little smaller. With all that in mind, do you think graze protection should be removed?

No worries though! I've taken everyone's feedback seriously and I'm making changes with that in mind.

[Shmuppet]

Speaking of those changes, a new screenshot and current changes posted in the OP. I decided to be more sadistic.

PREPARE FOR PAIN!!!