'Viridis' - Shmup Development Thread

[Xim_the_Despot]

Hi everyone I wanted to share with you some shots from a new game I'm helping to develop. Viridis is a top down vertical scroller, with a customizable upgrade system.

We're hoping to get some feedback and input from the community, and we'll update here as things progress.

WIP Title Screen.


Real time screen grab from our prototype.

[Dave_K.]

Welcome to the forum!

For vertizontals (vertical gameplay but horizontal play field) you have a bigger challenge of ship speed and horizontal attacks, but looking forward to seeing the game in action!

[Xim_the_Despot]

Thanks, glad to be here. We're tweaking the speed settings currently actually and should be posting some video later in the week.

[Xim_the_Despot]

Another screen grab from 'Viridis' - which is now on Kickstarter. Check out the campaign here http://kck.st/WQP3Uj

[Xonatron]

Good to see you guys here! I know you will get some proper feedback on these forums. (P.S. Game Radiator are based out of Nova Scotia, Canada like us. We always take part in the same Nova Scotia booth at GDC San Fransisco. Very cool guys.)

If anyone here likes the project, please support their Kickstarter: http://kck.st/WQP3Uj

[Xim_the_Despot]

Thanks for the kind words Matthew.

[Xonatron]

For vertizontals (vertical gameplay but horizontal play field) you have a bigger challenge of ship speed and horizontal attacks, but looking forward to seeing the game in action!

It is a big challenge. And if you do bullet hell, with slower moving player ships, it's a even bigger challenge. Fundamentally that's why we went with a dual-stick shooter mechanic for Score Rush, it was the only way to "cover" the field without feeling stressed moving too slow left and right.

Game Radiator, how does your shooting mechanic work? Looking at your Kickstarter video it looks like it can sway 45 degrees each side. How does the player control that? Dual-stick with a limitation?

[Xim_the_Despot]

Yes there is a firing arc that the player controls with the right thumbstick. One of the ways you can upgrade your ship is the amount of this arc. The more points you put into it the greater the range of your firing arc.

[n0rtygames]

I highly recommend watching the latest STGWeekly on the game Hangeki. They're doing a sort of doujin month at the moment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05ormO6YvS8

There's a particular section where the developer puts forth a convincing argument as to why he opted for control schemes that go against the norm - including all sorts of funky interpolation and acceleration when moving. Now personally I will withhold judgement until such a time as I get to play it, but Aquas has played it and says its not shit. He knows his stuff. The initial reaction to these things in shmups is "Oh god no!" - but since you're also working in a widescreen vertizontal environment, it might be worth watching to see if there's anything inspiring in the episode since they've done some really interesting stuff

Also, welcome to the farm!

[Xonatron]

n0rtygames, good find. I'll definitely have to watch that too! (P.S. Is your site down? http://www.n0rtygames.com/)

[Xim_the_Despot]

Sweet I'll watch that when I'm home form work tonight. Thanks n0rtygames!

[n0rtygames]

Yeah it's really worth the watch. I know Aquas and Frenetic are on the lookout for developers to talk this month, so maybe drop 'em a line.

@Matt - yeah - webhost is down. All other services are fine though since they're hosted elsewhere. Ta for the reminder! Probably gonna transfer it over to my own box and just run a flat html site instead of the wordpress crap I had running on there. Just been too busy with work

[Davy]

I watched the video you suggested n0rtygames. Great suggestion! Man, some of those game playthroughs are intense to watch. Good stuff!

[Xim_the_Despot]

A couple more screen shots from Viridis.

Test image passing by Saturn.


Level 1 Boss.

[Xim_the_Despot]

Check out our first WIP playable build at http://www.gameradiator.com/viridis_demo.html

4 days left in the Kickstarter http://kck.st/WQP3Uj if you'd like to help Viridis get made.