Background design question

[Stilghar]

As you know we are working on Dimension Drive. We're now in the process of improving the art and graphics and would like your opinion on what works and what doesn't with respect to background design.

What do you think is the best way to design the background of a vertical shmup? Full 2D backgrounds, 2D parallaxed, 3D, 2D and 3D mixed? Any examples of games you think did it right?

Disclaimer: we're a small team with just a single artist doing everything, so we need to do something efficient.

This is how it looks now:

[wondersonic]

I would go with 3D backgrounds... Animation (rotation, zoom/scaling) and perspective can lead to gorgeous effects.

I'm myself playing with www.shadertoy.com currently, quite entertaining and full of examples!
Warning: chrome highly recommended

WS

[Ixmucane2]

The first priority is that it has to look like a background, never confusing the player. Your two screenshots have issues:

• Excessive detail in the dirt and moon textures, at the same scale as enemy craft
• Bright spots in space, the same colour as player shots

You can make serviceable backgrounds in several different styles; the one you appear to be using, gigantic high-resolution detailed images, is intrinsically very expensive (many pixels per screen and low reuse of what you draw, unless you don't scroll the image too much) and it doesn't help the player familiarize with things they might see in the background. Tiles would be automatically reused and reuse would create coherence and familiarity.

• Good 3D backgrounds: Raiden III, Ikaruga. Contrasting colours and a bit of fog to make ground look like ground; good use of parallax.
• Good 2D backgrounds: Raiden and Raiden II have simple backgrounds that make all ground-based enemies stand out, and they represent a good middle ground between later games with more exquisite and/or stylish pixel art (e.g. Battle Garegga, Dodonpachi, etc.) and earlier games with simpler and somewhat abstract art (e.g. Xevious).
• Efficient backgrounds: a sober starfield, like in Galaga, or a structurally similar sea, like in 1942, without succumbing to the temptation of asteroids or other target-like confusing decorations.

What do you mean by "2d parallaxed" style? Something like Tyrian, with two or three scrolling and occlusion layers in most levels?

[Stilghar]

Thanks for the replies, appreciated

Btw, it's not 2 screenshots but just one from the same game (our game implements a dual game/screen mechanic, you play 2 vertical shmups at once).

Regarding 2D parallaxed, yes, Tyrian is the perfect example of what I meant.

You can find more screenshots here in case you want to check out to see what we are doing with the background so far:

http://www.2awesomestudio.com/press/she ... sion_drive

[tiaoferreira]

Well, I'm suspect to talk about this, I'm a "FANATIXEL", hehehe!

Anyways, the important is your level design provide FUN for player, and the tool does not matter.

When SEGA showed the "MOONWALKER"s project to Michael Jackson, he made a unique question:

""IS IT FUN?"

And the game was a sucess.

The following tutorial about level design is a few different that things we make here, but the tips can be applied to all game genres.

Search for the word "DIVERTIDO". It is the key.

http://www.mataleone.com/php/main.php?p ... t=tut&id=1