Options

[the_last_shmupper]

I am relying on the vast knowledge of the shmups.system11 community to tell me about options.

Which are the best types of options and why?
Is it better to have selectable options from the start?
Do you prefer item collectables that enable options or buyable options?
Which style of options do you prefer?
- Circling player
- Following / shadowing player ala Gradius
- Following the player but lockable in place
- Dragable where you move back the options focus front. You move forward and the options rotate to fire in reverse
- Reverse firing options, forward only firing options, diagonal firing options
- Launchable options ala R-Type
Should options block damage, take damage and then disappear like a shield or should the player's ship be the only thing that takes damage?

Would you mind options to have your own weapons or get their own weapons like fly into a power up where your option hits the powerup instead of your ship and it inherits that weapon instead of your ship?

Right now I have a variety of options, circling, forward firing on the side, reverse firing on the side, diagonal firing on the side and dragable.

Chances are I've forgotten something, that's why I fall upon the vast knowledge of the community.

Please let me know and have a discussion.

[Captain]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qFcUD1UcFc

[Doctor Butler]

I'd make them based on your firepower, like in a Cave game.

Maybe have different option patterns selectable after you choose your ship?

[BulletMagnet]

I hesitate to be "captain obvious" here, but the answer really depends on the game you're building around the weapon system; R-Type's Force might not have worked as well in Gradius, and Thunder Force's pods might be out of place in BioMetal or Raiden Fighters. It's certainly possible for multiple selectable systems to exist in one game, but again, the game itself has to accommodate them all, so I'd suggest figuring out which weapon system makes for the most interesting setups in the game you've got in mind, and going with that.

[Shepardus]

Garegga options, different formations you can cycle through with a button.

[professor ganson]

I like meta-options. By that I mean having the option to opt out of manual selection of options and to go for something more automated.

[Bananamatic]

please add scanline options
can't play shmups without scanlines

[the_last_shmupper]

The Nemesis Online is really beautiful. I like the cheat, but it seems excessive

Are scanline options ones that seek out and just auto shoot at everything or is it like windshield wipers? I made windshield wiper options today. I also made clock options that just rotate shooting like a clock.

Opt out of manual option selection and go for something automated? Like a random selection? If that's what you mean that's easy to do and well sometimes I prefer that. Especially in Mortal Kombat.

With Garegga options needing a button and other option systems needing a button. What's the maximum amount of buttons for a shmup? I know I can use up all 4 face and 4 shoulders on a X-Box controller. I'd like to have 3 and I have 3, but then there's the whole lock option button idea that would make 4. I could also have a different option that just sits wherever you leave it, and then to retract it you hold that 4th button until it comes back to you. All ideas.

In testing out 2 options + my own ship blaster, I managed to fill the screen with an excessive amount of lasers 200 to be exact. At that point, its time for tougher enemies and all my lasers just make it difficult to see enemy lasers.

[KAI]

<3

[Shepardus]

With Garegga options needing a button and other option systems needing a button. What's the maximum amount of buttons for a shmup? I know I can use up all 4 face and 4 shoulders on a X-Box controller. I'd like to have 3 and I have 3, but then there's the whole lock option button idea that would make 4. I could also have a different option that just sits wherever you leave it, and then to retract it you hold that 4th button until it comes back to you. All ideas.

I've seen up to four buttons in arcade games (Espgaluda, Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu), though the XBLA port of Radiant Silvergun uses a separate button for each of its seven weapons (the original arcade controls assign each weapon to a different combination of its three buttons).

You could implement all the weapons you can think of and make it like ring^-27, where you have a type of weapon associated with each type of enemy and locking onto an enemy will temporarily give you that weapon until you kill that enemy.

[Softdrink 117]

Are scanline options ones that seek out and just auto shoot at everything or is it like windshield wipers?

He was joking, talking about an options menu which allows you to add scanline filters to the game.

With Garegga options needing a button and other option systems needing a button. What's the maximum amount of buttons for a shmup? I know I can use up all 4 face and 4 shoulders on a X-Box controller. I'd like to have 3 and I have 3, but then there's the whole lock option button idea that would make 4. I could also have a different option that just sits wherever you leave it, and then to retract it you hold that 4th button until it comes back to you. All ideas.

Personally, anything more than 4 buttons starts to get complex and becomes harder to deal with. I can definitely play games with more, but it takes longer and is less "pick-up-and-play". I think intuitively people readily grasp 3-button games, but start to take more time to learn controls the more buttons you add. There are creative solutions though -- look at things like Radiant Silvergun, which has 6 or 7 different weapons but can be controlled using only 3 buttons (depending on how you have your controls set up) using combinations of buttons. Also consider that one button can have more than one function -- in Cave games, for example, tapping a button vs. holding it will often have an effect (usually holding slows down your movement speed and switches to a more focused shot type -- much like the dedicated "focus" button in many of the Touhou games, but here there is no need for an extra button).

[davyK]

I quite liked the options in Super Aleste on SF/SNES. You had two modes - in mode 1 they moved around as you moved the ship. In mode 2 they locked in place. You could toggle between the modes using the R button. They also wore out as they took hits. Was nice as could opt for spread shot, ship defence or focussed shot (or anything in between!) by maneouvering them into place and then locking them for different situations.

[the_last_shmupper]

Are scanline options ones that seek out and just auto shoot at everything or is it like windshield wipers?

He was joking, talking about an options menu which allows you to add scanline filters to the game.

[/quote]

I had a feeling that's what he meant, but I didn't want to go assuming when certain genres have their own jargon. Like options in general most people would think they're settings.

[JBC]

The Gradius V options you can lock with the R trigger are great & add a bit of depth to the gameplay. Other than that, homing.