PSP homebrew - Callisto

[Ghegs]

http://pspupdates.qj.net/2005/12/callis ... eased.html

It looks like a euroshmup, but doesn't quite play like one - for one, there's no energy meter or shield, it's a one-hit-death-deal. Also, there aren't gazillions of weapons to choose from, just two. A fireball-ish type and a spreadshot. The story, dialogue with talking heads and the rather bland level design give the game its euroshmup feel.

From what I can tell from this one level demo, it's not that bad. Average. It did take a bit of memorisation to no-miss it (hitting floor cannons before they emerge, the boss has a cheap attack) but nothing major. No scoring system to speak of at this point.

Might turn out good. We'll see.

[fl0w]

Fairly good for a homebrew, really.

The game has oldskool difficulty (slow ship, fast bullets, large collision box). Bullets can come from enemies that are not visible (the game has vertical wobbling, see http://forum.shmups.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1348 for an explanation of Wobble Mode).

You can shoot powerups to choose between blue spread and red laser.

You'd better know the levels by heart if you want to survive...
I'd wish the ship would be a bit faster.
I've reached the first boss, a giant robot spider on cocaine and, frankly, i feel helpless ^^

The autofire sometimes slows down when the ship is moving, it'a known bug and can be very annoying

Technically, it's really good, no slowdown, many layers, very beautiful backgrounds (some sprites could be better). I haven't really listened to the music.

Overall, this is a very good surprise better than many PC doujins ! Thanks, Ghegs !

[fl0w]

the authors of Callisto are on this forum:
http://forums.ps2dev.org/viewtopic.php?t=4425

Worth having a look, if only for previews of the second level...

[PC Engine Fan X!]

I d/l the zipped up file of Callisto v.01 and uploaded on my PSP...it can sometimes crash...got an error message saying "Backgrd palette load failed".

I'd like to see an option to increase your lives from "three" to five to better your chances of getting further into the later portions of the different stages.

More weapon options would further balance out the gameplay...the 1st stage end-boss' firepower needs to be "tamed down" and not have so much aggressive firepower towards the player...save that aggressive firepower for the last stage (when your ship is powered up to the max anyways).

How stages will this PSP Callisto shmup game have once it's completed?

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[weak]

hi all!

first, thx to flow, who told me about this forum. well, i'm the programmer of callisto and since we're currently working on more content for callisto some feedback from 'true' shmup players would be very interesting.

we've already made a few changes, but i hope to get more suggestions how to improve gameplay (and othe stuff aswell of course)

No scoring system to speak of at this point.

I'm not quite sure what you mean tbh we've added some statistics (total enemies/enemies killed) at the end of the map, if that's what you had in mind Ghegs?

I'd wish the ship would be a bit faster.

we've added a 'speed powerup'. hope that will improve things.

(some sprites could be better)

which?

I d/l the zipped up file of Callisto v.01 and uploaded on my PSP...it can sometimes crash...got an error message saying "Backgrd palette load failed".

you may have a corrupt file. and make sure that you have no background software running before starting callisto (iso loaders, shells...).

I'd like to see an option to increase your lives from "three" to five to better your chances of getting further into the later portions of the different stages.

most likely we'll add a way to get bonus lives.

More weapon options would further balance out the gameplay.

we're thinking about a 'satelite cannon' and other stuff, we'll see...


cheers, weak

[Ghegs]

I'm not quite sure what you mean tbh we've added some statistics (total enemies/enemies killed) at the end of the map, if that's what you had in mind Ghegs?

By "scoring system" I meant the way you accumulate score. Here it's just simple "kill enemy X for Y amount of points"-type of deal, the most basic kind there is. Compare that to, say, Border Down which has multipliers, bonuses based on timing and other stuff.

That's not to say a complex scoring system instantly equals a better game. But it does bring in additional depth and encourages replay and competition.

[~Kid Icarus~]

1.You'd better know the levels by heart if you want to survive...
2.I'd wish the ship would be a bit faster.
3.I've reached the first boss, a giant robot spider on cocaine and, frankly, i feel helpless ^^

lol

Am I the only one reading this like a Silvergun boss intro?
Perhaps I've been playing it too much.

EDIT:Woohoo! 100 posts.

[Thunder Force]

first, thx to flow, who told me about this forum. well, i'm the programmer of callisto and since we're currently working on more content for callisto some feedback from 'true' shmup players would be very interesting.

we've already made a few changes, but i hope to get more suggestions how to improve gameplay (and othe stuff aswell of course)

Welcome to the site... As well as the informal discussion in this part of the forum, feel free to check out our Shmup Development area if you're looking for the opportunity to discuss design issues, etc.

[fl0w]

By "scoring system" I meant the way you accumulate score. Here it's just simple "kill enemy X for Y amount of points"-type of deal, the most basic kind there is. Compare that to, say, Border Down which has multipliers, bonuses based on timing and other stuff.

Yeah, modern shooters often feature complex scoring systems. I'll try to give examples:

- destruction ratio.
- time bonus. Often seen against bosses, but some games also give a bonus when lesser enemies are quickly destroyed (ESP Galuda).
- chains. Each enemy you kill adds a few seconds to a countdown timer. While the timer is active, a multiplier will make your score grow faster. The chain is broken when the counter reaches 0. This can lead to various stunts in order to NEVER break the chain
- buzz. Passing by bullets very close can have various effects : increase weapon power, temporary invincibility... (Psyvariar series).
- bullets turn to gold when the enemy dies

This is by no means an exhaustive list. Some games have very unique features (the two fields in Chaos Field for example).

That's not to say a complex scoring system instantly equals a better game. But it does bring in additional depth and encourages replay and competition.

I agree. R-Type has no chains and no one will blame Irem for that. Finding how to defeat a boss can be very rewarding too.

EDIT: see the Strategy section of this forum for more information. "Shmup treatises" (labeled "ST: something") carry great information on the scoring systems of many games.

[weak]

Welcome to the site... As well as the informal discussion in this part of the forum, feel free to check out our Shmup Development area if you're looking for the opportunity to discuss design issues, etc.

thx a lot! i've noticed there's a dev forum, i hope you don't mind if i make no special thread but just continue with this one.

thx for the infos about scoring systems. i'm sure we'll come up with something better than just basic scoring, i'm just not sure if it will make it into the next release.

we've recently added an option (drone) which will be available for pickup. here's a screenshot showing it: (everything is wip, so take with a grain of salt.):


the drone is working pretty nice, i'm just wondering if it should protect the ship?
should enemies that get in contact be destroyed by the option? and what about bullets? opinions plz

[Ghegs]

the drone is working pretty nice, i'm just wondering if it should protect the ship?
should enemies that get in contact be destroyed by the option? and what about bullets? opinions plz

As long as the design (in terms of enemy placement/movement and amount of bullets hurled at the player) takes the drone's capabilities into account, it's all good.