A quick poll on space shooters

[bambucha]

Hey!

I am developing a space shooter for over a year now and there is some stuff I need to know before proceeding with development (like mission length, boss fight length).
That's why I created this really quick poll, so if you have 2-3 minutes, please give it a go!

Link: --closed--

Thanks to everyone for answering!!

[Shepardus]

I'd add an option for arcade stick in the list of input methods since quite a few people here use that.

I had a hard time answering the mission and boss length questions since there are great games that have done well with all sorts of lengths, and it depends a lot on the style you're going for and whether you have enough ideas to fill the time you set for yourself. In addition, different stages within the same game can have different lengths.

[Lord Satori]

Honestly, music is one of the most important parts for me, along with boss design.

I agree with Shepardus. What the length of the boss and mission is depends on where it's placed in the game, and what feel you're going for.

I find the first two "how important are the following" questions odd, as they don't need to be separate at all. Just having "score system" as an option could encompass both questions as well as more possibilities. Not to mention that both games you cited (which I love) aren't exactly known for their scoring mechanics.

I'm also not exactly sure what you mean by "rpg style items". Do you have an example?

[bambucha]

Thanks for the replies!!
@Shepardus I totally forgot about the arcade stick, will add it! The mission and boss length are there so that I get an idea of how long the average missions/boss fights should be. Of course there will be longer and shorter ones, I just needed an average, so I don't make everything waay too long or way to short.

@Lord Satori Music is one thing that I am going to have some problems with, since I will have to find someone else to do it (i'm not a music composer).
With those two questions I wanted to see if i should put some effort into creating a score system, and from the responses I got until now, I will probably do it for main story missions, since they will be hand made and everyone could get the same score if they do the mission perfectly. For the randomly generated levels, its hard to make it fair, because the amount of enemies will be different every time. If i think of some clever way to do it, I will post here.
With Rpg style items (its kinda weird but i had no idea how to call them) I basically meant, that for each boss and successfully completed mission you will get an item, which could be a new weapon, hull, generator etc. that you can put in your ship. The point of that is that you could make some clever combinations of items (super slow projectiles weapon + item that makes them pierce through enemies or fast weapon + item that "freezes"/makes your bullets slower and also makes enemies slower). I don't want there to be items that just make your damage higher etc. but that they have an impact on how you play. Binding of Isaac is a good example where every item has something special about it (only that there you loose everything when you die).

[bambucha]

Got enough responses on the pool now, so I am closing it..
I will use every bit of info you gave me, to make the game great

Also I am going to make a new poll in a few weeks, which will go a bit more in-depth.

Thanks again everyone, you're all awesome!!

Some results:

Spoiler

Input: 50% - controller, 31% - keyboard only, 12% - keyboard & mouse, 6% - arcade stick
Most important thing in a space shooter: 1) Score & High scores, 2) Enemy diversity, 3) Power-Ups, 4) Enemy Diversity
Random Generation: 50% - yes, 50% - no
Ideal mission length: average - 4 minutes
Ideal boss fight length: average - 2 minutes

[Faenrir]

I think you can't use full random generation. For instance, i plan on using it on one level (in the first part) since it is an asteroid field but the 4 other levels have traiditional level design.
It is very hard to make a level compelling with random generation. For your other points, input is very important. It takes what...maybe a day ? to put up a good customization of the controls. Maybe another one to add gamepads/sticks to it ? Just do it, man. Devs not putting this in their game are being lazy.
For the rest, take a look at my own game, it seems to have quite some ideas in common with what you want to do, it seems x)

[bambucha]

I think you can't use full random generation. For instance, i plan on using it on one level (in the first part) since it is an asteroid field but the 4 other levels have traiditional level design.
It is very hard to make a level compelling with random generation. For your other points, input is very important. It takes what...maybe a day ? to put up a good customization of the controls. Maybe another one to add gamepads/sticks to it ? Just do it, man. Devs not putting this in their game are being lazy.
For the rest, take a look at my own game, it seems to have quite some ideas in common with what you want to do, it seems x)

The random generation I have in mind goes like this.. Main missions will be completely hand made and missions in between will be partially randomly generated (they will be made of multiple hand-made segments). I think thats a good way to do it, what do you think?
As for the input, i already have partial gamepad support (still have to do navigation in menus), but it feels really nice to play with it Also I already did the rebinding of keys, so you can use any combination of mouse clicks or key presses to control (and yea this took around one day).

Your game does look really good, just voted for it! We do have some ideas in common, bit I do them quite differently
Anyway I got lots of work to do, before I can even show something, but I think its better to ask people who enjoy this kind of games now, so I dont mess things up and then have to do it all over again..