Discussion about vertical Shmups on horizontal 16:9 screens

[Shadolf]

Hello everyone,
I just stumbled about "Solar Guardianship" at Twitter. That´s a vertical scrolling shmup with hori 16:9 screen.
I really really like vertical scrollers, but have already some dislike for such with hori screenorientation at 4:3 ratio like at Mars Matrix.
With 4:3 ratio I think it´s not that big problem, but 16:9, really? What do you think about this subject?
Maybe I don´t get the point of such games or there is some benefit I don´t know about, please give your opinion.

[Jelloman581]

There's been a few games that does vertical 16:9 pretty well, Jamestown and Prismatic Solid come to mind. It's an acquired taste with a wider gameplay field, it's more to keep an eye on. More room to show off graphics and environments (Jamestown is very beautiful, Prismatic Solid would benefit being in an altered state of mind ) but more to watch in the periphery.

Just my thoughts.

[TransatlanticFoe]

I've only played Under Defeat HD as a full 16:9 vertical but there's a lot to be said for the cramped playfield it represents - see the 3:4 in 4:3 full screen that is Twin Cobra on the Mega Drive!

[Shadolf]

Yeah, James Town is really a good example and one of those games in this mode that I like.

More room to show off graphics and environments

I understand, but simply put the screen in TATE would have the same effect, right!?

but there's a lot to be said for the cramped playfield it represents

I don´t get your point.

I like Under Defeat, but in my eyes the 16:9 full screen mode here is a good example for a game that should be better played in 3:4.

[davyK]

With older games running on hardware that is relatively low-res, TATE is more or less a must for vertical games. Some games such as Gigawing and Soukyugarentai work OK in 4:3 as they are designed for that. On a wide screen display I always set a game like that to 4:3 mode - I hate stretched games.

With modern games such as Under Defeat HD or Mushi Futari in 360 mode as long as you have a biggish display then I don't really see the need to rotate the screen. I play my 360 shmups on a 50" panel and they look great. I do have each in-game's display zoom option set so that it fills the screen vertically but no need for TATE as far as I am concerned and I don't care about the wasted space. (TATE would be lovely of course but it's not practical as my TV is wall mounted and I don't have a rotatable setup) I don't like that widescreen mode in Under Defeat. It looks nice but you get ambushed too easily due to the limited space - you could probably deal with it by rote learning but it's not as enjoyable. I play the arcade mode almost exclusively and mess about with the widescreen mode from time to time.

I'm not sure that vertical shmups are suited to widescreen displays so happy that they run bordered.

Caladrius is a nice 4:3 game. That looks just fine on a wide screen with some border art in place. XBL Radiant Silvergun looks just fine in 4:3 too. But for the most part I like those 3:4 ratio vertical games and I hope they continue to be produced.

[GSK]

Strania's setup works well, IMO--the active playfield is a 4:3 window in the center of the screen but the game's visuals do render past the playfield to fill the entire 16:9 display, like so: http://s01.riotpixels.net/data/28/18/28 ... -30.16.jpg

[ciox]

I like 4:3 verts, in my limited experience most 3:4 games have a square play area with scrolling, so 4:3 is not turning the whole thing upside down, it's just making the play area 33% wider than normal.
16:9 (and a few 16:10) verts feel pretty damn weird in singleplayer though, you're looking at 71% wider at that point.

Strania's solution for filling a 16:9 display is nice but would kinda prefer just putting as much of the interface in the edges as possible and making the gameplay area as HUD-free as it can be, that's becoming very unpopular these days and I wonder if it has anything to do with console restrictions, Raiden V didn't seem to have any trouble with it on XB1 but I do wonder about the PS4.

[Shadolf]

@davyK: I don´t get your point, I was talking about vertical shmups which use the whole screen in 16:9.
Sure I know about all the other vertical scroller on 16:9 with smaller 3:4 playfield and boarders with HUD.
My interest is at what´s the good side about those games like Jamestown or why does someone develope such games if it isn´t for the multiplayer aspect only.
My thoughts are there is no real benefit.

[Andrade-Games]

16 to 9 works very good for multiplayer shooters.

For single player: Imagine a game like R-Type in vertical and with mazes. I think you can do great stuff with this ratio. multiple pathes ect.
But it does not fit to a classic japanese styled bullet hell shooter (with the exception of a mulitplayer experience!)

[Jelloman581]

More room to show off graphics and environments

I understand, but simply put the screen in TATE would have the same effect, right!?

My point was for those games that are played vertical (like Jamestown) but are using the full 16:9, not a 4:3 with border graphics like most shmups offer. Reading the comments, yeah I do agree this full-screen format is best for multiplayer action. As a single player, it feels a bit much compare to other 4:3/3:4 shmups.

[Ixmucane2]

Are there any two player vertical scrollers with separate viewports for each player, making them a very reasonable dual 8:9 format?

[Shepardus]

Don't know of any that do it with a 16:9 aspect ratio, but Twinkle Star Sprites and the like do it with a 4:3 aspect ratio.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Under Defeat HD works a treat (I don't think any less of its "vertizontal" mode than of tate one). Kyuukyoku Tiger MD port pulls no punches - one WEIRD game, but doesn't feel compromised whatsoever (even next to the more conventional Toaplan MD shmups), if not 16:9 yet.

[davyK]

@davyK: I don´t get your point, I was talking about vertical shmups which use the whole screen in 16:9.
Sure I know about all the other vertical scroller on 16:9 with smaller 3:4 playfield and boarders with HUD.
My interest is at what´s the good side about those games like Jamestown or why does someone develope such games if it isn´t for the multiplayer aspect only.
My thoughts are there is no real benefit.

ah. Fair enough. Only game I played like that is Under Defeat HD and while it's a nice option I prefer the original screen.

I imagine a widescreen vertical shmup would give the player an awful lot of ground to cover, especially in single player mode. You can make the ship and enemies bigger but then your field of vision would be reduced which is back to Under Defeat's problem.

With smaller enemies and ship perhaps it would feel more like an arena shooter?

Haven't played Jamestown I'm afraid - I hear that works well but it is designed to be multi-player.

[OmegaFlareX]

I've always wondered what it'd be like if you could take the verts with horizontal scrolling and use 16:9 to display the entire thing at once. You couldn't scroll-lock shots (or scroll-kill enemies, like in SRD Mission) but you wouldn't get sniped as much either.

[Despatche]

I have always wanted to see hacks of older games that do exactly that.