Pixel Pilots - Game Demo

[tekros]

Good day everyone. I've got something a little different here today. I'm a long-time fan of shmups whose really gotten into them in the past few years. Last year I began working on a simple art project to design, draw, and animate a ship. I thought it should have somewhere to fly, so I made a background. Then I thought it should have something to fight, so I made some enemies, and well... one thing leads to another. Fast forward to now, and I've somehow ended up making the following animation, posted near the end. Before that, some background. (Pros and pedants be warned, my process was eccentric and inefficient, I know! But I just started working with what I had.)

Here she is, original size. "Hand-drawn" by mouse in MS Paint, animated in PS CS4:



Originally conceived as a red and black "Darth Vader"* powerhouse, it takes inspiration from stealth bombers and my favorite birds, corvids . For some reason I imagine it being controlled remotely or by AI, as is reflected in the apparent lack of cockpit. *(The alternate colors are red and violet.)

200% size.

"CRT" or blurry version, as it might appear in a real arcade.

Here's a 200% size that shows the weaponry and power-ups and a basic select-screen with info:



A few things to note: the ship's stats within this non-existent game are fully fleshed out; damage per level, per frame, per upgrade. Frame for frame, she's probably the strongest on my roster. PWR is obviously the amount of damage per hit (relative to other fighters), MOV is movement or speed, SPR is spread, or how much area your shots cover at a given time, RPD is rapidity, or how quickly your shots hit the enemy in succession, and DEF is an overall defense rating factoring all of these. Also, his secondary, Micro Missiles, is very much a corvid pun: think "My crow missiles."

CRT version.

Original size.

Here's another demonstrating turning:



CRT version.

Original size.

A few more gameplay notes before the video: in it, you'll notice that the ship sometimes speeds up after ceasing fire. It's basically a placeholder Special that briefly increases your power level and speed (by holding down fire.) My better ideas all involve the two "wings," which are really the ship's true power sources (for all ships in this game), moving into a different configuration and firing off their own shot patterns, but that was beyond the purposes and scope of this animation. To that end, all ships would have lights that indicate the level of Special available. You can see that in this early version here. While very much something I would pursue in creating an actual game, it would have gone over the casual viewer's head, whom this video is equally for.

With that & without further ado: Pixel Pilots - Desert Stage Boss Battle

I believe it's self-explanatory, just don't take it too serious

This was my first time animating something outside of Flash about 15 years ago, and I'm pretty happy with it for what it is. There are things I'd do differently if designing for an actual game, and the limitations of the program were pretty significant. I'd definitely add more assets and details to the background, as well as more fleshed-out enemies. I'd add more details, geometry, and movable parts to the boss, and more complex bullet patterns. Would spice up effects and explosions and add smoke and debris. But I think this captures the overall tone pretty well: colorful, pixel-proud fun; not quite a cute'em-up but not a Garegga either. Even though it's just a demo, it's still running like a game: all enemies have HP, and damage and movement are consistent with in-game rules. Most sounds recorded by me except the explosions and a bonus jingle from Pond5, and music obviously from DoDonPachi.

That's about the end of this project for now until I find the time, resources, and/or partner(s) to make an actual game, but it was tremendous fun, even more work, and hopefully worth it. I thought it was only natural to share here, in part to give back to the community. Thanks for watching / reading, hope you enjoy and feel free to share

Final bonus: the next ship I'm working on...



Turning work-in-progress

[M.Knight]

Hahaha, the boss design is sooo subtle.
Are all the other stages/bosses going to be parodies as well?

The turning animation is an important thing in a shmup so it's good you have one, but here I get the feeling the ship lowers it altitude slightly whenever it turns. It might be due to the slightly reduced ship size during the animation.

Is the hitbox the gray vertical line in the middle of the ship? I think it should be a bit more obvious, like differently colored-cockpits are. Overall I like the ship's shape. It's rather simple and not overly detailed but that works well.

I noticed that the boss fired yellow bullets, even though the fight takes place in a yellow desert. Maybe you should change the bullet color to something much easier to read and that contrasts with the background?

Anyways, good luck for the rest of the project!

[tekros]

Hehe, I made it as subtle as I thought he might

I actually did think of some other demagogue-inspired bosses / levels, such as a giant bear-like tank rolling through the snows of Siberia, a heavily-armed ICBM soaring across the Pacific, a huge mechanized dragon rampaging through Beijing, and a dark, ominous bomber flying over Europe.

As for the ship turning, I tried to make it so one wing is receding while the other is coming towards you. Because I was working at such a low resolution, I was limited in where I could put pixels without breaking the illusion, so I had to compromise a little compared with high-res assets. That said, I was more focused on the physicality and feeling of rotation, pivoting around the laser, than absolute accuracy. It's not really a true birds-eye view, more like slightly behind the ship as well as above it, which is more apparent in Hammerhead's rotation.

I agree with you about the hitbox needing to be more clear. I didn't worry too much about it because it's just an animation, but I did design it around a small hitbox in the center. Nothing nearly so small as later Cave games, for example, but the ship sprite is fairly large relative to the bullet patterns, so I gave it a small hitbox at the general center, around where the beam originates. Glad you like the overall design though, thanks

And yes, I realize the bullets get a little lost in the desert, but I see it as an added challenge in this particular battle. By this time, the player would be familiar with the characteristics of different bullet types, and the desert background would just force them to focus a little more. I like how they pop against the gray of the wall though, and they'd look good on most other levels. I think of it as a similar challenge to Garegga, but not so extreme.

That said, it's all open to change and improvement so I thank you for your feedback