Preferred Bullet Colour?

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Terramax
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Preferred Bullet Colour?

Post by Terramax »

So, I have come to the realisation that, personally, I find blue bullets really hard to see in just about any shmup that I play. I don`t know if it has something to do with them blending in with the backgrounds in whatever game, or if the problem is with me. Similarly, pink bullets. The colour I tend to see the easiest are yellow projectiles.

I`m interested in know if there is a colour people prefer or dislike here? I wonder if any patterns will spring up.
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Re: Preferred Bullet Colour?

Post by XtraSmiley »

Interesting post. You might have a touch of color blindness, there are many forms and for many, it's very mild. Your display settings could also be a factor.

That being said, I'm not saying there is anything wrong with you or your display, it could be preference!

I like pink bullets for the look, but I prefer green or yellow as well. I just have shitty eyes!
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BulletMagnet
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Re: Preferred Bullet Colour?

Post by BulletMagnet »

It's tough to say if there's a particular color, independent of the background it's over, that I prefer, though overall I do tend to like bullets that are not only brightly-colored but "flash" in some fashion to more easily draw your eye to them. Such a display doesn't always fit in with every game's aesthetic, though I do still wish more shooters at least included an option to mess with how bullets look in some way; even for "regular" players it'd be nice, but since the issue of colorblindness has been brought up one might even consider it an accessibility feature.
Ddshot
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Re: Preferred Bullet Colour?

Post by Ddshot »

Any bright colour I’m happy with,unlike battle garrager when I can’t see shit!


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40wattstudio
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Re: Preferred Bullet Colour?

Post by 40wattstudio »

Haven't noticed any color preferences in my shmup experience, but one of my pet peeves are enemy bullets that are shaped and colored very similarly to the stars (or other objects) in the background.
That's a good point about color-blindness. I know some websites like Gamecritics have accessibility information for every game they review.
Nice topic, btw!
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WarpedByTheNHK
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Re: Preferred Bullet Colour?

Post by WarpedByTheNHK »

Ddshot wrote:Any bright colour I’m happy with,unlike battle garrager when I can’t see shit!


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I pretty much feel the same as this. Bullet colors should contrast well with the other colors in the game, but really any bright bullet color works for me.
Kyuuky
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Re: Preferred Bullet Colour?

Post by Kyuuky »

Any color is fine for me as long as it doesn't blend in with the background, I kinda prefer pink/purple though.

I'm really struggling with games that have bullets in multiple colors. It's like I can only see one color at a time.
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ShotOfSelf
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Re: Preferred Bullet Colour?

Post by ShotOfSelf »

Playing Garegga for a few hours should give you the ability to see every single bullet and missile on screen. It's a game I avoided for a long time due to this reason but it's not an issue if you just spend time with it. Never cared much about bullet color but if a game has a realistic setting, yellow/orange seems to fit better than pink, green or purple.
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To Far Away Times
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Re: Preferred Bullet Colour?

Post by To Far Away Times »

I prefer the Mushihimesama style pink/purple bullets.

Yellow/Orange is generally harder for me to see and tends to blend in more with the backgrounds.

Bullets having a pulsing or color flashing effect is also nice.
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Despatche
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Re: Preferred Bullet Colour?

Post by Despatche »

The preferred bullet color is always whatever looks best against the background/enemies.

(Battle Garegga does not have bullet visibility issues.)
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EmperorIng
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Re: Preferred Bullet Colour?

Post by EmperorIng »

Kyuuky wrote: I'm really struggling with games that have bullets in multiple colors. It's like I can only see one color at a time.
This can be an issue when done poorly, but I really like that Psyvariar's bullet patterns are multi-color. They do a lot to make the patterns stand out and have some personality from your typical "blue pattern + pink aimed bullets" (or... the reverse!) that you see so many shmups default to.
Despatche wrote: (Battle Garegga does not have bullet visibility issues.)
Far worse imo is Gun Frontier's small red/brown bullets, that only a couple enemies fire, and are usually lost in a sea of yellow slugs being fired at you from all angles.
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copy-paster
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Re: Preferred Bullet Colour?

Post by copy-paster »

Any bullet colors are fine as long as it's visible. Surprisingly I don't have issues with Battle Garegga's realistic missiles, multi-type and colors like Batsugun are welcome too.
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Kiken
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Re: Preferred Bullet Colour?

Post by Kiken »

Pink/purple are definitely my preference with blue being a close runner-up. I agree that yellow/light-orange bullets can be much harder to see in many cases.
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MathU
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Re: Preferred Bullet Colour?

Post by MathU »

I think distinct projectile shape is often more important than color. Even better if the shape gives you a cue about how the projectile is going to fly at you. I have always had a fondness for the round orange-to-white projectiles with a rolling animation in IREM games, there's just something very unmistakable about them. You know their trajectory will never betray you--this is a bullet you can trust. Not a fan of pink/magenta vomit, on the other hand.
Of course, that's just an opinion.
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FRO
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Re: Preferred Bullet Colour?

Post by FRO »

I'm going to echo the idea that bullet color is ideal when it stands out from the background. Pink bullets work well in contrast to more low-key colors, which is why they work so well in games with semi-realistic designs, such as DonPachi, DoDonPachi, etc. Against grass and trees, dirt, rock or roads, etc. it's a very effective way to make them stand out. In Ghost Blade, however, when you put those bright red/pink bullets against a largely red background, like much of stage 2, it all blends in. I assume a variable color bullet would be harder to program, so I don't know that there's a perfect way to make them stand out. As long as they're large enough, distinct from other game elements, and not colored in a way that makes them blend in with the surrounding area, at least you have a fighting chance to avoid them.
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trap15
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Re: Preferred Bullet Colour?

Post by trap15 »

Orange/yellow color, using an arrow-type sprite (to indicate direction at a glance). Other good colors are blue and green. Not into purple or pink.
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Flashman
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Re: Preferred Bullet Colour?

Post by Flashman »

Ddshot wrote:Any bright colour I’m happy with,unlike battle garrager when I can’t see shit!


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To be fair on the PS4 port of Garegga you can change the bullet colour something much more stand out in the options menu, but I agree the Saturn port of Garegga is very hard to play (well it's also hard to play anyway because of supreme difficultly, but that's another matter!).
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