This is a cool looking clone in the making

LionFish · Post by **LionFish** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 2:51 am

I've been following Chris Spiegel's work for some time (waiting for an actual release), as I found out that most of his graphics are developed from Blender and I've been trying to figure out if I can actually make a game with both Blender and it's internal Game Engine for some time. His latest development reel looks like a combined clone of DDP and Ikaruga:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HvKmWw2doc

jonny5 · Post by **jonny5** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 2:54 am

wow....thats pretty blatant.....lolz

ikapachiruga

LionFish · Post by **LionFish** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 3:16 am

Yeah...I wasn't too sure about giving my own opinion about it...I didn't really see the point of combining the two styles of gameplay...I'ts probably a "best of two" world's kinda idea, but I think the games this clone is based on have so much already going on in them that it would be too complicated to combine them or it would feel like something was missing in this game if some of the details were left out...

Udderdude · Post by **Udderdude** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 4:04 am

Slapping several differing gameplay/scoring systems into the same game rarely works out, unless you really, really (really) know what you're doing.

Also I really needed to know his blog and myspace page, those are totally hawt and shit. >_>

Frederik · Post by **Frederik** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 6:47 am

Haha, I liked the Google Earth backgrounds

Doesn´t look nearly as cool as this Dodonpachi DFK/Ketsui mashup with the Ibara backgrounds and the Kakusei mode. Does anybody still have a link to that? It was a straight ripoff of Cave graphics and music, but the mixture was just hilarious.

Elixir · Post by **Elixir** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 7:39 am

Nice try.

kengou · Post by **kengou** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 7:54 am

I think it looks pretty neat. His patterns actually seem to be designed around the polarity concept, unlike most Ikaruga ripoffs that have crappy random sprays with two polarities intermixed in no discernible pattern. Will try out the full version when he releases it.

worstplayer · Post by **worstplayer** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 9:12 am

Well, while it is possible to write game using Blender's Game engine, you can't do it using only logic bricks. You'll need a lot of Python scripting. So IMO it would be way easier to just export the models and use something like miniB3D.
Anyway, that game looks interesting and I can't wait to play it.

coffeejoerx · Post by **coffeejoerx** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 9:56 am

Cris Spiegel's work is very good, I had a chance to test the prototype game and he is making a nice game.

I hope that he don't give up to finish this game.

Spiegel · Post by **Spiegel** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 3:45 pm

Oh, hello.
This game was idealized as way for me to grasp game mechanics and how to design it. I have to rip concepts from successful games so I can see how they work. I tried to make something more original before, but that proved to be troublesome because of my inexperience.

If all goes well, this may be my first game to become real. I'm not saying that you should go easy on me, but that I'll need help once the game has structure enough to go beta testing.

I'm using Blender for some stuff, but not all, as you can see the backgrounds from Google Maps/Earth. The boss is not made with Blender either, it's pure pixel art. Some sprites and sound are still draft stuff. I'm using Game Maker. Know nothing about Blender's game engine.

About bullet patterns, they've to be puzzle-like - while playing the game but also making it. I cannot just toss opposite bullets around. If I'm to blend Cave and Ikaruga, half of them will not harm the player but it would not be wise to lock him in a polarity to focus on the other. It may be cool later in the game for very brief periods, but not as a rule. So I always have to give an opening while keeping polarity system meaningful. It's quite a challenge and very fun to make.

Matsunaga · Post by **Matsunaga** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 7:38 pm

It looks really good, I'm not an Ikaruga fan, but anything DDP is great. Can't wait to try it out.

Shelcoof · Post by **Shelcoof** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 9:00 pm

This looks pretty impressive for a home brew development.

Cudos!

Gungriffon Geona · Post by **Gungriffon Geona** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 9:04 pm

I think it looks like dog shit to be honest. The generic is so thick you'd need a really long knife to cut through it.

captpain · Post by **captpain** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 9:54 pm

Not to shit on the project, but it looks pretty cheesy.

Post by **spadgy** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 10:35 pm

I'd love to be able to created something half as good as that myself, and I'm impressed in a way, but I remain a little sceptical about the mix of Ikaruga and DDP gameplay mixed and mashed up like that.

Still, keep it up, as it looks far from awful....

maxi · Post by **maxi** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 11:27 am

Gungriffon Geona wrote:I think it looks like dog shit to be honest. The generic is so thick you'd need a really long knife to cut through it.

I suppose that you can do better.

Udderdude · Post by **Udderdude** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 2:45 pm

maxi wrote:
Gungriffon Geona wrote:I think it looks like dog shit to be honest. The generic is so thick you'd need a really long knife to cut through it.
I suppose that you can do better.

This argument is complete bunk. Bet you'd like to walk up to Roger Ebert and tell him his entire career is garbage. Sorry .. try harder

Gungriffon Geona · Post by **Gungriffon Geona** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 5:55 pm

maxi wrote:
Gungriffon Geona wrote:I think it looks like dog shit to be honest. The generic is so thick you'd need a really long knife to cut through it.
I suppose that you can do better.

I've been planning something for years now that I would assume is better, so yes I believe I could. hopefully the damned thing will come to fruition sometime this year.

ChurchOfSolipsism · Post by **ChurchOfSolipsism** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 6:44 pm

Gungriffon Geona wrote:I think it looks like dog shit to be honest. The generic is so thick you'd need a really long knife to cut through it.

If you're only talking about graphics, you're probably right - big deal, this is a homebrew after all. The most important thing about manic shooters is playability & bullet patterns, though. We'll see if the game is unique when we play it.

maxi · Post by **maxi** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 10:55 pm

Udderdude wrote:
maxi wrote:
Gungriffon Geona wrote:I think it looks like dog shit to be honest. The generic is so thick you'd need a really long knife to cut through it.
I suppose that you can do better.
This argument is complete bunk. Bet you'd like to walk up to Roger Ebert and tell him his entire career is garbage. Sorry .. try harder

I suppose that you can do better.

Gungriffon Geona · Post by **Gungriffon Geona** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 11:17 pm

ChurchOfSolipsism wrote:
Gungriffon Geona wrote:I think it looks like dog shit to be honest. The generic is so thick you'd need a really long knife to cut through it.
If you're only talking about graphics, you're probably right - big deal, this is a homebrew after all. The most important thing about manic shooters is playability & bullet patterns, though. We'll see if the game is unique when we play it.

Except it's not just the graphics. there's nothing new about the idea at all, and it looks like it handles quite strictly based upon the boss' movements. Even for indie material, this is pretty sloppy.

Udderdude · Post by **Udderdude** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 2:34 am

maxi wrote:
Udderdude wrote:
maxi wrote: I suppose that you can do better.
This argument is complete bunk. Bet you'd like to walk up to Roger Ebert and tell him his entire career is garbage. Sorry .. try harder
I suppose that you can do better.

Ooh, I am so tempted to post links to a certian shmup .. >_>

Taylor · Post by **Taylor** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 3:01 am

You can't say "can you do better?" to invalidate constructive criticism, but I'm not sure that's what's happening.

orange · Post by **orange** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 5:15 am

maxi wrote:
Gungriffon Geona wrote:I think it looks like dog shit to be honest. The generic is so thick you'd need a really long knife to cut through it.
I suppose that you can do better.

standard

kemical · Post by **kemical** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 10:08 am

would present itself better using all placeholder graphics (boxes etc)... the art style is ruining it. The bullet movement and player weapon has the right snappy but smooth responsive feel, everything else needs that polish too though.

still, a cool combination of the two game styles.

Dragoforce · Post by **Dragoforce** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 12:03 pm

Looks really cool! The boss moves a little strange though, but I hope we get to see the final game someday!

maxi · Post by **maxi** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 12:43 pm

Now serious, if someone doesn't like the game on this simple beta version and can't say anything constructive to make it better, so just don't say anything, it's the basis of the good manners and education.
Can you make something better on the same conditions? If you can and show us, we will consider your criticism.
And there's nothing wrong in copy the same ideas from other games, principally when you are making your first games. It turns into a bad thing when the time starts to pass and you continue making just the same, like Cave today, for example.

ChurchOfSolipsism · Post by **ChurchOfSolipsism** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 1:06 pm

Gungriffon Geona wrote:
ChurchOfSolipsism wrote:
Gungriffon Geona wrote:I think it looks like dog shit to be honest. The generic is so thick you'd need a really long knife to cut through it.
If you're only talking about graphics, you're probably right - big deal, this is a homebrew after all. The most important thing about manic shooters is playability & bullet patterns, though. We'll see if the game is unique when we play it.
Except it's not just the graphics. there's nothing new about the idea at all, and it looks like it handles quite strictly based upon the boss' movements. Even for indie material, this is pretty sloppy.

You can see all that in the video? Hm. Okay, I'm not going to force you to like it. The way I see it, it looks like a dynamic new home brew with potentially interesting bullet patterns. Oh well.

Frederik · Post by **Frederik** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 1:42 pm

orange wrote:
maxi wrote:
Gungriffon Geona wrote:I think it looks like dog shit to be honest. The generic is so thick you'd need a really long knife to cut through it.
I suppose that you can do better.
standard

"I don´t like this beer."
"Well, can YOU brew a BETTER ONE?"

Spiegel wrote:Oh, hello.
This game was idealized as way for me to grasp game mechanics and how to design it. I have to rip concepts from successful games so I can see how they work. I tried to make something more original before, but that proved to be troublesome because of my inexperience.

I think copying existing games when you´re just starting is indeed a good idea. It´s similar on how most comic people used to copy their favourite artists when their interest in the medium started. Originality can come later when you´re consistent in your crafting.

Square King · Post by **Square King** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 3:46 pm

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