null,
Awesome.
I like it. I also enjoy the feedback you give to those who comment, so I figured I'd throw in my two cents as well.
I'm sitting at a lab computer that is without speakers, so I cannot comment on the music or anything -- so that's out.
I enjoy that it's just boss battles. It reminds me of Chaos Field in that regard. At first, I felt a severe lack of boss health bar, and didn't know when those things were close to doom-time; then I noticed the hit points in between battles. Once I noticed it, I was comforted. The fact that it's numbers instead of a bar is nice too. Health bars make me think of loading bars, and loading bars make me think of looking at a 98% that doesn't move for ten minutes. So it's satisfying to watch those numbers cycle down as you pummel the boss.
I don't know if you were thinking of adding those "non-boss enemies" you mentioned before or during (or after, perhaps) the boss battle, but I think it's fine without them. During the boss battle, I could see other enemies as being annoying, as it's hard enough to focus on the small (for a boss) boss drifting around and the hail of bullets coming at you. The only benefit I could see from pre-boss enemies would be to collect some power-ups before the fight, but as you already stated: there will be no power-ups.
I agree with Ixmucane that some of the bullet patterns are a little lacking. I see what (s)he means about the "boring rakes." The first few levels, felt a little like Space Invaders, because I had little motivation to move beyond the very bottom of the screen; I could simply move left and right to dodge everything. Later levels definitely had me moving though. I think earlier levels could use a little added incentive to get the player moving around a bit more.
I like the color changing. Ikaruga is ALWAYS a great place to start for inspiration. As far as that feature is concerned, the circular bursts were great for that -- a lot of quick switches. I think it could use something more though. Maybe an extra color (purple? blue + red) that you HAVE to avoid. Or some kind of reward for absorbing shots -- whether it be points, a points multiplier, a charge weapon, 100x=a new life, etc. The color dualism is a great shmup concept, and I think you could add your own spin to it.
I like the speed of the game. I saw no problem with the 45 fps. There was a bit of an issue when a cluster would come at me and I needed more precise control to get in between the cracks. It's hard to move just a smidge, without feeling like you "teleported" a few pixels too far. But when I when I wanted to "get the hell out of there," the speed was great. The only way I could think of solving this would be to have a little bit of acceleration in those first few pixels of travel, for precision flying. Then after that the ship could just be in "fifth-gear." Just enough acceleration so that if you tap the arrow key you move just a smidge, but if you hold the arrow key, you don't notice the acceleration and you're just buzzing around like you've been. I hope that makes sense.
The button layout is great. I like how I don't have to move my hand to pause the game. I hate reaching around for the 'p' key to pause a shmup (as if I'm not having a hard enough time). So THANK YOU for that. The fact that the same keys are used for the menu is nice too; I never have to move my hand. Are you going to spruce up the help screen a little bit? I like how it looks like coding, with the curly brackets, but I think you could add to that with a black background and green font or something. Or just change the help screen altogether.
I don't know what the rectangles in the background looked like before, but they didn't bother me in the slightest when I played the latest build. A little variety from level to level wouldn't hurt. Even if it's just different shapes and/or colors.
Sorry about how long this post was. I love shmups and hope to make my own soon (once I finish reading my giant java book). So in the mean time, I'll look at what other people are doing. And what you're doing is pretty swell. I've been meaning to really take a crack at GM6, so I may want to pick your brain on advice for working with it for a shmup.
This is a great game with a lot of potential. Keep up the good work. I'm gonna see if I can get a higher score now.
--mister. jones
Only with teeth of cheese can one truly enjoy a cracker.
