Shoot 1UP preview

[MommysBestGames]

EDIT: Shoot 1UP is out now for 80 MS points on Xbox Live Indie Games. Go try the free demo!

Hello everyone, my new Xbox 360 Indie Game Shoot 1UP is getting close to finished. I'd like to get some feedback from people here about what they like and don't like. I'll try to take into consideration as I make more changes.

Here are a few screens:
Beginning of Biham-4


Turret Carousel boss from Biham-4


Squid boss from Cursa-4


'Box' art:


Gameplay video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWFP6kj0RwY


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Shoot 1UP is fundamentally, a non-traditional shoot 'em up. In the game, as you collect 1UPs, they instantly become playable, allowing you amass a phalanx of playable ships, up to 30 ships in single-player and 60 ships in two-player. These ships are not traditional options nor wingmen, they are your playable ships.

You can control how close or far apart they are with the triggers. If you spread out, you can fire the "plasma auger" and also ready some quick, bullet-canceling shields. If you contract your phalanx, you can obviously squeeze through trouble more easily, though the ships do lag a bit since they are not a locked, static mass.
Also, if you are spread apart, you form a score multiplier on kills, going to 30x with more circular, bigger ship spreads. Additionally, shield kills get you x10 on top your spread multiplier so you can get some big scores.

There are three difficulties, an 'awards' system, and a score attack/progression game type called "ScoreHore" which saves your progress and increases the game difficulty as you loop the game. There are 6 levels.
The game supports 1-2 players will be either 80-240 MS Points.

The original direction of Shoot 1UP is to be a little bit easier than average shoot 'em ups. I'm hoping to get 'regular action gamers' interested. I realize having the game easier may alienate hardcore players so currently I am looking at small tweaks to the 'hard' difficulty in an effort to make it more fun for those players (as in you, if you've come to this forum).

I'd be grateful for any constructive feedback you would like to provide about the screenshots, the video, or playtesting the game (see below). While we are an independent studio, we are still under money/time constraints so unfortunately I need to finish the game fairly soon. But I would like to incorporate some changes generated here if possible.

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PLAYTESTING

I've already had member TodayIsForgotten provide some great feedback in a recent playtesting of the game. He helped me smooth out some of the most obvious hardcore issues. I'd also like to thank member UdderDude for goading me on the youtube trailer into incorporating a score multiplier mechanic.

EDIT: Playtesting is closed currently. Thanks testers!. (Original text: For at least a little while, if you'd like to play a pre-alpha version of Shoot 1UP email me at nathan-at-mommysbestgames-dot-com, and just mention you read about it on the forums here and what your member name is (as well as your real name, to keep it personable, please).
The version runs on the PC, requires about a mid-range setup, and plays best with a 360 wired controller hooked up, but you can currently play on the keyboard (but it's not ideal).
The file is about 30MB and I'd email it to you via YouSendIt. Obviously you can share your thoughts publicly here or simply with me via email (I don't have a preference).

In the pre-alpha version there are some sfx missing, and right now the 4th level boss is missing as well (working on him!))

Thanks for your time!
Nathan

[Udderdude]

Look, you can add as many "Score multiplier" mechanics as you want. The problem is that the game will never be anything more than a giant clusterfuck, by it's very design. There's no precision at all. It's like if you tried to dodge a bullet attack in Starcraft with a bunch of slow moving wraiths or something. It just doesn't work.

The only way I can see this concept remotely working is if your extra '1ups' can't be hit by anything, are transparent and are in a fixed position around your ship, effectively making them more like fixed Gradius options (that can't run into anything). Even then, there's just so many of them, it's complete overkill.

[Ixmucane2]

I tried the old demo, and I think you might address Udderdude's concerns in the opposite direction: vulnerable wingmates (by the way, make them a different color from the user-controlled ship!) that dodge enemy fire on their own (not perfectly) and move with predictable rules (not merely spreading in a larger or smaller cluster). They would be usually hard to kill, but difficult to use effectively.
For example: with specific buttons, "1ups" assume one of a few wide but exact formations (tracking enemies horizontally along a line, a spinning circle around the player...) and dodge returning to the respective assigned position; by default, they remain in the same place and dodge bullets in the direction of the player's craft (effectively, a mixture of freezing in place and following the player very closely).
It would play like a regular shmup with some extra herding and managing of options, not unlike what's needed in games like Battle Garegga or R-Type.

The gratuitous nudity in the "box art" is very silly.

[MommysBestGames]

The only way I can see this concept remotely working is if your extra '1ups' can't be hit by anything, are transparent and are in a fixed position around your ship, effectively making them more like fixed Gradius options (that can't run into anything). Even then, there's just so many of them, it's complete overkill.

I'm going to stick with keeping them not options, intentionally, but I appreciate the sentiment. I am looking at some slight tweaks to their motion (on first stick touch) each time, to give all the ships more responsiveness.

[MommysBestGames]

Thanks for trying out the demo! And for your thoughts here.
And of course you can try the new one if you'd like to email me, it's come a long way.

I tried the old demo, and I think you might address Udderdude's concerns in the opposite direction: vulnerable wingmates (by the way, make them a different color from the user-controlled ship!) that dodge enemy fire on their own (not perfectly) and move with predictable rules (not merely spreading in a larger or smaller cluster). They would be usually hard to kill, but difficult to use effectively.

That's the difference in this game, for right or for wrong, the extra ships aren't wingmate or options, they are your ships. As such, they take damage exactly the same way all your ships do, if you get hit, you lose one. I've played other games before with wingmates (which take more damage) but I'm trying something different, a different core concept, in order to see how far it can go and if it can be made fun. If it can't, then that's it, but I'd like to stick to the core concept to the end. It's obviously objectionable to some, but no less more important to explore.

For example: with specific buttons, "1ups" assume one of a few wide but exact formations (tracking enemies horizontally along a line, a spinning circle around the player...) and dodge returning to the respective assigned position; by default, they remain in the same place and dodge bullets in the direction of the player's craft (effectively, a mixture of freezing in place and following the player very closely).
It would play like a regular shmup with some extra herding and managing of options, not unlike what's needed in games like Battle Garegga or R-Type.

I'm trying to not do anything that would actually keep the player ships frozen in place, moving as a huge, solid mass. I realize that's the easiest design decision to make it 'obviously playable', but I'm trying to see if there's anything else that will succeed. I am looking into formation ideas--thanks for the suggestions.

The gratuitous nudity in the "box art" is very silly.

Cool! I like silly, though it's simply revealing and juvenile, with no actual nudity.

[Udderdude]

The only way I can see this concept remotely working is if your extra '1ups' can't be hit by anything, are transparent and are in a fixed position around your ship, effectively making them more like fixed Gradius options (that can't run into anything). Even then, there's just so many of them, it's complete overkill.

I'm going to stick with keeping them not options, intentionally, but I appreciate the sentiment. I am looking at some slight tweaks to their motion (on first stick touch) each time, to give all the ships more responsiveness.

You could add it as an alternate game mode. Although then I'd have to start looking at the rest of the game for issues, and I'm sure I'd find some. But at least a non-casual would actually want to play it.

[EinhanderZwei]

The gratuitous nudity in the "box art" is very silly.

Yeah, nobody did it better than Gaiares, so I second changing the box art

[MommysBestGames]

Yeah, nobody did it better than Gaiares, so I second changing the box art

Man, the non-US version looks awesome! In America this is the sort of thing we had to put up with at the time, mullet and all--

[MommysBestGames]

You could add it as an alternate game mode. Although then I'd have to start looking at the rest of the game for issues, and I'm sure I'd find some. But at least a non-casual would actually want to play it.

You should email me and take it for a spin. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the general gameplay.

[ForeverSublime]

Hi,

I haven't had the chance to see your game play vid yet, but I'd like to soon. I wanted to drop a quick comment before going onto anything specific. You said,

"I realize having the game easier may alienate hardcore players so currently I am looking at small tweaks to the 'hard' difficulty in an effort to make it more fun for those players (as in you, if you've come to this forum)."

I dissent. I believe difficulty can be independent of "core" players desires. Things do not need to be difficult to present a challenge. I believe these types of people are interested in game design more than game difficulty. My only advice without seeing the game and knowing so little is to take care of your game design and a lot of the rest will follow. Whether or not people agree with or like the design is a bit of personal taste (to a degree). . . so stick with your core concepts, and modify as necessary.

Don't forget to play with people's emotions. Concepts and design lack soul without it.

[emphatic]

Graphics look nice, gameplay looks kinda dull.

[MommysBestGames]

ForeverSublime: Thanks for the advice, I'll try to keep it in mind. I'm in the process of tweaking the earlier level designs.

Graphics look nice, gameplay looks kinda dull.

Glad you like graphics! Hopefully I can sway you into thinking the gameplay is interesting as well--the demo will be free of course and you can try it then. This morning I wrote a new post, elaborating on some of the mechanics in the game here:
http://mommysbest.blogspot.com/2010/01/ ... auger.html

[ForeverSublime]

To a stooge like me, the draw looked to be that it's a "wide"shmup (as opposed to "vert" or "hori"). I don't know many shmups that utilize widescreen the way you have:

*1UP system spreads out the firepower and you based the risk/reward system on that
*The powerups exaggerate the wideshmup design (the "ghost" powerup not only increases the number of ships but exaggerates the width of firepower by mirroring your ship, and you can play the risk/rewards of the auger off that)
*Enemies come from the sides which makes for good use of the side-ways shot. . . which is usually less useful in a vert shmup where the width is so narrow.

Graphically: The vector style flat-filled graphics don't mesh with the more painterly graphics. It stuck out immediately in the pics in this thread, but not so much in the youTube video. On a technical level it's not aesthetically pleasing, but you may have design reasons for doing so (distinguish between background or non-organic elements)

By your writeup in this thread I imagined a sort of real-time-strategy shmup. . . where your 1ups are a bunch of soldiers that you're trying to build an army of before they get killed off.

Congrats on making your game. It looks like you had an idea and saw it to completion on a sizable project.

Because of the "ease" of the game play you may want to talk to OneSwitch.org.uk or AbleGamers.com about making this an accessible game with a few tweaks. Doing so could equal free advertising from those guys - they're very helpful and supportive of people that support them. I'm assuming that your "life" in this game consists of all the ships, and you're not "dead" unless all of your 1ups are destroyed. As long as one of your ships is alive, you are. If not, you could tweak the game to be that way so people with imprecise/slow motor skills could control the mass of ships without having to worry about precision. Let me know if that's a route you'd like to explore, and I'll set you up with Barrie and Mark to see what tweaks would be needed to accomplish such a feat.

[MommysBestGames]

the draw looked to be that it's a "wide"shmup (as opposed to "vert" or "hori"). I don't know many shmups that utilize widescreen the way you have:

Yup, it's something to try out, an experiment, since this is a vert scroller developed exclusively for consoles, people with HD, or usual wide monitors, ie, not the arcade vertical style.

I tried to cater the design and gameplay to the widescreen aspect of the game as much as possible.
Duality ZF is doing widescreen by design as well with good results.

Because of the "ease" of the game play you may want to talk to OneSwitch.org.uk or AbleGamers.com about making this an accessible game with a few tweaks.

Wow, that is a fascinating idea... I hadn't considered it, but I'll PM you. Thanks!

[xris]

I'm looking forward to this, hopefully real soon. I agree that the main ship should be a different colour. What happens if the main ship is shot down. Does it shift to a new ship, or take one away?

[MommysBestGames]

I'm looking forward to this, hopefully real soon. I agree that the main ship should be a different colour. What happens if the main ship is shot down. Does it shift to a new ship, or take one away?

Glad you're looking forward to it!

The reason the ships are all the same color is because they are all of the same importance. If one ship gets shot down, it explodes in a huge fireball stopping bullets for a moment. Your mega beam (the plasma auger) stops if it was firing. But if you keep shooting again, it will come back. The fireball gives you a chance to escape and save your other ships.

Check out this post which explains the plasma auger, and the risk and rewards of expanding and contracting your ships.
http://mommysbest.blogspot.com/2010/01/ ... auger.html

I've improved the formation handling on the ships, so it's more predictable now as well. Once you build up a lot of ships there is a small lag (intentionally) on some of the ships, but if you use the X button (the brakes) you can maintain your formation, but you go slower.

The game is over once you lose every ship, unlike some games, there are no continues. Like other games you start with 3 ships, but here, they are all present, all firing from the get go.

I expect the game out later next week.

[xris]

It's so cool to get feedback from devs! So, I'll be guiding a mob, then retract them for needed precision. No continues, neat. Incentive to play well. The final boss better be absolutely crazy!

[MommysBestGames]

Yes, you have some on-the-fly control over your phalanx of ships. You can expand, contract (and spin them, but that's really just for kicks).
The last boss is pretty crazy, but on hard the lady boss (from the box art) is pretty wild too.

[xris]

Downloaded. What a fun game. Played though chill and score trek to get a feel for it. The phallanx idea really works. I like the shield burst thingy. Love the look of it. So far, so cool. Great job!

[Erik.S]

Bought it just now and played through on easy. One thing to say: Thank You! Seriously, thank you for making a shmup that on easy, actually IS easy!
Will try the other difficulty settings tomorrow. Very entertaining game, innovative and plays great. Steady frame rate (guess you took care of those horrible garbage collections) and just fun. Well worth the 80pts!

[MommysBestGames]

Downloaded. What a fun game. Played though chill and score trek to get a feel for it. The phallanx idea really works. I like the shield burst thingy. Love the look of it. So far, so cool. Great job!

Thanks! I really appreciate it. It's meant for action gamers of all kinds--not just 'normal' shmup fans. I'd like them all to try it as a 'gateway shmup' to bigger ones! (Mahaha..)

[MommysBestGames]

Bought it just now and played through on easy. One thing to say: Thank You! Seriously, thank you for making a shmup that on easy, actually IS easy!
Will try the other difficulty settings tomorrow. Very entertaining game, innovative and plays great. Steady frame rate (guess you took care of those horrible garbage collections) and just fun. Well worth the 80pts!

Great, really happy you like it. I'm glad the easier difficulty was enjoyable--Serious should prove a good challenge!

[ShmupSamurai]

The package art is actually kinda cool.