Scoring system for old school horizontal shooter

[ApGames]

Hi, I am in the planning phases for a horizontal shmup, I have looked at alot of older horizontal shooters and they all seem to lack scoring systems or they are very basic. The design I am aiming for will be along the lines of R-Type Leo, Zero Wing, Catalypse,
Over Horizon, Armalyte and Hellfire. Do you guys have any nice ideas for a scoring system that would work on a more old school shooter? Any thoughts appreciated!

[Blackbird]

In my opinion, the scoring system of your game should be integrated into the overall story/aesthetic of the game. Could you tell us a little bit more about what you had in mind?

[ApGames]

I am planning to have satellites/pods like R-type Leo that blocks bullets and fires along with the ship. The player can change weapon at any time like in Thunder Force. It won't be bullet hell instead more focusing on careful positioning of the ship. The setting will be on the road to Hell and enemies will be demons, monsters etc.

[Ixmucane2]

Suggestions:

• No chaining based on killing enemies quickly after one another. Spacing enemies close and/or filling the gaps between real threats with popcorn enemies to allow chains longer than a single formation is directly conflicting with putting enemies in the appropriate place of the scenery and with letting the player position himself as he sees fit.
• Bonuses for being thorough: if enemies come in small and tough formations, you can award about the value of a single craft for killing over half the formation, for killing the leader (traditionally differently-coloured), for killing the whole formation. On top of that there can be a hierarchy of bonuses (by enemy type or by level subsection) for killing multiple entire formations, culminating with a bonus for 100% kills in a whole level.
  Unlike chaining, killing all enemies should always be possible (with adequate firepower) and as challenging as you make it.
• Secret, or at least optional, objectives and item. A horizontal game with a lot of obtrusive scenery presents ample opportunities for leaving the obvious path, discovering secret areas or to destroy something more.

[ApGames]

Suggestions:

• No chaining based on killing enemies quickly after one another. Spacing enemies close and/or filling the gaps between real threats with popcorn enemies to allow chains longer than a single formation is directly conflicting with putting enemies in the appropriate place of the scenery and with letting the player position himself as he sees fit.
• Bonuses for being thorough: if enemies come in small and tough formations, you can award about the value of a single craft for killing over half the formation, for killing the leader (traditionally differently-coloured), for killing the whole formation. On top of that there can be a hierarchy of bonuses (by enemy type or by level subsection) for killing multiple entire formations, culminating with a bonus for 100% kills in a whole level.
  Unlike chaining, killing all enemies should always be possible (with adequate firepower) and as challenging as you make it.
• Secret, or at least optional, objectives and item. A horizontal game with a lot of obtrusive scenery presents ample opportunities for leaving the obvious path, discovering secret areas or to destroy something more.

Bonuses for being thorough sounds like a good idea. And having it based on formations means you don't ruin an entire game by missing a formation. Thanks for your thoughts

[Ghegs]

Make sure you take a look at the (way too few) horizontal shmups that do have deeper scoring systems in them: Border Down, Blazing Star, G-Darius, Harmful Park, Last Hope...

[Sumez]

I never realised Blazing Star had a deep scoring system, I'll have to look into that.

The most important part of a good scoring system, IMO, is that it's always possible to improve your score. A lot of horizontal shooters have the problem that it's (nearly) possible to play the game "perfectly" in relation to score, meaning all good players will have almost the same score.


This is obviously easy with bullet hell shooters, because there's so much to do and miss - for a traditional hori where careful placement is more important, maybe try experimenting with concepts like point blanking, short chains (requiring you to keep enemies alive) and taking their life to near zero for a point boost in some form (like EspGaluda 2 where near-death enemies spawn much more bullets, or ProGear where you try to take out big enemies at a certain timing)

[ApGames]

I never realised Blazing Star had a deep scoring system, I'll have to look into that.

The most important part of a good scoring system, IMO, is that it's always possible to improve your score. A lot of horizontal shooters have the problem that it's (nearly) possible to play the game "perfectly" in relation to score, meaning all good players will have almost the same score.

Yes that is something I want to avoid.

[RNGmaster]

Positionable options remind me of Xexex, but also of Battle Garegga. While I wouldn't suggest that you take any inspiration from Battle Garegga's rank system or medaling, you may want to add bonuses for blowing off enemy parts - in Garegga this is one major way that players score. What if you could use you options to shoot enemies in places that your ship normally wouldn't be able to access without dying?

In Hellsinker, which is sort of similar to Garegga, enemies have different firing patterns if you blow off certain parts of them. Might be another idea.

[retlaf]

I'm not a big fan of scoring systems which make you do things that are counter-intuitive to how the game feels like it should be played. For example, maximizing score by deliberately not killing enemies. If not killing enemies is good for score, then I believe there should be some non-score incentive which also encourages the player to not kill enemies, such as having them explode into dangerous bullets when they're destroyed.

[Rozyrg]

The simplest I can think of is where you uncover bonus pickups (like the lightning bolts in Fire Shark) that you get additional points for at the end level tally. I know it's more common with verticals where there's lots of scenery below you to tear through; but it ought work in a horizontal if the levels are constructed in a way that it would make sense visually.