I know it was discussed before we had the Dev forum, but I figure now that we have one, we should have a dedicated topic to the creation of bullet patterns!
Anyway, I'm currently working on some simple ones in GameMaker, though so far, I don't have too many in mind. What I have so far are...
-A basic three shot burst, each shot is aimed at the player, speed is relatively slow.
-A double sweeping pattern, first a shot is fired straight down, then bullets are fired to the left and right, their angles increasing with each shot to create a double sweep. The angle increase is small though, so it's a fairly narrow sweep.
-A sweep going from the enemy's left to the enemy's right, each shot in the sweep is fired at a slightly higher speed as the sweep progresses.
-A series of bullets fired in sweeping motions in two directions, in this case opposite directions, IE, if one sweep starts at 90 degrees, the other sweep will start at 270 degrees. Each burst in this all around sweep is five shots, each shot increments the angle 5 degrees. After five shots, the sweep stops for a bit, then resumes, but skips 25 degrees. Probably the most complex pattern I've made so far.
How are these for starters?
The Bullet Pattern Thread
The Bullet Pattern Thread
YOU ARE APPROACHING THE TARGET OF ATTACK! THE MISSION STARTS NOW! ARE YOU READY?!
Sometimes some really interesting stuff comes out of parsec47's generator. If I were going to call attention to one type, there's something I call "scissors patterns." In the most basic form, there are two opposite-slanting lines of shots, fired from different origins, aimed at or in front of the player. This way, as the lines get closer to the player, they begin to cross each other and become much harder to move through. For added evil, replicate the scissors a few degrees to either side so you get lots and lots of line crossings.
I also think that Cho Ren Sha does some very good things with relatively simple patterns.
I also think that Cho Ren Sha does some very good things with relatively simple patterns.
...I was so thinking about some kind of bullet pattern resembling a scissor cutting something, with the bullets closing in to a single point. ...I'm so doing that. XD
What I'm really wanting to try and come up with are those huge patterns with what seems like 100s of bullets. Y'know, the ones you see that just make you go 'HOLY CRAP.'
...And yes, Parsec47 seems to have some impressive ones.
What I'm really wanting to try and come up with are those huge patterns with what seems like 100s of bullets. Y'know, the ones you see that just make you go 'HOLY CRAP.'
...And yes, Parsec47 seems to have some impressive ones.
YOU ARE APPROACHING THE TARGET OF ATTACK! THE MISSION STARTS NOW! ARE YOU READY?!
If you want an example of some truly beautiful and artistic bullet patterns then you should play rRootage. By all accounts a brilliant game, its a top down shooter with around 160 stages (I think), each stage consists of 5 bosses, each with 2 different forms. Each boss has different bullet patterns, so its a perfect game to study.
They made another game too, noiz2sa, similarly great but based around smaller enemies rather than bosses. Both of these are on http://www.the-underdogs.org/.
Incedentally I got these games off Retro Gamer magazine's cover disk that featured 50 home-made shmups, you could probably get back issues if you missed it.
They made another game too, noiz2sa, similarly great but based around smaller enemies rather than bosses. Both of these are on http://www.the-underdogs.org/.
Incedentally I got these games off Retro Gamer magazine's cover disk that featured 50 home-made shmups, you could probably get back issues if you missed it.
Hello!
sounds like a nice start.
I'm also making a shmup in gamemaker. I've done a bunch of simple patterns and bullettypes, sweeps, bursts and bullets that come in shaped clumps. On my todo-list is a pattern that shoots out two lines of bullets that, once they're lined up, move towards and past eachother in a scissor movement, similar to what shiftace described. i have a radial version of the same principle.. just shooting out circular bursts, with an offset in degrees, at alternating speeds, so that the player has to dodge through, to avoid the interlocking moment.
i like the huge patterns in proGear, the deaccellerating random bulletswarms of the level 2 boss (if my memory isn't failing me). It's easy to make something like that in GM, using bullets with a small dfference in speed, and a graph for deaccelleration.
what kind of system do you have for writing gamemaker bulletpatterns? I'm making a script for each pattern family, that can be called with different variables for speed, bullet type, bullet amount, and settings.
then i make the final pattern with calls to the patternScripts, with a timeline or just in the step event of my enemies.
have you tried the bulletML for GM? I did but I couldn't get it to run smooth, too high performance loss..
anyway, i'll be asking you to beta-test my game once i've nailed all the core mechanics.
happy gamemaking \(^__^)/
sounds like a nice start.
I'm also making a shmup in gamemaker. I've done a bunch of simple patterns and bullettypes, sweeps, bursts and bullets that come in shaped clumps. On my todo-list is a pattern that shoots out two lines of bullets that, once they're lined up, move towards and past eachother in a scissor movement, similar to what shiftace described. i have a radial version of the same principle.. just shooting out circular bursts, with an offset in degrees, at alternating speeds, so that the player has to dodge through, to avoid the interlocking moment.
i like the huge patterns in proGear, the deaccellerating random bulletswarms of the level 2 boss (if my memory isn't failing me). It's easy to make something like that in GM, using bullets with a small dfference in speed, and a graph for deaccelleration.
what kind of system do you have for writing gamemaker bulletpatterns? I'm making a script for each pattern family, that can be called with different variables for speed, bullet type, bullet amount, and settings.
then i make the final pattern with calls to the patternScripts, with a timeline or just in the step event of my enemies.
have you tried the bulletML for GM? I did but I couldn't get it to run smooth, too high performance loss..
anyway, i'll be asking you to beta-test my game once i've nailed all the core mechanics.
happy gamemaking \(^__^)/
rRootage and noiz2sa are by Kenta Cho. Take a look at his site for more of his stuff - they have a similar style, and most use his bullet handling library which could be useful (xml bullet patterns!). Be sure to try Tumiki Fighters, it's almost like katamari damacy crossed with a shmup...
-ReK
-ReK