My GM shmups - Last Chance,MEGATANK, Flying V, XYX, ZPF

[Rozyrg]

Some screenies







And yeah, it has TATE, control config and all that (expected) goodness, too.

More stuff :

Playing Metal Black on Taito Legends 2 (my jaw just about hit the floor when I saw the game selection on that!) inspired me to try some different autofire settings.

Along with the standard hold key down forever rapid fire, there's one that mimics MB to an extent. Holding down the key will let out a super fast barrage of shots initially; but they'll slow down the longer you keep it held, forcing you to be a bit more strategic and only mash at the right moment. My system's probably a bit more lenient, though, and the initial burst actually fires more rapidly than the default autofire, giving it somewhat of an edge in power (and overall coolness.)

On top of that, I also added manual fire for even greater masochistic joy; but it's nothing too severe (Gun Frontier comes to mind, speaking of TL2). Both of these have slightly different damage settings from the default autofire to even them out as much as possible.

...and while I'm in the mood to ramble on, I'll cover some other quirks.

• - Bombs are more costly score-wise than in any of my other games, as using them will divide the value of any enemy they damage. The greater the default stock (up to 6 currently), the more they divide, meaning you can effectively reduce even bosses' values to 0 with rapid panic bombing. They also prevent special bonuses from occurring, eliminate small medals and devalue any larger medals.
  - the Phantom Twin attack (which also uses one bomb stock) only prevents special bonuses from being awarded; but as it doesn't eliminate any enemy bullets from the screen, it's more dangerous to rely on.

The thing is, though, that most of the potential score is weighted on simply surviving the stage, so I don't know if this sort of thing is sufficient to discourage bomb-happy play. I've tried to make them and the PT as fun as possible to use at least.

I'm sure yall will be happy to tell me how shit it all is when I get around to actually releasing the game, anyways.

[Rozyrg]

Beta version @ YYG
Blog entry
The only thing yet to be done is any sort of endings, so don't expect them.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Thanks for the cool beta of Fire Arrow. Will see how it fares on a low-res 15khz arcade monitor setup.

Fired it up and was literally blown away by the awesome old-school 68000 type of vibe with the slick rotating & zooming/scaling sprite effects fest/extravaganza homage. Wow! And all this is just on the title screen...hot damn! And the high score screen has some cool graphical tricks to oogle at as well! This FA doujin begs to have some endings put in place just to finish it off for completeness.

FA is another one of those old school tributes/nods to the early-1990s Toaplan arcade shmups of lore. I think arcade shmuppers would've died and gone to shmup heaven if they were able to play Fire Arrow at the local arcade hangout in the early 1990s indeed -- during an era when the U.S. quarter was considerd the "gold standard" to credit up/coin-up a game.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Rozyrg]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I was afraid you might be critical of my use of 'caravan' in describing the game, since it doesn't adhere to strict Star Soldier style rules precisely and there are many random elements to mix up scoring potential for each run.

One of the ending screens was drawn already - my usual brand of silly swimsuit softcore for clearing 5min mode; but I didn't have a 'normal' one for the other and I was wary about spoiling the fun with a 'may be NSFW' warning. I think I've found a amicable solution, though.

I'm going to do at least one update before I move on (mostly minor scoring stuff to shift the weight off of clearing the stage), with any luck they'll make it in for that.

[DocHauser]

Loving Fire Arrow at the minute. I managed to clear 3 minute mode - are there actually different bosses? I was wondering about the grey-square enemies as well. Sometimes they spew bullets and sometimes they spew smaller enemies - is that completely random which one you get, or does it depend on your combo meter or something? It seems like the latter version is worth a lot more points, since the smaller enemies can be converted to medals.

I suppose I should tackle 5 minute mode now...

[DocHauser]

Hmm, I just noticed that the high score table doesn't distinguish between scores acheived in 3 minute mode or 5 minute mode. Will there be separate tables in future updates?

[Rozyrg]

Yes, it's random. The spawners are technically worth less each; but as you said, you can milk them for medals to an extent. The other forms are all worth the same; but Wheel's destructible turret bits all add up to that.

The quick kill bonus you get for them (up to 25k I think) makes up for the slight differences some; but yeah, it could use a bit more balance.

Separate 3min/5min tables would be easy to add, too... will do.

[Rozyrg]

Update:

- Separate hiscore tables for 3/5 minute mode added
- Lots of minor score tweaks
- More things (using bombs, special attacks, sub-boss escapes) take away from your level clear bonus now
- Hidden bonus level added, with it's own unique sub-boss
- Added some nifty lasers (see above) to the enemy's arsenal
- Tweaked bosses to make them slightly more challenging
- New (non-randomly selected) sub-boss added
- Ogre Head is now always first boss you fight, so the other can only be fought on 5min mode
- Bombs are now pooled for the entire run (5 minimum,9 maximum) rather than being allocated X amount per life.
- 5min mode is now unlocked by completing 3min, and furthermore...
- Completing 5min unlocks a secret additional mode. I won't elaborate too much; but here's a hint: it's not exactly catered to most people here.

Not sure when the next version will be done, as I'm really dragging my feet to finish the boring stuff. >_>

[BPzeBanshee]

I'm on a Dr Who trip, so I reckon when posts like these above pop up there needs to be a picture of a Cyberman with a fist saying "Excellent!", because that's what this is.

[Rozyrg]

Glad you like it. What's crazy is that I wasn't planning to spend any more time on this than Laser Carrot (~ 1 week); but it just keeps happily chomping away at it as I find things to add and tweak. GM can be quite the unholy time vampire, alright.

[BPzeBanshee]

Oh definitely. I'm working on adding functionality to another GM project at the moment which unfortunately is proving to be a little difficult. The wobble scrolling method used does not like TATE at all, and since it's so far ahead in development switching the inputs over to my system (for joystick support/rebindable controls) are proving to be a real pain. Getting there though. So much for a simple on-the-side thing to GMOSSE though.

[Rozyrg]

Yeah, I tend to find myself redoing a lot of the same stuff with these; but I'm surprised at the little problems that still pop up despite that. It's been a pretty darn good way to find little shortcuts and streamline overall, though.

I've certainly got enough side projects as it is, too. Like, I've got a psuedo RPG thing (w/ a mostly working turn-based combat system) and a handful of other unfinished stuff I'm tempted to work on; but probably shouldn't. Really want to do a beat-em-up style game eventually as well.

[Rozyrg]

Added a few more midboss forms and some big chunky tanks to blow up (along with the rest of the stuff I stealth edited into the update a few posts above.) Eventually I'll be done with this damn thing. -_-

[nasty_wolverine]

hey rozyrg can i ask something???
what softwares/process do you use to create the artwork, because its gorgeous and very much arcade/professional quality...

[Rozyrg]

Well thank you very much!

Software: I used Photoshop at first; but ever since I've had my trusty netbook PC, I've used GIMP almost exclusively.

I don't know how helpful I can be with the details of the process (I've played around with pixel art since I first got Mario Paint as a kid); but I think one of the main things is to work at the correct scale. Just having a background layer indicating what will be the game's screen resolution helps tremendously. I always draw a box to determine the rough size of a sprite before going any further, too.

I think it's also good to limit your color palette per sprite. 16 (15+1 for transparency) is the general rule; but going a bit over is OK. Limitations like that might seem trivial and totally unnecessary since the only thing imposing them is you; but it kind of forces you to work towards a harmonious color scheme. Speaking of color, it's also good to be homogenous between palettes, re-use existing colors as much as possible rather than mixing up new ones on the spot.

This is probably just me and the disorganized way my brain works; but I never worry about establishing designs or sketching things out beforehand either. I typically only have a vague idea of what I want to do and just sort of doodle shapes out of solid colors until I think I have something to go on. I personally find it much more difficult to translate some pre-existing art into pixel form. Even assuming you can do it perfectly, you just never know how well it will carry over onto a wholly different scale.

...and when in doubt, go back and see how someone else did what you're trying to do, there's such a massive wealth of old arcade games to take inspiration from. I tend to look more towards mid to late 80's stuff, considering the stricter graphics limitations. It's a pretty good way to learn a 'less is more' approach.

[emphatic]

Your artwork is beautiful, my man.

[nasty_wolverine]

thanks alot...
I have been trying to use inkscape/gimp combination and for concept sketches sketchbook mobile on my phone.
To be honest that didnt go anywhere at all, hardly made a few things before giving up.
Reading your comment now I realize what was lacking, simple harmony and i got bogged down with trying to use all the features those softwares give.
Time to go for the "Less is More" approach...

I havent played all of your games, but Flying V is mindblowing in terms of graphics and the extreme fast paced gameplay.
You should really look into commercially releasing a few of your games, I for one will definitely buy it hands down.

[Rozyrg]

Best of luck. With software in general (even GM), I find it best to find a few simple tools/tricks that you can really work with and stick with them rather than trying to reign in all kinds of fancy features just because they're there.

Oh, and believe me, I want to sell them; but first I have to actually finish one...lol. XYX was the closest; but as you know, it got an upgrade thanks to a higher gaming power... and is pretty much out of my hands now. In general, it's just hard to focus on one project for months and months on end just to get it done.

Also, I have a feeling if I took a vote on which one should get the fast track to the finish line, the winner would be Flying V hands down.

[BPzeBanshee]

I'd vote XYX first myself, but I digress. The progress that has been made including sideprojects is quite remarkable.

[Rozyrg]

I'd honestly say the stuff I've done for the Neo upgrade absolutely crushes the old (in hindsight, half-finished placeholders) I had in there before, so going back at all would be quite a downgrade and probably a sizable blow to morale right off the bat. So, even when I can 'legally' get back to work on it, I just can't say how smoothly that will proceed. >_>

Worst case, I'll probably just tidy up the loose ends and find something to fill in the gaps for the later levels. That said, knowing that most of the playable ships won't be making it over to the Neo (thus far at least) does increase the likelihood of some crossover fun.

...and speaking of progress, a third boss and super secret unlockable ship are in the works for FA.

[dark]

Hey, just wanted to say that I've lurked on this forum for months, played your games, got obsessed with Neo XYX and now plan on buying the NG Dev release for DC when it's finished. Your artwork is great, and the combination of the artwork with some fast paced but tight shmup gameplay that you've managed to finagle out of GM is really fun and cathartic.

I'm really interested in seeing what has been carried over to the NG Dev version as I'm more a fan of the reptile girl ship than the red plane looking one which has featured in all of NG Dev's previews thus far. I hope they have kept the character select option and that there is more than one character in the game.

Also down the line when it's appropriate and not confidential I would love to hear more details of the story - as far as how NG Dev wound up being interested in and appropriating your game, and your input if any in the NG Dev version after an agreement was created.

[Rozyrg]

It was totally informal. Basically, some of the NGDEV guys post/lurk here and around the time Gunlord was wrapping up, I got a message asking if I could do some stuff for the shmup stage, which I was more than happy to. It probably helped that the process went smoothly enough; but they were also planning on doing a vertical shooter next, so after Gunlord was done, that's what I got right to work on. XYX had enough assets/rough game design in place already that it made sense for a solid jump start and the project (hopefully) could be completed within a shorter time frame. Flying V was up on the table too, actually; but I knew just knocking down all the existing stuff to the right resolution and adjusting for the Neo's palette limitations would be a massive time sink - no time saved, so not really an option.

I'm really hoping we get in more characters, too; but again I think it all comes down to whether there's enough time to put them in. I really want Green Knight and Cobra in there, personally; but I guess we'll see.

[dark]

lol oh no I would be very sad if we didn't have an alternative to the red plane character (no offense to the ship design, I just have a preference for triangular spaceships). The additional characters gave the game some great personality that I really appreciated. Interesting character designs Not to mention additional reasons for replay value.

Random question: how long does it take you to draw a sprite for say - a small or medium sized enemy? How about for a collection of background tiles? Your artwork definitely looks inspired by Toaplan in terms of resolution, pallet limitations and shading, do you look at Toaplan sprites as a reference while you draw your own creations in the style? For sprites that are part of multi frame animations, does gimp allow you to animate them and see how it looks within the graphic design tools?

[n0rtygames]

Well, those are seriously impressive screenshots man.

Hey, have we shown our cult like appreciation for you recently? I think you're due for another wave of flattery.

[Rozyrg]

@n0rtygames

I may half-heartedly resist the flattery; but I do appreciate it. Thanks, guys.

@dark

• Enemy sprites: They can take a few hours or less if I feel I've nailed the basic shapes/colors right off. Oddly, the bigger ones usually take less time than the popcorns, since refining is trickier when you have fewer pixels to work with.
  
  Backgrounds: I've actually never done the old tile method for backgrounds, Neo's were done as huge single images that could either loop or transition into others. Last Chance, Fire Arrow, (old) XYX's custom levels and Flying V's 4th stage use 'pseudo' tiles, basically just what would be the equivalent of big chunks of tiles (usually 1/2 or 1/3 screen width) that I can easily manipulate and re-order. Also, ANY background takes way more time to draw than say, enemy sprites. The full size ones can take bloody weeks if I get hung up; but even the chunks take awhile because you have to be conscious of looping, and from multiple sides if you want to x/y flip them.
  
  The old tile way is probably the most flexible and arguably economic time-wise at least for the artist; but it's harder to be conscious of things in a larger scale working strictly with tiny, segregated assemblages of pixels. You really need to work with blocks of 2x2 and up. You also pretty much have to have some kind of map editor or assembling them into anything that makes sense will be nothing short of maddening.
  
  References: I prefer more to have a vague sense of what I want and avoiding the inclination to copy that comes from looking at a direct reference; but I will (quickly) refresh my memory on occasion if I get lost.
  
  Animation: This isn't something that GIMP specifically allows for, it's kind of messy with it; but you can still do it. For most non-fx ones, I just chop the sprites up, set the pieces on separate layers and move them around pixel by pixel, adding effects or minor tweaks later after the frame is flattened. Beyond GIMP, I find myself using GM's sprite editor to check animations even for non-GM projects. For ones that are too small for it's tiny preview window, I even made a crappy little GM 'app' for further assisting the process - mostly just for seeing what the final sprite will look at at different sizes, frame speeds, reversed, with normal looping or forwards-to-backwards looping.

[z0mbie90]

Rozyrg can you please stop doing so cool sprites. You make me very jealous man!

[Shmuppet]

Rozyrg, these graphics are too godlike! I gotta play more of your shmups. Last Chance was pretty cool, but I gotta have something more finished. So I tried ZPF, and man I can't get enough! You gotta finish these and sell them as shareware;I would BUY THEM ALL!

[BPzeBanshee]

ZPF? But that's his worst one!

Actually now that you mention it, which one would you say is the most 'complete' out of the lot Rozyrg? I imagine it'd be Fire Arrow considering it's a pretty much complete caravan game.

[Shmuppet]

ZPF? But that's his worst one!

I LOVE ZPF! It's slower and a little easier. Fire Arrow was too hard/fast for me! Hey Rozyrg, I just noticed... why are all of your games SO FREAKING HARD!?

I'm sticking with ZPF though, it's the only smexy shmup I can actually play.

[dark]

I just saw the Ng Dev Team Neo XYX trailer. Awesome sprite work! The upgraded graphics must have taken you hundreds of hours!