Slightly off topic

[TGK]

Hello,

I did a search for "shmup RPG" and "RPG shmup" and found little, so I'll make a topic here.

The question is: do you guys think that "shmup RPG" or just "shmup with story telling" is a viable idea for commercial development?

My concern: Free games are good and all, but I wonder if there is a future in the market for the genre. And if there is (I strongly believe that there must be), what adaptation must the genre make? Being as it is won't cut it. The hardcore fan-base like us won't grow much with time.

Shmup with story telling (Shmup + old Sierra style adventure game + a little FMV) crossed my mind as a beautiful concept.

Anyone had done some market research or reading on the issue?

[marcus12024]

I personally believe that there's always a market for a new genre, or a melding of several existing genres, so long as the resulting game is fun. No one will want to simply play a shmup that has RPG elements tacked on, unless there's a good reason for them to be there.

Take any modern shmup, for example Gradius V, what kind of RPG elements could be added to that game? In my mind, not many, since it's great how it is. I think that if anything extra were added to the game, it would be unnecessarily complicated and would become a chore to play.

However, I do remember playing games like The Guardian Legend on NES, where there were isometric levels, as well as more traditional shmup levels. Games like that may be able to catch on, again depending on how well they're made. Sigma Star Saga for GBA looks to be this type of game.

I've often tooled around with concepts/ideas for a shmup/RPG hybrid, since I grew up with and loved games like U.N. Squadron, where you could make money, buy new planes/weapons, choose a character, and upgrade your basic shot. It worked in that game.

Maybe several people from these forums could get a small team together and toss some ideas around, and code up a quick prototype of a more story-based shmup.

One last thing - even if a shmup containing a lot of story/cut-scenes was made, and people liked it, it could probably still benefit from having a mode where the game can be played old-school - just focusing on the action, and dropping the story.

[Ghegs]

One last thing - even if a shmup containing a lot of story/cut-scenes was made, and people liked it, it could probably still benefit from having a mode where the game can be played old-school - just focusing on the action, and dropping the story.

Spriggan Mark 2 (PCE) does exactly this, and it works great. I'm a bit saddened that I can't understand the story, since there's a whole lot of dialogue and cutscenes going on.

I'm not too excited about shmups with rpg (or other genre) elements, but story elements might work nicely, especially if they're sort of dynamic. Say you have to fight against a miniboss. If you destroy him, the story goes one way. But if you take too long, the miniboss flies away, the story goes into another direction (maybe he goes off to destroy a city or your fellow pilots) and you have to fight him again at a later stage where he's the true boss. Destroying certain enemies, taking certain routes through a level, everything could trigger a change in the storyline. And one could even add Darius-like multiple paths through the game for even greater variety.

[TGK]

yea, that is my belief too. A shmup with a story (and extra/alternate stages) that unfolds as you go could be good if the story is coherent. And an arcade mode would be provide should you want simply the gameplay.

I would be happy to get into a collaboration with some other members here. Some of the demos they make are quite good.

I am proficient with C/C++, Java, and know some Photoshop & Maya, but I have nearly no knowledge about open source tools & SDKs, just a little OpenGL. The only thing I've used is proprietary engines at work (which won't help).

Any guru can give a lowdown on the tools people are using for shmups around here?