Hi, I wonder if shooter games such as Xenon 2 or Battle Squadron are games that would still work those days ? I mean, everyone seems to target whether on first person/third person shooter or rts games... I think shooters are quite cool for consoles. Quick in, quick play, quick out. What are your opinions ? Kind regards, Metron

I love vertical scrollers. Tyrian, Rapton, Reap, Xenon all of them were great games. In fact two weeks ago I played through Tyrian once again . I love other type of top-down shooters too, like Subspace.. Heck, the only 3d action game I''ve truely enjoyed is Quake 1 (and HL until I finished it).

I think players just want more from their games these days. No game developer even considers making a traditional vertical shooter anymore, because it wouldn''t sell. Vertical shooters are considered to be "old" games from the early ''90s and publishers aren''t interested in them anymore. Traditional shooters are just too simple by current standards, even though I love to play them. But maybe I''m just an oddball..

I think you would have to include the 3D edge some how. I''m not saying it can''t be a verticle scroller shoot''em up but consider this... Remember in Battle Squadron how you''d come across those holes in the ground that you could fly into. Now imagine flying into those holes in true 3D so the entire surface of the world moves as you enter as to maintain the same persective on your craft. There''s definity a lot that can be done by crossing verticle/horizonal scrollers with 3D imo.

A designer doesnt need to know everything about code, they just have to have an appreciation for its limitations and how those limitations affect features they may wish to include in their design. - Drew

Hi,

in fact I am currently working on a design
document for this kind of game. This is why I
asked the above question.

civguy: The shooter genre, if you look at it
as a quick in - quick fight - quick out like
game, must be simple to play. You don''t have
much opportunity to teach stuff to the player.
He discovers the elements of the game, such as
the weapons and the ennemies, while playing the
game. I wonder what players would like to see
implemented into a shooter to enhance their gaming
experience... perhaps my reply to Paul gives a
little answer to this :

Paul : The 3D idea was the first one that hit me when
I started to think of the game I would like to do.
In fact I would like to use 3D in various situations
such as slightly pitched view (no extra cost of
programming) or the situation you mentioned.
3D would also allow me to display in a more accurate
way the effects of the weapons. Imagine a vehicle
blown to the side by an explosion not far from it. Or
trees that bend to the side when a big explosion wave
hits them... Current sound and high end graphic cards
would allow to pull the gamer deeper into the situation
and reward him with stunning graphics...

Kind regards,
Metron

Ummmh... why use "real" 3d at all? I´ve thought about using 3d models instead of sprites, but it´s a huge effort and not really worth the trouble.....

hmm... i think that these games are dead, even if i´d enjoy playing one now and then.... but i guess most people want something a lot more flashy, and to be honest, this kind of shooter has been done over and over again (besides, we´ve all played them at the arcades until our fingers bled).

My team did something like that (2d-parallax scroller), just a prototype, more of a learning project.
feel free to check it out

http://www.geocities.com/hase13/projects.html

Metron, how did i guess you were working on one of these games. Best of luck and eat lots of fruit ok. I''m serious, fruit is yummo scrumo!

A designer doesnt need to know everything about code, they just have to have an appreciation for its limitations and how those limitations affect features they may wish to include in their design. - Drew

Actually, I''m just writing the concept since my real work
consists in doing other peoples games And bananas are the
best ones

Hase : Well, I think the effort is almost the same. When doing
it in 2D you''ll have to create and animate the graphics, too.
And when you can rely on an already finished engine, you don''t
even have to do heavy programming...

Kind regards,.
Metron

Well... Have any of you played Einhander? Its on the playstation... made around 2 yrs ago by Squaresoft.

Really fast action, and very good 3d visuals (for the psx anyway) with different angle of view depending on the situation...

Biere et punk

Metron,

quote: Original post by Metron

Hase : Well, I think the effort is almost the same. When doing
it in 2D you''ll have to create and animate the graphics, too.
And when you can rely on an already finished engine, you don''t
even have to do heavy programming...

At least based on my experience i can say that 2d is waaay faster (from the artists point of view).
And usually it will look better too, if you go through the trouble of doing all the sprites by hand (especially on lower resolutions).

Programming load is a little less for 2d, but not all that much, if you use 3d-features as well... (transparency and so on)

an yet again my ego commands me to point you to screenshots of my game:
http://www.geocities.com/hase13

quote: Original post by Metron

civguy: The shooter genre, if you look at it
as a quick in - quick fight - quick out like
game, must be simple to play. You don''t have
much opportunity to teach stuff to the player.
He discovers the elements of the game, such as
the weapons and the ennemies, while playing the
game. I wonder what players would like to see
implemented into a shooter to enhance their gaming
experience...

I''m a bit of a fan of 2d shoot ''em ups too. But there''s no way you could convince me to spend £30 on one.

If you want to do a 2d game, how are you going to attract players? Without the daft 3d graphics, you may find it difficult to persuade people that there''s much of a game there.

You''d need a ton of innovative features and some clever marketing. Not easy things to get.

Eight