It is time to bring this old school game type back to life with touch screen devices. I have started a project called Commando Reborn. It will be a attempt to bring COD type of action and plot in to a 2D vertical shooter. Yes I know the goal is a bit ambitious, but I like the challenge and change to learn something new.

The controls of a touch screen should be suitable for this kind of game type. Tap on ground and the player moves to the tapped location, tap on enemy player shoots the enemy, long tap on enemy player throws a grenade. The controls must be simple and no new tricks should be added so that the player can focus on the game experience.

I have already created a project to gitorious that includes wiki and the Qt source for the game. I will post more when the project evolves. I just had to spill this out couldn't keep this just my self.

And of course this thread can be used to discuss other vertical scrolling shooters that you have played.

-Mika

The controls of a touch screen should be suitable for this kind of game type. Tap on ground and the player moves to the tapped location, tap on enemy player shoots the enemy, long tap on enemy player throws a grenade. The controls must be simple and no new tricks should be added so that the player can focus on the game experience.

The strengths of touch screen input for this kind of game should be gestures and precisely but slowly selecting playfield locations. Using only tapping seems a bit of a waste; moreover, how can you dodge shots if you need to hold a finger on the player character, exactly where you need to be able to see the playfield?
I'd make a simple RTS in which units get shot all the time and take care of themselves (no dodging nor other quick movements) rather than a shooter; you would be able to trace paths, scroll the map, designate enemy targets, select friendly units, etc. quite well.

[quote name='Lemppa' timestamp='1305231986' post='4809935']
The controls of a touch screen should be suitable for this kind of game type. Tap on ground and the player moves to the tapped location, tap on enemy player shoots the enemy, long tap on enemy player throws a grenade. The controls must be simple and no new tricks should be added so that the player can focus on the game experience.

The strengths of touch screen input for this kind of game should be gestures and precisely but slowly selecting playfield locations. Using only tapping seems a bit of a waste; moreover, how can you dodge shots if you need to hold a finger on the player character, exactly where you need to be able to see the playfield?
I'd make a simple RTS in which units get shot all the time and take care of themselves (no dodging nor other quick movements) rather than a shooter; you would be able to trace paths, scroll the map, designate enemy targets, select friendly units, etc. quite well.
[/quote]

Thanks for your reply. Yes the controls for the character would be similar like in RTS games no need to hold your finger on top of character. The gesture path was a good idea and should be included. And yes the character needs some AI for example to take cover if available and shoot back if being shot. I was planning to add also small puzzle element for example in room cleaning, a small "bullet time" where player must tap the enemies in the order he wants to kill them. I'm planning to make the view similar as in Dreamweb.