There are many different mechanics in shmup games that some may have but others don’t and some that are totally unique to an individual game. The game Defender had the many mechanics that are staple in shmup such as a scrolling screen, facing off against many types of enemies and a smart bomb but also had unique mechanics such as a hyper space option which offered many individual playstyles another game that had unique mechanics was Tempest this game still had all the staples that were in shmups like the many enemies and a scrolling screen but one thing this game did very differently was the playing field of the game was resented as a 3D tube that extended deep into the screen Zaxxon was a shmup that had all the aforementioned staples of shmup games like the many enemies and the scrolling screen but this game was unique because it brought an emphasis upon elaborte fly overs but what was most unique about it was the many suprise threats that were contained within the landscape. R type was a shmup that had unique mechanics as well as the staples such as a scrolling screen and multiple enemies but a unique mechanic of the game was the satellite that could be attached to the front, back or fly near the ship and shoot at enemies.
Design considerations for my game would be that it is limited since it is being designed for the NES so colours will be limited to a colour pallet of 54 colours another thing that is limited will be that how many objects can be onscreen at one time. another limitattion that I need to consider is that the sprites will have to be simple and not be too many pixels big so they do not take up a large portion f the screen
Animation considerations for my demo would be to use more mechanical things that would use simple animations rather than people and animals as I have not done much animation yet so it would be difficult to animate them and to use only a few frames as the limitations of the NES wouldn’t have been able to handle many frames for every animation in the game and also having fever frames makes movement seem more energetic rather than one with many frames that makes it seem like a weak slow movement
I found that the audience prefers level structure rather than one continuous stage they also prefer games that are for higher skill player rather than easier games that anyone can play I also found out that the most popular theme was sci fi although some people said that they would like to see other themes done in shmups. Anothr thing I found is that most like story elements in shmups but say it should not interrupt gameplay and some say it should be optional. other things I found out were that most people enjoy customization in games and say that it makes the gameplay interesting
What design will be like in my game: the design for my game will be sci-fi with a western theme so a lot of the design will look futuristic but with a western theme added on top I have taken some inspiration from Halo and some of the ships from it such as the sabre
Mechanics I will add to the game is a time slowing power up that the player can collect and a strong weapon with very limited ammo so the player will have to be careful when they use it
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