Refining shotgun details in my "bullet-hell" map. Stimulating me to think about handling weapons in "shmuppier" ways, like you pick them up as powerups during play, and they layer, as opposed to a vanilla Armored-Core-style loadout? #indiegamedev
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Love the fast and free gameplay and the shmup/AC crossover is definitely filling a gap in available game selection. Bravo!
To your question, why not both? Players could select a loadout between stages AND power them up during play? Kind of like picking a ship in R-type then grabbing powerups.
Fair point! In that case, collectible powerups seem like a LOT more work than picking a static load out. Would they be missable like in most shmups? Would your combat env need adjustment so the player can pick up, dodge, and shoot? Could be cool, but your timeline may answer the question for you 😅
Loadouts offload making the game playable onto the player having to work out what works vs what they like and risks the player locking into choices that don't work. In stage weapon swapping affords the player more opportunity to bail on something that isn't working in real time.
that's exactly why i like loadouts in armored core (like mentioned in the OP), though; each mission is as much of a puzzle as it is a skill check, especially in the older, jankier games
this isn't armored core though and presumably there won't be hundreds of parts to choose from, so a more shmupular system might actually end up being more interesting
I'm not meant to be implying the AC format is bad, From were designing a mech game based on player choice as part of the thematic appeal of the game, the custom robot is important for that. I think changing weapons mid level however offers much more dynamic choice for a fast action game.
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To your question, why not both? Players could select a loadout between stages AND power them up during play? Kind of like picking a ship in R-type then grabbing powerups.