Mook Design

[afroakuma]

I've been designing a basic vertical scrolling shooter for my own amusement, with color-coded foes that each display a different attack pattern (http://i447.photobucket.com/albums/qq194/afroakuma/crecks1.jpg).

The problem is, I've run dry on ideas for new attack modes. I have a large cast of colors (http://i447.photobucket.com/albums/qq194/afroakuma/crecks2.jpg), and am willing to accept new ones, provided I have an idea of what to give them to do.

So far, the colors and their attack patterns are:

Blue: Comes down the screen in a zigzag pattern. Usually appears in threes.

Red: Descends, shoots, then continues its dive.

Yellow: "Blinks" sideways at fixed intervals to dodge shots.

Green: Stays at the top of the screen releasing large, destructible ring lasers, then dives straight down.

Lime: Homes towards the player's ship, leaving a rainbow trail behind it.

Orange: Fires several small shots during its descent and tracks to the player's x-coordinate.

Maroon/Crimson: Descends, moves to a position and then detonates.

Violet: Shoots; has an invisible energy shield that reflects up to four shots.

Gray: Has a spherical shield that blocks some shots from hitting it.

Black: Is a stealth mook, remaining invisible (but still a collision hazard) until near the bottom of the screen.

Silver: Splits into two.

Gold: Dodges incoming shots, rapid-fires shots to lead the player's ship.

I still need attack patterns for azure, brown, cyan, navy, pink, purple, teal and white. If anyone has any suggestions (or has a color to add) please let me know!

[The Dark Fiddler]

Perhaps one of them could absorb two hits then fire a shot at double power/size (not sure if you're using HP of any sort).

Suicide Bomber is always a good one.

A spread shot, perhaps?

[afroakuma]

Perhaps one of them could absorb two hits then fire a shot at double power/size (not sure if you're using HP of any sort).

They do have variable HP, yeah. Crimsons clock in at around 6; grays have 3; silvers have 4 and golds have 5.

That mode is sorta what violets do already; their energy shield absorbs your shot and then fires back a large arc.

[Ravens_cry]

While the different attack patterns are neat and will add much to the game, I think you should vary more to the design of the Mooks besides simply colour. Even Galiga (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaga) had more then that. It will be more work for you admittedly, but will make the game less visually tiresome to the player.
Just my two credits.
Or should that be 8% of a credit? Assuming a quarter a credit of course.

[afroakuma]

While the different attack patterns are neat and will add much to the game, I think you should vary more to the design of the Mooks besides simply colour. Even Galiga (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaga) had more then that. It will be more work for you admittedly, but will make the game less visually tiresome to the player.
Just my two credits.
Or should that be 8% of a credit? Assuming a quarter a credit of course.

Actually I got the idea from Turtles in Time, where each color of Foot had a different weapon. There are in fact other mooks of varying design, but these guys are the Koopa Troopa of the game. The first boss is a 128x128 rendition and is both massive and awesome.

[Knaight]

Play Swoop, its a similar game and has a variety of attack patterns. It should give you ideas, and its a free download. It is also very difficult unless your young and have very nice reflexes.

[Godskook]

Actually I got the idea from Turtles in Time, where each color of Foot had a different weapon. There are in fact other mooks of varying design, but these guys are the Koopa Troopa of the game. The first boss is a 128x128 rendition and is both massive and awesome.

Turtles in Time didn't really have *that* many foot. It was also running a high enough graphics system that you could still tell them apart, just by the weapons they were carrying, in black and white. The 'blocker' was even wearing 'brass elbows' to block with.

As far as a design:

Enemy 1: Make him look different then your mooks, as if you're switching to mook+
Enemy 2: Pick an unused color

A huge wave of enemy 2s either bullrushes the hero ship, or just plays blocker, while the Enemy 1 revs up a devastating cannon. The hero ship has 2 options. Chew through the Enemy 2s very fast and catch a potshot at Enemy 1, or dodge really well.

[afroakuma]

Turtles in Time didn't really have *that* many foot. It was also running a high enough graphics system that you could still tell them apart, just by the weapons they were carrying, in black and white. The 'blocker' was even wearing 'brass elbows' to block with.

Oh, I know; I'm just saying, that was the origin of the idea to have color-coded mooks.

[Nehh]

Idea: Maybe a ship with relatively large HP that's wide and shields some powerful ships behind it?

Idea: Maybe a ship that sneaks up on you from the opposite direction to all the other ships? Coming up underneath you?

[Jagos]

How about a football mook?

Three in a straight line, first one takes three hits, second one takes two, the third only takes one.

But if you take out the first, the other two speed up, you take out the first two, they go double. Final one is blazing towards you.

It could be similar to a play involving the Center, LB and RB. One gets taken out the other two can speed up from the hole involved.

[Duos]

Vengence (navy)-Shoots a fast, damaging, hard-to-dodge projectile whenever a nearby ship is destroyed. Dips towards the player than loops back towards the top of the screen. pops up in twos or fours. medium hp.

Disruptor (pink)-Follows a serpentine path down the screen and shoots a slow-tracking, continual beam at the player's ship. While in contact with the beam, your ship moves and fires much more slowly. medium hp.

Mediship (white)-Rapidly heals any ships it comes into contact with. Moves in short, random jerks of quick movement that take it from either the top left or top right to the opposite corner down below. Can heal the player's ship if it reaches the bottom intact. low hp.

Tripwire (teal)-A pair of ships that hug the left and right of the screen and zip rapidly towards the bottom, projecting a harmful ray between the two of them. Destruction of one disrupts the beam and destroys the other. low hp.

Blastwave (brown)-Slowly moves straight down the screen while spitting large explosives at the player's ship. If shot, explosives will detonate in a large blast that is dangerous to the player and mildly damaging to enemy ships. high hp.

[afroakuma]

Tripwire (teal)-A pair of ships that hug the left and right of the screen and zip rapidly towards the bottom, projecting a harmful ray between the two of them. Destruction of one disrupts the beam and destroys the other. low hp.

That is a simply awesome idea.

[afroakuma]

Alright, I updated the game to include teals, who link up with other teals nearby to form energy webs of doooooom. A dying teal breaks all links it's connected to, and teals without a line to hold on to self-destruct.

Considering giving pinks a forcefield that has a possibility to destroy any bullet passing through it, and backing it up with shots to make them a target.

Also planning one that charges up a huge laser and cracks off a screen-length column if not shot down in time. Don't know which color to hand it to, but thinking navy.

Any further suggestions would be very welcome.

[Lord Loss]

A slow moving target who's shots rebound when they hit a wall, causing the bullets to zigzag.

Fast moving ships that shoot sideways continually , so that if they're not quickly shot down, they will pass the charcter and kill him.

one that shoots in a repeated sweeping motion.

Well, that's my three cents. Hope it's useful!

[Godskook]

Also planning one that charges up a huge laser and cracks off a screen-length column if not shot down in time. Don't know which color to hand it to, but thinking navy.

I'm a helper:)

----------------

Another idea, and this one needs to be a sickly green, of some sort(well, or blue, but the limpets need to be green). Drops little limpets that, if they attach to the player's ship, slow down his movement controls. Otherwise, the ship is harmless. A nod to star control games.

[Duos]

Minesprayer (brown)- shoots weak bullets that travel slowly. Hugs the side of the screen while moving downwards at a moderate pace. When hit, slides sideways to the other side of the screen before moving down again. When destroyed, flings four mines out in random directions with variable strength. Mines deal moderate damage. High hp.

Also, when do you think you'll be done with the game? I'd love to play it if possible. I loved galaga and this looks really fun and unique.

[afroakuma]

Minesprayer (brown)- shoots weak bullets that travel slowly. Hugs the side of the screen while moving downwards at a moderate pace. When hit, slides sideways to the other side of the screen before moving down again. When destroyed, flings four mines out in random directions with variable strength. Mines deal moderate damage. High hp.

Actually, I've already got special crystal ones that move in back and forth L patterns down the screen, that spray killing shards when shot and a lot more when they blow up. And they fire lasers. :smallbiggrin:

The teal tripwire thing works fine for the horizontal, but my plan to web it out is causing slowdown and doesn't seem to be behaving itself. I may have to weaken this pattern, or at least make sure the computer can have random jurisdiction over it safely.

Navies are still getting the megalaser, I think, leaving me brown, azure, purple and white. Considering making white a dodge/teleporter miniboss.

[Bouregard]

Aurafighter:
Vertical movement= pretty slow
Horizontal movement= fast

Attack pattern: The unit takes cover "behind" friends. If the current friend is destroyed it proceeds to the next. While the ship is on the screen every other ship takes 25% less damage (playership included) the current "friend", the ship it uses as cover will even take 75% less damage

[Lord Loss]

Can we try the version of the game you have so far?

And then see what's missing? Or is it so far unplayable?

[afroakuma]

Don't know if it's viable to test at this point; the first level only features Blues, Reds, Big Blues and a boss; powerups (which are only vaguely planned at this point) have not been implemented; and the debug tester still runs the show, so pressing the wrong key could spawn a capital ship, an asteroid field or a Prismatic miniboss.

When I get a few more things polished with it, though, and find a free hosting site, then it'll be fine to test.

Oh, and an update on Teals: I've managed to solve most of the problems they were having. They won't be able to spawn completely randomly, because they'll make a hell of a mess, but they now web out in eight directions and the laser web collapses at the point of destruction. It also interferes with shots.

Pinks have their forcefield, and I'm thinking they should also shoot. The original forcefield concept had to be dropped and I still have to tinker with it a bit, because player shots are causing the forcefield to drag away from the Pink.

Also, need an opinion from the crowd: who feels that they can adequately distinguish between Lime (0,255,0), Turquoise (0,255,128) and Chartreuse (128,255,0) at a glance? Are they distinct enough to exist independently?

[Inhuman Bot]

You could make, say, a larger navy enemy that spawns smaller azure enemies, aka a mookmaker, aka "That @#$% Archvile."

[afroakuma]

You could make, say, a larger navy enemy that spawns smaller azure enemies, aka a mookmaker, aka "That @#$% Archvile."

Big Blues and blue Capital Ships already manufacture mooks.

[The Dark Fiddler]

When I get a few more things polished with it, though, and find a free hosting site, then it'll be fine to test.

If you're doing it in Flash, Newgrounds would work.

[afroakuma]

Nah; doing it in GameMaker. Not good enough at Flash yet. :smallredface:

One day...

[Lord Loss]

http://http://www.webs.com/

For your website.

[Blayze]

Are you still accepting ideas? If so...

Kamikhaki -- "Charges up" upon appearance for a short period of time (Charge needs to be visible enough to give the player an idea of what's about to happen), then descends toward the player's end of the screen like a bullet. Possibly explodes, but that's another matter entirely.

The trick with this one is that the player has to decide whether to shoot it down or ignore it. If they ignore it, they could find themselves doomed if some other attack forces them into its path.

[afroakuma]

Are you still accepting ideas? If so...

Yes indeedy.


Kamikhaki -- "Charges up" upon appearance for a short period of time (Charge needs to be visible enough to give the player an idea of what's about to happen), then descends toward the player's end of the screen like a bullet. Possibly explodes, but that's another matter entirely.

I don't know if this is distinct enough from the standard "dive to kill" behavior.


The trick with this one is that the player has to decide whether to shoot it down or ignore it. If they ignore it, they could find themselves doomed if some other attack forces them into its path.

The current plan for Navies fills this role rather strongly already, with them charging up before firing a screen-height death column that persists until they go offscreen.

[SilentDragoon]

Perhaps one type of ship that dodges rapidly, and when hit but not destroyed starts boosting the firepower/armor of all of the other enemy mooks? Some kind of enemy buffing ship that is to say.

Edit: Actually, I looked through and you don't have any kinds of support ships right now. Could add firepower/armor/regenerating ships that need to go down first so you can survive taking down the others.
Kind of what Duos and Bouregard mentioned but on a full screen scale.

[AgentPaper]

What about a ship that just slowly moves towards the player's ship, not actually attacking it but just moving around him and trying to pen him in, limiting his movement. When you shoot at it, it dodges away, but does so predictably and only every once in a while so you can shoot it down if you go after it, but is less likely to die just from random fire.

Another type might be a ship that is "phased out" at first, and can't be hit, (but can be seen) and then once it gets in range, shoots a single shot and can be attacked. If you don't destroy it fast enough, it'll "phase out" again and repeat.

[SlyGuyMcFly]

Brown: "Grounding" ship. Sticks near other ships and takes any damage they take onto itself.

White: Ghost ship. Shots pass through it at random or fixed intervals.

Purple: Buff ship. Ships near it deal extra damage.

Azure: Drunken ship. Flies in a spiral pattern, shooting all the while.

Hope that helps. :smallsmile:

[afroakuma]

What about a ship that just slowly moves towards the player's ship, not actually attacking it but just moving around him and trying to pen him in, limiting his movement. When you shoot at it, it dodges away, but does so predictably and only every once in a while so you can shoot it down if you go after it, but is less likely to die just from random fire.

Hmm... might be tricky to implement, but interesting.


Another type might be a ship that is "phased out" at first, and can't be hit, (but can be seen) and then once it gets in range, shoots a single shot and can be attacked. If you don't destroy it fast enough, it'll "phase out" again and repeat.

Now that is sinister and vicious and my new best friend. Purple, maybe?


Brown: "Grounding" ship. Sticks near other ships and takes any damage they take onto itself.

I suppose I could just make it magnetic and literally pull shots off course...


Purple: Buff ship. Ships near it deal extra damage.

Game's still one-hit-kill on the player end; more damage is in irrelevant concept.


Azure: Drunken ship. Flies in a spiral pattern, shooting all the while.

Kinda like that one...

[AgentPaper]

Game's still one-hit-kill on the player end; more damage is in irrelevant concept.

More damage is, but what about faster speed/shooting/bullets? As in, the enemy ships move faster, shoot faster, and their shots hit faster. Like some kind of "speed up" field that one of them gives off. Then just have it dart around, trying to stay near as many ships as possible while avoiding the player. You could also flip the deal, making a ship that has a "slow field" that slows down the player and his shots, messing up his aim and making it harder to dodge enemies.

I also like the "drunk ship" idea, though it's schtick should be that it's path and shot pattern are entirely random, so the player never knows where it's going to shoot. You could even make it's speed and the speed of it's projectiles random as well, so the player has to react fast when it suddenly lurches forwards and fires a shot right at him, or towards where he's going.

[Zeful]

You could have a kind of ship that fires Roboteching shots. Shots come out at a 15o offset, stop, and then shoot towards the player. On higher levels/difficulty (if it's being implimented) it shoots more bullets (in pairs) which go faster.

[afroakuma]

You could have a kind of ship that fires Roboteching shots. Shots come out at a 15o offset, stop, and then shoot towards the player. On higher levels/difficulty (if it's being implimented) it shoots more bullets (in pairs) which go faster.

Oh-hohohoho I am so doing this. Color?

[Zeful]

Oh-hohohoho I am so doing this. Color?

White, preferably. If you're going to keep the Black background at least. It's an annoying gimmick ship that you want to recognize at an instant, lest you fall prey to it.

But another lighter color would work.

[afroakuma]

White, preferably. If you're going to keep the Black background at least. It's an annoying gimmick ship that you want to recognize at an instant, lest you fall prey to it.

But another lighter color would work.

I think White's already spoken for as the amazing blinking teleporting miniboss.

For lights, I currently have:

Beige
Mauve
Aquamarine
Chartreuse
Turquoise

Or maybe as the Bronze pre-boss? That could be interesting...

[AgentPaper]

Hmm, what about enemies that move around the screen in some pre-determined path, (perhaps a set of random ones) slowly speeding up as they go. If the player doesn't shoot them down early, they'll go too fast to hit and he'll have no choice but try to stay out of it's way until it moves off the screen. (which shouldn't be too hard, but limits his movement options, and if there's a bunch of them going around...:smallamused:)

[afroakuma]

I'm thinking I should just post a video to Youtube of what I've done so far. Any recommended programs for screen recording?

[Zeful]

I think White's already spoken for as the amazing blinking teleporting miniboss.

For lights, I currently have:

Beige
Mauve
Aquamarine
Chartreuse
Turquoise

Or maybe as the Bronze pre-boss? That could be interesting...

It really doesn't matter to me, I'm just pointing out that a very bright color, on the white side of the color spectrum, will make it impossible to "forget" the presence of the enemy, thus blaming the game for their failure.

[AgentPaper]

Hmm, if you don't mind having two enemies with the "invisible" schtick, you could have a very dark/black colored ship that moves around the screen slowly, and every once in a while shoots an aimed, direct fire and fairly quick shot at the player. The trick with them would be to figure out where they are by seeing where the shot came from. (I'm thinking of the shot as either a line that extends, like a lightsaber being turned on, or a line that travels out, like a more standard laser)

[afroakuma]

I doubt the background will end up being dead black; I was thinking a starfield at minimum.

Here's an action shot (http://i447.photobucket.com/albums/qq194/afroakuma/creck3.jpg) of three Navies, a web of Teals and a vicious Cyan. Note that one of the Navies is just beginning its charge and one is busy firing a doom laser.


It really doesn't matter to me, I'm just pointing out that a very bright color, on the white side of the color spectrum, will make it impossible to "forget" the presence of the enemy, thus blaming the game for their failure.

If it's all the same to you, then I'd like to trial it on Bronze. Bronzes are basically the Elite Mooks who precede minibosses and team with a Silver to precede a boss, so there's no chance of not noticing them.

[afroakuma]

An update: the first boss (http://i447.photobucket.com/albums/qq194/afroakuma/creck4.jpg), a basic capital ship, with ring shields, a core laser and multiple targeted shots. Also spits out trios of Blues every so often and can only really be hurt with hits to the core.

[Pie Guy]

A ship that marks the player ( with a crosshair or whatever's availible), then from offscreen ten small ships dash madly at the player. Killing the original would cause all the little ships to die.

[AgentPaper]

Step 1: Have all ships shoot off a slow shot towards the player every few seconds. Often enough that there's always a handful of shots on the screen, but not so much that the player would really have to worry about them as long as he keeps moving.

Step 2: Have an enemy that, after entering the screen, slowly locks onto the player. Once it has, ALL enemy shots become HOMING. Including shots that have already fired. Killing the "lock on" ship would of course break the lock and stop stuff from homing in.

(credit to Pie Guy for the original idea, if it's not obvious enough :smallwink:)

[Thrawn183]

Might want to be careful with that yellow (I don't know if it is the same color as appears on the forum) I'm partially colorblind and telling yellows apart from light greens is nigh impossible.

Sure, there's nothing you can do about red/green type stuff, but make sure to be really careful with those yellows.

[afroakuma]

Might want to be careful with that yellow (I don't know if it is the same color as appears on the forum) I'm partially colorblind and telling yellows apart from light greens is nigh impossible.

Sure, there's nothing you can do about red/green type stuff, but make sure to be really careful with those yellows.

Yellows are actually pretty close to the bright green coloration; however, bright greens home in on you and trail a long rainbow of colors behind them, whereas yellows flicker back and forth about once every 2-3 seconds. They're fairly distinctive.

[AgentPaper]

Hmm, what about ships that shoot guns that shoot lasers?

[afroakuma]

Hmm, what about ships that shoot guns that shoot lasers?

Like, ships with drones? Could be done.

Working on powerups now, too, including mercenary ships that sign on, hang back and fire (and steal any cash that touches them).

[Blayze]

I don't know if this is distinct enough from the standard "dive to kill" behavior.

Fair enough. How about... it splits into two or three copies mid-dive. Each copy is a different ship, each is real, each shoots off at a slightly different angle... and each explodes.

[Drascin]

Personally, as a shooter player, I think some continuous laser trappers are always good to raise the player's blood pressure. One round drone that goes to the middle of the screen and makes a continuous laser, and starts rotating slowly. The player is so forced to deal with it or move the hell away and so lose their positioning. And the thing takes quite a few shots to deal with. Pure Gradius.

Higher difficulty settings add more lasers, to the point that in the hardest one, the thing emits a rotating cross of death and becomes very much a prioritary objective.

[afroakuma]

Personally, as a shooter player, I think some continuous laser trappers are always good to raise the player's blood pressure. One round drone that goes to the middle of the screen and makes a continuous laser, and starts rotating slowly. The player is so forced to deal with it or move the hell away and so lose their positioning. And the thing takes quite a few shots to deal with. Pure Gradius.

Higher difficulty settings add more lasers, to the point that in the hardest one, the thing emits a rotating cross of death and becomes very much a prioritary objective.

Hmm... yes, this would work; and I could assign it to a less recognizable color, too, as the attack mode itself garners instant recognition.

I wonder, perhaps, if I should have them drop to a random screen position, then lock in, raise a shield and begin the attack. This would reward players who could pick out, say, chartreuse headed their way by letting them pick it off before it becomes a hassle.

[Prime32]

An armoured mook who detonates in a massive explosion if destroyed, killing nearby mooks.

A group of pulsing mooks who generate a shimmering shield between them - enemies inside the shield are immune to damage.

A mook surrounded by a spinning circle of tiny mooks who act as a shield. Killing the mini-mooks does not earn any points.

A spinning circle of mini-mooks who hang near the top of the screen, throwing members of their number at you until there are none left. Alternatively, they charge an energy shot between them, taking longer to do so as their numbers are reduced. When they are down to one it flies towards your ship at high speed.

A mook which fires large shots that can be deflected by one of your ship's functions (such as boosting into it or firing at it). This causes the shot to bounce away and damage any enemy it hits.

[afroakuma]

A spinning circle of mini-mooks who hang near the top of the screen, throwing members of their number at you until there are none left. Alternatively, they charge an energy shot between them, taking longer to do so as their numbers are reduced. When they are down to one it flies towards your ship at high speed.

I think I might look at implementing this one.

[Pie Guy]

A rainbow shimmering mook that slowly approaches who is invincible and plays the music as if you got a star in a Mario game. Eventually goes away.

[afroakuma]

On the subject of bosses: can anyone think of some different designs they'd like to see? Right now they're all just Mega-Mooks.

Or does that suffice?

[Bucky]

Bosses should look special. Multi-sprite bosses are always cool. Perhaps use a giant mook with a turret sprite bolted on? Surround them with clouds of purely cosmetic mini-mooks? Even just a blocky, more angular design would say "time to get serious" better than the same old sprite scaled up.

[AgentPaper]

On the subject of bosses: can anyone think of some different designs they'd like to see? Right now they're all just Mega-Mooks.

Or does that suffice?

The very first boss looking the same MIGHT be okay, if it's not meant to really be a serious boss, but more likely an especially big mook would be a miniboss. I'd really recommend you have different designs for each boss. They can have the same theme, but all of them being re-colorings is just going to come off as lazy.

[afroakuma]

Bosses should look special. Multi-sprite bosses are always cool. Perhaps use a giant mook with a turret sprite bolted on? Surround them with clouds of purely cosmetic mini-mooks? Even just a blocky, more angular design would say "time to get serious" better than the same old sprite scaled up.

Well, I didn't just scale up the sprite; the capital ship has side vents, a constellation of front windows and other such details, as well as a harder attack scheme and a weak spot.


The very first boss looking the same MIGHT be okay, if it's not meant to really be a serious boss, but more likely an especially big mook would be a miniboss.

Well, I have double-size mooks that function as elites, and triple-sizes that show up as minibosses (along with certain special-colored mooks). It's only the quad-size that appears as a boss.


I'd really recommend you have different designs for each boss. They can have the same theme, but all of them being re-colorings is just going to come off as lazy.

I just don't know how far away I can get from the general design and still retain that sense of affiliation.

[elliott20]

I notice that most of the mooks seem to exhibit movement that always goes downward towards the player. Maybe you can also have ships that primarily moves sideways and ships that appear at the bottom of the screen and goes upwards.

and then you can add a ship that is a combination of the two, where it will fly around the screen up and down, shooting the occasional bullet. That will be kind of like an elite pilot that stays on the screen and maneuvers around the player.

[Avilan the Grey]

Maybe you can also have ships that primarily moves sideways and ships that appear at the bottom of the screen and goes upwards.

I both love and hate that one. Done right, it is an extra rush when you dodge the ones suddenly appearing at the bottom of the screen moving up, done wrong it is just "instant death because no human has time to react to that random placement".
Basically, this is one of those ideas you have to get just right in order to be fun to play.

Edit: come to think of it... these should only appear very seldom, and probably never on low levels, but would be fun to combine in greater numbers in a miniboss fight (a real Boss should be fought alone, but a miniboss might have a squad with it...).

[Blayze]

How about 'Danger!' symbols that appear roughly where they're going to enter?

[afroakuma]

Well, I've assembled a sea serpent boss for the ocean level... generally, though, I find myself dissatisfied with my boss designs.

[afroakuma]

Today's update: locked down the sea serpent (http://i447.photobucket.com/albums/qq194/afroakuma/crecks5.jpg), complete with tracking motion, multisprites (in the form of eight mini shooting-eyes and a big beamer in the middle) and the ability to exhale giant fireballs. Weak spot: the neck, which is only exposed when you lead him to the sides of the screen. Oh yes, and there are rock pillars showing up randomly to block your shots and kill you.

[AgentPaper]

Might help people come up with ideas if you release a demo. And if you're not satisfied with your own artwork, you can probably find some help for that in the arts n' crafts forum. :smallwink:

[afroakuma]

Might help people come up with ideas if you release a demo. And if you're not satisfied with your own artwork, you can probably find some help for that in the arts n' crafts forum. :smallwink:

Is that a crack at something? :smalltongue:

And yes, I suppose it would. Sadly, DL only, since it's not Flash, and yanking out the debug would be messy at the moment.

I could put up a demo vid, though, if anyone can recommend a program?

[Stormthorn]

Have one that comes from the bottom of the screen.


Have one that appears in the middle of the screen somewhere but forecasts its appearance. It would appear, shoot, dissapear, and then appear again.

[afroakuma]

Have one that comes from the bottom of the screen.

Oh, very likely at this point.