Well, my idea on parasprites, they could move quickly and try to ram themselves into you. I'm not too keen on the whole parasprite shooting at you idea (probably just me but it doesn't feel right).
Manticores are kind of fun to think about.. there could be 1-3 at a time depending on size and come down to swipe you and move back up then back down to bite you. The swipe would be a wide attack and the bit more narrow, longer range and hurts for more than the swipe.
Just some ideas that first come to mind, hope they help sprout more ideas!
Eh, I like the idea with Parasprites being homing enemies, as long as it's not abused. The spreadshot looks way too overwhelming, in my opinion. Others may see it as an appropriate attack, but that's just what I see. As for Manticores, I see them best fit for the sub-boss. You may be thinking otherwise, but I just see them to be too big to be a regular enemy. But it could possibly lunge at your position, or ahead of your path, quickly from a set location, and sting with its tail will cause it to fire a projectile. Can't remember what the attack type is called, or have a basic knowledge of Starcraft, but possibly the attack fired by the second form of the third stage's sub-boss.
I just thought of this as I was typing the last paragraph, but why not the Shadowbolts as a sub-boss? Not sure what type of attack they'll have...
Also, unless Guile's Theme is a placeholder for another track, can you please remove it? It sort of killed the pony feeling and distracted me the first time I downloaded and played 1.5. I don't think it fits too well in here. And if you can't, could you at least change the final boss's to what it was?
Thank you for reading my thoughts. Can't wait for the next update.
It's hard to tell but it looks from the video like you can't stream their shots because they fire off in pairs which don't aim directly for your location. That's bad; it makes it literally impossible to dodge everything if your attack power isn't high enough to just kill everything as it appears.
In general, you should NEVER have to move more than a very short distance to dodge shots in a bullet hell game unless the rest of the screen is relatively clear of shots and enemies. Patterns normally fall into the categories of macrododge (huge chunk of dense bullets that either effectively removes part of the screen from safe use or forces the player to move totally out of the way), micrododge (weave between bullets) and streaming (constant aimed shots target where the player is, so moving a short distance makes then miss, but you have to avoid running out of room by moving quickly to leave a gap).
I'd suggest instead two shots that both lock onto the spot where the player currently is shortly after being fired and aim for that spot so they intersect there. This allows for you to stream their shots and reverse the stream. Add low numbers of random or untargeted bullets so it's not too easy after that. You could also try adding on-death bullet clusters from enemies where it fits.
As for the splitting shots idea, I think it just turns out to be FAR too dense with that many shots and angles. When it happens in Touhou it's normally one unmoving enemy doing it with slower moving shots.
As for manticores... maybe take some inspiration from Youmu in Perfect Cherry Blossom. Slashes that turn into bullets or even tears in the background that emit bullets. Maybe a roar attack that fills the area around them with the huge disc bullets which slowly accelerate away radially.
Nonsense. A good bullet hell makes you move all over the screen all the time, this is what makes things interesting and fun. This is also the main difference between Touhou and arcade shmups.
Yeah, it's hard to tell balancing issues by the video alone and by the fact that you're not shooting, but the first pattern looks really fun. You'll have to really actively U-Stream to misdirect the shots. Although I'm not sure if multiple clouds at once would work, you'll probably have to slow the bullets down a bit for that. But in any case you should keep the clouds from getting lower on the screen because then it will just get an impossible mess. Not sure why you call this homing as it looks more like it's just aimed in your general direction.
That second video looks completely undodgeable though. Unless you're supposed to circle around them from up close? It's just way too unpredictable.
As for a different pattern suggestion; maybe make the cloud slowly fill the screen with slow moving parasprites and shooting it makes the cloud throw a ton of fast moving ones in your general direction? Can make for an interesting situation where you don't want to wait too long to kill them because it will completely spam the screen with bullets but you also have to make sure you don't wall yourself when you shoot it. Probably will need a bit more than average HP for it to work though.
Parasprites had originally used the same homing code as the magic orbs upon suck-in. with the exception that they stop homing when the angle of their velocity and their distance from the player is less than a certain value. this made it look like they were aiming a bit off of you.
Now, I made it so they memorize the spot where you were when they fired and will home on to that you can stream them.
Also, don't despair, Guile's theme is just a placeholder until I find boss music. I really like kil6969's music and theme and want to keep it consistent so I'm looking forward to new music from Kil6969.
Well, my idea on parasprites, they could move quickly and try to ram themselves into you. I'm not too keen on the whole parasprite shooting at you idea (probably just me but it doesn't feel right).
ReplyDeleteManticores are kind of fun to think about.. there could be 1-3 at a time depending on size and come down to swipe you and move back up then back down to bite you. The swipe would be a wide attack and the bit more narrow, longer range and hurts for more than the swipe.
Just some ideas that first come to mind, hope they help sprout more ideas!
Eh, I like the idea with Parasprites being homing enemies, as long as it's not abused. The spreadshot looks way too overwhelming, in my opinion. Others may see it as an appropriate attack, but that's just what I see. As for Manticores, I see them best fit for the sub-boss. You may be thinking otherwise, but I just see them to be too big to be a regular enemy. But it could possibly lunge at your position, or ahead of your path, quickly from a set location, and sting with its tail will cause it to fire a projectile. Can't remember what the attack type is called, or have a basic knowledge of Starcraft, but possibly the attack fired by the second form of the third stage's sub-boss.
ReplyDeleteI just thought of this as I was typing the last paragraph, but why not the Shadowbolts as a sub-boss? Not sure what type of attack they'll have...
Also, unless Guile's Theme is a placeholder for another track, can you please remove it? It sort of killed the pony feeling and distracted me the first time I downloaded and played 1.5. I don't think it fits too well in here. And if you can't, could you at least change the final boss's to what it was?
Thank you for reading my thoughts. Can't wait for the next update.
It's hard to tell but it looks from the video like you can't stream their shots because they fire off in pairs which don't aim directly for your location. That's bad; it makes it literally impossible to dodge everything if your attack power isn't high enough to just kill everything as it appears.
ReplyDeleteIn general, you should NEVER have to move more than a very short distance to dodge shots in a bullet hell game unless the rest of the screen is relatively clear of shots and enemies. Patterns normally fall into the categories of macrododge (huge chunk of dense bullets that either effectively removes part of the screen from safe use or forces the player to move totally out of the way), micrododge (weave between bullets) and streaming (constant aimed shots target where the player is, so moving a short distance makes then miss, but you have to avoid running out of room by moving quickly to leave a gap).
I'd suggest instead two shots that both lock onto the spot where the player currently is shortly after being fired and aim for that spot so they intersect there. This allows for you to stream their shots and reverse the stream. Add low numbers of random or untargeted bullets so it's not too easy after that. You could also try adding on-death bullet clusters from enemies where it fits.
As for the splitting shots idea, I think it just turns out to be FAR too dense with that many shots and angles. When it happens in Touhou it's normally one unmoving enemy doing it with slower moving shots.
ReplyDeleteAs for manticores... maybe take some inspiration from Youmu in Perfect Cherry Blossom. Slashes that turn into bullets or even tears in the background that emit bullets. Maybe a roar attack that fills the area around them with the huge disc bullets which slowly accelerate away radially.
Nonsense. A good bullet hell makes you move all over the screen all the time, this is what makes things interesting and fun. This is also the main difference between Touhou and arcade shmups.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's hard to tell balancing issues by the video alone and by the fact that you're not shooting, but the first pattern looks really fun. You'll have to really actively U-Stream to misdirect the shots. Although I'm not sure if multiple clouds at once would work, you'll probably have to slow the bullets down a bit for that. But in any case you should keep the clouds from getting lower on the screen because then it will just get an impossible mess.
Not sure why you call this homing as it looks more like it's just aimed in your general direction.
That second video looks completely undodgeable though. Unless you're supposed to circle around them from up close? It's just way too unpredictable.
As for a different pattern suggestion; maybe make the cloud slowly fill the screen with slow moving parasprites and shooting it makes the cloud throw a ton of fast moving ones in your general direction?
Can make for an interesting situation where you don't want to wait too long to kill them because it will completely spam the screen with bullets but you also have to make sure you don't wall yourself when you shoot it. Probably will need a bit more than average HP for it to work though.
Parasprites had originally used the same homing code as the magic orbs upon suck-in. with the exception that they stop homing when the angle of their velocity and their distance from the player is less than a certain value. this made it look like they were aiming a bit off of you.
ReplyDeleteNow, I made it so they memorize the spot where you were when they fired and will home on to that you can stream them.
Also, don't despair, Guile's theme is just a placeholder until I find boss music. I really like kil6969's music and theme and want to keep it consistent so I'm looking forward to new music from Kil6969.