Aegir Timeless - Shmup Goodness WIP
by Corey Martin · in Torque Game Builder · 08/26/2005 (2:55 pm) · 3 replies
My current T2D project is a vertical shmup (shoot-em-up) in the tradition of such games as Mars Matrix, DoDonPachi, ESP Ra De, Guwange, and many of the other Atlas/Taito vertical shooters. An emphesis is placed on quick thinking, dodging, ludicrous amounts of bullets and over-the-top action.
There are a few things which make Aegir Timeless unique. First, control of the ship is via the mouse. The ship will follow your cursor, and has no maximum speed; it will move as fast as you move, with no upper limit- this is to encourage and facilitate acrobatic feats of dodging, which will be required when the action gets heavy. Second, Aegir Timeless is 'themeless', instead utilizing simple shapes and colors, maximizing identification of friend and foe; even the background consists of pulsating, swirling rendered designs of color. Finally, the main gimmick of the game is that the player, instead of having bombs which clear the screen, has the ability to stop time, freezing all enemies and their bullets and allowing you to move around and shoot freely until the power is used up (2-3 seconds), hence the 'timeless' in the title. There are no half-hearted attempts at a story, just an emphesis on skill-based action.
The game is quite playable in it's current state. It features three types of enemies (with their own identifying styles of movement), two weapon types for the player (each with 10 levels of power), 1-up's (if you're lucky), and increasing wave difficulty. Coming soon will be more enemies, more weapons, a high-score list, the time freeze ability, and more.
Here's a screenshot of the current version:
-edit- Screenshot resized.
There are a few things which make Aegir Timeless unique. First, control of the ship is via the mouse. The ship will follow your cursor, and has no maximum speed; it will move as fast as you move, with no upper limit- this is to encourage and facilitate acrobatic feats of dodging, which will be required when the action gets heavy. Second, Aegir Timeless is 'themeless', instead utilizing simple shapes and colors, maximizing identification of friend and foe; even the background consists of pulsating, swirling rendered designs of color. Finally, the main gimmick of the game is that the player, instead of having bombs which clear the screen, has the ability to stop time, freezing all enemies and their bullets and allowing you to move around and shoot freely until the power is used up (2-3 seconds), hence the 'timeless' in the title. There are no half-hearted attempts at a story, just an emphesis on skill-based action.
The game is quite playable in it's current state. It features three types of enemies (with their own identifying styles of movement), two weapon types for the player (each with 10 levels of power), 1-up's (if you're lucky), and increasing wave difficulty. Coming soon will be more enemies, more weapons, a high-score list, the time freeze ability, and more.
Here's a screenshot of the current version:
-edit- Screenshot resized.
#2
Maybe it's because of the recent slew of good horizshmups, like Einhander, R-Type Final and Gradius V. :)
09/08/2005 (8:56 pm)
Hey, very awesome, I can't wait to play! I'm a big STG fan here, too. I've always wanted to do a vertishmup for some reason I keep gravitating back to side-scrollers.Maybe it's because of the recent slew of good horizshmups, like Einhander, R-Type Final and Gradius V. :)
#3
Just a few more features to implement and i'll have a WIP version up for grabs.
09/08/2005 (9:13 pm)
All of my shmup favorites are vertical- but then, they are all also made on the taller aspect arcade screens, and so they are all better suited for vertical movement. I find that with the 4:3 aspect of a computer monitor, the vertical view isn't quite as great, as computer monitors are definately better suited for side scrolling. I suppose its really a matter of utilizing all that horizontal space while keeping the action vertical. Just a few more features to implement and i'll have a WIP version up for grabs.
Torque Owner Jason Swearingen