Talk:Shoot The Core

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Blog's Probably Going to be Nuked
Looks like the development blog is going to bite the dust (not taht I used it much anyway). My website has been hacked and the only option we have is to roll it back. Conviently its before the blog was put up.

Brilliant!--ACE Spark 17:27, October 18, 2009 (UTC)

Hah, I was surprised by someone going and making a page of the game before a demo release. I guess people like the idea then. The game itself is, at the end of the day, a love letter to shoot em ups in general. Gameplay wise, one of the best I came across was the Gradius series, for both its ideas, playstyle and well - the freakin' cores. Love em. As a result - the game is going to be set as a gradius fangame, but will include the odd cameo appearance from other series as well. :P--ACE Spark 21:59, 2 August 2009 (UTC)

Development Discussion:
I'm reluctent to edit this page, because i'd rather see peoples opinions on the project as the game gets further into development. After re-programming the engine several times, ive gotten it to a accuracy level that i'm happy with.

I will say one thing - i'm planning two major gameplay modes, one of which is a love letter to both gradius and shoot em up bosses in general - the boss rush mode - and it will be what the title suggests - themed stages containing a set of bosses, with just a few enemy waves and sub bosses here and there to get the player powered up. The other mode will be a storyline mode, and i will post more about that at a later date. Needless to say, i expect people to play both :P Boss rush mode will contain bosses story mode wont, and story mode, on the other hand, will contain bosses or variations on bosses that boss rush wont.

Bosses
There are certain bosses that will be making it into the game, but have either not had their sprites finished, or I dont wish to post them yet due to spoiler reasons, therefore I havent revealed them. There's a few bosses that WONT make the game due to them either relying heavily on 3d Graphics, or general redundency. (So not every variation on the gunwall or walker will make it for example.) I'm going to confirm a few "requested" bosses though:
 * Needle Diamond: I like the idea behind this, and with a few tweaks and the ability to rotate, I think I can make it work and be a little less "meh". The final version will probably have animation similiar to how I did Killer Dwarf.
 * Crystal Core: While I havent even started drawing this yet, Crystal Core will make it in there, altough he will be the slightly smarter Gradius 3 SNES version as opposed to the stupid lump that was teh Gradius 2 Arcade one :P
 * Zelos Force: A few story revisions and I now want to get this guy in there. This will ultimately mean every boss from Salamander Arcade will be in the game. It wont be the ACTUAL Zelos Force, but rather a look a like. More will be revealed as I continue with development.
 * Death MK I & II. ... just trust me on this. Technically, the later will be Death MK 2.5.5 or something.:P

And a few Shoot Em Up Cameos to throw in there: Some bosses will turn into generic space creatures but will retain the attack patterns from Parodius.
 * There will be a few R-Type bosses and some other famous and not so famous shoot em ups.
 * Parodius bosses will be converted into Gradius bosses, as shown with the Core Squad and Burning Core bosses.

Gameplay
I will be using the EDIT system of Gradius 3 to full effect. It's probably the best thing to come out of the nearly unplayable mess that is Gradius 3, and it means people can experiment themselves and get something that works for them. I'm definately considering putting in multiple levels of upgrade, allowing you to power up the lasers and the like. The game uses Checkpoints rather than "Respawning on the spot." You will be limited on lives but have unlimited continues. High Score is lost when you run out of lives, but you have the option to continue at the checkpoint you died or at the start of the stage. (Idea taken from Space Megaforce, and frankly there are several Gradius games that could've done with this choice :P)

I'm also planning a variety of "difficulty" settings so newcomers and gradius vets alike can actually play the game. Power ups are not lost completely upon death. Instead, power ups will be removed at the start of stages, meaning the player may not have the chance to fully power up on certain levels. There are also fewer Red Enemies at checkpoints, for obvious reasons. I will be doing this because several non-gradius players have voiced their opinion that the thing keeping them from really enjoying the series was the loss of power ups upon death. Equally, removing power ups at the start of a level should maintain difficulty balance. This mode may make higher loops extremely hard to play, so isn't recommended for people wanting to reach high scores. Power ups are lost upon death, but retained at the start of the level. There are a "normal" amount of enemies at checkpoints. Power ups are lost on checkpoints. Good luck. ... "you probably wont get very far on this mode."
 * Regular Difficulty:
 * Classic Difficulty:
 * Recovery Mode:
 * Wut:

There will also be Loops as well, bosses are being made with this in mind, as you saw on the Killer Dwarf video. I wish to make the game Youtube friendly - the save system will pretty much be like in ReBirth and Galaxies.--ACE Spark 21:59, 2 August 2009 (UTC)

R-Type Boss Idea
So, what about this R-Type boss? It looks very much like a core already, all it really needs is a little core moving and it could BE a core. --NARFNra 22:10, 2 August 2009 (UTC) Which game is that from, R-Type Leo? I haven't played the R-Type series very much, just a bit of 3, Super R-Type (ick) and the original.

And yeah, that practically looks like a Gradius boss already. --ACE Spark 22:28, 2 August 2009 (UTC)

It's the first boss from R-Type Leo. lYM1ecSSjec In this video, the boss fight is at 2:33, the sad thing is that he has only about as much attack pattern as is seen in the video. --NARFNra 22:32, 2 August 2009 (UTC)

Janken Hand
I'll give you five bucks to put the Janken Hand (Rock-Scissors-Paper) boss from the original Parodius in your game. Doc Lithius 00:50, 3 August 2009 (UTC)
 * DON'T TALK TO ACE about that boss. He hates it. Plus, what would it do? Just be a more powerful version of its attacking form? That would... kinda suck.--NARFNra 01:22, 3 August 2009 (UTC)
 * Well... I do have some actual SERIOUS ideas in regards to the Janken Hand if you're interested.


 * Basically, it would work slightly different than the Parodius version. Instead of grabbing one of three hands, you arrive at the boss "unassigned".  When you arrived, the game would instruct you to press Up and Fire for Rock, Down and Fire for Paper, and Forward/Backward and Fire for Scissors.  You play a best-of-three game with the boss.  If you win three times in a row, the boss auto-destructs in shame, firing out power-ups.  If you win twice and it wins once, the boss destructs, but fires bullets instead. If you lose 1-to-2, you fight the boss.  If you lose 0-to-3, the boss tosses out a series of portals (kind of like Bacterian in Gradius III) which get faster and faster with each toss, but the boss otherwise doesn't attack you directly and if you survive, you can progress ahead. When you fight the boss normally, here's some ideas I had for his "phases".  In each phase, it would scoot up and down kind of like Big Core MK I.  However, the individual phases would have different attacks and it could change phases in mid-battle as well:
 * Rock Phase: As it scrolls up and down, it occasionally tries to punch out the player's ship. Every once in a while, it flies off the left of the screen and comes back in from the top or bottom, trying to "uppercut" or "undercut" the player 2-5 times before returning to the right of the screen.


 * Paper Phase: Janken Hand acts as he did in Parodius, firing off little finger rockets. On higher loops/difficulties, they semi-seek (like Death's missiles) instead of being dumb-fire.


 * Scissors Phase: Janken Hand fires off waves of energy or electricity from its two fingers, scrolling up and down (as you might have guessed) while doing so. On rare occasion, it would rear back and snap forward, trying to "snip" the player's ship between its two fingers.


 * Anyway, that's my ideas regarding Janken Hand. I'd love to see this as a bonus stage boss or something, but I know how much ACE absolutely HATED the original boss, so...  Still.  It's an idea if he gets bored.  Doc Lithius 22:35, 3 August 2009 (UTC)

Misc. Game Bosses
Here everyone can put bosses from misc. games they have played.

I want to submit...

BOSS 3 from Over Horizon!

I just want it to be known this is an awesome game, rivaling Life Force and Gradius 2. The boss only attacks by attempting to stab the player, but it can be excruciatingly annoying to dodge its random movements. The ice is destructible. You could turn it into a core, also. --NARFNra 15:24, 3 August 2009 (UTC)

Hmmm... I think that's a pretty good idea NARFNra. I think that maybe Genocide Core should be in here, or maybe the Gigantic? Then again, Genocide Core fights a lot like the Double Big Core in G-Type. Speaking of which, are any G-Type bosses going to be in Shoot the Core, or is it strictly by the book Gradius / non fan shmups bosses?--Brain Golem 17:24, 23 August 2009 (UTC)

Maybe Bacterion could make a suprise appearance later in the game.Hectorvon 00:58, September 26, 2010 (UTC)

Questions, Comments, and Boss Suggestions
First off, excellent job on the graphics and other programming you've done so far. I saw the vids and that boss is much more nasty than I remember it!

Now for some questions. I was curious if Beacon will be similar to the Gradius III/Garudius '95 version, the Gradius V version, a hybrid, or a complete remake? Are you gonna take a jab at G-Type and throw in the R-9 as a boss? Are you planning on making a few new weapon types of your own and what types do you plan on getting from the other series, if any?

Here are some boss suggestions if you need some. Of course some of the classic Nemesis series bosses, namely Abandon, Misfit, and the "Bubble Core" from Nemesis '94. Speaking of those, the chibi versions from Parodius MSX (I know, your favorite game =P) would be funny to fight. Maybe you can create a transforming boss like the Riot, Mayhem, and Abandon Core combo from Otomodius. Perhaps some bosses from Thunder Force 3, the SNES "port" Thunder Spirits, and Thunder Force 4. Hopefully that helps a little.

Again good job and best of luck! GrandViper 22:48, September 1, 2009 (UTC)

Okay, first off, I need to get this out into the open. HOLY CRAP! I can't believe how beautiful and detailed the sprites are (I'm digging Beacon with his green paint) and the amount of effort put into this is astonishing. You really like putting effort into things that will be on the screen for all of five seconds. :P And GrandViper, I like your ideas with Thunder Force. Maybe a Thunder Force themed stage, with the song "Metal Squad" playing. And I'm hoping that your version of Zelos Force is a bit stronger than he was in Gradius II. Maybe having him fire his lightning attack like Mayhem Warship did in Nemesis 90' Kai. I'm really hoping this gets as much attention as it should!--Brain Golem 22:22, September 3, 2009 (UTC)