Devlog - 48

Happy Friday! Didn't have a lot of time to work on DV this week, as I'm preoccupied with work on the next Pixelblog. I'll be revisiting human anatomy, so let that be your tease.

That said, I still had time for a fruitful gamedev diversion. What we have here is a mockup of DV in a traditional vertical scrolling format. First image is an example of yoko mode (horizontal display), and the second image is tate mode (vertical oriented display). It seems the more I analyze the genre, the more our ideas funnel towards convention.

While innovation is always welcome, there is a tried and true formula that must be respected. Personally, I love the conventional vertical scrolling format. Sadly, I think most casual gamers are turned off by the cropped play area when playing in yoko mode, and probably won't make the effort to utilize tate mode, if they are even aware of the option. Furthermore, I thought a full widescreen play area could appeal to a wider audience, while presenting a novelty to the hardcore. However, the doubt grows the more I think about the level design. The short wide play area is just not conducive to creating patterns that feel natural with vertical scrolling. I still think it can be done, but it will require unorthodox design, for which there is little, to no reference for. Considering the fact that hardcore shmup fans are the only people who buy these games, why make the hurdle for ourselves?

I'm simply testing the waters at this point, but just looking at the mockups, I feel like, ahh, now that's a shmup. As for the resolution, it was a bit tricky to find a pixel perfect formula that optimally fits the ideal play area in yoko and tate modes. I have much to say on my disdain of the 16:9 format, and its detrimental effects on 2D game design. But, I'll save that topic for another devlog, if indeed, we do go in this direction.