Hello World - What's a faerie cat to do?
Hmm... the first step. Shmups, game design, creative musings. & my sweet Loki girl delivering powerups to DrBossKey.
This is the way of the MotherShmupper
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The Sound of a Shmup: Rhythm, Identity, and Audio Clarity
I thought it would be fitting to listen to the Interstellar Sentinel OST while reading this :) Enjoy as we channeled Super Metroid, Super Turrican, and The Terminator as inspirations, along with 80s Synths and some modern EDM influences to make the gem of my heart. Why player shots, enemy pops,
Risk, Rank, and the Shmup Comeback Curve
With no risk there is no meaningful reward. When you die and try to retrieve your body/XP, the risk is dynamic to your greed. If you were carrying 3 levels’ worth of XP, that is a very different kind of tension compared to having almost no XP. I’m
Power Loss, Gradius Syndrome, and the Value of a Bad Run
A question popped up in the Shmup Creator Discord recently: How do you feel about losing your power-ups after dying in a shmup? The responses were interesting. Power loss was called illogical, unnecessarily punitive, difficult to balance, momentum-killing, and ultimately a relic of old arcade design. None of
Super I-Frames, Giant Bosses, and Letting Players Cheat a Little
I just got back from Shmup Slam 8, and I've been talking, watching, and chatting with all manner of Mother Shmupper lovers. Super i-frames are not just mercy. They solve a feel problem for normal players, but they also create a tactical optimization window for deeper strategies