As some of you might be aware, Frankengraphics and I are developing a Blaster Master-inspired side-scrolling adventure game.
I'm thinking about controls for alternate weapons, and wanted to get opinions. When in the tank, the game will feature a primary gun (not unlike Blaster Master) and a handful of alternate/secondary weapons (directional shots, homing missiles, bombs, things of that nature, which all have limited ammunition)
There are two primary ways of switching guns in most games: either a subscreen (Blaster Master, Mega Man, Journey to Silius), or by cycling through them (Batman)
Then, some games (like Mega Man, Batman, and Journey to Silius) replace your primary fire with the alternate gun when you press B. Others (Blaster Master) require a modifier (down+B, or up+B in many other games)
There are obvious advantages and disadvantages to each method, which also depends on the nature of the game (how often do you use the alternate guns, how much ammo do they have, how much do you want to switch back and forth). That said, I'm curious about opinions, comments, and suggestions that anyone has about what they like and don't like about the various methods in games that you have played.
A few things of note:
- The main gun might be able to fire upwards (or at least at an angle upwards), which would prevent UP+B from being used as a modifier.
- I'm considering one of the optional weapons to be aimed in 8 directions, which would make things lean toward a non-modifier approach, but nothing is set in stone.
- I'm planning to also support the SNES controller, which will provide an alternative control scheme that might be more flexible.
Anyway, I appreciate any discussion or thoughts.
I'm thinking about controls for alternate weapons, and wanted to get opinions. When in the tank, the game will feature a primary gun (not unlike Blaster Master) and a handful of alternate/secondary weapons (directional shots, homing missiles, bombs, things of that nature, which all have limited ammunition)
There are two primary ways of switching guns in most games: either a subscreen (Blaster Master, Mega Man, Journey to Silius), or by cycling through them (Batman)
Then, some games (like Mega Man, Batman, and Journey to Silius) replace your primary fire with the alternate gun when you press B. Others (Blaster Master) require a modifier (down+B, or up+B in many other games)
There are obvious advantages and disadvantages to each method, which also depends on the nature of the game (how often do you use the alternate guns, how much ammo do they have, how much do you want to switch back and forth). That said, I'm curious about opinions, comments, and suggestions that anyone has about what they like and don't like about the various methods in games that you have played.
A few things of note:
- The main gun might be able to fire upwards (or at least at an angle upwards), which would prevent UP+B from being used as a modifier.
- I'm considering one of the optional weapons to be aimed in 8 directions, which would make things lean toward a non-modifier approach, but nothing is set in stone.
- I'm planning to also support the SNES controller, which will provide an alternative control scheme that might be more flexible.
Anyway, I appreciate any discussion or thoughts.