Project starbreak

[c0mp1337]

Project Starbreak

Name: undecided
Type: topdown bullethell, horizontal scrolling shmup
singleplayer

the game:
the game will be a shoot em' up, with top down bullet hell (like those in touhou, dodonpachi, and others)
and horizontal scrolling stages (like gradius and the like).

backstory:
It seemed like just another day on Popstar. Our friend Kirby was enjoying a nap after a delicious lunch when suddenly a loud noise woke him up
It was the noise of hundreds of strange flying spaceships flying towards the castle of Dedede
No long after, the leader of the aliens - Fufu threw out Dedede and declared herself the new Queen.
The people of popstar didn't mind though, since Fufu was charming and friendly towards everyone
But this didn't sit well with Dedede, as he believes Fufu isn't as nice as she seems
He goes ahead to ask Kirby, who decides to help him
But soon Kirby notices that the Alien forces are too much for him. He loses and Fufu calls him a villain.
Kirby is then rescued by Dedede and the Squeaks
The squeaks upgrade Kirby's warpstar so he might stand a chance against the alien ships.
Go Kirby! Reveal the alien's true motives!


gameplay:
as stated avobe, certain stages will have one type of play. either top down or horizontal. the controls will be different for both.
the main quest will have 7 stages. the fun doesn't end there, no sir. there will be special challenges you must accomplish to unlock extra things.

ze player ship:
we will use something like in paper mario: TTYL to upgrade the ship. after every stage, you get experience depending on how well you did.
after you get certain experience you gain a point to spend on special abilities and stuff.

you start out with 4 points
3 of them are spent in the focus mode ability, which slows down your movement for presicion, shows your hitbox, and adds special abilites to the current shot you might equip.
the last one is spent on starshot level 1


powerup system:
fallen enemies will drop power bits, which you collect to make your shots more powerful. your power level is indicated by a bar
that will fill the more you collect.

shot types:
you start out with the star shot, which is basically shooting star, when you complete certain challeneges you are awarded more shot types that may have different
properties.

bomb system:
you start out with 2 bombs in stock, there are many ways to increase or decrease this count. the bomb type is dependant on your shot type.

that's as far how the concept + other planned stuff goes.

the lead designers are me and blackhook. i'm in charge of designing gameplay aspects, and he's on story and character design.

we need help. altough we ain't getting some things done until we can nail the gameplay first.

[Forte]

I still think that since it's a "Kirby game", it should give you the ability to absorb a power, and it start out at low tier, sort of like Thunder Cross or R-Type, in which grabbing a power up would give you the new power, but it would be weak and hard to use. If you incorporate the Kirby 64 method of combining powers, then you could throw your tier one power at a like-powered enemy to increase its strength.

To make it a bit more of a challenge, this could be incorporated alongside the Gradius style power up bar, in which power capsules have to be collected to get other non-weapon related benefits (Options, Force Fields, speedups?) and possibly even include a powerup on the bar that allows you to throw your current power.

So, say we have a three button system here, movement excluded

Fire: Shoots shit. Also fires your special weapon if you've gotten one.
Power Up: Activates your power up from the bar
Absorb/Ditch/Throw: Hold for suck power, press once to hold your power above your head, press again to throw it. Ditching/Throwing can only be used after you've selected the powerup from the bar that allows you to do so, and you can only use this power up once until you collect enough power capsules food items to use it again.

Food items, in both sidescroller and top down mode are collected from certain formations of enemies and palette swap enemies.

The thrown power has a hitbox much larger than that of the normal shot, and is capable of killing any enemy it hits except bosses/midbosses with one shot.

If you want I could sprite a picture to make this more clear.

[blackhook]

I..like that idea

[c0mp1337]

for the ships:

Warpstar
speed:***
focus speed:*
shot type: 3way front star shot + homing(unfocused)
           frontal assault star shot (focused)
special ability: small hitbox
bomb: giant stars come out from the bottom of the screen sweeping everything

Starcutter:
Speed:**
focus speed:**
shot type: multiple homing cutter shots (unfocused)
           hunter needle shots(focused)
special ability: large hitbox for collecting items
bomb: rowing paddles slash at everything

northstar:
speed:**
focus speed:***
shot type: fist shots(unfocused, concentrated while focused)
special ability: deals greater damage when closest to enemy, deals minimal damage when far to an enemy
bomb: longer invincibility than the other bombs, some bosses might activate some invincibility state while a bomb is activated
so be careful.

Dynastar:
speed:***
focus speed:***
shot type: foward feather storm (focused)
           passive homing feather shots + single foward feather shot
special ability: trememdous speedboost when moving while not shooting/focusing/etc
dynablade swoops in and takes enemies (and bullets) away

Sleeping terror:
speed:*
focus speed: half a star
shot: 3 way flower shot (unfocused)
      5way flower barrage (focused)
special ablitlity: stronger than most rides, but slow as hell.
bomb: LOLSPARK/SOLARBEAM

[Clockwork Pyrite]

Dynastar looks like a straight upgrade from the Warp Star.

[c0mp1337]

Dynastar looks like a straight upgrade from the Warp Star.

some rides are designed for scoring and others for survival

[Forte]

Starcutter? Like Return to Dreamland Starcutter?

That thing's fucking huge.

Wanting that to be in a shmup is like wanting Ridley to be a playable character in Smash 4.

[c0mp1337]

Starcutter? Like Return to Dreamland Starcutter?

That thing's fucking huge.

Wanting that to be in a shmup is like wanting Ridley to be a playable character in Smash 4.

just a ride based off it.