I got inspiration from many things other than games, but I play games that is similar to what I design in order to learn more about it. Like, what did they do? Was it good or bad? What can I do to make it different or what can I do to make it better? You won't know this from other types of source unless you make a prototype and playtest it. But why making a prototype when other games can be your prototype? 

Personally I think it is good to see how other people handle the same problem differently. 

At first I thought my eyes are going to bleed, judging from the screenshot but since I play the easy mode so they weren't lol. It was a great and weird experience at the same time. I like how you can use just numbers and colors to make up the 3d world.

Beat the game once and this time I tried the non-easy mode. First screen made my eyes bleed so I quit X(

I think the best non-linear shmup I've played is Twilight Insanity. The game feature three route to play with something around 6 endings for each route. The story is told in visual novel style, but the text aren't that long and didn't feel like interrupting the game flow at all, especially when it autoskip the scene that you've already seen.

The game handle how to get each ending pretty good too, in my opinion. First way to determine your ending is from making a choice during a cutscene. Each choice will reward you a something like 'scenario completion point'. The choice that you already chosen in your previous playthrough will be marked with a point you'll get once chosen, so you don't have to memorize all the choices.

The second way to get a different ending is how you play. Kill enemies quickly will give you crystals that will help determine your ending later. Apart from the speed, how close you are to the enemies when you destroy them also help increase the amount of crystals gain. This is a good risk & reward system, since if you survive for a long period of time, the difficulty will constantly increase, making it more difficult to get closer to the enemies.

The third way is which shot type you use. Each story route give you two shot type that you can switch anytime during the game. Which type you use the most will determine your ending.

Other than that, I think the way the game tells a story is very interesting and add a lot to replayability. This is done by having many 'bad' or 'incomplete' endings that reveal some secrets of the game, but not all. Many endings leave me in 'WTH?' moment that wants me to play it again and play it better to get the best ending.


But of course, I think this is a very expensive way to add non-linearity to shmup. Adding a story to your game is expensive, and I'm pretty sure not everyone likes visual novel. Still, this is a good way of combining the two genres and it works.

http://www.itl.nist.gov/div897/sqg/dads/terms.html

"Don't use this site to cheat," it says. Yes, good advice that

Too bad this thread wasn't made when I was a freshmen

Good stuffs guys. This thread is gold.

If you use Pro version, sprite_add_alpha will automatically manage the alpha channel for you. It's good to load your sprite externally too, so I use this almost all the time. ( Except for some sprites that I use them for quick tests. )

I tried learning making games in Flash IDE many times but somehow I couldn never get myself used to the process. I think I'm just used to writing code, which make me love FlashDeveloper. It is also free, and with flixel, I've never had this much fun with Flash game dev before.

I'm a big fan of bullet hell genre so this naturally caught my attention :D

The fact that it is made in Flash made me wonder how well would it handle all the crazy bullets flying around though.

Anyway, good luck with this and can't wait to get my hand on this

EDIT : Just saw  the brontosaurus. So cute, I dies.  :D

The game looks nice! I really dig the graphic style, especially the monster that you keep stomping them lol.  Too bad I don't own a 360. Is there a PC version?

Also sorry that I couldn't help you with those problems   Could the white line happen because of the anti-alias? Or is it because you use 3D function to draw 2D graphic? I must be guessing randomly here 

[GAME INFO]

© GPTouch


GAME INFO

Magus Magus is a multiplayer fighting video game with shooting video game
elements.
The game focuses more on long-range attack rather than a close combat like other
fighting games. The play controls are also greatly simplified in comparison to other
fighting games. The game area resembles an arena shooting game, which allow
player to roam around the area freely in all 8 directions.
The game also feature bullet hell elements from bullet hell/curtain fire shooting
games. This ranges from a barrage attack to a special move that turn a character
into a shooting game boss, with the player be able to control the attack pattern.
The game can be played with as many as 4 players at a time, make it suitable for a
light party game. However, the game mechanic is also designed to be deep
enough for hardcore gamers to enjoy.

SETTING

In the future, a super smart dust called 'Magia Dust' was invented. The devices
have an ability to control the natural world within their range, which resembles
something people in the past used to call ‘magic’.
Over the time the art of fighting with Magia, a magic created from Magia Dust,
becomes the world’s most popular sport called “Magus Battle”.
The story starts with a rumor of a secret Magus Battle Tournament with a prize
being ‘one wish will be granted’ has been spread around the world. After all the
elimination rounds, only 8 Magus were able to go on to the next round, which will
be held on an island, far far away. The real tournament has just begun.


CHARACTERS




GAMEPLAY VIDEO
Old GM Version
http://www.youtube.com/v/2JC3mMN3QQs

New C++ Version
http://www.youtube.com/v/qA7EYMrzxwo

And old project that I decided to pick it up again :D I'll come back with more info.

Maybe these tools will be of some use to someone around here


Tile Map Editor and Sprite Animation Editor

links at:

http://nandosoft.com/downloads.html

I got system.io.filenotfound exception when I tried running both of your editors. I tried installing XNA redistributable 3.0 and it still doesn't work

But I think what most of them meant was that when you yourself haven't in any direct way been affected by it, then it's very hard to relate to it. We see all these horrible news items but we don't know what it feels like, we just know it's horrible. I THINK that's what they meant.

That's exactly what I meant. Thank you.

To be honest, I was stunned by the trailer and playing the game make me realize how bad and terrify rape can be. I think this is because most of the time I feel like those news on the newspaper are something that is not related to me.

I mean, yes, I do feel terrible and sad for them when I read the news. But the game put me right there in the situation, and worse yet, as a rapist. The interactive made it more disgust and thus made me realize how horrible rape really is. It really make me scare of what if this happen to someone I love and care.

Yes, some of people I know have been raped. I don't think I'll be able to understand them. But I can say that this game make me closer to understand them than I was before.

I love this game so much. Definitely one of my favorite adventure game of all time. All the possibilities made me replay this game for so many times. Thank you!


Now I want to make a point-and-click adventure too 

Wait, so give you the ability to read an ending once it's unlocked?  I'm not sure I understand, and I never did play that game you mentioned.

I guess I really need to work in a whole menu at the start.

No. What I meant is, you could ask the player after they read all the ending whether they want to save the ending or not. If they do, then the game create a txt file, maybe with a current date on the filename. And inside the file is the ending.


I haven't tried the new version with less frequent cop patrol. Will try it and come back with feedback later

I'm actually kinda used to the van control so the z/x isn't really an issue to me :O

As for the van offscreen, I have never got that since I will try doing accelerate while holding the left button to pull the screen back. But if you could fix this it would be nice too - maybe adding a key to move camera to center at the van or something.

One last thing, would it be possible if we have a log of the ending for each playthrough, like the game Façade?  It doesn't have to be the whole game log, just the ending. It's ok if you don't though. I just want to see how many endings or possibilities are there in the game   I know I could look in the code you gave but still I think it could be a pretty nice feature for this game 

What kind of crazy math world is this?

Math world is abstract and crazy 

I got that bug as well. The bug only appear when you choose to blackmail 

Also, is it possible to save the old lady?  I was able to find the pills, but I could find no way to administer them.  Making the speech bubble appear just made the woman say nonsense, and clicking on the bed just made the message "I don't think that is a good idea now." appear.

SPOILER

You can save her by examining her bag to call for help. The person on the phone will give you advice for which pill you need to use. Then go the bathroom, choose the blue bottle and if you're in time you will automatically go to the old woman and save her. Or at least that's what happen to me.

I love this so much. Very creative idea that is well executed! Are you planning on polishing this up and release another version in the future? Also, what did you make this in?

The sprite is adorable also. I assume that the main character is called Jiro? :D

That was really fun. How many endings are there? I can't wait to play and see'em all!

I really like this,great game!:coffee:

The length is just right, I think considering there is no graphic but text. I wish there were more choices and path I could choose,though.