Project Root is a new arena shooter from OPQAM.
You can download a demo and support them on Kickstarter and Steam Greenlight on their website here.
Ouya have announced they will match kickstarter funds for games on their platform between $50,000 and $250,000 (until their $1m budget runs out).
Sounds like a great opportunity to make a professional quality shmup on console.
Details here: http://www.freethegamesfund.com/
Valkyrius is a new shmup from Iridescent Games which features multiple weapons and an interesting warping mechanic that lets you teleport short distances.
It’s available to buy now direct from Iridescent Games, and will be on Desura and Green Man Gaming soon.
Get Valkyrius here.
Vote for it on Steam Greenlight.
Discuss Valkyrius on the forums here.
Wondersonic’s Unity 3D shmup framework is looking very polished now. Take a look at this video demonstration of using the framework within the Unity editor.
http://www.youtube.com/user/STGWeekly
A weekly show featuring gameplay of STG or “shmups” with approachable commentary from passionate fans of the genre. We comment on 1 credit clears or high scoring replays typically: discussing strategies, techniques, mindset, aesthetic or anything related to the game or the genre.
I recently gave a lecture on shmup development with Unity as part of a course at RMIT University.
You can download the lecture slides and example project.
Lecture slides [PDF]
Unity shmup template [ZIP – Unity 3.5.3 project]
The example project is a template for Unity shmup development – it contains just a player, an enemy and a scrolling background, however it implements many of the optimizations needed to get a shmup to run properly, such as:
- Bullet pooling
- Collision optimization
- Precise controls
- Transform caching
It’s written in Javascript, and is thoroughly documented with inline comments. The code is intended to be understandable to novice programmers.
Strike Suit Zero looks like a return to the golden era of space shooters, such as X-Wing vs TIE Fighter and Wing Commander.
DroneSwarm was my entry in the 2k7 shmup-dev competition. My latest game, DroneSwarm Command is a sequel of sorts. It’s an iPad strategy game with some shmup elements.
Find out more at droneswarm.com.
DroneSwarm Command on iTunes.
If you’re making a shmup, you’re going to need music and sound-effects. Take a look at a new digital synthesizer and sequencer called AudioGL – it has recently entered a paid-beta phase ($80 to buy-in to the beta test, the final product will probably be around $200). There’s also a free trial.
Wingbreaker, an iOS shmup is now available for free on the App Store.
It’s a vertically scrolling shmup with tilt controls, dual weapons and lots of customization options.
There’s already a thread for Wingbreaker on the forum.
