Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Classifying the types of shooters
There are several general types of mechanics and setups used in action games. Each
of them has its own advantages and tried-and-true features. Choosing a proper class
of game may help you to plan your future games better.
Fixed shooters
Fixed shooters are games where the protagonist is fixed at one position on the
screen, being able to only change the angle of shooting or strafe (usually, this is a
story about a gun turret). The most notable example is, of course, Space Invaders.
Another one is a classic game,
Paratrooper
, originally designed by
Greg Kuperberg
in 1982. Now, there are dozens of clones of this product on iTunes; its concept is very
addictive.
A screenshot from DOT Space Hero by 1Coin
Scrolling shooter
Scrolling shooters are games where all the actions are shown from a side-view per-
spective. Originally, such games were sprite-based, being a direct analogy to plat-
form arcade; the only difference was the more dynamic action-oriented gameplay.
Such games were extremely popular on 8 bit and 16 bit gaming consoles because
many modern developers tried to contribute to them. A wonderful example is
DOT
Space Hero
from
1Coin
(
http://www.dotspacehero.com/
)
. The game has amazing and
cute graphics as well as colorful gameplay. The general advantage of side-scrolling
concept for iOS devices is an easy to control system.
