I am a graphic designer / filmmaker turned developer and am planning to produce / fund a 1942-style, top down shoot-em up game. How difficult is a scrolling shooter game to code and program? How many hours would it take an average game programmer to create something like this?
I am already designing gorgeous graphics and sound design to go along with some classic Arcade style gaming…any thoughts greatly appreciated.
The gameplay mechanic for a 1942/Galaga style shooter is pretty straightforward, so an average game programmer should probably be able to write something like this in a reasonable amount of time, given a good game engine.
The issue is that the iPhone SDK really provides no such "game engine", so a programmer would have to write one from scratch, or find an off-the-shelf package that would work for this type of game.
Personally, I think a prototype that demonstrates general game play could be done in "hours", but for a full-blown, professional looking title, I think you should be thinking man-weeks/man-months to complete.
I'd say three months for a quality job, assuming a technically capable artist; two months if they've got an existing engine which is suitable to do some of the heavy lifting.
But the spec is so ill defined it's hard to say.
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I'd say three months for a quality job, assuming a technically capable artist; two months if they've got an existing engine which is suitable to do some of the heavy lifting.
But the spec is so ill defined it's hard to say.
With a good game dev, and a dedicated artist probably 2-3 months of full time work. I think your bigger problem is though that this type of game isn't really suited for iPhone in my opinion. Shooters require crisp tight control, and perfect visibility, you don't get that with a virtual dpad, accelerometer, or touch and drag.
Yea, I could do this in a couple of weeks even without an existing engine. Let me know if you need a programmer, I have lot's of spare time. BTW if it's a free app, that's awesome and I would be even more interested. Thanks
Yea, I could do this in a couple of weeks even without an existing engine. Let me know if you need a programmer, I have lot's of spare time. BTW if it's a free app, that's awesome and I would be even more interested. Thanks
Average Joe
If some strange twist of fate makes this happen, I'd love to read a progress blog or development diary either during or after the process.
I'm sure I could be proven wrong, but unless you're planning to work 24/7 for these couple of weeks, that time isn't realistically enough to make a serious dent in the amount of work required to complete this project, once you break it down into a full list of tasks. Just my opinion though, based on decades of experience.
With a good game dev, and a dedicated artist probably 2-3 months of full time work. I think your bigger problem is though that this type of game isn't really suited for iPhone in my opinion. Shooters require crisp tight control, and perfect visibility, you don't get that with a virtual dpad, accelerometer, or touch and drag.
Totally agree that most top down shooters suffer from poor visibility (we are not interested in virtual d pads and accelerometer control would be supported but not ideal way to control this game) we have a concept cleans that up quite a bit and we think the Portrait mode of the screen actually is a great aspect ratio for this kind of game...Game control is obviously what its about with a game like this
Totally agree that most top down shooters suffer from poor visibility (we are not interested in virtual d pads and accelerometer control would be supported but not ideal way to control this game) we have a concept cleans that up quite a bit and we think the Portrait mode of the screen actually is a great aspect ratio for this kind of game...Game control is obviously what its about with a game like this
I am trying to experiment with a 3d version of top down shooters - which in this case aren't really top down but more like 3rd person with "3d on rails".
I think this would be something better suited for this platform although any shooter will require relatively tight control etc .. but will see.
It is pretty much like a scrolling shooter except going " into the screen " so to speak.... which gives me a bit more room in terms of visibility etc ..
Also with 3d one gets to play with the 3rd dimension which adds a lot of character to the game even though the action is still kind of on "rails" and limited to 2d .
Totally agree that most top down shooters suffer from poor visibility (we are not interested in virtual d pads and accelerometer control would be supported but not ideal way to control this game) we have a concept cleans that up quite a bit and we think the Portrait mode of the screen actually is a great aspect ratio for this kind of game...Game control is obviously what its about with a game like this
Yep portrait mode would be quite nice, its just the interface that sucks. Accelerometer isn't good enough in my opinion, and anything else has your fingers/hand blocking part of the screen along with no tactile feedback.
I'm sure it can work depending on the amount of enemies and bullets on the screen at once, but I don't think its ever going to be optimal for the platform.
Programming a Top Down Scrolling Shooter
Linear Mode
