Re: [stella] variations on a theme

Subject: Re: [stella] variations on a theme
From: Glenn Saunders <krishna@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 01:56:15 -0800 (PST)
On Mon, 12 Jan 1998, Piero Cavina wrote:
> - player-seeking invaders-bombs: before disappearing, the bombs move
> horizontally towards the player for some pixels.

This may be too difficult.  Rick Maurer cornered the market on SI
variations.  I think that it's better to add depth rather than variations.
By depth I mean levels or bonuses and that sort of thing.

Since almost every shooter is a variation on SI, it's hard to adjust the
gameplay without running into other games (Megamania, Missile Command,
Galaxian, Galaga, Phoenix, Gorf, etc...)

However, there is a particular monotony to the gameplay of SI that really
cries out for SOME sort of innovation, something that hasn't yet been
attempted.

Of course, at that point the game will no longer be the faithful port of
the Taito classic as it was originally intended, but let's not forget that
for the most part, 2600 SI outdoes the arcade in replay value, so while
the arcade IS a classic, it is still in many ways a primitive game that
was improved-upon.  The same can be said of, for instance, Pan Man vs. Ms.
Pac Man.  Most people prefer the latter.  Or Galaxian vs. Galaga.

> - wild-saucer: it comes out continuosly, but you must not shoot it (or
> you'll die).

I think playing around with the upper portion of the display is a good
idea.  In order to preserve the SI theme, you can't take away the marching
minions, but it may be possible to add something happening simultaneously
at the top of the screen which fights for the player's attention, just as 
there are multiple threats and responsibilities in Oystron.

In Commie Mutants, for instance, it's important to destroy the mothership
otherwise it will continuously spawn enemies.  An enemy-regeneration
threat would be a good one to add.

I also feel that, like Gorf and Phoenix, that a mothership wave would be
really great.  I've yet to see a really decent mothership wave on the
2600.  It really cries out for a multicolor six-char (which is possible,
look at the title graphic of Super Football).  This would be a great
addition if the game turned into a SC multiload game.  This mega-saucer
could have more of a boss-feel vs. the others, just to try something more
modern on the 2600, and have it deteriorate like Mukor in Blasteroids.

That would be a first.

> - challenging stages: each n-th stage is a challenging stage. Here, the
> invaders formation is not complete, and they can't drop any bomb. The goal
> of the stage is to kill al the invaders starting from the topmost row. If
> you make a mistake, that is you kill an invader before finishing all the
> upper rows, the stage ends and you lose the bonus points. Each stage will
> have a different, more difficult, invaders formation.

This sounds great.

How about an alternate 2-player mode in which the 2nd player controls a
mothership that disperses replacement minions with a fixed recharge rate
(as well as being able to shoot).  He dies when all the invaders are
killed or if he gets shot.




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