As a designer, what most interests you about a Shmup as a design space?

I really love the simplicity of what makes a shmup a shmup, in that all that is required is a similar style of movement and obstacles or enemies to defeat and pass. Although many people think of games that take place in space with the player being a ship of some sort, the true definition of a shmup is very open for creativity. This allows for designers to really make each game their own through the addition of power ups and their obstacles and enemies. I am really interested in being able to explore my own narrative as a shmup and develop a type of game that I normally wouldn’t have been drawn toward.

Write up the rules of your shump. What are you prototyping? How? What do you expect to learn from prototyping and what ideas will you test?

In my shmup the player begins in a dark forest, unsure of how or why they got there, with finding a way out as their purpose. The plants and wildlife around them then begins to mutate and take on monstrous forms, moving and attacking the character. It will be a side scroller, allowing the player to scan their environment for oncoming enemies as they attempt to make their way out of the forest. I expect to learn how well my narrative comes across and how it can be further developed. I will be testing out mechanics mainly, and how well the player understands the overall concept and narrative of the game.

Choose a narrative and deconstruct the plot based on the model described:

Narrative: Fullmetal Alchemist

1. You: The storyline’s main protagonist is Edward Elric, a young skilled alchemist. He is introduced with a shot of him and his brother, another important protagonist, followed by an action scene in which many of his characteristics are introduces such as his automail arm and military status.
2. Need: It is soon made obvious through a scene depicting a military briefing that something is not right within the country, as there have been criminal incidents and possible corruption within the government, and Edward is determined to create peace.
3. Go: It is later revealed that Ed and his brother Al have a dark past, and committed an alchemy taboo that left Al’s soul without a real body and Ed missing an arm and a leg. The characters are determined to do whatever is necessary to get Al’s true body back, as his soul is bound to a suit of armor and he cannot feel, sleep, or eat.
4. Search: Ed and Al learn that at an unknown point in the future Al’s soul will reject the suit of armor as a body and he will be pulled back to his original body which is in another world, similar to heaven/hell. This makes the need to retrieve Al’s body that much more pressing.
5. Find: Ed and Al have been searching for a philosopher’s stone, which can enhance alchemy and make any alchemist much more powerful, in order to get Al’s body back. They then learn from a fellow alchemist that the stones are made from many living souls and require multiple sacrifices to be created. Because of this the brothers refuse to use something so evil for their cause, and are forced to search for their answers elsewhere.
6. Take: A secondary storyline has been the corruption within their country’s government, and the government’s plan to create a philosopher’s stone. Ed is swallowed by an immortal being on the opposing side of this fight, and is transported into a failed portal to the same place in which Al’s body has been taken. At this point it seems that there is no escape from this abyss for Ed and that Al has been left on his own.
7. Return: Ed find remnants of transmutation circles which can be used for alchemy and discovers the way out of the place he has been trapped in. Along the way he also passes through the portal once again where Al’s body is being kept, and learns that it will be possible for Al to reach it in the near future.
8. Change: Ed and Al along with the rest of the military continue their fight against the immortal beings’ creation of another philosopher’s stone, and in the end they win the battle and reunite with their father. The pair is also able to send Al back into the portal to retrieve his body and they head back home to be reunited with their friends.