Shoot’em up game “Zenith of Lead” by Cortez Curtis Gray B.S., Emporia State University, 2016 A REPORT submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree MASTER OF SCIENCE Department of Computer Science Carl R. Ice College of Engineering KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY Manhattan, Kansas 2021 Approved by: Major Professor Daniel Andresen Copyright © Cortez Gray 2021. Abstract This paper presents an implementation for an idea within the shoot’em up (SHMUP) genre of games. It was developed to try and present a unique take on the genre. So, this paper provides a solution which is focused on designing gameplay which is as fast paced as possible while implementing some original mechanics. To do so we evaluate other games within the genre and how they could be innovated upon. We also go over the design of the game itself and how its performance metrics were evaluated. The implementation specified uses the game engine Game Maker Studio 2 to deliver on its premise. Table of Contents List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ vi List of Tables ................................................................................................................................ vii Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................... viii Chapter 1 - Introduction .................................................................................................................. 1 Chapter 2 – Related Work............................................................................................................... 2 2.1 Asteroids ............................................................................................................................... 2 2.2 Galaga ................................................................................................................................... 3 2.3 Xevious ................................................................................................................................. 4 2.4 R-Type .................................................................................................................................. 5 2.5 Rez ........................................................................................................................................ 6 2.6 Mushihimesama .................................................................................................................... 7 2.7 Ketsui Deathtiny ................................................................................................................... 8 2.8 Nuclear Throne ..................................................................................................................... 9 Chapter 3 - Implementation .......................................................................................................... 11 3.1 Overall Design .................................................................................................................... 11 3.2 Engine Explanation ............................................................................................................. 12 3.3 Finite State Machine ........................................................................................................... 12 3.4 Player Systems .................................................................................................................... 13 3.5 User Interface Explanation ................................................................................................. 15 3.6 Enemy Systems ................................................................................................................... 20 3.7 Bosses ................................................................................................................................. 23 3.8 Inheritance .......................................................................................................................... 24 3.9 Menu Systems ..................................................................................................................... 25 3.10 Tutorial .............................................................................................................................. 27 3.11 Dialogue System ............................................................................................................... 27 3.12 Particle System ................................................................................................................. 28 3.13 Spawn Triggers ................................................................................................................. 29 3.14 Story .................................................................................................................................. 29 Chapter 4 – Evaluation.................................................................................................................. 30 iv 4.1 Debugging ........................................................................................................................... 30 4.2 Performance Testing ........................................................................................................... 32 4.3 Project Metrics .................................................................................................................... 34 4.4 Project Difficulties .............................................................................................................. 34 Chapter 5 - Conclusion and Future Work ..................................................................................... 36 5.1 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 36 5.2 Future Work - Leaderboards ............................................................................................... 36 5.3 Save and Quit ...................................................................................................................... 36 5.4 Additional Level ................................................................................................................. 37 5.5 Hard Mode .......................................................................................................................... 37 5.6 Porting ................................................................................................................................. 37 5.7 Playtesting ........................................................................................................................... 38 5.8 Accessibility Features ......................................................................................................... 38 5.9 Things I Learned ................................................................................................................. 39 Chapter 6 - References .................................................................................................................. 40 v List of Figures Figure 1: Asteroids Start Screen [12].............................................................................................. 2 Figure 2: Galaga Gameplay Screenshot [13] .................................................................................. 3 Figure 3: Xevious Gameplay Screenshot [14] ................................................................................ 4 Figure 4: R-Type Gameplay Screenshot [15] ................................................................................. 5 Figure 5: Rez Gameplay Screenshot [16] ....................................................................................... 6 Figure 6: Mushihimesama Gameplay Screenshot [17] ................................................................... 7 Figure 7: Ketsui Deathtiny Gameplay Screenshot [18] .................................................................. 8 Figure 8: Nuclear Throne Gameplay Screenshot [19] .................................................................... 9 Figure 9: Game Controls Menu .................................................................................................... 13 Figure 10: Player State Diagram ................................................................................................... 14 Figure 11: User Interface .............................................................................................................. 15 Figure 12: Player Score and Score Multiplier ............................................................................... 16 Figure 13: Player Health Bar ........................................................................................................ 17 Figure 14: Normal sprite (Left), player and graze hitbox showing (Right) .................................. 17 Figure 15: Player Graze Meter ...................................................................................................... 18 Figure 16: Grenade Counter .......................................................................................................... 19 Figure 17: Player Cover System ................................................................................................... 19 Figure 18: Enemy State Diagram .................................................................................................. 20 Figure 19: Enemy Attack Struct Example ...................................................................................