LittleBear
says: Wake up and spill the coffee.
SS is moosa‘s entry for Shmup-Dev’s Constant/Chronic Evolution rapid prototype session. There’s nothing playable in the prototype yet, but it does serve as a test application for the somewhat complex weapon and upgrade system. moosa has clearly put a lot of thought into the design. At first it seems a bit hard to understand, but I think that if done properly it stands a good chance of being intuitive and second nature after a few plays.
Evolve or Die is hima‘s entry for Shmup-Dev’s Constant/Chronic Evolution rapid prototype session. It offers a nicely balanced evolving mechanic: 2 upgrade paths (shots and options) and evolution “levels” tied in to player deaths. It also has a lot of bullets.
In order to evolve, you must fill either of 2 gauges. The red one is filled by destroying enemies, the blue one by scraping bullets. You can press ‘X‘ to evolve, or if a gauge is ready when you die you undergo “forced” evolution. Not as strong an upgrade, but saves your life. “Red” upgrades evolve your shots, “blue” ones your options. I really like the mechanic hima has designed here… but the game is just too hard to show it off. I need an easier version 
See also: GosuShmup, Popoyoi ~ The Devil Apprentice ~, U.S.G. ~ A New Beginning ~, Session 1 Entry, and Chain Reaction
Mama Box is berilium‘s entry for Shmup-Dev’s Constant/Chronic Evolution rapid prototype session. It is, I think, a perfect example of how to present an idea in a rapid prototype.
The game consists of a single boss battle, and the change or evolution is realized through your vertical position on the screen. The closer to the top you are the more powerful your ship’s weapons become. Of course, this leaves you less time and room to dodge the enemy bullets. A classic trade-off that berilium has implemented very well here.
DUX is looking really good, especially the style on the final boss.
Darwin Ex Machina is my entry for Constant/Chronic Evolution over at Shmup-Dev. I really didn’t get much time to work on it, and it shows.
The idea was to have forced evolution via a “Darwin Wave” that mutates both your ship and the enemies. The evolution types implemented turned out quite boring: your ship grows options, the enemy ships first grow bigger and then clone themselves. There are a lot more things that could be done, such as evolving both your shots, and the enemy shots as well. And some cooler evolutions.
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William R. Swaney. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons
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