Video games: Space invaders (1)

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In my previous life, Space Invaders was the first fixed shooter game and set the template for the genre. The goal was to defeat wave after wave of descending aliens with a horizontally moving laser to earn as many points as possible. Space Invaders was a 1978 shoot 'em up arcade video game developed by Tomohiro Nishikado. It was manufactured and sold by Taito in Japan, and licensed to the Midway division of Bally for overseas distribution.

Designer Nishikado drew inspiration from North American target shooting games like Breakout (1976) and Gun Fight (1975), as well as science fiction narratives such as the novel The War of the Worlds (1897), the anime Space Battleship Yamato (1974), and the film Star Wars (1977). But in this life, this game will be produced and distributed by me and my company " Galaxy video games pvt. Ltd. " Not only because I know exactly how to do it but also a year earlier when I extended my company's branches overseas including Japan; I had instructed my employees to recruit talented individuals. At that time Tomohiro Nishikado, who has just graduated from college was recruited by me in managerial position in Japan so he hasn't came up with space invaders' idea otherwise I would have known it.

To complete development of the game, I have to design custom hardware and development tools. In my previous life, upon release, Space Invaders was an immediate commercial success; by 1982, it had grossed $3.8 billion with a net profit of $450 million at that time. This made it the best-selling video game and highest-grossing entertainment product at the time, and the highest-grossing video game of all time. In this life, with me producing and distributing it, profits will be many multifold than original

Space Invaders was considered one of the most influential video games of all time. It ushered in the golden age of arcade video games. It was the inspiration for numerous video games and game designers across different genres, and had been ported and re-released in various forms. The 1980 Atari VCS version quadrupled sales of the VCS, thereby becoming the first killer app for video game consoles. More broadly, the pixelated enemy alien had became a pop culture icon, often representing video games as a whole.

It was a fixed shooter game in which the player moves a laser cannon horizontally across the bottom of the screen and fires at aliens overhead. The aliens begin as five rows of eleven that move left and right as a group, shifting downward each time they reach a screen edge. The goal is to eliminate all of the aliens by shooting them. While the player has three lives, the game ends immediately if the invaders reach the bottom of the screen. Aliens attempt to destroy the player's cannon by firing projectiles. The laser cannon is partially protected by stationary defense bunkers which are gradually destroyed from the top by the aliens and, if the player fires when beneath one, the bottom gets destroyed.

As aliens are defeated, their movement and the game's music both speed up. Defeating all the aliens brings another wave which starts lower, a loop which can continue endlessly. A special "mystery ship" will occasionally move across the top of the screen and award bonus points if destroyed.

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For me designing this game is quite easy compared to others especially original creator. It's not only due to the fact that I'm more intelligent or have detailed knowledge of what will work and how to achieve it but also due to the fact that I have adequate necessary hardware to produce it. When I developed Tetris and Pac- man, I have accumulated and build necessary hardwares required including its design and related patents.

Before my company's Tetris and Pac-man arcade games became popular; Atari has created game Breakout in 1976, a year before me. Due to whatever reason, be it that Atari struggling or my good luck, I faced no anti- competitive or underhanded market tactics from Atari to counter my games.

Due to unhindered market movements for my 'never seen before' advanced games coupled with new & fresh concept, clearer visuals, enticing music and tap of human psychology in game layout etc. my company and it's games became instant hits and established itself as new dominant player in game industry.

In order to establish hegemony in the global gaming industry, I'm set to produce space invaders, not only as major crusader against my opponents but also to establish "Galaxy video games Pvt. Ltd" as industry leader leading innovation and excellence.

Right now, one of the biggest opponent to my company is Atari and in the response to Atari's Breakout (1976) game; after seeing Atari Breakout (1976) both in my previous life and this life, I took inspiration from it to produce this game which adapt the similar sense of achievement and tension from destroying targets one at a time, combining it with elements of target shooting games much like how Nishikado did. This New game will use 'apparently' different layout than that of Breakout ( to avoid any copy claims) and entirely different game mechanics; rather than bounce a ball to attack static objects, players will be given the ability to fire projectiles at moving enemies.

I also added several interactive elements that is lacking in earlier video games, such as the ability for enemies to react to the player's movement and fire back, and a game over triggered by the enemies killing the player (either by getting hit or enemies reaching the bottom of the screen) rather than simply a timer running out.
I replaced the timer, typical of arcade games at the time, with descending aliens who effectively served a similar function, where the closer they came, the less time the player had left.

Apart from that, I made various new alterations which were not present in original Space invaders game to nullify it's shortcomings.
Eg. The graphics of the original Space Invaders were quite simple due to the technological limitations of the time. Although I also have this limitations to me but I'm going break few limitations right now but not all of them and I have readied my legal team to be on board to register global patents of every critical & important breakthrough regarding this. With these, I'm going to enhance the visual presentation of the game to make it more visually appealing and immersive.

The graphics in the original Space Invaders were limited to simple pixelated sprites and a monochromatic color scheme. I will use some pixelated blocks alongwith sprites and hue enhancement and shifting technique alongwith little of analogue colour scheme in addition to monochromatic one.

I used warm colours and blue in
enemy designs, background elements, and animations to make enhancements more visually appealing . Addition of more vibrant colors is not possible right now due to technical limitations which I'm not going to overcome now but I will break remaining limitations in coming versions to make more profits. But for now, I'm going to use these colours and colour schemes in clever way to increase visual effects and make the game visually more exciting.

Also audio in the original Space Invaders was basic and repetitive.
It was mainly limited to basic beeps and blips.

I'm going to use additional sound effects such as different sounds for enemy movement or player actions etc. to add more variety and excitement to the gameplay experience. Also improving the sound effects by adding variations for enemy movements, different types of shots, and explosions etc. will make game more immersive. Additionally, incorporating background music or dynamic soundtracks will heighten the overall audio experience.

Original Space Invaders had a relatively straightforward gameplay loop eg. repetitive pattern of descending aliens, making it somewhat predictable; with little variation as the levels progressed. My introduction of different enemy behaviours, such as enemies that move in erratic patterns or ones that require different strategies to defeat, different enemy types, power-ups,
obstacles or bonus items will add more variety, challenge and strategic depth to the gameplay.

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