Welcome to the spring 2023 art challenge. Shoot'em Up is this seasons genre.

The challenge and voting starts 1st March 2023.

Suubmission period ends 1st April 2023.

The votes will be tallied, announcing the winner on 8th April 2023.

Submit your entries anytime... 

ANY art that hasn't already been submitted to OGA qualifies for the challenge! 

Tag your submissions with "Shoot 'em up" and "2023" tag to be in the running...

Post a link to your upload in this thread or in the Discord Art Challenge Submission channel:

https://discord.gg/eDvn4Ehs5D

The submission with the most favourites by 8th April 2023 wins! 

Prizes include a shiny new OGA medal for participants and the winner. 

 Also, appear a cut above the rest on the OpenGameArt.org Discord server by gaining the following roles: 

🥇 Art Boss (for the winner)

🥈 Art Contender (for all entrants) 

 

Art used in the banner image:

https://opengameart.org/content/arcade-space-shooter-game-assets

 

The following is a guide on the art required to make a shoot'em up. Good luck! 

2D top down perspective.

2D side view perspective.

2D isometric perspective.

2.5D side view perspective.

 

Stage backgrounds Preferably at a 16:9 aspect ratio or 9:16 vertical to fit well on modern screens.

If possible, layer the backgrounds for a parallax scrolling effect.

A good resolution for pixel art backgrounds is 384 x 216. This fits the 1080p resolution perfectly when scaled up 5x. 

2D stage backgrounds and flooring can be made using tilesets for either perspective.

 

Player collectables (health, shield, extra lives, weapon upgrades, smart bombs). 

Player weapon types need a UI image reference but are visually expessed using different bullets.

Single shot, missile, lasers, triple shot, specials, bombs etc.

 

Player ship sprites.

Core animations: Fly (thruster loop).

Secondary animations: Fire, Bank (tilt left or right when moving), Evade (e.g. loop de loop), Hit (shield flash), Die (explode), Upgrade (Alter the appearance of the ship on weapon collect).

 

Enemy types

Standard small enemy ships that attack in waves.

Core animations: Fly (thruster loop).

Secondary animations: Fire, Hit (shield flash), Die (explode), Aim/Warning (before firing to tell the player a bullet is incoming).

Sub Boss (Medium - large size enemies). Usually appear midway through a level. These can be modular.

Core animations: Fly (thruster loop).

Secondary animations: Fire, Hit (shield flash), Die (explode), Aim/Warning (before firing to tell the player a bullet is incoming), Part/Weapon destroyed (For modular sprites), Intro/activation (when entering the scene).

Boss (Large - Extra large sprites)

Animations: Same as Sub Boss above.

Grounded enemies (Turrets, Tanks, Battleships)

Core animations: Fire.

Secondary animations: Hit, Die (Explode), Aim weapon, Activate.

 

Heads-up display

Player health bar, Lives, Bomb count, Pilot portrait. Score. Timer. Mana/magic/special power guage. Mini-map. Current weapon.

 

Concept art

Cutscenes

Faux box/cartridge art.

Press kit (hi-res backgrounds, logos, cinematic screenshots, banner images).

For Itch.io game page images, check out this size guide:

https://starwest.itch.io/itch-page-image-templates

 

Audio

It can be any style or genre, e.g., orchestral, electronic, chiptune, etc. Mood is important.

Type 1 main menus, levels, or credits scenes are passionate, rousing, self-assured, boisterous, or rowdy.

Type 2 main menus, levels, Boss fights or credits scenes are aggressive, fiery, tense, anxious, intense, volatile, visceral.

Game Over screen is literate, poignant, wistful, bittersweet, autumnal, or brooding.

Type 1 Loadout/Ship select can be literate, poignant, wistful, bittersweet, autumnal, or brooding.

Type 1 Loadout/Ship select can be passionate, rousing, confident, boisterous, rowdy.

SFX

Player ship / enemy fire.

Explosions and hits.

Boss inbound warning.

Also, menu select, e.g. button pushes, navigation.

 

Prime examples of the genre for inspiration:

Galaxian

Gradius

Zaxxon

Einhänder

R-Type

Raiden

Axelay

Hyper-5

https://hyper-5.itch.io/hyper-5