Feedback 3D Endless Runner Mechanics/Orientation

Hi there, I'm currently designing a 3D runner for anroid which I guess is a cross between subway surfer and top down shooter.

I'm looking for some feedback with regards to the shooting mechanics and orientation of the game. The game already implements simple swipe controls for player movement, which is based on 3 lanes. Enemies, obstacles, and power-ups spawn randomly on infinitely spawning tiles. The game will consist of lots of different weapons for the player to collect and upgrade.

Currently I have my player shooting constantly and the game is in portrait. This works well but it feels slightly too much like a top down shooter (of which there are millions on the app store). Do you think it would be more enjoyable to have the game play in landscape and/or give control of the shooting to the player? Or would this give the user too much to think about? If I did give shooting control to the player I think having the game in portrait may be difficult as they would need room to swipe to move, but also a shooting button of some sorts.

I was also thinking of implementing finite ammunition that the player has to manage in order to survive, rather than being an infinite supply like most top down shooters out there. This wouldn't really work too well unless the player controls the shooting themselves.

I'd be interested to see what people think on this. Thanks for reading.

 

Much of what you've described seems like you'd just need to prototype it to get a sense of whether it feels good or not. It's hard to have a good intuition about it. But as a very general concept, I think that manual shooting seems reasonable to me. I can imagine it being fairly simple. If you're currently swiping to change lanes, simply pressing and holding in one spot could be your trigger for shooting. No shooting would occur while swiping or while the finger is off the screen. But while the finger is held down on the screen, the player would be shooting. I can imagine an "ammo" bar depleting while shooting, which slowly replenishes while not firing.

I'm not sure if it matters if it's landscape or portrait. I think portrait seems better in general, since it gives you more space to have enemies and obstacles in front of you, which means they can be more diverse and interesting.

 

Thank you for that. I think no shooting whilst moving is a great idea. Adds a little more difficulty but also keeps the controls minimal. Thanks again!