I agree that mouse control in a shoot'em up basically ruins the game and makes it too easy. The only control method for a shoot'em up should be a gamepad or the cursor keys plus other buttons combination.
Using the mouse allows the player to basically jump all over the screen in a totally unnatural fashion to get out of any trouble. Had there been an actual pilot in those space craft he would have suffered a blackout within minutes of starting the battle!
The gamepad approach means that you need to anticipate what's going to happen, and who's going to fire from where. There's nothing like that feeling when you've just noticed an enemy missle up your ass and there's nothing you can do about it, except it doesn't take out all of what's left of your shield! With a mouse, a quick flick of the wrist sees you fighting on. Not fun, in my opinion.
Of course, the fact is that mouse control is just about essential in ALL downloadable games these days, as the public expect it - even if the genre doesn't suit it. Whether that's the case or not, I generally don't include mouse control in my games if it doesn't suit. There's no mouse control for the main game in any of my games with the exception of Othello (for obvious reasons). How am I supposed to include mouse control in a Boulderdash/Repton type game? Not easy, but I did consider it, but abandoned it as this would make the game virtually unplayable.
As for shoot'em ups (or maybe other game types too), my suggestion should you wish to include mouse support, would be to simply limit the amount of movement that can be applied to the ship. The only problem with this is that players will then be expecting to perform miracle movements and be disappointed and put-off a purchase when they can't.
I would say go with one method or the other, not both. Design it around keyboard/gamepad controls OR the mouse, or adjust the gameplay according to which control device the player is using (not easy).
I'm a shoot'em fan and struggle to find any up to date decent games because they're all mouse controlled or incredibly hard via a gamepad (for the reasons stated by Matt). If I'm expected to use the mouse to gain any real enjoyment from a game, then I simply look elsewhere.
Using the mouse allows the player to basically jump all over the screen in a totally unnatural fashion to get out of any trouble. Had there been an actual pilot in those space craft he would have suffered a blackout within minutes of starting the battle!
The gamepad approach means that you need to anticipate what's going to happen, and who's going to fire from where. There's nothing like that feeling when you've just noticed an enemy missle up your ass and there's nothing you can do about it, except it doesn't take out all of what's left of your shield! With a mouse, a quick flick of the wrist sees you fighting on. Not fun, in my opinion.
Of course, the fact is that mouse control is just about essential in ALL downloadable games these days, as the public expect it - even if the genre doesn't suit it. Whether that's the case or not, I generally don't include mouse control in my games if it doesn't suit. There's no mouse control for the main game in any of my games with the exception of Othello (for obvious reasons). How am I supposed to include mouse control in a Boulderdash/Repton type game? Not easy, but I did consider it, but abandoned it as this would make the game virtually unplayable.
As for shoot'em ups (or maybe other game types too), my suggestion should you wish to include mouse support, would be to simply limit the amount of movement that can be applied to the ship. The only problem with this is that players will then be expecting to perform miracle movements and be disappointed and put-off a purchase when they can't.
I would say go with one method or the other, not both. Design it around keyboard/gamepad controls OR the mouse, or adjust the gameplay according to which control device the player is using (not easy).
I'm a shoot'em fan and struggle to find any up to date decent games because they're all mouse controlled or incredibly hard via a gamepad (for the reasons stated by Matt). If I'm expected to use the mouse to gain any real enjoyment from a game, then I simply look elsewhere.