Side Scroller or Platformer? Suggestions Best Method

jedidealer42

Hello. I've been prototyping a new game. It's basically a side scrolling shooter, like Gradius/R-Type. But I'd like to be able to include some vertical areas to my levels, so it's not limited to straight Left ---> Right.

If you look at EX 1 on my sketch, I'd like to move the hero (H) from start to end, moving left to right, but no going backward. If my scene is 16000 x 900, and my camera following the hero is 1600 x 900, that gives me a reasonable amount of room to have a level for now. I'm planning on having static levels, not randomly generated endless runner type levels, but I'm not sure how to manipulate the camera or the scene the way I want. Especially since I want my levels to include some "vertical" areas, like EX2 on my sketch, so there is room for branching or possibly all vertical stages. If I was willing to stay strictly horizontal, it would be easier.

I've looked at several tutorials on platformers and side scrollers. (btw Jamie Cross is my new hero). Although my game is a side scrolling shooter at heart, I think I will be using more platformer type techniques to design my levels. But, I can't decide on the best way to go about moving through these levels, because I don't want the hero on rails, or forced scrolling via timer. I want the hero to be able to move around. If the camera is 1600 x 900, the hero should be able to move freely through that amount of space, but once you pass a certain point, you can't go back. So in EX1 in my sketch, once the hero (H) comes to E2, he can never go back to E1. If the scene was just moving left to right, I could do it by having platforms or terrain elements move at a fixed rate. But, since I want 'vertical' capability, I'm unsure how to proceed. Anyone have any ideas?

I'm sorry for the long winded post, it's difficult for me to describe the results I'm after. If anyone can understand my babbling here, and is willing to help, I would be very thankful.