A mere seed of a game. Need feedback/ideas.
Hullo!
Yet another one threatening to go on the "Discarded Prototypes" pile. Presented to you from the "puke on screen and add bloom" school of design.
What I've created here is a shell of an idea. A basic aesthetic and movement scheme with some basic mechanics. What I still need to figure out is this: What is the game?
Grab it here:
http://screwylightbulb.com/proto/
All player hit-detection has been disabled. Normally you'd not be able to fly through any of the ring segments.
Idea 1:
- One life
- 200 levels of varying difficulty, served up randomly
- The coloured glyphs collected in the middle add up for you to buy powerups
- Powerups are on the outer ring and you can see what you still need to activate em
- Every 10 or so levels, the MCP increases the difficulty by adjusting one random thing, ie "blue segments now have more health"
Idea 2:
- Several lives
- Levels gradually introduce new ideas and has incremental complexity
- Powerups are randomly scattered within the rings, but you lose them when you die
Things already in it:
- Go to the middle, collect glyph, fly out
- Grey segs are indestructible
- Translucent segs can be fired through
- Blue and Orange segs can be destroyed
To add:
- Segs that fire shockwaves outwards (kinda already implemented)
- Segs that fire bullets directly at you, to make nice messy bullet patterns
- Segs that fire beams outward at regular intervals
- Sometheing to inspire you to rush, ie collectibles that time out
- Something to inspire hubris, ie marginally better weapons with completely over the top effects
To consider:
- Movement currently hops between the rings, might consider adding stuff in the in-between rings
Yet another one threatening to go on the "Discarded Prototypes" pile. Presented to you from the "puke on screen and add bloom" school of design.
What I've created here is a shell of an idea. A basic aesthetic and movement scheme with some basic mechanics. What I still need to figure out is this: What is the game?
Grab it here:
http://screwylightbulb.com/proto/
All player hit-detection has been disabled. Normally you'd not be able to fly through any of the ring segments.
Idea 1:
- One life
- 200 levels of varying difficulty, served up randomly
- The coloured glyphs collected in the middle add up for you to buy powerups
- Powerups are on the outer ring and you can see what you still need to activate em
- Every 10 or so levels, the MCP increases the difficulty by adjusting one random thing, ie "blue segments now have more health"
Idea 2:
- Several lives
- Levels gradually introduce new ideas and has incremental complexity
- Powerups are randomly scattered within the rings, but you lose them when you die
Things already in it:
- Go to the middle, collect glyph, fly out
- Grey segs are indestructible
- Translucent segs can be fired through
- Blue and Orange segs can be destroyed
To add:
- Segs that fire shockwaves outwards (kinda already implemented)
- Segs that fire bullets directly at you, to make nice messy bullet patterns
- Segs that fire beams outward at regular intervals
- Sometheing to inspire you to rush, ie collectibles that time out
- Something to inspire hubris, ie marginally better weapons with completely over the top effects
To consider:
- Movement currently hops between the rings, might consider adding stuff in the in-between rings
bloompuke.png
1034 x 797 - 191K
Comments
Though surface visual similarity is where it ends.
I think the concept has quite a bit of charm to it, and I would like to give it a bash. But without gameplay I can't really say too much about it.
Levels, I don't think that's the best way to go with this. I don't feel like there's a lot to add to levels that will make them feel so much different. I'm assuming that levels will get harder by making the blocks faster, more of them, attacking blocks etc. but the overall goal to get to the middle and out remains the same. Unless you've got ideas to make the levels fundamentally different I don't think it'd be fun being told I'm on level 100 but it feels exactly like level 1 but with more effects.
My idea is to go arcade style. Like Luftrausers, where you keep playing the same thing and have missions. Making the player play more and more. As you go into the middle and back out you get "money" to buy more upgrades to your ship then the missions become easier.
I feel the game would be in the navigating of the rings. So, I'd like to be able to move in and out of rings destroying blocks, dodging them. That would feel fun then just timing your next way forward. With this type movement I think you can have the ship move into all the rings not alternating ones. And then you could have like small little power ups that randomly spawn on rings like shields. So you could be a bit closer to the middle but a shield pops up a level up so you've got to decide go forward or grab shield quick and make it a bit easier going forward.
Just my thoughts. I hope it makes sense. :)
Hmmm, going to have to give this some thought. (I find Luftrausers mind-numbing, so for me at least it's not what I want it to be like. )
The persistent unlock system might perhaps be something to consider.
So either:
- currency-based unlocks (collecting stuff from middle, buy upgrades)
- achievement-based unlocks (play 20 levels without upgrades, destroy 200 blue segs, etc.)
- both of the above
It does leave the question of what things can be added to make the levels more varied. I had the idea to make some of them sort of like solving a safe-cracking puzzle. You have to go round and only enter from specific positions on the ring. Again have not given it any thought.