What do you believe should be implemented into the game to add more complexity and/or fun to the game-play? (Try to adhere to some Key Design Goals mentioned here: http://sites.google.com/site/gridirongamedevelopment/game-direction-overview
You can respond however you'd like, but you may want to consider the following guidelines:
1) If you come up with any solution(s) then succinctly explain what it is and how does it solve the above problem.
2) Remember to elaborate on what you actually like about the idea.
(An example solution may be, what if the character had a charging dash ability that can negate up to a # of bullets. What I like about this idea is that it creates a sort of mind-game; that is, the shooter needs to consider how many bullets they should/can unload at once, while the defender needs to consider when to use this dashing ability, since if the attacker unloads too many bullets at once, then the dash will fail.)
We will discuss this at the next meeting and start implementing some of them as we continue prototyping.
Edit:
Some Questions/Cases to Consider:
How does the idea/concept address some of the following (and/or other unspecified aspects)?
"Visuals"
- Ambience/Atmosphere and the dark/gritty nature of the environment. (How does the concept complement and/or contrast with certain details of the game?)
- Basic Properties (i.e., Texture/shape/size/etc.)
- Highlighted Tiles
- Temporal Aspect of the Visuals
- Power/Smoothness/Other Feelings as an inherent part of the Visuals
- If the concept has any relation to any actor in the game, then how will it shape the identity of the actor/character?
"Physical Input Controls"
- tap/charge/release? (There are several interesting possibilities; e.g., see how the bow and arrow works in Bastion).
- Complexity
- Involved actors, including inanimate actors (e.g., an attack involves at least the attacker and the target. How will the target avoid/defend/negate/dodge/counter/reflect the attack? How will the attacker trap/restrict/manipulate/impact the target with respect to temporal, spatial, and other aspects?)
- Relevant Properties (e.g., each projectile from a weapon has a movement pattern/behavior, damage, speed, applied effect upon impact, volume, etc.; note that the 2nd bullet from an on-going firing action doesn't even have to have the same properties as the 1st)
- How does the concept enhance/complement currently implemented game-play elements?
- How may the currently implemented game-play elements/logic be modified to create a better fit for the concept?
Not a very detailed idea, but I right now I'm thinking maybe the trail tiles (highlighted tiles via walking) can be used as a rough visual indicator of the logically remaining "ammo" (Note - the existence of logical "ammo" allows a more versatile design, since weapons can act differently based on remaining ammo). Also, maybe the game will involve 2 buttons. The 1st button can be a standard attack, while the 2nd button will consume highlighted tiles (i.e., un-highlight them) to produce some sort of special attack.
ReplyDelete1. Semi-automatic default gun
ReplyDelete* tap and immediately release attack button to fire a bullet
* high rate of fire if you tap quickly
* short basic range
* low projectile velocity
* limited spread in accuracy
* unlimited ammo
* rate of fire, range, and spread increase with continuous tapping, up to maximum
* walking speed decreases with continuous tapping, down to a minimum
2. Recharged Shot
* charge builds up while attack button not pressed, up to a maximum
* pressing attack button cancels charge build
* pressing attack button after recharge complete fires the recharged shot
* recharging status indicated by glow effect
* fully recharged status indicated by alternate glow effect
* long lifetime
* high projectile velocity
* wide collision size
* captures tiles it passes over
* captured tiles temporarily count as having been added to player's trail
3. Shield Charge Shot
* charge builds up while attack button is held down, up to a maximum
* releasing attack button early cancels charge build and disperses charge
* charging status indicated by glow effect
* fully charged status indicated by alternate glow effect
* while charging, player gains damage reduction proportional to amount of charge
* while charging, player gain increase to maximum number of trail tiles proportional to amount of charge
* increase in trail maximum decreases over time after charge released or used
* there is a maximum amount of trail increase that may be gained through shield charge
* releasing the attack button after fully charged fires shot that destroys and continues past enemy shots
* two colliding shield charge shots will destroy each other
* shield charge shot has long range
* long lifetime
* shot has wide collision size
4. Absorb
* pressing attack button right before enemy shot strikes player negates the attack and its effects
* player glows to indicate shot was successfully absorbed
* after absorption, player's trail tiles become impassable barriers to enemies and their attacks for a duration
* enemies and enemy projectiles that are on the player's trail when the effect first activates are destroyed
* after absorption player increases movement speed for a duration
5. Absorbed Shot
* after successful absorption of enemy attack, player's next attack has enhanced properties above its default properties
* increased projectile velocity
* increased lifetime
* destroys and continues past enemy shots
#1, I don't like because it tires/hurts your finger.
ReplyDelete#4, I don't like because it punishes the other players (since this is a 4 player game). Increasing the defender's abilities/stat is something I'm more fine with, or alternatively punish the attacker (if it makes sense). Note, there's also collision complications if you just push the robots off the tiles (like with the case of the elevators); I can't think of a way to manage it gracefully... unless maybe there's an applied force that pushes the character off overtime. And instead of an awkward invisible barrier, maybe the platform is raised half-way up...
some remarks...
ReplyDeleteRight now I'm thinking that I like the general idea that some weapons have an on-going effect or future benefit (e.g., bouncing off ways, lasting for a duration, used to setup future actions, restrict opponent's movement, etc.), because we're trying to keep it to 1 button (for simplicity of control), so doing the above will hopefully allow a variety of interesting events to occur during game-play.
However, from discussion at the meeting, I still currently don't like the idea of big dead-zones (e.g., the large magnetic field that sucks the characters in), because I don't see it really adding anything interesting or allowing a variety of interesting things to happen by means of other weapons/effects interacting with it; I think it would get stale quickly and not be fun... However, if certain things were added to it, then it might be more interesting (e.g., firing a certain blast into it might alter its effect temporarily or cause something to happen...)...
Note for everyone (including me):
We really need to clearly define what we really/actually like and/or dislike about an idea so that we can make it better.
I really like the idea of allowing players to create multiple types of hazardous spaces in the level. The game is about moving around and taking over space, and being able to restrict enemies from doing that seems a very appropriate way to fight back. The duration and size of these hazard zones will have to be adjusted a lot, and take into account how frequently the weapons are available for pickup. After all, we don't want the whole level to be a hazard. These zones will force the action of the game to move from place to place. It enables players to create disincentives to block off pursuing or fleeing enemies, or cut off adversaries from desired power-ups. Some of the hazards should harm all the players, but the activator should be immune some, which helps the player create a temporary defensible area and hold tiles.
ReplyDeleteI'm not actually against this idea. I was just against the specifics of the vortex idea based on what I understood (or misunderstood) for a variety of reasons (which I may not have explicitly explained). However, the main reason I was against it is that I didn't see how it was particularly different from a simpler implementation. From my understanding, the vortex you mentioned would take up 1/4th of the platform, where unless the characters are on the very outer rim, they would get sucked in and unable to move; I'm not sure how long you intend it to last, but I assumed it would be fairly long, because you mentioned that you wanted situations where a player may choose to go along the outer rim. In my opinion, 1) it's not fun not being able to anything for a long duration and 2) a large area that basically only represents a large area that no one would ever want to be inside can probably be emulated by something that would require much less work... <--- but nevermind about this now, because right now I don't think you mean what I had in my mind...
ReplyDelete