Game Prototype Challenge 6

rooster

How do chaps, prototype time again this one's just at toy state right now, it's about 3 days work at the mo and it's for Game Prototype Challenge 6, which is a week long game creation challenge. I've got till monday :S. I spent a bit of time making a random map generator, which may or may not turn out to be well spent but it's kind of cool .

Even though there's not much to it yet, I want to get it out there as soon as possible just incase the toy state it's in right now triggers some good ideas from someone
I'd love to hear any thoughts that occur to you if you play around with it, or just from the vid

DOWNLOAD: (2.2 meg)
http://www.redprodukt.com/GPC/GPC6_RMGv01.zip
controls in the readme (arrows, space for magnet and M to change map)

here's a vid:
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWHEg-YzsO8[/ame]
here's a pic: (yeah, not much to look at yet :P)


and a bit of the idea behind it:
the themes this month are Electricity and Closure.

After rooting around on wikipedia and google, I kept coming back to the idea of electromagnets- using electricity to activate them. The current idea in the prototype is you are some kind of electricity controlling guy/thing, and the floor is a grid of magnets. by standing on one and powering it, you can manipulate objects using magnetism..

as for closure, I’m not quite sure yet. I’m thinking of linking it in to the backstory/setting somehow..

for the gameplay, I'm thinking either
- there are some bad guys, and you use the orbs to smack them about and clear the map or:
- the orbs are the bad guys and they hurt if you touch them. smash them into spikes/etc to destroy them but don't let them touch you

like I say, any thoughts are appreciated, not much time left
thanks for reading! help a polycounter out will ya

Nekomata

Hmm... I am thinking your first Idea is the better one of the two OR

you can create a sort of puzzle game, where you lead different coloured orbs through a maze. The maze could possibly have obstacles and you have to put each orb into a separate gate which then unlocks the next area. You then move the next one to the next gate and finally reach an exit or something.

bloodmoon

Some how I get some sort of "Super Rub-a-dub" feel of the game play with the maze and guiding. (no sixaxis tho but still)

rooster

thanks folks! Neko, I like that idea of guiding the coloured orbs out.

maybe i can combine the idea using them as weapons and as keys.. or, instead of guiding them out they have to be used to smash into corresponding coloured enemies..

gonna have a play around
cheers!

System

Its a nice start and i like neko's idea of navigating mazes

If youre going with the guiding route how about adding a means to either intensify the charge - akin to a gravity gun, but i guess working with things not in direct line of sight? (used to say, make an orb navigate a maze from the outside, only for less tedious applications) and also reducing the charge for a short period of time.

rooster

cheers jackwhat!

I've been thinking I'd like to emphasize the 'electricity' aspect a bit more if possible. I think I can happily argue that electromagnets are pretty closely interlinked with electricity, but I wonder what other avenues are available. I'll be keeping the maze element, so does anything spring to mind if I say

electricity + maze = ???

someone mentioned the maze could be like a circuit board, wondering if there's any milage there..

(edit- I was thinking about having to elecrify the orbs before they become dangerous, or multiply their power when electrified)

System

I like the idea of a circuit board and you could explore the idea of binding orbs or having walls that conduct / pass current into?

You could use the orbs like a ball and chain if bound or pass electricity onto certain wall panes at area (a) to charge up a switch at area (b)? Or combine the 2 ideas and use the orbs to knock panels so the current flows (then its kind of similar to a water puzzle in bioshock, but whatever... food for thought)

rooster

update!
the game is now called ElectroBLAM!
the loose idea is you're a nanobot fighting infected rogue nanobots inside various computers

DOWNLOAD:
http://www.redprodukt.com/GPC/ElectroBLAM_01.zip (3 meg)



[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwujfkWmGLU[/ame]


to play, you need to charge up the yellow orbs, and then smash them into the enemies. your power is limited and recharges, and can also be replenished via pickups.

at the mo enemies can't kill you, and just respawn infinitely. M changes the map.

love to hear any thoughts if you play it . how easy is it to control? what would you change?

thanks polycount!

Stinger88

looking great rich.

I like the "bash the enemy" thing going on.

I had an idea for back story before I saw your latest update. So it doesnt include enemies. But there might be a way to intergate them.

Anyway. The game is played at a microscopic level within an atom which needs to be charged to become electricity. The player plays an electricity herder/worker/janitor/whatever and its his job to get protons and uncharged neutrons across a "puzzle room" which could be inside the atom. Each level would take place in a new atom.

Maybe you need to bash protons against the neutrons to make electrons. But the neutons will hurt you if you touch them.

In realtime the game would be nano seconds long.

Im not sure how elecricity works at a microscopic level so you might want to research. But you get the idea.

http://www.google.co.uk/search?um=1&hl=en&biw=1174&bih=673&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=protons+and+neutrons+in+an+atom&oq=protons+and+n&aq=4&aqi=g3&aql=&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=7604l10435l0l13l11l0l4l4l0l235l1205l0.5.2l7

rooster

cheers Rick! i've not got much time left so can't really change where I'm going with it much, but if you or anyone has any tweaks or ideas which fit the current framework, I'm all ears! particularly control suggestions, and maybe variations on orb/enemy behaviours. Cheers!

NEW VERSION: http://www.redprodukt.com/GPC/ElectroBLAM!_02.zip

changes:
improved control of the 'orbs'
added different enemy types, player health, difficulty levels

health continuously drains, and you need to kill baddies to refill it and keep playing. Kill as many bad guys as you can before your health runs out

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyw8i0W0N4g[/ame]