Brainstorming Game Ideas
I started this blog for my game development journey. The first game I’d like to attempt is a 2D platformer. I have a pretty solid picture of a 2D platformer in my head, well, everything except the puzzles. The way I see it a skeleton of the game needs to be laid out before I can think about that.
Idea #1: Puzzle Platformer with time travel mechanics
Setting
The game will be set in a secret laboratory experimenting with time travel technology for military purposes. The starting character the player controls will have a random name and a rank of captain. Death will be permanent in the sense that if the character dies on screen, the player will then control a new character with a random name, dying too many times will reduce the rank/profession of the character, ex going from captain to private, and if the player keeps dying to prisoner.
The central mechanic
Using the time travel device by pressing a button (let’s say space) will start recording player moves, pressing the button again will reset the player to the position where their recording started along with the previous copy of the player.
There are two possibilities of the time travel mechanic in my mind:
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a limit on the number of times the player can time travel in a level. ex: 5 times. the player can “record” moves for as long as they like.
-
a limit on the number of seconds the player can time travel for in a level. ex 30 seconds. the player can make as many copies as they like but the total seconds that can be recorded in a level are fixed.
The second approach introduces more interesting constraints in my opinion and also ties in thematically with the concept of time.
similar games already available
I didn’t know if similar games existed, my inspiration was the film Tenet. I started thinking about time travel and helping yourself using time loops after watching it. However I found 2 games:
The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom seems to be the closest to what I had thought up.
The Puzzle Pieces
to start experimenting with level design I think I need to setup the following things:
- Decide on the time travel mechanic and implement it.
- Implement platform level components
- Implement player power ups/items
Components of a Platformer Level
- moving platforms
- pressure plates
- movable boxes
- hazards
- platforms/tiles that affect movement (bounce/speed)
Player Items/power ups
Power ups are spread over the level, only one can be equipped at a time.
-
bounce hat:
a copy can bounce high off the head of another
-
jetpack:
Possible uses:
- double jump. traverse to hard to get places to help out with moving boxes, stepping on pressure plates that move platforms open gates etc.
- hitch a ride with a copy using a jetpack then jump off for a triple jump.
-
magnetic boots:
Possible uses:
- stick to walls, to get to hard to reach places like the jet pack.
- Jump onto a copy with magnetic boots climbing up the wall to ascend along with it.
- if a copy is walking upside down, ex: on the roof and the player reaches it (maybe using the jetpack) they can grab onto that copy, then let go and drop down to where they want to go.
-
harpoon gun:
Possible uses:
- if shot horizontally it makes a platform that player can jump on.
- Break destructible platforms that alters a copies path.
- If it’s shot vertically it can stop a copy in place or alter jump trajectory.
The Big questions: how to create a variety of puzzles?
I’ll have to think on this more and document my findings in a future blog. What comes to mind right now is:
- keep layering components as levels progress
- repeat similar patterns with new constraints. Ex: restrict the most obvious approach.
- timing constraints.
The fallback option: Stealth Platformer
If I can’t figure out how to make this puzzle game fun and challenging I am planning to pivot to a stealth platformer and reusing many of the components developed in the experiment.
The next game I want to make is a first person stealth game, so I would get practice with stealth mechanics.
My inspirations for stealth platformers are: