Game Idea: Slip

[salstadt]

 

This game is similar to my Mattie idea, but much simpler and I think more effective. You're a little blue dud who needs to move from one side of the screen to the other. There are various little demon guys wandering around. If you move in front of them (within a few blocks) and they spot you, they'll charge (and they're faster than you anyway). So the idea is to sneak from one side of the screen to the other, hiding behind black blocks.

 

The twist? See the yellow or brown flooring? Depending on the color, you can only RIGHT or LEFT. For this example, let's make brown = right. So if you're on a brown area, you can move freely up, down and right. But if you move left, your character will make noise with EVERY step he takes! These noises alert the badguys, who then swarm to that spot (not where you are, but where you made the noise). So the idea is to think about the best path to move across the level, and do so going the wrong way as little as possible. Making noises by taking a path in the wrong direction won't seal your fate, but with everyone converging on your area, it makes the game more difficult.

 

Make sense? So to beat each level, you have to not only avoid walking in front of the badguys (behind or on their side is fine) but also to only move right/up/down on brown, and left/up/down on yellow. There could also be almost countless other modes possible, like 2-player where you simply have to do your best to hide, or get your opponent found out, etc.

 

I doubt this concept is more interesting than my others, but as always if anyone's interested in collaberating on it, gimme a holler. Otherwise, feel free to post impressions and suggestions below.

 

Oh, and I almost forgot -- blue areas allow you to move freely in any direction without noise, so the middle area is a nice little safe spot.

 

- Adam

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Sounds interesting.

 

The playfield is symmetric, right? Does it change during the game?

 

What exactly will happen when a badguy spots you? Will it run to the place where it saw you?

 

The color change in the middle of the screen won't be easy (if possible at all). And some vertical movement restrictions for the badguys might be necessary to avoid too hefty flicker.

[salstadt]

"The playfield is symmetric, right? Does it change during the game?"

 

The mockup is symmetrical, and I think that would work well for the game because paths that allowed you to move right on them before will actually block your way when you get to the other side.

 

If the coder wanted it to change, perhaps. It would have to at least be slowly changing or have a predictable pattern at most though, because i feel the player should be able to always have a chance at beating each stage without making any sound.

 

"What exactly will happen when a badguy spots you? Will it run to the place where it saw you?"

 

It depends on the coding, but ideally they would run after you. As soon as you turned a corner or otherwise went out of their site, though, they would run to the last spot you were seen. Essentially Metal Gear Solid, but they wouldn't really snoop all that much after losing you.

 

"The color change in the middle of the screen won't be easy (if possible at all)."

 

That's negotiable. It would be nice to have a free are, but it's not essential to the game.

 

"And some vertical movement restrictions for the badguys might be necessary to avoid too hefty flicker."

 

Hmm, good point. Well the game could possibly be retooled so that their natural paths are only horizontal, and they move vertically only if chasing you in that direction. Or perhaps they take turns so that only one enemy max is moving vertically at any given time.

 

- Adam

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Or perhaps they take turns so that only one enemy max is moving vertically at any given time.

I didn't mean the movement, but the resulting vertical positions. Those shouldn't overlap too much, else you get annyoing flicker.

 

For an example, watch the cops in Lock'n Chase. The game always makes sure, that there are no more than two on the same row.

 

Knowing this, you can even use it to your advantage.

[salstadt]

"I didn't mean the movement, but the resulting vertical positions. Those shouldn't overlap too much, else you get annyoing flicker."

 

Ah, gotcha. Yeah, enemies could be sectioned off to distinct areas pretty easily; In fact, maybe that would even work to the gameplay's advantage (ie, one left enemy, one top, one right, one bottom and you can escape them by leaving their jurisdiction).

 

- Adan

[inextremis staple]

Looks cool and doable. I checked out your site. Pretty talented. You have some nice ideas for other homebrews too. I'm no pprogrammer but good luck with whatever endeavors(sp?) you encounter.

 

is

[TMR]

Bit of a drift, but have you ever considered doing stuff for other 8bits rather than the 2600 Adam...?

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Bit of a drift, but have you ever considered doing stuff for other 8bits rather than the 2600 Adam...?

All his ideas should also work for the 8bits.

[TMR]

Bit of a drift, but have you ever considered doing stuff for other 8bits rather than the 2600 Adam...?

All his ideas should also work for the 8bits.

 

Well yeah, but one colour players on an A8...? =-)

[salstadt]

I'd be open to other 8-bit systems. But I was drawn mostly to 2600 because of how limited it is, and also that Atariage markets new games on cart. I wouldn't be interesting in something like NES because there are just so less limitations that I know I could never make a game prettier than say Megaman 6. With 2600 I know it's possible to make some really complex (relatively) and gorgeous games, especially in terms of animation -- 1-color 8x16 limits are fine with me, but the 2600 is definitely lacking smooth, quality sprites in general.

 

- Adam