Hey guys!

It's obvious I'm extremely new to GameDev, but after flipping through the topics and spending a little time dabbling in the posts, I feel I fit to a T! Although, it's rather discouraging to see a lot of posts asking for ideas or help with games with only 5 or 6 replies... Here's to hoping that isn't always the case, because I'm about to jump on that train;

Enter SwagDungeon. No, that is not the real name of the game; it's only temporary while I work on it and shape it from a beta baby to an updated rockstar! I'm writing it using C# / XNA. I prefer using Visual Studio when I program, just because of the way everything is laid out. Ease of use and all that jazz. The game is intended for PC and Xbox 360, though I'm planning on keeping it geared toward the PC gaming community,

SwagDungeon can simply be defined as a Totally-Random-Side-Scrolling-Dungeon-Crawling-Looter. Everything from floor generation to loot drops is completely randomized; monsters, weapons, pickups, dungeons, etc. The player begins by picking one of four (an arbitrary number; subject only to increase) player classes, all of which specialize in certain skills. The classes determine which player stats will automatically get a stat point thrown in them upon leveling up (on top of the 2 [also arbitrary] extra stat points the player can use for stats of their choice). From there, they are dumped into the first "floor," which really just consists of a single dungeon, in which exists a chest that the player receives their first randomized weapon from. A randomized monster breaks through the wall, the player kills it, and they receive their first bit of randomized loot. Loot can come in a few different forms; there's ammunition (fairly straightforward; guns and bows need to shoot things), power sources (a little more abstract; each weapon is either powered by one of three power sources [also arbitrary], or not powered at all), grenades (nothing but fun!), harnassers (basically throwable objects that harness the power of the elements to do really badass things), and modules (used to upgrade weapon stats). This leads them to the second floor, where another weapon chest exists, more monsters are fought, and more loot is found. This goes on until floor 10, where the player encounters their first boss, which holds the coolest, rarest loot the player has found since starting the game.

This is the basic concept of SwagDungeon and as of right now, I have all the code for the core mechanics of the game (complete randomization, weapon and item generation, player, monster, and floor creation). I'll be honest, there's no clear direction the game is headed in, and stands to have many more ideas thrown into it... Therefore, I am calling out for assistance, help, and brainstorming to all those who will lend their intelligence. I am also in terrible need of a graphic designer to get the artwork for this game off it's butt. I have absolutely zero experience with spriting and graphic design and am therefore useless when it comes to the game's art. I have tons of concept art and lots of ideas for what I would like the game to look like, and I will post it below. I'm going for a pixel look, and a great example of the kind of art I'm aiming for would be the kind showcased in one of my favorite mobile games, Defenders of Texel (http://mobage.com/games/dot-defender-of-texel)

I unfortunately will not be posting any of the code I'm using for the game, because I am not sure how trustworthy some of the folks on this forum are, so I will simply stick to concept art and brainstorming notes.

Again, any assistance is welcome and encouraged, and those who directly assist me with my game will be rewarded (I'm thinking cameos in the credits, in-game appreciation, and custom weapon naming? [Contact me for other incentive ideas as well]). If you have any questions, comments, or ideas you would be more comfortable discussing in a private setting, email me at PorkchopDonut@gmail.com. Also, feel free to check out my blog to keep up with my updates on my programming (loganwillis.com). Thanks in advance and please, if you read over this, give me something to work with. A simple, "Cool ideas, bro" would sate my hunger for feedback!

Many thanks!

Logan "Sole Producer" Willis

My brainstorming notes:

[attachment=16123:IMAG0478.jpg][attachment=16124:IMAG0479.jpg][attachment=16125:IMAG0480.jpg][attachment=16126:IMAG0481.jpg][attachment=16127:IMAG0482.jpg][attachment=16128:IMAG0483.jpg][attachment=16129:IMAG0484.jpg][attachment=16130:IMAG0485.jpg][attachment=16131:IMAG0486.jpg]

Concept art for the monsters:

[attachment=16132:IMAG0487.jpg][attachment=16133:IMAG0488.jpg][attachment=16134:IMAG0490.jpg][attachment=16135:IMAG0492.jpg][attachment=16136:IMAG0494.jpg][attachment=16137:IMAG0495.jpg][attachment=16138:IMAG0496.jpg][attachment=16139:IMAG0498.jpg][attachment=16140:IMAG0489.jpg][attachment=16141:IMAG0499.jpg][attachment=16142:IMAG0500.jpg][attachment=16143:IMAG0501.jpg]

Soo, you need an idea-guy ?:D

Well, thus far your game sounds realy random, i suppose there is no interesting battle-system(you could make it über-interesting) and i'm wondering whether the game cares at all about player-skill.
So here's an idea, have (different) ways of scanning nearby rooms, to determine in advance whether the player should go there and fight or not.

Maybe one "consumable"(aka one-time use) item could be used to steal the loot from a room without having to fight the monster(you should consider making bosses immune to this)

How does combat currently work, btw ?
Ps, i doubt anyone would steal your code, though, this section of the forums has very little to do with the actual code anyway.

Soo, you need an idea-guy ?

The idea sounds interesting. I'm a big fan of procedurally generated content, and love a good loot-heavy game (like the legendary Diablo 2).

Your monster concepts are also quite promising (tank tracks notwithstanding...).

Over a hundred people looked at this and no one said anything until you did!

Your post was quite general - giving an overview of the game and asking for feedback/suggestions. People often find it easier to respond if you pose a more specific question. Is there some more narrow part of your design which could be developed? You mentioned that your combat/battle system isn't yet implemented - perhaps we could discuss your current thoughts about it in more detail?

How does the player actually interact with the combat system?

Is this a real-time/action system or a turn-based/tactical system?

What are the character's basic combat abilities?

Can they actively evade, or is this entirely down to their speed stat?

Does each weapon have a single associated attack, or are combos etc available?

Blocking/parrying?

The idea sounds interesting. I'm a big fan of procedurally generated content, and love a good loot-heavy game (like the legendary Diablo 2).

Your monster concepts are also quite promising (tank tracks notwithstanding...).

Your post was quite general - giving an overview of the game and asking for feedback/suggestions.

How does the player actually interact with the combat system?

Is this a real-time/action system or a turn-based/tactical system?

What are the character's basic combat abilities?

Can they actively evade, or is this entirely down to their speed stat?

Does each weapon have a single associated attack, or are combos etc available?

Blocking/parrying?

First of all, thank you! I've spent a lot of time and thought into this game and its concept, so the sentiment is greatly appreciated!

And ah, I see now... I'll keep this in mind in the future.

The combat system is real time, similar to how you would picture a side-scrolling Borderlands or Torchlight (those are actually the reactants of some of my concepting for this game fyi!). WASD and the mouse are all you need to move around and shoot. I never really gave blocking or reacting to attacks in any way much thought, but now that you've planted the idea, I'm starting to like the idea. Like a block button that, when pushed at the right time, will allow you to counterattack. If pushed slightly sooner or later than the golden moment, it will simply allow you to defend yourself. As a drawback, however, blocking prevents you from attacking for a short "animation" time, as the makers of Dota 2 would put it. Speed stat will have a big impact on this though, since obviously a faster player can evade slower monsters inherently well. On top of that, a press of the block button and a direction will result in the player's dodging in that direction (B + < = a fast jump to the left).

As for the player's combat abilities, chalk it up to a primary attack (swinging with melee, firing with ranged), secondary attack - - special for melee weapons (i.e. Sledge hammer slammed into the ground, resulting in a ring of elemental damage around the player), melee attack with ranged weapons - - , blocking, dodging, and throwing grenades or harnassers.

I haven't given much thought to combos or variations in weapon abilities, though I am already in the works with a leveling system for weapons... Couldn't hurt to mess with the code to incorporate special abilities that can be attained using Modules.

And for your first question, I'm not entirely sure how to answer that... I think you were referring to the actual controls, which I explained up above... Otherwise, I guess you could mean to ask how the player is involved in the combat itself... To which the answer would be the player is the center of the combat. Monsters with melee weapons will chase the player and attack them as soon as they can and ranged monsters will stay within a certain distance of the player while still attacking, ergo the camera and movement of the battle itself makes the player the focal point.

Thanks again!