@ Weekly Update TWO
The On-Going Revision
10/02 - 10/09

And again this lonely section of cyberspace begins a new with another weekly update on my progress. This week I made a lot of progress on the prototype for the top-down shooter approach and was a bit unsatisfied. It was more complete in my head then what I realized when actually coded in (this is common for me). That does not mean I will be scraping it tho. I'm going to tweak the prototype a bit to fit a different design perspective. Essentially it is the same, but with a new character/weapon scheme.

I only spent about 2-3 hours a day, this week, actually 'working' on the prototype and design.

Weekly Overview
Sorry to say that there are no screens of actual progress this week, only a slightly tuned prototype. I did however create a bare-bone design script which I have already re-written several times. I will post some sections of the design script below.

Below Are Segments Copied from Design.doc
Contest Elements Used:
Evil Ponies,
An Accountant,
Several Explosions,
and Valuable Crystals.

Characters:
(User Character) An Accountant. This accountant goes on a mission to capture a different type of pony for each zone he enters. He is equipped with an arsenal which is routinely picked upon entering the zone. This of course dictated by how much he can spend or can receive.

Connection: The accountant, as a playable character, is established as an accountant in the game by slight dialog at the start, the ability to damage things using several different number combinations which can sum to a desired amount to increase or decrease the damage total ( more on this below ), and the requirement to pay the bills on items he has purchased or taxes on the amount of bloodshed he deals ( more on this below ).

(Enemy Characters) Evil Ponies, obviously. The dialog in the beginning should note on the ponies evil nature and how it's seemingly impossible to capture one, let alone afford one. They have only been spotted in a distant dimension which can only be entered through a portal.

Connection: Of course the all to seen, "Daddy! I want a pony for christmas!" scenerio brings these ponies into the picture. The game takes place as a story being told by the little girl's father. Her dad is to broke to buy her a pony tho, so he tells her this story to scare her. He refers to another father trying the same thing. In the story tho, little does the girl know, it will be hell (almost literally), to get her one. ( "The ponies are evil I tell ya!" ).

Gameplay Elements:
3D, top-down to perspective shooter.

The player is immersed into different zones (or levels) each a different setting and can be picked prior to entry. Each zone has a type of pony all of which are evil and need to be either destroyed or captured. The goal is to control the accountant and kill enough ponies to collect enough crystals to then capture a pony. Each zone will most likely have at least 3 different types of ponies and a boss. ( this may change due to time restrictions ). The ultimate goal, however, is to collect as many different ponies from as many different zones as possible. The more ponies captured the more equipment is available to capture more ponies. The endless cycle, which apparently ends when you captured all the ponies! The ending credits will appear but I may allow the player to still choose which zone to play in if he/she wants to continue.
( And they will! They won't be able to resist the gameplay! )

Core Mechanics: Ideas & Stats

Player Stats:
- Player stats; Health Count, Ammo Count, Current Level, EXP, Crystals Earned(Zone Only), Ponies Captured, Money Debt, and Money Available.
- Player can equip up to 4 weapons prior to zoning; Dependant on Level.
- Player can also equip simple gear; 1 Mesh, 5 Skins. Has basic properties attached such as resistance/increased damage to/with a certain element.
- The 4 Stat Elements; Fire, Water, Earth, Wind.
- The 5 Simple Gear Skins; Normal Accountant, Ninja, Pirate, Zombie, Robot.
( Gear and weapons are unlockable. )

Enemy Stats:
- Enemy stats; Health Count and Element Weakness. Boss characters have a greater Health Count. All depends on zone.
- Enemy can equip any weapon available, depends on zone.
- Trying for 3 enemy types per zone + Boss, depends on zone.

Goals and Achievements:
- You are going for the most collected ponies, which in return gives you a fair amount of cash and weapons.

Mechanics:
- To collect an evil pony, you must have enough crystals.
- To collect crystals you must kill enough ponies, you need to balance that out so you don't go empty handed.
- To capture a pony, you need to use a special move at the right time. ( When the pony is about dead )
- After every zone you must pay your current debt.

Weapon Mechanics:
- Each weapon needs to be bought.
- When buying a weapon, you don't need to pay until the you finish a zone.
- Before entering a zone you must invest in each weapon you want to use. This will add to the debt until the zone is completed and you have to pay your bills.
- When investing in a weapon it charges the weapon by how much you invested. This charge is considered your ammo.
- Each weapon has a limit to how much you can invest.
- Plan ahead with your investments, any left over ammo is not refundable.
- You may invest more money during gameplay if you find a certain item.

Damage Mechanics:
- All damage to enemy HP is done by explosions.
- Every weapon will have the potential to cause an explosion.
- When fired upon the enemy will be pushed back and a number, (dictated by characters level, weapon, and resistance) will appear above it's head but the enemy will not be injured.
- Once the player hits an enemy he/she has a couple seconds to hit the enemy again to maintain that current combo.
- Explosions occur when the combo reaches a desired number.
- The desired number is dictated by the type of enemy or HP (subject to change)
Needs to be reviewed.

Movement:
- Player will be able to do a front-flip using SPACE while moving forward as well as a Back-flip using SPACE while moving backwards. Same goes for side flips. The cursor will be freely moved around the screen, the player's character will always face the direction of the cursor. ie:




Using the WASD or Direction Arrow keys, you move your character around dependant of where the cursor is. Heres another example:




There are restrictions of course. When moving your character up, you will stop before you reach the cursor. Moving backwards you will stop at a pre-determined location. If you are moving side to side you have about 180 degree freedom. When the cursor is flipped, meaning the cursor is under the character, left and right will be inverted to avoid confusion. ( This is still being tested for better methods. Thats the whole point in making prototypes. ) I may stick with a simple version where the player moves around freely and is not dictated, except direction, by the cursor.



Everything seems fairly easy to pull off. The biggest hurdle will be the content, mainly the levels (zones) and the enemy meshes. I will post more on the storyline later on.

This Week's Goals
- Finish Design Script
- Continue testing ideas with prototypes

-userjp