Both of those are great, the holo-field is quite a distinct idea and again, I love the visual aids for use in determining the real ball from the fakes, I think I'm happy with the idea without any changes needed.
The self-destruct ability is an interesting one as well, although I worry slightly that it may be too powerful (as simply trading your life for the points scored by killing 3 or 4 others is a no-brainer). Perhaps again a visual cue would be useful, so we could have the ball flash or glow when activated, a 3 second timer then counts down before a big explosion is initiated. Just to confuse matters, we could allow players to abort self destruct! I can see the chaos ensuing from that already :)
Nice ideas! I'll probably compile a list of the ideas I think I may use shortly, but any further ideas are still appreciated.
Cheers,
Steve
Design-A-Powerup [Orbs: Battle Arena]
Hey, this sounds like a brilliant game concept, and look forward to playing such a game immensely! So when you say 3D arena, will it just be a flat (one level) circular sumo wrestler type of arena, or will there be ramps, platforms, pits, pillars, hidey holes etc? Cause if there are, it will warrant for such power ups like X-Ray Vision, which allows the player to temporarily make all columns/obstacles etc, disappear, revealing the opponent. Or weapons that destroy or add terrain.
Anyway, I hope I'm not repeating any of the excellent ideas already put forth, but here's some more that may or may not be relevant to the theme:
Teleport (or Quantum Improbability Drive :)) - random teleportation of player or opponent.
Spanner in the Works - a weapon which is represented by throwing spanners at the opponent. Just something satisfying about throwing a spanner at a metallic robotic orb and hearing that metallic clunk. Not sure of the impact, but I just like the visuals at the moment. Maybe it could temporarily stun the opponent, or knock it back several feet, or make it lose it's current powerup. So, say if the opponent has the ability to lay blast mines, throwing a spanner in the works could make that player lose that ability.
Phase Shift - allows the player to physically exist in another dimension, but for appearances sake, the opponent still perceives the player as normal. The affect being that if the opponent attempts to knock you out of the arena or fire a weapon at you, the object/opponent will pass straight through. Maybe as a visual clue, you could appear slightly desaturated to the opponent, but not too obvious.
Body Swap - Temporarily swap the opponent's powerups with your own. So he/she gains all your powerups but you gain his/hers. Advantageous if they have heaps of powerups and you have none. :)
Spatial Distortion - the terrain randomly changes (for the better or worse :))
Wormhole - allows you to set a wormhole entry point somewhere on the terrain, and an exit point somewhere else. This could add an extra strategical advantage, in that you could set escape points, or use wormholes to ambush/trap opponents.
The Doinking Finger - okay, not really with the theme, but there seems something endlessly amusing (to me anyway :)) of your orb turning into a big doinking hand, and flicking your opponent away. :)
Good luck with your game, dude.
Anyway, I hope I'm not repeating any of the excellent ideas already put forth, but here's some more that may or may not be relevant to the theme:
Teleport (or Quantum Improbability Drive :)) - random teleportation of player or opponent.
Spanner in the Works - a weapon which is represented by throwing spanners at the opponent. Just something satisfying about throwing a spanner at a metallic robotic orb and hearing that metallic clunk. Not sure of the impact, but I just like the visuals at the moment. Maybe it could temporarily stun the opponent, or knock it back several feet, or make it lose it's current powerup. So, say if the opponent has the ability to lay blast mines, throwing a spanner in the works could make that player lose that ability.
Phase Shift - allows the player to physically exist in another dimension, but for appearances sake, the opponent still perceives the player as normal. The affect being that if the opponent attempts to knock you out of the arena or fire a weapon at you, the object/opponent will pass straight through. Maybe as a visual clue, you could appear slightly desaturated to the opponent, but not too obvious.
Body Swap - Temporarily swap the opponent's powerups with your own. So he/she gains all your powerups but you gain his/hers. Advantageous if they have heaps of powerups and you have none. :)
Spatial Distortion - the terrain randomly changes (for the better or worse :))
Wormhole - allows you to set a wormhole entry point somewhere on the terrain, and an exit point somewhere else. This could add an extra strategical advantage, in that you could set escape points, or use wormholes to ambush/trap opponents.
The Doinking Finger - okay, not really with the theme, but there seems something endlessly amusing (to me anyway :)) of your orb turning into a big doinking hand, and flicking your opponent away. :)
Good luck with your game, dude.
Alternately to having the ball be covered in spikes, it would be amusing and irritating to get just one spike and try to move around with it disrupting your ability to roll. Maybe once in a while, like 1 in 10 or something, the spike power up gives you this negative effect.
Quote:Original post by Sandbar
The Doinking Finger - okay, not really with the theme, but there seems something endlessly amusing (to me anyway :)) of your orb turning into a big doinking hand, and flicking your opponent away. :)
Good luck with your game, dude.
[lol] that one's funny, hand of dooooom
Cushion of air-
Your orb hovers in the air supported by a sort of jetstream. Lasts for quite a while until an opponent passes under you in which case you lose the powerup and fall back down. Basically prevents you from damaging others or them damaging you until you 'collide' once. Has a limited ability to help cross short holes or chasms but is lost when doing so.
Tetherball-
You drop a spike into the ground with a rope attached to your orb. You now are sort of stuck to that general area, both preventing you from leaving it or being knocked out of it. Doesn't really help you if you are knocked off a cliff. The effect is lost after a certain amount of time.
Pong Paddle-
You stop suddenly and a rectangular block like the paddle in Pong appears near you. It faces outward from your orb and you can turn to rotate it. Any opponent or weapon sent in your direction can be blocked and reflected if you move the paddle to block it. The effect stops if something gets past to hit you or if time runs out.
Portable Hole-
You drop a portable hole on the ground, anything that falls into it is affected as if they fell off the edge of the arena. It vanishes after a while.
Gum-
You drop sticky pink gum on the ground. If anyone hits it they are stuck to that one spot until they are hit.
U-Turn
When activated your ball instantly reverses direction with the same speed it was going at.
Pause-
Your ball suddenly freezes in place for about 3 seconds then resumes moving at the same speed it was going at.
Grow-
Your ball grows twice as big, with increased inertia and size.
Shrink-
Grows smaller with reduced inertia and size.
Blast off!-
Stops suddenly and is launched high into the air where you can see the whole field. You then drop down and can control where you land. A little parachute appears as well to slow your decent and provide control.
Mirror Universe Counterpart-
After a bright flash, your Orb is replaced by a Cube (with a goatee) The speed is stopped and you can only move around by having the cube slowly roll itself around in steps. Resistant to getting knocked around. Other powerups don't work in this mode. After a little bit, another flash and the normal Orb is returned.
Jet Pack-
Once going off the edge of the area, a jet begins to shoot from your orb and keeps it afloat for about 5 seconds. You can then fly back towards the area without losing anything. But only if you make it in time.
Your orb hovers in the air supported by a sort of jetstream. Lasts for quite a while until an opponent passes under you in which case you lose the powerup and fall back down. Basically prevents you from damaging others or them damaging you until you 'collide' once. Has a limited ability to help cross short holes or chasms but is lost when doing so.
Tetherball-
You drop a spike into the ground with a rope attached to your orb. You now are sort of stuck to that general area, both preventing you from leaving it or being knocked out of it. Doesn't really help you if you are knocked off a cliff. The effect is lost after a certain amount of time.
Pong Paddle-
You stop suddenly and a rectangular block like the paddle in Pong appears near you. It faces outward from your orb and you can turn to rotate it. Any opponent or weapon sent in your direction can be blocked and reflected if you move the paddle to block it. The effect stops if something gets past to hit you or if time runs out.
Portable Hole-
You drop a portable hole on the ground, anything that falls into it is affected as if they fell off the edge of the arena. It vanishes after a while.
Gum-
You drop sticky pink gum on the ground. If anyone hits it they are stuck to that one spot until they are hit.
U-Turn
When activated your ball instantly reverses direction with the same speed it was going at.
Pause-
Your ball suddenly freezes in place for about 3 seconds then resumes moving at the same speed it was going at.
Grow-
Your ball grows twice as big, with increased inertia and size.
Shrink-
Grows smaller with reduced inertia and size.
Blast off!-
Stops suddenly and is launched high into the air where you can see the whole field. You then drop down and can control where you land. A little parachute appears as well to slow your decent and provide control.
Mirror Universe Counterpart-
After a bright flash, your Orb is replaced by a Cube (with a goatee) The speed is stopped and you can only move around by having the cube slowly roll itself around in steps. Resistant to getting knocked around. Other powerups don't work in this mode. After a little bit, another flash and the normal Orb is returned.
Jet Pack-
Once going off the edge of the area, a jet begins to shoot from your orb and keeps it afloat for about 5 seconds. You can then fly back towards the area without losing anything. But only if you make it in time.
Well I've reduced the list to include most of my favourites (and a couple of new ideas!). However, I'd like to get the game really focused as I think it would be difficult to play if there are too many powerups, and too disjointed if we don't stick quite closely by the theme, so I'm going to try to reduce the number of powerups to between about 10 and 20 in total. If people have any preference to which powerups they do or don't want to see in the game, speak now (or forever hold your peace!), this would be helpful in eliminating any ideas which are a little borderline as to their potential so we end up with just the best ideas :)
The latest list includes the following 37 powerups:
Fireball
Spikes
Inertial dampeners
Speed Boost
Armour Boost
Psychokinesis
Invisibility
Improved invisibility
Blast Mine
Electromagnet
Slimer
Beer Controls
Glasses + fake nose
Electro discharge
Boost
Tractor Beam
Bumper
Grappling laser
Self Destruct
Holo field
Teleport (or Quantum Improbability Drive :))
Spanner in the Works
Phase Shift
Body Swap
Spatial Distortion - the terrain randomly changes (for the better or worse :))
Wormhole
The Doinking Finger
Pong Paddle
Portable Hole
Gum
U-Turn
Grow - Health Up
Shrink - Health Down
Jet Pack
Mirror Attack
Gyro-mounted Lasers
Lance
As far as the arenas go, I'll probably mainly have flat 3D arenas, but I would like to have one or two arenas with jumps, narrow walkways, perhaps speed boost floor panels and/or jump pads, that kind of thing, but on the whole, they will tend to be quite small so that most of the action fits into the view of a single screen where possible (as I believe this will help make the game more intuitive). There may be room however for one or two levels that break the trend!
Cheers,
Steve
The latest list includes the following 37 powerups:
Fireball
Spikes
Inertial dampeners
Speed Boost
Armour Boost
Psychokinesis
Invisibility
Improved invisibility
Blast Mine
Electromagnet
Slimer
Beer Controls
Glasses + fake nose
Electro discharge
Boost
Tractor Beam
Bumper
Grappling laser
Self Destruct
Holo field
Teleport (or Quantum Improbability Drive :))
Spanner in the Works
Phase Shift
Body Swap
Spatial Distortion - the terrain randomly changes (for the better or worse :))
Wormhole
The Doinking Finger
Pong Paddle
Portable Hole
Gum
U-Turn
Grow - Health Up
Shrink - Health Down
Jet Pack
Mirror Attack
Gyro-mounted Lasers
Lance
As far as the arenas go, I'll probably mainly have flat 3D arenas, but I would like to have one or two arenas with jumps, narrow walkways, perhaps speed boost floor panels and/or jump pads, that kind of thing, but on the whole, they will tend to be quite small so that most of the action fits into the view of a single screen where possible (as I believe this will help make the game more intuitive). There may be room however for one or two levels that break the trend!
Cheers,
Steve
The Tornado: A huge twister springs up from the spot the player sets it off at. Then, everyone (including the original user) can get swept up in this giant tornado, which will whip them around in a circle and lift them high off the ground. Players will thefore be flung randomly up into the air and off in a direction, possibly spinning in a disorienting fashion. It will be up to them to direct their sphere back to the playing field or be flung entirely off.
You also might want to look at Mario Kart for good power up ideas.
You also might want to look at Mario Kart for good power up ideas.
Maybe you could implement a Scorched Earth type of idea, in that you can earn money after each round (whether the amount of money earned is based on the speed at which you dispose your opponent, the number of powerups used, the damage done etc).
And then you can go into a shop where you can buy powerups, so you can have powerups galore to select from (but the selection limited by the money earned of course), and the value of each item is based on the effectiveness/power of the item in question.
But this might defeat the theme/purpose/type of gameplay you are after - and I *do* like the idea of not be overbogged with powerups (if you are just sticking with rolling over the powerups to collect them), because it might get too confusing and balance issues may come into play.
Anyway, as to your quandry about choosing between the 37 powerups down to 10-20... maybe you could group the powerups, so you have 5 defense type of powerups, 5 offence type of powerups, 5 *bad* powerups (in that they have a negative impact of your orb), 5 movement based powerups (eg., teleport, uturn, speed boost etc), and 5 physically altering powerups (eg., invisibility, phase shift, glasses and fake nose [lol], etc.). And in that way you aren't overbalanced in one type of area. Or maybe balance issues don't come into play, but it may help you selecting a good variety of the different types.
Cheers!
And then you can go into a shop where you can buy powerups, so you can have powerups galore to select from (but the selection limited by the money earned of course), and the value of each item is based on the effectiveness/power of the item in question.
But this might defeat the theme/purpose/type of gameplay you are after - and I *do* like the idea of not be overbogged with powerups (if you are just sticking with rolling over the powerups to collect them), because it might get too confusing and balance issues may come into play.
Anyway, as to your quandry about choosing between the 37 powerups down to 10-20... maybe you could group the powerups, so you have 5 defense type of powerups, 5 offence type of powerups, 5 *bad* powerups (in that they have a negative impact of your orb), 5 movement based powerups (eg., teleport, uturn, speed boost etc), and 5 physically altering powerups (eg., invisibility, phase shift, glasses and fake nose [lol], etc.). And in that way you aren't overbalanced in one type of area. Or maybe balance issues don't come into play, but it may help you selecting a good variety of the different types.
Cheers!
Actually I really like that idea, and could work it in with another idea I had last night. One of the collectibles in the game could be used as a currency and a health item, I think in fitting with the robot theme, nanobots could be the collectible currency/health item. The player collects nano-bots, loses some when they are damaged and loses a large number when they are knocked off the arena (the nanobots are used to reconstruct the Orb). Nanobots remaining at the end of a game can be used to purchase new powerups. I think they would fit in well, and could shower out from the player when they are hit like the rings that Sonic collects in the Sonic the Hedgehog games. This could add an incentive for another player to try and mop up the nanobots rather than finish off the player.
One thing I'm not sure about is how to balance out the powerups; a player could be left in a position after losing one or two rounds that everyone else can afford many more powerups than they can, and I don't like the idea that players should be going into a game with virtually no chance of winning from the outset, or inversly going into a game knowing that bar a miracle they will destroy all opposition. Also, if they can stock up on powerups, the nanobot collectibles have less of an impact on gameplay. However, I like the idea and with a bit of work I think it could work. Perhaps a combination of bought and collected powerups would work, but maybe that would be a little disjointed.
I also like the idea of classifying the powerups into groups, it helps break them down nicely, balance them well and should make it easier to cut the list down.... I'll try and do that today :)
Cheers,
Steve
One thing I'm not sure about is how to balance out the powerups; a player could be left in a position after losing one or two rounds that everyone else can afford many more powerups than they can, and I don't like the idea that players should be going into a game with virtually no chance of winning from the outset, or inversly going into a game knowing that bar a miracle they will destroy all opposition. Also, if they can stock up on powerups, the nanobot collectibles have less of an impact on gameplay. However, I like the idea and with a bit of work I think it could work. Perhaps a combination of bought and collected powerups would work, but maybe that would be a little disjointed.
I also like the idea of classifying the powerups into groups, it helps break them down nicely, balance them well and should make it easier to cut the list down.... I'll try and do that today :)
Cheers,
Steve
ball robots? bumpers? arena? two words:
PINBALL ARENA!!
you are fighting in a pinball-like arena, against other balls (think multiball mode). bumpers and flippers are common use in the layout, small ledgers and holes too. accelerators are used to send your ball elsewhere. You're doomed to go down, and can only go left and right, to aim for bumpers and flippers. And there is only one sort of powerup in there, and it's a powerdown. Something that jags your controls for a full second. no stirring.
what a multiplayer mode!!!
PINBALL ARENA!!
you are fighting in a pinball-like arena, against other balls (think multiball mode). bumpers and flippers are common use in the layout, small ledgers and holes too. accelerators are used to send your ball elsewhere. You're doomed to go down, and can only go left and right, to aim for bumpers and flippers. And there is only one sort of powerup in there, and it's a powerdown. Something that jags your controls for a full second. no stirring.
what a multiplayer mode!!!
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