I was thinking about some game design ideas the other day, and had kind of an odd vision in my head. I was imagining a platformer game, not unlike the play-style of Super Mario 3 or SM World, but with massive amounts of activity going on during play. It is kind of hard to describe on paper what I mean (of course I am sure I could if I had lots of writing space in a design doc), but if you could picture the differences between Street Fighter II and one of the newer Marvel vs. Capcom fighting games, that is the kind of frantic, flashy gameplay I am thinking of. In Marvel vs. Capcom, you hit a button, and missiles are flying around the screen, your character is scoring 10+ hit combos, you are flying 20 feet in the air with the background flashing, etc. I suppose that a platformer with that same kind of frantic play would put less emphasis on the precision that is normally present in a Mario-style platformer, and more emphasis on twitch-type gameplay. The game would obviously have to be more forgiving due to the frantic, twitchy, flashy style confusing or overwhelming players to an inability to make highly precise moves. Does anyone know of any platformers that would fit into this same kind of idea? I know it would be hard to make a definitive choice since my ideas so far are rather abstract, but any frantic, fast-paced platformer would be great for me to take a look at. At first I was thinking a Sonic game may fit the bill, but instead of moving quickly like Sonic does, I was more thinking that the location would move at a normal platformer pace, while the environment and enemies would be the protagonists of fast action and twitchy gameplay.

I encourage you to prototype the gameplay and post it here for suggestions and comments! The game sounds fairly unique for a platformer without being gimmicky. I would be interested in playing something like this. You'd have to get the player to have a constant on-the-verge-of-death feeling to keep it tense. I'd give the player quick response times with sudden changes in direction and others to let the game be real twitchy. (Example: normal platformer where a block falls from ceiling to crush you, you have to respond a second or so before it hits the ground to get away. I'd have the player be able to dash out of it within a small amount of time so that the block wouldn't have to fall from so high).

BTW, I haven't played any of the other games MSW mentioned, but at least the original Metal Slug games aren't how I imagine your description.

jackolantern1: Talk about universal subconscious. :| Interestingly, a couple of months ago I came up with an idea that is remarkably similar to this! Although my idea is more varied and skill-reliant than twitch gaming. I plan to properly develop it some time, since I have the concept well fleshed-out.

There aren't many titles like this. The games MSW suggested are good ones to look at. Bangai-O is an excellent game to look at, as well as the Metal Slugs. Heart of Darkness (cinematic platformer/puzzle/survival horror) is another one which I'm using as inspiration - though it's much more of a thinking man's game since it's not fast-paced or flashy (it is horribly frantic, though).

All very good suggestions and input.

Bravepower: If you move forward with your idea, I would love to see how it comes out.

Quote:Original post by MSW
Have a look at the Treasure developed games Gunstar Heros (and sequel Gunstar Super Heros), Alien Soldier, Bangai-O, and maybe Silhouette Mirage. Also the Metal Slug series and the general platformer/shoot-em-up cross genre 'run and gun'.

These are all very interesting games (most of which I had never heard of). Almost each one seems to have an element of my idea, although none really bring it all together. Of all of them, Bangai-O is the only one to have the visual "flash" of the kind of game I am thinking of.

There are two things, though, that I did not see in any of them. However, these are two idea that were not really presented in my OP due to the high-level abstract nature. I have been trying to think of basic elements to present that make up my idea, and two not present in any of those games are:

1. Dynamic platforms: Explosions could cause platforms to split and fly through the air in unpredictable patterns, or enemies or projectiles could shatter platforms, change their size or trajectory. They would likely have to have some rules governing them so that the player does not get stuck with no possible solution, but I would like them to be somewhat different each time. Almost all of the games above likely came from generations that did not have the processing power to handle the physics for something like this, as they all had static and mostly parallel platforms.

2. Abilities to change the environment: This is another idea that I actually pulled out of Marvel vs. Capcom and other "schizophrenic" Capcom fighting games lol. You may use an ability (in the case of MvC, a move) and the screen lights up, you fly into the air and see a close-up of your fighter superimposed on the background. I could see that within this idea being used to perhaps open up dimensional gateways to unleash interdimensional swarms of demons, projectiles, etc. Maybe the player could even have a chance of accidentally unleashing more enemies, more platforms to work with, etc.

EDIT: Maybe the player could be given something like a chain or grappling hook that they could shoot in any direction to latch on to flying or otherwise dynamic platforms and enemies. It could be sort of like Bionic Commando, but in a less static environment.

[Edited by - jackolantern1 on October 23, 2009 3:07:45 PM]

Wow, I was just thinking about something like this during lunch. I'd be interested in seeing a prototype for something like this.

Hm, if you want something that is super intense simply because of difficulty, have a look at I wanna be the guy (That is probably THE hardest game ever. It's pretty intense because of that) I'm pretty sure it's not what you are envisioning, but maybe it could help with ideas.

Quote:Original post by brandonman
Hm, if you want something that is super intense simply because of difficulty, have a look at I wanna be the guy (That is probably THE hardest game ever. It's pretty intense because of that) I'm pretty sure it's not what you are envisioning, but maybe it could help with ideas.

Omg, "I wanna Be the Guy" looks crazy lol. Yes, it is very different than I envisioned, but it does look very neat.

Actually, though, my goal is to not make a very difficult game, but just an intense one. It may be hard to have tension without extremely high difficulty, but I hope it could be achieved by continuously making the player feel like they got through a scene by the skin of their teeth. Tension could also be created by so much going on at once. A difficult design balance would be to try to teeter the game right between "I am losing a grip with what is going on" and "I see where I need to go through all the craziness".

Quote:Original post by jackolantern1
Actually, though, my goal is to not make a very difficult game, but just an intense one. It may be hard to have tension without extremely high difficulty, but I hope it could be achieved by continuously making the player feel like they got through a scene by the skin of their teeth. Tension could also be created by so much going on at once. A difficult design balance would be to try to teeter the game right between "I am losing a grip with what is going on" and "I see where I need to go through all the craziness".

My thoughts, in terms of implementation, was to have the game quasi-cheat to keep things tolerable for the player. For example, imagine that you're on a platform that blows up, shattering into pieces and throwing the player in the air. Calculate it so that the player is guaranteed to land on a fragment of that same platform. Also calculate it so that a few of the other pieces end up in reachable positions. Have one platform fragment behind another fragment so that, if he or she misses the jump in their panic, that they have a backup platform. And so on. The idea is that you could dynamically adjust things so it *feels* like things are out of control and wild, but the game engine is actually helping you keep things in control.

Is this implementable? I have no clue. ;)

Quote:Original post by Rycross

Quote:Original post by jackolantern1
Actually, though, my goal is to not make a very difficult game, but just an intense one. It may be hard to have tension without extremely high difficulty, but I hope it could be achieved by continuously making the player feel like they got through a scene by the skin of their teeth. Tension could also be created by so much going on at once. A difficult design balance would be to try to teeter the game right between "I am losing a grip with what is going on" and "I see where I need to go through all the craziness".

My thoughts, in terms of implementation, was to have the game quasi-cheat to keep things tolerable for the player. For example, imagine that you're on a platform that blows up, shattering into pieces and throwing the player in the air. Calculate it so that the player is guaranteed to land on a fragment of that same platform. Also calculate it so that a few of the other pieces end up in reachable positions. Have one platform fragment behind another fragment so that, if he or she misses the jump in their panic, that they have a backup platform. And so on. The idea is that you could dynamically adjust things so it *feels* like things are out of control and wild, but the game engine is actually helping you keep things in control.

Is this implementable? I have no clue. ;)

That is pretty much what I was envisioning, too. For example, in the Genesis Sonic the Hedgehog games, you could actually land on a platform and technically be 1 pixel off of it, so you are not actually touching it. The game gives it to you, though, so you don't miss the jump, which may have been difficult because of the speed that Sonic travels.

I also think this could tie in with the chain or grappling hook. Maybe if the player misses a platform or starts falling, they could whip their chain at a nearby platform and pull themselves to it.