I''m working on a side-scroller, where the player has only a sword and the enemies have relatively weak guns, but they attack in large groups. Now, I''ve decided that the only way to make this fair is to allow the player to reflect bullets with his sword (Lightsaber-style.) But then the player seems too invincible! I''ve thought of the following: 1) Allow the player only to sustain the reflection of bullets for a few seconds, 2) give the enemies some weapons w/ splash damage (explosives), and 3) have enemies come from both sides, so the player must choose what direction to block in. Any other ideas, or did I just answer my own question? "The wise make proverbs, and fools repeat them." -- ISAAC D'ISRAELI lntakitopi@aol.com http://geocities.com/guanajam/

One of your character''s moves could be to block the bullets with the sword. That means if you''re blocking, you''re not fighting and the enemy is getting closer.

Or, he could be wearing a bullet proof cloak. That way, he can''t get hit from behind but if he doesn''t watch his back, the enemy with get to close and attack at close range.

E:cb woof!

Have him only be able to block the bullets sometimes, as in he may try to block them but may miss a few. Or you could have him obtain other weapons, such as explosives or a net gun that traps the enemy. Or have only some of the enemies have guns, let some have, swords, flamethrowers, nothing but fists, or seilds.

"blow up a lawnmower plant, save a lawn gnome!"

Hmm... great ideas! Flamethrowers would be perfect for non-blockable projectiles... and an 80-90% chance of blocking bullets would add some initiative to jump & avoid the fire. I''ve also decided to have more intricate levels that might allow for some item-hunting as well! Thanks, guys.
(BTW, If anyone else has more suggestions, they''re still welcome!)

"The wise make proverbs, and fools repeat them." -- ISAAC D'ISRAELI

lntakitopi@aol.com
http://geocities.com/guanajam/

This is just some general advice, but make sure you don''t make it too hard. Often times designers think their game is too easy and they need to make it more difficult. The thing you must remember though is that while you know everything about each type of enemy, the player is relatively clueless.

In other words, make sure you watch other people play your game before you decide that it''s too easy

--TheGoop

I''ve seen side-scrollers let the player perform a ''hide'' type move when pressing the up key - like they go flat against a wall or something, then weapons won''t hit them apart from explosives, also the enemies would get closer.

-Mezz

quote: Original post by Mezz

I''ve seen side-scrollers let the player perform a ''hide'' type move when pressing the up key - like they go flat against a wall or something, then weapons won''t hit them apart from explosives, also the enemies would get closer.

-Mezz

Yes, and a (more or less) recent 2D platform game called ''Oddworld Abe''s Oddysee'' had some really cool effect where you could sneak behind an enemy when he looked the other way and then hide in the shadows. It was quite fun.

Regards

nicba

If you want to have them block the bullets w/ the sword, the best way IMHO is to have a sword damage limit. The bullets hit and the damage to the sword increases, if it hits the max the sword breaks and the player can no longer block the bullets. I think this would work better than the percent block because the player could be extremly low on hit points and the killing bullet is not blocked even though the player did everything right (talk about a frustrating thought). Make sure the player doesnt move when blocking the shots, or the player could use this as a shield the entire time.

Glandalf

I haven''t played your game or anything, but often giving the enemies a gun while you only have a sword is not a very good idea. But anyways, one way of blocking the bullets would be to have him only be able to block the bullets at a certain point in the sweeping motion of the sword. Example: Say when he goes to kill a guy, he brings the sword up over his head and brings it down like a hammer kinda, well if he is far away, when the bullets come he could lift up the sword, and while he is swinging it down he will be able to block the bullets. So he has to time when to hit the swing_sword button in order to block the bullets. Also because it is a platform game you could have him duck under and jump over the bullets. Also when the enemies fire make sure the player knows they are going to fire. Like say normally the just walking around, but just before they are going to fire they stop, point their gun, and then fire. I hate when their is no warning that they will fire.