I randomly thought of this idea. Consider yourself in a world where the levels are designed like bubble bobble or something. But your character is a slime or a snail. And if you move in one direction, you leave a slime track behind you. If you turn in the other direction and step in your own slime track, you slip across it and cannot stop or you have to slow down before you stop. Maybe this causes you to go faster and therefore allows you to jump further/higher than your normally could if you were not slipping on your own track. And perhaps also, your track would be the device used to catch and kill (or whatever) your enemies... I donno, that's just the start of an idea i have. Does anyone think it's a good start? Do you think the idea is worth building off of? Is this at least a creative idea or has it been done before? [edited by - tieTYT on April 14, 2004 2:31:20 AM]

Creating a character with an ability that has the potential to be an obstacle if handled without control is an interesting idea. A platformer that forces you to be more cautious of your movement seems like a good starting point - just keep in mind that in a platformer, people expect a certain level of "freedom". If the slime track becomes overbearing to the actual freedom of movement that platformer-fans expect, it may change the way that the game is played so much so that it becomes less of a platformer and more of a puzzle-solver. It''s important that you balance the mechanics in such a way that it provides what people expect - otherwise, it might not be best to associate it with a specific genre that carries with it a set of expectations.

A ''unique game'' can get away with a certain amount of uniqueness. But someone playing your game expecting it to be something else may draw unfair conclusions because they are comparing it to something that it was not meant to be.

You could definately expand upon the mechanics, but I think it is an interesting start.

Yes, it''s a good start. I remember this old snake game in Atari where your goal is to get your opponent step on your track. Like dgaf said, there might be some catchy things with the design. Try making it and see if that works.

you could have different types of trails (maybe earned throughout the game), for different things: the usual "slime" trail, a "glue" trail for trapping enemies, an "acid" trail, etc...

Its a cool idea. I''m wondering exactly how the game would play tho. What kinds of enemies are there? What''s the goal of the game? ect.

I like the idea, it seems like a simple enough innovation, which generally means it can be made into a good game. I had a similar idea a while ago, but I was thinking of a version of lightcycles with several twists, not really a platformer.

quote: Original post by tieTYT
you move in one direction, you leave a slime track behind you. If you turn in the other direction and step in your own slime track, you slip across it and cannot stop or you have to slow down before you stop. Maybe this causes you to go faster and therefore allows you to jump further/higher than your normally could if you were not slipping on your own track. And perhaps also, your track would be the device used to catch and kill (or whatever) your enemies...

very innovative idea. unlike running into its own slime track and get special fast ability, the snail would be very slow. It like it. You should develop your idea and create a game out of it!

It would be original.



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[edited by - BlackThirteen on April 14, 2004 9:40:01 PM]

quote: Original post by BlackThirteen

very innovative idea. unlike running into its own slime track and get special fast ability, the snail would be very slow. It like it. You should develop your idea and create a game out of it!

Actually.. i was thinking that he runs into his own slime track and does get a fast ability. Did i misunderstand you? Were you trying to give a suggestion?

I kinda like my way better: It''s interesting to have something that can both hurt you and help you and also have situations where you need to use it.

quote: Its a cool idea. I''m wondering exactly how the game would play tho. What kinds of enemies are there? What''s the goal of the game? ect.

That''s exactly what i couldn''t think about. I was thinking about a gigantic salt shaker floating around in the air like the sun sprite in super mario bros trying to melt ya but that concept does not really go along with the gameplay so i intend NOT to use it. But on the other hand, if they were miniature salt shakers and multiple numbers of them, that would be an almost natural enemy to have.

As for the goal, my initial thought was, just like bubble bobble, to defeat all the enemies, and then you just move on to the next level and it repeats itself. On a scale of 1 to 10 of how much i like this idea, i''d give it a 4. But on the other hand, bubble bobble is considered a classic so maybe this is something that people would like.

quote: you could have different types of trails (maybe earned throughout the game), for different things: the usual "slime" trail, a "glue" trail for trapping enemies, an "acid" trail, etc...

yes that''s a very good idea.