Before get started, sorry for the obscure title(I was never good at coming up with those). Now that that(2 "that"s right after eachother, insane) is out of the way,I can get to my post. I am taking a class in my school where you come up with a computer project and then plan it,work on it, manage it, etc. etc. until it is done. Anyways, I told the teacher I can program C++ and she suggested I make a game. Now , I have made games before, but they were all done on my watch and not on a specific deadline. With that in mind, I told her would make an old school 2D shooter along the lines of contra, metal slug, etc. because I knew I could finish it in time. Getting past the backstory and to the meat of this post.... I want to add a new spin on this type of game, and I would like to hear your suggestions to breathe life into this dying genre. This is some of what I have come up with so far: grappling hook (like Bionic Commando but able to grab objects and enemies) gravity gun (not totally new, but fun none the less) Drivable Vehicles (I think a ship that controlled like the ship in Lunar Lander would be cool) Customizable Weapons (Should I add a laser pointer or the grenade launcher to my AR....?) Multiple Objectives with split level trees(If you destroy the reactor and the bad guy gets away you play a chase level, if you kill the guy and let the reactor stand, you have to run the gauntlet of enemies at another base) Anyways thats some of what I would like to see in a game of this genre, feel free to add your own.(you could even be in the credits!!) Thanks for your time

how long do you have to do this project?

all those ideas sound good. use as many as you can, just make sure you save some time to fine tune the code. Many games have feature that seem like a good idea but are either useless or score you so many cheapshots it ruins gameplay.

I have 4 months to get the thing running, the good thing about the class is that I am taking the advanced course next year and I can use the smae project from before(assuming I fixed stuff, and its not the exact same game). Also, I am reusing a lot of code from a previous game I made. Not big stuff, just the rendering code, map format, classes for stuff like Players , Enemies, etc. Really all I have left to do is to write some game logic, add my ideas, then replace all my programmer art with the good stuff. I think the big hurdle is going to be, as Kaze said, giving the player enought stuff to keep him interested without making him a super soldier and blazing throught the game in 30 minutes.

P.S. Speaking of Programmer art, how would you guys like to have an unlockable programmer art mode where it uses all of the original resources I used.

don't forget parallax scrolling.
always a favorite.

and some kind of fake z-axis, where you can move in and out of the background, foreground, and any other "planes" in the middle would be cool too.

Yeah, I was thinking about putting a mode in my level editor where you could place objects on either the player's plane, the background, or the foreground to give some sense of depth, the objects in the fore and back ground can be moved through by the player, allowing for some cool effects.(it could also be used to hide secrets or hidden levels.

You have nice idea's but will that make you play the game differently? It's not what you do but how you do it/how it's done.

Something simple like firing a missile can be made complex and rely on you to aim/detonate it at the right time for the best effectiveness.

Weapons in a Metal Slug type of game require the same type of requested action (press 1 button) and the only thing that is different is what it does to your enemy-visually/effectiveness-wise.

Concentrate on what the game does (all it's intricacies) and expand on a certain feature (make combat more versatile/expansive or use allot of vehicles/the ability to repair them etc) or implement some kind of feature/rule that will make you play the game differently throughout-set it apart form the others in the same genre.

A great example is Viewtiful Joe-the game is a 2D platforming beat em up. Same basis for Streets of Rage except entirely different to play. The ability to slow down, speed up time changes everything-makes opponents miss/easier to dodge, explosions last longer for bombs, you go on fire when you go faster, They looked at what speed of time can do, slightly bent the laws of reality and implemented them (plausibly) into the game. All of these moves are mixed in with puzzles as well-they morphed many genres into the game from the powers Joe had.

His viewtifulness added freshness and depth in a genre that had been done to death.

On the same sort of lines you should try to do the same.

I've long been a fan of the keyboard/mouse combo for side-scolling shooters. Abuse is a good example of this. I've seen it in Flash games as well, and it makes for a smooth and easy control interface.

Also, alternate fire adds depth to gameplay and nuance to weapons. Combined with your idea of modular weapons, I think this could be neat. Grenade launcher on a rifle, or flashlight on a shotgun, or "stun" on a laser gun could add to the gameplay.

Games like psi-ops and Second Sight have shown us that magic powers can be integrated smoothly into shooter games. Maybe there's a place for something like that in your design.

Will this game be made available to the GD.net community?

If your time is short, I'd recommend to focus on one thing only, nd explore all the gameplay it can give. I'd say the gravgun, but you'd prolly be called another 'Project Freeman' of some sort....

The drivables thing is a nice idea, specially with the current FPS tnd of having wheeled things to play with :) -- but for real, I'd prefer to think on something else. If my opinion matters, it is Grappling Hook, then guns, then vehicles.

If you ever put the gravgun, think... it can do the alotta things the hook can do. And vice versa. Your choice.

Sorry I haven't responded in a while, I thought the thread died...

Thanks for all your tips and ideas. When I have a working demo, I will post it. Also when I am done with the version for my class this year, I will put the full version online for free download (Just having people play my game willingly is enough for me)