For me, my favorites are usually RTS, RPG (ideally real time RPGs), MMORPG, and to a lesser degree turn based strategy and turn based role playing. I usually like 3D better, but well done 2D is perfectly fine as well.
Well I have this 2D sandbox game idea in mind inspired by Terraria. It would be more technological than Terraria, and even though it's 2D, you will be able to go indoors. I can't explain myself very well, but I'm trying to say like a door on the wall in the background that you can enter, and if you do, its like another layer behind the previous one. and it can go a few layers back. It saves alot of space. So Imagine Terraria with like multiple layers of tiles. Good / Bad / Dumb?
I think it could work. There have been a lot of top down games with multiple levels, but I can't remember playing any side view games with this kind of system. I wonder if it will be harder to make it clear where the doorways into the rooms outside of the screen are? (that is, if the character is facing into the screen with his back visible, the door would be behind him) I guess you'd just put a sign on the opposite wall or something? I can think of a few other issues like how the back walls would work (in this case walls between layers) and whether you'd be able to see into deeper layers for drawing the backgrounds, but I think they could all be worked out.
First of all, I thank you for replying to me, secondly for telling my that you don't remember playing any side view games with this kind of system(makes mine feel unique).
First, the background is drawn, then the tiles in front are drawn. If in the background there is a tile with transparency, then it draws the tile behind it(in the layer behind the current) with 40/255 darker alpha. If a tile behind a transparent tile, a window for example, is also a window, then it is drawn 80/255 darker alpha, and it draws the third layer back. Basically, if the tile behind a transparent one is also transparent, it draws the tile even behind the second one, but, each time it is 40/255 darker, and this only goes on for 4 layers(160/255).
To build a door, to prevent building doors anywhere(outdoors, caves), it will need to be placed inside of a room. Also, if you go a layer back the only tiles that show will the the ones below the door.
Now, if you build a door on a tower, but jump down(and survive) the way to get back to the default layer will be to press (< or >). This may prevent the use of doors, but doors are always useful because they prevent unwanted creatures out of your house.
To enter a door that leads a layer back(<) you need to press W or the key that is assigned to #UP. To enter a door that leads a layer front(>) you will need to press S or the key that is assigned to #DOWN. Now, if you pass through a door, and enter the back layer(<, again) how would you see the door you came from(since you cannot see the layers in front, but just the layers in back)? Simple, transparent tiles "leak light" into the next door. So if you happen to have a window between two rooms, then the tile behind the window(in the back layer, <) will be a little lighter, 20/255(this may to another value later). For open doors, it will leak light the shape of the door(still thinking what would determine to set the door as open or closed when you pass through them, or to even include open doors at all), but the closed doors will only leak light of the outline of the door, it will look like two parallel lines with an arc at the top, and a little light from the key hole.
I'm still working on this, but thanks for commenting, and reading.
~WeNeedFocus
