Hey, I am thinking of this game that is inspired off of Dark Souls/Bloodborne, but it is translated into a third person shooter. This game is about a young god who was created for the sole purpose of taking on an supernatural entity known as the Eldritch, a being that was created out of humanity's greed and pursuit of the abnormal and impossible in order to attain greater heights and strengths that were never found before. The Eldritch has corrupted the world with an abnormal essence known as Phenomenon, corrupting life and morphing them into hideous creatures known as Eldritch Abominations, that have powers deemed impossible to hold.

Since this is a Third Person Shooter, you have an actual ammo count that is actually much lower than many shooters commonly have: Normally 10 or 15 bullets compared to 100 bullets. However, regular enemies normally die in 4 hits to make this low count reasonable. The ammo count is also tied to your dodging speed, becoming slower the more you fire. Dodging is called Phasing as you can remove yourself out of physical existence for a split second to dodge through enemy attacks with the press of the R2 button. You hold the L2 button to continually shoot, but they are at a much slower rate than many shooters. You can shoot as much as you want, but the game will punish you for being too greedy on offense by making your dodges slower and slower. Players have to press the dodge button multiple times to avoid shots since enemy gunfire also slightly homes in on you. Things can get very hectic if there are several enemies in an area (Note that 90% of the enemies in this game only have shooting attacks). As a result, this is an adaptation of the Dark Souls concept of punishing the player if they don't play safely.

As soon as your ammo runs out, you have to wait a certain cooldown period in order for all your ammo to return. This cooldown lasts longer the more you ammo you used up. The cooldown bar is indicated by the small gauge underneath the ammo count and if you shoot again while the cooldown bar is filling up, it will reset and it will be replaced with a cooldown period that gradually grows longer and longer the more ammo you use. This cooldown also determines how long your decrease in dodge speed will last too.

(Example Weapon: Rusted Treasure)

1 shot= 1.0 second cooldown (Dodge Distance and Speed = 3/4)
2 shots = 1.2 second cooldown (Dodge Distance and Speed = 3/4)

3 shots = 1.4 second cooldown (Dodge Distance and Speed = 3/5)

4 shots = 1.6 second cooldown (Dodge Distance and Speed = 3/5)

5 shots = 1.8 second cooldown (Dodge Distance and Speed = 1/2)

6 shots = 2.0 second cooldown (Dodge Distance and Speed = 1/2)

7 shots = 2.2 second cooldown (Dodge Distance and Speed = 2/5)

8 shots = 2.4 second cooldown (Dodge Distance and Speed = 2/5)

9 shots = 2.6 second cooldown (Dodge Distance and Speed = 1/4)

10 (MAX) shots = 2.8 second cooldown (Dodge Distance and Speed = 1/4)

For the spells, they are based around augmenting your shooting attacks like the spell called "Widen", which is used to make your magic bullets stretch into waves to hit more enemies. They are mostly there for support and they have long cooldown times as well as casting times that immobilize you for a second, so be cautious in when you use your spells. Best recommended casting them before encountering enemy hordes or bosses. Spells are augmented based on the weapon you are holding like the Magnum Gunstaff making the Widen spell make the bullets even wider or the Arophus making the widen spell vertical to also deal headshot damage to enemies. Activating a spell is done with the L1 button, using a spell that you have up in slot.

Since this game is based off of Dark Souls, the story is based on lore, but there will be plenty of plot and interaction between the protagonist and other characters in the game. There are no checkpoints or bonfires in this game and when you die, you will be reset to the beginning of the level. However, there are shortcuts to get to the end of the areas more quickly in a less time consuming way.

Unlike Dark Souls, there will be no level system for the character. The stats come into the weapons themselves and they can be upgraded with materials as they provide offense, longevity (The distance your shots can be fired), ammo count, and weight. The armor determines weight also, status resistances, overall defense, and health raising. Note that there are no shields in this game.

Aiming in this game is handled with Aim assist since this game is planned to be a playstation exclusive and not having the precision of keyboard and mouse controls. As soon as your reticle is close enough to an enemy, your shots will home in onto that enemy slightly and it is notified if the reticle glows white. However, you cannot attack innocent NPC's and as a result, your reticle will turn gray and you cannot shoot once it is this color.

You can switch between items you assigned onto the following buttons. The triangle button is to switch out weapons (Triangle represents a spear or sword, even though you cannot hold any melee weapons in the game), the square button is to switch out spells (Square represents a scroll or piece of paper that is used for magic), and the circle button is to switch out items (Circle represents an apple). Using an item is done with R1.

The Currency here are anomalies, the phenomenon stored inside Eldritch Abominations and they can be used to strengthen weapons and armor. When you die, you lose all your anomalies, but you have 1 last chance to recover it before it is lost.

So how does this sound? Does this adapt Bloodborne or Dark Souls well or poorly as a third person shooter?

As far as lore/worldbuilding goes (as you've described so far in your first paragraph), I'd say your lore is WAY too much on the nose with the names. Maybe you'll change it later, but I really wouldn't recommend giving them names that have Eldritch in them. Makes it way too obvious what you're going to go for. Besides that, I'd say you're doing fairly well with emanating a Dark Souls feel with the mechanics.

Except for not being able to kill NPCs. That's always been a staple of Dark Souls :^)

So how does this sound? Does this adapt Bloodborne or Dark Souls well or poorly as a third person shooter?

It looks like a few pieces of mechanics, but I don't really see much of the story of the game.

You've got vague references to generic FPS design, then you specify a series of values and specific button mappings that should really be tuned and adjusted over development, and you've got vague references to the storyline of other games.

It also appears that you've got a project requiring anywhere from 50 to 100 work-years, so you'll need to hire quite a few people, dramatically reduce your scope, or both.

I think you should start much smaller, start with games you know you can make and make a few of those first. Then after that you can slowly build up the design of your magnum opus.

So how does this sound? Does this adapt Bloodborne or Dark Souls well or poorly as a third person shooter?

It looks like a few pieces of mechanics, but I don't really see much of the story of the game.

You've got vague references to generic FPS design, then you specify a series of values and specific button mappings that should really be tuned and adjusted over development, and you've got vague references to the storyline of other games.

It also appears that you've got a project requiring anywhere from 50 to 100 work-years, so you'll need to hire quite a few people, dramatically reduce your scope, or both.

I think you should start much smaller, start with games you know you can make and make a few of those first. Then after that you can slowly build up the design of your magnum opus.

I second the amount of work required. I don't know about your skill with coding, etc. and how many (if any) other people are on your team, but what you've described sounds like a very large project for a single person (or even 2 or 3 people).

The concept is great on paper, but you will probably need to bring down the scale of this project a good amount, at least to start.

To elaborate on your concept, in my opinion, it's more Bloodborne than Dark Souls, because of the emphasis on dodging. Is the total ammo unlimited (i.e. you run out, but wait for it to recharge)?

It can definitely work, and it does have a Souls/Bloodborne feel to it. There's a lot of details you'll have to work out as you go forward, obviously.

Thank you for your responses. And yes, ammo is unlimited and you can recharge infinitely.

Maybe I should focus on developing tinier games first before making a big game like this. And yes, I am planning to cooperate with people.

If you want more detail on the story, here is a small bit of lore about this world:

-The one who created this world was the Alexandra the Omnipotent, who suffered from extreme fatigue as soon as she just finished. She would then rest at a mountain which would be known as the holy city of Helirus, where Alexandra's worshippers would come here to aid in her recovery.

-Sofia of the Helirus was a legendary sorceress who would later revolutionize this world with her discovery of the Phenomenon. She theorized that there is a metaphysical realm that contained an essence deemed nonexistent in this world, having the ability to grant strengths and powers that ascend beyond the laws of nature. Her belief was at first deemed to be heresy by the church, but as soon as Alexandra heard about her theory, she let her off as she was agreeing with the theory that there could be a universe above that could grant this world supernatural strength, thinking that that energy could in fact make her recover from her fatigue faster. So, she allowed Sofia to continue her studies, but told her followers to keep an eye on her just in case she doesn't do anything funny. Followers actually came to aid in Sofia's studies and formed as a group known as the Occult, eventually being successful in extracting that essence from the theorized realm via dimensional magic. This essence could be utilized for many new opportunities by making Alchemy possible, regenerating organs and lost limbs, making objects float to make carrying and trade easier, reversing aging, and the endless possibilities just go on. Sofia was a figure who was dubbed: Sofia of the Occult.

-One time, The Occult experimented to give the essence a will to live to see how an unnatural creature would adapt to this world. They applied life-giving magic and specks of blood to the essence and things went horribly wrong. The result was a sentient gaseous mass known as the Eldritch that would corrupt life on the world in order to expand the metaphysical realm. However, in order to fully sink this world into oblivion, the entity needs to get absorb Alexandra's soul as it dictates how the world should be handled. Since Alexandra still did not have her strength back, she would create a God made out of the Metaphysical essence to take on the being. Tragically, she was killed by the entity, with her soul being absorbed into the creature's body, giving it a more humanoid appearance and the ability to talk.

(What the Eldritch's theme would sound like:)

However, the Eldritch still hasn't taken all of the Goddess's soul as she crafted the child with a fragment of her soul too. So, the Eldritch will have his army of Eldritch Abominations to take your soul, which will result in your body completely being destroyed.

-Since the player God was incomplete due to the death of Alexandra, most of your supernatural powers are very limited

I like the basic idea. (As I also like the difficulty and challenge of Dark Souls, yet I don't like the basic combat mechanics, it's somehow not my taste).

Wouldn't a Dark Souls as shooter boil down to pure boss fights? That is somehow appealing :). To start small, it could be an shump imo. The basic idea wouldn't change much between 3rd person 3d and top down 2d.

Must the ammo be unlimited? It doesnt soundvery dark souls to me. Maybe limited ammo, but you can gather it in the world and it drops from enemies?

I agree also that the scope is enourmous for such a project. It's good to dream, its better to actually be able to finish a project:)

Must the ammo be unlimited? It doesnt soundvery dark souls to me. Maybe limited ammo, but you can gather it in the world and it drops from enemies?

I agree also that the scope is enourmous for such a project. It's good to dream, its better to actually be able to finish a project:)

Generally, shooting is the only way to attack, so I won't be limiting the ammo, but I will limit the amount of spells you can use. Think of the bullet count as the stamina in Dark Souls.

Anywya, I was thinking of changing the battle system a bit just to ask:

The bullet count will tie in with your movement speed, but no longer your dodge distance. Your dodge distance will always remain the same, but now the Bullet count will be tied to your Immobility. After you dodge (now called teleporting), you stop for a short time, leaving you vulnerable for a split second and the more bullets you shot out of your gun, the longer this pause will last. It is best advised to teleport sparingly and only when you are in a tight crunch. The most reliable way of avoiding attacks, however, is to simply move away from enemy gunfire as you are very quick and move out of the way. But the more bullets you shot, the slower your movement speed becomes, so you have to think wisely when to shoot and when to stop shooting in order to dodge out of the way. So, enemy gunfire will no longer home in on you (well, some enemy attacks can) in order to compensate.

Essentially, what I am thinking of is a third person bullet hell, where enemy gunfire is slow, but they are very numerous and you have to dodge by moving around, only teleporting at tight moments. But the problem I am seeing is how the camera would work. Most bullet hells are from a top down perspective, so you can see the bullets move onto the screen. But in third person, how should it work? I mean, what if I just put lock on aiming on the targets like in dark souls? I don't feel like making the game top down.