Howdy I'm in the process of developing a game called informANT. The player takes on the role of an ant sent to spy on a termite colony. I'm looking for some feedback on a specific idea I've been toying with since I started the design. The game world is the inside of a termite nest, so there all all kinds of tunnels going all over the place. I'm wondering whether it would be better to keep the entire nest as one flat area or to include depth. I was initially hooked on the idea of being able to move up and down through the nest as well as in 4 lateral directions, but now I'm wondering if it would become too easy to get lost (although the player does have a yet-unnamed mechanism to make marks on the tunnel walls). Also, if depth should to be included, how should it be integrated into player movement? I was considering having the tunnel depths be contiguous, with areas gradually farther above and below the player's location being drawn semi-transparently, greater depth difference = fainter visual representation. Another idea is to depth levels in the nest, and have certain tunnels automagically move to a different level. As far as I can tell, both ideas have advantages and drawbacks. Just wondering what other think - suggestions/comments/miscellaneous random feedback? Thanks, scott edit - forgot some words Edited by - LizardAl on March 27, 2002 6:44:13 PM

i can''t believe i forgot to mention this - the game is 2D, viewed from above...

scott

I think the vertical tunnels in your game should be limited. It could become too cumbersome to navigate in your game if the levels are too complicated. In real life, a termite nest is WAY to complicated for us to possibly navigate for FUN! BUT, if you used the vertical tunnels as traps and obstacles, then it would be another level of difficulty as the maps/missions get harder, rather than becoming a nuisance to the player.

Sounds cool. So the ants would be able to use pheronomes to mark trails (I assume that these trails would be rendered; alternatively you could keep them invisible but make the ants react to them in such a way that the player is alerted to the presence of a trail. For example, the ant might lower it''s head and sweep it''s antenae across the ground. Just a thought...).