Posted

Dec 15th 2008

Mood

Inferior

Ah, some interesting chain of thoughts have been coming to light in the past few days, and I'd thought I'd share a few. For those who've known my messed-up head, I do like to ponder game concepts. Some are simplistic, while others are complicated. And everything is always subject to change, such as the long-existing idea of "Spectrum."

I've made a list of concepts and what I've been thinking about in each. Some of these folks may recognize, while others might be new to some...


Mach Rider 2:

I like Tora. I like the concept. But the story and property may not be a good pillar to base everything around. Sure, "Mach Rider" is the inspiration. But is it necessary to force the Star Fox universe into things?
I'm thinking of a "Plan B," which is an environment NOT focused on Star Fox or even Nintendo. It has no backup name, and would require a few necessary replacement characters and a rename for the main bike. It's a severe loss of characters to work with, but it does open up some more possibilities. Also, situations where flying is involved may not be so prevalent, and I get the feeling that may be a good thing. Sometimes those kinds of distractions hurt more than help.

But most importantly, a new story would have to be developed, and this may change Tora's role ever so slightly. He'd still be a hero, but perhaps not as a military soldier (though maybe formerly so). He'd play the role of a vigilante trying to take on a horde of threatening robots throughout the futuristic world. He'd meet his new partners soon enough, and they would help him fight the threats and locate the source of the problem. Sam and Tom would stay, but almost everyone else (other than most of the robots) would have to be replaced. The new roles taking over Miyu and Fay are already being looked upon, though it would be a shame to lose them. Still, Miyu and Fay aren't my characters, so sadly...


Rhonda Roo's Pizza Panic:

I took a small opportunity to think about this game concept. An issue came to mind about how the pizza slices' distribution. Were it the Wii, you could not only point but also rotate to set slices up in ways that showed some elegance (fancy organization of pizza slices). But most formats of control would be tougher to do this with, and while elegance would've initially been a means of added bonus points, it may possibly be best to ignore this and just attempt to race against time, filling out all the orders regardless.

I'd also considered a "character select" that effected the types of slices you got. There are two types of slices you would get: 1/4 slices and 1/8 slices. Different characters would have different rates of how much each would appear. For example...Kira would have 75% 1/4 and 25% 1/8, while Olive would have 25% 1/4 and 75% 1/8. Rhonda Roo is the balanced character with 50/50. This could introduce preferences for certain players.


Sir Ataru's Magic Quest:

This concept was also though about for a moment. I had mentioned before that Sir Ataru had no HP, but a "Courage" meter. When his courage ran out, he would immediately run off and cower at the last save point he visited (usually under a bed). And while Sir Ataru is at certail levels of "Courage," his emotions would vary from determined to blank, to worried, to scared!

This "emotion engine" had me thinking about what other uses for feelings were available. It made me think of Sir Ataru's assisting characters! He interacts with them in certain situations, and I began to think that his choices in how he interacted would affect their feelings. Happy, of course, is the desired emotion for your assistant. But saying or doing the wrong things can make party members sad, angry, or scared. If they are sad, their abilities are less effective. If they're scared, they will use their effects less or slip up at times to mess YOU up. And if they are angry, they may not want to help you at all, leaving you to fend for yourself! The ghost of Sir Fuego is always in a happy mood, but is not a very active assistant. You need to get to know your friends and make sure not to disappoint them, or it'll bite you in the end!


Jamal the Bombardier Bird:

This actual game in progress has a few obstacles in the way. There are boss characters, but the vehicles they would be riding are not designed yet! I only have some ideas as to how they generally act and how to defeat them. What's more, decisions on good standard enemies can be tough as well! There should be a nice variety of ones with good offense, with good defense, with special movements, and with unique secondary abilities.

And I do wish Jamal the Bombardier Bird had an original music score. But I have no means of composing music at the moment. I'll find some way at some time. Jamal DOES have a legitimate theme, "The Fate of the World in My Hands"... it's just never been heard before. X3 And there are tunes that could do some justice to the odd nature of the game. There are names for some of these tunes-to-be, like "Town Car Polka," "Tap Shoes," "You Are My Rival," and "Theme of 'The Wooden Chef.'" ...yeah, don't ask about that last one.


Agent Brella:

Very few poeple know about this concept. You would play the role of a genius secret agent named Agent Brella, wielding a gun and a gadget shaped like an umbrella. The umbrella acted as a shield, parachute, grappling hook, melee weapon, and communication dish. It was designed to use an odd control scheme with either dual analog or digital+analog direction, and shoulder buttons. The definite analog aimed your gun and/or umbrella, the other analog or digital pad moved your character, and the buttons would make you fire your weapon or swap umbrella functions.

The idea is still kinda there, and I really don't want to get rid of it. But I keep thinking that someone else could play the part of Agent Brella. Someone like, say... Olive!


And then there's that odd Mr. Driller vision I had with Pepper, but I won't go into much detail beyond that.

So anyway, that's what's been spilling out of my head for the moment. I just feel so meh right now...

Oh, and I hope to give a few holiday "presents" to a few folks I hadn't given stuff to before. I can think of two, and I might do three. I'll see what happens...

--Malamite Ltd.
"I go bed now."