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Need more ideas for Top Down Shooter

Game Design and Theory Game Design

Started by StevenCGM May 16, 2017 01:14 AM

10 comments, last by White_crow 7 years, 1 month ago

StevenCGM

118

Author

May 16, 2017 01:14 AM

So-far I have this much on the planning stage of my game. So Request any thing that you think would be a good feature.

SURVIVE The Outbreak

The all new Top-Down shooter.

Shooting Zombies with side missions pretty much.

W,A,S,D
LMOUSE To shoot
Scroll wheel (or hotkeys) to rotate weapons
4 Weapons
(Slot 1) Assault Rifle
(Slot 2) Shotgun
(Slot 3) Pistol
(Slot 4) Sword
12 Missions for Campaign
2 locations for the Campaign
Wilson County
Gale City
2 Playable Characters.
Lumberjack (Red hair, Red Plaid Shirt, Ripped Jeans, Purple Beanie.
Rick (Bald, Sweat Pants, White Tank Top, Pale.

CrazyCdn

1,442

May 16, 2017 02:19 AM

Don't tell me what keys to use. You can have a default, but allow them to be configured.

"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." --Benjamin Franklin

LorenzoGatti

4,652

May 16, 2017 10:09 AM

When would the player use the pistol? The assault rifle should shoot more lethal bullets quicker and at greater range, the shotgun should allow more lenient aiming. Is it going to be the sad fallback weapon the player copes with in case of ammo scarcity?

In addition to swords, consider axes (more damage and/or faster, closer range and worse defense), since you have a lumberjack. Other classic quasi-weapons, like scythes and chainsaws, or modern tools, like grass trimmers, hedge cutters and blowtorches could be appropriate or too silly depending on the tone.

What do you plan to vary between missions? Are there going to be zombies of different types or with different equipment?

Omae Wa Mou Shindeiru

frob

46,236

May 16, 2017 04:51 PM

So Request any thing that you think would be a good feature.

What you have is not really a game idea. What you have is some button mappings, some types of weapons, and some minor art direction.

The next step for you is to list all the game mechanics. As an example, you wouldn't think about the old Super Mario Bros as maps, instead you would think about the mechanics of jumping underneath to smash a block, or to release a single coin or a single powerup, or to release a bunch of coins with multiple hits; you would think about hidden blocks as a secret bonus; you would think about jumping on enemies to defeat them, with some enemies leaving useful objects behind like shells; you would think about moving platforms and bottomless pits; you would think about pipes that do nothing and secret pipes that transport you to other zones. Each of those are mechanics, and games have many of them.

Good games have a small number of mechanics which are easily understood, but they can interact in ways that provide deep and meaningful gameplay. Think about Portal, you have the mechanic of portals between two places, buttons that open doors/gates, a cube drop on things, turrets that shoot in one direction, and death zones. With those few mechanics there is a rich game that is part puzzle and part action RPG.

Refining the mechanics is perhaps the most critical part of designing a game. Figuring out how you will cause everything to interact defines the core of gameplay. After that is the design of teaching players to use the mechanics, and then the design of how to use the mechanics through the game.

StevenCGM

118

Author

May 16, 2017 09:53 PM

When would the player use the pistol? The assault rifle should shoot more lethal bullets quicker and at greater range, the shotgun should allow more lenient aiming. Is it going to be the sad fallback weapon the player copes with in case of ammo scarcity?

In addition to swords, consider axes (more damage and/or faster, closer range and worse defense), since you have a lumberjack. Other classic quasi-weapons, like scythes and chainsaws, or modern tools, like grass trimmers, hedge cutters and blowtorches could be appropriate or too silly depending on the tone.

What do you plan to vary between missions? Are there going to be zombies of different types or with different equipment?

There will be limited ammo for each weapon per misson.Yes there will be variety between mission, Example 1 would be hack and slash then the next will be quest based etc.

Scouting Ninja

4,574

May 17, 2017 12:32 AM

How about:

Player is dropped into the level, with limited resources. All resources gets reset each level so not using them is a waste.

Because of the limited resources and huge amount of zombies, you add in environment traps that players can use.

Add in a way to make noise, maybe the player presses a button and the melee weapon is banged against obstacles and the floor. The player can use this to both draw zombies away and into traps.

The above mechanics is enough to make it's own full game, play with these ideas and see what you get.

LorenzoGatti

4,652

May 17, 2017 08:10 AM

What you have is not really a game idea. What you have is some button mappings, some types of weapons, and some minor art direction. The next step for you is to list all the game mechanics.

Top-down shooters might appear simple, but even very basic mechanics can have a huge impact. For example:

Movement, facing and aiming controls. You chose 8-way constrained movement, unconstrained aiming and presumably automatic facing, but why?
Are you conscious of the implications, or just defaulting to an easy to implement simple scheme?
- Hunting pixels with the mouse can enable trick shots (e.g. sniping through narrow gaps, taking advantage of bouncing projectiles) or just annoy the player.
- Choosing a shooting direction (rather than a target) is inaccurate. Shots will be oblique..
- As the player moves, continuing to shoot in the same direction requires precisely matching mouse and character velocity. Shooting while not moving is much easier and usually more effective
- If zombie walking directions are constrained like player movement, zombie mobs might be unnaturally aligned and clustered; if they walk freely they are more agile than the player, which is probably silly.
- Circle strafing is going to degrade to square or octagon strafing.
- With orthogonal walls and constrained movement, characters either follow them exactly or stop; with oblique walls in arbitrary directions characters slide along them.
- Is it possible to run through open areas without hitting obstacles and zombies and without being attacked too much?
- How much does dodging disrupt aiming?
Enemy movement
- Eluding slow/dumb enemies with speed or stealth vs. thorough extermination with no progress until threats are cleared
- Enemies who move around and offer opportunities vs. enemies who wait without disrupting their defensive positions and formations
- Swarms that require efficient combat vs. major enemies that require effective combat.
Weapon range
- Tactically significant or trivial depending on map size
- More or less explicitly shown

Omae Wa Mou Shindeiru

frob

46,236

May 17, 2017 02:55 PM

Top-down shooters might appear simple, but even very basic mechanics can have a huge impact.

Yes, those are just a few of an enormous list of mechanics details.

Just saying "Top down shooter" implies a few mechanics, but there is a long list of details that all need to be sorted out and considered in the design.