So for those orbital bombardment crosshairs, I think you should make the countdown more visible. If you miss the exact moment they spawn it's hard to determine exactly when they will go off, since they're completely static after the first second or so. For example an increasing frequency flash and colour change, and/or have the crosshairs part of it zero in to touch the circle the moment it will go off.
I often like to take one specific mechanic and take it into a new direction, expanding on it as far as it can go. But these versatile mechanics can be kinda hard to find sometimes so you've always got to have an eye out. Do you have any tips? Cuz getting ideas/inspired on command would be nice, lol
I think one of the best ways to be 'creative' on command is to impose restrictions on yourself, and just push to make something within those restrictions - whether the output ends up being good or bad. Doing this generally gives me a point from which I can either scrap the idea and try again, or iterate on it until it's good! I find that most mechanics tend to be quite versatile, and sometimes it is just a case of taking the idea to it's logical conclusion. Also, consider how X will interact with each other element of the game - this can help make even the simplest mechanics feel alive and varied because they then inherently have versatility. Got a grappling hook platformer? Make the grapple hook affect enemies to pull them closer. What if the grapple hook could be used on objects in the environment? Perhaps it could be used to prevent an object from moving, because it's tethered to something else. How would the mechanic be different in a different genre? A grapple hook in a 2D platformer would be totally different to an FPS, and completely different again to a grapple hook in a racing game. Being creative on demand is really difficult and it's something I can struggle with sometimes too. All we can do when we feel 'creatively exhausted' is to look for inspiration elsewhere, whether that's games or even real life. How have other games progressed something to make it better? Can we isolate the 'fun' part, and then take it further? Hopefully some of these ideas help aha. There's definitely a skill and process to master in there somewhere, and I think it's something we are all trying to work out!
that's a pretty brilliant way of taking their mechanic, using the principles, but implement it in a totally different way. which is very creative, which is why I wouldn't consider it plagiarism. well done :)
The ghost (or grim reaper) that's forcing you to clear the level faster has been a thing since the era of New Zealand Story, Bubble Bobble, Snow Bros etc. It's a design concept from a previous millennium, even though it does bring forth its own improvements to the classic formula. Considering your implementation doesn't even use a ghost or some indestructible character directly following the player, I'd say you're actually improving the gargamel mob (that's what we used to call it in the 90s) more than Spellunky did on the original concept.
Liked, subscribed and hit the notification bell. Doom has definitely come a long way since it first came out. You make some interesting points here. Love Celeste.
Has some slight similarity to the discussion of clones versus shared genera I included in a philosophical appendix I tacked on the end of the design doc for the life simulator I've been working on (among other things).
hard timer on games? I think Xcom 2 has made it's experience with that... I think you did a good job with your approach. Also, when you make a game of a certain genere, you automatically copy some basic ideas of that genere (e.g. control scheme as you mentioned). For those it can also be a very good thing to question those mechanics instead of blindly taking them. Does my RPG need a skill tree? If yes, why exactly? What are the benefits compared to other progression systems?
I also think being inspired by a core mechanic or feature is fine but outright copying it is wrong. I did a similar thing where I was inspired by Lost Vikings when I made Default Dungeon but other then the core mechanic of switching players being the same the features and mechanics are completely different.
Oh, excuse me, we do no use that word here... We intstead * borrow* mechanics... I love watching these design talks, even if when making a game i hardly think about them (and thus take them into consideration)
Agreed, patents in general are a horrible idea in a world where literally nothing is completely new and everything is a derivative of something else. So I guess in an ideal world patents wouldn't exist but if they had to it'd be wonderful if patents were only valid for direct plagiarism of an idea while any modification, extension, or iteration on that idea would be okay. As they are implemented currently, neither of these best case scenarios exist.
