Ok. So I’m gonna hash out some gameplay ideas I’ve had for this project here. Since nobody reads this, it’s more an exercise for myself than something to share with the world.

• There are three distinct ground materials (sand, grass and stone). These have a gameplay purpose. Sand slows you down and your ‘bullets’ don’t bounce. Sand is the most sparse material. Grass covers most of the landscape and could be considered the common material. As such you act most ‘normal’ on this material. Speed is average, with your ability to ‘charge’ forward intact. Your ‘bullets’ bounce once before exploding (unless they contact an enemy before they hit the ground). You slide a bit on stone and are a little harder to control and ‘bullets’ bounce a bit more. These different materials cause your playstyle to perhaps change a bit.

• The story goes that the machine you pilot was rushed so much that they only had time and space to put one power source inside. But there are multiple things that need powering-both your shields and your gun. This means that only one is powered at a time. Your shields go down incrementally each time you fire a bullet. The inverse happens each time you take a hit-you lose access to a bullet. This will always regenerate, but means you may need to strategize when you’ll shoot and when you’re willing to take a hit.

• Your ‘bullets’ are more like cannon balls that are affected by gravity than bullets that continue forward forever. They have a limited range. That range will not be affected by your speed or direction at the time of firing. There will be a crosshairs on the ground showing where your ‘bullet’ will land.

• My goal with player movement is a cohesive, super smooth and consistent experience that just feels good. Movement is at one speed (no walk/run option). There will be a ‘rush’ or ‘charge’ option that will push you forward quickly in whichever direction you’re facing (my favorite implementation of this is in Hyper Light Drifter) . This can be used like a jump or a roll from danger. During the ‘rush’, you can’t take damage. My one issue with not having a jump is that each level has multiple heights, so I’ll need to come up with a way to go from one level to the next without jumping. Perhaps it’s more of a short teleport than a ‘charge’ forward?

• There will be multiple enemy types. Their overriding goal will always be to get their payload (within the game story, this is data stored inside them) to you, which does you damage. The most basic enemies will do this by seeking you out and running at you, zombie style. They are most dangerous in groups (also zombie style). The next type of enemy will stay at a distance and shoot at you. They will move to stay in range of you, but never attempt to run into you. There could be a more difficult version of these guys who shoot quicker or more bullets at once and perhaps teleport short distances. The third type moves quickly, but only in short burst and only in straight lines. They will be difficult because of their speed, but not overwhelming because of their limitations. There will also be magnetic mines you must avoid. If you get within a short distance of them, they will attach themselves to you and explode. The water that surrounds each island is also an enemy and leads to instant death if you fall in.

• There must be short, rewarding cut scenes between each level (perhaps as the next level loads in the background) that advance the story. They may only need a still image and audio.

I’m not really ready to share the rest of the story here, so we’ll end this here.