Battletown

Below follows an ambitious idea for a computer game. Since I had decided to stop making games (so that I could focus on my study and health and career where I hopefully will earn money), I’m putting it in a blog post, hoping others might be able to do something with it.

The first part below is a concise summary of the game idea. After that follows a more concrete elaboration.

Note: for someone who likes simple streamlined games, the idea below is somewhat elaborate. But that is okay. Most ideas have to go through 5, 10, 20 iterations in which they become simpler and more compact each time. For now I am satisfied with the elaborate game idea.

The concise game idea

Game in short: you are a spy who must steal valuable information (and/or eliminate the opponents). This in itself is nothing new; however, I have never encountered the execution I thought of for this before.

How many players? You can play alone (or with friends) against the computer, or together on the couch against each other.

Game style? 2D, square grid, top-down. (Or a slanted top-down, like most 2D games, especially in the rogue genre.)

How can you win?

There are several game modes.

Time pressure: you play for a fixed amount of time and the one with the most points wins.
Secret information: you must find the opponent’s base, steal secret information from it, and successfully bring it back to your own base.
Magical artifact: many “hints” and secret locations are spread throughout the level; using these you must be the first to find the hidden magical artifact.

Playfield

A “playfield” (this can be anything, but the most obvious is a small town) is randomly generated. Such a playfield has the following components:

Useful architecture: positioning is very important in the game. There are buildings you can enter, rooms, tunnels, different layers (such as underground or through the ventilation shaft). Many areas are well sheltered and only reachable if you pay very good attention and think carefully, or if your character has a certain power. Why is this important? If you want to win this game, you must think carefully and come up with a strategic plan. (This as opposed to “whoever can aim the best or shoot the fastest wins”.) Give an example? It seems incredibly cool to me if, for example, during the game you can dig tunnels to enter the opponent’s base from behind, or if there are some well-hidden tunnels and rooms between the buildings that you can use if you have discovered them. Of course this must be balanced well; it should not be so easy to quickly dig an unseen tunnel to your opponent that everyone does it.
Usable objects: various objects lie and stand throughout the entire playfield. These are mostly simple things (such as tables, chairs, cabinets), but sometimes you encounter something unique. All these objects can be torn loose, taken along and destroyed. Why would you want that? Well, because you can use them as cover, as a weapon, or as building material. Why is this important? Because it once again requires an intelligent and especially creative play style. Every moment you play becomes drastically different, because it depends on what is available in your environment. Give an example? You run into a room. You suddenly see that an opponent was already standing there. As fast as you can you run to the table, pick it up, and flip it on its side. Now you have cover while you think about your next action. The opponent comes closer. You see a trash can. You pick it up, drag it to the wall, jump on it, and just in time escape into the ventilation shaft.
Adaptable architecture: it is possible to paint walls/ground/etc. in your color, so that you can walk over it unseen. You can blow up walls (although that of course attracts attention), or place a camera so you can spy on the others from time to time. The architecture of the playfield can be adapted to your wishes (provided you have the right items and such). Why is this important? Because I don’t see it often enough in games. I can even think of many things I have never seen before. By putting such emphasis on adaptable architecture, you once again get more emphasis on positioning and making use of what is in your environment. In addition this immediately gives an enormous amount of extra possibilities. (Not only is the architecture of each level different, but what you can do with it is also different every time you play.) Give an example? You could break down a number of objects, steal the wood from them, and build a staircase to a difficult-to-reach location.

Restrictions

Contrary to what many people think, creative projects become better with restrictions and simple, characteristic game rules. Often gigantic open worlds or millions of different items are a remedy against disappointing gameplay :p These are my restrictions:

Field of view: you only see things if they are lit, and if they are in your direct surroundings. If you have already been in a certain area, the game will show for example the buildings and rooms, but not whether there are currently characters there or objects have been moved. Why is this important? It is realistic and exciting. It also works well together with the idea that positioning is important: if you do not take the right position, you will not see the opponent coming. In addition it adds an extra element: lighting.
Forbidden to do nothing: if you do nothing you are out :p This can be applied in many ways. For example: if you stand still for too long, you slowly lose life. A good thematic reason must then be invented for this.
Relatively small map: the smaller the map, the more you are forced to take action and be creative. You do not have to walk enormous distances, or wait a long time until you encounter others. In fact, you could even connect the edges of the map with each other (so if you walk against the end of the map on the left, you immediately appear again completely on the right).
Character roles: there are about 6 different characters to play. Each of them has an enormously useful and unique special power. They only have that power; they cannot take something from others, they cannot switch halfway, and there are also no items that make these character roles somewhat vague.
Limited storage: you only have a small storage for items, and therefore must think carefully about what you do or do not take along.
Weapons: there are “only” about 6/8/10 different weapons. These weapons are general and multi-purpose. (For example: bow and arrow. You can shoot others with it, but also use it as a grappling hook.) Under weapons I also understand tools with which you can for example dig those tunnels. You cannot carry more than one weapon at a time.
- Weapons require ammunition — you must collect ammunition yourself. If you have shot all your arrows, you must retrieve them yourself. Every bullet you shoot must be picked up again. Therefore you must be very careful and also think about how you get the ammunition back.
- Aiming is important, but not extremely precise. You roughly have nine directions to shoot in, but the hitboxes of characters are large and bullets are steered a little bit if necessary.

How does it work with lives, dying and spawning?

I hate games where you have to wait a long time (half or a whole minute) before you come back. There are also games where lives are “discrete” (in other words: you have 4 hearts, and when you take damage, one or two whole hearts immediately disappear), and that is often extremely unfair. So I want to do it differently.

Your lives can be any number between 0 and 100. It also depends very much on the situation how much damage you receive. (Suppose someone blows up a wall, and there is a table between you and the explosion, then you take a bit less damage.)

If you die, you are dropped back into the game as quickly as possible, at a random place. You have lost all your items and look like a homeless person. People also cannot see which team you belong to and you may not be attacked directly. (You can of course still take damage if a bomb explodes right next to you.) Only when you pick up a weapon again do you transform back into your former self.

What can a player do?

Walking: This speaks for itself. Some characters walk faster than others.
- You can also run by pressing an extra button, but that tires you quickly, so that per minute you can perhaps only run for ten seconds.
Jumping: This also seems clear to me. Some characters jump higher, can double-jump, or can hang on walls (and use them to push off).
Use weapon: Hold a button to charge and aim your weapon. (This aiming uses the same buttons as walking.) When you release this button, you shoot.
Pick up items: Items that belong to your current weapon are picked up automatically. (For example: you have a bow and arrow, and walk past some old arrows, then you do not have to do anything to pick them up.) If you do not have a weapon, you also pick those up automatically.
If an item does not directly belong to you (an object, such as a table), you must press a button to pick it up. From that moment you hold this item above your head. Such an object can be used as a weapon (you throw it at someone else), or as defense (by throwing it away in the right direction).
Throw away items: You must press a button to throw away your current item. (To aim which direction you throw it, you use the same buttons as walking.)

Note: you could also say that aiming is done using the second joystick on a controller. You could even take a double-tap approach: the first time you press “X” you enter an aiming mode, and only the second time you press “X” do you actually shoot.

Note: there are of course still many buttons left, but I see no reason to use them and prefer to keep it as simple as possible.

The concrete game idea

Below follows a worked-out, more concrete version of the game idea.

All weapons

Bow and arrow

You shoot arrows.

Disadvantage: such arrows take some time (just like in real life) to reach the opponent, and are therefore easier to dodge. They do less damage than bullets.
Advantage: they can turn (“steer”) during their flight and therefore have a greater chance of hitting something. They work equally well from far away as from nearby. They can shoot through some objects (such as a glass window).
Extra power: if you hold an extra button, you shoot an arrow with a rope attached. With that you can pull yourself toward things.

Pistol

You shoot bullets.

Disadvantage: ammunition. Bullets that hit cannot be retrieved (they are inside the opponent), and bullets that miss can get stuck in for example the wall. (Which means you must first smash some things again to retrieve it.)
Advantage: you shoot instantly and in a straight line. The opponent has no time to dodge it. They also do a lot of damage and go through most objects.
Extra power: you can make things explode from a distance. (Place a barrel of oil in the middle of the field, stand on a roof, and when someone comes near you shoot the barrel for an explosion.)

Boomerang

You throw a boomerang.

Disadvantage: you must learn to aim well to account for the circular movement.
Advantage: it automatically comes back, it is difficult for others to predict, and you can hit many things at once.
Extra power: you can use the boomerang as defense (by throwing it against an incoming arrow, or using it as a shield)

Swiss army knife

This is a collective name for several tools. These are: a shovel, a pickaxe, a hammer, and a knife. Important: you do not automatically have these tools. You must find and pick them up yourself. But you can have them all with you at the same time.

Disadvantage: you cannot attack from a distance, and you also hardly do damage.
Advantage: you can do a whole lot of special things. With the shovel you can dig tunnels under the playfield. With the pickaxe you can even break the strongest walls and objects. With a hammer you can build anything you want. With a knife you can attack people from very close by (and kill them in one hit?).
Extra power: you can throw the knife in a straight line.

Spy kit

This is also a collective name for some “spy tools”. These are: a paint roller, a camera, a tracker, a disguise. (The mechanism is the same as the Swiss army knife.)

Disadvantage: you literally cannot attack.
Advantage: you can again do many special things. A paint roller can color the environment in your own color; as long as you stand on colored tiles you are invisible to the opponent. You can place a camera somewhere; from that moment you can always (with a special button) briefly check what it looks like there. A tracker can be thrown at someone (or something); from that moment you always know where that other person is. You can put on a disguise; everyone who sees you thinks you belong to them, but if you do something suspicious they can still shoot you down.
Extra power: you can turn off all the lights somewhere, and quickly open/close doors/windows. (This means the opponent suddenly cannot see anything anymore, or they must make extra effort to get inside or outside again.)

Bomber

You throw bombs.

Disadvantage: you must aim the bombs well, and of course there is a few seconds delay. To keep it simple you can retrieve your own bombs again.
Advantage: bombs do a lot of damage and also over a large area.
Extra power: with bombs you can change architecture; blow away walls, collapse underground tunnels, etc.

All character roles

In my opinion the usefulness of character roles is the following: everyone has something with which they are essential for the team, everyone enjoys playing a character (people are just like that; they prefer to play the elf with a magical spell rather than the generic character with generic powers), and it once again promotes strategy and teamwork.

These character roles I have thought of:

The fast one: this person can jump higher than the rest, run faster, gets tired less quickly.
The strong one: this person has more lives, receives less damage, and deals more damage himself. (Where applicable; he can for example shoot an arrow faster, but with his strength he will not influence a bullet.)
The smart one: lala
The sneaky one: this person emits less light himself, almost takes on the color of the environment (like a chameleon), and can hide more easily behind or inside things. (Possibly: this person makes less or no noise such as footsteps.)
The builder: lala
The magical one: lala

What can you make/build/pick up?

Lala

Below follows an ambitious idea for a computer game. Since I had decided to stop making games (so that I could focus on my study and health and career where I hopefully *will* earn money), I’m putting it in a blog post, hoping others might be able to do something with it. The first part below is a concise summary of the game idea. After that follows a more concrete elaboration. **Note:** for someone who likes simple streamlined games, the idea below is somewhat elaborate. But that is okay. Most ideas have to go through 5, 10, 20 iterations in which they become simpler and more compact each time. For now I am satisfied with the elaborate game idea. ## The concise game idea **Game in short:** you are a spy who must steal valuable information (and/or eliminate the opponents). This in itself is nothing new; however, I have never encountered the execution I thought of for this before. **How many players?** You can play alone (or with friends) against the computer, or together on the couch against each other. **Game style?** 2D, square grid, top-down. (Or a slanted top-down, like most 2D games, especially in the *rogue* genre.) ### How can you win? There are several game modes. - *Time pressure*: you play for a fixed amount of time and the one with the most points wins. - *Secret information*: you must find the opponent’s base, steal secret information from it, and successfully bring it back to your own base. - *Magical artifact*: many “hints” and secret locations are spread throughout the level; using these you must be the first to find the hidden magical artifact. ### Playfield A “playfield” (this can be anything, but the most obvious is a small town) is randomly generated. Such a playfield has the following components: - **Useful architecture**: positioning is very important in the game. There are buildings you can enter, rooms, tunnels, different layers (such as underground or through the ventilation shaft). Many areas are well sheltered and only reachable if you pay very good attention and think carefully, or if your character has a certain power. *Why is this important?* If you want to win this game, you must think carefully and come up with a strategic plan. (This as opposed to “whoever can aim the best or shoot the fastest wins”.) *Give an example?* It seems incredibly cool to me if, for example, during the game you can dig tunnels to enter the opponent’s base from behind, or if there are some well-hidden tunnels and rooms between the buildings that you can use if you have discovered them. Of course this must be balanced well; it should not be *so* easy to quickly dig an unseen tunnel to your opponent that everyone does it. - **Usable objects**: various objects lie and stand throughout the entire playfield. These are mostly simple things (such as tables, chairs, cabinets), but sometimes you encounter something unique. All these objects can be *torn loose*, *taken along* and *destroyed*. Why would you want that? Well, because you can use them as *cover*, as a *weapon*, or as *building material*. *Why is this important?* Because it once again requires an intelligent and especially creative play style. Every moment you play becomes drastically different, because it depends on what is available in your environment. *Give an example?* You run into a room. You suddenly see that an opponent was already standing there. As fast as you can you run to the table, pick it up, and flip it on its side. Now you have cover while you think about your next action. The opponent comes closer. You see a trash can. You pick it up, drag it to the wall, jump on it, and just in time escape into the ventilation shaft. - **Adaptable architecture**: it is possible to paint walls/ground/etc. in your color, so that you can walk over it unseen. You can blow up walls (although that of course attracts attention), or place a camera so you can spy on the others from time to time. The architecture of the playfield can be adapted to your wishes (provided you have the right items and such). *Why is this important?* Because I don’t see it often enough in games. I can even think of many things I have never seen before. By putting such emphasis on adaptable architecture, you once again get more emphasis on positioning and making use of what is in your environment. In addition this immediately gives an enormous amount of extra possibilities. (Not only is the architecture of each level different, but *what you can do with it* is also different every time you play.) *Give an example?* You could break down a number of objects, steal the wood from them, and build a staircase to a difficult-to-reach location. ### Restrictions Contrary to what many people think, creative projects become better with restrictions and simple, characteristic game rules. Often gigantic open worlds or millions of different items are a remedy against disappointing gameplay :p These are my restrictions: - **Field of view**: you only see things if they are lit, and if they are in your direct surroundings. If you have already been in a certain area, the game will show for example the buildings and rooms, but not whether there are currently characters there or objects have been moved. *Why is this important?* It is realistic and exciting. It also works well together with the idea that *positioning* is important: if you do not take the right position, you will not see the opponent coming. In addition it adds an extra element: lighting. - **Forbidden to do nothing:** if you do nothing you are out :p This can be applied in many ways. For example: if you stand still for too long, you slowly lose life. A good thematic reason must then be invented for this. - **Relatively small map:** the smaller the map, the more you are forced to take action and be creative. You do not have to walk enormous distances, or wait a long time until you encounter others. In fact, you could even connect the edges of the map with each other (so if you walk against the end of the map on the left, you immediately appear again completely on the right). - **Character roles:** there are about 6 different characters to play. Each of them has an enormously useful and unique special power. They only have that power; they cannot take something from others, they cannot switch halfway, and there are also no items that make these character roles somewhat vague. - **Limited storage:** you only have a small storage for items, and therefore must think carefully about what you do or do not take along. - **Weapons:** there are “only” about 6/8/10 different weapons. These weapons are general and multi-purpose. (For example: bow and arrow. You can shoot others with it, but also use it as a grappling hook.) Under weapons I also understand tools with which you can for example dig those tunnels. You cannot carry more than one weapon at a time. - Weapons require ammunition — you must collect ammunition yourself. If you have shot all your arrows, you must retrieve them yourself. Every bullet you shoot must be picked up again. Therefore you must be very *careful* and also think about how you get the ammunition back. - Aiming is important, but not extremely precise. You roughly have nine directions to shoot in, but the hitboxes of characters are large and bullets are steered a little bit if necessary. ### How does it work with lives, dying and spawning? I hate games where you have to wait a long time (half or a whole minute) before you come back. There are also games where lives are “discrete” (in other words: you have 4 hearts, and when you take damage, one or two whole hearts immediately disappear), and that is often extremely unfair. So I want to do it differently. Your lives can be any number between 0 and 100. It also depends very much on the situation how much damage you receive. (Suppose someone blows up a wall, and there is a table between you and the explosion, then you take a bit less damage.) If you die, you are dropped back into the game as quickly as possible, at a random place. You have lost all your items and look like a homeless person. People also *cannot* see which team you belong to and you may not be attacked directly. (You can of course still take damage if a bomb explodes right next to you.) Only when you pick up a weapon again do you transform back into your former self. ### What can a player do? - **Walking:** This speaks for itself. Some characters walk faster than others. - You can also run by pressing an extra button, but that tires you quickly, so that per minute you can perhaps only run for ten seconds. - **Jumping:** This also seems clear to me. Some characters jump higher, can double-jump, or can hang on walls (and use them to push off). - **Use weapon:** Hold a button to charge and aim your weapon. (This aiming uses the same buttons as walking.) When you release this button, you shoot. - **Pick up items:** Items that belong to your current weapon are picked up automatically. (For example: you have a bow and arrow, and walk past some old arrows, then you do not have to do anything to pick them up.) If you do not have a weapon, you also pick those up automatically. If an item does *not* directly belong to you (an object, such as a table), you must press a button to pick it up. From that moment you hold this item above your head. Such an object can be used as a weapon (you throw it at someone else), or as defense (by throwing it away in the right direction). - **Throw away items:** You must press a button to throw away your current item. (To aim which direction you throw it, you use the same buttons as walking.) *Note:* you could also say that aiming is done using the second joystick on a controller. You could even take a double-tap approach: the first time you press “X” you enter an aiming mode, and only the second time you press “X” do you actually shoot. *Note:* there are of course still many buttons left, but I see no reason to use them and prefer to keep it as simple as possible. ## The concrete game idea Below follows a worked-out, more concrete version of the game idea. ### All weapons #### Bow and arrow You shoot arrows. - **Disadvantage:** such arrows take some time (just like in real life) to reach the opponent, and are therefore easier to dodge. They do less damage than bullets. - **Advantage:** they can turn (“steer”) during their flight and therefore have a greater chance of hitting something. They work equally well from far away as from nearby. They can shoot through some objects (such as a glass window). - **Extra power:** if you hold an extra button, you shoot an arrow with a rope attached. With that you can pull yourself toward things. #### Pistol You shoot bullets. - **Disadvantage:** ammunition. Bullets that hit cannot be retrieved (they are inside the opponent), and bullets that miss can get stuck in for example the wall. (Which means you must first smash some things again to retrieve it.) - **Advantage:** you shoot instantly and in a straight line. The opponent has no time to dodge it. They also do a lot of damage and go through most objects. - **Extra power:** you can make things explode from a distance. (Place a barrel of oil in the middle of the field, stand on a roof, and when someone comes near you shoot the barrel for an explosion.) #### Boomerang You throw a boomerang. - **Disadvantage:** you must learn to aim well to account for the circular movement. - **Advantage:** it automatically comes back, it is difficult for others to predict, and you can hit many things at once. - **Extra power:** you can use the boomerang as defense (by throwing it against an incoming arrow, or using it as a shield) #### Swiss army knife This is a collective name for several tools. These are: a shovel, a pickaxe, a hammer, and a knife. *Important*: you do not automatically have these tools. You must find and pick them up yourself. But you can have them all with you at the same time. - **Disadvantage:** you cannot attack from a distance, and you also hardly do damage. - **Advantage:** you can do a whole lot of special things. With the shovel you can dig tunnels under the playfield. With the pickaxe you can even break the strongest walls and objects. With a hammer you can build anything you want. With a knife you can attack people from very close by (and kill them in one hit?). - **Extra power:** you can throw the knife in a straight line. #### Spy kit This is also a collective name for some “spy tools”. These are: a paint roller, a camera, a tracker, a disguise. (The mechanism is the same as the Swiss army knife.) - **Disadvantage:** you literally cannot attack. - **Advantage:** you can again do many special things. A paint roller can color the environment in your own color; as long as you stand on colored tiles you are invisible to the opponent. You can place a camera somewhere; from that moment you can always (with a special button) briefly check what it looks like there. A *tracker* can be thrown at someone (or something); from that moment you always know where that other person is. You can put on a disguise; everyone who sees you thinks you belong to them, but if you do something suspicious they can still shoot you down. - **Extra power:** you can turn off all the lights somewhere, and quickly open/close doors/windows. (This means the opponent suddenly cannot see anything anymore, or they must make extra effort to get inside or outside again.) #### Bomber You throw bombs. - **Disadvantage:** you must aim the bombs well, and of course there is a few seconds delay. To keep it simple you can retrieve your own bombs again. - **Advantage:** bombs do *a lot* of damage and also over a large area. - **Extra power:** with bombs you can change architecture; blow away walls, collapse underground tunnels, etc. ### All character roles In my opinion the usefulness of character roles is the following: everyone has something with which they are essential for the team, everyone enjoys playing a character (people are just like that; they prefer to play the elf with a magical spell rather than the generic character with generic powers), and it once again promotes strategy and teamwork. These character roles I have thought of: - **The fast one:** this person can jump higher than the rest, run faster, gets tired less quickly. - **The strong one:** this person has more lives, receives less damage, and deals more damage himself. (Where applicable; he can for example shoot an arrow faster, but with his strength he will not influence a bullet.) - **The smart one:** lala - **The sneaky one:** this person emits less light himself, almost takes on the color of the environment (like a chameleon), and can hide more easily behind or inside things. (Possibly: this person makes less or no noise such as footsteps.) - **The builder:** lala - **The magical one:** lala ### What can you make/build/pick up? Lala