Summer Game Prototypes

Black Sun

In the near future, the world has become too hot to handle.

You cannot stand in the sun anymore, for it will blind/overheat/damage you.

So, you must move in the shadows. (Being touched by light very quickly drains your health.)

You just want to make sure you (and your community) have something to eat and to drink. Others have different plans.

So you decide to infiltrate, steal, beat up guards, and use a lot of stealth to get where you want to be.

(Maybe the sun is even breaking apart? Sometimes, pieces of the sun come falling down. You can find and collect these?)

(And what about the moon? Can I switch between night and day phases? And night is different, somewhat cooler and calmer, but still very deadly?)

Inspired by: “Black Sun” by “Death Cab for Cutie” => That sentence “how could something so fair be so cruel?” is key: how could the warm, sunny, positive, beautiful sun … be so cruel?

Water falls

For as long as you can remember, there’ve been two factions in the world of water.

The bad ones: those who seek to poison the water, make it filthy, dry it, keep it for themselves.

The good ones: those who seek to clean the water, defend it, distribute it.

You suppose yourself to be one of the good ones.

What can you do? You are literally a blobby creature that can run around.

When you get near another blobby creature, you “merge” => metaballs/fluid simulation!
When merged, you become stronger (You can do certain special things? Take over the properties of the other blob?)
Additionally, any blobs/projectiles/weapons from the enemy are stopped when they run into such a blob.
- How? I can simply calculate the value for a given point by summing all the metaballs.
- Could become computationally heavy, we’ll see.

Currently, the game is grid-based. But I think it’s more interesting if that changes to allow any free movement, because that allows more creative merging.

What’s your goal? Keep the water pure and available. The enemies will try to dry-up water supplies ( = to transfer them to their own storage), using weapons and other stuff. And if that doesn’t work, they try to poison and contaminate water (possible turning some of your buddies to the bad side!)

Clouded

One person is on the ground, trying to save the earth, plant trees, get resources, etc.

The other is in the clouds. You literally play a cloud trying to make it rain in the right locations, but not absorb too little/too much water.

(Maybe you can also play other weather effects?)

It’s a multiplayer coop, half strategy/tactics, half platformer. (Maybe you can, with a tree high enough, even jump on the cloud. Or the cloud can come down to create fog.)

When The Meteorite Comes

The world is going to end. But how? And when?

You start at a random location (a decently sized “map”).

You need to figure out what’s coming, why, and how you’re going to stop it.

(Maybe a meteorite will strike the earth. Or a flood will come. Or an earthquake.)

Where’s the challenge/variety?

First of all, you must cooperate => everyone only has a specific skill (you can only research X, you can only research Y, you can only run/grab/jump really quickly)
Secondly, the map is different. Sometimes you just don’t have a resource, or you happen to look for something in the wrong place.
Thirdly, there are many subtle clues as to what’s going to happen. You don’t know which one is in the game, what it means, etc.

How to do research?

Dig into the ground
Measure stuff in the atmosphere
Look to the skies
Create (alchemical) combinations (which allow you to do stuff, or see the world through a different view, etc.)

We Must Find The Ocean

Don’t Starve-like game.

You are dropped, with 1-4 players, on some deserted wasteland.

There is no water (no rivers, or lakes, or rain, etc.) => but as we all know, humanity needs water to survive!

To win the game, you mist find the ocean that has been randomly placed in the world.

How do you find this? There are many telltale signs about where water goes (and doesn’t go) that vaguely point you in the right direction.
Additionally, you need tools and resources to find these things.
However, you also need those resources to survive yourself, and to fight off monsters (or other dangers).
Lastly, the ocean is always somewhat far away, so you must travel a bit.

You lose the game, if your player characters die. (A monster kills you, resources run out, etc.)

The twist: you start with a little bit of water. A small supply. You can use this for great things that will help you a LOT … but if this supply runs out before you reach the ocean, you lose!

For example, you can use a bit of water to immediately destroy even the toughest of monsters. (Because they are all not used to/resistant to water?)
But you can also use it to grow crops, or you can drink it to be extra fast/strong/etc. for a little bit.

REMARK: This one might be combined with “When The Meteorite Comes”!

A collection of idea related to summer or climate. I wrote them down long ago when it was summer, and really hot, and I was looking for a way to improve my game development skills over the course of summer break. ## Black Sun In the near future, the world has become too hot to handle. You cannot stand in the sun anymore, for it will blind/overheat/damage you. So, you must move in the shadows. (Being touched by light very quickly drains your health.) You just want to make sure you (and your community) have something to eat and to drink. Others have different plans. So you decide to infiltrate, steal, beat up guards, and use a lot of *stealth* to get where you want to be. (Maybe the sun is even breaking apart? Sometimes, pieces of the sun come falling down. You can find and collect these?) (And what about the moon? Can I switch between night and day phases? And night is different, somewhat cooler and calmer, but still very deadly?) Inspired by: "Black Sun" by "Death Cab for Cutie" => That sentence "how could something so fair be so cruel?" is key: how could the warm, sunny, positive, beautiful sun ... be so cruel? ## Water falls For as long as you can remember, there've been two factions in the world of water. The bad ones: those who seek to poison the water, make it filthy, dry it, keep it for themselves. The good ones: those who seek to clean the water, defend it, distribute it. You suppose yourself to be one of the *good ones*. **What can you do?** You are literally a blobby creature that can run around. - When you get near another blobby creature, you "merge" => metaballs/fluid simulation! - When merged, you become stronger (You can do certain special things? Take over the properties of the other blob?) - Additionally, any blobs/projectiles/weapons from the enemy are *stopped* when they run into such a blob. - How? I can simply calculate the value for a given point by summing all the metaballs. - Could become computationally heavy, we'll see. **Currently, the game is grid-based**. But I think it's more interesting if that changes to allow any free movement, because that allows more creative merging. **What's your goal?** Keep the water pure *and* available. The enemies will try to dry-up water supplies ( = to transfer them to their own storage), using weapons and other stuff. And if that doesn't work, they try to poison and contaminate water (possible turning some of your buddies to the bad side!) ## Clouded One person is on the ground, trying to save the earth, plant trees, get resources, etc. The other is in the clouds. You literally play a cloud trying to make it rain in the right locations, but not absorb too little/too much water. (Maybe you can also play other weather effects?) It's a multiplayer coop, half strategy/tactics, half platformer. (Maybe you can, with a tree high enough, even jump on the cloud. Or the cloud can come down to create fog.) ## When The Meteorite Comes The world is going to end. But how? And when? You start at a random location (a decently sized "map"). You need to figure out what's coming, why, and how you're going to stop it. (Maybe a meteorite will strike the earth. Or a flood will come. Or an earthquake.) Where's the challenge/variety? - First of all, you must cooperate => everyone only has a specific skill (you can only research X, you can only research Y, you can only run/grab/jump really quickly) - Secondly, the map is different. Sometimes you just don't have a resource, or you happen to look for something in the wrong place. - Thirdly, there are *many* subtle clues as to what's going to happen. You don't know which one is in the game, what it means, etc. How to do research? - Dig into the ground - Measure stuff in the atmosphere - Look to the skies - Create (alchemical) combinations (which allow you to do stuff, or see the world through a different view, etc.) ## We Must Find The Ocean Don't Starve-like game. You are dropped, with 1-4 players, on some deserted wasteland. There is no water (no rivers, or lakes, or rain, etc.) => but as we all know, humanity needs water to survive! **To win the game**, you mist find the ocean that has been randomly placed in the world. > How do you find this? There are many telltale signs about where water goes (and doesn't go) that vaguely point you in the right direction. > > Additionally, you need tools and resources to find these things. > > However, you also need those resources to survive yourself, and to fight off monsters (or other dangers). > > Lastly, the ocean is always somewhat far away, so you must travel a bit. **You lose the game**, if your player characters die. (A monster kills you, resources run out, etc.) The twist: **you start with a little bit of water**. A small supply. You can use this for great things that will help you a LOT ... but if this supply runs out before you reach the ocean, you lose! > For example, you can use a bit of water to immediately destroy even the toughest of monsters. (Because they are all not used to/resistant to water?) > > But you can also use it to grow crops, or you can drink it to be extra fast/strong/etc. for a little bit. **REMARK:** This one *might* be combined with "When The Meteorite Comes"!