Here is an updated proposed design. It is stripped of story text and story images. It is just the core and functional version.
Would be great for testing.
Here a general diagram:
- plan.jpg (129.09 KiB) Viewed 6787 times
START GAME____________________________________________________________________________
You start landed on a red pad of a random satellite (4 options).
THE PLAYER´S SHIP______________________________________________________________________
Controlled as it currently is.
Apart from last discussion, I´d also add:
- landing gear dots need not collide against scenario, only with pads. Ship´s collision against
scenario is always the capsule´s central dot.
- There should be a bit stronger X movement traction. Like if you speed sideway and leave it
be, it returns to X=0 speed a bit faster.
- Ship´s fuel 100 max. When flying, landing mode spends 2x more fuel then navigating mode.
- Ship´s hull is 10 max. Each scenery bump takes hull depending on speed of shock. The smallest
touch takes 1 hull, the hardest crash takes 5 hulls, so, 5 types of damage.
A bump with 0 hull means explosion and game over.
INTERFACE_____________________________________________________________________________
We could have current screen location in numbers on top left. Target location on the top right.
Low left with a number for fuel (100) and lower right the number of hulls (0-10).
That is more for debugging, better thoughts on how to display fuel and hulls later.
No location and target coordinates get printed on actual final game.
THE WORLD____________________________________________________________________________
Suppose gravity´s current value is 10 for sea level line and below.
Each line of screens above should add a 10% increase so at satellite height the gravity is 14 and
at the line above, 15.
THE LANDING PADS_____________________________________________________________________
When landed, control menu with arrows and select with A, cancel/back with B.
GATEWAY________________________
Are the red pads, they are always ON and you can freely land on them anytime. They each may
have a fuel amount of 0-10 and a hull amount of 0-10.
When you land, a menu appears with: FUEL, HULL, ROAM, RETIRE.
-FUEL
Here you can refuel. A single fuel unit tops your ship´s fuel.
-HULL
Here you can heal, A single hull unit adds a single ship´s hull unit.
-ROAM
Here it takes you to a new menu.
-RETIRE
Quit game.
The Roam menu lists missions available. Choosing a mission sets its pad as target location.
This mission then disappears from the roam menu. The target mission pad becomes activated.
Some have time limit to reach (0 to whatever seconds).
While on a mission, you can still land on gateways, but if you pick another mission, it cancels
the past one. If a mission has a time limit, after due it gets cancelled too.
The cancelled mission´s pad is deactivated.
MISSION PAD_____________________
The orange pads linked with green lines on the image of last-last post, they are all OFF at the
beginning of the game and only come as ON when activated from a gateway or another
mission pad.
When landed, if the last pad in chain, pops a DONE message. You are free to go on.
The pad deactivates as you take off.
Some mission pads point to another mission pad, resetting the target location and activating
the new one. Again, as you take off, is deactivates itself.
Each mission pad may contain 0 to 1 fuel and hull. If you land, you automatically add the
1 hull to yours and refuel the ship.
JUMP GATES_____________________
They are the green pads at the satellites.
When you land, it pops a LAUNCH button.
If confirmed, you choose a direction (left/right), and power (1-3), then you are shot.
Each shot takes 2 hulls, if you have 0 then it takes none.
This throws you around without fuel requirements.
I haven´t decided for an interface for the shooting control, the simpler the better.
GAME END_____________________________________________________________________________
When you crash with 0 hull you explode.
When you retire on any gateway.
The objective is to do as many missions as possible until fuel runs dry, then retiring on
a satellite gateway.
In a simple version, score can be the some of mission pads landed according with their
difficulty size, which can be 1-5.
Retiring on a sattelite adds 50 pts, any gateway 25 and death 0.
______________________________________________________________________________________
Things I´d like added then:
- unique text and image stories on the intro when you start the game.
- score similar to the retiring system on the first PIRATES! game.
- unique text and image stories for when landed.
Structure example:
You land on a gateway.
Menu appears.
Choose roam.
Image and text appears.
Roam menu appears with location names.
Choose a location name.
Image and text appears.
Choose accept or not the mission.
Image and text appears.
Exit.
You land on a mission pad.
Image and text appears.
Exit.
I´m not sure yet how the text and images may work, showing a full screen then overlay text,
or split screen like the ancient graphic adventures (IF) or zelda balloons.
in total, it amounts to ~400 images and text strips.
A very fertile soil for creativity.
edit: Story wise, I already did basic writings for the ~162 text strips and am preparing how to produce the images.
Maybe at some point we should talk on how this is best done for importing/game using?
It currently is a text file with tabs separating each information.
edit: opos, I didn´t answer the million dollar question. I think when on a mission, the location of next pads is in the text description during the event, sometimes more technical description sometimes more poetic and so on.