Special Abilities for Ecoheroes
by Steve Fletcher · in Game Design and Creative Issues · 05/31/2003 (7:25 pm) · 6 replies
I recieved a suggestion from one of the beta testers to give each of the 3 characters in Ecoheroes (the 2d shooter I'm working on) a special ability. So I was hoping you could give me some ideas and evaluate those I've already had.
Of course, since most of you have probably never played the game, you might not know exactly what's going on. But you'll probably have some ideas anyways.
Here's some possibilities:
1. press 'c' to teleport randomly but lose 1 point of life
2. have "megabombs" that have a larger blast radius but don't hurt the creep
3. press 'c' to generate a shield that destroys anything that hits it but be unable to move or shoot
4. have a shield that rotates around you and blocks some enemy hits (like Abadox)
5. press 'c' to shoot a fireball that automatically kills any enemy it hits but doesn't damage objects - and you lose 1 point of life
6. press 'c' to shoot in ALL directions at once (not just tripleshot) but lose 1 point of life
7. have a different bullet image (probably some sort of frisbee-like thing); it bounces off when it hits something and keeps bouncing until it hits you, another bullet, or the edge of the map or hits 3 different things
8. have a helper who follows you around and fights your enemies, this helper can be killed (in which case he's sent back to the core and has to find you again)
9. always has speed (Veruka ALREADY always has speed)
10. whenever she kills an enemy, the enemy turns into a little ghost and flies to the core. When it gets there, it adds 1 to the creep growth counter (so it makes the creep grow a little faster)
11. press 'c' to destroy all enemies on the screen but lose 1 life
12. armor regeneration - you regain 1 point of armor every 10 seconds or so like with the Protoss in Starcraft (note: I don't want life regeneration because you regain life when the creep grows)
I'm kind of hesitant to add any of the abilities that require you to hit another button because the keys are already pretty confusing - I can't use normal keys like Alt and Ctrl because Java's fullscreen mode has them open a stupid little menu on some computers.
I plan to wait a week or so before I implement any special abilities because I would like to get some opinions first. I don't see any point in implementing some special ability and then changing it later because someone sent me a better idea.
So, thanks in advance!
- Steve Fletcher
Of course, since most of you have probably never played the game, you might not know exactly what's going on. But you'll probably have some ideas anyways.
Here's some possibilities:
1. press 'c' to teleport randomly but lose 1 point of life
2. have "megabombs" that have a larger blast radius but don't hurt the creep
3. press 'c' to generate a shield that destroys anything that hits it but be unable to move or shoot
4. have a shield that rotates around you and blocks some enemy hits (like Abadox)
5. press 'c' to shoot a fireball that automatically kills any enemy it hits but doesn't damage objects - and you lose 1 point of life
6. press 'c' to shoot in ALL directions at once (not just tripleshot) but lose 1 point of life
7. have a different bullet image (probably some sort of frisbee-like thing); it bounces off when it hits something and keeps bouncing until it hits you, another bullet, or the edge of the map or hits 3 different things
8. have a helper who follows you around and fights your enemies, this helper can be killed (in which case he's sent back to the core and has to find you again)
9. always has speed (Veruka ALREADY always has speed)
10. whenever she kills an enemy, the enemy turns into a little ghost and flies to the core. When it gets there, it adds 1 to the creep growth counter (so it makes the creep grow a little faster)
11. press 'c' to destroy all enemies on the screen but lose 1 life
12. armor regeneration - you regain 1 point of armor every 10 seconds or so like with the Protoss in Starcraft (note: I don't want life regeneration because you regain life when the creep grows)
I'm kind of hesitant to add any of the abilities that require you to hit another button because the keys are already pretty confusing - I can't use normal keys like Alt and Ctrl because Java's fullscreen mode has them open a stupid little menu on some computers.
I plan to wait a week or so before I implement any special abilities because I would like to get some opinions first. I don't see any point in implementing some special ability and then changing it later because someone sent me a better idea.
So, thanks in advance!
- Steve Fletcher
About the author
#2
12. May work
I think 4 may be a winner
06/13/2003 (5:05 am)
8. Reminds me of a game where you could find helpers. 12. May work
I think 4 may be a winner
#3
Yes it's a little more work, but it could go a long way into making the game that much more creative and make for some interesting gameplay elements (brings back memories of Sonic and Knuckles, eh? ;)
- Christopher Dapo ~ Ronixus
06/13/2003 (6:29 am)
By any chance have you thought of adding specific abilities for each of the three characters, as per their personality? ;)Yes it's a little more work, but it could go a long way into making the game that much more creative and make for some interesting gameplay elements (brings back memories of Sonic and Knuckles, eh? ;)
- Christopher Dapo ~ Ronixus
#4
4 did sound very cool though.
plus sorry for the bad typing in my first post, it was late.
maximo
06/13/2003 (9:10 am)
yea, christopher is right, the specials should fit the personalities/styles of the characters they are for. 4 did sound very cool though.
plus sorry for the bad typing in my first post, it was late.
maximo
#5
And, Christopher, I did intend for each character to have different special abilities. I wasn't too clear about that though. And, to be honest, it was a beta tester's idea, not mine. :)
About 7: what I mean is that the bullet will be a disk-like thingie like the ones that are used in Unreal Tournament that go right through your enemies and bounce off of walls. But in Ecoheroes, they will bounce off of enemies as well (and inflict damage when they do so). After hitting 3 enemies, they will disappear (to prevent the entire level from getting filled with disk bullets).
Or should I just make the bullets bounce off of objects and still get destroyed when they hit enemies?
From the comments I've recieved, I've decided to make the following be the special attacks for Ecoheroes:
Kong: rotating shield (4), megabombs (2)
Foo: draining enemies' life to make creep grow (10), armor regeneration (12)
Veruka: always has speed, bouncing bullets (7)
Kong is a scientist, so he has stuff that's kind of high-tech. Foo is a lunatic (or possibly an alien - you don't find out until the end of the game), and has weird "energy-based" abilities. Veruka's a genetically engineered E.L.F. (Enhanced Life Fighter) who deserted from the army (hence the bouncing bullets).
I plan to work on implementing this next week, but I'm still open to suggestions for the time being.
I just posted a new demo for Ecoheroes at http://fletchergames.tripod.com/ . However, you'll also need Sun's Java JRE version 1.4 or higher. It's not included with the demo because it would triple the download size.
However, I can describe it briefly so that you can have an idea of what's going on. It's a pretty basic 2d shooter. The big difference is that it has semi-unique victory conditions like the special mods of all the various Quake and Unreal games. So, instead of shooting everything, you have to destroy particular targets or grab power orbs or something. You only have to shoot enemies because they're always running around killing you and burning your creep.
Creep is the most "original" thing in the game, in that I've only seen it one other game, specifically the original Actraiser (no, not Starcraft). There's places called lairs that generate enemies. You direct the creep to grow to these lairs, and it spreads across the level until it gets to the lairs and seals them. In Actraiser, it's a city, but in Ecoheroes, it's "creep" - a genetically engineered plant that produces all the foilage that would appear in a rain forest (which takes a long time - it doesn't occur during the game).
It sounds alot more fun than it actually is, and it doesn't even sound all that fun. But Ecoheroes is entertaining. I particularly like it, as I included most of the features I want to see in a 2d shooter. I really liked Actraiser, and Ecoheroes is a "better" Actraiser without all that sidescrolling fighter stuff.
The goal of Ecoheroes is to save the rain forest from 2 high-tech governments who are fighting a war and want to napalm the last rain forest make room for a megamall. That may sound silly, but it gets sillier when you end up fighting giant ants, mutants, slime creatures, robots, and aliens.
The game's basically done (all 100 levels plus 25 bonus scenarios) except for the art (I even have music, though it's too big to post on the demo; it WILL be in the final cd release - I plant to have 200 copies or so printed professionally). I'm just adding some features in the hope of making the game more fun. I DO actually intend to sell it, though, somehow, I doubt that I'll sell many copies.
Anyways, thanks for your help. I can tell that no one's going to read this entire post though because it's so long.
06/13/2003 (6:24 pm)
Thanks for your advice. I think you're suggestions are all good, and they agree with the other advice I've recieved.And, Christopher, I did intend for each character to have different special abilities. I wasn't too clear about that though. And, to be honest, it was a beta tester's idea, not mine. :)
About 7: what I mean is that the bullet will be a disk-like thingie like the ones that are used in Unreal Tournament that go right through your enemies and bounce off of walls. But in Ecoheroes, they will bounce off of enemies as well (and inflict damage when they do so). After hitting 3 enemies, they will disappear (to prevent the entire level from getting filled with disk bullets).
Or should I just make the bullets bounce off of objects and still get destroyed when they hit enemies?
From the comments I've recieved, I've decided to make the following be the special attacks for Ecoheroes:
Kong: rotating shield (4), megabombs (2)
Foo: draining enemies' life to make creep grow (10), armor regeneration (12)
Veruka: always has speed, bouncing bullets (7)
Kong is a scientist, so he has stuff that's kind of high-tech. Foo is a lunatic (or possibly an alien - you don't find out until the end of the game), and has weird "energy-based" abilities. Veruka's a genetically engineered E.L.F. (Enhanced Life Fighter) who deserted from the army (hence the bouncing bullets).
I plan to work on implementing this next week, but I'm still open to suggestions for the time being.
I just posted a new demo for Ecoheroes at http://fletchergames.tripod.com/ . However, you'll also need Sun's Java JRE version 1.4 or higher. It's not included with the demo because it would triple the download size.
However, I can describe it briefly so that you can have an idea of what's going on. It's a pretty basic 2d shooter. The big difference is that it has semi-unique victory conditions like the special mods of all the various Quake and Unreal games. So, instead of shooting everything, you have to destroy particular targets or grab power orbs or something. You only have to shoot enemies because they're always running around killing you and burning your creep.
Creep is the most "original" thing in the game, in that I've only seen it one other game, specifically the original Actraiser (no, not Starcraft). There's places called lairs that generate enemies. You direct the creep to grow to these lairs, and it spreads across the level until it gets to the lairs and seals them. In Actraiser, it's a city, but in Ecoheroes, it's "creep" - a genetically engineered plant that produces all the foilage that would appear in a rain forest (which takes a long time - it doesn't occur during the game).
It sounds alot more fun than it actually is, and it doesn't even sound all that fun. But Ecoheroes is entertaining. I particularly like it, as I included most of the features I want to see in a 2d shooter. I really liked Actraiser, and Ecoheroes is a "better" Actraiser without all that sidescrolling fighter stuff.
The goal of Ecoheroes is to save the rain forest from 2 high-tech governments who are fighting a war and want to napalm the last rain forest make room for a megamall. That may sound silly, but it gets sillier when you end up fighting giant ants, mutants, slime creatures, robots, and aliens.
The game's basically done (all 100 levels plus 25 bonus scenarios) except for the art (I even have music, though it's too big to post on the demo; it WILL be in the final cd release - I plant to have 200 copies or so printed professionally). I'm just adding some features in the hope of making the game more fun. I DO actually intend to sell it, though, somehow, I doubt that I'll sell many copies.
Anyways, thanks for your help. I can tell that no one's going to read this entire post though because it's so long.
#6
best of luck with it...
maximo
06/14/2003 (10:44 am)
ok that sounds ok, but youll have to really ballance the creep so it doesnt grow to fast/slow, but it sounds sorta addictive, for some reason games like this are. best of luck with it...
maximo
Brad Maximo Phillips
6 is probally too strong also
7 doesnt make much sense, does it stop when it hit an enemy or what??? other wise wounds cool
could you eplain the game a little more that might help me come up with ideas
this is what i do i design games and stuff so if i understand the game i will help you out
maximo