Guess I'll kick start this off. I tinkered around with the side-scrolling game Iron Overlord. Horrendously translated dialog aside, it had some good ideas around it that I thought was interesting.
1. You can have buildings in side-scrolling RTSs. Basically they function as they would in normal RTSs in that they allow you to create/modify units. They also serve as a barrier between your castle (which if taken down means defeat).
Having the option to create buildings also give the player more choice in how he wants to build his army. Invest in the pricey buildings for more powerful units, or stick with low-end and invest in an weak, but numerous army.
2. Abilities that modify the battle-field. The players should be able to choose a couple of abilities that can give sway on the battle field. For example, an ability to rally your troops for increased damage for a time, one that heals your troups, or perhaps poisons enemy troops in an area of effect.
This gives the player more direct influence on the outcome. One problem with Iron Overlord is that the cooldown on the abilities was far too short in that you could constantly spam them. I think having a sizable cooldown would be appropriate so that you have to plan each ability and consider the pros and cons.
3. Skill points. If we ever consider a campaign for our game, we might consider using skill points that are doled out as you progress. They allow you to unlock certain abilities in particular troops such as the knight have increased defense, or the wizard having an area of effect fireball.
This allows you specialize your troops to suit your needs. Of course, you would have a limited supply, so you would have to pick which units you want to power up. If we don't do a campaign, perhaps each player should just get a couple of skill points to use per match.
There's three ideas to mull over. The game Iron Overlord had some innovative ideas (even though it was way too easy due to ability spamming). I think we could take a page from their game to make ours more interesting. Of course, we'll make it better! Feel free to comment. Cheers!
I love this idea. If you ever played footman frenzy on Warcraft 3, than you could get a good feel for this. Is the player going to be able to control building placement?
I took a look at the game and it looks pretty cool! I keep getting confused if you are thinking of doing a hero with abilities or are all the units upgradable with abilities?
I'll keep this brief as later today I will be posting a more fully fleshed-out idea with some basic concept sketches.
I think at this point we shouldn't be coding. We should still be designing. The unit balancer is great and will be useful, however.
I love the overlord concept. And yes footman wars is a great example. At this point I am thinking that just having abilities such as Adam described above would be more fun than controlling an individual hero. Either way is promising, however. I like the simple building placement and ability to upgrade units. Some great ideas!
Has anyone played the gem game in Starcraft II? Where when you have enough energy, you select a unit and it automatically spawns and attacks? I really like that mechanism.
Guess I'll kick start this off. I tinkered around with the side-scrolling game Iron Overlord. Horrendously translated dialog aside, it had some good ideas around it that I thought was interesting.
ReplyDelete1. You can have buildings in side-scrolling RTSs.
Basically they function as they would in normal RTSs in that they allow you to create/modify units. They also serve as a barrier between your castle (which if taken down means defeat).
Having the option to create buildings also give the player more choice in how he wants to build his army. Invest in the pricey buildings for more powerful units, or stick with low-end and invest in an weak, but numerous army.
2. Abilities that modify the battle-field. The players should be able to choose a couple of abilities that can give sway on the battle field. For example, an ability to rally your troops for increased damage for a time, one that heals your troups, or perhaps poisons enemy troops in an area of effect.
This gives the player more direct influence on the outcome. One problem with Iron Overlord is that the cooldown on the abilities was far too short in that you could constantly spam them. I think having a sizable cooldown would be appropriate so that you have to plan each ability and consider the pros and cons.
3. Skill points. If we ever consider a campaign for our game, we might consider using skill points that are doled out as you progress. They allow you to unlock certain abilities in particular troops such as the knight have increased defense, or the wizard having an area of effect fireball.
This allows you specialize your troops to suit your needs. Of course, you would have a limited supply, so you would have to pick which units you want to power up. If we don't do a campaign, perhaps each player should just get a couple of skill points to use per match.
There's three ideas to mull over. The game Iron Overlord had some innovative ideas (even though it was way too easy due to ability spamming). I think we could take a page from their game to make ours more interesting. Of course, we'll make it better! Feel free to comment. Cheers!
Adam Durant
I love this idea. If you ever played footman frenzy on Warcraft 3, than you could get a good feel for this. Is the player going to be able to control building placement?
ReplyDeleteBuilding placement was controlled by the player. It was a simple 2d placement affair, but there was some strategy to it.
ReplyDeleteI took a look at the game and it looks pretty cool! I keep getting confused if you are thinking of doing a hero with abilities or are all the units upgradable with abilities?
ReplyDeleteHow are the programmers doing? Would it be a good idea to post code?
ReplyDeleteI'll keep this brief as later today I will be posting a more fully fleshed-out idea with some basic concept sketches.
ReplyDeleteI think at this point we shouldn't be coding. We should still be designing. The unit balancer is great and will be useful, however.
I love the overlord concept. And yes footman wars is a great example. At this point I am thinking that just having abilities such as Adam described above would be more fun than controlling an individual hero. Either way is promising, however. I like the simple building placement and ability to upgrade units. Some great ideas!
Has anyone played the gem game in Starcraft II? Where when you have enough energy, you select a unit and it automatically spawns and attacks? I really like that mechanism.
more to come...