I'm not thrilled with Balloon Duel there. Even the name is subpar. Though, I didn't get very far. I hate hastily drawn vector Flash graphics, especially typical animé ones at that. I also think the dimensions of the game are too small, everything is too tiny. What's up with the stupid fish at the bottom? And gaaahhh, those garish photopgrahic backgrounds, what extreme laziness wrought that creative decision? MUCH to complain about in BD, as a result I can't bring myself to spend, otherwise good, time on it.
I wouldn't worry about being a clone just due to BD.
I've noticed that folks here aren't real keen to gameplay mechanic disussions here themselves, just the art in the games.
But, I'm a huge fan of good gameplay. That's the true artform of the game, screw the art. If the game engine is created correctly the art is just a skin, it can be completely switched out and not affect the separate and independant gameplay concept. I hate to sound like a programmer, but it's true. Shiny graphics don't make a game playable. In my group, we have what we call our Raw Idea Factory (RIF) where anyone is free to post new ideas for games and develop them as far as they want with no fear of feature creep to bloat the scope since each RIF concept is a repository of thoughts that comprise the overall gameplay of the proposed game - the thinking is that if any one game concept can survive the scrutiny of a 'feasibility study' and seem like a good project, agreed on by all, it may graduate to actual development someday.
Dan, I really like the basic idea you've got going so far. I think there's some good potential . . . but some thoughts arise:
I. VERTICAL MOVEMENT While fighting your foe, you obviously need to manuever in
every direction. How do you go up without gaining more helium? How do you go down without venting and losing your valuable helium (H), which you need to be able to go back up should you vent some?
A. Possible solution - an auto reserve tank (ART). This would store excess H, which will, to a degree, allow vertical movement by adding and taking away H from your balllon as necessary to make you ascend and descend. Also, should your ballon come under attack getting drained of it's H by an enemy the ART would kick in and keep your pressure equalized as long as it could, allowing you time to fight off the connected foe.
B. Possible solution - Why helium at all? Why not hot air balloons instead? With them, a gas powered flame creating heat makes the balloon rise and cutting the flame makes it fall, though both rising and falling. So here you have different equipment - gas storage (can you say "BOOM!!!"), the torch, perhaps even different levels of balloons you must obtain in order to withstand great heat necessary for fast ascension. You might even ditch the propeller for a little jet engine thruster. The propeller logically needs an engine, is it gas, is it electric, etc? Either way it runs off of a finite power source - be it gasoline or a battery.
II. SPEED However you handle vert movement, or just movement in general with balloons, any movement is very slow isn't it? What justifies these balloon riders moving fast enough to actually fight? Propellers? You have a propeller for lateral movement, but not for vertical in your concept sketches (which, dear lord, why didnt you scan and reduce to clean lineart, them snapshots are dirtay). If propellers are added to generate lift force, then why have balloons? Yet having the balloons is what makes this idea interesting. By all means the balloons must stay. Just pointing out an ironic twist, the type parodies are made of.
III. CONTROL When you take on more helium (H), do you automatically rise, even against your will? As you suck the H from enemies, they will fall as you rise - how do you not get drug down with them and/or stay connected with your hose during? Does the ART regulate altitude?
IV. ENVIRONMENTS Every stage idea you listed are identical to eachother; there's nothing different between them. What, the art? Sounded like each idea only constituted a different background look. Here's a few for ya, which knowing you, you've already thought of some but hey:
A. Obstacle & Hazards - We all know where I'm going with this, nearly every game has form of this. Here though, you may want to tailor the obstacle/hazard to the level's theme.
1. Sharp spikey popping hazards, one hit kill for mr. balloon. *POP*. Massize pointy razor spikes poking out at you. Natives throwing spears. Elves shooting arrows. Swinging guillotine blades.
2. Sharp beaked albatross fowl that fly across the screen (a fair warning may be necessary since the repurcussions of falling victim is so great, why not a peircing *CAAAHHWHWWWW* before it's appearance)
3. Gigantic killer huge stinger butt hornets that are pissed because you or your opponent destroyed their nest, or you accidentily burshed against and disturbed it - only the guilty party suffers the insect's justice, so hope your opponent runs into it and not you (trick him into running into it?).
4. Falling ice sicles. Angered snowmen throwing their carrot noses and snowballs.
5. Volcanic lava burped up from the lava pool ground, falling debris.
6. Volcanic updrafts shooting you up possibly into a popping hazard.
7. Timed interval laser triplines frying unfortunate balloon riders with poor timing.
8. Strategic button activated traps. Levers to toggle. Wall or floor plates to press that may unleash something undesirable upon a rider in the right place.
9. Gusts of wind to blow you around, making it hard to control yourself. Perhaps there's a jet stream at a certain altitude or random wind patterns, but always visible with particle trails indicating direction and speed.
B. Destroyable objects - Who doesn't love destroyable objects in a game?
C. Dimensions - Shape of stage. If the altitude translates to score
(like adamatomic's Gravity Hook), or at least contributes to your score (to me, besting opponents seems a higher merit than simply going up, but then again going up requires you to defeat opponents so hmmm...) it does NOT mean each stage has to be a huge vertical corridor. I think, with the basic idea at play here, each level should be a generally vertical level, but not purely.
1. Narrow passages you have to fit through, etc.
2. Snake side to side
3. Horizontal segments. Perhaps you come to a horizontal entrance to a little arena room where your foe awaits, kinda like every boss battle in MegaMan. Enter in the left, beat the foe, an exit on the right opens up and then you continue upward.
D. Boundaries - Like Balloon Duel, in the post above, or even the old school Defender games, or Pacman, can you go out the left side and pop out in the right side? Or are there boundaries/walls you hit. If in a cavern, you'd brush up against the rockmass cavern walls. If ascending into the sky do you have invisible boundaries at the side of the screen prevengin you from passing through?
E. Platforms - I like this idea, it's dynamic, but it comes with complications. First of all it's a huge scope inscreaser. You're now implementing a platformer genre into this, whereas, before it was just a sort of side scroller, albeit an already complex one. Reminds me of Master Blaster for NES. Is this really necessary? Are these platforms just for holding powerups, which could easily be available just floating around? When you lose your last balloon and fall, what happens if you land on a platform? Game over anyway? What if you get marooned on a platform with no way to get off, no helium?
As for programming, this game will have high demands in the areas of collision detection, physics and AI. Can you handle that?
The one-on-one combat, free-flying movement basis reminds me of
Hammerfight. It uses very accurate physics, especially what feels like centrifugal force to swing a mace around to bash your enemies. Very fun. There may be inspiration in that to come up with a way to defend yourself. (while searching for a good hammerfight video I found
this gem . . . maybe Jad can explain it, I thought it was pretty amusing)
Just some thoughts on the matter, hope some are useful.
