ProtoMoon

Created: Jan 16, 2022Published: Mar 28, 2023Last modified: Apr 25, 2023
Word count: 520Backlinks: 7

A Dino game.

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A prototype to express some moon-game ideas.

Diving into this at some point led to Moon Trap.

Player Experience/Script

> Scene 1: Receive the weapon

It's dangerous to go alone.

We see the weapon on a pedestal. We see its former owner, dejected in the corner.

"Go ahead, take it."

We can wander left (to scene 2), but without the weapon, we can't do anything, so we walk back.

Scenes 1 and 2 are left and right of each other, but connected via portal.

> Scene 2: Use the weapon

Break the Targets!

In here, a few platforms and birds or targets.

If we picked up the weapon in Scene 1, we can hit these enemies.

> Scene 3: A ghostly aparation

Once scene 2's condition is met, the portal now takes us to scene 3.

It is similar to scene 1, but the weapon's owner is gone, and there is a ghost in place of the weapon.

When you stand on the ghost, more particle effects appear on screen.

A new door opens, taking us to a TJ&Evator room.

> Scene 4: Simple Maze

The TJ&Evator drops us in a small maze of enemies and platforms.

A simple 'goal' - another TJ&Evator below.

> Scene 5: Weapon practice mini game

A weapon accuracy mini-game. Shoot the blocks from the floating platform to perfect your control.

> Scene 6: They're in your Apartment!

Wake up in your room, in the city. An alarm buzzes, and your door is locked. Out the window onto the fire escape, down a level, through your neighbor's. Out and up the stairs, then back into your apartment. There you see the birds from your dream, and a TJ&Evator (after you defeat some birds).

> Scene 7: Boss Battle

This one fires back!

A boss chamber, with platforms to shoot from.

A floating/flying bird with two attacks:

  • a swoop
  • exploding eggs (on timers)

Three hits, or a health bar.

Once defeated, a TJ&Evator takes you on to scene 8.

> Scene 8: Level Zero

A hottub, lemonade stand, and hula dancers.

Take a break on this tropical island.

Maybe include a water effect.

Assets

> Player Sprites

>> running, jumping, crouching, getting hit, getting knocked back

>> with weapon, without weapon

> Weapon sprites

>> Bow and Arrow sitting

>> arrows flying

>> arrows hitting walls

> Bird enemies

>> flapping

>> diving

>> knocked back by arrow

>> dying

> Boss enemy

>> Swooping

>> Strolling

>> dropping eggs

>> eggs timing down

>> eggs exploding

> Env Areas (Background)

>> receiving the weapon, use the weapon, ghostly aparation

>> simple maze

>> mini game

>> bedroom, fire escape, neighbor's room, stairwell, living room

>> Boss Battle Room

>> Beach scene (level zero)

Systems/Mechanics

> Bow/Arrow

>> Fire rate

>> Unlimited ammo, but delayed recharge after 3 shots

>> trajectory and collision detection

>> controls

>>> mouse and click

>>> right stick and button

> Jump

to dodge dives, swoops

> Combat

>> birds/bats swoop/dive

>> birds/bats drop eggs

>> birds/bats knocked back by arrow

Effects

> screen shake

  • egg explosion
  • apartment level (boss banging on your door)

> particle effects

  • ghost aparition
  • arrow collision (sparkles)

Sounds

> bow firing

> ghostly aparation

> weapon mini-game sound effects

> walking/running steps

> collecting the weapon

> bird flapping

> birds getting hit

> egg explosion

> boss getting hit

> bird dive

> boss swoop

Feedback

  • Jan 28/29 feedback

Backlinks

An ongoing list of games I'm accumulating requirements and content for.

For now i'm hoping to get many (all) of these done in 2023. I'm not sure how crazy or realistic that is - depends wildly on scope, I suppose.

For now, it's a nice way to compare ideas - for each of these, I want to answer parallel questions. Having multiple buckets can help brainstorm (vs working on just one game).

I'm also interested in strategies for approaching each of these. For example, Beat Em Up City might be built completely on top of Super Elevator Level, as both are beat em ups, but the SEL scope is much smaller. So there's some sorting that could make approaching these easier.

A Godot monorepo full of games, addons, and scripts.

A Dino game.

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A small game, stemming from brainstorms related to ProtoMoon and other Moon Game Ideas.

The player finds themselves imprisoned on the moon, and works to escape, with the help of a mysterious benefactor.

A core mechanic involves disguising oneself using drops from guards.

I've amassed too many moon game ideas. This is one that will go in dino.

Related notes:

At this point, going to pursue the disguise mechanic and escape outline for the first version of this. Could come back later for more heisty, theify stuff.

A genre I've not identified for myself until recently, but that I'm now seeing is at the core of it all!

I suppose you could instead say Roguelike.