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Volt tugged her canary yellow rain slicker closer and readjusted her little red umbrella; trying her best to keep from getting soaked yet again.  It was raining, like usual.  A cold and bitter rain that chilled her to her very core.  She was used to it, though.  It rained more days than it didn't, and the sky was always overcast and gloomy.  "What you can still see of it, anyway," she mumbled to herself as she craned her neck to catch a faint glimpse of roiling clouds between the peaks of towering buildings.
    
The streets were mostly empty.  A few weary and bedraggled souls limped their way past her while paying her no attention.  Only the poorest, the most desolate, or those with no where else to go actually used the old streets anymore, anyway.  Anyone she would encounter had enough of their own problems to deal with, and a little girl out alone at night surely wasn't one of them.  Volt patted her right pocket gently, and the subtle shifting of glass and metal reassured her.  "Almost there," she thought.

Volt stole a quick glance around to make sure no one was watching her, and then quietly slipped into the narrow alley.  It was quiet and dark but for the bright reflections of the electric billboards from the vast city above in the pools of murky rainwater at her feet.  The faint light allowed her to see the heaps of trash and junk piled in all corners of the shallow alley, and the tiny rustling movement beneath them.  

She smiled.  "There you are.  It's alright, come on out.  I have something for you," she whispered as she reached into her pocket and pulled out one of the luminescent canisters she had been protecting.  She crouched and held out the tiny battery, her face illuminated by the glow within.  A series of whirring clicks, beeps, and chirps issued from the trash as it moved aside and a tiny robot wheeled its way out from beneath.  It peered at Volt with its curious eye, flitting back and forth between her gentle face and the outstretched hand holding the battery it so desperately desired.  Nervously it stretched its claw-like pincer out and took the tiny object from her before it chirped happily and quickly sped back into the safety of the trash heap.

The sudden rustling of metal and trash surprised Volt, and she watched silently as another orphaned robot crawled its way from beneath the heaps in the alley.  One after another they showed themselves, the dozens of lost and abandoned robots of the uncaring city above.  She pulled the remaining batteries from her pocket, and counted them.  "Three.  Only three left," she sighed to herself.  She handed out the batteries to the robots closest to her before standing and looking down upon her little wards.  "I'll be back.  I promise.", she stated with an uneasy nod before turning and heading back onto the empty street.



Description

The basic premise so far is that you will take on the role of Volt, an orphaned girl who survives by any means necessary in a cold, dystopian, corporate-owned world of the future.  Strong AI has become a reality, and with it sentient robots employed as workers, slaves, and toys.  As we know though, technology moves fast, and with the fickle nature of the modern human new tech quickly becomes old junk.  Such is the fate of the robots of this world, and the lower slum-like streets of this city are filled with the cast-away remnants of last year's advances.  Here robots languish in desolation until their sole battery packs run cold and they cease to exist.

Volt has appointed herself as the sole guardian of these decaying robots, and spends each day seeking (beg, borrow, or steal) out spare batteries for her little wards.  Each night she delivers what she has found, but there are always more that need her help...

Gameplay

I'm doing the game as an exploration platformer where the goal is two-fold: find and collect as many batteries as possible (this could happen in many ways.. scrounging, 'quests', trading, etc), and find as many hidden robots as possible to save with said batteries.  The setting will be the dystopian city described above, and should cover quite a bit of space both horizontal and vertical.  I haven't decided on violent vs non-violent in regards to enemies.

Platforms

I'll be coding the game in C#/XNA and from the start I'm planning on releasing this game for free on the PC with a sister-release on the Xbox 360 for $1.  I don't see this changing.

Help Needed

I'm a half-way competent coder, but sadly my art skills, on a scale of 1 to 10, hover somewhere squarely in the -5 range.  So if you're interested in arting this up, PM me.  :beg:


Anyway, I'll update this more once I get basic engine layout done and have something to show!  I'll probably be doing video devlogs along with it as I progress... sadly without art they won't be much to look at.  :lol:   :gentleman:

I'm interested.  If you have a need for music and sound down the line, I think this is up my alley.  I really like your concept.  It's unusual for a game, and touching.

Hey, thanks!  I will definitely be needing that as my musical skills are about in line with my artistic, lol. :)  I'll keep you in mind.   :coffee:

Hey, just wanted to say that I really love the concept!
I do fancy myself an artist, but I don't think I'm anywhere near good enough to take on something this daunting.  However, I do hope you can find someone good enough who can make this game what it should be!  ;D
I will be following your progress intently.  :ninja:

This sounds amazing. What kind of graphics style did you have in mind for it?

just poasting to say that i really like this

BUT

i don't think a side-scrolling platformer is the best format for an exploration / collection / distribution game.

...Metroid is an exploration and collection game?

I do agree though, I imagined this as a Point 'n Click adventure.

the difference lies in the environment of the games.  metroid usually takes place in a linear series of tunnels and channels and chambers, making it a lot more suitable to the side-scrolling thing. 

it's a lot harder to convey a big, vibrant world in a sidescroller.  i don't know, i will think about it more, i'm tempted to make stuff for this project.

oh boy... i vote NAY on point and click.

i like side scrolling metroid-vania style.

@Lan Auren

For the graphics I'm leaning towards a more painterly style.  I think it could lend itself well to creating a dark and moody atmosphere.  I'm not adverse to the indie favorite of chunky pixels, either.   :shrug2:  It'll probably come down to my choices of artist partner when it gets to that point as to what I can do.

@neon/Inanimate

I hadn't even considered a point 'n click adventure to be honest.  I think the last one I actually played was Simon the Sorcerer or Quest for Glory: Shadows of Darkness.  While I can see that style working for this, I just don't think it's what I had in mind.
What does everyone think on this?

A point-and-click game has the potential to burn up your art budget really fast, and they don't perform well in console marketplaces (not that this should influence you that much - this is an indie forum, after all).  With a platformer, you could better economize your art assets, and I think that it would fit your initial design ideas (finding batteries and robots) much better than a point-and-click would.

I can definitely see the painterly style work wonders for this project. It's pretty much what I had in mind myself.
If it wasn't for it being so much work, and me being in a situation where I don't really have the time, I would have given it a try. I might still try my hand at a mockup or something, cause I really love the concept.

As for gameplay, I'd say platformer is the way to go..

I'd love to see that mockup!  Different points of view really help inspire the creative side I think. :D

i'm converted to the side-scrolling camp.  i drew a bunch of stuff for this.  side-scroller does work.  i dont know about pure platformer.  i'm still thinking about it. 

will try to post stuff.  i have some time today. 

That's awesome, neon.  I'm looking forward to it.    :gentleman:

figured i would share something.  this was a really really rough sketch.  really rough!!  it's in the process of getting refined and rendered.  at least it's something.

(http://i482.photobucket.com/albums/rr184/neon-tigs/Picture3-5.png)

(that is a robot she is sitting on)

large (indoors scenes?)(http://i482.photobucket.com/albums/rr184/neon-tigs/volt.gif)

med (outside)(http://i482.photobucket.com/albums/rr184/neon-tigs/volt-md.gif)

small (in atmospherically huge places) (http://i482.photobucket.com/albums/rr184/neon-tigs/volt-sm.gif)



taking a break for a while.  rough run animation en route

(http://i482.photobucket.com/albums/rr184/neon-tigs/Picture5.png)

I don't have any skills to contribute, but I do have well wishes for your project. The concept sounds really nice, though its hard to imagine as a platform game. But I am sure you have something good in mind.

@neon

That's really cool!  Thanks for doing that. :D  The pixel art reminds me a lot of Prince of Persia I think.

@sauyadav

Hah, thanks for the well wishes.  Maybe I'm way off base with the platforming base.  I see it in my mind's eye, but, maybe I'm delusional?

i wrote stuff about this.

https://docs.google.com/document/edit?id=1WJi1Dbl3T3xW3tUecNGtykD4PdFymC0r4Gg0p-0Ky2A&hl=en&authkey=COmy1-oP

please add to it, take away from it, or fuck with it as you see fit.

sigh..

(http://i52.tinypic.com/j8cnle.gif)

so rough

i might do a floatier slower one w / umbrella too

Golly, I love this! It sounds absolutely heartwarming. Like others, it does play out in my mind as more of a point and click adventure, but it's your dream so do as you see fit!
Trying my hand at arting this sucker up sure is tempting, but I don't know if I trust myself to do the idea justice.

Do you know who drew that picture?

@neon

Lots of good ideas in there!  I especially like the idea of having a radio for the character.  I think that added a lot of atmosphere in Fallout 3, for example.  The run animation is great, too.  Your style is quite nice.

@petra

Thanks!  I have to say that my previous notion of a platformer may just be completely off base.  I don't think I have a choice but to prototype both styles now, lol. :)  I've been working on background tech this past week, nothing to really show so far. 

David Revoy made the inspirational picture, his website is here: http://www.davidrevoy.com/portfolio.html

He does some really neat stuff.