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[Abelo]

Hi. We are currently a couple of friends (programmer & artist) with a bit of industry experience, trying to get funding for our first independent project. We are still on the very first stages of the idea and focusing more on the business side, but we better get our idea mellowing and slowly taking shape in the meantime. Hopefully with your help and feedback.

Currently it's quite a vague idea, but since it's fairly simple, it really doesn't need a megaton of production and it's quite feasible as a polished, finished 2-man game. It needs to take shape though, very specially on how to set up and design the stage layout to give the player a constant, evolving challenge.

This is the embryo. Work in progress name: "It sucks"



Just a concept, but I guess it's easily understandable enough: you are "It", an alien in Earth with no power whatsoever other than "sucking" human brains, which makes him able to use whatever ability they have. Their available abilities: flying, holding a weapon, opening doors... whatever.

"It" uses height as a tactical advantage, so he just has to fall over a head to gain control of it. The aim of the game is giving the player the feel of being powerful and the satisfaction of having the whole scene as a playground to reach his objetive (probably finding some piece of his spaceship, or doing some mission his alien mate tells him telepathically from the mothership). They could be trying to take on the world or who knows (whatever ends up benefiting the gameplay). The idea is not super-new since the "posessing" thing has been done before, but I think mixing everything together might look quite fresh in its form.

The visuals aim to be something very reusable. Probably there is a generic body for enemies with different props "attached" depending on the type of mob. The aesthetic would be very naive and "jaunty", something similar to this artwork
http://abeloroz.blogspot.com/2009/04/unexpectedly-hectic-stroll-through.html

The way to make the character move around the level, and how to set up the environments for his interaction with the world and with the challenges is still a mystery. I would really appretiate your comments, on what couldn't work or whatever you think about it!

[hyperduck]

Very nice, however.. I was thinking the title of it could be something else like... "Sucks to be you" ?

Or even have a name of it like "Zoink: Sucks to be you" Zoink is generic and just an example, but yes. Love the idea! Brilliant art work, can't wait to see more.

[Falmil]

Very similar existing game
http://nitrome.com/games/parasite/

[Abelo]

Damn, it's SO similar! I was thinking more in some kind of interrelation between the controllable characters, like some rock-scissors-paper kinda "ecosystem", in a more contained, intelligence puzzle-oriented gameplay. But yeah, it's surprisingly similar. Even with the green eyeglow and other details. Damn, I hate whan that happens.

Not that is hasn't happened before that two games resemble each other as long as each one takes its own solutions for its own problems (rather than from the other one), but we were quite unaware of this one. Well, we have other ideas (which we weren't so fond on), or we could keep on with this one, trying to differ it a bit more.

Anyway, thank you so much for the info, mate!

*scratches head*

[Gainsworthy]

 

Make it. Make it like you intended it.

Nitrome's game is about floating and collecting, where as your game sounds like it's about skulking and exploring. Also I'd love to see more of these and I really dig the snippet of art!

Go for broke!  


WHOA: I've also checked out your blog. Really nice stuff. You simply must put your talents into a game.

In other news: Mecha's suggestion of Sucks to be You is a much name than It Sucks. Not only is "It Sucks" a super-common phrase (doubly so in video game circles!), it also... well, it makes the game sound bad. Besides, Sucks to be You has a nice air of malevolence to it.

[hyperduck]

Indeed just because the idea has been developed before by somebody doesn't mean you're destined to literally copy the very fabric of that game. I'd like to see this be made. I'd def play/buy it.

[Onza40]

Go for your original idea, as you said, possession has been done before in quite a few action/adventure/platformer games (see that new crash bandicoot game mind over mutant for an example), but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't make another one.
Just means you need to set it apart somehow.
A good story, maybe with some ethical implications, or some kind of very unexpected ending (see shadow of the colossus).
I can already see that your artwork is good so no worries there, just make sure the rest of the game looks as polished
Good luck.

[Falmil]

I only linked it just to inform you, not to dissuade you. There's no reason you still can't make your game and just try to make it more unique and set it apart from Parasite.

[Chris Whitman]

I sort of assumed the design was inspired by the Futurama brain slugs:

[Onza40]

Futurama is for winners

[Abelo]

Yes, very probably it's from there. I was pretty much doodling on paper, so the character design is probably not final, but I wouldn't care much at all if it resembles Futurama brain slugs. There are like 7 million resembling, average spacemarine designs in games and yet people seem to keep liking them.

Thanks for the comments, guys

[hyperduck]

What you could do is have the alien take hat-like characteristics on based on who it jumps onto. Changing the texture of it every time it attaches to somebody. Might be a bit much to ask, but even changing the colour of the alien would be a good start if the idea of inter-changeable imagery for the alien upon each persons head is a bit over the top!

[Abelo]

Well, I think that by altering some of the human's color when he is posessed rather than the alien's, you reinforce the idea that the human is at your service. That you (alien) don't need to adapt to them, but they are kinda your slaves and they adapt to you. We'll see what comes to mind to differ, it's not really a very important matter right now; the way to navigate the levels is the core of the gameplay and I still haven't come with any solution.

My idea of a level is something not very different from Braid or World of Goo: a scrollable stage, very few "screens" large, in which the target is clear from the moment you step on it, but you have to study the "tools" (aka humans) at your disposal to tactically approach the situation.

My initial idea is that the character couldn't even jump, just fall from above, but we should have a nice way to make him able to climb higher (lifts?). Hmm

[Landshark RAWR]

I think this could make a neat stealth based game


also: have him slip through tubes

[st33d]

Very similar existing game
http://nitrome.com/games/parasite/

I made that one. I thought I was being quite original, and then I found out about Obake:

http://www.caiman.us/scripts/fw/f2485.html

Which is almost exactly the same concept but with a ghost.

So I'd say go for it. We did it for MTV though, so I'd make sure the monster doesn't look too much like ours - but you can always cite Obake if anyone criticises you for originality.

The fact that I let the game get horribly complex means I think we won't return to that idea, so I'd be happy to see someone else give it a go without the constraints of catering to the casual gamer audience.

 

[Abelo]

Thanks for the comments. Yes, I was considering it as some kind of "stealth" game. I've always loved that feeling of "power" in Thief saga, where you feel that evident tactical superiority over the enemy when lurking. The tube idea is neat, and I will definitely study it.

2D gives us the limitation of basing the stealth mechanics in two dimensions, which probably makes it hard to make it a sight-based stealth, but we could study something inspired by Alien (interconnected pipe system where you are the threat from above) or some other kind of stealth (sound, smell, aura...?).

My idea is that most enemies "detect" you when posessing someone else under certain conditions or after a bit of time. Others would be "detectors" and would attack you on sight, making your presence into a body something you have to take care of, certainly not picking a guy with a weapon and shooting around. If you can shoot or have some skill-based ability at your disposal (rather than intelligence-based), that definitely has to be disposable and limited. Although puzzle-oriented skills should be permanent. We could throw some shooting-based "bonus" level or something like that for extra variety, anyway.

Just rambling, and brainstorming while typing.

(by the way, St33d - Parasite is a really fun game!)

[JustRadek]

Hey Abel.

So this is what you've been planning all this time, eh? Well, whatever you make, I'm sure it'll look great!

And don't get discouraged by games with similar mechanics -- it's pretty easy to point at virtually any title and make comparisons between its components and those of other games. Your creation is ultimately just that, though: your own game. If you believe in the concept, then roll with it.

Anyway, while I was at Capy, the whole company was pretty keen on its own "possession" game, Monkey on your Back: http://www.capybaragames.com/content/game_MOYB_New.htm. It actually started off as a mostly stealthy experience, but those elements were toned down in favour of a bit more action. I personally enjoyed the stealth aspects, and it's definitely something that can work in a 2D game. You do have a very whimsical art style, though, so to match it you might want to go with a system that's a bit more forgiving than Thief's.

As an example, Phantom Hourglass' Temple of the Ocean King had some stealth elements. Nobody seemed to like its repetitive, time-constrained nature, but the actual mechanics of outmaneuvering its guardians worked well. If you were ever spotted, you could simply run away and hide. No level-wide alarms ever went off, so the punishment for a small mistake was never that great.

To explain something like this in-game, you could always set it in a world that realizes it's being invaded by aliens (so all its denizens are hostile if they spot you), or simply have the humans faint in terror if they ever see the alien himself (which could last a limited amount of time, after which they could get up and go about their business).

Making a smaller-scale, puzzle-based platformer would probably be a good approach too, and it's something that has worked well in the past, e.g., The Lost Vikings. Designing special abilities for each character in such a game is easy enough, but you have to make sure to work out all the specifics of the possession mechanic. For example, what happens to a character you de-possess (especially if you'll need him again later down the road), how do the other characters react to a possessed/de-possessed character, what happens if/when the characters die, etc.

[JaJitsu]

This sounds like a great project and i love the concept art.

lets see some sprites!