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[Derqs]

loving the character design!

[Rat Casket]

@Scott

That is a good idea. I'm worried that digging will need to be stripped down to prevent fail states in puzzles. Take this gif for example.



Since you can dig out any green block its very easy to get stuck and break this puzzle. However if I make it so you can only dig blocks that will help you, then theres no puzzle here. Its just poking things until you get the desired result. Thats probably fine for general exploration and movement but eh... it feels limited.

I could just man up and add a restart room button and failstates. :l

[Scott]

Hmm. Point system? Maybe some sort of item/coins?

Assuming all the black blocks are green (except for room borders), I can see 2 possibilities:

1) No Items. Throw a couple enemies in strategic spots (like the lower-left corner of the final sub-section of this room). Now, if the player digs through the floor to win, they complete the room but get none or even negative points.

If they complete the room, but say dig through the (currently black) wall at the bottom and manage to ditch the enemy, they get a small number of points (chose to fight). If they complete it without enemy interaction, they get a special bonus. Make it only possible if they take the prescribed path.

2) Items. This may be better. Coins.. or coin pieces or whatever our little character likes could be strategically placed so that it's not obvious what order to collect them in, but to get them all you need to solve the puzzle correctly. Get them all, or get nothing. You can cheat, but you miss out on your item. Maybe this becomes the purpose of the game? What is the purpose of the game anyway?

Neither idea is perfect but maybe something to think on?

[edit] both options also allow a stuck player to move on without giving up on the game, while still hungering for that "completeness" one day

[Rat Casket]

Eh maybe. Points for the sake of points isn't something I'm very interested in. They would have to be worth something. Same goes with coins/money/items. Any items the player obtains won't be something that they stash in an inventory or something. They can however pickup and carry some items. You can even carry them through rooms/loading screens.

It would be worth it to pick up a bomb in one room and carry it 5 rooms over to get to a secret.

[Scott]

It would be worth it to pick up a bomb in one room and carry it 5 rooms over to get to a secret.

It would give some digging puzzles depth without limiting the player's freedom. Maybe it doesn't work for them all but it's a reasonable solution for some cases I think.

[Christian]

@Scott

That is a good idea. I'm worried that digging will need to be stripped down to prevent fail states in puzzles. Take this gif for example.



Since you can dig out any green block its very easy to get stuck and break this puzzle. However if I make it so you can only dig blocks that will help you, then theres no puzzle here. Its just poking things until you get the desired result. Thats probably fine for general exploration and movement but eh... it feels limited.

I could just man up and add a restart room button and failstates. :l

Why does digging have to be so freeform? Maybe it could fit better if digging was limited in some way, like only possible with a certain ground type. Then you can control when and where the player can dig and digging becomes a puzzle element to consider

[Rat Casket]

Well therein lies the problem. I'd want it to be a lot more free form than that would allow. Also it sort of screws up, say, castles or something where you logically wouldn't be able to dig inside of. So some areas of the game would just not have that mechanic being used.

Destroying and reforming the environment is a big deal and I feel like it should be treated as such. Yanno? I'd want it to be everywhere.

[mirrorfish]

I think a reset and failstate makes sense, make people a little more careful about how they dig. As long as it resets quickly without a lot of animation or delay it won't be too painful.

[Rat Casket]

Fail states will probably be fine as long as they are always, or mostly, player induced. If you dig yourself into a hole you cant get out of thats something you, as a player, has done to yourself. Compared to say a giant boulder falls through the level 6 seconds after you enter the room and you have to react within those 6 seconds.

[Rat Casket]

Oh God what didn't I just give her a pick axe and call it Minor Miner!?

I'M SO STUPID!!!

[migrafael]

So sweet! And those concepts on the first page are gold! Amazing silhouettes. Love everything about this. Tracking!

[Rat Casket]

Digging officially axed.

However there will be new ways to destroy the ground/parts of the environment.

[Tuba]

What if it's a Shield... but also a Shovel?

A Shieldel! 

[Rat Casket]

a guy who thinks hes smart once told me

"if you want to make a game about digging then make a game about digging. if you want to make a game about using a shield then make the game about using a shield"

and then he yelled at dark souls for an hour

[Tuba]

2 sisters: one has a shield and the other a pickaxe... Lost Vikings style!

[Rat Casket]

nah son.

cool idea though if you did it like ice climbers. except with a sword.

[Scott]

Glad you kept the shield part.

[Rat Casket]

sprite?

[IanDeBoeser]

Love this concept dude!
If you'd like a soundtrack I can send you a demo I've just started on just thinking about the artwork and the concept!
Cool stuff!

[jgrams]

sprite?

To my eye that's not anywhere near as appealing as the concepts. I liked the dark skin and wide face that gave her a sort of Polynesian/islander look.

And the chubbier limbs were much cuter and more childlike. With the skinny limbs on this one, she looks to me like a miniature adult except for the head size.

And the shield feels a bit small...I loved it being almost as big as she was, and a little wider/blockier.

Sorry to be such a downer...