A Great Repository of Excellent And 'Totally Bitchin' Undone Games (GREATBUGS)

I've actually got a word document of some ideas I intend to eventually work on, and this is (with some editing) taken directly from there, so sorry about the stream-of-consciousness writing and wall of text. I tried to cut it down to just the interesting stuff.

Game Concept
   Basically, it’s a turn-based strategy game mixed with a side-scrolling shoot-em-up game, like Gradius or R-Type. Instead of combat being resolved through comparisons of the two ships’ stats, like in most turn-based strategy games, a ship attacking an adjacent space initiates a “Combat Wave”, in which the player’s ship goes up against a small enemy fleet with typical shmup gameplay. If the ship passes through the fleet without being destroyed, it survives but keeps the damage it’s taken. Every destroyed enemy ship (which are less durable, but more numerous – usually – than player ships) stays destroyed the next time the fleet is engaged in a Combat Wave.

   Up to three player ships can share the same space, and act as “Continues” for each other, something like a miniature version of enemy fleets. If the first ship is destroyed, a screen comes up asking “Continue:” with a choice of which ship to use next. However, if any Continues are available, the player cannot retreat from combat (under normal circumstances), meaning that grouping ships can quickly result in a strong enemy being defeated, but is more risky than using one.

   Also, there are “Hazard Waves”, which are somewhat like Combat Waves, but not the same. A Hazard Wave happens when an enemy fleet launches a ranged attack at the player, such as a volley of missiles or a long-range burst of lasers. Hazard Waves aren’t enemies; damaging them doesn’t hurt the enemy fleet that fired them. The best strategy with a Hazard Wave is to avoid it; they’re more a threat than a risk to be considered and taken intentionally (unless moving through a Hazard Wave would give a better position). Sometimes, hazardous landscapes (volcanoes or black holes, for example) might activate Hazard Waves on any unit (friend or foe) that moves through them, prompting players to either move around them or risk taking a quick or advantageous but dangerous route. Also, some player-controlled units would be weak in ship-to-ship combat, but can launch Hazard Waves against enemy fleets. A Hazard Wave launched this way cannot be controlled by the player, but enemies can’t damage the player by defeating a Hazard Wave, so it’s a “safe” but inaccurate way of attacking.

   “Boss Waves” appear at the end of certain missions. A Boss Wave is almost exactly the same as a Combat Wave, but only occurs with certain enemy fleets. Generally what will happen is that a mission will end with a Boss Fleet appearing, and the player must engage it. Boss Waves are harder than normal Combat Waves, for the most part. What makes them especially dangerous, though, are two things: A Boss Wave cannot simply be ‘survived’. Either the Boss Wave’s most powerful ship (usually at the end of the Wave) is defeated, or it defeats the player’s ship and all Continues which are also sent into battle. Also, Boss fleets are capable of repairing or remaking their damaged ships; any ship destroyed in a Boss Wave comes back unless the most powerful ship (the “boss”) is defeated. Essentially, a Boss Wave is the closest thing this game has to a traditional shmup level.

   The gameplay would probably involve both relatively expendable ships, and powerful-but-valuable ships whose pilots are key story characters. These ships wouldn’t be able to be bought, and so only one of each could be owned at a time, but they would be more useful than the average buyable ship.