Okay, yeah, I'm sure you guys are sick of my ideas by now, but here's one I've had for a while:
A
side-scrolling dogfight game (i.e.
Sopwith and its many remakes) ,with elements of
Tribes-like tactical team gameplay and massive-ass maps, and a bit of
Star Control 2 inspiration for good measure. (Oh yeah, and I guess it would have a sci-fi setting)
---------------------------------------
I'm not sure how many different craft would be in the game (probably around 30), but they would be divided into three types:
Jets, which control something like a traditional Sopwith-style plane. Hard to control, but easily the fastest of the three types. They lack the fine manuvering of Hovers though, which makes them a poor choice on close-quarters maps.
Hovers, such as helicopters, blimps, and more exotic hovercraft-style planes. These are much easier to control, but also slower and lightly armored.
Rockets. The best example I can think of for Rocket-type control is the rockets from Cortex Command, except less top-heavy. Rockets have both the speed of Jets and the preciseness of Hovers, but they're contantly being pulled down by gravity when you're not firing the thrusters, which makes them tricky to master.
-------------------------------------------
Each ship has a
primary and
secondary weapon, plus you can pick up one-time-use items on the battlefield. There's
no ammo for your regular weapons, but they use up
energy. (In case you haven't noticed, all my good ideas come from SC2
) Energy recharges over time, and the rate at which it recharges varies from ship to ship. Some ships also have more armor then others.
-------------------------------------------
In normal
Deathmatch mode, you assemble a
fleet of ships before the match, SC2-style. Each ship has a given point value, so you can go with a
large swarm of weak ships, or a
few powerhouse ships if you want to. You would have about a minute before the match to choose your fleet, or you could load a pre-made one to save time. The maximum number of points could be adjusted, like every other game setting.
-------------------------------------------
The real meat of the game is in
Objective mode, where two large (up to 16 players each) teams compete to capture and defend
airstrips (which act like bases and spawn points) and complete other objectives. I've always liked
Threadspace: Hyperbol for gameplay like this, because it lets you freely define objectives, instead of just generic "capture the flag" or "hold this area for X seconds". So I'm shooting for something like that.
Instead of making a fleet beforehand, though, choosing your ships would work a bit differently. Before the match, you choose 1 ship from each tier. There are five tiers, ranging from weak scout ships (first tier) to expensive juggernauts (fifth tier). These are the ships you can
purchase once the match starts.
You start the match with a small number of credits to buy ships with, but you'll slowly earn more automatically if you run out (so you're never truely out of the game). You can also earn more credits by getting kills or assisting your teammates.
But if credits were just for buying ships, it would be a boring game. You can also use your credits to purchase
base upgrades, like turrets, forcefields, or improved radar. These upgrades will appear at any airstrip you capture. However, they're really expensive, so you won't be able to purchase them on your own. Your whole team will have to
chip in a little bit to raise enough credits, which adds to the sense of teamwork.
----------------------------------------
*whew* What do you guys think?
Developer
