Few words
Two years ago I studied Boss Design from Scott Roger's works as well as Luis Barriga's intervention at the GDC in 2004 (I can't find the link...). From that point, I decided to focus on Scrolling Shooter, and to go on further about the design of a Boss. Finally there was a list of vital components needed for a Boss Battle, plus trends involved by the market.
I was working on a learning game dealing with Boss Design but I realized I missed experience to complete it. The goal was to offer a game in which the player could observe the impact of the different components on a boss battle.
For example, the player will just change the arena to notice the impact on the battle, or wether the evolution of the boss' pattern during the fight, etc.
Anyway, I suspended this project, to launch one in order to acquire more experience, and finalize this one later. And right now, after this long introduction, this is about the new one I want to talk.
Mains purpose
Shot to Move
I want to build all the avatar movement around this rule so the avatar can't move without shoot.
Only one action
The second thing driving me for few months is making a game in which the player can only use a single action : here is to shoot.
Concept
The avatar has to shoot to move in order to cross the different levels scattered with obstacles
Art
For the moment , I haven't any visual orientation. So I can't tell you more about this point right now, except that the first demo will be made with ugly place holder =)
Technology
I'm using GameMaker 8, which is a good tool<!-- Moreover, there are already useful features =)
Development
I just began to develop the avatar's movement and the different elements of the level design. Thanks to GameMaker, I already have a functional collision system, and so I can focus on gameplay features. During the following weeks, I will develop the wholeness of the game elements, and then I will continue with an analytic phase focused on level design.
This blog
I'm going to post frequently about the progress of the development. Moreover, I'm going to write article focused on a game element dealing with its tweaking, its attributes and why I chose to put it into the game.
I'm going to begin with the avatar's movement as soon as possible, and the next article will come with a demo illustrating my words.
The end's word
To finish this first article, thank you for reading the whole article and sorry for my poor English...
See you soon!
