Atari wants ideas/pitches of how to make Bubsy not just another platformer. How would you reinvent this beloved yet often misrepresented character?
https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/atari-calls-on-indie-devs-to-pitch-a-new-bubsy-game
My first idea was a third-person nonviolent shooter. Think something like Splatoon story modes. But instead of ink you shoot yarn balls. Each type of yarn ball has different behaviours. Some tie enemies up, some create platforms etc
I am working on a game where the primary gameplay is melee combat. Here are the design tenets I've come up with so far.
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Managing stamina is critical. If you just spam attacks you will quickly get exhausted and not be able to fight.
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Blocking or dodging attacks costs stamina as well, however if you execute a perfectly timed defense then it costs your opponent's stamina even more.
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Hits inflict not just HP damage, but also debilitating wounds. Think bleeds, weakened attacks, slower movement, etc. Fights will typically be over within 2 or 3 successful wounds.
The design goal is not to be "realistic" per se, but to require careful thinking in addition to quick reflexes.
The question I have for this group is, I'm not yet sure how to handle armor. I know you can get very crunchy with stuff like %DR, DT, location-specific damages, different types of resistances, etc etc. It can get very complex, but honestly I'm not sure it's worth it.
So I am thinking of just making the armor system a simple +HP system, where each piece of armor adds a certain amount of total HP and also protects against certain types of wounds. Heavier armor gives more HP but also increases stamina costs, so you get tired quicker. Which in this design is a major tradeoff.
I just wonder if doing a simple +HP for armor is too much of an oversimplification, and something players will be annoyed by. If not, then I probably won't try to do anything more. Even though I love complex armor systems (Kingdom Come Deliverance is just fantastic) if it doesn't benefit this design then I would be happy to skip the time and effort it would take to design, implement, and QA.
Thanks everyone for your input!