Level Mechanics - Brainstorming Thread

#1

For the Next Version of Frogatto, we’re planning some nice new forest content. (This is one reason it’s taking so bloody long.) Jetrel and I have come up with some mechanics which may or may not be feasible. Does anyone have any comments or further ideas for forest level mechanics?

[list]List o’ Ideas:

[ul][li]stuff depending on you bending tree limbs[/li]
[li]stuff depending on setting foliage on fire[/li]
[li]stuff depending on feeding certain things to certain plants (such as to make a vine grow),[/li]
[li]get large object to switch[/li]
[li]match two puzzles[/li]
[li]a sort of scale thing, which you put multiple stacked objects on to to weigh it down.[/li]
[li]a level with a bunch of standable platforms, all identical, but with some solid, and some fake. A switch reveals which are which.[/li]
[li]the “river” level. A constant stream of logs feed out of an off-screen inaccessible area, and proceed forward over rapids.[/li]
[li]They had one courtyard with an enormous catapult; you had to (through trial and error, ugh) set the catapult to the right height, in order to launch yourself into a tower window.[/li]
[li]you needed the broom power to clean the dust off of flowers on one level.[/li]
[li]Another idea, from Torrin’s Passage, had Torrin lure a monster away from his post by playing back re-arranged fragments of sound crystals. Essentially, splicing an analog tape… ‘Get away from me, you crazy old creep!’ becomes, after some fiddling, ‘Come here, Dreep.’ (the name of the monster).[/li]
[li]something which you controlled by pressing the left and right arrows for left and right rockets?[/li]
[li]brambles that are on a horizontal wall are kind of a retarded omission[/li]
[li]Now, imagine frogatto can get some sort of “magic water drop”. If frogatto spits the drop into the vine’s pot, the vine quickly grows up to a set maximum height.[/li]
[li]There are 3 pullchains outside. You have to pull them in the right sequence of 3 pulls.[/li]
[li]myst island 1] clock tower had 3 gears, 2 levers. You needed a specific combo on the 3 gears, but the two levers caused not one, but two gears to shift, and both in different amounts.[/li]
[li]myst island 2] voltage to the rocket had to be a specific amount. You had to turn on a series of generators to provide “just enough”.[/li]
[li]channelwood island was built around a puzzle of “supplying power” to certain lifts and such - and to get later ones on, you’d have to cut power to earlier ones.[/li]
[li]Could do a circuit puzzle with the generator thingy.[/li]
[li]Humongous Entertainment-style level differences.[/li][/ul]

So, can anyone think of any more? :slight_smile:

#2

Hi DDR,
yes correct!
… about me the game, as platform, is perfect … need more “interactivity” with level or still background objects.
Adding that feature the game will be more longevous and playable.
Typical Example: push a rock or trow an object on a tile on floor will open an hidden wall with many coins inside …

This game “Limbo” is an example of what i’m saying.
What you thing about?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4HSyVXKYz8

#3

Limbo is a neat-looking game… ooo, physics.

I’ve added a new level to SVN called fc_test.cfg. It’s a small level demoing a dirty, dark underground bunker sort of thing. :slight_smile: Hopefully, this will provide a techier staging ground for some of these ideas.

#4

We have match two locks in SVN.

#5

Beehives that make Frogatto bounce higher if he jumps on them like the springs in previous levels, but if he lands on them again instead of moving on to safer ground he takes damage from angry bee swarms. The bees go back into their nest in, say, three seconds after Frogatto first jumps off the hive.

#6

  1. Using explosives like the thunder melons to provoke a chain reaction of explosions, leading to the activation of a switch/lever/etc.

  2. Having to spit an enemy into a place unreachable by frogatto, so that enemy activates a switch (by stepping on it)

#7

Or at least leave an enemy on a switch.

#8

I’m thinking something like marcavis suggested, except instead of explosives that only work once, use something else that’s “renewable”, and put obstacles in the way of it working.

#9

You mean like some of our respawning spitting flowers? That does look like it’d work well, and also would prevent the player from having to restart the level to try again if he failed.

#10

I’m not sure how spitting flowers would work here, but something LIKE them yeah. Or perhaps something else, like a canon you can throw stuff into, and an ant hill to supply you with stuff to throw. Bottom line though, we need more other objects that interact with puzzle elements (like switches), to make more interesting puzzles.