[URL=http://s1160.photobucket.com/user/haplorrhine/media/private/bug-mining_zps00a43128.png.html]
[/URL]
This is an area in Bug Mining (1.3) where I was hoping there would be a secret. Since there doesn’t appear to be any use of the “trampoline method” within the game, I thought I might suggest it. The principle is that jumping on a monster from a height makes the monster work like a trampoline.
The trampoline challenges would vary in difficulty. This particular example is quite difficult because, without precise placement of the trampoline, Frogatto hits the ceiling, and because you have to shoot down the flying ants first.
On the other hand, it’s not easy to figure out how the trampoline effect works. I didn’t begin to catch on until after I had beaten the game twice. I accidentally landed on a pink ant from a height. Mistakenly, I thought there was something special about the pink ants. Later on, I realized that the real trigger is jumping from a height. To encourage awareness, you (developers) could give clues early in the game. Make a secret area clearly visible, and have a monster already stuck on its back when Frogatto walks in, hinting that Frogatto is to jump on it. After the gamer is implicitly shown the trampoline effect, you can have less obvious trampoline secrets.
In addition to requiring planning, these secrets could challenge the player’s speed if they must (a) place a monster in position and (b) jump on the monster before it gets off its back.
If you really want to challenge players, make particular secrets that require a special monster that remains on its back for an extended period of time, perhaps 20 to 30 seconds. But you might want to place lakes nearby, forcing the player to spit out this monster if s/he wants to leave the area.
If you’re worried about the player’s ability to land on the trampoline from a great height, perhaps you could make a broader (wider) monster.
I imagined a broad, flat monster with a spiked back. Normally, the player would avoid landing on this monster. When the monster is on its back, however, the spikes go into the ground like the legs of a trampoline, giving it a trampoline-like appearance that hints at its purpose. But the player must be quick, or they’ll be landing on spikes instead.
[/URL]
[/URL]
[/URL]