Tech Stuff: Game Concept

Over the next couple of months, I will be developing a Flash game of some sort.

Why? Because I can, I want to, and I'm bored. Reasons are less important than results, anyways.

This post exists for three reasons...

First, I'm hoping that all of you - referring, of course, to the single-digit number of people who regularly read this - will help me a bit in testing as soon as I can get the game to a point where it has a playable demo of some sort.

(Looking at about one month after this Monday, assuming I can get a working concept for the game by then. I can let people know if/when I know when such a demo might exist, if anyone actually cares.)


Secondly, if anyone has a random idea for a cool Flash game wants to put it here, I can consider it. Also, if anyone wants to help - be it with writing the code, making some cool pictures, or writing up any story elements or whatnot we might need - I'm sure we can work something out.

The third reason - the long one that will take up a few paragraphs  as per usual - is to put down my current rough game concept and see what people think of it.

My idea fits into a fairly generic flash game genre - the tower defense. This tower defense would take place entirely on a cartesian plane, -10 < x < 10, -10 < y < 10 - you're default graphing calculator graph settings, essentially.

The point you are defending is the origin. Enemies are numbers and/or functions that follow a path, also defined by a function. Every enemy will eventually pass through the origin, but they can come from any angle and, in many cases, move in a very odd fashion.

To defend, you have two sorts of towers. The first is a switch, which takes incoming enemies and changes the function that describes their movement. Possibly there will be a way to determine if certain enemies are 'switched' or not.

The second - which, unfortunately, has no cool name other than a 'tower' - would be defined by a function and 'attack' the incoming enemy in a specific way. It might add or subtract a certain number to them, or multiply them by something, or take the entire enemy and put it into a function.

Obviously there will be limits as to what can be done there.

To defeat an oncoming enemy, the goal is to render them equivalent to zero. The method would obviously change based on the sort of enemy, but it's simple enough.

The trick here is that you have to have an equivalent number of 'positive' and 'negative' turrets. For instance, if you had a turret that was a function defined along a line that added one to enemies that passed over it, you would need a turret of equivalent length that subtracted one when enemies passed over it.

On a particular level, you could have a set number of switches and any number of turrets. You would be scored on not letting enemies get to the origin point and on how few towers you used - number and length/shape.

You would have a set of 'pre-made' towers and switches, and would be able to make and test your own in a sandbox environment. There, you would be able to create any sort of enemy and see what could be done to beat them.

Then there would be your standard campaign, with what would hopefully be a decent story - I kind of already have one, but spoiling it would be no fun, now would it?

Gods that was terribly haphazard and poorly written. Regardless, you should all tell me how bad the idea is and how yours would be better and/or how you think the idea could be improved. Preferably below, so I can keep track of them all.

Pun of the Day: Why does water always feel discriminated against in society? Because it has no upwards mobility.