I am still unsure in which direction I want to take the design of the characters. But I do know I want to keep them basic and almost unnatural in their appearance.
Charecters
enemies
Enemies will be plentiful and designed to kill the player by tough. Just a simple contact with the player to the enemy will end the round and cause the palyer to start from the beginning
environment
AS this game is meant to be challenging the pathways will stay linear with different obstacles such as wide gaps that require well timed jumps. and narrow pathways to avoid enemies. To increase difficulty some parts of the floor will kill if the player is not careful.
linear pathways
The point of the pathways is for the player. To travel from point A to point B. The challenge lays within the narrow platforms and the sense of panic and confusion that come with them. Not all platforms will be as narrow as others. Such as some will be a wide open area with different enemies and obstacles to overcome. The point of the pathways being linear is to prevent the player from getting lost, while still having a fun A to B route to take.
big/small jumps
Jumping is an important part in platforming. A game that doesnt aloow the player to jump would feel pinned down and creat a lack of movement in the game which is 100% neccesary. The plan is to use jumping in to clear platforms. This will be used to make the player time their jumps correctly to a point of making the jump. Smaller jumps will be usd to create a sense of chaos and keep the player moving and on their toe
death spaces
Death spaces will be used as an alternative to enemies. These are designed to be hidden and add to the challenge as the player will have to keep every space they find in mind so they can figure out how to progress. These are used to keep the game difficult without having the screen cluttered with enemies when not necessary.
gameplay
Gameplay is very important to get right in these sort of games. I want to take an approach that the player can learn but still might not be easy. This may result in the gameplay being quick or the players moment being slippy. The gameplay I have decided to work with is quick paced and and and simple.
W- moves the player forward
A- moves the player to the left
S- moves the player back
D- moves the player right
SPACE- jump
Controls must be kept simple to avoid excess stress and confusion. Nobody wants to have to memorize and remember controls to start playing a simple platformer. simple Controles will reflect the simple aspect of getting the player From A to B while avoiding enemies. Quick movements with well timed jumps and enemy evasion are the key features of the gameplay.
As this game is set in an unrealistic world with exaggerated charecters and terain the controles will have to reflect that. This will be achieved by the momvements of the charecter and the sizable jumps and tasks to be completed.
art design
Art design for me is best kept simple for projects like these. I want my charterers to be simple yet unnatural. This will be achieved by creating a simple figure that is just dis proportioned. All enemies will look the same to create another sense of annoyance and the will all act and behave the same. My art will take cartoon like charecters but be using a more real skybox. I want this to contrast to give the game a more unique and somewhat disconeccted charecter. I do not have exampes or designs at this moment but i have a rough idea og how i want them to look. I would like a cute charecter and enemies but set in a more realistic skybox while keeping terain and texture appropriate to the 3d platforming look.
sound
I am still hoping to find the right music. Music that is nice for a bit then gets a bit repetitive as if the player finds themselves frustrated or stuck at a certain part. I have been researching sound design and will be going with an 8 bit track that invokes a sense of adrenalin ad excitement but that can also get annoying when repeated. This is all to add to the annoying aspect that challenging games create. each element will have its own sound effect such as jumping will have a noticeable higher pitched sound to simulate going up and landing will be a harder tud. Enemies will be kept silent to add to an unforgiving robot-like personality. No characters will have any dialog. Players will here a sound key whenever they reach a checkpoint ir finish the level.
These effects sound be noticeable and different to any other sounds in the game to really make the player aware of what they have accomplished.
annoying
These theme
UI
UI has been decided and will feature a centered cross to make it possible for players to aim and judge jumps a little bit more accurately.