Heh, true. Not sure weather I'll do anything similar for grenades though, could be a tad ridiculous (on the other hand, could be cool)

Grenades could be self-contained standard explosions, but if they, say, start a brushfire, the actual fire could have unusual coloration due to leeched minerals.

Just saw this... Please tell me this kind of thing will be intentional.


(Blue squares are screen size)

Fair enough. Looks like I should probably work with having fires and such in mind from the start, though I certainly won't be doing that with the whole ecosystem idea

@coops: That's Arnes page, not mine. My map will be a lot smaller, to have any chance of finishing the game. I'll hopefully eventually have maps, objects and scenarios outside of the main game data driven, so players can make their own maps if they feel like it. Maybe Arne would go ahead and paint up that map if the engine were already there, who knows. I'm more focussed on getting some form of game happening before anything of that size comes into play.

I was think more along the lines of free roam mixed in. Having a high giant ass playground like that can really add to gameplay just as it did to the Metroid Series. But not as giant, something bareable like you said. Also this way optional Upgrades/Collectables can be placed aswell as mission logs or backstory like you discussed earlier.

The levels are going to be freeroam, I'm concerned as to what impression you're getting about this O_o The idea is to give the player a large map full of puzzles and items and the overall objective of get the ♥♥♥♥ off the planet that you're stranded on (possibly you're running out of O2, not sure). Minor objectives would be thought up and placed by the level designer, but there wouldn't be an objective system. There would be, for example, a robot that's run out of battery, and when you get a fuel cell and put it into the robot, you can give the robot AI orders. It would be left to the player to figure this out, there wouldn't be any flashing "NEW OBJECTIVE" menu overlay or whatever. Maybe you can set named waypoints on a map so you don't forget about things.

can i do some weapons concepts?

If they're any good and fit with the setting, sure. Basically, nothing that's too overpowered or bulky. They should feel unwieldy (you're a chubby astronaut guy) but they shouldn't be huge or be firing huge, destructive things. Some of the robots might have grenade launchers or something, but for the integrity of the map we need to keep the amount of explosives the player has access to to a minimum. I'd appreciate it if you read through Arne's document front to back before starting any design work.
We have a quality threshold to maintain.

No problem geti, i read the whole doc before i requested to join.
anyways, some Very crappy weapon drawings and some decent concepts:



in order left to right:

Sub-Carbine:
this rapid fire weapon has a rest that tucks agains for hip firing goodness. however, recoil and small clip negates its rate of fire.
Rate of fire: High
Magazine: Small
Ammo: Intermediate-Common?
Accuracy: Low
Damage: Low
Weight: Low
Recoil: High
Reload:Long
Ammo Type: Low .Cal Conventional? (maby plasma but im just not feeling a plasma smg)
Notes: Its rapid fire comes from the fact that it has a electromagnetic ignition system, as apposed to the current mechanical mechanisms. maby needs battery or whatever we use for electrical weapons and conventional ammo to fire? Prone to overheat.


Percussive Pistol:

fires normal bullets with one percussive shell tracer that makes a tiny amount of thermite or plasma particles on impact. can be upgraded to fire all percussive?
Rate Of Fire: Semi Auto (bullets when you want them)
Magazine: Small
Ammo: Common
Weight: Low
Damage: Low-Medium To High damage tracer
Accuracy: High to Medium
Recoil: Low
Reload: Medium
Also uses electrical ignition system. maby it uses the exhaust gas to charge its battery though?

Flamer:
Fires superheated gas at close ranges. despite how menacing a plasma flamer sounds, its more of a tool then a weapon.
its low range and single tank of ammo make it something you want to use in combat. you can fill it up with your jetpack fuel or vice versa?
Rate of fire: Fast
Magazine: Large
Ammo: Rare. you can only get 1 mag at a time too!
Recoil: Low
Reload: None
Notes:Its a mainly a tool

Support Laser:
hand cranked support laser fires a single low to medium power laser beam. Shoop woop!
Rate Of Fire: fast
Magazine: One Shot
Ammo: Infinite
Reload: Long
Recoil: Medium

Plasma Gun:
Powerful sniper fires bolts of plasma.

also a neat plant idea:
floater melons. they float calmly through the air but if you shoot them or smash into them while flying they explode. also comes in green underwater variant.


Take what you like, sorry for the eyesores

Its been almost over a week since last report. Any Progress since then?

Not really, I've been thinking about how I'm going to do terrain but otherwise I've been working more on Otherwise and coursework :/ It's been a really busy week for me.

I love my new bamboo pad:

Redesigns of previous concepts comming soon.

It seems like the scope and the clip's positions are a bit... conflicting.

Obviously the MAGAZINE goes through the scope.

Lafe work on your outlines.

the magazine is next to the scope, behind it from the pictures perspective.
its loosely based off of the Japanese Type 99
http://world.guns.ru/machine/type99.jpg
yeah, the lines could use some work. this is my first 2 hours with a pad so i have a whole lot of improving to do.

edit:
Pistol redrawn:


edit:
Type 2000, a redraw of the previous gun.