Design Notes

http://titanpad.com/4METfiJfEp

My Little Game Jam: Chaos

Word soup

• chaos, discord, alice in wonderland
• upside down gravity, goddamn physics puzzles again!
• the maze
• chaklit raaaain
• riddles, lies, tricks
• hah! you can sneak (crumbling) cloudsdale in there!
• here comes tom!
• checov's library lol
• balloon racing?
• catching rainbow dash

Now, forget about the episode. What else can we do? Discord is at it again! Discord's followers. Chaos cultists, yes! Heresy! Beginning of Harmony: The Prequel Yeah, but that needs a ton of new plot. Gosh, I should've read more fanfics.

What about no conflict? Discord and Pinkie Adventures! A rythm game? A virtual pet?

Idea #1: Maze/RPG/Roguelike/Wargame
An obvious choice. Too obvious? Get everyone together in a shifting maze. Then boss battle? Real time or turn based. Might be too much work. You could actually make several games from this. Games to rip off: Pacman, Dungeons of Dreadmor, Faster than Light, Bomberman.

Idea #2: BONK Racing <== Probably choosing this one
You're baby Discord trying to escape Pinkie Pie who has blended you an unpalatable dinner. You move forward by tapping spacebar. Hold longer for a higher or further bonk. Spice it up with obstacles. Pinkie races ahead backwards and drops the bowl. At the limit we can add a full fledged physics engine and all kinds of hilarious levels. Maybe some other ponies get involved in catching little Discord. Chaos ensues. http://www.bildites.lv/images/t5eog829sf2glu35nbs.jpg

Idea #3: Elements of Artillery <== second choice
Reenactment of the fight with Discord in an artillery game. Shoot those element things in an arc while Discord teleports around and rains chaos down on your ponies. Before that, catch discorded ponies the same way. Applejack is easiest - she just sits there. Rarity uses Tom. Fluttershy uses animals. Rainbow Dash flies around and uses clouds. Games to rip off: Worms, Scorched Earth, Cortex Command.

• simulation => game loop

• triggers => checked each loop

• loop fast and don't care about tunneling

• limited physics => axis aligned rectangles only

• main thread

• physics thread

Level Design

• Starts out in the kitchen with Pinkie hot on your heels.
• No obstacles for about 20 seconds.
• Then obstacles:
• hurdles - sacks of clour, toasters, stools
• sticky - spilled syrup
• slippery - spilled water or soap
• Power ups?
• Reverse gravity
• Chocolate milk!

• Kitchen
• No obstacles.
• A sack of flour - high jump. x3
• A sticky syrup - long jump x2
• A stool followed by more syrup.
• Swinging saloon door - timing

Other Room Jump on something (Spike?) to

Downstairs

TODO:

• Editor
• move tool
• resize tool
• load tool
• save tool
• camera tool
• UI for name property
• UI for world properties
• UI for camera properties
• Only then we get to design the goddamn levels!
• Floors
• Backgrounds
• tons of Discord
• tons of Pinkie

pony height = 200 px discord height = 200 px floor to ceiling = 600 px

Now, how to balance?

pinkie = high restitution (bounciness) discord = 0 restitution