Ship Switch
Twice a week, once by me and once by my partner Bruno Kruse, an original design will be posted. These designs will not be complete design documents, but simple exercises in thought. Mine will come on Mondays and today will be the first.
Ship Switch: a single player, multi playing field variation on the side-scrolling shooter theme.
In Ship Switch, the player controls two (or perhaps more) ships in completely independent playing fields. The fields are identical except in the color and behavior of the ships within. Obstacles appear and scroll in typical side scrolling fashion, but the player must react differently to these obstacles based on the color of each ship. The goal is to simply scroll through the entirety of the level with both ships intact. The challenge is in properly reacting to the conflicting interpretations between the two fields.
A) Colors that match the ship color are passable.
B) Opposing colors are impassable and can not be destroyed. Contact with these obstacles kills the player and ends the game.
C) Midtones can be shot and destroyed.
D) Darker midtones are easier for the dark ship to destroy and lighter midtones easier for the light.
E) Special blocks could be included to increase variety, difficulty, and depth of play. This one, for example, would switch the positions of the playing fields. The white ship would be forced to contact the special block. Will the player think and react quickly enough to have the black one contact it as well, thereby canceling out the effect?
Higher levels could include:
- More playing fields
- Faster scroll
- More obstacles
- Colors
- Tougher penalties from special blocks
© Justin Dopiriak 2008
