Introduction to a future somebody

 Game Idea Research

Whack-a-Mole 3x3 design

Roll-a-Mole:

The game I chose to try develop was my first idea, Roll-a-Mole. This game is an arcade-like, high-score game where the player takes control of a ball (designs to be developed in future). They are placed in a boxing ring with perimeter of space around a central 3x3 formation of holes. These holes will be used by the moles to pop-up and down. The objective is to send your ball flying around the stage, bouncing off the ropes and controlling it to hit into as many moles and special moles as possible. However, you have to watch out for the bombs. Hit three bombs and you will get a game over.

Mechanic 1:

For the game to be random and different every time the player plays it, I want to implement the ropes along the sides of the ring to be bouncy and send the player hurdling the other direction when they run into it. Ideally the player will choose a direction to launch at first and from then on they will have perpetual motion until they lose. I'm hoping that this mechanic keeps the player engaged at all times as they use the ropes as a way to launch towards the next unsuspecting, dumb mole. The players may find this mechanic useful but I have plans to implement that will make the player think twice about bouncing all over the stage without thought. If the player collides with a bomb which appear from the same holes that the moles do, they will lose one life.

-Pinball Elastics

When I thought of the concept of the ropes I actually thought of old school pinball machine elastics where there was a mechanism that would detect the ball just hit the elastic and would then send the pinball flying the other way. But as I started thinking about the design of the map I briefly made it reminded me of a boxing ring and the ropes that they have. I believe I will end up using this choice after thinking about WWE and the iconic move throwing the opponent into the ropes only to have them come running back for a close line. This decision might also alter the thematic design of the game because it is now set inside a ring.

Mechanic 2:

I would like to learn about randomly generated objects/NPC's (Non-Playable Characters) because for mechanic 2 I really want to have each and every time the player launches their ball that the sequence of moles, super moles and bombs is totally, or at least somewhat, different than compared to the run they previously had. I'm hoping this keeps the game fresh and adds a certain polish that makes the game feel not so routine and more like a challenge each time they play. Along with a random order that the moles can appear in, I want to code them in a way where there is, say, three moles and one bomb on screen. The player must maneuver the high-speed ball to hit all three moles while avoiding the bomb and only when the last mole is taken out will the next sequence of moles and bombs show up. My idea with this is that it will create a margin where the player will see the advantage of dispatching all moles as quickly as possible so that a chance for a less common, super mole, which scores a lot more points for the player to appear.

-Youtube Video - Random Object Instantiation

I believe that coding the moles to only leave once there are none left on screen will be a fairly easy task and will be something I will research just to understand what I'm getting myself into. The randomly generated moles and bombs, however, might be more of a challenge to code. I'm definitely going to try see what I can learn about coding that into my game because I do see it as an essential component of the game-play. Who knows though. I might get lucky and coding NPC's into a 3x3 grid will be easier than I thought and adjusting the chance of a super-mole appearing will be as easy as moving a slider up and down.

Mechanic 3:

Lastly, Mechanic 3. I was thinking about other arcade games and what they do to keep the game interesting or exciting and one very basic, yet powerful mechanic which has been around for decades is the implementation of Power-ups. Power-ups are often overlooked in video games because of how prevalent they are. They're taken for granted by the player as they just consume it and continue on having fun with the game. But just think about how boring all the classic games we love would be if they never had power-ups. Super Mario Bros would have never been the game it is today. With that being said. I want to add power-ups to my game that the player can pick up and it will change certain aspects of how their character acts. 

The most basic power-up is the 1-up which gives the player one extra life or HP (Health Point) which used to mean the difference between losing a euro and carrying on to overtake a high-score. Other power-ups could actually be a hindrance for the player like a Boost power up that exponentially speeds up the player and could lead them straight into a bomb if they're not careful. Other players can see this power up as a useful tool if they perfected how to use it, taking out a round of moles quicker than usual.

Maybe this Boost power-up is coupled with a 1.5X point multiplier that increases to a max of 3.0X point multiplier for consecutively taking out moles while in this super fast state. It is fun to think of the possibilities that these power-ups can do but with each power-up comes their own task to actually figure out how to code them to work. I'm going to keep a list of these power-ups so I don't forget any ideas I have had and then research how to get them to work and maybe also expand on some of them too.

- Lange-Nielsen Filip - THE POWER-UP EXPERIENCE: A STUDY OF POWER-UPS IN GAMES AND THEIR EFFECT ON PLAYER EXPERIENCE