<h2>Gameplay Discussion</h2>
<p>This wiki is an ongoing discussion about Shade’s gameplay. Please argue for or against gameplay elements or suggest new ones. At this point in the development Shade can really change a lot, so let’s work to come up with the best formula. I encourage developers to go the extra mile and prototype ideas so that we can see just how fun they are in practice.</p>
<h3>Dynamic Environment</h3>
<p>One central component in what will make Shade fun is a dynamic environment. The player should feel as though the environment is alive and furthermore responding to his actions. The environment is alive is through its real-time lighting effects. The light source should move over time thus creating new and interesting shadows as the game progresses. In addition, the player can impact the environment by picking or not picking mushrooms. Mushrooms which the player opts not to pick tend to grow larger which in turn creates new shadows.</p>
<p>Here are some other ideas which might be fun and would complement or extend the idea of a dynamic environment.</p>
<ol>
<li>Let the player move certain obstacles such as blocks around the stage.</li>
<li>Let the player dig trenches; these would be impossible to cross and thereby be a defensive mechanism against monsters but would also impeded the players movement.</li>
<li>Introduce other types of plants which have different properties, for instance one plant might grow in the sun and shrink in the shade.</li>
<li>Add an additional environmental effect such as weather which compounds with the light to effect the mushrooms growth.</li>
</ol>
<h3>Resource Management</h3>
<p>Again central to answering the above question is resource management. The player is attempting to maximize the total amount of mushroom he can gather in a given time. This means making a complex decision about whether to pick up one last mushroom. One problem however is that the gathered mushrooms don’t really translate into anything. There needs to be a better reward mechanism in lace for gathering mushrooms. One solution is to reduce the game to a battle for high score, but that tends to get boring quickly. Another option is to add <span class="caps">RPG</span> elements, but that doesn’t really fit with the overall gameplay.</p>
<p>Perhaps the best solution for Shade is to incorporate a system similar to <a href="http://intihuatani.usc.edu/cloud/flowing/">Flow</a>. In this case the game would get harder as you gathered more mushrooms. Difficulty could be incremented through several means:</p>
<ol>
<li>Reduce the number of mushrooms that appear</li>
<li>Reduce the speed with which mushrooms grow</li>
<li>Increase the speed with which mushrooms shrink</li>
<li>Reduce the size that at which mushrooms become monsters</li>
<li>Speed up the movement of the light source</li>
</ol>
<p>There are probably additional mechanisms, too. This would fit well with the casual nature of the game, but would also make the game more challenging and reward the player for playing well.</p>
<h3>External Resources</h3>
<ol>
<li><a href="http://lostgarden.com/2008/06/shade-game-design-challenge.html">Shade prototyping challenge</a></li>
<li><a href="http://lostgarden.com/2008/08/shade-prototyping-challenge-results.html">Shade prototyping results</a></li>
</ol>
<h2>Gornova’s suggestion</h2>
<p>So, i’m here :D</p>
<h3>Some core question (not connected to gameplay… but i have to put it somewhere :P):</h3>
<ul>
<li>shade have a sort of core menu, like in doom? <br />
With start game, options, Leaderboard? We can think, just for last thing, to use main menu as a “special level”: player can move around, take a mushroom with label “Start Game” into “basket” and then start game. I think that is cool, and help player to understand core element of the game.. so we don’t have to do a tutorial!</li>
<li>map is static or player can scroll it moving near edges? <br />
I suggest static map: problem in this case is that maps are really little.. but are really really really more simple to understand to player, that see everything and can master and think more quicly. We can also think that in the future will be greater map, so the game can be more long and fun :D (and difficult)</li>
</ul>
<p>I agree of this core gameplay element of shade are.</p>
<ul>
<li>Mushrooms grow when in the shade</li>
<li>Mushrooms shrink when in the sunlight</li>
<li>The player can move freely around the stage</li>
<li>When the player touches a mushroom he picks it up and it follows him</li>
<li>When the player takes the mushroom back to his “basket” the mushroom is “collected”</li>
</ul>
<p>We must understand how to make this fun!</p>
<h3>Some parameters of core gameplay are:</h3>
<ul>
<li>Number of collectable mushrooms: how many mushrooms player can put into his list before get into basket? 5? 7? 10 ? Or there are no limit? This is a good difficult setting, no ? Think about a limit of 3: player can collect just three mushrooms, and than must to get back to basket</li>
<li>Speed of player: is static, or with some bonus can be changed? I think that we can think about it. Just think about collecting 5 (or 7 or 11, etc..) mushrooms together and put into basket. From basket come a bonus: player get on it, and speed increase permanently. So player is encouraged to collect more mushrooms simultaneously, and let another mushrooms turn into monters, increasing difficult into next moves!</li>
<li>form of player: for now player is a triangle, but can form changed? In a square, or so on.. different shape? We can use player form to emphasize some player status. Think about vampire legend. Dracul can change his status into fog.. why not use this idea? Player can use some bonus turning himself into fog: he cannot touch anything, not collecting mushrooms, but can move freely into game map, avoiding monsters (that maybe don’t see him!) and when player is near some mushrooms, can turn into normal status, and voit là, collecting mushrooms</li>
<li>how much time mushrooms need to stay on sunlight to shrink ? This is a core parameter of fun of the game. I think that in soon part of game, shrink time must be really long, for example, 1 minute.. but later, must be increased to fast all the game. But again, we can think of a bonus that cause to the sun to be more or less cold? What about eclipses ? A random event that influence everythng on game mechanics! But think about another random element: more mushrooms that pop up on screen, a disease that cause mushrooms to die, or something similar!</li>
<li>player can move freely around stage.. is that true? Description of shade idea mention “blocks” that create shadows.. so player can’t move into blocks, but need to get a different path.</li>
<li>player touch’s on mushroom cause it follow him.. always? Can’t player say, hey i don’t want it now? My suggestion is to have a bonus, a status of player, a key to get mushrooms, or just thinking about it!</li>
<li>“collected” mushrooms are untouchable? Are into bakset and don’t move, grow and doing anything? But if someone, like a monster, wind, or so on, move basket, mushroom can be again on map, and again be collectable?</li>
</ul>
<p>I think that fun for player is fun into play with core-mechanics: a set of rule that are dinamically changing when i do something. But if we don’t write down everything, player’s fun can be finding new thing that can happen in the game, no ?</p>
<ul>
<li>using mushrooms. A good core mechanics for me is to let player to consume mushrooms (before put into basket!) to get some bonus, for example extra-speed,</li>
</ul>
<h3>Again, some idea for other mechanics:</h3>
<ul>
<li>Mushrooms that reach a certain size become monster mushrooms which can move about the stage</li>
</ul>
<p>About this, i think that mushrooms can turn into monter mushrooms when reach certain size, but also when are too near each other: for example, when three mushrooms (not collected) are for one minute together, they turn into a special monster</p>
<ul>
<li>Monsters eat other mushrooms (not the player)</li>
<li>Monsters cannot be destroyed by the player</li>
<li>Monsters shrink in the sunlight</li>
<li>Monsters grow by eating other mushrooms</li>
<li>Monsters are slow and have bad vision</li>
</ul>
<p>So monsters are enemy of player because can eat mushrooms (why not collect for some monster?). I think a fun element can be that monsters fight with another monsters to eat some mushrooms, or monsters, no ?<br />
Monster that see player’s list of mushrooms can think “hey, mushrooms!” and attack player list to get some mushrooms.. that can be really fun :D</p>
<ul>
<li>trap monsters</li>
</ul>
<p>If player can move blocks in some way, game can be really more intersting. Some blocks can be moved, another no: player must find it, and using blocks to move shade, killing monsters (and mushrooms that can move), or forcing monsters returning into shadows, or again forcing monsters into a prison :D</p>
<ul>
<li>another board element: just think about water, lava, rock (can’t be moved, or passed), for different thing of map, with forced tactics, hidden path, or so on ?</li>
</ul>
<p>Dynamic enviroment: i agree with everything you write</p>
<p>Flow-approach to Shade mechanics are really cool, but i think that we can think about it only if we have a clear idea of what are shade mechanics :D</p>
<h3>Random ideas</h3>
<p>I think that mushrooms turn to monsters when player reach some particular score or similar.<br />
For example:</p>
<ul>
<li>player reach some number of mushrooms collected (ex. 10)</li>
<li>mushrooms grow in size, when they are four or more too near.. and ops, turn to monster :D</li>
<li>Monster can do what player can’t do: move into light or similar.</li>
<li>Or, again, another idea :), monsters can be turn into allies with some bonus collected from player, helping him in collecting mushrooms</li>
<li>Think about doom(1,2): in this game, monsters fight everthing: player or.. another monsters! We can copy this idea.. and let possibility to player to use one monster to defend the player.</li>
<li>I don’t think that in this game we can let to player fighting monsters directly!</li>
<li>Or again, using enviroment (blocks?) against monsters!</li>
<li>Or maybe, let player using collected mushrooms in basket to get some bonus: speed, strenght, possibility to fight against monsters, and so on</li>
<li>an easy tutorial with small, simple and clear quests (like in rpg). You must do this, to get this. So we can explain game’s mechanics</li>
<li>a casual gamers: play for a day, do the maximum score. stop. <span class="caps">BUT</span> every match is different from enviroment (random?), and using of mechanics.. you can play in a mode for every game, or experiment different tactics</li>
<li>sanbox game. Imagine that in order to survive, you must collect X, do X, or so on, so you can store some sort of food in your “base”. Than come nights.. predator.. or so on. You can move free in enviroment, trying to survive of night, and go with another day..</li>
<li>co-op play: i can play with another friend on the same computer, controlling two player that can help against monsters, etc… that can be fun!</li>
</ul>
<h2>Alex responds…</h2>
<p>Let me try to answer some of your questions and also point out a few things I’m assuming.</p>
<ul>
<li>I agree that map should be static, or at least let’s start with that and see if it is too limiting. Otherwise it makes it very difficult to really be strategic about picking your paths because you can’t see what’s ahead.</li>
<li>I like the idea of limiting the number of mushrooms the player can carry at any given point. This could be due to the “size” of his backpack or something similar. Collecting more mushrooms could reward the player with a bigger backpack.</li>
<li>What form does the player take? Well to while we prototype he can just be some shape, I say triangle so that we know which way he is facing, but when later we will be making artwork for the various actors. I assume the player will have a human sprite. Perhaps wearing a big hat?</li>
<li>When I said “move freely” I meant within the boundaries of the levels. There will be solid objects which block the player, but otherwise he is unrestricted. (This is different from, say, a top down shooter.)</li>
<li>I think that every time the player touches a mushroom it starts to follow him (assuming he isn’t at max capacity). Adding a “pick” button just complicates things unnecessarily.</li>
<li>I’m not sure I like the idea of letting the player use mushrooms for a power up. One idea that might work is to allow the player to feed picked mushrooms to monsters. Monsters would then explode if they got too big.</li>
<li>I like your idea of multiple mushrooms joining together to form a monster, too.</li>
<li>Monsters should definitely “fight” in some sense to eat other mushrooms.</li>
<li>Monsters should probably be able to eat each other too. However, what would govern this? Maybe it’s strictly a size thing…</li>
<li>I don’t think that monsters should attack the player, but they should attack the mushrooms following the player.</li>
<li>Moving blocks around and digging trenches are both possible ways to deal with monsters. I am worried however that they won’t really be fun or practical. You would need to move a lot of blocks or dig a lot of holes to really impact the environment and it would just be easier to avoid the area inhabited by the monster. More likely, we should just make it so monsters die relatively quickly such that they are an inconvenience which will impeded progress but not a permanent impediment.</li>
<li>The player <strong>can</strong> move in the light. He can also carry mushrooms into the light. Sunlight doesn’t effect the player, it effects mushrooms. Therefore the player wants to keep his collected mushrooms out of the light as much as possible as they will shrink.</li>
<li>Monsters are mushrooms too, so they get hurt by the sunlight. However since they move and are stupid they will often kill themselves by entering the sunlight.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Here Gornova again</h2>
<ul>
<li>ok, set static map !</li>
<li>thaks for a simple word: backpack. For example, we can think about an initial backpack of three mushrooms, what do you think? Again, if you collect 3 mushrooms, your backpack will grow one size, 4 mushrooms collected, backpack 5, and so on: my first idea..</li>
<li>idea: when player collect too mushrooms together, speed is affected by this?</li>
<li>player shape: maybe a misunderstood. When i sad “player shape”, i was thinking how player reprentation also can affect gameplay. For example in Flow, in a different level you are in a different shape, and for example monsters can attack you to steal food, if you shape is too long, monster can stole food more easly :D</li>
<li>Monster fighting for me is: monster A kill monster B so A can eat mushroom. Player can advantage of this, no ?</li>
<li>Sorry, i don’t understand that player can move on sunlight, my mistake!</li>
<li>Ok no for pick button from player</li>
<li>Why not let player use mushrooms for a bonus? This can be really fun, if you think about different tactics! Give eat to a monster, for me, it will not include that monster explode, but can block monster, that are eating, no ? So player can go to the basket (we must add a release button for player to do this? Or player can just go near a monster?)</li>
</ul>
<h3>More Ideas</h3>
<ul>
<li>Add a meter to the game. If the player is in the meter it goes down. If the player collects a mushroom it goes up.</li>
<li>Add a bird or some such which moves mushroom.</li>
<li>Add plants, say trees, which can grow from time to time to change the landscape.</li>
<li>Add a creature which plants or moves trees.</li>
<li>Poison mushrooms, they drain your meter.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Ideas and Considerations</h2>
<p>There are a few key issues to address with regards to the game. As of now our mechanic is essentially the same mechanic as Pacman, but without highly restrictive walls and some additional complexity in how the desirable collectible objects are present. To capitalize on our shadowcasting engine, however, it would be better that we include multiple light sources instead of one. For instance:</p>
<ol>
<li>Mushrooms that “glow” in the dark. These mushrooms can cast shadows off of the other objects in the game, but themselves have no shadows.</li>
<li>“Lightbulbs,” which are obstacles the player can move in some fashion to move a light source. <br />
It is possible to further increase complexity by changing the simple day cycle to a day/night cycle, so that we can have two kinds of monsters, and that the glow-in-the-dark shrooms only appear at night.</li>
<li>Daytime monsters roam around in the light, and the attack the player if the player is visible (ie. not in sufficient darkness).
<ol>
<li>maybe the daytime monsters can get “lost” if successfully submerged in darkness, and stand still?</li>
<li>nighttime monsters can see in the dark and attack the player if he is in sigh, but are afraid of the light, and can be repelled or defeated by the light.</li>
</ol></li>
</ol>
<p>The movement of the shadow, then, becomes doubly important as it reveals not only directly useful information (where to hide), but also give an estimation of how much of the day cycle remains.<br />
To add additional challenge to the game, we could further diversify the mushrooms, including ones that give you temporary abilities, such as increasing your speed or allowing you to bump into (and stun) the monsters. A fun hack is always to “slow down time” but that depends on how the timestep iteration is implemented in this game.</p>
<h3>Overall Game Design</h3>
<p>However, there needs to be consideration for endgame situations. The player must be able to “win” in some fashion or the incentive to play will not persist as it becomes obvious that the game will not reward the player any further. What happens when a player gathers enough mushrooms? How does the player know if he or she is doing the right thing to progress? Can and does the player lose, or die? How is the player penalized for dying?</p>
<p>The theme that comes to mind for me is habitat invasion. We pretend that some species of predators, previously not found in the area, have taken up residence and are consuming the local fauna (our player). Our player’s task is to drive these predators out and protect his species. So instead of domes, blocks, and walls, we could work with trees, rocks, and underbrush. In addition, of course, are the mushrooms, which grow in the shadows and wilt in the sun. The core gameplay mechanic could either be more tower-defense like (move rocks so that there’s a little area in which mushrooms grow perpetually and “fight off” the predators or a collection-based game (“you must gather 10 mushrooms to feed your offspring”). We could still use the following mechanic, and maybe include some incredibly troublesome levels where the offspring follow the player around and the player must prevent them from being eaten, and so on and so forth.</p>
<h3>Control Scheme</h3>
<p>I also have some questions about the control scheme—common to collection-based isometric games is the absolute control scheme: push left for left, right for right, and so on. Does anyone agree that the game might be easier to play if we switched to that in replacement of the rotate and walk scheme?</p>
<p>-JJ</p>
<p>I’ve implemented that control scheme on my copy and I agree that it’s a lot more intuitive and responsive. We should definitely go with it. I’ve also added the ability to wrap around the level. However, I’m still in the process of updating the way that mushrooms follow the player to accommodate wrapping.</p>
<p>— aschearer</p>
<h3>Tower defense</h3>
<p>I like this idea for gameplay, so we can create a game really stimulant for player, no?<br />
My fear now is that this new mechanics maybe can be added in the future, not now: why? Because now we are thinking about an idea, an this idea (i like it!) is not our “core” idea</p>
<p>— gornova</p>
<p>That is a cool idea, if there’s interest someone could fork and try it out?</p>
<h3>Movable, growing obstacles</h3>
<p>How about an obstacle which grows in the shade/shrinks in the sun just like the mushroom but instead of collecting it you can push it around. It casts a shadow, too, so you can have some impact on the shadowscape that way.</p>
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