Self Study 4 -- Ideation

"Idea 1: Offensive Cybersecurity"
A fast paced shooter where you play as a computer virus, capable of controlling one robot at a time. All the other robots would be hostile to the player, and you must use their own weapons to destroy/infect other robots. Your control of the robot dwindles over time, and if the robot you are infecting dies, you die. When your host grows weak or is no longer suitable, fire a bullet that carries your virus. If it hits, you keep playing.

There are many ways to expand on this concept; perhaps the robots may not always realize you've taken a new host, there may be stronger enemies that are harder to infect (perhaps you need to expose a weak spot), and puzzle elements could be incorporated if certain robots are needed for certain challenges. It may also be interesting if certain robots countered other robots, creating an almost rock paper scissors relationship between the different options in each level.

When discussing game concepts with peers, I was made aware of a game in development called RAM  (found on steam at https://store.steampowered.com/app/2256450/RAM_Random_Access_Mayhem/). The core game play loop of this rouge-like is very similar to what I have outlined above, and could provide some great inspiration. My personal inspirations for this concept were games like Enter the Gungeon, or Furi. Imagine a fast paced bullet hell game where you can fire a shot to take possession of a different enemy and get yourself out of a deadly crossfire.

"Idea 2: RTShooter"

A strategic shooter where your character is a glass cannon character in charge of several tanky allies who can take a beating.  Strategically place your beefy allies to take the hits while you blast the enemies, but pay attention, or the enemies may kill your allies.

This idea came from the work I have done in the self study modules and the tutorials, where I have a very simple version of the game concept outlined above. The concept could be expanded by adding different classes of allies that specialize in different tasks/dealing with different enemies (such as flying allies for flying enemies). Some levels could be more puzzle based, while others could be solely combat focused. The supply of allies could be limited, and a resource that is collected from fallen enemies/allies could be spent to acquire more.

I have always enjoyed games like Age of Empires, and this game would likely attract an RTS/third person shooter audience. Perhaps this concept is most similar to Mount and Blade Bannerlord, which is played in third or first person, but the player character can shout orders to their soldiers (even while in the middle of the battle).