Well I am working on a 2-d game for the puzzle comp.
Here's an early (very early) screenshot
Here's the rough concept:
The game is sorta like a mix between tetris, and some matching games like cubis, except with a twist.
objective:
The way to clear cubes is to have a combination of primary->secondary or secondary->primary colors.
for eg. the folowing (*in any order) would be a solution set:
blue,yellow,green (*yellow,green,blue is a solution as well)
Red,yellow,orange
blue,red,purple
pieces come out in threes, kind of resembling tetris pieces, the patterns are as follows:
XX
X
XXX
X
.X
.X
.X
X
X
(note: I've made sure that the color pattern of the piece is not a solution in itself.)
And can be rotated 90 degrees at a time; right and left.
gameplay:
Unlike tetris the pieces don't fall from the top. Instead they appear
randomly (for now) on outside of the board. You can move them around, but they collide with other set pieces. So part of the challenge is manuevering around the board. You have x amount of time to set the piece before it automatically is placed where you are.
The idea will be to clear a certain amount of pieces, as well as other suprises. More points are awarded for clearing in multiple directions on a single placement.
A "COMPLETE" PRIMIX: Is when you clear a "+" pattern for a total of nine blocks (*or more (depending on surrounding tiles) at one time) :
eg.
OOOGOOO
OOOYOOO
OPRBRPO
OOOGYOO
OOOYGOO
In the above example the last piece to be placed was
B
.Y
.G
where (R=red,Y=yellow,B=Blue etc...) and O=can be a blank square or another color. It's quite a difficult achievement (and therefore will be rewared handsomely); as it's hard to place tiles without inadvertanlty creating a solution set, or worse creating a grouping of 3 of the same color as mentioned next.
Some puzzling ideas:
Placing three of the same color either, vert, horizontal or L shaped, will cause those areas, of the board to be erased, collapsing the grid in on itself. This isn't good as it will give you less and less board space to make a Primix.
I should have a rough demo in a few days. In the meantime I am working out other play options, puzzles, starting board layouts, powerups and the like. Hopefully it will be as challenging, and fun as I imagine it. It takes sometime reprogramming yourself to not match colors, it's a habbit and something we seem to do naturally. Even I, while playing find it hard not to match the color; but think about the mixing of colors.
I'm open to comments and suggestions.
Also, the graphics right now are stand-in; and mainly there so I can test logic and play options; it's possible that I may use a combination of 2d/3d or even an Isometric view.
Thanks
~zen
