Anything you'd like to see in future DLC?

EdenIndustries · 04-26-2012, 05:59 PM

Hey there everyone, with the first batch of DLC arriving on May 22nd (and featuring the mysterious dwarf planet Eris) I thought I'd offer up the opportunity to the community to weigh in on future DLC.

Although we're planning on many different types of DLC and expansion packs, the type I'd like to focus on in this thread are what I'm calling Planet Packs. These, like the upcoming Eris DLC, introduce a new planet to the game along with everything you've come to expect from the main game. So that means new levels with a new object, a unique Deep Space Mode, and new achievements. Eris also has a new type of bonus level showcased on its moon, Dysnomia, but I can't promise that every Planet Pack will have a new type of bonus level (although it is my hope).

So that being said, is there anything (whether a new object, a new type of bonus level, or something else entirely) that you'd be interested in seeing in the next DLC pack? I have a few of my own ideas that I'm prototyping at the moment, so I'll keep those a secret for now

. But if the community has any great ideas I'd be happy to include them as well!

Alternatively, even if you don't have any ideas, feel free to let me know what your favorite things are in the game right now. And perhaps I'll be able to add new things in that expand upon the ideas that you're already enjoying!

Thanks everyone, you're awesome!

metz10 · 04-26-2012, 07:13 PM

Ahh, I'm trying to rack my brain for light-based themes that may not have been included yet.. I did study Physics, and even Astrophysics back in school but that was a while ago now! I even just has a browse around Wikipedia to try and refresh myself!

I must say first of all that I am impressed with the current objects/gamemodes, not just in a gameplay sense, but how established scientific ideas and phenomena have been accurately portrayed within the game. My only gripe is the white refraction clouds, since nothing theorhetically has a lower refractive index than the vacuum of space

but it makes an enjoyable game mechanic, so I can't complain too much! That and I doubt the existance of space squid in real life, but who knows what's really out there...

Anyway, regarding my own ideas, one concept that could possibly work for a new game object might be a hologram-generator (or something similar). The object would be placed in a similar fashion to prisms or radar arrays, ie. preceding an orb chain. The purpose of becoming a hologram would be to pass through dangerous elements (such as dark matter or asteroids) unharmed for a few seconds - much like an invincibility power-up in a regular game. Levels could be designed with purposefully impassable routes, unless passing through a generator object for a temporary virtual state. The object would also be a valuable commodity in a Deep Space mode!

Regarding bonus level modifiers, a couple of ideas spring to mind.. not sure if they would satisfy a challenge, but just putting them out there.

First idea: Interference
This would modify the appearance of the waveform itself only. The waveform would pulse in and out of transparancy at short, irratic intervals, making quick adjustments difficult to judge accurately.

Second idea: Focus
This idea may not be up to par, but basically all objects (including the waveform) would be blurred and out-of-focus, obscuring a safe route through a hazardous area making precise movement difficult. But not so sure about this one.

Sorry if that was a bit more than you were expecting! Feel free to let me know what you think, hopefully this becomes a vibrant discussion thread for some possibly great ideas.

EdenIndustries · 04-27-2012, 10:00 AM

Wow, thanks for the detailed reply metz! And I'm glad you like the current objects and game modes

Quote:

Anyway, regarding my own ideas, one concept that could possibly work for a new game object might be a hologram-generator (or something similar). The object would be placed in a similar fashion to prisms or radar arrays, ie. preceding an orb chain. The purpose of becoming a hologram would be to pass through dangerous elements (such as dark matter or asteroids) unharmed for a few seconds - much like an invincibility power-up in a regular game. Levels could be designed with purposefully impassable routes, unless passing through a generator object for a temporary virtual state. The object would also be a valuable commodity in a Deep Space mode!

Not a bad idea! Communicating the invincibility to the player would be the biggest challenge I see here. There'd need to be an extremely clear way of letting the player know how long it'll last so as to inform the decision of which obstacles can safely be passed through (wouldn't want to become vulnerable again half-way through a piece of Dark Matter for example). I'll keep thinking about it though!

Quote:

First idea: Interference
This would modify the appearance of the waveform itself only. The waveform would pulse in and out of transparancy at short, irratic intervals, making quick adjustments difficult to judge accurately.

I really like this idea. Similar to the Attenuation bonus level but with a unique spin on it due to the randomness. Making a special note of this one...

Quote:

Second idea: Focus
This idea may not be up to par, but basically all objects (including the waveform) would be blurred and out-of-focus, obscuring a safe route through a hazardous area making precise movement difficult. But not so sure about this one.

This idea is very cool also, but will rely on having a graphics card that can handle full-screen depth-of-field blur or something similar. I know it seems like something that is common enough in games that most people would be ok, but I was surprised by the number of machines that had trouble with the DOF shader I used to have in Waveform (but removed for the sake of those with lower-end machines). And since this one affects gameplay, and isn't just a visual effect that can be switched off if your machine can't handle it (without rendering the bonus level irrelevant), it might be a deal-breaker unfortunately

. We had this problem with the Distortion level also, but we loved the effect so much that we actually switched it out with the Twinkling level on any graphics card that can't handle the shader we used for the Distortion level. I'll have to keep thinking about this one though, since I do really like the idea!

metal_sonic · 04-27-2012, 12:43 PM

I'm trying to think of something now too

I agree with Metz also all the objects and modes you've used to far have been great so good job.

Hm so what can I think of, how about splitting white light into multiple colors by using a different sort of prism so you end up with a blue/green/red wave temporarily. Not a great idea I know but you've used all the good ones already haha.

Diffraction crossed my mind too, like passing through a small gap and making your wave spread out for a while.

How about a bonus level themed around a Pulsar, where it would intermitently give off a bright light and force your wave to change?

Thinking of new things for the game really is tough now that I think about it, either way. It made me think about physics a bit.

metz10 · 04-27-2012, 01:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EdenIndustries

Wow, thanks for the detailed reply metz!

And thanks for the detailed response.

Regarding the hologram idea, I imagine a sound (again similar to the prism mechanic) would be a great start for the indication. As for a visual cue, I'm not too sure myself.. partial transparency could be confused with a 'collision path' appearance, and I feel modifying the image of the photon itself may be too small. I'll have a think over it.

It's a shame over the Focus idea being too 'expensive' graphically, but thanks for the explanation.

Quote:

Originally Posted by metal_sonic

Hm so what can I think of, how about splitting white light into multiple colors by using a different sort of prism so you end up with a blue/green/red wave temporarily.

If I'm imagining this right, would it be like three photons (RGB) stacked in a column all acting as one tall waveform? I like this idea, I wonder what it would be like tracing parallel trace waves like this. I think it could even work as a game mode, called Dispersion perhaps?

EdenIndustries · 04-27-2012, 09:03 PM

Quote:

Diffraction crossed my mind too, like passing through a small gap and making your wave spread out for a while.

How about a bonus level themed around a Pulsar, where it would intermitently give off a bright light and force your wave to change?

Interestingly, diffraction is one of the few ideas I planned on including in Waveform but never made it in. So hopefully that'll make an appearance in a future DLC pack. And one of the other ones, the Pulsar, is arriving with Eris

. It's implementation is different than what you suggested, but either way that's some pretty good mind reading you've got going on there!

Quote:

It's a shame over the Focus idea being too 'expensive' graphically, but thanks for the explanation.

Yeah, if Waveform is ever ported to a system with a standard graphical setup, this idea is an awesome one

metal_sonic · 04-28-2012, 06:24 AM

Quote:

If I'm imagining this right, would it be like three photons (RGB) stacked in a column all acting as one tall waveform? I like this idea, I wonder what it would be like tracing parallel trace waves like this. I think it could even work as a game mode, called Dispersion perhaps?

Yes that's exactly what I was thinking of actually

Quote:

Interestingly, diffraction is one of the few ideas I planned on including in Waveform but never made it in. So hopefully that'll make an appearance in a future DLC pack. And one of the other ones, the Pulsar, is arriving with Eris . It's implementation is different than what you suggested, but either way that's some pretty good mind reading you've got going on there!

Oh wow, that's ironic

Also the hologram idea sounds pretty cool, maybe you could make the wave become transparent and make a small bar appear on the screen that counts down how long you'll be a hologram for?

I had a little think about redshift and blueshift, forcing your wavelength to change and you having to adapt to it, i'm not sure how you'd implement that but it crossed my mind.

argentscarf · 04-28-2012, 07:54 AM

There was some stuff mentioned in the level text which would be interesting to me. Like coloured mirrors. Or the queen space squid. Though for the last one, I suppose the photon would have to time travel to meet a queen space squid.

What would look cool, but might not be useful, is to have something like a firefly which would light up in the colour of the wave when passed over by a photon.

metz10 · 04-28-2012, 09:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by argentscarf

There was some stuff mentioned in the level text which would be interesting to me. Like coloured mirrors.

Ooh that's just prompted me - coloured mirrors could act like a sort of filter. So if your photon is red, you can pass through a red filter/mirror unaffected. But, if your photon is not red, it would act as a mirror and reflect.

EdenIndustries · 04-28-2012, 01:43 PM

Quote:

There was some stuff mentioned in the level text which would be interesting to me. Like coloured mirrors. Or the queen space squid. Though for the last one, I suppose the photon would have to time travel to meet a queen space squid.

Actually it's funny that you said that. The reason I mentioned the coloured mirrors was a bit of an in-joke to the development of the game, which had coloured mirrors for a long time. But they actually acted as a point multiplier rather than a filter (since the Color Barriers already serve that purpose, albeit in a different way), but we removed the colour since we felt the purpose of the mirrors was wave manipulation, and not for score.

However, their return is not entirely out of the question. Neither is the appearance of the Queen Space Squid...

metal_sonic · 05-30-2012, 11:22 AM

I had a bit of a weird idea today while zoning out playing endless and thinking about Space Squids.. seeing as the game works on 3 colors and we already have Squids, I wondered what it would be like if there was something like a Space Bull and it only comes after you if your a red wave, otherwise it just drifts around like any other object that can harm you.

But yeah things that come after you if your a certain color wave.

04-26-2012, 05:59 PM	#1
EdenIndustries Join Date: Mar 2012 Reputation: 25 Posts: 427	Anything you'd like to see in future DLC? Hey there everyone, with the first batch of DLC arriving on May 22nd (and featuring the mysterious dwarf planet Eris) I thought I'd offer up the opportunity to the community to weigh in on future DLC. Although we're planning on many different types of DLC and expansion packs, the type I'd like to focus on in this thread are what I'm calling Planet Packs. These, like the upcoming Eris DLC, introduce a new planet to the game along with everything you've come to expect from the main game. So that means new levels with a new object, a unique Deep Space Mode, and new achievements. Eris also has a new type of bonus level showcased on its moon, Dysnomia, but I can't promise that every Planet Pack will have a new type of bonus level (although it is my hope). So that being said, is there anything (whether a new object, a new type of bonus level, or something else entirely) that you'd be interested in seeing in the next DLC pack? I have a few of my own ideas that I'm prototyping at the moment, so I'll keep those a secret for now . But if the community has any great ideas I'd be happy to include them as well! Alternatively, even if you don't have any ideas, feel free to let me know what your favorite things are in the game right now. And perhaps I'll be able to add new things in that expand upon the ideas that you're already enjoying! Thanks everyone, you're awesome! Last edited by EdenIndustries: 04-26-2012 at 06:01 PM.

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04-26-2012, 07:13 PM	#2
metz10 Join Date: Dec 2011 Reputation: 15 Posts: 120	Ahh, I'm trying to rack my brain for light-based themes that may not have been included yet.. I did study Physics, and even Astrophysics back in school but that was a while ago now! I even just has a browse around Wikipedia to try and refresh myself! I must say first of all that I am impressed with the current objects/gamemodes, not just in a gameplay sense, but how established scientific ideas and phenomena have been accurately portrayed within the game. My only gripe is the white refraction clouds, since nothing theorhetically has a lower refractive index than the vacuum of space but it makes an enjoyable game mechanic, so I can't complain too much! That and I doubt the existance of space squid in real life, but who knows what's really out there... Anyway, regarding my own ideas, one concept that could possibly work for a new game object might be a hologram-generator (or something similar). The object would be placed in a similar fashion to prisms or radar arrays, ie. preceding an orb chain. The purpose of becoming a hologram would be to pass through dangerous elements (such as dark matter or asteroids) unharmed for a few seconds - much like an invincibility power-up in a regular game. Levels could be designed with purposefully impassable routes, unless passing through a generator object for a temporary virtual state. The object would also be a valuable commodity in a Deep Space mode! Regarding bonus level modifiers, a couple of ideas spring to mind.. not sure if they would satisfy a challenge, but just putting them out there. First idea: Interference This would modify the appearance of the waveform itself only. The waveform would pulse in and out of transparancy at short, irratic intervals, making quick adjustments difficult to judge accurately. Second idea: Focus This idea may not be up to par, but basically all objects (including the waveform) would be blurred and out-of-focus, obscuring a safe route through a hazardous area making precise movement difficult. But not so sure about this one. Sorry if that was a bit more than you were expecting! Feel free to let me know what you think, hopefully this becomes a vibrant discussion thread for some possibly great ideas.

04-27-2012, 12:43 PM	#4
metal_sonic Join Date: Jun 2011 Reputation: 0 Posts: 42	I'm trying to think of something now too I agree with Metz also all the objects and modes you've used to far have been great so good job. Hm so what can I think of, how about splitting white light into multiple colors by using a different sort of prism so you end up with a blue/green/red wave temporarily. Not a great idea I know but you've used all the good ones already haha. Diffraction crossed my mind too, like passing through a small gap and making your wave spread out for a while. How about a bonus level themed around a Pulsar, where it would intermitently give off a bright light and force your wave to change? Thinking of new things for the game really is tough now that I think about it, either way. It made me think about physics a bit.

04-28-2012, 07:54 AM	#8
argentscarf Join Date: Mar 2012 Reputation: 4 Posts: 10	There was some stuff mentioned in the level text which would be interesting to me. Like coloured mirrors. Or the queen space squid. Though for the last one, I suppose the photon would have to time travel to meet a queen space squid. What would look cool, but might not be useful, is to have something like a firefly which would light up in the colour of the wave when passed over by a photon.

05-30-2012, 11:22 AM	#11
metal_sonic Join Date: Jun 2011 Reputation: 0 Posts: 42	I had a bit of a weird idea today while zoning out playing endless and thinking about Space Squids.. seeing as the game works on 3 colors and we already have Squids, I wondered what it would be like if there was something like a Space Bull and it only comes after you if your a red wave, otherwise it just drifts around like any other object that can harm you. But yeah things that come after you if your a certain color wave.