Seeking feedback on match-three dungeon design
Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 1:56 am
After playing a lot of Puzzle Quest, I've been thinking of some abstract dungeon designs that would be easy for me to pull off for my RPG-like game. I got a crazy idea to make the dungeons into a match-three game like Bejeweled. Unlike PQ, though, the match three component wouldn't be used in the battle system and the matching mechanic wouldn't be as strict as Bejeweled. Here's the basic rundown of the premise and design:
You visit an area and have to collect a certain amount of energy to progress to the next area. In order to do this, you match three or more tiles of corresponding shape/color on a board within a time limit. There are several different types of tiles and you have to harvest a certain amount of each to meet your quota. While this is happening, monsters are attracted to the energy and will come out to fight you for it. During battles, the combat is turn-based, the board is locked and the clock is still ticking. Every time the enemy's turn comes up, they absorb a bit of the energy you've already collected. You have to defeat the enemy as fast as possible to retain what energy you have left and still beat the clock. As you level up, the amount of energy you get from matching tiles increases thereby filling your quota faster and allowing you to get through dungeons more quickly.
The main reason I'm partial to this design is because this is a solo project and I'm trying to keep the number of complex art assets to a minimum (i.e. very limited animations and dungeon art). I also favor dungeon designs where it's difficult for the player to become stuck/lost and I feel that this puzzle design allows the player to continue pressing forward without too much hassle.
My main issue so far is how the player might feel about switching from matching tiles to one-on-one combat and vice-versa, especially considering that the two aren't as integrated in this design as they are in PQ. I'll hopefully have a dirty prototype up soon, but I wanted to hear some opinions on it first. Do you think it's worthwhile to pursue it? Are there other things I should take into consideration?
Your feedback is much appreciated.
You visit an area and have to collect a certain amount of energy to progress to the next area. In order to do this, you match three or more tiles of corresponding shape/color on a board within a time limit. There are several different types of tiles and you have to harvest a certain amount of each to meet your quota. While this is happening, monsters are attracted to the energy and will come out to fight you for it. During battles, the combat is turn-based, the board is locked and the clock is still ticking. Every time the enemy's turn comes up, they absorb a bit of the energy you've already collected. You have to defeat the enemy as fast as possible to retain what energy you have left and still beat the clock. As you level up, the amount of energy you get from matching tiles increases thereby filling your quota faster and allowing you to get through dungeons more quickly.
The main reason I'm partial to this design is because this is a solo project and I'm trying to keep the number of complex art assets to a minimum (i.e. very limited animations and dungeon art). I also favor dungeon designs where it's difficult for the player to become stuck/lost and I feel that this puzzle design allows the player to continue pressing forward without too much hassle.
My main issue so far is how the player might feel about switching from matching tiles to one-on-one combat and vice-versa, especially considering that the two aren't as integrated in this design as they are in PQ. I'll hopefully have a dirty prototype up soon, but I wanted to hear some opinions on it first. Do you think it's worthwhile to pursue it? Are there other things I should take into consideration?
Your feedback is much appreciated.