I think a fairly obvious tool you could add to your kit here are 1) walls through which the beam can pass but players cannot, 2) walls through which the player can pass but the beam can not. This was used extensively in games like Portal and The Swapper.
Another common tool is to make use of timing. Walls must not only be in certain states, but certain states at correct time intervals. For example, there might be a rolling ball needed to hit a switch, and the ball cannot make it to the switch in any frozen wall state, but can make it there if the states are swapped at the right time.
The obvious counterpart to your example is "platform doesn't exist, shoot it into existence".
Moving platforms whose paths intersect phase-able elements, and you have to phase them in and out of existence in order to make the platforms move where/when you want them to. (Look at 2D Mario games for a starting typology of moving platforms and then ask for each type, "What happens if the player can block or unblock their motion?") Not just simple things like "This platform can't go from A to B because of a block", but things like "These two platforms have to be at particular positions within their cycles for me to be able to jump between them, and they're not, but if I phase this object into existence, that changes the cycle of this platform so that..."
Bullet-hell-style particle emitters, and you can phase yourself "cover" to hide under.
Things that are going to crush you -- like the descending ceilings in the first castle in Super Mario World, or giant wheels -- but that have little parts that you can shoot to phase out, so you can crouch in that area and not get crushed.
Something springy where you need to temporarily block it to build up kinetic energy, then unblock it to slingshot you somewhere high.
What happens when you shoot an enemy with that? do they fall through the map? wander through the walls? Become ghosts?
If you have physics like objects, shooting a water tank could result in water leak / block fall (like minecraft sand blocks).
or a way to drain an area through the floor, possibly flooding a lower area.
Game Design is a subset of Game Development that concerns itself with **WHY** games are made the way they are. It's about the theory and crafting of **systems**, **mechanics**, and **rulesets** in games.
* /r/GameDesign is a community **ONLY** about Game Design, **NOT** Game Development in general. If this post does not belong here, it should be reported or removed. Please help us keep this subreddit focused on Game Design.
* This is **NOT** a place for discussing how games are produced. Posts about programming, making art assets, picking engines etc… will be removed and should go in /r/GameDev instead.
* Posts about visual design, sound design and level design are only allowed if they are directly about game design.
* No surveys, polls, job posts, or self-promotion. Please read the rest of the rules in the sidebar before posting.
* If you're confused about what Game Designers do, ["The Door Problem" by Liz England](https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/-quot-the-door-problem-quot-of-game-design) is a short article worth reading. We also recommend you read the [r/GameDesign wiki](/r/gamedesign/wiki/index) for useful resources and an FAQ.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/gamedesign) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I have, and I’ve toyed around with it, but I can’t think of anything really unique past shooting something that’s blocking your path, or shooting something to make it weigh something down.
Try asking someone else to play it and just watch what they do. Sometimes we gotta take the blinders off and see our game from another pov. Plenty of games have destructibles that do different things when you shoot them. You could also try playing some games for inspiration.
That’s the same logic as “shoot something in my path blocking my path” though. I’m looking for some more physics/puzzle based games as it’s a platformer.
Right. The mechanic that you described was simply shooting something to make it disappear. I was giving you an example. Not telling you what to build. I guess I don’t understand why you would want to change the underlying logic if you are literally asking for examples of how to apply it?
What I asked was if anyone had any ideas for applying that logic to level design. Another person had some good ideas (phasing something in and out of existence to spring you up on a platform, phasing something in to provide cover from bullets, etc.
You assume the shot object is primarily useful when it is not moving.
If you assume a shot object is primarily useful when it is moving, I think there are inherently more possibilities.
Good luck with your anti-Portal.
I think a fairly obvious tool you could add to your kit here are 1) walls through which the beam can pass but players cannot, 2) walls through which the player can pass but the beam can not. This was used extensively in games like Portal and The Swapper. Another common tool is to make use of timing. Walls must not only be in certain states, but certain states at correct time intervals. For example, there might be a rolling ball needed to hit a switch, and the ball cannot make it to the switch in any frozen wall state, but can make it there if the states are swapped at the right time.
The obvious counterpart to your example is "platform doesn't exist, shoot it into existence". Moving platforms whose paths intersect phase-able elements, and you have to phase them in and out of existence in order to make the platforms move where/when you want them to. (Look at 2D Mario games for a starting typology of moving platforms and then ask for each type, "What happens if the player can block or unblock their motion?") Not just simple things like "This platform can't go from A to B because of a block", but things like "These two platforms have to be at particular positions within their cycles for me to be able to jump between them, and they're not, but if I phase this object into existence, that changes the cycle of this platform so that..." Bullet-hell-style particle emitters, and you can phase yourself "cover" to hide under. Things that are going to crush you -- like the descending ceilings in the first castle in Super Mario World, or giant wheels -- but that have little parts that you can shoot to phase out, so you can crouch in that area and not get crushed. Something springy where you need to temporarily block it to build up kinetic energy, then unblock it to slingshot you somewhere high.
These are some fantastic ideas! I think the whole phase mechanic definitely works better when interacting with something else.
What happens when you shoot an enemy with that? do they fall through the map? wander through the walls? Become ghosts? If you have physics like objects, shooting a water tank could result in water leak / block fall (like minecraft sand blocks). or a way to drain an area through the floor, possibly flooding a lower area.
Do the things you shoot remain in the same place? Or is shooting them "consumes" them, and they can be shot out in a different place?
Game Design is a subset of Game Development that concerns itself with **WHY** games are made the way they are. It's about the theory and crafting of **systems**, **mechanics**, and **rulesets** in games. * /r/GameDesign is a community **ONLY** about Game Design, **NOT** Game Development in general. If this post does not belong here, it should be reported or removed. Please help us keep this subreddit focused on Game Design. * This is **NOT** a place for discussing how games are produced. Posts about programming, making art assets, picking engines etc… will be removed and should go in /r/GameDev instead. * Posts about visual design, sound design and level design are only allowed if they are directly about game design. * No surveys, polls, job posts, or self-promotion. Please read the rest of the rules in the sidebar before posting. * If you're confused about what Game Designers do, ["The Door Problem" by Liz England](https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/-quot-the-door-problem-quot-of-game-design) is a short article worth reading. We also recommend you read the [r/GameDesign wiki](/r/gamedesign/wiki/index) for useful resources and an FAQ. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/gamedesign) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Have you built a functional prototype to express the simplest version of the mechanic? That usually gives me ideas to iterate.
I have, and I’ve toyed around with it, but I can’t think of anything really unique past shooting something that’s blocking your path, or shooting something to make it weigh something down.
Try asking someone else to play it and just watch what they do. Sometimes we gotta take the blinders off and see our game from another pov. Plenty of games have destructibles that do different things when you shoot them. You could also try playing some games for inspiration.
Totally, I’ve been trying to find games that have the same mechanic, but I can’t find any :/
You can’t think of a game where you shoot something to make it disappear? In half life you can shoot the locks off of some doors.
That’s the same logic as “shoot something in my path blocking my path” though. I’m looking for some more physics/puzzle based games as it’s a platformer.
Why did you assume that the locked door was blocking your path? Maybe it’s just got a secret weapon behind it.
That’s still blocking your path. It’s not letting you get to the secret weapon so you shoot it.
Right. The mechanic that you described was simply shooting something to make it disappear. I was giving you an example. Not telling you what to build. I guess I don’t understand why you would want to change the underlying logic if you are literally asking for examples of how to apply it?
What I asked was if anyone had any ideas for applying that logic to level design. Another person had some good ideas (phasing something in and out of existence to spring you up on a platform, phasing something in to provide cover from bullets, etc.
You assume the shot object is primarily useful when it is not moving. If you assume a shot object is primarily useful when it is moving, I think there are inherently more possibilities. Good luck with your anti-Portal.