Well i didn't want to do that but anyway why not.
Just to introduce the story, maybe some remember i actually had a game project that had some funding back then, some years ago, and i can't really go in detail for legal reasons but yeah money problems killed it. It's been pretty hard to grieve after that, and 2 years of investment. But the starvation to create something has been strong. 2 guys, many years later, here on gaf offered to help me with my ideas.
Those guys, who's been nice enough to help me with some prototype are again, giving up on me. We've had different projects for some months, some of them being too ambitious like the rtypevania kinda:
That could be great with epic visuals and that was actually a unique concept cause of the shooter / metroid mix and some strategic elements to the weapon system, but this kind of game is just too much to handle content wise. Then we came back to hampoo, a simple auto runner with a little twist (a more emergent way to run through level):
But they kinda dropped the ball on that after a lot of work from me and them. The gaf thread saw me working on animations for weeks. Now that project has a pretty boring pitch to begin with and would have relayed on graphics and the charismatic lovable chatacter (right :p ?) to exist so.. We worked on the controls a lot and it felt super good, precise, with the right weight, and i'm the Nintendo school for those things. So yeah this is a fuckin' waste. There would have been some level design to do obviously but the emergent and parcour type of game made that not too hard.
But yeah they just stopped working on it. So i kinda lost faith to, and it's not great to randomly look for help for dev on internet..
Some month later i played Gunbarich on Switch and it kinda make my arkanoid fetish alive again, and also magical drop. And i felt like i really needed to work on something simple, arcade, competitive based with old school graphics. Something where the system is the key, and not the content. And there is a demand for games like that on Switch obviously. And i worked several days on some Puyo Puyo reverse concept that was great but really complex, too complex.
Then i though, i want an arkanoid that plays like a versus fighter, kinda like Windjammers works with pong. And i worked for several weeks on that game design, with real stong theorics from 90's fighters in term of competitive dynamic. Also worked on some unique graphics between well.. arkanoid obviously, sweet colorful games like puyo/magical drop and an arcade in your face fighting game aesthetic. That's a lot of though and work already and this particular time i strongly believe in the concept. There is room for it, it's super unique, and will look really super fun to see moving with orgasm inducing effects! It's really a great concept tailor made to be an arcade hit with the simplest dev possible. And there is the opportunity of great content with the versus mode, arcade mode against ai, but also coop mode and solo classic arkanoid mode, with not a tons of level, like in gunbarish. Maybe 4-5 worlds with their special mechanic added (like black blocks here sending the ball back for exemple, lots of ideas like that that have a great effect in the versus strategy).
The thing is when i study game design i do it a lot. The game has a pretty amazing balancing of skill and strategy, even if i don't want to go too far on that. But both players play after each other, like squash, and the one with the more points wins at the end of the time, or when the screen is empty obviously. That creates tons of strategy possible, cause you want to reach the points obviously (with colors giving different points) and there is a multiplyer when bouncing fastly on the blocks. But at some point you'll want to make your opponent miss its ball (which will cut 10% of its points, so the more you lead the more you can lose), except if you do some short bouncing on a lower block to surprise the other guy, and the opponent catches it, he'll have a reversal shot that will give him a multiplyer boost.. etc etc.. Lots of really really cool fighting game mechanics here and 2 special moves that use the little dot under the panel, which creates more offense options (a really fast dash, tricky to gauge but it makes the ball faster for one turn, and a concentrate shot that forces you to not move the panel for 1 or 2 seconds so you have to anticipate the ball trajectory to have a more powerful ball). And adds to that (or not cause it could be too much) a mario kart redesign of the usual arkanoid items, where you pick them by choice (by pushing the button when the ball pass over them), an stock 2 of them (one booster and one that hits the opponent) to use them while the opponent is playing. So yeah lots and lots of though and a cool balance for a really competitive game. Also different characters with subtle stat difference (so not a balancing hell) and one big super power, sometimes defensive or offensive.
Now the guys could basically never have the basics of arkanoid to work well. We always had collision bugs, blocks untriggered, weird bouncing angles.. And they are dropping the ball now. It shouldn't be that hard for christ sake, and after that it's all just rules to implement and some balancing and testing. It's the best way i can do something that is manageable yet has a chance to be noticed.
So yeah, sorry to be in bragging mode but i'm kinda desperate here. I think it's obvious that i have lots of interesting ideas and can create unique visuals and universes, and those who have been following my work for years know that would be cool if i could do games. But i'm always struggling cause i don't have people to help me, and no industry relations and i'm 36yo, and it's going to be a sad story at some point where i will have done nothing on my own and create nothing that is really me.
So if someone is serious, and skilled enough and wants to help... That's basically a partner i'm looking for lol.