Mystery-white-boy
Member
Okay, I just had what seems (right now) like an awesome idea after reading this part of your post.VisanidethDM said:There's some great gamebuilding to be done around such a pad (Aliens-inspired FPS... the pad screen acts as the sonar-thing
The TV screen is almost completely black. You can fire your weapon to briefly illuminate your surroundings, but otherwise you see basically nothing; your ammunition is limited, so firing repeatedly to navigate the environment isn't a viable option. The controller screen provides you with a radar/scanner type of interface, possibly overlaid over a simple map, allowing you to traverse the environment and -- more importantly -- see when an enemy/alien/space-raptor/whatever is approaching. Firefights then become a process of negotiating between the two screens: checking the controller to get a basic sense of your orientation and distance from the enemy, then using the TV screen to try and hit the damn thing, your aim confounded by the erratic lighting (you could have a nice visual effect where the afterimage of the muzzleflash lingers on the otherwise dark screen after you stop firing). It would be chaotic, more imprecise than standard shooters, and potentially very difficult, and I can see why some people might not appreciate that...but in terms of establishing a tone and producing some incredibly nerve-wracking gunplay, I think this would be a great experiment to attempt.
There are a whole host of reasons why this probably wouldn't be feasible for an entire game, but for a level or two at least... I think this would be a fucking awesome concept for a survival horror-FPS.
Have at it, game designers!