[WIP] Dude Dancer

guineapixel

My aim for "Dude Dancer" is a simple but good looking mobile game. Something that looks and feels awesome, with great music!

My initial idea:
- Great music
- Easy to play (escalating difficulty)
- Graphics - "Tron" style - silhouette dance club with main character dancing (animations controlled by multiplier/note-streak)
- Type of levels : (1) "free-play" continues play while game speeds up; (2) 7 set songs (6 unlockable with coins or in-app purchase)
- Gameplay mechanic - **guitar hero style
**The gameplay mechanic is debatable - the mechanic has been used over and over - and I don't really want to fall in the same category..

My idea for a "new gameplay" mechanic : so instead of having the "5 strings and notes coming down" - I have a "sound board" grid (lets say 3x3) - every relevant grid button will fill up with colour - when a button is 100% filled...that is when the user needs to press it.

Do you guys have any better suggestions? Or should I just stay with the basics (guitar hero mechanic..what players know)

Here is the current concept look and feel (WIP) :

critic

That looks like a solid little game concept, really nice.

Have you thought about gestures for the gameplay mechanic? I recently watched a review of Fantasia: Music Evolved (mostly for the girl ;) ), i thought the mechanic was pretty good. So in your instance, you can have gestures that conform to moves of the character, as the play progresses more complex gestures are introduced.



I'm curious about where and what music you will get? I always struggle with music in my games.

guineapixel

Thanks! :)

The gesture control looks great, but the only down-side on touch screens devices (mobile/tablet) is that once you swipe, touch or even slowly drag across the screen, it limits visibility for the next task. That is why I am second guessing my 3x3 grid mechanic...

I have a meeting with a DJ friend tonight - He recently launched his new album http://www.beatport.com/release/reflections/1360817 - He will create some custom tracks with all the individual audio files so I can have full control while making the game.

Dance animations ideas e.g.

Do you think I should stick with the normal guitar hero mechanic? or will that just be boring?

critic

I don't follow the music games much, but Guitar Hero has been around for a while, nearly a decade now. However if the game is polished and there is a gap in the market, there is no reason not to go that route.

Player gestures can interfere with the gameplay, but you could have the game take place on the screen designed like your menu, maybe just make the character a bit bigger, so you have a reserved area for gestures.

Revolutionary control for this game would probably be using the phone camera or the other sensors. This is really hard work though...

wogan

@guineapixel That concept looks great! Perfect for whiling away the time on your mobile :)

I don't think reusing the Guitar Hero mechanic is a bad thing: It's a proven mechanic, it's accessible, and people know how to use it. If your target market is the same sort of people that would play Guitar Hero, then a similar mechanic will make it easier for them to get absorbed into the game.

guineapixel

I agree with hard work regarding sensors... and on the other side of things there are just way too many "broken" android phones that won't handle a human movement detection algorithm on a camera correctly.

Cool, I will play around with a few gameplay mechanics and post it - so we can see which one feels good and actually works...without being boring.

I guess if the endgame-visuals are great, I can get away an existing game mechanic (with a little extra spice), and keeping the fun-factor in-mind.

guineapixel

@wogan that's exactly what I wanted a go for - something you can quickly play, no matter if you're waiting for someone or just before you go to bed.

I have been playing guitar hero for years and recently bought Rocksmith2014 - I never get tired of the gameplay (maybe coz I play "real" guitar?) - but it works for me.

I forgot to mention the type of "stages" - will update project description.

SUGBOERIE

The dancing animations and songs are what's going to be the most important if you go down the guitar hero mechanic. Which I feel is boring. I played a lot of guitar hero on my phone I loved it but i think it was because of playing existing songs.

I think you should go the gesture route similar to the one in Darklings (iOS). You could get really creative with that and dance moves. Different patterns for different dance moves, obviously but the way you put the patterns together can be really cool. You could have the player do the patterns on top of the avatar make it feel like you're really controlling the character. This way the the dancing aspect will feel like a main part of the game.

If you go the guitar hero route. It'll feel like a guitar hero clone with an dancing avatar next to the controls.

Otherwise the artstyle you've chosen is really cool and the your DJ friend will bring some original sound to the game.

Darklings

guineapixel

@SUGBOERIE thanks for the feedback - you made some valid points so I will play around with it. Once I do the first prototype (normal GH mechanic) we can judge it from there.

But with that being said, I will do some gesture prototypes once I receive the first song from my DJ, and experiment with what gesture controls works with the character animation and audio.

guineapixel

Quick Update :) [after a huge project at work I can finally do some of my own stuff]

I am still working on extra bonus mechanics without breaking the entire flow of gameplay and song.

Currently working on a scratch pad coming in and replacing the normal buttons... scratching left and right on time to hit notes coming down.

ANY COMMENTS will be appreciated :)

Here is the latest WIP :

guineapixel

Yo yo! If anyone is interested in trying out some what of a WIP preview version.. you guys can check out
http://guinea-pixel.com/dude-dancer-preview-play/