i’m planning to make a one v all bullet hell game, but there’s a certain feature i don’t know how to approach
basically, the game is intended to have quite a lot of customization - especially for one’s boss skills (as it is a bullet hell game). there are 2 problems i have bumped into
how free should it be?
basically, i’m wondering, if i should have a built-in system that allows users to create their own bullet hell patterns, as well as a market and pre-determined library of bullets.
or should it be pre-determined library of layouts, but the user gets to chose which type of bullets? (2 libraries)
or a single, massive library of a bunch of layouts,
and lastly, a combination of them (all, 1 + 3, 1+ 2, etc)
how should i balance this? obviously especially if i chose a combination or just option 1, it would be very hard to balance, etc, so i’m wondering how i could balance an open game like this.
It honestly is your choice as to how you do this as both allowing the users freedom to create a pattern or have a pre-made library has its benefits and downfalls. If you allow the players to create a pattern themselves then they will obviously choose the one they work with best.
I mean I think I know what type of game your going for and its the pattern of how the bullet leaves the “chamber”? If so then a pre-made library would be better for this in my opinion - this way you can also incorporate bullet speed and damage which can be beneficial for balancing the weapons out.
Real life guns are an obvious example of how things can be modified, a shotgun for example:
Bird Shot Shell - even and large spread which covers a lot of area but would not do as much damage due to the smaller size of the pellets.
Buckshot Shell - 6 to 10 pellets which are large and heavy, a lot more damage and energy behind them but they obviously don’t cover loads of ground.
Slug Shell - 1 single piece of lead which fires in its direction and obviously does a lot of damage due to its sheer size.
Each of the shells has a particular set of skills which make it good for its purpose - applying that to your game you can easily have a principle of “more pellets - less damage” and as such players could if they wanted to design a pattern which applies that principle. I mean you don’t need to have two separate libraries as the bullets can be represented together in the same catalog with different small logos symbolizing the spread pattern.
Downside of predesignated patterns:
If one has a particular bias which makes it better - everyone uses it and as such you’d likely want to have particular specialized qualities for each pattern / category of bullet.
Balacing your patterns.
If its a predesignated pattern then the simple fix is just “nerfing” and “buffing” the patterns to have different speeds and damage values. Adding in new ones will also encourage people to switch. A lot of how good a person will be can be based purely on a play style - I personally prefer one with a wide spread whereas others may prefer concentrated bursts.
If it is self-design then having principles which affect the damage and speed is one way to balance things but most of the time your players will balance the game for you when they come up with new and better patterns to which then its a game of catch up. Not allowing your players to create huge and complicated patterns (a limit of how many blocks or whatever they can use) is essential for a fair game else all you will have is someone making a overly large and never missing round which is essentially a murderous object (a cube of death or a triangle that is overly long).
Personal opinion:
Have both predesignated and self designated designs which players can spend currency on etc - have buffs and nerfs on each and make sure the size is limited on each design. If you’ve ever watched Robot Wars you’ll know that one of the “house robots” is especially biased and you don’t want that - if you have this then your predesignated designs will eliminate the need to create a design.