Game Idea Giveaway - Swan Song

...continued from The Game Idea Giveaway Thread

Request by Mini Chris:

• what sort of game idea you're looking for
  A platformer that has a different element then the normal platformer or a creative twist on current platformer elements
  

• what your goals are in making this game
  To create my first great game, as so far all my ideas have been not so good and I end up stop making them before they are even finished.
  

• what games you've made already
  A racing game, fighting game, text based RPG, 3x Unfinished platformers, Destructible Landscape engine, a few avoiders.
  

• your favorite Flash games
  I love RPG games and platformers
  

• your abilities in game design, programming, art, and sound
  I have trouble designing games thats why I need your help =), programming i'm getting alright at now (waye sent me sourcecode of his to study :P). Art I am not really sure because I leave it till last and they are usually rushed , and sound I either make my own or buy a license.
  

• your preferences in game design, programming, art, and sound
  programming

The weird idea: Bacon Frenzy

The normal idea: Swan Song

This idea came about when I watched the trailer for The Unfinished Swan and thought, "Hmm, I should try doing that in 2D." In short the idea is a 2D maze game in the form of a platformer beat-em-up (like Rage 3). Here's the twist: like in The Unfinished Swan, the playing field is completely and undifferentiatedly white, glowing like the Matrix with full-spectrum light, infinite possibilities. Where are the walls and ceilings and floors? How do you find the right path? Here's how: the blood of your enemies. A continual stream of baddies comes in through the maze to attack you, and the resulting bloodstains (theirs, of course) outline the topography of the level. You want to coordinate your perhaps physics-based attacks to direct the particle sprays of blood into the most illuminating positions. It would look remarkably similar to this animation.

The goal could be to get to the end of the maze, as quickly as possible. Extra points through skillful combat, collectable powerups, and acquirable upgrades could certainly come into play. If you could come up with a way to procedurally generate the mazes that would be cool too. I imagine you'd want to have a scrolling tilemap with support for angled surfaces like in N, but the idea would still work with just a single-screen map and only square tiles. Likewise, it would not be necessary for the combat to be complex or physics-based, but some way to direct the sprays of blood would be necessary (at the least with a forward, upward, and downward attack). I'd be glad to advise you on the art direction or design of the game. Let me know. :)

Want an idea? Make a request on The Game Idea Giveaway Thread!