Note
Welcome To Reality has been dropped for the time being, but I will probably pick it up again sometime in the near future.
Welcome To Reality is still WIP, and as such there are no screenshots or videos available. Keep chcking back when we have some! The games mentioned in this article (Katamari, Pikmin and Kirby) are copyright of their owners, and we do not intend to infringe copyright.
Concept
Inspiration: Katamari, Pikmin and Kirby.
You play as a small character, capable of defeating and picking up small enemies. You can carry them around and use them to clear obstacles in the level. As you progress, you gain strength, and are able to pick up larger enemies, and therefore progress further into the world.
Alongside your building physical strength, you must also keep track of your stamina. Everything you pick up will drain your stamina, so keeping topped up is vital. Getting to high strength and being capable of carrying heavy objects good distances requires a good increase of stamina, too
Enemies must be defeated before they can be picked up. You can either attack them with a jump attack which costs some stamina, or throw an enemy you are already carrying at them
Features
Not all the world's denizens are bad. Some friendly characters are happy to let you throw them around at enemies, but you will generally have to pay for this service with some of your cash (gained by defeating enemies).
Often in the game, an obstacle in your path can be lifted if you are strong enough. So, that large tree trunk blocking entrance to a cave could be removed when you have enough strength. And hell, you could carry it around and launch it at an enemy.
Size matters. If you're carrying something, it'll need to be able to fit through a tunnel you're trying to get through. It's no good killing a gargantuan enemy and then carrying it with you if you can't get through a tunnel to progress further into the game.
When you make a kill, most enemies will drop a small item that will increase your strength or restore some stamina. Shops can also sell strength and stamina.
Engine
The game runs on a top-down engine, and the character will throw the object being carried in the direction of the mouse. The distance it travels depends on how far away the mouse is and the character's strength. The distance it travels determines how much stamina is lost. It is easy to aim and throw an enemy at another enemy in order to stun it.
The character will move at a relatively brisk pace and is capable of free movement (unlike the grid movement system in Pokemon) in eight directions. Obviously, his speed is hindered by carrying heavy objects relative to his strength, so some strategy must be used when choosing what to carry. Carrying a large stunned enemy through a field full of fast, small enemies that are likely to attack you will probably not be such a great idea.
There are different types of enemies for different situations. For example, a water-based enemy will be able to pass through steel meshes to hit something on the other side. A fire-based enemy will burn opponents and grasslands.
Graphics
The 'camera angle' will be similar to that used in Pokemon and Zelda - i.e. the fronts of objects in the world can be seen, rather than being pure top-down where only the tops are visible. This will help give the sense of scale of an object such as tree being picked up.
The graphical style will use a simple, retro 16-colour pallet with 'chunky' 2x2 pixels. The base size for objects is 16x16 or a multiple/division of this. As the screen size for the game will be no larger than 320x320, objects need to be able to comfortably fit in this space.
The world will be made out of several large scrolling maps. Objects will not be able to be carried between maps, and each map will have its own theme. For example, one map would be a large forest, one a bustling metropolis and one an icy mountain.
Effectively everything in the game can be picked up if you're strong enough, and many secrets will be uncovered this way. For example, picking up a skyscraper office block in the metropolis level may uncover some hidden treasure underneath it. And the tower block will hurt whichever enemy is unfortunate enough to have it thrown at them.
Small graphical touches will hopefully be workable. For example, picking up a tree may make some birds fly out of it in surprise.
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