Let me know if you need an extra programmer. I've been looking for a project for awhile to work on casually. Gimme a list of features and I can pump out some tech for you

Woah, yeah, that would be pretty crazy, since the slow side would seem to warp and stretch out from the player, whereas the fast side would scrunch up to the player.  Actually, it reminds me of one part of the theory of relativity.  =P  It'd definitely be confusing and take a while to wrap your head around, but if done right, I'm sure it'd be fun.  =3



On the subject of my idea though, I'd like to start us off with a picture of carrots in boxes!  o.o





Now that you're thoroughly confused on the subject, allow me to explain.  =P  (If you got it already, grats.  X3)

In the first panel we have a flat carrot (with legs...don't ask.  o.o), who just wants to get over to the other side of his box and get some rest, but of course, there happens to be something in his way.  A flat onion sits in the middle of the path, an obstacle for the carrot and his hopes to get to his normal sleeping spot on the right.

The solution comes by taking the flat world that he's in and folding the paper in two places, followed by pushing those locations together.  This leaves the flat plane that he's on clear of obstacles, though it also causes a little loop with the area the onion was in.  Since the edges of the area with the onion touch one another, moving to one end loops back to the other end of the area, leaving the onion's area an infinite onion loop!  =P

The game would be a puzzle game much like this, though this in itself is a simplified version of what the end result would consist of.  There are a few other simple things that could be done, such as spinning sections which move you to the other side of the area, full area loops, and mobius strips.  Of course there would likely be better objectives other than "Get the walking carrot over to his favorite sleeping spot", including switches, doors, lasers, blocks, balls, and so on.

There's a good bit that could be done with this, and I'm going to see if I can't get a simple game with a couple levels up by sometime in January if not sooner.  ^-^

Yup, that's pretty much it.  It's a puzzle/platformer type deal.  =P  I was thinking it'd kind of be like N though in the fact that the level would normally take up the entire screen.  There really wouldn't be too much scrolling, unless you got into some kind of loop.  =P  I was thinking that the levels might also have times where you'd need to make horizontal folds as well, rather than just the vertical ones.

As for limiting the folds that could be made, there are a few ways that it could be done.  For one, you could make certain areas that couldn't be folded by putting in strips of metal that held the paper down.  Another way I've thought of to limit it would be to add in spots on the paper that you'd hit a switch and the folds would happen.  However, this might limit things too much.  We could also put objectives/obstacles in to make sure that the player couldn't reach the end without first solving the rest of the level.  If we're doing something like N, a gate on the ending door might work.  =P

Of course, this doesn't HAVE to be a paper, nor does it HAVE to be completely flat characters.  These could as easily be physical passages that you were able to bend and shape.  For some reason though, making it somewhat like flatland seems kind of fun.  =3

I don't know for sure yet, though I've been pondering whether to put this all on a grid with tiles or not.  It would definitely make things a lot easier to program and simpler in general, though it would also take out some possibilities of things that could be done...  Hrmm, I've still got a few things to think about here, though it'll definitely be fun in the end.  =3

The whole level wouldn't be a single line like this though, and you can't fold vertically and horizontally at the same time, since that would screw up the loop on the bottom.  =P  Still, that was part of what I was saying there.  Maybe have a gate across the end that you had to solve things to open, have regions you can't bend, or have switches that do the bending for you.

As for lemmings...  Hrmm, I saw it as one game in general, kind of like in portal where you put down your portals to jump through.  Still, a lemmings type situation would definitely be possible, and would solve some things.  Though I dunno.  I kind of like being able to control them myself.  X3

Hrmm, yeah, I had thought a bit about doing this top down rather than on the side, and that actually might work better for some situations, especially if using the mobius.  Still, one of the fun things with the mobius might be the gravity flip.  Decisions decisions...  X3

Timed terrain, huh?  I don't know if I'd use that in every level, though it would definitely be nice to have some sort of timed puzzles at one point or another.  A lot of the game is the mental side though, and some things as I see it would be a bit tricky to figure out right away without sitting down and looking at the puzzle.  I'll definitely keep it in mind though.  ^-^

And thanks.  X3  Silly carrot.  =P

Alright, I will.  X3  I'll likely play around with a few things and see where it all leads.  That tends to be the best way to find out if an idea is any good.  Guess and test!  =P

The more I think about this, the more gameplay elements I can visualize by "folding a piece of paper". Instead of just folding 2 parts of the level together, you could go as far as folding one of the edges of the level over (with the backside up), cause you to be able to reverse the direction of that part of the level. What if all these folds could be permanent? Like somehow you have to connect peices in the world that cannot be physically moved, but by bending space you can fit them together (or on top of each other). The trick is that these full pieces must than be "activated" by your character, forcing the eventual folds to be "navigable". The puzzle will be figuring out what pieces should be folded together, and in what order, and still be able to reach the end of the level (in which the door opens after all the pieces have been activated).

This would somewhat limit where space can be folded, but still force you to traverse some crazy space folded world. The "pieces" will at least give you a hint of how and where the level can be folded, so the concepts will be easier to pick up. This also opens up game names that play on "Origami".

You know, if we start realizing there numerous directions a game like this could go, it might be worth having the next Competition Theme be based on this "folding" idea.

Now Trent's making T-Shirts with the carrot.  Too tempting...  X3

@Andrew
Ooo, folding a paper over on itself to allow access to the back.  I can't believe I didn't think of that when thinking of ways to reach the back side of the paper.  =P  But yeah, what you said after was kind of what I was thinking.  You might have to press a switch with a block to start a laser up that you have to bend the paper in certain ways to make it shine on a sensor that would drop a puzzle piece into place that you'd then have to bend over to meet the other, all while navigating the maze and getting to the end.  =P

Also, about limiting the player's ability to fold things.  We definitely do need something in there, or else this all becomes a cakewalk.  Though obstacles and puzzle pieces you have to fold together are definitely a good start, I keep thinking it'd be nice to have strips of unbendable material on the paper in spots, much like portal has those black spots you can't put portals.  =P  Also, if this ends up being called "Carrotgami" or something, I will so laugh.  X3

@Chase
Yes, it's going to be a bit hard to do some of the folding visuals, since the paper will have to be pulled across the area...at least if we wanted it smooth.  =P  After folds are in place, however, it should be too hard to represent visually.  Take my little picture above as a very basic example of how we could do it.  ^-^

Welcome back Matt. It's been a while.

To tell you the truth, I haven't even touched mirthkit in almost a year and a half. I got stuck at one part in the game I was writing and I put it aside.

I'm now helping out another game called violetland which is an open source version of the game crimsonland. There is a small reason as to why, I wanted to write a game similar to crimsonland for mirthkit, but was not sure how to do certain things. But, now that game is taking up my time.

But, I'll totally get back into mirthkit. Plus, my girlfriend is interested in programming. What better way to teach her than to write some games. heh.

Yeah, wish to see more stuff in this site too. Especially tutorials, source codes, and of course, new games!!!