So last night I got home from work, sat down at the computer desk, and opened up Visual Studio 2008.  I had been mulling over an idea for a game most of the day, and so set about implementing a very basic prototype for the idea using Farseer Physics and some primitives.  I have to say I’m very happy and excited with the initial results.

Basically the game will be a puzzle platformer where the main character can neither move or jump on his own.  Instead you will have full 360-degree control for rotating the world around the character.  This will allow him to pick up momentum, maneuver into inaccessible areas, etc.

I initially believed this to be a rather unique idea.  I had heard of LocoRoco previously, but until it was mentioned to me on the #xna channel I had never looked at or played the game.  From what I can see though LocoRoco (and its iPhone brother Rolando) simply allow tilt of the world and you do maintain some control over the character(s).  I believe with a bit of innovation and my full 360 rotation mechanic I can set myself apart.  Luckily this particular spin on the genre isn’t exactly crowded so there’s room to work.

An initial theme idea revolves around a fat porcupine who just rolls around forested worlds trying to save other fat and rotund animals.  A sort of Sonic anti-thesis. :)

More details and possible screenshots as it develops!

UPDATE:

Here’s a short video showing the first prototype of basic gameplay.  It gives you a decent idea of how the game would function.

Very basic prototype from Matt Sams on Vimeo.