GCPP:Proposal-Perch
Puzzle Codename: Perch
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| Username: | McGarvery |
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| Project forum thread: | Discussion |
Game concept
Player is clearing sections of color, a-la threads on a weaving board. Pieces slide when moved in an orthagonal direction, stop when they hit another piece, and are scored when they slide out of the area. Pieces of the same color stick and form larger pieces.
Objective
To remove large segments of color early by successfully arranging the board, and remain efficient as possible until the board is emptied.
Gameplay
Players slide cells in 4 directions to try and arrange large color clusters. The larger a cluster gets, the more unwieldy it becomes, until the challenge is not only getting a big cluster together, but getting it off the board efficiently. Each cluster removed is worth less than the last, but there is no penalty for shifting pieces around, so de-scrambling the puzzle is encouraged. If the player has no choice, they can Snip a section of thread, destroying it... but this does not award points, and it does count as a scoring move in terms of efficiency. It is always better to toss a piece off the board than snip it.
Storyboard
NOTE please: Demo appearance has been altered significantly since this storyboard's production.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v54/Shockfrost/pp/w1.jpg
Perch is a simple enough game. Select a block of color...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v54/Shockfrost/pp/w2.jpg
And slide it up, down, left or right. Slide it out of the puzzle, and you get points. (Picture is 1 move later, slid Blue out to the left, scored a 3-piece for turn 1)
The bigger a piece you remove, and the earlier you remove it, the more points that piece is worth at this time.
Also, at this time, moving pieces around inside the puzzle will not hurt your score. It only counts as a 'turn' when you remove a section of color.
When matching color touches...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v54/Shockfrost/pp/w3.jpg
It weaves together, forming a single thread. (Picture is 2 moves later, slid yellow and blue up) Moving things about carelessly is going to jam your puzzle up in a hurry.
You can use the SNIP button to clear a piece if you really need to.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v54/Shockfrost/pp/w4.jpg
(1 move later, inner Yellow block snipped) But it will cost you turns and you won't get points.
It might be worth it in some cases, though... especially if the pieces are too jammed to remove any other way.
Scoring
When pieces leave the board, each piece is worth an increasing amount. Clearing an exceptionally large cluster is worth many points. However, the score earned for clearing a cluster decreases each time you make a clear. To maximize your score, you must clear as efficiently as you can, avoiding tossing away junk and jockeying pieces around effectively.
Variability
Between 3 and 10 colors can appear in the game. It is undetermined how many colors make for ideal difficulty. It is also possible pieces may appear that can only slide in certain directions. They would be worth an increased value, but would make it substantially harder to clear the game.
Certain colors might be designated as the 'goal' of a given round and worth bonus points. Perhaps you would recieve points for hitting 'color targets' -- putting cells off the board through a matching-color edge. These borders might change randomly after sending a matching piece through them, and sending a single long piece through it would maximize the bonus before it could change. This would reward players sharp enough to set up large sections for big chunks to exit through, or able to jockey around the larger pieces.
"Dark" cells that could only be moved after enough matching color cells touched them, may appear. Example: a Dark red 5 that is only movable when a cluster of 5 red blocks touches it (or a cluster of 3 on one side, and a cluster of 2 on another, so on)
End criteria
When there are no more movable pieces in the game area, the game is over.
Difficulty scaling
It is unknown at this time how the number of colors affects the potential difficulty. It is harder to set up high-value comboes with a larger set of colors, but it is also substantially easier to move pieces around without them accidentally sticking to one another.
The game could potentially be made much more difficult by pieces that could only move in certain directions (and influencing any cluster they joined with), or "dark" cells.
The basic game is simple enough that anyone can play a round relatively easy. Joining pieces and the motion factors is pretty complex, but even basic efforts to unify threads are rewarding.
At the upper end of play, a person who can unify almost the entire puzzle and then clear it out - one big chunk at a time - is going to be able to rack up a score considerably higher than an amateur who keeps getting his grid locked up.
Crafting type
Weaving
Known problems
It is possible to sit for an endless amount of time and not move, causing the game to last forever. The demo has a few glitches, due to it being a simple test.
Notes
There is a playable demo of this proposal, in Visual Basic. It is a simple runtime, and does not represent the final game, but provides a concept. You can access the demo here: http://www.geocities.com/mcgarvery/Stitcher.zip
Images
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v54/Shockfrost/pp/Wscreen.jpg
A 6-color game near the beginning. I've made one clear and a couple joining moves...
