Not to totally rip off katamari, but what about once you destroy that whole city theres some crazy thing that happens or that your character consumes that makes him grow in size, and then youre in another city thats even bigger!  actually that might not work with the funny story of this game. 

side thought, this voting idea is great, but when something with clearly defined game mechanics with story and seems very thought out as a potential game is competing with something with very vague story ideas, a description of the art style and no acknowledgement of gameplay at all, and they are neck and neck….I can only think that maybe the game designers truly have better judgement in this situation.  Not to throw anyone under the bus or anything. 

I really want to see this prototype made, not only because this pitch is actually well presented and sounds like an actual game, but because its Brad’s idea too!

I’ve never played a roguelike, but you got my attention with giant monsters. You sealed the deal when you said you loved King of the Monsters. I had so much fun with those games, and I’ve never heard anyone else talk about them.

How much interactivity will there be with the city beyond the destruction? Sony had a game called War of the Monsters on PS2 that let you pick up rubble and cars and other stuff to use as weapons. I think my favorite was impaling the other monsters with radio antenna. Can we expect anything like that?

This sounds like a ton of fun.

tconner - 19 November 2012 11:32 PM

YEAH HUNGRY HOWIE’S PIZZA! WOOO!

YEAH! :D!

Leroy Octopus - 20 November 2012 11:32 AM

I’ve never played a roguelike, but you got my attention with giant monsters. You sealed the deal when you said you loved King of the Monsters. I had so much fun with those games, and I’ve never heard anyone else talk about them.

How much interactivity will there be with the city beyond the destruction? Sony had a game called War of the Monsters on PS2 that let you pick up rubble and cars and other stuff to use as weapons. I think my favorite was impaling the other monsters with radio antenna. Can we expect anything like that?

Picking up stuff in the city and eating it or throwing it is one of the primary mechanics that I’m looking at!  This was the most fun part of the Lungfishopolis level IMO!  :D!

I also love the risk/reward mechanic when you’re picking up something edible.  Do you throw that bus full of people at a building, destroying both (and maybe increasing your DESTRUCTION COMBO MULTIPLIER) or do you rip the front off the bus and eat all of the people to increase your Stomach Meter and get possible Mutation Points?  I think those kinds of choices are going to be a defining factor in the game!

And if you’ve never played roguelike games I highly recommend Spelunky and FTL.  These are two great modern examples of how to take the core philosophy of a roguelike and apply it to a different genre!  :D!

fidgetwidget - 20 November 2012 09:42 AM

On the topic of monster to building scale, I think you should look to Rampage, seeing as you want the monster to be able to pick up people and eat them, and a vast majority of the enemies are going to be people and not massive mecha or supers…

The smaller scale (imo) gives far more room for experimentation with destruction… being able to push over buildings onto a group of tanks on the other side… or picking up a food cart to throw at that helicopter that just won’t leave you alone.
I’d also love to see scale being variable depending on the monster you choose to play as.
Play as a giant gorilla who is 8 stories tall, pushing over buildings, and throwing cars… or a fire breathing chameleon who’s only 2 stories tall, but can climb, breath fire, and use stealth to get in behind the enemy and surprise them.

Man I love this game idea!

Those are some great effing ideas!  I’m not sure how many monsters we would be able to get into a 2 week prototype, but I love the idea of having incredibly varied scale for the monsters you’re controlling!  That combined with some cool camera tricks can create a cool feeling of scale that feels unique to each monster.  Super dope!  :D!

BENJA - 20 November 2012 12:16 PM

This sounds like a ton of fun.

Thanks for the support!  I also think it will be a ton of fun.  :D!

Chiming in to show support! I like giant monsters.

I do hope the way the physics or animations of stuff goes here that it all looks like cheap monster movie stuff.  Like the buildings are models and the evil salaryman robot’s bodyparts kind of bounce around like a costume when he moves.  If the monster’s tail looks like someone’s dragging it with off-camera wires that’s even better.  (Wiggling around and stuff.)

At the same time a little slo-mo and low camera angle or wide shot look to reinforce the cheesy monster movieness of it all would be rad.

rofuru - 20 November 2012 09:57 PM

Chiming in to show support! I like giant monsters.

  I like giant monsters too!  Let’s do it!  :D!

Spacedad - 20 November 2012 10:27 PM

I do hope the way the physics or animations of stuff goes here that it all looks like cheap monster movie stuff.  Like the buildings are models and the evil salaryman robot’s bodyparts kind of bounce around like a costume when he moves.  If the monster’s tail looks like someone’s dragging it with off-camera wires that’s even better.  (Wiggling around and stuff.)

At the same time a little slo-mo and low camera angle or wide shot look to reinforce the cheesy monster movieness of it all would be rad.

YES!  I’m not sure how well we would be able to pull off the “rubberness” of everything in a two week time frame, but this is really a goal of the project.  The scale, the cheesiness, the “tracking” lines of a bad VHS bootleg… it should all come together to make an awesome aesthetic!

Something like this!  :D!

Loved the King of the Monsters games on NeoGeo. Would like to see this.

I personally don’t like the idea of making the monsters look like rubber. I think it should be an homage rather than a parody. A good thing to look at would be War of the Monsters (which I already mentioned). They kept the campiness and fun of the old movies without making the special effects look purposefully bad or anything.

See that looks like the stuff those old movies were always trying to be. It keeps the cheese, but not the ugliness. I do like the VHS filter idea though.

Leroy Octopus - 21 November 2012 08:32 AM

I personally don’t like the idea of making the monsters look like rubber. I think it should be an homage rather than a parody. A good thing to look at would be War of the Monsters (which I already mentioned). They kept the campiness and fun of the old movies without making the special effects look purposefully bad or anything.

See that looks like the stuff those old movies were always trying to be. It keeps the cheese, but not the ugliness. I do like the VHS filter idea though.

Why make a game that’s just stylistically in the same vein as War of the Monsters and Rampage and those sorts of things, though?

I think the idea of making the monsters look authentically fake (that is, authentic to how they look in old movies, all strangely stiff and made of rubber) is way more interesting and unique than just making rad-looking, “realistically”-animated sci-fi monsters that are merely “inspired” by monster movies.

It would be so much more charming, original, and funny to feel like you’re playing through a cheaply made dubbed-over B-movie where you play a guy in a monster suit stomping around a movie set with overdramatic music and sound effects blaring.

DF Brad - 20 November 2012 01:49 PM

fidgetwidget - 20 November 2012 09:42 AM

On the topic of monster to building scale, I think you should look to Rampage, seeing as you want the monster to be able to pick up people and eat them, and a vast majority of the enemies are going to be people and not massive mecha or supers…

The smaller scale (imo) gives far more room for experimentation with destruction… being able to push over buildings onto a group of tanks on the other side… or picking up a food cart to throw at that helicopter that just won’t leave you alone.
I’d also love to see scale being variable depending on the monster you choose to play as.
Play as a giant gorilla who is 8 stories tall, pushing over buildings, and throwing cars… or a fire breathing chameleon who’s only 2 stories tall, but can climb, breath fire, and use stealth to get in behind the enemy and surprise them.

Man I love this game idea!

Those are some great effing ideas!  I’m not sure how many monsters we would be able to get into a 2 week prototype, but I love the idea of having incredibly varied scale for the monsters you’re controlling!  That combined with some cool camera tricks can create a cool feeling of scale that feels unique to each monster.  Super dope!  :D!

Yeah, you should have an ant that can lift a billion times its own weight :D

I’m aware that at this point it’s all very mutable, but I’m curious to hear what your current vision for character progression is in this game, since that’s what generally gets me into a roguelike.

1. Pace
How often is the character actually getting more powerful? Is it like FTL or Dungeons of Dredmor where upgrades are sparse but very significant, or is it like Half-Minute Hero where you’re constantly growing more powerful at a rate you can’t even necessarily keep up with because everything’s so hectic? Is it more like a flash game where there’s a clear ‘shop window’ moment where you catch a break, pick a simple perk, and keep going?

2. Unlockables across playthroughs
FTL kept you coming back trying to play through it with multiple unlockable ships, and that also gave you a motivation to work towards both for just playing through the game and actually trying to finish it instead of giving up on a doomed run. Do you have any plans for unlockables or other goodies that are persistent across multiple playthroughs?

3. Agency
How much choice does the player have in their progression? Do you see a player having enough options that they could conceivably specialize their monster in some or most cases or do you think random generation will force them to adapt and think on their feet at all times?

4. Progression Range
Just what do you see the player gaining over time from a mechanical perspective? Is it all stat boosts? What about new abilities? Is it all 100% combat-related or do you plan on there being some utility upgrades? If so, can you give some examples?

Other than that I’m just curious about the overall pace of the game. How long do you see a player surviving before they die, and in a full version of the game would you consider some sort of endgame, like a big boss that eventually shows up if they survive long enough and wreck enough stuff or something?

BENJA - 21 November 2012 09:23 AM

Leroy Octopus - 21 November 2012 08:32 AM

I personally don’t like the idea of making the monsters look like rubber. I think it should be an homage rather than a parody. A good thing to look at would be War of the Monsters (which I already mentioned). They kept the campiness and fun of the old movies without making the special effects look purposefully bad or anything.

See that looks like the stuff those old movies were always trying to be. It keeps the cheese, but not the ugliness. I do like the VHS filter idea though.

Why make a game that’s just stylistically in the same vein as War of the Monsters and Rampage and those sorts of things, though?

I think the idea of making the monsters look authentically fake (that is, authentic to how they look in old movies, all strangely stiff and made of rubber) is way more interesting and unique than just making rad-looking, “realistically”-animated sci-fi monsters that are merely “inspired” by monster movies.

It would be so much more charming, original, and funny to feel like you’re playing through a cheaply made dubbed-over B-movie where you play a guy in a monster suit stomping around a movie set with overdramatic music and sound effects blaring.

I feel like the charm of that would wear off after a while though. Plus I want to feel like I am a giant monster, not some guy in a bad costume knocking over cardboard buildings.

This game sounds amazing. Another good roguelike that came out early this year is Hack, Slash, Loot.  That game reminds me of Gauntlet. For the rubber suit look, maybe adding the sheen to the costume, similar to the sheen on the dolls in Stacking.

hey guy, brazen looks so awesome.  I dont want to face the reality that not every game you guys come up with can be made!  It cant be true!

Brad do you like the ways The Binding Of Isaac handled the rogue like?  With all the things that would slowly change the character. I loved the way that game handled risk and reward sometimes making you risk something hoping it will pay off later. 

This IS going to be a great game!

Another vote here.

You can never have enough godzilla.
I hope you can really give it a good b-movie/old-school monster vibe

Man, this game idea makes me really nostalgic for Rampage. I remember playing World Tour on the N64 with my cousin for hooooouuuuuurs.

I think if the idea is godzilla-esque monsters plus wrestling, you could think of some really cool ways to use the surrounding buildings as part of the “wrestling ring”.

For example, maybe you could use a building as a turnbuckle and drop an elbow onto an opponent.

Maybe you could grab an opponent and give them the old judo throw through a building, damaging them and obliterating the building.

Power lines? There are possible uses for those.

I also really liked the idea from Gex 64 (remember that game? maaaaaaan) where you could attack the base of a building that another monster had climbed, making it collapse and dealing the other monster fall damage as well as knocking it prone.

I feel like in a lot of past godzilla-type games, the buildings are either there for the sole purpose of getting smashed, or else they are just getting incidentally smashed as you duke it out with enemies. But I’m saying the building could get smashed in the same way the table/chair gets smashed in pro wrestling, which is to say the building gets smashed when you smash it with Ultraman’s face.

Seeing the cool stop motion style effects in BRAZEN has made me come around on the rubber suited monsters idea. As long as there’s no zipper on the back and the characters never talk about how fake it looks.

Dvdhaus - 21 November 2012 03:39 PM

This game sounds amazing. Another good roguelike that came out early this year is Hack, Slash, Loot.  That game reminds me of Gauntlet. For the rubber suit look, maybe adding the sheen to the costume, similar to the sheen on the dolls in Stacking.

Why have I not heard of this???  It looks super charming!  Checking it out now.  :D!

Leroy Octopus - 22 November 2012 04:33 AM

Seeing the cool stop motion style effects in BRAZEN has made me come around on the rubber suited monsters idea. As long as there’s no zipper on the back and the characters never talk about how fake it looks.

  The characters would NEVER be self-referential about the fakeness or silliness of everything!  This is my One Immutable Law of World Design.  The Mobile Trench is the most ridiculous vehicle ever designed for combat, but do any of the participants in the fiction ever question it?  Hell no!  :D!

One of my favorite Roguelikes is POWDER which takes random items somewhere insane and beautiful. Where you can drink a blue potion in one playthrough and it grants you invulnerability and in the next it’s a poison. Do you plan on having any similar mechanic where you aren’t quite sure what effect doing something will have until you try it?

I am also really digging the idea of rampaging around a city in a rubber monster suit!