roguelike-ideas.txt

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== SPACE ROGUELIKE DESIGN DOC ==
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~ STORY ~ 

...in the year 2144...

Man starts a colossal asteroid base on Ceres. The protagonist (you can select "The protagonist", press CTRL+D multiple times to select all instances) discovers a futuristic sounding element known as "chronomium".

The protagonist (with his colleagues?) creates a device that can manipulate the speed of time in its immediate vicinity. As a more accessible source of energy is found, he is able to use this device more effectively and improve its capabilities. Its powers are determined by the player's playstyle (?).

However, there's another guy who is travelling through time to improve his own time device more immensely powerful than the protagonist's. After he disappears, the protagonist notices strange time shifts summoning strange monsters (dinosaurs! :D) from a distant realm. He realizes their goal is to dispose of him, as the only one who knows the secrets of time travel besides their master.

~ MECHANICS ~
* Time Manipulation *
	- Need intuitive way to see relative speed (blue/red shift?).
	- Beginning of game, brief ability to slow time. End game, permanent time slow, occasional time stop.
	- Need to track creatures moving at different relative speeds, and speeds within their own time shift.
	- Need to be able to create localized time distortions altering all creatures/items within.
	- Speed/slow grenades.
	- Project a time-slowing shield
	
	- Time manipulation is split into time distortion and time stop.
	- Every tick, an Entity gets one time point, at base, modified by their relative speed. When they reach their goal number, they take an action turn. A bullet has a very low goal number like 10, the player aims for 100, etc. So a bullet will normally get about 10 turns for every 1 the player gets.
	- The time points gained by every other entity are modified by the player's current warp speed.
	- Warp time could be relatively easy. Just give the player 500 time points. He loses his turn's worth (100) every time he moves, and when it's back below his target number, he falls back into normal time.
	
	- The player can achieve various levels of time manipulation, to the point where he can eventually stop time. However, more dramatic degrees will take much larger amounts of chronomium.

* Slow Projectiles *
	- Bullets hang in air or move slowly.
	- Catch and return grenades.
	- Shoot down bullets with bullets.
	- Catch slowed bullets with 'shove'.
	- Need to display flight direction.
	- Explosions expand slowly.
	- Laser weapons move at light speed, and override time distortion.

* Environmental Hazards *
	- Things to shove enemies into.
	- Inert obstacles to take cover behind, shove.
	- Explosive barrels.
	- Fields that slow down movement/projectiles.

* Other *
    - Melee weapons carry an advantage due to the ability to still use weapons at high speeds (within vicinity of time control), but laser weapons can "override time distortion".
    - Generally, faster creatures deal more damage.
    - Melee shove ability to move enemies in front of slowed bullets (Shift+Movement).
    - The time stream is open so that the player can be both massively slower than and massively faster than a bullet.
    - But it's limited. A bullet will move once every 10 ticks. So it will move a maximum of 10 tiles for every player turn, or the player can move a maximum of 10 tiles for every bullet turn.
    - So if nobody shoots further than 10 tiles in normal time... we're good.
    - Everything else move relative to the player, and give an inverse modifier to the time warping enemies by adding a multiplier when calculating how many time points an entity gets per turn.
    - Warp time could be relatively easy. Just give the player 500 time points. He loses his turn's worth (100) every time he moves, and when it's back below his target number, he falls back into normal time.

~ DUNGEON ~
	- Chronomium picked up from draining energy pods.
	- Permanent energy generators installed on character for landmark accomplishments.
	- Endgame enemies that time warp themselves. (Genetically engineered by said villain).