Long overdue, but finally I've put together a tiny video update. Some things are still obviously placeholder, such as the UI and the enemies, but things are starting to fall together.
As all the basic pieces come together and playtesting the full experience really gets moving, a real game is beginning to emerge.
When I began, I started trying to select the simplest of game mechanics, trying not to bite off too much. I started off with a single player, controlled by a thumbstick, had him fire a single weapon and blast as many bad guys as he could. Calculate a score and we've got a basic game. Mission Complete!
However, as I began to feel a little more comfortable with C# and XNA other ideas began to pop up, ideas that didn't seem to hide behind mounds of terrifying C# code, so I figured I'd give them a shot. Throw in an oxygen resource and cost/benefit mechanic...done. How about a secondary bubble burst weapon....done. What about a depth mechanic that ties to the oxygen usage...done.
Step back and things begin to really shape up. Then more ideas hit that seem to make sense, other enemy/hazard types. More weapon variations. Upgradable ship node with an associated economy system.
IF I can actually manage to get all that in "Deep Blue". IF I manage to write to code to make it all behave properly. And IF makes the game more fun...then this little experiment of a project may become something a little bit more.
