Thinking Proto

There are a couple of Sonic fan-engines out there that we can look into for prototypes. But, really, those won't get us very far. We'll be able to see what those designs look like so far, but we won't be able to test for the other characters until we can start writing our own code and content.

Still, if we think in terms of what we might be able to test - what these games might look like in their scrappiest forms - can help us visualize how we'd like our ideas to evolve. We might not have a physical prototype, but we can imagine what our prototypes would look like. If nothing else, we can iterate on that (instead of trying to imagine the whole freaking game).

Let's take our characters and put them in a featureless box. Then let's test one feature at a time. Boil all the ideas down to a few single mechanics and play with them until they feel right.

General: Running. Jumping. Camera zoom and orientation. Camera controls.
Sonic: Running up a steep slope. Homing attack.
Tails: Flying.
Knuckles: Gliding. Movement along a wall. Melee attacks.
Amy: Melee attacks.
Shadow: Homing attack.
Omega: Aiming and shooting. Different weapons.
Rouge: Gliding. Climbing a wall (or ceiling!). Takedown of a guard. Scoring system.

This is what we would be testing if we could. What does this say about our game so far? What can we imagine, and what needs tuning and testing? Thinking in this way - starting small and asking basic questions - can help us move forward.