Okay, so I was on reddit earlier and I came across
this. My brain promptly decided it wanted to turn that into a pseudo-2d game. I am now relearning basic C++ to try and do this. The only programming thing I've ever done before this was a Yugioh booster pack randomizer (which admittedly turned out pretty decently, but was a two-person job). Please either stop me or teach me how to code this sort of thing.
EDIT: Okay, stopping me is no longer going to happen. With that in mind, here's a list of what I've got planned so far!
- You play as a gnome left behind in an empty house after the former inhabitants have moved out, your gnome clan hitching a ride with them but leaving you behind (accidentally or intentionally?).
- Pixel art, customizable character (craft specific furniture items later on to change your appearance at will)
- The first week is spent in this empty house, in a sort of tutorial stage, during which you learn to move, fight, scavenge, craft etc.
- The game has a 24-hour system - 7am to 7pm is day, 7pm to 7am is night. It's easier to sneak around without getting caught at night, but it's harder to see (even with enhanced gnomish night-vision) and there are more hostile creatures around. The inverse is true in the daytime. Also, background events may be occuring depending on the time (e.g. kids arrive home from school at 3:30pm, dinner time at 7pm) that may affect other things.
- Sleep lasts a fixed amount of time (six hours? eight?), and can be initiated at any time, barring specific circumstances (e.g. out in the open). To sleep you can either choose to return to your hole, or you can camp out (which has a higher chance of having you get caught out, and hostiles may raid your hole while you're asleep, but you won't have to backtrack). Alternatively you can choose to stay up longer, but this incurs stat penalties until you sleep again, and after a certain amount of time without sleep (48 hours?) you drop down asleep right where you are, with all the risks that'll entail.
- Typical household - living room, kitchen, bathroom, son's bedroom, daughter's bedroom, parents' bedroom, attic, garage, basement, backyard etc.
- Collect items such as staples, bark chips etc. to craft furniture, weapons and armour. More valuable finds can be traded for scavenged goods by talking to a rat in the basement.
- Recruit followers to help you steal bigger objects? (e.g. glue to help build furniture, larger food items)
- Steal food from the kitchen and either break a piece off and leave the rest, or take the whole thing back to your hole, where you can break it up into many pieces to take with you and keep in reserve. Possibly some craftable furniture to keep more food/make it last longer?
- Possible eventual magic and other fae, e.g. pixies, maybe Santa and his elves on Christmas.