The design

I have two favourite sayings on process. One is attributed to Helmut von Moltke: "No plan survives the first contact with the enemy", commanding a will to change a plan even after it is set in motion. The other is of Eisenhower: "The plan is useless, it's the planning that is important", reminding us that exploring a problem space will give a better understanding what lies ahead. As such, I'm diligent in writing these one-or-two page documents. This one is a short summary of the gameplay and the mechanics going into it.

[b]Design of Pux - the index of the idea[/b]

* The Pucks Themselves

The Pucks are mechanical and sentient entities built inside a factory. They are not dead chunks of metal, but a sort of robot infused with a bit of personality. Visually, Pucks resemble the Roomba robot vacuum cleaner, but larger and heavier. The top is imprinted with a badge image that identifies it.

Pucks are controlled primarily by giving directional input to control their velocity. The body rotates to align with its travelling direction, and so the badge and model’s orientation is a visual cue to players about where their puck is heading. Collisions with walls, Pucks and other debris will both have it bounce off and start spinning, temporarily muddling this information for the player.

In addition to directional inputs, the Pucks can also jump to clear obstacles, move onto low ledges, jump over each other (and get knocked over from below) and take shortcuts. While airborne, daring players can earn bonuses by spinning or somersaulting, but if so needs to avoid landing in the wrong direction or toppling. Though, landing in another direction than the one traveled can possibly improve cornering and provide immediate breaking for experienced players. Jumping mechanics seen in some first-person shooters such as wall jumps and bunny jumps are also possible.

The other possible input is using power-ups and weapons. Taking a cue from games such as Mario Kart, players can acquire one of several pick-ups, ranging from speed boosts, size modifiers, rapidly spinning cogwheel teeth, ball-and-chain tails, EMP pulses, proximity mines... A puck can hold one such bonus at a time, towing it behind itself, but it can also be stolen by a determined opponent.

Throughout the game, Power Cells are littered across levels, scattered by destroyed (computer-controlled) Pucks, or generated by performing certain stunts (somersaulting, winning chicken races, escaping close collisions...). Collecting a certain numbers of these enables a Puck to go into Overdrive mode. In Overdrive, a Puck is for all intents and purposes invulnerable (excepting falling off the map), faster and becomes something of a repellant pinball bumper that push away other Pucks with great force. Imagine playing Escape, being hunted by a hundred or so mini-Pucks into a cul-de-sac filled with power cells, going into Overdrive and tearing your way through that horde after making a swift 180º turn. Power Cells coupled with the stunt system encourages players to take risks and to go off the beaten path.

* Game modes

Track Racing: This is a classical race-to-the-finish mode. A number of pucks start on a line, and then compete to be the first to cross the finish line, not to complete a set number of laps. Depending on level designs, the winning strategy can be to find the shortest path through curves, take daring shortcuts, push other Pucks off the track, or to play an aggressive collision game. Pux uses a Mercy rule so that the Pucks that fall behind are compensated with a few percents’ extra speed, better pick-up bonuses and such. Multiplayer games simply add to the number of player-controlled pucks.

Bombing Run: The attacking (player-controlled) Puck starts in proximity to three timed bombs, guarded by a goal-keeping puck. The player must steal the bombs, one at a time, and race across a short distance and leave the bomb there before it goes off. The goal-keeper hunts after the player and tries to steal it back. Every time the bomb returns to the starting area, its timer is reset. Thus, a bombing run that goes awry can be cancelled by bringing it back, or letting the goalie steal it. Properly timed, the goalie can be tricked into stealing a bomb that is about to explode, giving the player the upper hand for a short while. In multi-player games, a human player can take control of the goalie, and in the case of more players, there can be two Bombers and two Keepers.

Twang Race: This is akin to Track Racing, but is played out under more arena-like circumstances. One Puck tries to race to the goal, while the other tries to catch up and collide with the first Puck three times. The twist is that they are connected by a stretch of elastic cable, which both means that the running Puck cannot get very far ahead before it starts towing the hunting Puck, but also that the hunting Puck does not have complete control over its movement. The string interacts with the environment, winding aroung corners and such.

Fortress: A number of Pucks are perched on an arena high above ground. They now compete to push each other off of it and into the void below. Victory is given to the puck that either push off the most before the time runs out or first reaches a certain score. Points are given for directly pushing someone off the platform, indirectly (by way of explosions or causing another puck to push a third one off) or for dodging an oncoming Puck so that it runs off the edge. Achieving Overdrive on a Fortress platform can cause absolute mayhem. The platforms themselves can be altered either by triggers or time intervals that cause them to slant, open hatches, shrink or retract bridges.

Escape: A Puck is hunted by a large number of small mini-Pucks that try to envelop it and hold it down. The player must outrun these small, fast and nimble pucks and escape to safety. The hunters swarm like insects and coordinate their actions: branching off, pincer tactics and walling is not beyond them. The player can push through and/or destroy smaller numbers of hunters, but should be wary of going into close combat with them. Once again, achieving Overdrive while crashing through a horde of hunters will result in havoc.

Greed: Bonus rounds are sadly a thing of the past, but give players a space to relax and let their skills rip uncontested. Finding a Bonus Key on a level will inject the player into levels tailored for fun, excess and brute force. A successful bonus round will let the Puck start the following level with an Overdrive charge readied. Possible bonus rounds could entail collecting Power Cells, plowing large amounts of Mini-Pucks off a platform, crashing a machine by colliding with it, or using timed explosives to hurl the Puck across a chasm.

Other mechanics

Splitting paths: As mentioned, some levels have multiple exits. For instance, race tracks and Escapes can fork and lead to different follow-up missions, well-performed bonus rounds can let the player skip a level or two, and so on. The rationale for this is to provide diversity and replayability, let experienced players skip ahead, encourage exploration and cut times for speed runs. Splits can also be provided by Warp Zones (another retro factor!) that are either hidden or difficult to reach, and require a certain Power Cell level to activate.

Stunts: Performing dangerous moves and impressive feats releases Power Cells that a Puck can collect. Stunts also refers to moves that will award points indirectly in Fortress.

Chicken Race: When going at full speed, running close to a corner or another Puck.

Crush: Jumping onto another Puck. (This can be countered with a Knockover).

Knockover: Jumping into another Puck from below will topple it.

Flipover: Performing a Somersault stunt while jumping over another Puck.

Boom Boost: Being pushed forward forcefully by an explosion.

Run-off: Colliding into another Puck in a way that causes it to collide head on with a wall.

Somersault: While airborne, spinning or performing additional jumps will make the Puck perform air acrobatics.

Power-Up Combos: Certain Power-Ups have associated combos that can be discovered.

Modifications: Remaining Power Cells from a level are stored as a sort of cash, which can unlock modifications that can be done to a Puck. These modifications come in flavours of speed increases, altered weight, altered size, lowered Overdrive treshold, increased jump power, improved acceleration and retardation and improved turn radius. These modifications subtly alters the Puck’s appearance in terms of size, bulkiness, the puck becoming increasingly oblongated, color and shininess.