The Disclaimer

This is NOT a feature announcement. There is a high chance of this not being in the final game. I’m just sharing what I’m working on, and asking for input.

 

 The Article

Got it? Good. Let’s talk about randomly generated content! Like many people, I’m intrigued by the prospect. Programming-wise, it’s a fun puzzle to try and solve and can yield really neat results!

Every now and then, I take a break from working on Bleed 2’s story mode to fiddle around with this extra little project I call Endless Mode. I don’t have much right now, but here’s the base idea: There are a number of pre-made “chunks” that get stitched together randomly into one big level.

Don’t get too excited — that is literally everything I have on Endless Mode right there. Three “standard” level chunks on the left, and two “hazard” chunks on the right. Levels are mostly made up of the standard chunks, with rarer hazard chunks sprinkled in to mix things up. The level would finish with a “boss” chunk, where you’d fight a random boss before proceeding to another area.

The Dream

In a perfect utopian world, Endless Mode would take place across a number of environments — some from each Bleed game, and maybe some brand new ones, each with their own unique hazards and enemies. There would also be a way to change many of the Endless Mode’s parameters — the seed, the frequency of hazard chunks, the end-point (if any), etc. I think it could be a lot of fun!

The Problem

In the real world, the problem is that this is a shit-ton of work we’re talking about, on top of the large story mode I’m already designing. In addition, if I don’t provide enough content and end up with a crappy Endless Mode, it’ll be viewed a detriment to the final product rather than a boon. I estimate about 10-15 bosses from story mode could be re-used for here, and that I could probably make at maximum 4 environments while still launching the game in a reasonable timeframe.

The Questions

Right now I’m trying to answer a few key questions:
-Is this something people would actually be interested in?
-How many bosses/environments minimum would be required to make this a worthwhile mode?

The answers to those questions will help me decide if and when to work on Endless Mode. If it does appear in the final game, it’ll probably be a stripped-down version to be expanded on if the game performs well. If not, it’ll have to be shelved, with the possibility of being DLC in the future.

If you have any thoughts or insight, feel free to send me an e-mail or get at me on Twitter!

Thanks for reading. I hope everyone has a fantastic new years!!