CAUTION LONG REPLY AHEAD.
It is unfortunate that there isn't much material in SMB2 in terms of buildings other than flat mushroom houses and Wart's golden palace. This is why EBN's building designs are plain, boring and very close to C&C's look. :lol: I actually wanted a Persian-esque feel for all the buildings to bring EBN back to it's roots. That would probably be seen as poor taste and/or racist all things considered (EBN being the oppressor and all around evil). :(
Don't get me wrong, we do want the references and a somewhat similar feel to the Bowser buildings. Our idea for the buildings themselves, though, and not their design, is radically different to 'regular' buildings. Your ideas are "grounded", so to speak. ;)
Plus, Bowser was more into castles and fortresses, not giant shells for roofs. :blink: Of course, the main Koopa construction building will sport Bowser's visage as he naturally narcissistic and it's a common staple in any Mario game.
None taken. We just don't want to spoil anything, story-wise or gameplay-wise. At least not yet.
A 2 person project is fine as we are in no real rush. We might need another for terrain, as it is lagging behind, but that can be rectified as we get more familiar with the new engine.
Now for your ideas. Let me apologise in advanced if I come out a little negative and blunt; some ideas can be obvious and a repeat of ones we have already. There is a definite disadvantage for you as we had a nice thread for ideas already in the previous forum but let's dive in anyways.
Wouldn't "basic" infantry be the Koopa Troopas? And wouldn't the Hammer Bros and their variations be considered as a 'heavy' infantry and not basic? There's no need to slap on a gun to a character that has more varied weapons. Like the Fire Bros.. :)
Yeah, Lakitus would be interesting and I agree we'd have to change their Spiny toss to something more dangerous. I don't know about the 'focused light ray' but an easier solution would to replace Spinies with Bob-Ombs.
We are not too crazy about self destructing units. In an RTS, its usually a comedy option for more explosions and, who would want to pump out 1 Bob-Omb at a time that might not make it to their destination instead of just parachuting a bunch down. We can even have the Bob-Oms walk around aimlessly if they don't impact directly.
Bullet Bills were mostly an air nuisance; they never aimed at the ground or at the player's feet. Which is why Bills will be an anti-air defense instead.
That's a bit heavy for the first defensive structure. Definitely as a higher tiered defense. Also, didn't the laser spouting Bowser statues come first?
Piranha Plants were always stuck in a pipe and I think that's how we'll keep it. There was also the fireball variation that could attack both high and low which I believe is the one we'll use. We had a similar defensive structure for the EBN, Cobrat in a vase, that was axed since it was too similar.
I don't like the idea of the Koopa tanks to bear the face of their leader. Or to be named after him. Though I did model a plane based on his kart from Mario Kart DS. Maybe I'll warm to the idea when we get there.
An obvious idea. Though we did branch out the Airship idea throughout the entire Koopa faction.
No Super Scopes. References to characters and buildings is a-ok but to the actual hardware? No thanks. What's next? A Virtual Boy embedded into a Bandit to make them look more 'tech'-y. Why would the other factions have guns and Toads have a cheap plastic toy. Unless it is reference to the movie... :lol: No.
Yoshis can either be randomly created (so you wouldn't know if it's a Red or Blue or even a generic Green Yoshi) or have a "weapon grabber" (his tongue obviously) and that would change his abilities and colour.
Funny how you said Spinies, a ball of spikes, would be too weak, but you didn't bat an eye for Yoshi eggs.
Personally, I have mixed feelings about including Yoshi at all. They're from a different region completely, Dinosaur Land, which will not be seen in this project. It's like adding in Donkey Kong for the hell of it.
I know Yoshis are a closer part of the Mario universe, but they are always pretty isolated in every game and never mingle with the Mushroom Kingdom.
Why would some one shot group, created for Paper Mario 2, appear to help the Toad side? I mean, Koopa has the Boos already and I don't think we need yet another ghost-type unit for another side.
Pipes used for transporting units, should not and will not be side exclusive. If possible, a pipe clog special ability, negating the tunnel system for a bit, could be funny but that's a little too devious and evil for the Toads.
Yeah, this was one of the first ideas we had for the Toads. We even thought of the "Star" prefix for most buildings.
This will definitely be in.
Phew. Nice to see more and different opinions. :)