10-16-2019, 02:20 AM
Thinking about the possibility of inserting Tomato Adventure related elements in homage to AlphaDream, I came up with a couple of ideas:
- Remembering how earlier Bros Attacks always seemed to end up being much weaker than later ones (Green Shell is very much weaker than Falling Star), I figured that they should be able to power up like the Gimmicks in Tomato Adventure could. The item used to power up a Bros Attack I have tentatively named a "Mini Star," and there would only be one of this type of item (rather than three).
- As I was writing this post, I came up with another idea: in Tomato Adventure, Gimmicks had a certain number of uses and only reset when all uses for all equipped Gimmicks had been depleted. This was to ensure that the player alternated between Gimmicks rather than favoring one of them. I believe I've found an interesting way to make a hybrid of this with what has already been established: The player would be limited to, let's say, three uses per Bros Attack while Syrup Jars would restore a certain number of uses to all of them. Then, to maximize the effect of the Syrup Jar, the player would have to alternate between Bros Attacks. For example, if the player wanted to use a Super Syrup Jar to restore two uses to all Attacks and the max number of uses is three, they would have to have all their Bros Attacks down to no more than one use left to get their money's worth.
- For a puzzle homage, I recalled this one puzzle in Gimmick Palace that could work for the Brothers to use. In the palace, all three of DeMille's companions, Aretha, Sofubi, and Rereku assist him in one way or another. Rereku (named "LELK" in Poemato's walkthrough in the above link) could burrow underground, as he was a mole, and there happened to be a maze on the first floor of the complex that could only be passed by such. This burrowing is directly comparable to the Brothers' Hammer Drill technique, and I could always look for a way to insert this exact puzzle somewhere in my story (maybe in the Toadwood Forest).
- Finally, I decided that I wanted to create an extended arrangement and medley of the battle theme with the title theme as the battle theme for my game. I have been trying to find some musical ideas for it . . . though I've never felt confident with composing. I've tried with a classical style rondo, but it came out terrible in my opinion.
Before I go, I'd like to say that I am currently posting my story onto fanfiction.net (same username). I posted chapter 10 earlier today and have 10 more chapters left (I split chapter 6 up into two separate chapters, bringing the number to 20). I have also contacted the Game Developers Club at UMBC talking to them on how I might try to begin developing this idea.