The Spark

When I was going going to programmer school and starting to apply for internships at game studios in the area, I started thinking about what kind of game I would like to create when finally I get the chance to realize it. I had written tons of worlds and rules mechanics over years of designing tabletop pen-and-paper games, but this was different.

My first official design document carries the title "Phwirt: Heat Rises". It's a 43-page word document I still keep track of, just in case. The game is about a ball-shaped red ass with a face named Phwirt, who bounces his way through a series of levels to rescue princess Phwee (pink ass with makeup wearing a hennin) from King Schnozz and his army of Schnozzlings (basically noses with appendages). Sounds a lot more banal described so briefly, but really most of the game is made up of fart jokes. It does have a lot of pop-culture and retro-game references. If you happen to like the work I did writing jokes for all three parts of the Grotesque Tactics series, this will be right up your alley. Surprisingly, I put a massive amount of work into the design process. The book is an in-depth blueprint for any and all assets the game would have, and a bunch of UML diagrams to map out the mechanics. I still plan to make Phwirt one day. That day is not here yet.

I think about Phwirt often, and I decided to create a smaller game that uses the same kind of mechanic. Phwirt jumps by attacking ("blowing" air) downwards to propel himself upwards. Obviously, attacking while jumping is going to take a little skill and practice. I had to see if this works in practice.

So, I needed a new hero. One, that jumps by attacking downward.

Meet Arpy

 Arpy is your regular couch potato. He likes to sit in his armchair, watch TV, play video games, order fast food and get up as little as possible. Of course, you can't do a platform game with a hero who just sits there, so I needed to give him a reason to move, without actually getting up.

Arpy's recliner comes with its very own built-in rocket boosters. The player presses DOWN and ATTACK to start the thrusters. His primary attack, aside from scorching enemies from above, is pulling the lever on the side of the chair to lift the leg-rest and kick.

The title of the game was easy to come up with. He's a couch potato with rockets. He's a Rocket Potato. He even gets his name from the initials R.P.

So, there is the idea. Judging by the image, I'm thinking about making this a pixel game, though I haven't decided on that yet. I admire pixel artists, because getting something recognizable to come out at the end, with so many limitations, is an impressive skill. I'm actually quite surprised Arpy here turned out as well as he did.

I'm just working with pure concept, right now. Obviously, this will take a lot of fleshing out. And, I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes.