So, the novel mechanic... what is it?

Well, this is a game about plants fighting one another... and what is a key feature about plants? Well, they don't really move from where they are planted... that's right, they don't move. I'm making a fighting game without movement. Although, this isn't exactly true. There just won't be any traditional footsies going on.

My initial thought for this change to the core feature of a fighting game would be that traditional side-to-side movement would be replaced with more of a "sway," where you would lean back and forth with your feet planted in the ground (if you have ever played Kameo: Elements of Power, think Snare's Root ability). The more I sat with this thought, the more I asked myself "is this really removing movement from the game?"

The answer seems to be no, it isn't removing movement, just altering it. So, let's go back to the roots (heh, get it) of this project. Remove a core mechanic, and create a novel system around this change. Moving forward, I think I need to hold tight to this idea of NO MOVEMENT. These are plants, these characters are locked to their individual planter pots. Gameplay will be heavily dependent on timing and reads, just like any other fighting game, I'm just taking away one more option available.

That being said, frame-by-frame animation and making sure each move feels just right has become even more important for this project moving forwards. Much of these next few weeks will be blocking out keyframes for character moves to implement in the engine and see if this mechanic feels good to play with, or if it is time to go back to the drawing board.

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Enjoy this rough sketch of one of the stars of the show, the little Aloe Vera.