Terminal Z

All of my previous projects grew too complicated for me, so I decided to work on something simpler for my first game. After taking a long break from my other main game because I couldn't get the puppet sprites to work in Godot, inspiration struck me when I was replaying Super Metroid to create a S.T.A.L.K.E.R.-like 2D side-scroller with RPG type game mechanics, with a focus on guns. It's not a typical zombie game, but it's going to feel very similar to Day Z.

Not every gun in the world is going to be in the game, but I want to get a good amount of representation going with common guns around the world, old and new, appropriate for fitting in with the game world. I'll be changing the names of companies and products, so if you can guess the sprite, you'll know what they are. 

I have most of the game mechanics all planned out, which is rather unnecessarily complicated for a simple side-scroller, but gun enthusiasts who enjoy Metroidvanias are really going love the way damage calculations feel.

To keep it simple, I'm wanting to use pixel sprites in a SNES-like style, although much bigger sprites since it's 2024 and the average PC is going to be 1080p minimum. I'm currently stuck on which art style to pursue, but I'm leaning towards something of a cross between Metroid Zero Mission and Pokemon large sprites, although it will visually look closer to Advanced Wars or Metal Slug given the subjects. It's starting to become overwhelming thinking of weapon implementations, so I'll have to scale back and cut corners on equipment, possibly use just a few sprite changes to represent all the guns. I'll have to see what I can do, but I have an idea on how to make it work.

My main goal for this game is to just finish it and showcase it, so I can then use it as an example of what I can do in hopes of gaining team members for future projects, or join someone's team.