New Idea

[darkeagle]

There should be some sort of bonus element in the game. Phosphorus would be good. It glows, and if you absorb it, sparkles come out. At the start of each level, there should be a counter that says how many phosphorus elements there are in the level. The counter should stay on the screen in the level, probably in a corner. It goes up every time you get a phosphorus element. It should look something like this:

Bonus elements: 0/1

The first number is how many you have, the second is how many there are total. I think this would be a really cool idea. Let me know what you think!

[OfficiallyHaphazard]

I have had similar thoughts, as has weasel.
Right now weasel is using carbon as bonus items (see if you can find all of them in the original levels!). I think there should be one counter (i.e. 8/15) that shows how many of the necessary items you have picked up, and another counter (just the numerator, i.e. +4) counting the number of extra items you have picked up.

[darkeagle]

That's a good idea.

[weasel]

I'm still struggling with the suggestion here.

On one hand, it's nice to know how many of anything are left (be it the bonus items, the regular items, or both); but on the other hand it'll confuse people at first (imagine completing a tutorial and seeing there's 0/4 carbons).

I also like the idea of being pleasantly surprised at what's ahead of you. Feels a bit like exploration.

I also don't want to clutter up the screen with interfacey stuff like status bars. One of the reasons I got rid of health.

I'll think on it though. If anyone has a killer argument for or against it, feel free to discuss!

[OfficiallyHaphazard]

I'm still struggling with the suggestion here.

On one hand, it's nice to know how many of anything are left (be it the bonus items, the regular items, or both); but on the other hand it'll confuse people at first (imagine completing a tutorial and seeing there's 0/4 carbons).

I also like the idea of being pleasantly surprised at what's ahead of you. Feels a bit like exploration.

I also don't want to clutter up the screen with interfacey stuff like status bars. One of the reasons I got rid of health.

I'll think on it though. If anyone has a killer argument for or against it, feel free to discuss!

That is why I would ideally like to have one fraction (i.e. 10/15 collectible items) and one plain number: +5 carbons.