The Headless XHorseXMan Game Idea repost from discord

[kolpool]

 This is a repost from discord incase anyone wants to see it when it inevitably gets lost in a sea of text-

Ok, so the basic idea here is you have some rube walking home on a Halloween night in a town that happens to be called sleepy hollow.


He was just leaving a party so he's a bit out of it and wanders past a covered bridge on his way home.

Suddenly, lightning flashes, he gets knocked over by something and the screen goes dark.


After a bit of time the player unsure if anything is happening starts pressing buttons thinking it's some kind of dialog prompt.

A small light apears on screen around the player character but surprise surprise! He's missing his head!

The character freaks out, and starts grabbing around in a panic before his hands land on something round and head sized.


He takes a gamble and puts the object on the neck stump, the camera cuts to first person and he walks up to a nearby river and looks at his reflection.


It turns out hes got a jack-o-lantern for a head, eerie laughter rings out in the night as the shade of what appears to be a man on horse back wielding a sword disappears into the distance.


Thinking that whoever that was somehow took his head, the main character dashes off into the moonlight. Cue title card and theme.
The Headless HorseMan


The basic premise of the game is you have some rube who got his head stolen and he goes off to reclaim it through a 3D puzzle platformer type of game play. He can put different things on his neck stump thing to gain new powers. IE Jack-o-Lantern = Fire Breath / Basketball = bounce up high / Jack in the box = Grab things from far away. Most of the game would be goofy/spooky looking art wise with big boss fights to test your skills. and lots of junk to collect (but not too much I don't need to be DK64)

Feel free to chime in with feedback as I go I'm still working out names and other specifics but I'll post a few character ideas next


I'll start with a few boss ideas first since I want to make good dynamic fights and need interesting designs to go with them. The Poltergeist (name pending) this creep is up to something in the mansion where the last fourth of the game takes place in, he seems to know more than he lets on about the events transpiring tonight. This bitter soul attacks by possessing items to attack you with and using electricity when in ghost form. He is primarily harmed by hitting him when he isn't possessing something so you need to find a way to force him out of those bodies. Some examples of attacks are possessing a Grandfather clock and swinging the Pendulum at you or firing angry cuckoo birds at you while prancing around the arena. He could posses a bear rug and swipe at you or come after you by rolling a giant globe to squish you.


Next up I have ideas for a couple of shop keeps who sell various upgrades and other junk like music unlocks and concept art.

Witch Cat(name pending) not a witch who can transform into a cat nor the other way around, no this isn't a reference to that one anime either. It's literally just a black cat with witch powers who stays as a cat and sells upgrades for certain abilities. She's snarky and fickle but helps out in a pinch.

Next is Mischievous Skeleton(name pending) no this isn't a reference to that one game or that other game or... Anyway, he's a creepy looking dude who's actually rather helpful and a bit of a clown, he sells the random junk like lives and unlockables and plays the red oni to Witch Cat's blue.


Here's a more major character compared to the last two. The Headless Horseman himself. He's a major boss of course but also a full character in his own right. As a multi centenarian this old bean has been secretly gaining a massive amount of money in the stock market. He's normally more amicable to guests... I wonder what could have caused him to do such a thing to the protagonist... Anyway his boss fight would involve him chasing you (and you chasing him) through a series of corridors and rooms at the top of his mansion. This old Hessian has a few tricks up his sleeves as he pulls out stronger versions of the main character's attacks. Since he's had the curse longer he has a better grasp on how to use it of course. He will also lay traps and summon minor enemies from secret passages and of course he can just mow you down with his horse if you play keep away for too long.


I want the game to be beatable if not complete-able regardless of what head you use like how Kirby is usually besides the true final boss.


I will also accept feed back here and post more as this idea develops.

[thadudette]

I like it! I think it's a clever idea, especially playing off the Sleepy Hollow legend. I like the head swapping idea, but it's a little hard to imagine--like, will he bounce on his head if his head is a basketball? Or will it just be sort of assumed it affects the rest of his body and he'll be able to jump really high? :3

I feel like to give more feedback I might have to see more level/gameplay design :3 But that's cool!

[kolpool]

It would be a full body effect (although thinking about it head bouncing would be hilarious), also all heads would have a face on it when worn but stylized differently depending on what it is. Other potential abilities include but are not limited to:

a manikin head (plastic looking "handsome"face) - walk past enemies (and villagers) without tipping them off
a fan (that puts a single eye on the center as a face) - blow stuff around
a bowling ball (the holes) - roll downwards to knock over enemies also heavy (basically stone kirby)
a (toy) missile (imagine fighter jet shark paint) - fly at high speeds with invincibility until you hit a wall; head must be replaced after explosion
a meteorite (also holes or maybe colorful ore deposits) -  gives a high speed crash attack that launches enemies and certain objects
a balloon (marker face) - float in the air for a bit
a (regular) lantern (flame looks like an eye) - blind enemies and light dark pathways
and a cuckoo clock (face is actually on the bird) - shoot birds out and stop time briefly(delayed recharge)

I also have plans for maybe letting you play as other characters after beating the game. They would have slightly tweaked versions of the normal moves, well except for one of the characters since he doesn't have the curse.

EDIT:
In terms of levels I do have a few ideas thematic wise. Some levels will have multiple small puzzles to find, others will have big overarching ones. Completing puzzles makes it easier to progress but in theory a speed runner should be able to complete levels without stopping too often. I want the levels to have alot to do if you want to do it though so it's a tough balance.

Some ideas for levels:
Romp through the forest completing simple puzzles while avoiding an angry werewolf hunting you throughout (he can be fought but he hits hard and re-spawns quickly)

Sneak through town without alerting villagers (if you do you can still complete the level but it will be filled with angry people with pitchforks/torches/rifles) it would introduce certain head types in an environment that makes sense (fan from an electronics store, manikin head to sneak, toy missile to get over a large gap without landing)

A night circus filled with devious traps and magic tricks(rather than the clowns it would be the magicians that have run amok).

A factory filled with decrepit machinery (prelude to a boss) lots of moving parts in this level, the cuckoo will be very helpful here for speed running but if you want to do the puzzles you'll need other items.

The mansion's mad science lab (apparently the headless horseman is a man of science also a prelude to a boss) - this level will actually involve a shrink ray and surviving lab rat attacks while finding a way to return to normal.

Trap rooms in the mansion (I don't actually understand how anyone can live in a castle with this many traps but maybe he just rents it out to trap enthusiasts) - lots of devious things from other levels with some twists put into the puzzles involving them.

The game would be divided into 4-5 hub areas centered around a specific area on the way to the mansion and the mansion itself.

I'm still working out all the areas but for the moment I have in mind Forest-Village-Industrial Area (factory and circus here too?)-Mansion Exterior-Mansion Interior (it's a big mansion)

Oh- I should mention that the character can pick stuff up and throw things to varying degrees of success so if you wanted to do a no head run (with little visibility since the lore wise you shouldn't be able to see anything without something as a head) you technically could. (also a bonus for completing the game I think should be letting you play with the main characters original head so yeah)