Project Unknown Post #4: Iterate, iterate, iterate...

So this is the fourth week that we have been in the Capstone class working on Project Unknown and, so far, things are looking better each day.  After much iteration, we have finally discovered what the actual fun of the game will be.  Yes, there will still be the Super Mario Galaxy camera style that switches perspectives depending on where you are on the map, and, yes, there will still be a teleportation mechanic.  However, despite these two cool features, we really had to try and formulate a question that would be the backbone of our whole game.  Over the weekend, we found that question.
What if we could combine puzzles and combat into one thing?
This question alone has our game pointing toward a new direction.  But how will one of these puzzles work, and how will it affect our game?  Let me give you a couple of examples.  Say the player has all the exits in a room closed off so there is no escape, not to mention there are multiple enemies surrounding the player inside room.  Because the enemies themselves are either partly or fully cybernetic, each enemy carries with him an electric charge.  Now imagine there are three electric conductors on the floor within this room, and the only way the doors will open is if these conductors have a charge attached to them.  The player will have to kill the enemies while on top of the conductors in order for the door to open so that the player can move on to the next area.  Let me give you another example.  Imagine you are in a room surrounded by enemies of different strengths, and the only enemy that is vulnerable to your attacks is the weakest one alive.  The only way to defeat the enemies are by killing each one from the weakest to the strongest, while dodging attacks from the enemies that aren't vulnerable at that particular moment.  This will immensely change the combat mechanic of our game to one that not only focuses on straight killing, but strategy as well, all in real time.

Here is the prototype level we will be using for our playtest.  We created it to not only show off some of our puzzle systems, but to also give the player the chance to extensively use our flash mechanic, and see our camera system in action.