bullet hell × diablo × terraria

jan 30, 2017

Rough idea from the notebook:

top-down bullet hell, but not a spaceship — a dude with a gun walking

could be call of duty style, or a mage with spells

vertical (moving up) or horizontal (moving right)

diablo 1 meets terraria — town at the top, dungeons down a level at a time (see fallout shelter)

waypoints and portals, maybe scrolls that only go back so many levels

Bullet hell is usually a spaceship and a wall of projectiles. Strip that frame off, keep the dodge, and drop it into a world that looks more like Diablo and Terraria.

the concept

character: on foot, not in a cockpit. a soldier with guns and grenades, or a mage with elemental spells.
direction: pick one — vertical march through enemy territory, or horizontal side-scroll chaos.
surface town: the hub. trade, missions, upgrades, NPCs.
descending dungeons: dig down a level at a time. each floor harder than the last. fallout shelter's cross-section layout, so the player can see what's beneath them.
waypoints and scrolls: unlock waypoints as you go. scrolls send you back a few levels, not all the way — you have to decide when to burn one.
dynamic environments: lava floors, haunted crypts with phasing ghost bullets, collapsing ceilings. the room is also shooting at you.

features

skill trees. soldier spec'd for rapid-fire or explosives; mage for elemental spells or summoning.
multiplayer. one player draws fire while the other holds up a barrier.
endless mode. no dungeon, no town — just escalating bullet patterns until you die.
boss fights. end-of-floor encounters that combine bullet hell patterns with diablo-style attack rotations.
mod support. let players ship their own dungeons, skins, bullet patterns. keeps it fresh past launch.

Twitch reflexes on the top layer, strategic progression underneath.