I just finished a bare-bones version of a game which I'm calling Pegboard Tanks. It's like one of those artillery games where you control velocity and angle, except the tanks aren't on the ground; they're simply suspended in the air on a pegboard background. Gravity pulls the shots downward and wind pulls shots in a random direction.

Can anyone think of any extras I might add? I could ditch gravity, set the game in space, and make the tanks drift a little. That might be VERY cool.

Please remember that I'm using METAL BASIC and I'm only in Algebra 1 (8th grade), so don't use anything beyond basic math unless you explain it.

I posted in the MetaL forum. Both/one combined version of those/the thread could go in Game Design.

Let me say that the fact that you (and all the other teens) are programming so early in your career is exceptionally cool. I always wanted a computer in 1985, but I lacked $1000 and my parents would not buy one for me. Oh well, so I played AD&D, drew robots and read a lot of books instead.

The game sounds good. There are infinite possibilities for obstacles and such to get in the way, if you want to take that route. Basically you have complete control of time, space and matter. Have a time-stop feature that lets you try to shoot shells out of the air if you are fast enough. Have a cloaking device or a mirror image device. Have seeking missiles. The more you add, though, the more you have to program and the more stuff you have to draw.

Well here's my chance to see Tron Jai-Alai re-made.

You could "deflect" the shots off a floating mirror..imagine a pong paddle in space above the gunners. What goes up, must come down. The mirror could be shifting its angle by a few
degrees every few seconds, thus hitting the mirror would make for unpredictable attacks.

The ball "shot" hits the mirror and inherits some offset of angle on its downward slope
from the angle of the mirror.

Having this feature you also could add an onground mirror that can be moved once per turn, in hopes that an incoming shot will happen to hit it and be sent back to the attacking player.

Well thats some ideas.

Some ideas that I haven't seen used in those cool kind of angle/velocity games are as follows:

-The ability to build and move across bridges.

-Have a spinning (goes around your avatar in a circle) protection drone. The more you have, the more surface is covered around your "tank". It would be destroyed with one hit (each drone).

-Take the grappling hook approach. Be able to swing/suppend/climb/lower yourself with it.

Ender's Game: the Battle Room.
Just cut loose.