DESIGN

DANCE BATTLES

Back to homepage of

Project EIGHT

Music and dancing are integral to this world, and is a primary way for the player to communicate with those who are an adversary to them; you learn that the only way to pacify those who oppose you is to dance into their hearts. This is in place of a more traditional RPG-type battle system.

When a dance sequence begins, a large circle cuts out from the center of the screen with arrows flying in, corresponding to Up, Down, Left, and Right. Then, music according to the specific character will begin to play and notes, automated via sequencer, will move from the center toward their respective direction. The player receives points respective to their accuracy. The battle is considered lost after a certain amount of misses.

Each boss has their own Dance Style, combining dancing with their main hobby or job (art, cooking, engineering, etc) which provides an iteration on the typical rhythm system.

THE ARTIST'S STYLE

THE CHEF'S STYLE

The Artist's dance style includes a paintbrush or palette, and another color of note.

The palette will be in front of one note by default, and can be toggled between them with the arrow keys. This palette must be placed in front of an alternately colored note to change its color back, for the beat to be counted as a hit.

This will introduce the player to being aware of the notes themselves rather than simply what direction they are facing, as well as the possibility of other iterations in the rhythm system.

The Chef's dance style will replace some normal arrows with pitchers, and the player must hold the note for long enough to fill the pitcher but not too long for it to overflow.

The thing being poured into the pitchers will change only cosmetically; it could be water, batter, etc, and would all go into her cooking.

At its core, this is something fundamentally familiar to those who have already played rhythm games, and therefore should not be too overwhelming.

THE ENGINEER'S STYLE

THE ATHLETE'S STYLE

The Engineer will connect some arrows via wires, so that a hit on one arrow will hit all connected arrows on a short delay. These wires can change position to possibly connect different arrows to keep the player on their toes.

This dance style would be able to take advantage of strong arpeggios without overwhelming the player with quadruple the notes to hit. However, it also means that if the player misses, they miss all those notes if they don’t quickly make up for it.

Accompanied by their Musician partner, the Athlete will occasionally take a racket to a note and bounce it to the note on the opposite side. This can work in any of the four directions, and the racket will not be in one place permanently.

These bounces (along with when they reach the arrow) will all be timed in the music to make sure it still feels good and looks intentional.

There is a lot of potential for visual jokes and interest with the goal behind the opposite arrow, which also gives the player a more solid sense of direction for the bounced note.