So my buddy and I were talking about small games to start us out and we were swapping ideas back and forth. We talked about games we enjoyed and what games we'd like to see. He showed me Reflexive.com which is a site packed with those small addictive arcade-like games. Then I told him about a space shooter called Tyrian. Then I started thinking what would make Tyrian better as well as a game I wanted to make..

A while ago I thought of a simple multiplayer deathmatch type of game where you get your ship, upgrade it, then fly it in missions to get more upgrades or fly it against other players. There already is a game where you can pilot a ship against other players but it's mostly just like StickArena where you choose from 10 or so ships and duke it out. It's really basic.

But then I thought back to Tyrian and wondered how I could impliment them together. Tyrian is just a 2d platform space shooter and it wouldn't be able to handle multiplayer. So then the idea of making a 360 game map for the players to explore...

Now when I say 360 I mean the player can turn the ship and travel in all 360 directions... NOT up or down. Then I thought about putting in other things. Say you start off at your mothership or airbase, get a mission, travel to the area and complete the mission, then travel back and resupply, repair, and upgrade your ship. Now add little elements of strategy to it like obtaining/purchasing upgrades to the airbase and mothership like defense turrets and shield generators. You upgrade your mothership and challenge a player to take you on... You have to defend your mothership against a player's attacks. They'll try to disable the shields, take out the turrets, and go for the reactor all the while dodging your attacks. Or just a 1 on 1 dogfight.

All of this while still maintaining the simple 2d sprite graphics and quick arcade-style gameplay.

I thought that would be a nifty game

I talked to some of my other buddies and they thought it would be cool. But I didn't get any other feedback. So let's hear it!