A Bug SRPG idea.

Bug Fights. not really my thing.  The battles seem a lil inhumane to me - especially when the one i'm rooting for loses.

Pokemon was based on a guy's former love of collecting bugs.  So I started thinking about a game that would be more about bugs.  Medabots is close, but I didnt want to copy that.  At first The idea was to base a game on robotic bugs which is kinna different, but as i kept thinking about the battles playing out, I kept imagining real bugs doing fantastical things.  So an SRPG using bugs with powers.  Disgaea with bugs?  FFTA with bugs?  I haven't started thinking about turn order or various other mechanics;  I just started thinking about the basic types of bugs that could be incorporated and the plot.  This is a game I don't think will ever be made, so I don't mind posting about it.




There are millions of bugs on the planet and each is part of some sub-species or various genus and other technicalities.  This is just a list of basic bugs that are somewhat distinguishable.  I'm not trying to represent every single bug.

A list of general bug types: 
1.beetle
ladybug
fly
fire fly
5. ant (red&black)
termite
spider(web)
spider (hunt)
centipede
10. millipede
bee
hornet/yellow jacket/Japanese Killer Hornet
scorpion
mosquito
15. flea
leech
slug
snail
rolly poly/ pill bug
20. earwig/pincher bug
roach
earthworm
moth
butterfly
25. praying mantis
caterpillar
single horn beetle (kabuto)
horizontal scissor beetle (Kuwagata)
vertical scissor beetle (Hercules Beetle)
30. three horn beetle (Three horned Rhino Beetle)
grass hopper/locust
cricket
dragonfly
waterboatman
35. water skitter? skeeter?
Leaf bug
Stick Bug
Stink Bug
Aphid


The inclusion of water bugs is...I don't really think it's terribly necessary since they are very limited in the scope of the game...but they exist, so it's something to consider.

Enemies besides other bugs:
Some of these can be bosses, environmental hazards...

Frogs
Birds
Bug Zappers
Fly Paper?
Artificial Lights
Venus Fly Traps
Magnifying glass
Windshields
Water
Rain/ Sprinkler
Water Faucets
Lizards
Ant Eaters
Monkies





Plot Stuff
Potential Settings:
Should the bugs be freedom fighters or something
Children playing with bug toys
Super Powered Bugs
Fighting over food
Bug fighting tournament
super hero bugs
Army vs Army so what kind of things could they vie for?
Ants, Termites, and Bees have hives/colonies that naturally have soldiers
So. Like the movie Bugs, mercenaries could be found/hired to help the army.  But the

Army's soldiers wont't be helpless.
Ants vs Termites vs Bees.  This could mean 3 different campaigns
I think the bees will want to expand their kingdom through the woods and into the ground as well.  The termites will live in the forest and aren't about the idea.  The ants will live in the ground and also arent about the idea.
How will the Termites and Ants have beef?
Perhaps the Termites will cause a tree to fall onto an ant hill.  The tree will have had a bee hive on it and once the tree falls, the bees come out attacking whatever in the confusion .  The ants will then have reason to attack the bees (random innocents killed in the crash) and the bees a reason to attack the ants (retaliation).  The Fallen Beehive and the Ant Hill could be like two cities seperated from each other and a place of constant war driven turmoil.  The Termite plot could be found out later by a small band of ant infantry (the player) or something.
The bees could have been knocked out of the air when the tree fell and are threatened by some termite soldiers upon being found on the ground.

The termites could start their story as a squad with a mission of taking out the Ant Queen since it's assumed the bee queen was killed in the fall of The Hive. 

The Three Kingdoms could be called
The Hive
The Hill
The Mound

The Termite campaign could have them proceed with their mission or have a change of heart
and try to stop the termite conquest. 
The bees will try to find their way home... when they find their home, there'll only be war and strife...  So they could try to end the war with the ants? or find out why the tree fell... or... try to attack the termites right off (since the termites attacked first)
The Ants fight for revenge - to avenge the ants killed in the Crash of the Hive.  Their plight must be changed somehow.  Perhaps a queen assassination attempt made by termites changes things.  An ant squad just happens to be passing by the Queen's chambers as a squad of termites arrives to kill her.

So where do the other bugs come into play?  Mercenaries or friends of course - all in the journey to find whatever it is that everyone is after.






Mechanics
Some important mechanics I haven't yet decided on are turn order - will it be one team at a time like tactics Ogre? or will it be one unit at a time like Final Fantasy Tactics and Disgaea (among others).  I think there will be three attack types - Slash/Bite, Pierce/Sting, and Blunt/Tackle.  I think Slash/Bite will be the most common attack type.  while very few will have pierce/sting.  I can think of Bees, Scorpions, Mosquitos, and fleas.  Seemingly useless bugs will use blunt attacks - bugs like lady bugs, flies...roaches.

There's gonna have to be a "Special" stat.  I'd like to name it something else.  There NEEDS to be special attacks or else this would be too boring.  So magic/MP will need a special name and the Special stat will need a special name.

I've also wondered about implementation of the sizes of bugs.  Certainly there's a difference in size between an ant and hercules beetle; A flea and a Dragonfly... The idea has come up of having units varying in tile sizes: 1x1 for small units, 1x2 for long units like centipedes, and 2x2 for large units like a tarantula or a Hercules Beetle.  I don't know how much I like this idea of displaying units in different sizes.  The different lengths will make moving on terrain strange - from a game development perspective, and making it look right graphically could be a pain.   Although it'd be neat to see this done properly, I think having all units 1x1 would simplify things in a reasonable way.

1x1 tile size characters work in other SRPGs because the units are mostly humanoid.  Do I want the bugs to be humanoid/anthropomorphic?  I really don't want that to happen.

For now, I'm out of ideas.  While looking through Digimon the other day with a friend, He came across and showed me chameleonmon - a terribly named Digimon, but it inspired me to try to think up a game using Chameleon abilities.  I know I enjoyed Chameleon Twist, but it didn't make any use of a chameleon's camouflage ability! A travesty if ever I saw one.  So now i must think of what I could do to make a chameleon based game that interests at least me.

now that I think about it, I think there was a bug SRPG on XBL...