Center Screen Shooter

Shooter game where you never move. You're permanently at the center of the screen. Everything is dark. Monsters run at you from offscreen towards the center. Some of them are super fast. You are constantly aiming, and you're either shining your light or shooting. When you shoot your light automatically goes out. Shots that hit monsters cause some sparks which cause momentary flashes of illumination. Mouse controls (shoot / shine light at mouse cursor) or analog stick (stick indicates direction to aim).

• Alternatively: Tempest, but with the above "shine your light" mechanic.
• Alternatively: more conventional twin-stick shooter. you move with one stick, aim with the other. trigger button to fire, when not firing your light is on. obstacles and carcasses cast shadows, a la Nox: http://static4.gamespot.com/uploads/original/mig/2/7/0/8/282708-nox_003.jpg
  • Alternately, one trigger is light, one trigger is gun. battery on light depletes (and recharges) quickly, so you can't just have it on all the time. if you drain the battery to 0%, you have to wait until it reaches 100% charge again before you can use it.
  • can you use your light and your gun at the same time? maybe, maybe not.
  • some monsters have "smart" AI where they have a two-stage behavior.
    1. maximize time in shadow while inching towards the player
    2. once they are "close enough", if there's no good cover near them that helps them get closer to the player, they switch to a full-on banzai sprint towards the player (maybe making a sound that alerts the player?)
• Dan What about defender, but with volumetric shadows and various game elements introduce light sources? Eg. Glowing power cubes
• Alternatively: twin-stick shooter very much like Robotron, but 10% of monsters are invisible. You see them when your shots hit them and at no other time. Every fifth level: 100% of monsters are invisible!
• Alternatively: you control the background color of the screen. Monsters may only be visible against certain background colors (e.g. the Aqua Bat is only visible against green and blue backgrounds).
  • Twist: you can only shoot monsters when they are invisible?
  • Twist: monsters only move when they're invisible? when they're visible they freeze into place like statues
  • Even more complicated twist: you can change colors one step at a time, R O Y G B P. (so, e.g. from red you can go up to orange or down to purple). monsters are slowish moving, invisible, and normally invulnerable. they have two colors associated with them, and you need to visit both in order to shoot them. example scenario:
    • an Aqua Bat is coming towards you. its colors are blue followed by green.
      • you are on purple. the Aqua Bat is invisible, and coming towards you.
      • you switch to blue. the Aqua Bat freezes in place but is invulnerable. it appears as a blue outline.
      • you switch to green. the Aqua Bat remains frozen in place but is now vulnerable. it retains its blue outline but now its interior fills in green. you shoot it! it's dead!
      • meanwhile, the Red Menace continues creeping up on you, invisibly.
    • for the benefit of color blind people, there's a big readout of the current color on the HUD. in general I don't think you need to see the colors to understand the game.
    • what style of game is this?
      • is this Space-Zap style where you're in the center and monsters come at you in four columns?
      • is this Berzerk style where you run in four directions and shoot the way you're facing?
      • is this Robotron twin stick style?
      • if you can move around, maybe you have to enable the colors somehow?
        • you pick up the green diode and now you can use the color green
        • you have to pick up a green battery that gives you 15 seconds of green
        • you have to run over and hit the green switch, and now the background is green